Jane and I continued our tradition of road-tripping on July 4th weekend. We rented a car in Wilmington, Delaware and drove south through Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, until we reached our destination, Columbia, South Carolina. Along the way, we tasted some fine American regional cooking.
As we drove through Baltimore, at around 10am, we made a spontaneous decision to stop for crab cakes. I saw the exit for Camden Yards and pulled off of the highway into downtown Baltimore, near the Harbor. We stopped for gas and asked a local where we might find a delectable crab cake. The answer was Lexington Market located a convenient two blocks away.
Once in Lexington Market, we made our way through a myriad of stalls, selling fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, and prepared foods, until we found our fix -- Faidley's Seafood. With it's own little courtyard, Faidley's has a raw bar, a fresh seafood counter, an open kitchen, and a dining area with a few counter tops for standing patrons.
We ordered two deviled eggs, two backfin crabcakes, one softshell crab sandwich, and two teas. The deviled eggs were sweet, made in a Southern style. After this amuse bouche, we tucked into the crab cakes. Exceptionally light and fluffy, yielding easily to the plastic fork, these crabcakes were delicious and not over-adorned, tasting fully of sweet, fresh, oceanic crab. The softy in the sandwich was battered lightly in a breadcrumb crust, which allowed the essential crab flavors to shine through, instead of being overshadowed by the bready flavor of a thick coating.
The next pit stop was in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Following the advice of a couple of gas station employees/BBQ enthusiasts, we decided to visit Gardner's.
This is what Jane ordered: Fried Fish Platter with a side of yams, coleslaw, and hush puppies.
Grinding
Barbecue Platter: Pulled pork seasoned with vinegar sauce, black eyed peas, fries, collard greens, and hushpuppies.
This is Eastern North Carolina style barbecue, which means that the choice of meat is pork, as opposed to beef. After cooking, the pork is pulled and seasoned with a peppery vinegar sauce. As a fatty meat aficionado, I thought that the pork was too lean and therefore a bit dry. Still, though, I was a happy camper because it tasted pretty darn good and I stuffed it down.
Barbecue enthusiast.
In Columbia, Jane's father Russell and his wife Becky treated us to a lunch at a college-type pub. I got a pulled pork sandwich dressed in a sweet and smoky tomato-based sauce, served with fries and a pickle.
On the way back from Columbia, we stopped in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, Andy Griffith's hometown, and the setting for the Andy Griffith Show. This is definition small town America. Just outside of town we pulled over for lunch. I had a Barbecue Sandwich with sides of black eyed peas, collards, and hush puppies.
The 'cue was Western NC style: pulled pork dressed with a tomato-based, sweet and smoky sauce. I put the platter away with gusto.
Jane's plate is in the foreground. She had crab cakes with mac and cheese, slaw, and corn bread.
We each got tea, her's unsweetened and mine sweetened. Jane eats a fried cornmeal dumpling called a hushpuppy. Really, by the end of the trip we were burned out on fried foods and craved something like sushi and sashimi.
1 comment:
Every. Single. Thing. Makes me drool! Those crab cakes at the market in Baltimore look like they were worth the trip alone. On the bbq front...it all looked awfully tasty! What's your opinion of Fette Sau?
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