Monday, April 27, 2009

We are Rhode Islanders

Chef Frank Terranova M.C.F.E.

So How Famous Are We.

We are Rhode Islanders;
So, How Famous Are We?
First of all, our little state flag is an anchor and the state motto is “Hope”. But did you know that our state’s foods are in the state constitution? Check this out. Did you know that the official state rock is Cumberlandite? It contains such a large amount of iron in the stone that it was used to make cannon balls during the Revolutionary War. The state mineral is Bowenite; of course, neither of these can be eaten!
So let’s go after the big stuff. The state shell is the quahog clam named by the native Indians who used it as trading wampum. Go figure.  So that’s where Rhode Island clam chowder came from or the famous clam cake’ fritter, depending where in R.I you lived. Never the less, very tasty little things. Now for the big guy. The state fish is the striped bass. And I do have to say these guys fight like heck! I can attest to a 30 pounder I caught last summer, and they even run bigger than that.
The state animal is the R.I Red; yes, a chicken. Really not an animal in the true sense of the word, but they do taste pretty good. But what makes them great is they lay brown eggs. Yes, white chickens lay white eggs, and brown or reddish-colored chickens lay brown eggs.
The state fruit is the apple; to be exact it’s the R.I. Greening. This is a very famous apple and it’s best for making apple pies. It is also widely used by commercial bakeries, even outside R.I.
The official R.I. drinks: maybe beer?  Hmmm, nope, you are going to have to settle for coffee milk. It was adopted as the official drink in 1993 and the big controversy is that some believed that Del’s should become the state drink. However, it’s a frozen confection (and very good, by the way). To go with the coffee milk is the famous R.I. hotdog, better known as the hot weiner.  That is my all-time favorite food.
How about some other famous foods? Well, we do have some great maple syrup. What should we use it for?  What makes it special is the Johnnycake meal, still produced by stone grinding corn. We do have some really wonderful foods in out little state.  Leave behind all the negative publicity caused by some irresponsible people. Our state foods are the best. So here is a really nice tribute menu of R.I. foods. How about:
For breakfast:
2 R.I. Red Eggs over light
4 Johnnycakes with Maple Syrup
For lunch:
Bowl of R.I. Clam Chowder
Clam cakes
6 Hot Wieners with Coffee Milk
For a snack:
Del’s Lemonade
For dinner:
Baked Striped Bass
For dessert:
Apple Pie
Say what you want:  there isn’t another state that can produce that kind of menu.
Now that’s Cooking with Class.