Sunday, January 21, 2007

Blogging from Sarasota

I
never exactly saw myself as one of those people who would wind up in Florida at a slightly advanced age, yet as of one week ago, I’ve become a resident of Sarasota. I’m grateful to be here for any number of reasons, not least of which is a return to eating a reasonable diet. During the three-day trip from Connecticut, I spent a disproportionate amount of time in Cracker Barrel restaurants eating things like ‘Chicken Fried Chicken,’ and some kind of mucilage called gravy. I chalked it up to ‘keeping up my strength.’ I have no such excuse for the biscuits with sausage gravy that constituted breakfast for the final leg of the trip from a motel in Santee, South Carolina.

Nevertheless, I did eat some serviceable catfish on the way down here, and had some great barbecue at a place called Grannie’s in Starke, Florida, which—apart from the barbeque—seems to hold the distinction of being the ‘capital punishment capital’ of the state of Florida.

Thermometer
Now, I’m pleased to report that Sarasota turns out to be a pretty good food town. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the temperature reaches approximately eighty degrees on good days, and we have a couple of beaches within easy striking distance.


On my first full day here, my significant other—whom I’ll call Fatima—took me to The Red Barn; a large, open-air market in Bradenton where we bought approximately twenty pounds of various vegetables and wound up with change from a ten-dollar bill.


While the Red Barn is primarily a flea market, it includes approximately one hundred yards of food vendors selling nearly any vegetable you can think of. It also includes an eastern European sausage maker with a stall that has the look and feel of Cold War Hungary, but that’s a story for another time.


Tomato Vendor
It warmed my heart to see that tomatoes are in season here, and strawberries are ‘comin’ good’ too. And, since most of the vendors are Latino, tomatillos, cilantro, avocado, and all manner of chili peppers are readily available. And speaking about ‘keeping up one’s strength,’ the intrepid shopper in need of sustenance while navigating the vegetable stalls will appreciate the food concession with a decidedly Latino bent. Pozole, tacos, and menudo are all available to keep hunger at bay. And while I couldn’t exactly get lampredotto at 9:00 a.m., I was able to make do with a tripe taco.


Meyer Lemons
I was encouraged to find an abundance of Meyer lemons there. Naturally, I began to think about agnello a scottaditto, and vitello alla picatta. And of course, a little Meyer lemon granita would be a welcome ending to any meal.


But most of my neighborhood seems to be an open-air market; and the price is right. I can walk around the block, and come home with an armload of grapefruit, oranges, and star fruit. Alas, the only Meyer lemon tree that Fatima knew about has been bulldozed to make way for a new home, but we’re optimistic we’ll find another nearby.


In the meantime, Fatima has been promising an outing to Venice, some twenty minutes to the south, where a group of expatriates from New Britain, Connecticut are rumored to be making their own mozzarella di bufala. Oh yes, this is definitely a good food town.

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