Passions and Preferences

You say to-MAY-to, I say to-MAH-to. We all have our way of doing things. I think I can speak for just about all Capogirians when I say we all have a passion for food; different preferences, but the common thread is definitely passion. We talk about food, we argue about food, and we are always talking about what we are going to eat next while we are eating. When someone travels, you hear, "Oh! You must try (insert bar/bakery/cafe/restaurant/street vendor/younameit here). Do not leave until you do!" Kamala returned from West Virginia with Oliverio peppers, Dan returns from Wisconsin with curds and eye patches (don't ask), Tacy returns from Maine with tales of lobsters and blueberries (you cannot bring those back), Lorenzo returns with artichokes, and I return with hot sauce and beignet mix. We are passionate.

Today we discussed what we ate in our holiday haunts. The highlight for me was probably one of the most delicious sandwiches I have ever had. See this beauty? It is an Oyster Loaf from Casamento's on Magazine Street in New Orleans. I am not one for white bread, but I lovelovelove oysters. This was near perfection. My brother-in-law, Tiger, took John and I for lunch. He said that he brings out of town-ers to Casamento's. 3 dozen oysters, shucked by the most adorable men, oyster stew, fried crab claws, 3 1/2 oyster loaves, and 6 Abita Gold beers served by the sweetest woman, who started out surly because we were mucking up the runway for the servers. Agreed. As I said, I am not one for white bread, but this was not your ordinary white bread: it was buttery and, quite honestly, worth fighting over. The oysters were shucked moments before and fried perfectly. These people are worthy of worship - Food Titans.

That was not the only perfection of the week. There were others. I'll save it for later. Another time.

I am home and thinking I need to create some new flavors. I feel inspired.