Local Cuisine: The Conclusion

After writing extensively about the cuisine of Kentucky the other day, it is now time to focus on the wonder that is the food of St. Louis. I will warn you that this may turn into a lengthy post because there is so much to write about. Because of that I will try to only talk briefly about each food.

In my mind, it all begins with St. Louis style pizza. As a younger boy, I used to think of this pizza as merely thin crust pizza, and thus all thin crust pizzas were equal. So whenever I saw thin crust, I thought it was St. Louis style. I guess I was wrong all those years, because it's more the ingredients than just the thin crust that make this pizza unique. Provel cheese, which is also a staple of St. Louis is probably the key ingredient to the pizza, but it can also be mixed with a sweeter sauce, and lots of spices. The crust is thin, almost to the point of being crunch, and it is always cut into squares. There is no pizza like this available in Louisville. Here in Louisville, Papa John's (or what I like to call "Louisville-style" pizza) is king. And who the hell needs Papa John's on a regular basis, when you can have Imo's and Cecil Whitaker's.

Next on the list of St. Louis favorites is another Italian dish (owing to St. Louis' strong Italian heritage): toasted ravioli. I've seen this in restaurants outside of St. Louis, but stores in Louisville don't carry it. The great thing about this food is that I'm not a fan at all of ravioli, but this is completely different. Basically, take normal ravioli, season the shit out of it, deep fry it, and serve it with dipping sauce and you have the start to a hell of a meal. First off, EVERYTHING is better deep-fried. Second, this can be eaten as an appetizer or a meal, and it never gets old. I made it a point to pick myself up two boxes of Louisa toasted ravioli before I left St. Louis last weekend because I missed this wondrous food so much. Anyone who hasn't tried this is truly missing out.

The next type of food that makes St. Louis so damn awesome is St. Louis style BBQ. The true staples of this are Maull's BBQ sauce and pork steaks. I've always thought of my BBQ as being covered in Maull's...nearly dripping sometimes. It wasn't until just the other day that I realized that Maull's isn't available much outside of St. Louis. This was mind-blowing to me because I guess I always assumed it was a national brand. I guess I never looked closely at the store here in "The 'Ville." Pork steaks are something different altogether. I believe they're cut from the shoulder area of the pig, and are generally a bit more fatty than other types of pork. However, the fat is the tasty kind, like on prime rib, that only adds to the flavor of the rib, and is very easy to chew. I just had pork steaks over the weekend for the first time in probably 3 years and they were every bit as mouth-watering as I remember them. This is another food I fully intend to ship back to Louisville in my Taurus the next time I make a trip to St. Louis.

The last food I will hit on in detail is St. Louis' entry into the "pile of slop" category, the Slinger. This is a breakfast and late night staple in St. Louis, especially in eateries such as Eat Rite (or dont' eat at all) and the Courtesy Diner (known for their less than courteous staff). A slinger is basically a pile of slop, made of breakfast foods and chili. Its ingredients are limited only to the chef's imagination, but it must include a meat and chili. Generally, they will include eggs, along with sausage, bacon, ham or steak, and hash brown, topped with generous amounts of chili. These things are painful to eat and even more painful to pass the next day, but you can't argue with proven taste. I've devoured all of two of them in my life, and only regretted it for a fleeting few moments the day after.

Other unique food choices in St. Louis are Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, gooey butter cake (extremely easy to make and incredibly rich), the ice cream cone (meaning it was rumored to be invented there during the 1904 World's Fair), and countless other Italian dishes found on The Hill. There are countless other foods unique to both St. Louis and Louisville, but if I hit on them all I would be writing for days. This is just a taste (no pun intended) of what is uniquely available in these two cities, but I urge anyone who hasn't tried any of these foods to make it a point on their next trip through to stop and try at least one of them. I know I make it a point to eat at least one or two St. Louis staples on every trip to the Gateway to the West.

Local Cuisine

Someone recently asked me if I were to move away from Louisville, would I miss Kentucky food as much as I miss St. Louis food. Well, this question REALLY got me thinking and I found initially I had a hard time answering. There is a lot of great food that is native to Kentucky...but can it compare to the cuisine of St. Louis? I've written about food on this blog before, but it is a subject that is always worth coming back to. Today I'll focus on the food in Louisville, with St. Louis coming tomorrow.

Let me first begin by saying that the cuisine in Louisville is distinct from the food of the rest of the state, so I will have to limit this study to just Louisville's native foods. I will begin with one of my favorite concepts in food, and that is the "pile of slop" category. This includes recipes which are basically just heaping piles of several different ingredients. St. Louis and Louisville both have entries in this category. In Louisville, that food is the hot brown.

The hot brown is a dish that is fairly similar to an open-faced turkey sandwich...but it is so much more than that. It was created at the Brown Hotel in Louisville as an alternative late-night snacking option. It consists of turkey piled on bread, piled high with bacon, sometimes mashed potatoes, and covered with tomatoes and either gravy or, more commonly, Mornay sauce. It is generally also topped with parmesan cheese, and sometimes ham is included with the turkey. I've had several hot browns at several restaurants, and never once have I been disappointed. If you're ever in the mood for a good pile of slop, then the hot brown is definitely near the top of my list of good eats.

Another popular item that I had never heard of before moving to Kentucky is beer cheese. This is a kind of spicy cheese dip, that is meant for parties and outdoor events. It is made with, of course, beer, cheddar cheese, and just about any spices you can think of to put in there. Most people like their beer cheese especially spicy, and it is often served with pretzels, chips, or crackers. I am actually not a huge fan of the stuff, but you can't go past a cheese cooler in a grocery store in Kentucky without seeing several varieties of beer cheese on the shelf.

Kentucky, including Louisville, and especially Owensboro, are reknowned for their BBQ. This is going to be a difficult category of food to compare because I have a very strong leaning toward St. Louis BBQ. But I can't deny that Kentucky has gotten it right as well. Parts of Western Kentucky have developed a unique recipe and way of using pit BBQ which is absolutely stellar, and the two or three times I've ever had burgoo have been nothing less than parties in my mouth. Burgoo is one of those great foods like chili and my next food, Derby Pie, where everyone has their own unique recipe that they feel is the best. And I urge these same people to keep trying out new ideas and send them my way because this stuff is nuts.

I'll end this post with the one food I know I will miss the most if I ever leave Kentucky. That food is Derby Pie. In the simplest terms, Derby Pie is a type of pecan pie with chocolate chips. But that would not be doing it justice. Derby Pie is a specialty during Kentucky Derby season (kind of like the Mint Julep, another Kentucky specialty). It is generally made with chocolate and walnuts, but also can have pecans, caramel, butterscotch, or other types of nuts. Bourbon is also a tasty, but not entirely necessary, add-on. In the end, after mixing all of these ingredients together, you get an incredibly rich pie with a hard top cruse but a soft middle filled with ground nuts and melted chocolate, often with a distinct bourbon flavor. It is served both hot and cold, and is my favorite part of Derby season. A place called Kern's Kitchen actually owns the official recipe for Derby Pie, and no one can officially call another recipe Derby Pie. So it pops up as a variety of other names, including Chocolate Nut Pie, Winner's Circle Pie, or even "First Saturday in May Pie."

I'm not going to ever talk bad about Kentucky cuisine, and I really just scratched the surface because there is so much popular food outside of Louisville, and even in Louisville that I have missed. Kentucky bourbon is a source of pride for Kentuckians all over the state, Louisville has a strong German heritage which has led to many Octoberfests and German festivals popping up with great food. And I don't even know what wonders lie in Appalachia, but I can only fantasize. So Kentucky and its cuisine definitely have a place in my heart, but I'll be honest when I say it is NOTHING in my mind compared to the food you'll find in St. Louis. Read on tomorrow.

Pumpkins and TP

Pumpkin season has officially begun, and I'm beyond excited. My goal is to eat at least one pumpkin item every day between now and December 1. A lofty goal, I know but one I believe I can achieve. I began three nights ago with pumpkin pie from Frisch's, then had a delectable Pumpkin Pie Blizzard from DQ two nights ago. Last night I purchased what will undoubtedly be my saving grace on this quest: Pumpkin Delights. These are true to their name, as they are a delightful snack put out by Little Debbie (that bitch knows some snack cakes), and are small and cheap enough that if it gets to be 11:00 at night and I haven't had my pumpkin fix, I can grab one of those. I look forward to a holiday season filled with pumpkin EVERYTHING!!

On another note, I was in the bathroom the other day and came to a serious revelation. Why is the toilet paper roll always so low to the floor? I would assume this is done under the assumption that people wipe sitting down. But I know I can't do that. And the last thing I want to do after soiling any toilet is to bend down three feet just to get some TP. So why don't they start putting the roll up about 4-5 feet high. I know I wouldn't mind having to reach up to get my asswipe.

The weather here in Louisville has officially turned from summer to fall. And I couldn't be angrier. I am already missing the 90 degree days with a heat index of 105. But I guess we can't always get what we want. Right now it's about 55 degrees and will only top out at about 67. The overnight lows are regularly in the high 40's. It was pretty much like day and night. It was pretty hot last week and then all of a sudden the bottom dropped out. And most people are probably loving this "beautiful fall weather," but it's making me miserable. All this does to me is make me think of how bad the weather will be in a month. Oh well, I'll live with the somewhat warm weather while I can.

On a positive note, I had lost my copy of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out but thanks to the wonder that is Facebook (I know it has a lot of critics) I found it. Turns out I had lent it to a friend of mine. I changed my profile on Facebook to say that I was missing my game, and my friend immediately got in touch with me and told me he had it. So no matter what anyone says, Facebook did me some good in my life. Now I can begin my quest for a third Perfect Punch-Out!!