Did you ever?
… eat in a restaurant called Ketchup? Would you? We did. It was in Jeddah. Why? The name, of course. It was a Middle Eastern restaurant. Of course, it was. Good? I have no recollection. So, I guess, forgettable.
… eat, deep fried kale? Preserve, Annapolis. It was a restaurant recommendation at another store. Spectacular! And messy! I tried it at home. Kale splatters oil all over the place. It is the quintessential poster child for “Don’t try this at home!” Good? Spectacular! Have we been back? No, it is, alas, (it’s) bad for you. But boy oh boy, was it good!
Kale
Preserve restaurant, Annapolis. My choice. My first meal home when I returned from Saudi. I’m not sure we have been back since. It’s not exactly healthy. Deep fried kale. Delicious! That’s why it has to be bad for you. Happy! You bet! The restaurant is still there. I recommend it. It lost its allure when I could go there at will. On some level you realize that you can’t eat deep fried food too often.
Food of the year
I’ve had this discussion before. The first was mozzarella sticks way back in 1982. We had them in Hawaii. Good stuff. Old hat…very old hat. Kale? Nope! Never! I never saw it till it crossed my path in 2014 in a green smoothie Jules ate in California. Thick as sludge, so, I think she ate it. And now in Annapolis – fried kale. Annapolis? It went mainstream “food of the year” right under my nose. Chicago – specialty food store – Mariano’s – carried it – as well as Whole Foods. Kale chips – they are thick and crumble easily. The leaves are very delicate. Deep fried and dolloped with mustard mayo, garnished with onion, pepper and so forth, the dish is sublimely seductive. Yeah! Anything this good is bad for you and I can readily attest. We stopped in this restaurant and made special trips to go there. Nuts! Deep fried kale is dead simple to make. After we deconstructed the dish and made some, it’s no longer the draw and attraction.
My current “go to” is sweet potato chips. “Food of the year” comes and goes. It is food trend that often is not obvious at first. Kale remains a curiosity. I will not be drinking a kale smoothie any time soon in my “Vitamix.”
Kale
Ok, I’m stretching here. I’m desperate for a post? I have lots of images. Good ones. Great fish pics. I’m bored. Too much fish. My attention is wandering. Or I am separating? I will secretly admit that I do not prefer to eat fish. Mrs. Paul’s fish sticks with tartar sauce, is my most vivid childhood memory. Yes, I ate American cheese sandwiches too. And that’s not cheese! Geez! And, I won’t eat cheese whiz; it’s not real food.
Kale is one of the veggies not in my diet. I don’t and have never sought it out. We have lived apart and quite happily so all of my life until now.
The picture does not do the dish justice. I’m not a food photographer. And I was using available light. And well, you know, the food was too good to start styling it at the table. So the picture is not particularly special. But the memory, that’s a different kettle of fish. Fish? No, it’s just another American slang saying. Like… “I’ll meet you at the pass…” Don’t ask. But Jennifer knows.
Describe it? It’s deep fried. That is enough information right there. Stop! Deep fried? Yes! Stunning what you can do with leaves. The rest is history. There are dollops of mustard mayo and you can see the onions. But the crunch and the texture and the flavors are not translatable. You just have to eat this. The picture is a mere shadow of the real thing. Which is more important? The picture or the story? …you gotta try this!
photobackstory 