Other Than Mizzura

Where have I been?  Not in St. Louis.  Rather in other places, that is other than Mizzura. 

Cork, Dublin, Naples, Pompei(i) and then Naples (again). 

Ireland was great, but freezing cold.  

Highlights from Naples/Pompei include (but are not limited to):

Getting into the basement of the Museo Nazionale.

Getting locked in the basement of the Museo Nazionale.

Having the proprietor of the restaurant (where I had the best pasta ever - roasted eggplant, tomato-gorgonzola sauce.  Dear lord it was tasty) decide to defend his honor.  With a large serrated knife.

Getting into the storage area of Pompei. 

Staying in a Hotel-Motel that rents rooms by the hour.  

Watching the bats (pipistrelli) swoop down on the pool at said 'hotel' by night.  

Leaving said 'hotel' early. 

Having the next door neighbors at the boutique hotel in Naples have a knock down, drag out 7 hour Neapolitan family drama.  What this means is lots of screaming, lots of slammed doors, crying child and threats of 'I'm going to kill you'.  Or to be more precise 'I'm going to kill you in a messy way (amazzare not uccidere - look it up).

Finding the glory that is Italian Amy Winehouse = Giusy Ferreri.  Non ti scordar mai di me. 

No more 'foreign' posts, back soon to the foreign land that is St. Louis.   And no, I've still not had St. Louis style pizza.  I'm on a break from pizza anyways.

Sandwich Time (jazz hands)

The culinary culture of St. Louis is replete with many variations of the sandwich.  A noble snack, a hearty dinner, a good anytime munchie.  These, however, are not your mobile sandwiches for the most part.  Knives and forks seem to be de rigueur.   Bread as a conveyor of tasty sandwich innards merely acts as a discrete covering or a pedestal for the display of all that tasty . . . meat n' stuff.   Two of these bad boys celebrate the openface with aplomb. And no, I haven't eaten any of these yet.  But I will, except for number 4. 

 

1) The Gerber - a relative latecomer, 1970's or so.  Like Provel/St. Louis Cracker Pizza this comes from down off the 'Hill' - oh, wait there is provel involved.  It is relatively simple, and served openface:  loaf of french bread sliced, spread with butter/garlic butter, pile high with thin shaved ham, top with provel, bake until bubbly/melty.  This is said to be proprietary to Ruma's Deli . . . so, don't go trying to name your openface cheesy-ham melt a Gerber.  

2) The Prosperity - an earlier openface (and not much seen apparently of late).  Origins are at the Mayfair Hotel, circa 1920s:  on top of two slices toast pile turkey and ham, cover with cheese sauce, toast and then top with bacon.  I believe that after the advent of Provel (the messiah of St. Louis cheese culture - BP and AP?), the tasty combo non-cheese became involved.  Can you hear your heart valves pumping a little more strenuously?

3) The St. Paul - no, not Minnesota.  This one is gross/amazing all at the same time.  A specialty of the Chinese restaurants, who were apparently attempting to meet the needs of a sandwich obsessed city:  make an egg foo young patty including bean sprouts and minced onions, fry it up good, put it on Wonder Bread (this is critical) with a slathering of mayo, accoutrements include usually lettuce, tomato and dill pickle.  Behold!!

Behold, again!

4) The Brain Sandwich - here the moniker is descriptive.  Calf brain, sliced, deep fried. On white bread.  Pickles optional.  This is a sad victim of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy - or rather, people don't want to eat this and then become a victim of BSE.  This is not a 'St. Louis' unique sandwich, rather it was a favorite of German immigrants with happy access to stockyard left0vers.   Evansville, Indiana, and the Ohio Valley more generally also maintain a fond/strong connection to the spongy, crunchy combo.  Still served at some local establishments like Ferguson's. Young children, vegetarians and the sensitive of stomach avert your eyes:

Nothing to do With Mizzura

Um, Facebook seems confused about my gender. Here verbatim the recent 'note' I received: 

"Which example applies to you?

Right now your Mini-Feed may be confusing.  Please choose how we should refer to you.

Melissa edited her profile. 

Melissa edited his profile."

I was tempted to choose option 2, but then I thought - no, Facebook deserves my serious answer. I don't want to continue the obvious confusion (??!!!??) about my gender.  Sorry to any Facebook friends who were momentarily confused by my obviously gender-boundary crossing profile edit.  

I am a girl.  I swear.

The "Not Cheese"

So, I promised you Provel.  This is a locally consumed and loved processed cheese product.  According to the FDA it is not cheese - its moisture point is all crazy.  

What is it? It is an amalgam of provolone, cheddar and swiss.  It stays 'softer' at room temp.  When melted and you bite into, there are no strings.  Critics claim a greasy/oily/chemical feel.

Why?  Apparently it was 'invented' to fill a gapping need for another St. Louis original - St. Louis style pizza.  They wanted a cheese that had a clean bite (no cheesy strings, well . . . its not really cheese).  This natural-unnatural hybrid was concocted in Costa Grocery on the 'Hill' sometime in the 50's.  

And now we come to the other great mystery - St. Louis Pizza, the unholy marriage of provel and . . . cracker crust. 

Yes, you heard right - here's a description.  The base of the pizza is an unleavened cracker, piled with your toppings of choice and then provel.  The round pie is then cut into squares.  Its a cracker with cheese, round-n-square.  Imo's Pizzeria is apparently king of the pie. 

I find descriptions of the taste (no, I haven't tried it yet) - equal parts intriguing and terrifying.  The sauce is sweet.  The unique flavor/texture of provel adds a 'sour' note.  Again, salt is a predominant note.  The crust is well . . . a cracker, 'saltine' is often used as a descriptive reference.  

I will try it.  Its just a matter of time and perhaps enough beer.  Next time, weird sandwiches and the city that loves them. 

Living the Loop

Okay, that is perhaps an overstatement.  I've only really been to the Starbucks.  And had a sandwich at Brandt's.  Oh, and I went to the Post Office.  But. . . the loop is a happening place (see official website for details of its happening-ness: www.visittheloop.com). 

Things / Places that intrigue me:

Tivoli Theater - appears to be the only Landmark Theater in St. Louis ( I may be wrong).  It was built in 1924, closed in 1994 but was resurrected.  Kind of like Jesus - but then it didn't have to do that whole 'on the cross' thing.  I don't know, maybe it did.

Riddles Penultimate - sheesh, both great/irritating name.  Supposedly its a restaurant/wine bar.  The food is acclaimed to be fantastic.  There is a lot of local sourced happy pigs and such on the menu.  

Thai Pizza.  Enough said.  Maybe this one will stay on my 'never ate there, kind of scary, what the $%#* is a Thai pizza'.  

Saleem's - on the corner.  It claims to serve Lebanese food for those that love garlic.  And it has Pabst Blue Ribbon Draught specials - 1 dollar all Thursday night. 

Blueberry Hill - is huge.  Its a restaurant.  I think.  And a bar.  I think.  And maybe also a music venue.  It takes up a whole block with its Blueberry colored walls.  It serves both deep fried ravioli and trout almondine.  And they do all day breakfast.  I don't know how I feel about this one.

Brandt's - a little too perky, but has sidewalk seating and serves one of the most extensive Belgian beer menus I've ever run across.  With Lambic on tap. 

Cicero's - another 'do everything, be everything' place.  This time with Italian food. 

Melting Pot - Yup, fondue.  But this is not your momma's 1970's fondue.  They do fancy things with that bubbling pot of goodness.  And it is not cheap. 

HBS Tobacconist - yes, a real oldskool tobacco shop.  Here was a scene I enacted I like to call Little 1930's Mel:  "Can I get some matches, sir?  The pilot light on me stove has gone out."  Yes, smoking is allowed here.  Anybody remember "Smoking or non-smoking?" upon entering a restaurant?  Well, you can relive it here.

Starclipper - its current window display includes Ugly Dolls of allll sizes and colors.  I mean colors and sizes I never even dreamt of.  Makes me miss my Uglies.  And want to buy more.  Mwahahaha. 

Coming soon - meditations on Provel.  You'll just have to wait to find out.

Why I hate Cable Companies

I'm getting to know the awfully friendly folks over at Charter Communications very very well.  Perhaps, too well.  My lovely new cable landline does not work.  And all the technicians with all their tech know-how couldn't put Melissa's landline back together again.

I wait with baited breath.  I have another date tomorrow.  Maybe this time it will go past telephone first base - which would mean that it works for longer than 3 hours. 

Sigh.  

Wash U is nice tho'.  My promised pics will be up soon - the camera has to charge.