Photos and descriptions of places, events, cultures, arts, and foods that make our world a special place.
Emphasis on Florida and the Tampabay area (St. Petersburg, Tampa, Clearwater, etc.), but also far beyond.
Street food has an indelible emotional impact on our memories. I shared some photos of my recent trip to New York, in particular photos of street food vendors (some of which are included in this post) with family and friends. I got several nice notes back in which they recounted early memories of street food in New York. One friend said that some of his earliest memories involve his grandmother buying roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes from vendors for them to munch on while spending an afternoon in mid-town Manhattan. Another, my sister, told me that her earliest memory of anything was of eating a hot dog with sauerkraut on it from a street vendor in New York. I have a similar memory of eating a sauerkraut dog on a New York street corner as a child.
Intense memories. And not just from childhood. From a recent trip to Asia, I still have almost photographically detailed mental images of street vendors and their food. From my youth, I can still taste the salted boiled peanuts I would look forward to buying when we visited our Mississippi relatives. So, it’s no surprise, when trying to think what I could blog about on my NYC trip, that I chose the street food that’s available on almost every corner.
The overwhelming majority of vendors sell halal food. The term, halal, has, as that Wikipedia article describes, various meanings. In brief, in the USA, it means the dietary laws followed by Muslims which are similar to, but not the same as–or interchangeable with–Jewish kosher dietary practices. Every major city on the planet, New York, London, Paris, etc., has numerous halal restaurants. I’m not Muslim, so the spiritual significance of the dietary practices are of only background interest to me. For me, it’s the taste, and halal tastes great.
Every time I’ve had halal food, in a restaurant or from a street vendor, the person serving me always eagerly asks, “Do you like it?!” It seems to be of genuine importance to them that someone who is not Muslim enjoys this food. And, I’ve had a similar experience with every culture’s food I’ve eaten: Native American dishes, food from a large number of different Asian nationalities, various African cuisines, the amazing number of different Mexican, South and Central American culinary traditions, Indian/Pakistani styles, and the different European cuisines (which have an huge variety all their own). Each time the purveyor of foods was intensely interested to know if I, who am not a member of their culture, enjoyed their food. Each time it was easy to answer Yes. Each time they were pleased and answered with a huge grin. Remember “ping pong diplomacy”? Maybe falafel diplomacy would be even more successful.
The halal street food menus were primarily a choice between chicken or lamb or a mix of the two. The meat was served either on a soft pita bread–a la a Greek gyro–or over yellow rice with lettuce. Some of the stands served a sausage which, of course, must have been something other than pork. I wished I’d thought to ask their composition at the time, but I didn’t. If someone knows, please comment. Whether one has the chicken, the lamb, a mix, and on bread or over yellow rice and lettuce, one also has a choice of white sauce (again, like on a Greek gyro) or a really hot red sauce, or both. It’s a full and very satisfying meal, and eaten sitting on a bustling street corner in Manhattan, a special treat.
The fresh fruit stands are something that we desperately need here. Imagine a typical scorcher day here and being able to stop for a second and bite into a juicy peach, or a toss back a handful of blueberries. I realize that Tampabay area made the street vendor hall of fame a few years back with our hot dog stands manned (wrong word) by models in t-back thong swimsuits. Nevertheless…we could do with some fresh fruit stands.
I’m not sure if there’s any connection to the fruit juice stands in NYC, but halal dietary laws forbid the consumption of alcoholic beverages. The only predominately Muslim nation I’ve visited is Malaysia. There, as well as on Malaysian Airlines which I was fortunate to travel, a wide variety of fresh fruit juices were always available, I suspect, because of the dietary restrictions. Malaysia also has a sizable minority which is Buddhist, for whom the consumption of alcohol is considered less than ideal. Regardless of the reason, it would be delightful if the world had more fresh fruit and juice stands.
I get a kick out of watching the endless variety of people and their different attire standing in line: locals blue jeans and t-shirts, tourists with cameras, business men and women dressed for success, some men in baseball caps, some women with scarves, big purses, little purses, high heels, flip-flops, work boots, wing tips, designer fashion, off the rack…all standing in line. There’s something almost philosophical about queuing up. It dramatizes our common humanity: ultimately, we all have to humbly stand in line. (That’s a good thing, not a bad thing.)
Of course, the archetypical, hot dog cart still is omnipresent on New York street corners. Kosher dogs, of course. And, knishes (”knish” is pronounced “ka-NISH,” rhymes with “dish”). Knishes are kosher stuffed pastries, sort of like our empanadas here in the Tampabay.
Another allure of street food is its sense of carefree freedom…from the vendor’s point of view. Some of us want to run away and join the circus. Others want to run away and have a hot dog stand. I actually knew such a person. He even went so far as to buy a stand which, as I remember, never left storage until another friend of his used it to try out the fantasy. It wasn’t as carefree as either person had hoped, and nowhere near as lucrative as they’d projected. It was hard, hot, exhausting work with a sometimes difficult general public. Last I knew, the stand was back in storage.
There’s a couple more things I’d like to try next time I get to go to New York. One is to try this Jamaican jerked food stand. But, also I want to see if I can find some other nationalities of street food. I didn’t make it to Chinatown this time, but I don’t remember ever seeing any Asian street food there. There must be some, somewhere in the city. Same for Indian/Pakistani street food. Is there any? I think I saw a Russian or perhaps Turkish street food vendor down in the lower east side, but I didn’t have the chance to determine for sure. Next time…! If anyone knows where to find other types of street food in NYC, please let us know.
I avoided the bagel and donuts stands because of all the starches, but others–why is it always the thin people?!–were busy filling up on them. The donuts and pretzels and bagels all looked very fresh. I wonder where they’re made, what the supply chain is for the various foods for all these stands. Obviously, the street food stand itself is just the tip of an iceberg of logistics and preparation that makes it possible. The friend I was with wondered, too, about the pecking order for stands and what rules governed the various positions. It would seem that some people had to move from time to time, getting to share key locations, whereas some people never had to move…a complex web of unknown dynamics.
From time to time, a stand would be closed up and moved, just a few feet, exchanging places with another stand. Sometimes a stand would be closed up and taken away entirely. Once, I saw three in a row, being dragged by hand into location from some warehouse. I never saw a stand being pulled by a car or truck, although there were some stands with built-in propulsion. One company seemed to service most of the stands with halal supplies. The following little 30 second video I cobbled together from a series of still shots I took as a vendor went about his morning chore of setting up his stand. It was fun to watch, although I think I might have annoyed him, considering a gesture of impatience he finally made. Nevertheless, he let me continue.
Open Until the Wee Hours
It seemed that some shops stayed open until late, late, late at night. One in particular, near the Avenue of the Americas, one that always had long lines anyway, would have an even longer one late at night. For sure, the emotional tone surrounding the food carts and the streets themselves change after dark. There was a blog theme I admired during the Beijing Olympics which limited itself to shots of Beijing after dark–a lovely idea. Since each city has its own unique personality after dark, I may try applying that idea to St. Pete some day. For sure, the emotions you see in these after dark street food scenes are different than the sunny smiles of the pictures that opened this article.
There’s something about the body languages in the final shot (below) that reminds me of Edward Hooper’s “Nighthawks.” I guess it’s because the “Nighthawks” involves food, late at night, isolation within a teeming metropolis, and expressive body language. It was late (well…late for me) at night when I took that picture, after emerging from a subway while walking back from the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Center) where we watched the city transform from day, through dusk, into night–in itself, an emotive display.
During this trip, I got to see Hooper’s “Gas” at MOMA. I haven’t been to NYC very often. Every time I go, I go determined to make it to the Metropolitan. I never make it past MOMA. My only consolation is that I’m assured I’ll never see all of the Metropolitan in one lifetime anyway (sort of like the British Museum which is cosmic in its vastness).
A friend who has been to New York often suggests that a good motto when visiting that city is to tell yourself, “I’ll do that next time.”
A while back there was a post about my Mississippi Cuzn Donna and another post about my Mississippi Cuzn Don’s Mississippi Greens recipe. There’s other Gulf Coast cousins, too, and in due time we’ll hear more about them including their blue grass and photography, but today, we’re going to hear from Cuzn Don again, with his recipes for Hoe Cakes and Hush Puppies. The recipes are related, but not exactly the same. Cuzn Don’s words will be in red italics. My comments and explanations will be in normal type.
There are many cultural roots in every region of the United States. Traditionally, the three biggest in the South, have been the Native Americans, the European settlers, and the African-American slaves. The European culinary influences, especially in New Orleans, are French and Spanish. The African culinary traditions the slaves brought with them from their home countries became the backbone of what, today, we call “Southern Cooking.” I don’t think it exists any more, but at one time there was a restaurant in Atlanta that had entrees based on actual antebellum (before the war) slave recipes. One I remember well was a pork chop with a peanut butter and cayenne pepper sauce—an unexpected combination and delicious. As important as the European and African influences on Southern cuisine are, however, it’s important to not forget the culinary influences of the Native American cultures.
Originally, Native Americans cooked these on hot rocks in an open fire. They were first called “Ash cakes.” Later settlers from Europe adopted the recipe but it was from the slaves returning from the fields that the “Hoe Cakes” got its name. They would sometimes take the handles out of their hoes, clean and use the flat top as a griddle or stand over the hot coals with their hoes straight up..Their hoes were larger than the ones we use today. This is one of oldest recipes handed down that I know of, also the cheapest to make.
Early Recipes
stone ground corn (Cornmeal)
dash of salt
add boiling water, stir into mush and make a patty
small amount of fat for frying
The following recipe, “Southern Mississippi Hoe Cakes,” is the one I made for photos for this post. I followed Cuzn Don’s directions closely, but substituted some, perhaps non-traditional, ingredients. Hopefully, though, my substitutions aren’t as great a heresy as when northerners make their rice with sugar.
For the milk, I used buttermilk; for the cheese, I used gorgonzola; for the crumbled meat, I used Tennessee Pride HOT sausage–reserving the grease in the pan for cooking the hoe cakes; for the cajun seasoning, I used plain ol’ Crystal hot sauce; for both types of flour, I used self rising flours; I left out the egg since I am a Mississippi Gulf Coast Jones (although I live a bit farther south).
The smell was overwhelmingly good. My pan is only large enough to cook three at a time. So, it took every bit of self-discipline (not my long suit anyway) to not eat “just one” before taking a picture of the total results on a plate. I’ve bought the peanut oil to make the deep fried kind, but I’ll wait a couple months before I attempt those.
I believe this is an early recipe for today’s Southern “Hush Puppies”. Still cheaper to make and just as good or better. There may be others who may disagree but it has the same ingredients as today’s Southern “Hush Puppies”. I was told in my younger days that “Hush Puppies” got it name by giving the leftovers to the hunting dogs to keep them from barking. I am sure that they didn’t have a bag of “Ole Roy” or “Gravy Train” dog food from the store in the 1800’s.
My Jones kinfolks on the Mississippi Gulf Coast still use the term of “Hoe Cakes” with the recipe below but without an egg (family tradition).
(small portion my way)
1 cup of yellow cornmeal
1 egg beaten
dash of Cajun seasoning
milk
small amount of grated cheese (your favorite)
1/3 cup of flour(optional)
small amount of oil for griddle or pan
Mix all the dry ingredients and beaten egg then add milk a little at a time while stirring to get to a stage similar to a pancake batter. I make them about 4″ diameter or smaller. Cook on medium heat without mashing them down. If you would like, add meat such as left over hamburger meat. Break up a small portion of the meat and make your batter a little thicker so that it will hold around the meat.
The taste is great and my grandchildren love them .
If Native American cuisine interests you, there are a large number of Native American Food blogs on the Internet. Here is one with an Algonquian recipe for hoe cakes.
Before we return to Cuzn Don’s recipes, just a quick break to talk a bit about Cuzn Don’s own background and one of his influences, Johnny Knight. Johnny Knight was an adult mentor to Don and Don’s late brother, Larry, when they were growing up. Johnny Knight was an artist of Native-American descent who was loved by his community of Mendenhall, Mississippi. The totem pictured at the top of this post is his creation. Another project, preserved to this day by members of the community is his Tree House. A quick look at that link will convince you that he was a real talent and very original. Imagine being youngsters brought up in the water-hole-swimming, river-fishing, back-country-hunting, skin-and-cook-your-own-food Mississippi culture of the 50s.
This was back when the brands of coke (the generic term used in the South for what we northerners called “soda”) were Red Rock, Mr. Cola and Grappette, RC Cola (that one can still be found), creme and strawberry sodas and Orange Crush. It was back when bottle caps had cork on the inside and you would poke holes in the cap with an ice pick and shake the bottle to make a fizzy drink that lasted longer. (For a nifty page about fruit sodas, check out The Soda Gallery.)
Anyway…back in those days, Johnny Knight would take Cuzn Don and Cuzn Larry out hunting with nothing but their shotguns and he’d only take a bow and arrows. He taught them not only survival skills, but also respect for the land and its wildlife, not letting them hunt anything they couldn’t prepare and eat themselves. Small wonder Cuzn Don has become so active in Mississippi conservation efforts…and in cooking his own food.
Deep fried hush puppies are usually made when frying fish and potatoes and cooked outdoors. Most good cooks will use peanut oil. This has a higher smoke point and like olive oil, a lot healthier for you.
Hush puppies are cooked first and you want plenty because they will disappear quickly while you are cooking the fish . You also may have to slap a few hands. If cooked right, they will simply melt in your mouth. I use a paper bag lined with paper towels to absorb the oil.
3 cups of yellow cornmeal
2 eggs beaten
1/4 cup of finely chopped onions
1/4 cup of finely chopped bell pepper or hot pepper
salt
cajun seasoning (I use 4or 5 dashes here or more)
milk
Mix all dry ingredients and beaten eggs and add milk and stir. You want the the batter to be just thick enough to stick to a tablespoon holding it upside down. I always taste to make sure I have what I want at this point.
If you don’t have a deep fryer, you need a least one inch of oil in your pan so the hush puppies won’t hit the bottom and you can flip them over. They will float to the top.
When the oil is hot take the table spoon and dip about 1/2 of a spoonful of batter and gently push it until it drops into the hot oil. Keep spoon very close to oil so you don’t spatter. Cook until golden brown and flip over. Takes no more than a minute to cook. Over cook these and you will have to give it to your dog.”Hush Puppy” Enjoy!
Cuzn Don’s “puppy” that every so often he needs to “hush” is a purebred bloodhound named Major T. Beauregard (or “Major” for short) after the Confederate military man, Major P. G. T. Beauregard. One of Major’s grandfathers is out of the line of Beauregard Jr. on Hee Haw; Major’s father was the tracking bloodhound of the Mississippi Simpson county Sheriff…so he’s definitely from good stock. Cuzn Don proclaims that “Major is a damn mess!” At first, the only thing he’d been able to track was himself: he sniffed all around the woods and came back to where he started. Don says he’d like to train him to be quiet on posted land and bark at the deer instead of the reverse which is the case now. But, the grandkids like to run around and hide and Major can track them, so that’s good.
One last thing: Cuzn Don stresses that when you cook fried hushpuppies, first cook the hushpuppies, then cook your fish in the same oil. Don’t cook any more hushpuppies in that same oil after you cook the fish unless you cook some french fries in it first. Cooking the french fries in the oil will clean the grease of burnt specks of cornmeal in the oil. What you don’t dip out, will stick to the french fries. After cooking the french fries, you can cook more hushpuppies in the same grease and/or save it for use later in a coffee can, although Cuzn Don allows he wouldn’t reuse it for frying chicken.
Try ‘em. They’re really not at all difficult to make. But you’ll have to be quick if you want to taste some yourself; the grandkids and the dog are assured to gobble them all up. One more warning: I’d told myself I’d only eat a couple and then freeze the rest for another time. Didn’t happen…yet. I’m now past a “couple” and still eating. I do hope I have some left to freeze.
At the bottom of each post are a series of links to various sub-pages of this blog site. One is Store. In the “real” world, I’m a musician. There are now MP3s of some of my music available through Amazon.com. If you click on the Inkwatu Store link, you’ll find links to the proper Amazon.com pages. It is possible to purchase these selections as an “album” of MP3s or as individual tracks. What I like, particularly, about AmazonMP3’s presentation is that you can hear a sample of any track you want–just click on the little button just to the left of each selection.
Here’s what’s available now, listed as you’ll see it on the Inkwatu Store link. Whenever I’m able to expand the selections, I’ll post another announcement.
Christmas Organ Voluntaries
1. 01-Angels We Have Heard On High [2:49]
2. 02-God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen [1:50]
3. 03-Good Christian Men Rejoice [2:38]
4. 04-Lo How A Rose Er Blooming [2:38]
5. 05-O Come All Ye Faithful [2:18]
6. 06-O Come O Come Emmanuel [2:31]
7. 07-O Little Town Of Bethlehem [1:55]
8. 08-Cherry Tree Carol [2:20}
9. 09-What Child Is This [3:03]
Roma
1. 01-Attende Domine {2:54]
2. 02-Ubi Caritas [3:53]
3. 03-Salve Regina [3:07]
4. 04-Pange Lingua [1:10]
5. 05-Lauda Sion Salvatorem [5:27]
Missa de Angelis
1. 01-Kyrie [3:42]
2. 02-Gloria [11:01]
3. 03-Credo [9:07]
4. 04-Sanctus [4:15]
5. 05-Agnus Dei [5:59]
Madonna
1. Madonna Part 1 [5:40]
2. Madonna Part 2 [2:14]
3. Madonna Part 3 [4:09]
4. Madonna Part 4 [7:27]
I’m the composer of all the music as well as the performer/producer. Hope you find something you enjoy in the store. If you’re a musician yourself, sheet music for all the above selections will be soon be available through the store. Can mugs and t-shirts be far behind?!
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