Eating out in Portland, Maine? Pretty much the Best Thing Ever.

For my final American roadtrip, Pascoli and I went to Portland, Maine. The only thing I knew about Maine was that it has good seafood, so I vowed from the outset to try and eat the ocean's bounty at every single meal. I love a good self imposed challege and very nearly succeeded. Here's a very quick review of the highlights:

Oven-baked garlic mussels at Fore Street. These plump little parcels of deliciousness caused me to make noises that I would not normally share with a public audience. The sourdough served to mop up the juices just about had me on my knees in worship too. Nicely chewy, proper crust, plenty of wonderful sourdough bubbles. Fore Street is pretty famous in Maine (and beyond), and they recommend booking about five years in advance and putting your hypothetical firstborn down as collateral. But you should totally do what we did: rock up with no reservation and eat appetizers in the lounge. This is food cooked with care and intelligence.

Lobster Roll at Becky's Diner. Imagine your usual lobster roll: finely shredded bits of lobster meat, heavy on the mayo, generic bun. My lobster roll from Becky's blew that shit out of the water. It had two claws full of meat, left intact so you know it hasn't come mass produced from five different crustaceans. Lightly toasted yeasty bun, crunchy iceberg. Becky's Diner is right on the waterfront, and is open at 4am to cater to their fishermen clientele. Totally unpretentious and pretty awesome all round.

Clam Chowder at Gilberts. Another waterfront joint, Gilberts is famous for its award winning chowder. I loved my chowder, but disappointed with my side of oysters, which tasted bland and were a bit heavy on the batter. Still, great chowder is great chowder. Worth a visit.

Sushi at Benkay. We missed out on Rock n Roll Sushi night at Benkay (at 10pm every Saturday they serve sushi along with rock n roll music and a laser light show - holy shit!) but we went for lunch the next day instead. The sushi was super fresh, imaginative, and beautifully presented. The bathroom had a large scale print of a Japanese mermaid getting fondled by a hapless admirer. The soysauce came in tiny teapots. The wakame salad was the best I've ever eaten; lemony, great texture, well balanced, right temperature. Win all round.


I won't give a run down of every crumb that passed my lips in Portland, but suffice to say, if you like seafood (fresh, tasty, and treated with respect) you'll love Portland.

Love, Doris Plum

PS: I'm leaving the States tomorrow! I'll be sure to fill you in on my culinary adventures in Halifax next week though...

Philly Cheesesteak TICK

I recently enjoyed my first authentic Philly Cheesesteak. I was on my way back from a weekend trip to Washington DC, and took a little detour to Philadelphia on the way home to sample this unique American... well I use the term "delicacy" loosely.

For the uninitiated, a Philly Cheesesteak consists of thinly sliced strips of steak and melted cheese in a long roll.

It's been around since the 1930s, with various iterations over the years (it was originally served minus cheese, with chopped steak instead of sliced).

Whilst there are many cheesesteak places in Philadelphia - and indeed, throughout the States - there is a particularly fierce rivalry between Pat's and Geno's.

I chose Geno's, for no real reason at all. It's a hole-in-the-wall style place with bright red tiling, a line-cook who looks like he's spent some time in a local penitentiary, and "We Support Our Troops" plastered across every formica surface. Other gems included: "This is America, when ordering please speak English," and "Land of the Free BECAUSE of the Brave."

Poetic, isn't it?

So anyway, the cheesesteak. I was a bit scared of the Cheese Whiz variety, despite the NY Times calling this canned orange monstrosity "the sine qua non of cheesesteak connoisseurs." I went for the provolone option instead. I was pretty excited about trying out this iconic dish, but... I really can't think of much to say about it.

There was meat. There was cheese. And there was bread. It was well cooked but not imaginatively so. Nor was I expecting it to be. It's a Philly cheesesteak. Ta-da! Ticked off my list. I bet kids *love* these things, they are easy to chew and pretty bland and inoffensive. I think that's part of the reason for the intense cheesesteak love; people have all this nostalgia leftover from childhood cheesesteak experiences.

I'm sorry Philadelphians - it just didn't light my fire. Or as the lovely Sarah Jane would say, "It didn't exactly blow my skirt up." Cheesesteak lovers, please don't hunt me down for saying this on the interwebs. Remember, Philadephia is the city of brotherly love... Hmm? No?

Doris Plum in a nutshell (ba-dom chhhh)

My darlings. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Doris Plum, and I like food; buying it, cooking it, writing about it, eating it, talking about it. I'm a New Zealander living in Massachusetts, shortly moving to Canada.

Some meandering thoughts to get us started:

• Skim milk is the devil, and artificial sweetener will probably kill you in the end. Although I quite like the packaging for Sweet'n'Low. I think it's the colour; that sickly pink is strangely alluring, it reminds me of the bunny suit from A Christmas Story.
• If I could eat one food for the rest of my life it would be avocados, closely followed by roast chicken (skin on, thank you).
• Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a god among men, and Emeril Lagasse might be a secret misanthrope. I love how his TV audience screams like little girls whenever he says the word "garlic" though. That shit cracks me up.
• People should know where their food comes from. Go to the farmers' market even if it's raining, you goddamn wuss. Make it a social occasion. I remember arranging to meet my bestie Sarah Jane at the Sunday markets a few years ago. It had all the makings of a Shakespearian comedy of errors (minus the cross dressing) or maybe an American sitcom (minus the cross dressing). I was waiting at the Chaffers Park markets, meanwhile SHE was lingering at the peach stand of the Willis Street markets. Sarah Jane waited by those peaches for 45 minutes so she could deliver a dirty peach-related one-liner when I arrived. Alas it was not to be. And the little filth-monger never divulged what the one-liner was. It's time to spill, S.J.
• Eat more vegetables than you think you need. Brussels sprouts are gorgeous and deserve their own backlit display stands. The majestic leek is worthy of seventeen sonnets. And don't get me started on the shy, rustling beauty of kale. Oh, kale.
• I think it's bizarre that people add marshmallows to sweet potato casserole (when I say "people" I really just mean "Americans." Marshmallows are big here, as are some of the people).
• One day I want to make turducken. And when I do, I shall write about it here in the Adventures of Doris Plum. I'll also write fun food facts from the history books, home kitchen wins, beer write-ups, restaurant reviews, food-related present ideas, and some general foodie rants when I'm feeling snarly. Please join me.