Eating in the States

As soon as I got down from the plane at New York “La Guardia” airport, the first thing that struck me was the food smell: there was this indefinite smell that surrounded me: smell of hot dogs, mustard, hamburgers, cheese and ketchup and all the junk-food we are accustomed to lately.
Soon I discovered what eating in the States means.

My first American junk-food taste was at “Arby’s” roast beef sandwich… It was huge! I only managed to eat half of it!

Something different than what I expected was Hot Dogs, which I used to imagine full of condiment, sauces and cheese, almost hamburger-like, instead I found out that the proper American hot dog has nothing more than ketchup or mustard: a little disappointing.

At a county fair I discovered something I new: the “corn dog”, a hot dog with no bread, covered in batter and put on a stick, to be eaten on-the-go, like an ice-cream, I didn’t really like it though.
Speaking of Ice creams, they also use the “Custard” which is very similar to regular ice cream, except for the fact that it is more dense, because of the egg yolk in the mixture. It is not bad, but an Italian ice cream is just on another level.

Hamburgers deserves a post all for themselves.. In the U.S. Are also used at breakfast, with a variation that contains bacon, eggs and cheese. My favourite, in the U.S. as anywhere else I’ve been to, is the one made by Hard Rock Cafe. It simply has no equals, anywhere in the world.

Aside from it though, in Missouri, the state in which I spent the most time, there is a chain called “Red Robin” that I always remember as a delight for the palate, even if I couldn’t ever manage to finish both a starter and a hamburger, the flavors exploding in my mouth at every bite were extraordinary.. and it is there that I first discovered the Onion Rings and the Buffalo Wings (made of chicken).
At home I used to fix myself a sandwich with two hamburgers, three slices of cheddar cheese, fried onions and mustard. Pretty straight-forward, but I assure you it was very good.
Fried Chicken is another specialty of American cuisine, and something that I like a lot.

Philadelphia has its own typical sandwich: the cheese-steak, a sub full of sliced meat and melted cheese.. a delicacy, especially in its simpler version, not to be missed!

Very common, especially in the southern states, is Tex-mex, which I had the luck to taste in S. Antonio, Texas. I tried Meat Enchiladas and Chili, all accompanied by an excellent margarita.
Chili immediately became one of my favourite plates (even if you consider that I’m Italian) and it is useless to say how much I liked the enchiladas, just know that I like pretty much everything if it has lots of melted cheese.

I was only sorry I didn’t get to taste Cajun cuisine, which is said to be very peculiar, and in general the one of the northern and highlander countries but.. I’ll make up soon enough!