(no subject)
Saturday we went to the SWFlorida Somethingth Annual Mango Festival. It was great but sweltering. We were going out again that afternoon and had to take showers again! Ah, but there was food and mango-y treats to cool us in the meantime! I'm from Maryland, born and raised. I could clean a crab in a minitue and a half. At age 5. I know MD Crabcakes. This? Not so much. We asked if they (the people selling them) were from Maryland. So we thought, sure, let's support a neighbor, we bought three. We said where in MD are you from, and the "in charge" guy said Columbia. Now, in Maryland there is an long standing mild bit of rivlary* between the Eastern Shore (us) and the Western Shore (him). so we jokingly said with a slight bit of mock-distaste "Oh, the Western Shore". When he looked blankly at us and said "No, Columbia", we knew something was wrong. "That is on the Western Shore," we said, slightly confused, to which he answered "No, Maryland is on the East Coast. " We walked away knowing that guy was NOT from Maryland. Then we tasted them. Crab, probably. Maryland Style Crab Cakes? Not at all. No Old Bay Seasoning, none. They had parsley. If you google MD Style Crab Cakes, go ahead do it.... you will see 312,000 entries for said crabcakes. The crab may have come from Maryland, but they were not crabcakes that you would get in Maryland. Heck, that guy probably did the same google I did and used the first recipe that popped up (which by the way, also doesn't have any Old Bay in it. I have no problem refuting the validity of these claims. I AM RIGHT THEY ARE WRONG). Let me repeat: MD CRAB CAKES HAVE OLD BAY IN THEM. They are delicious. They do not have parsley in them. NO PARSLEY. I really miss crabcakes. I miss crabcakes more than most of my family that lives there, He! Just kidding. Really. The "crab cakes" we had did not fill that need. I felt cheated.
But his mango tea was excellent. Lesson, Florida=mangos. Maryland=crabs. Know your geography.
*In the winter of 1991, Gov. Schaefer was walking through the State Senate and made a comment to the Shore's representative "How is that s***house of an Eastern Shore?". When the remark circulated, Eastern Shore residents erupted in protest, even hoisting wooden outhouses and bags of manure on their pickup trucks and heading for the governor's mansion. I didn't say I was proud of my neigbors. It is what it is.
But his mango tea was excellent. Lesson, Florida=mangos. Maryland=crabs. Know your geography.
*In the winter of 1991, Gov. Schaefer was walking through the State Senate and made a comment to the Shore's representative "How is that s***house of an Eastern Shore?". When the remark circulated, Eastern Shore residents erupted in protest, even hoisting wooden outhouses and bags of manure on their pickup trucks and heading for the governor's mansion. I didn't say I was proud of my neigbors. It is what it is.