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Weird Regional Foods
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| Key Lime Pie = tastes like triumph |
Mayors can always be counted on to make corny wagers over sports, promoting both their championship-seeking team and local specialties in one fell press release.
Earlier this week, a trio of Tampa Bay-area mayors proffered the traditional World Series food bet to our man Mike Nutter. St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker, Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard and Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio are throwing into the ring a tempting Florida menu of coconut shrimp, stone crab claws, Cuban sandwiches, commemorative cigars and key lime pie.
Nutter has countered with a list of classic Philadelphia junk food: cheesesteaks, Tastykakes, soft pretzels, Delilah's mac-n-cheese and, just for fun, a Rocky statue. Meal Ticket, recognizing that the bronzed champ is totally indigestible, humbly suggests substituting it for a Rocky statue made out of cheesesteaks, Tastykakes, soft pretzels and Delilah's mac-n-cheese.
City Hall has wisely not endorsed any one steakerie. We won't even consider the possibility that Philly will have to make good on this bet and actually choose one.
"The Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays are two great teams sure to have an exciting series," Nutter said in a statement. "That said, I’m looking forward to a nice dinner of Florida seafood next week." Three more.
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| Open your mouth and close your eyes. |
| Photo | Drew Lazor |
When is a hoagie not a hoagie? When it's a hero, sub, submarine,
zeppelin or grinder. And especially when it's a zep. This Norristown creation possesses subtle but crucial differences from lookalike
sandwiches. A true zep contains only one meat and one cheese — and
lettuce is absolutely forbidden under any circumstances.
Eve's Lunch in Norristown, which is often credited with inventing the zep, still turns out the standard-setting sandwich to much local acclaim. Eve
Mashett has operated the business since 1965, when she bought the sandwich
shop Linfante's from Joseph Linfante, her employer of 10 years. In 2001, Mashett's family took over daily operations. The traditional Eve's zep is
stacked with provolone cheese, cooked salami, tomato, thick slices of
raw white onion cut to order, a dressing of oil and a bit of oregano.
The zep entered the annals of fiction in Jerry Spinelli's classic middle school tearjerker Maniac Magee.
When Maniac is in funds (and not living with the bison at the zoo), his
preferred meal is a zep topped off with a round of Butterscotch
Krimpets. Spinelli, who grew up in Bridgeport and mined his own
childhood experiences for the novel, still goes to Lou's Sandwich Shop to lunch on the lunch he immortalized. Meal Ticket traveled to Lou's to feast on the stinking delight — the incredibly chewy "Conshy roll" combined with the substantial onion crunch makes the sandwich. (Note that our zep was modified with ham instead of the classic salami.)
With a pedigree like that, who needs lettuce?
Eve's Lunch, 301 E. Johnson Hwy., Norristown, 610-277-6600
Lou's Sandwich Shop, 414 E. Main St., Norristown, 610-279-5415
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