From the very spawning of the idea of doing a coast to coast Food Tour of the United States, a trip to Maryland to sample the crab was present. The state is renowned for its blue crab, callinectes sapidus, and it is a major source of income for the state. In 1993 the harvest’s value was calculated at $100 million, though this dropped to $61 million by 2004 due to declining crab populations. Served in crab cakes or simply boiled, slathered in butter and garlic, this state crustacean is a delicious attraction, attracting both tourism and buyers to Maryland every year.

Are you surprised that we decided that it had to be an absolute must? Understandably eager, we called by a favourite local spot for all things crab: Waverly Crab House, in Baltimore, Maryland. The place is in a bit of an…iffy part of town and the exterior doesn’t exactly beam welcome. There are no tables; you pick up your crab and move on out. As fast as possible. Perhaps I’m being unfair, perhaps, in fact, it is a lovely area.  Perhaps I wouldn’t know a ghetto if it came and did a Morris dance right in my face. But then again, perhaps it just was in the ghetto.  However, we had heard epic things in our Lonely Planet and were determined to persevere.

If you know me you’ll know that it is my solemn and most fervent view that French cooking is the finest in the world. British, obviously I adore, Indian holds a dear spot, but French, yes French, is my passion. Butter, garlic, cheese- dirty, filthy, slutty things like that, mmm. Set me asides a table in heaven, the French Quarter.

Upon my arrival in Washington DC I had undergone a vicious regime of strict Americana dining. BBQ, grits, fried chicken, lots and lots of burgers. I had loved it, loved every minute, but there was something in me, some minute little goblin that after 2 months was calling out for something old, something European. I tried to stifle it in Salem, Virginia – a tiny town off the Blue Ridge Parkway, remarkable for no reason in particular. We took a break from Southern comfort food and popped out to an Italian. It was awful, disgusting beyond belief – a butchery of the Italian cooking that is most surely a religion. In my eyes anyway. My itch remained unscratched, chafing.

And then, a revelation. News whispered to my ears of a small bistro deep in DC, French in genre, excellent in repute: Bistro du Coin. Its menu flirted with me, coyly suggesting authenticity. We booked. Queues out the door boded well and the smell of garlic wafted down the street, seductive to the extreme. The atmosphere of the restaurant carried an air of structured chaos: waiters rushing around like headless chickens, every inch of floor space crammed with rickety tables, elegant chairs. Mussels, offal, tarts – ahh, Paris.

Have you ever been ‘meat drunk’? The phrase I use refers to that sensation you feel having consumed vast quantities of bleeding, meaty protein. That pricking of perspiration, revolution of the room. The haze that comes over you, the fluttering and dropping of your eyelids, that slight woozy, wasted feeling. This does exist, I know. I eat said vast quantities of meat on a very frequent occasion both for pleasure and because, when I do diet, I do the Dukan Diet, meat intensive and the yummiest of all diets. It is vaguely pleasurable, vaguely disorientating, in about a 50:50 ratio. It was this sensation that I was seeking upon entering 12 Bones, Asheville, North Carolina.

12 Bones would also, most sadly, mark the culmination of the BBQ portion of my Food Tour across the United States. I had tried (a lot of) Texas BBQ, I had gorged on Memphis fare and now it was time to taste North Carolina ‘Q’, the Eastern variety. Eastern North Carolina BBQ is most commonly pork, served pulled or chopped and comes with a vinegar sauce. In the East it is more common for the whole hog to be used, both white and dark meat, whereas in the West it is more often just the shoulder meat. In the West there is frequently tomato included in the vinegar sauce too. What all this boils down to is yumminess. I was excited to check it out.

In the week of August 13-19th 2012, tens of thousands of people flocked to Memphis. The reason? To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. This week, known as Elvis Week, was filled with events glorifying the young singer; concerts, competitions, even a candlelight vigil. Literally thousands of Elvis impersonators took to the streets, quiffs nodding in the balmy summer breeze. To put a figure on it; on the Thursday, the day of the candlelight vigil, 75,000 people passed through Graceland, Elvis’ mansion. My two companions and I also flocked to Memphis during this week, however not to boogie on down to Hound Dog or sob over the hundreds of wreaths lining Graceland’s driveway. No, the timing was purely coincidental. What we were all shook up over (ho ho ho) was the prospect of sampling reportedly the best fried chicken in the USA. Where? At Gus’s Chicken, Memphis.

Like so many of the other great finds of my Food Tour, it was Adam Richmond, presenter of Man vs. Food, who had led me to Gus’s. Check out the video clip below. When I first spied Adam munching away on the golden wings in Gus’s, I was determined that before long it would be me, yes me, doing said munching.

Texas BBQ had left me with an appetite for meat. This appetite had always existed. I am an embarrassing person to go to Brazilian Steakhouses with. If you haven’t discovered the wonders of these yet in Britain, get on Google IMMEDIATELY and locate your nearest one. The premise is that you sit down in a dining room containing circling ‘gouchos’, special waiters, carrying skewers of various meats, as many as 21 types typically. They rotationally approach your table carving off slabs of protein, cooked to your liking. It is all you can eat and offers people like me a source of great, great joy. However, what Brazilian had once stirred, Texas BBQ had now inflamed into a veritable blaze. Memphis BBQ approached and I was ready to stuff myself silly and compare the two on the merits of their meat. The death match was to continue.

In my article on Texas BBQ (click here to read, it’s worth a gander) I set out the differences between the various genres of BBQ within the United States of America. To quickly summarise, Texas BBQ in general favours dry rubs with no use of sauces and uses a lot of beef (commonly brisket), as well as pork. Memphis on the other hand uses a lot more pork in its BBQ, mostly ribs, and comes either ‘wet’ or ‘dry’; wet meaning with a sauce, dry meaning without. I was sceptical on the advantages and motivations of saucing; as I think I mentioned previously, to me it seems an easy way of masking poor quality BBQ, both meat and preparation. To me, conceptually it undermines meat. Meat was meant to roam free, to frolic across your plate unhampered by sharp sauces that disguise its taste and distract from its texture, mooing and oinking unchained. Memphis BBQ, in theory, was therefore more attractive to me at that time than North Carolina or Kansas City, since Memphis gives you more of a choice as to whether you want it sauced or not, in the others it is simply standard.

Every trip to New Orleans ought to contain a visit to Bourbon Street at some point. Every trip a visit to the French Quarter, every trip a visit to Royal Street and Frenchmen Street. In the same breath as all these staples for the Nola tourist is a sojourn to Café Du Monde, the legendary café near the French Market, famed predominantly for its Beignets. Café Du Monde was established in 1862 (really really old for America) and is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, often providing live jazz and is forever thronged with hosts of tourists and locals sampling the good coffee and sugary treats. At night the atmosphere becomes slightly more slurred. But who can blame the many punters who head straight for the place from Bourbon Street after the clubs shut?....In fact, I challenge you to devise a more epic drunken snack!

Pralines are a traditional Creole confectionery item, famed for their moreish sweetness and nutty crunch. They derive their name from Marshal Luplesis-Praslin whose butler invented the recipe for pralines as a digestive aid.  
Essentially pralines are a sort of rustic, caramel based fudge, mixed with pecans and set into disks. They are absolutely delicious as a sweet snack but, made smaller, could even be used as canapes!

Give them a try - uber easy - and bring a touch of Creole flavour to your life!

Recipe courtesy of the New Orleans School of Cookery.

Recipe

Ingredients (Makes about 1-50 pralines, depending on size):

1.5 cups white sugar
0.75 cups light brown sugar
0.5 cup milk
6 tbsp butter
1.5 cup pecans, lightly toasted (bake at about 140 Celsius on a tray for about 20 minutes until fragrant and browned)
1 tsp vanilla extract - use good quality - no essence!

Method:

1. In a saucepan melt the butter. Once melted add the milk and vanilla. Stir to combine.
2. Add the sugars and the pecans. Using a wooden spoon (don't use metal; it conducts heat too easily and can cause the caramel to harden/be ruined), stir it in.
3. Continue to stir constantly, never leaving it, until the mixture comes to a 'soft ball stage' - this means that when a teaspoon of it is dropped into cold water, if forms a soft ball in the water. Or, more easily, use a sugar thermometer and wait until it reaches 238-240 degrees Fahrenheit. 
4. Remove it from the heat and continue to stir until the mixture thickens, becomes creamy and a little cloudier and until you can feel sugar crystals starting to form on the sides of the pan. The spoon should make a bit of a rasping sound on the side, brushing against them.
5. Using a spoon (size depending on the size of pralines desired!), spoon portions of it out onto oiled baking paper and set down in a circle shape. Leave to cool, until room temperature and crisp. Serve. These will keep for around 3 days. Delicious.

Jambalaya was the second Creole dish taught to me at the New Orleans School of Cookery. Consisting of meat (usually chicken and Andouille sausage), the 'holy trinity' of celery, green peppers and onions, vegetables, rice and sometimes seafood, it is seasoned with paprika and other spices. This results in a dense, tasty rice dish that is both filling and savoury.
It, like many other Nola dishes, has its roots in the history of New Orleans. It was an attempt by the Spanish, who once held much territory in America, to make their native paella and was further influenced by Nola's French inhabitants and by the Caribbean slaves who added spicing to the dish.

This recipe is for a chicken and sausage Jambalaya. If you want seafood - cook it separately and add it when the rice is turned at the end. 

Perfect for a cool night's feast, a hangover or just a general pig out!

Recipe (12 servings)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 chicken, deboned and cut into 1 inch pieces
1.4 lbs Andouille or smoked sausage, chopped
4 cups white onions, diced
2 cups celery, chopped into small pieces
2 cups green pepper, chopped into small pieces
1 cup garlic, minced
4 cups long grain rice
5 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon oregano
4 tablespoons parsley
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cayenne
2 cups spring onions or tomatoes (or half and half), chopped
salt and pepper

white wine - optional

Method:

1. Season and brown the chicken in oil in a pan over medium/high heat. Remove the chicken from the heat and set to one side. Add the sausage into the same pan and brown over medium heat. Let the sausage become quite intensely browned so that it kind of burns on to the pan. If you have enough time, let this cool. Then reheat it so it browns again. The idea is to get as much flavour burnt on and caramelised around the pan, without it burning and becoming bitter.
2. Add in the onion and saute until almost caramelised, approx. 6 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute until cooked, approx. 1.5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with a splash of white wine or chicken stock - deglaze means to put a liquid into a hot pan with burnt bits of flavour stuck in. By deglazing the pan and scrapping and stirring to get all those burnt on bits off, you are adding flavour back into your dish that might otherwise have been wasted. It also adds a deep brown colour. Make sure you scrape all the bits up. You can repeat this stage a few times, if you have time; deglazing, then letting that dry on and then deglazing again. Just make sure you don't burn it - there's a subtle difference!
3. Add the bell pepper and celery and the chicken. Add in the rest of the stock and the herbs and spices and bring to a boil.
4. Add the rice and stir it in. Bring it to a boil. Stir it again, sprinkle the spring onions and/or tomatoes on top and leave them there. Remove it from the heat and cover. Let this rest for 25 minutes, undisturbed. The rice will slowly cook and absorb the stock and the vegetables on top will steam cook.
5. Remove the cover and quickly turn the rice from top to bottom. Season with salt and pepper and serve!

While travelling in the USA on my epic Food Tour across the States (see the Food Travel Blog section) I attended a cookery class at the New Orleans School of Cookery. Our teacher taught us a number of traditional Nola dishes which I have decided to share! Everything I tried was absolutely delicious and I hope that they work out as well for you all as well.
Gumbo is one of the most famous Creole dishes and consists of a rich stew, made from a darkly browned roux loosened with stock, and containing seafood and the Nola 'holy trinity' of celery, bell peppers and onions. It is thickened with file powder, powdered dried sassafras leaves, and/or okra. In fact the name Gumbo itself may come from the African word for okra, ki' ngombo, which reached New Orleans through the once booming slave trade. Other varieties also include Andouille smoked sausage and chicken or other proteins too.

Gumbo is made using a roux in a different manner to the traditional French manner. A roux is the mixture produced when flour is added to butter and sauteed until it darkens slightly. Once milk is added to it, it becomes a Bechamel sauce (the white sauce on the top of your lasagne!) and is probably the usage most familiar to most people. In Creole cooking the roux is taken much further in the saute stage and is darkened significantly to a deep coffee colour, sometimes even further. This adds a deeper, more savoury flavour and a darker colour. Rouxs also serve to draw flavours together and enhance them - almost like salt. Make sure that you don't burn anything that your roux mixture is added to, or the roux itself - these properties of the roux will ensure that that burnt flavour is unpleasantly enhanced. The picture below shows samples of a roux at different stages of its cooking progression. The photo below that shows the stage that the Gumbo requires. It takes a bit of bravery from those accustomed to making more traditional French rouxs but....take a deep breath and go for it. The results are lip smacking.

This recipe is for a Gumbo made with chicken. If you want to add seafood, add it in around 4 minutes before the very end of its simmering. Serve it with rice and some nice crusty French bread.

PS - another tip! Brown your flour in a baking tray in an oven on 60 Celsius for 45 minutes before using it. It increases the flavour of your roux even further!

www.neworleansschoolofcooking.com/

Recipe

Ingredients (Makes 15-20 servings):

250g lard - lard is key; the flavour of the pork fat really ties the dish together and it is actually better for you than butter
1 chicken, deboned and cut up into 1 inch chunks
1.5 lbs of Andouille sausage, or smoked sausage, chopped
1 cup plain flour
4 cups white onions, diced
2 cups celery, chopped into small pieces
2 cups green pepper, chopped into small pieces - approx. 1cm
1 cup garlic, minced (if you can get it use 1/2 cup fresh minced garlic + 1/2 cup chopped dehydrated garlic)
8 cups chicken stock
2 cups spring onions, chopped
salt and pepper
vegetable oil

optional: file powder and paprika or a Creole seasoning mix - season at the very end after serving. In Creole cooking these act kind of like table salt and pepper; they are set on the table as people eat and they add as desired. File powder is really interesting - it adds as a thickening agent but makes the gumbo more luxurious and rich. Try and get some - I really liked it. It will continue to thicken however with cooking, so just be aware of that and be prepared to add more liquid if you cook with it, rather than season with it.

Method:

1. Season the chicken and brown in the oil in a pan. Remove from the heat and set to one side. Brown the sausage too and remove from the pot and set to one side. Deglaze the pan with a bit of chicken stock and add this to the chicken stock, to be used later. This means that you can preserve all the yummy meaty sausage and chicken flavours and so that they don't get wasted!
2. Saute onions, celery and the peppers in a big saucepan for a few minutes. Add the sausage.
3. In a new pot (food particles will make it burn) melt the lard and get it nice and hot. Add the flour and stir until it is all incorporated. Continue to stir - never stop stirring and never leave the pan!! - until the roux starts to darken. Take it to a deep caramel/coffee colour (as shown above). It will go very grainy and lumpy - don't worry about this, this is meant to happen - but should soon start to smooth out.
4. When it has reached the desired colour dump it on top of the vegetables and sausage, add the garlic,  and saute again for around 5 minutes.
5. Add a little bit of stock and continue to saute for a few minutes. Add another ladle or so of stock and continue to saute. Then add the rest of the stock and the chicken and bring to a boil. If you have the bones from the chicken, add them in too - it will add more flavour and just make sure that you remove them before serving. This bit is optional though.
6. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about an hour or so. About 10 minutes before the end add the spring onions. Skim, season and serve.

Note - The Gumbo improves over time so if you let it cool overnight and then reheat the next day it will taste even better!

I already sang the praises in my previous recipe post on coffee granita about the wonders of granita. I won't repeat that - it would be over kill on, hopefully, a point already well proved.
This particular granita recipe is perhaps my favourite one at the moment. I first discovered it a year ago from a newspaper article quoting the recipe, which I later adapted. I cooked it for a group of boys as the climax to an Indian feast. I flatter myself that afterwards I could, quite comfortably, have had at least 3 marriage proposals in the bag.
All you mojito lovers out there - this is essentially your favourite cocktail in dessert form. Sweet, extremely tartly sharp, fresh with mint and argh so so warm with rum - it is good. Perfect for after a heavy meal; after you eat it you'll feel like you simply dined on salads! It is just that fresh! Great for a summer dessert too or even as a mid afternoon treat. I hope you like as much as I do.

Note - I upped the dosage of lime juice and rum from the original recipe to make it extra punchy. If you want it less so, leave. If you want it more, right on but you probably don't need it.

Recipe

Ingredients (Serves 6):

635ml water (2.5 cups)
100g white sugar
zest of 2 limes
40g fresh mint leaves
juice of around 8 limes - but get a few extra so that you can add more, according to taste
5 tablespoons of white rum

Method:

1. Place the water and sugar and lime zest into a saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and add all of the mint leaves, bar 5 leaves, and leave to infuse, covered, for 8 minutes.
2. Leave, uncovered, until cooled.
3. Strain into a baking dish/lasagne type tray. Squeeze the mint leaves to make sure that you get out all those precious juices.
4. Stir in the lime juice and rum. Finely chop the remaining mint leaves and stir in too. Taste. Add more lime or rum if required.
5. Place into the freezer and leave for around 30 minutes. Then take a fork and scrape away the forming ice crystals from the edges and break up any larger pieces forming in the middle. Leave for another 30 minutes and repeat. Repeat this until it is all frozen and until you have broken it all up into light, dry and fluffy ice crystals which are intensely flavoured. Approx. 5 hours.

Note - Don't worry if you can't be there every 30 minutes - it just means that you'll have to do some extra strenuous scraping later. I have left it overnight before with no scraping. It emerged as an entire frozen block, but with a LOT of elbow grease and a bit of wastage I managed to turn it into serviceable granita. Try to be there regularly but if it comes to a choice between doing the granita and not doing the granita because you can't be there constantly, definitely do it.

6. Serve. Garnish with a mint sprig.