It turns out that I was awoken at around 10am this past Saturday morning. Karin was in need of help. She was moving on Monday and had yet to pack and her daughter had just left from visiting and she needed morale support so I jumped up and within 15 minutes was on a train bound for Albany.
I arrived at the train station an hour later thinking that we would rush to her house and begin the arduous task of packing. Well first we would get boxes. BUT! She was on a quest with her Yelp friends. It was Fish fry day. They were out taste testing fish fry's in the Albany area. Now a fish fry in the south is an event with many fish and hush puppies and beers and music and mosquitoes.
Not so in the upstate NY region of America. It is a sandwich. Ordered with or without. such as, " I need two with and one without." There is no need to say what "it" is because you are at a fish fry. Ted's fish fry, Gene's fish fry, Rob and Paul's fish fry, Matt's fish fry or the Off Shore Pier fish fry. The crusty dives range in ambiance from a pirates shanty where one is sure to be shanghaied to a cute blue and white New England seaside diner. Each had a full menu of fried and broiled seafood and other tidbits but they were all famous for their specialty.
A Fish fry is by definition of preparation: a deep fried piece(s) of flaky (one hopes) whitefish, the crust is a meal of bread and corn crumbs not a batter. It is served between a bun (standard hotdog) and accompanied by a perverted chili sauce, many variations of tarter sauce and cocktail sauce. I say perverted because I am originally from the south and chili sauce is not a sweet condiment. Here in upstate NY it is a sweet condiment with relish and other things added.
the sauces vary the fish may be haddock, cusk, pollack or cod but it doesn't stray far beyond that. The citizens of the greater Albany area line up for this fanciful fish and frolic in its fruition as a fabulous food. We tasted and tasted and tasted and tasted and t a s t e d.... Finally a winner was decided upon based on the collection of scores of eleven tasters. My favorite won. Off Shore fish fry.
For a greater description of the day tune in to:
http://fussylittleblog.com/2011/08/08/tour-de-fish-fry/
for all the details.
Fish ahoy
No comments:
Post a Comment