Wednesday, May 6, 2009

in search of the American Savory Snack

My biggest grumble about being in America is that lack of savory snacks. sometimes i just want something quick and easy - 3 fishballs on a skewer. or a curry puff. or some tako pachi octopus balls with kewpie and bonito flakes. when i don't really care for Another Boring Sandwich, or a Very Messy Falafel, or a bag of junk like potato chips god forbid, City Bakery's mac and cheese (the downfall of many a waning afternoon when i'd been so, SO good during the day gorging on raw vegetables and a nasty but tasty looking carrot and orange juice).

I was munching on grapes this afternoon, contemplating the quarts of yogurt that get consumed in my apartment every week. it usually gets mixed with honey, granola and fresh berries in the morning. but today, the compulsion for a savory snack took over. Also, I knew I'd be in trouble if i didn't make dinner with some sort of healthy sauce/decoy chutney accompaniment for a saucehungry sauceconsumer pottering around my apartment with eyes for sauce and sauce alone.

completely unaware of what i was actually making (tzatziki), i absentmindedly chopped up some cucumbers, and garlic, and dished out yogurt and squeezed lemon into it. okay, so it's not really an American Savory Snack (still elusive), the other delicous dip i make is a mean guacamole (still not American), but this dip scratches a couple of snack taste buds for sure.

4 comments:

Pamplemousse said...

You are so SPOT ON about that. Dentist bills here would be so much fewer if there were fish-ball stands instead of aisles and aisles of processed candy bars.

Lately though, I have been OBSESSED with cured meats - market-cured pepperettes and spiced salami.

Another idea might be sitting down one afternoon and making a BIG batch of wonton to store in the freezer. A quick boil and hot tasty savoury snack there for you almost as fast as you can microwave popcorn.

Popping into a corner store run by an immigrant owner can sometimes turn up great homemade savoury goodies. Our corner store in Ottawa had the BEST samosas I've ever tasted. Baked too, not fried.

Pamplemousse said...

Ooh! Another idea is toasting gourmet nuts.. a snack idea out of my jamie oliver book: pan-toasted almonds with a touch of chilli and sea salt. hot, savoury, and healthy too.

Mousse said...

ABSOLUTELY.
http://www.joyofbaking.com/CremeFraiche.html

it needs a little love, but its totally doable.

Mousse said...

i also have a great love for cured meats. for a while my favourite snack was a couple of pieces of felino salami with Pyrenees Brebis, a tasty tasty sheep's milk cheese.

also now that its spring, i've developed a love for this cheese i got from the farmers market - it's a gouda with nettles. its delicious and grassy