Do you have anything fat-free?
No

What's that yellow stuff in the corn bread?
Corn

Do you serve anything locally grown?
No

Big Fatty's Bar-B-Que was the only thing left to do. We had explored the Champlain Islands and visited a couple of orchards along the Canadian border. We had driven through roads that are usually closed all winter, and took in postcard-like shots of the green mountains. We'd walked along hidden rocky beaches and watched fireworks reflected over the lake. We took pictures of rickety railroad bridges and old lighthouses and picked chard and raspberries in the community garden.

We had shopped. Burlington has the City Market, an upscale yet surprisingly accessible co-op grocery downtown where Beth's roommate works. I picked up slabs of uncured artesianal bacon, and a metric ton of maple syrup. I found duck fat, which is sublime on roasted potatoes. We hit the bulk food section pretty hard, picking up pounds of this addictive vanilla-flavored granola, handfulls of telicherry peppercorns and a big bag of herbes de provence containing real, fragrant lavender.

Then there was this place called cheese traders, which I assume is this Big Lots for foodies. Think "the ends of cheeses all rolled together to look like yellow brains and re-sold, but in a good way." plus other inexpensive, random stuff, including an olive oil for 3.99 which sells for 13.95 at one of the stores at the Findlay Market.

We cooked. Heh heh. No, really, we cooked. We did a paella, compromising on both the ingredients and method (her squid and my soccorat-inducing oven step) and not skimping on the saffron. We made ice cream in a bag, spewing ice kosher salt all over the hardwood. Pancakes, mint julips muddled with leaves that were sticking out of the ground that very afternoon, and a stone fruit pie (i did the crust!) that almost, almost worked.

(Transportative-Refrigerative sidenote: I froze the leftover paella which became a sort of ice pack during the journey home, keeping the other perishables from perishing)

I'm tempted to argue that Vermont is foodie paradise. I know that San Fransisco has a dizzying variety of high-quality local ingredients and New York City's cutthroat resturant scene caters to the most discriminating clientele in the world, Vermont is still the best place in America to eat well. Everybody cares about food because so many people are still very much connected to where it comes from. I mean, other people farm or raise The guy delivering your paper might have a brother that runs an apple orchard or the people you bump into at the corner store may have worked on a farm growing up. People are sensitive about their food being local and fresh wherever possible.

Anyway, we hadn't gone to Big Fatty's. And my plane left in 12 hours. I read the FAQ and placed my order.

I have never seen so much pork in such a confined space. It was five of us on a picnic table outside, each with this basket full of meat and side dishes in little cups being passed around like heirlooms everybody wants but is somewhat scared to keep. They have brisket on Wednesday, but mainly this stuff is all about the pork... ribs coated in a piquant dry rub and smoked until fork tender, pulled pork sandwiches that overpower the little buns, rich, smokey collards, and these crisp little hush puppies.

Everything disappeared at that moment. It was just me. And a Matterhorn of meat. It was the happiest day of my life.
Posted by Jeff at 11:40 PM:: Permalink :: (Comments Closed)

Comments:

Cat! Wrote:
"Is anything fat-free?" The correct answer is, "The air," (but even that, I would debate). I knew you would like that place, Bacon McFood, because even the hush puppies contain bacon. :)
...................

<-----Earlier
Later ----->