How happy I am to have stumbled upon Jamie's American Road Trip.
It's been quite some time since we've had new episodes of Jamie on the television. I have missed his antics and thirst for food knowledge. I have seen 3 episodes thus far, and have been, not only entertained, but Schooled in my own back yard.
That's right!
He comes to America, my homeland, and then proceeds to tell me about my neighbors and my way of cooking.
Ya know something?
He knows more about it than I do!
He goes to different communities, meets the people, learns the traditional cuisine, tries new ingredients, and manages to impress that community with his version of their food heritage.
He is combining community and food. Something everyone has in common.
From Los Angeles to New York, to Cowboy Country- he's learning it all and I am learning along with him. He even taught me about anti-restaurants, which I have a hankering to start my own. I've always known the importance of chiles and lime in Mexican cooking, but I did not realize that their cuisine expanded past the generic menu items found in every cafe here in Texas. They actually make a lot of soups and salads, which I intend to try. We have so many Hispanic friends and have yet to simply ask them about their cuisine. Jamie also finally told me what Coriander is. I have been searching for a year or so at the supermarket, but I live too close to Mexico. Down here we call it "Cilantro." Ha Ha Ha.
The timing of that episode worked out kind of oddly with our household. Brandon came home the other night and informed me that he had tried, *gulp* Menudo. There are two things I don't think I've ever had the stomach to try when we're at Jalisco's (the best, most authentic mexican food in Stephenville.) One is Menudo and the other is Caldo de Pescado, a rather barbaric looking seafood soup that smells horrible. Menudo is a Pork Intestine Soup. In the authentic mexican style, he added lots of lime to it. I was shocked that he even tried it, but he said it tasted good. He couldn't eat the intestine parts, but he gave it a shot and then ate most of the broth before ordering a burrito. He works with mostly hispanic guys and I think he didn't want to offend them, but I was proud just the same.So I am going to add a Mexican Soup to the list of things to try this year (Hold the intestine.)
I've never had such a good laugh as when Jamie went to become a cowboy. I knew most of the information presented to him in this one, but it did remind me of a few things I had forgotten about Southern cooking and Dutch ovens. The best part was when Jamie just couldn't abandon his passion for food and packed an entire meal in his jacket, that he was previously instructed not to take with him on a trail ride. It was entirely too funny, but it is what makes him so darn charismatic.
Anyway, the inspiration has come to me again and I am ready to take on some more challenges this next week. For now we have several of Jamie's fish recipes on the docket for the week and we chose to cook some roasted zucchini and broccoli for a couple of meals instead of the usual potatoes or corn. I'm really looking forward to trying Jamie's sweet potato fries. Mine usually don't turn out, but he may have some helpful tips for keeping them crisp.
