Food American Style

Having lived in London now for over a year, there is a distinct style that I can say applies to American food. It is big. It is brash. It is bold. and often. . .







It is FRIED!

Upon our return to the US, there were certain foods that we were dying for. At the top of the list was FRIED CHICKEN. And not just any fried chicken. We wanted Popeye's and we wanted the Colonel's.



I know, they have KFC in the UK, but somehow it seems that a few of the 11 secret herbs and spices have gone missing as it doesn't taste like the KFC anywhere in the US. I've tried it twice in desperation in London, and it is just wrong. Also, though they serve it with chips (fries), they don't serve it with biscuits, and that is also just plain wrong. I think the british would love it with biscuits, or as they call them Scones.

Popeye's Fried Chicken was our first stop after landing in Lafayette. We picked up Chicken Dinners - Spicy - with Red Beans and Rice for me and Dirty Rice for Tony. And boy was it GOOD! We managed to eat at Popeyes once more, and still managed to fit in a stop at KFC.

I saw that KFC is offering a Fried Chicken and Bacon Sandwich and it comes with cheese and potato wedges. . .

Maybe, there should be more limits on how Bold American food can get. This is a heart attack just waiting to happen!






One morning, we went to the Cracker Barrel. It is basically a cute throwback to the general store concept with a bit of Truck Stop thrown in. Tony and I were both dying for a classic American breakfast.


I ordered the Fried Breakfast Plate which consisted of Fried Eggs, Fried Apples, Grits, Biscuits, and Country Fried Steak with White Gravy. With good American Coffee! My arteries were hardening just looking at it. And boy was it GOOD!




Our waitress was very sweet. She'd been deployed in Afganistan, so she understood our happiness to be back in the US and enjoying US foods. She brought us a plate with yet another American Classic Biscuits and Gravy.





One day, Tony and I stopped at a small country food joint that is run by some of his friends to pickup a Cajun classic for lunch one day - Boudin (pronounced Boo-dan) Sausage. You don't find this much outside of Louisiana.








It is similar to Haggis as it is Meat leftovers mixed with Spices and Rice, and then stuffed into a sausage casing.







You can eat it plain, or on a piece of bread like a sandwich with Mayonnaise. So maybe healthy isn't necessarily a requisite for a food to be American.








The other food we were dying for was a good inexpensive Mexican Dinner. You can get Mexican food in London, but if you want anything besides a burrito or Taco, you are going to pay for a gourmet meal. We wanted good, plentiful, and cheap Mexican food.






I ordered a round of Margaritas, and they brought us free chips and salsa.







I ordered a Chicken Enchilada and a Pork Tamale. They came with refried beans and spanish rice. Nothing fancy, and the price was $7 or 4.5 GBP. You won't find that anywhere in the UK.






We were in heaven. We also managed to meet up with Tony's old friends Clint, and Art and his partner. It was a lovely evening enjoying good cheap Mexican food and great Margaritas.







One can't go to Louisiana and not partake of the local classic Cajun dishes - especially the ones involving crawfish. One of my favorites is Crawfish Etoufee, which is crawfish sauteed in a slightly spicy cream sauce and served over rice. If that's not heavy enough on its own, it is served with a side of potato salad. Yummy.



Another specialty is Crawfish Stew, which is Crawfish cooked in a rich brown sauce and served with a dollop of rice and of course some potato salad on the side.

Did I mention that there is a nod to health in these dishes? They are served with a small side of green beans cooked with bacon.





One thing that Tony and I do love is a good cup of American style coffee. Coffee and Louisiana (and particularly the port of New Orleans) has long had a connection to the South American Coffee Trade.




The local brand of coffee in Louisiana is Community. You will find it everywhere. They recently started doing highend coffee houses in the Lafayette area. I was saddened to see that 2 of their coffee houses had closed and at least 3 different Starbucks had opened in their place.


I guess this is the future as major conglomorates force out regional distinctiveness in favor of the "Gapification" of the planet. We made a point of stopping at the Community Coffee Shops almost every day while in Lafayette.





One last local delicacy. . .

The british are famous for creating fun flavored Potato Chips. The Cajuns also have a fun flavor that is hard to get outside of Louisiana - Zapp's Spicy Cajun Craw Taters. They make for a perfect road food.