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The
Rant
September 1, 2005
Several weeks ago I attended the 11th annual McDonald’s Air & Sea Show along the beach and State Road A1A in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Thousands of people gathered on the sandy shore and a closed section of the A1A to view a show that employed some of the high-tech air and sea craft operated by the U.S. military. For example, I saw the V-22 Osprey that can turn itself from a plane into a helicopter, F/A-18 Hornet jets, Harrier jets, B1B Lancers, Black Hawk helicopters and many more aircraft that I could not begin to describe. The top guns flying these planes were making them do curls, twists, dives and dips the like of which I never thought possible. I learned the meaning of the word “precision” when I saw the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team performing aerobatics in their F-16 Fighting Falcons just 200 feet above my head, at speeds in excess of 450 miles per hour. Believe it or not, at times, the wing tips of the F-16s were just 18 inches apart.
When the rumbling of my stomach began to override the rumbling of the aircraft I sought sustenance and had no trouble finding it. The show was not just about what was happening in the air or on the ocean with aircraft carriers, battle ships and amphibious landing craft. It was also about games of chance, promotion and food, incredible food! Row after row of identical red and white striped canopies sheltered dozens of hot food vendors who lined the broad sidewalks of the closed A1A frantically working grills, griddles and warming trays. Everywhere I looked I saw people happily noshing food that looked like it should be eaten alfresco - outdoors. Food that got you messy and sticky, food that smelled intoxicatingly good.
It was the “United Nations” of food displays. Among the foods was Greek shish kebabs, lamb and gyros - patties made from ground lamb and beef, served with pita bread and tzatziki sauce - American barbecued turkey drumsticks and pork sandwiches, Spanish arepas - fried sweet corn cakes with cheese - Jamaican jerked chicken, escoveitched snapper - a whole fish, head and all, deep-fried and topped with carrot slivers, banana peppers and onions - oxtail, curried goat and steamed plantain, as well as victuals from many other countries and regions. I especially liked the jerked chicken - smoky pieces of chicken thighs on the bone. It was moist, redolent of allspice, onion and cumin, and dripping with flavourful juices. A honourable mention goes to the barbecued turkey drumsticks as well. You haven’t eaten barbecue until you’ve eaten real “southern” barbecue. These drumsticks, consumed by hundreds in the crowd, all holding them like lollipops by their foil wrapped bones, had been slowly cooked in giant cast iron smokers, shaped like submarines, until the meat was almost falling off the bone and every centimeter of flesh permeated by the flavours of wood charcoal.
It was only last month while attending the 187th annual Royal St. John’s Regatta that I realized how similar our popular outdoor event was to the one I’d experienced in Florida. Again you had thousands of spectators crowded around a body of water, many of whom were watching the skills being demonstrated on the water and, like Florida, you had the games of chance, promotions and food concessions - my great interest.
 When I was a kid there wasn’t so much emphasis on food at the regatta. You could happily nosh on hotdogs, chips and cotton candy but that was about all. This year, however, I saw more food at the annual event than ever. At long last you can spend a whole day at Quidi Vidi and watch the races, breathe the fresh air, get some exercise, have fun and eat alfresco as frequently as you or your belly will allow. Remember the old saying about how good a cup of tea tastes in the woods? Well, that goes for anything consumed in the fresh air as far as I’m concerned. Among the dining delights this year were: French fries, onion rings, hamburgers, pizza, ice cream, beaver tails - a light sweet pastry shaped like a beaver’s tail - fish and chips, fresh lemonade, sausages, moose burgers, toutons, curried potatoes, chick peas, samosas, puri - a fried bread from India - cotton candy and candy apples. Despite a strong willingness to do so, I was not able to sample everything but I made a sincere attempt.
One, obvious difference between the food concessions at the Ft. Lauderdale event and here was in the variety of foods from other cultures at the Florida fiesta. The Hindu Temple has been operating a food booth at the regatta for a few years but that’s about all I saw in ethnic cuisine. St. John’s has become so multi-cultural I’m surprised we don’t see African, Spanish, Middle Eastern, Greek and other foods from different cultures at lakeside.
Grilled sausages are such an improvement over grilled frankfurters. One of the first items I tried was a delicious, hot, spicy sausage, fresh from the grill. It burnt my tongue but that was a small price to pay for the sheer pleasure the mixture of ground meats, herbs and spices gave me when they piled out of the slightly charred casing and into my mouth. Freshly grilled merquez sausages from a roadside grill in Morocco could not have tasted better. The regatta sausage vendor also sold huge plates of nachos. If you wanted, he’d give you enough cheese sauce to make your tortilla chips float like dories.
Some food sellers at the regatta came from outside St. John’s. Hiscock’s of Grand Falls-Windsor - famous for their wedge fries - operated a very busy concession at the head of the lake. The fries were spicy and crispy on the outside, light and fluffy in the centre. Some say they are irresistible when served with a dollop of gravy. I don’t doubt it for a minute.
 One of the most entertaining set-ups I saw was also at the head of Quidi Vidi. A pizza vendor had fired-up a full-sized, professional pizza oven and an assembly line operation worthy of General Motors. One employee was literally sitting underneath the 700-degree oven folding together pizza pie boxes while another - standing - would take them from him and hand them to the pizza cook who would whip the pies out of the oven, slap them into the boxes, slice them rapier-quick and hand them to the counter staff. This astonishingly efficient group’s pizzas were good enough to make my mouth water.
My favourite foods came from a booth operated by the Hindu Temple of St. John’s. Unable to choose, I told the lady to give me “the works” and, for about ten bucks, I got a meal fit for a king, along with a diet Pepsi. I had some delicate fried bread called “puri,” made from ghee - a kind of clarified butter - and chapati flour. It was tender and moist and made a perfect scoop for my chickpeas in fragrant sauce. The textured peas tasted of onion, tomatoes, garam masala and cilantro. I never thought something as mundane as chickpeas could taste so good.
The temple’s samosas were incredible. They were wonderful deep-fried pastry packages filled with potato, green peas, cumin and other spices. It may have been the alfresco dining experience but I swear they were the best samosas I’ve ever eaten. Another treat also featured potato, a vegetarian curry. It too was a wonderful blend of spices, colours and exotic flavours.
For dessert, I wanted a uniquely Canadian “beaver tail” smothered in cinnamon sugar but it was not to be. They’re tasty treats made from flour, sugar, milk, oil and eggs. The mixture is made into dough with individual bits shaped into beaver tails, then deep-fried. After that they’re tossed in sugar and cinnamon. Sadly, for me, all of the shapely pastries had been scooped up in jig time. The woman at Nan’s Kitchen - the only vendor offering - told me they thought they had made plenty since it was the first year the tails were on their menu, but reasoned that many people must have either tried them before or at least heard about their popularity elsewhere.
 Disappointed, I moved on but soon found satisfaction with two old friends, cotton candy and a bright red candy apple. The exterior of the candy apple was a bit of a challenge but that’s half the fun of it. My cotton candy, however, brought me back along the road to my childhood; and no wonder when you consider the source. Over forty years ago a man named Allan Hall was one of the first people to make and sell cotton candy at the annual St. John’s Regatta and I was one of his customers. Last week when I reached forward with an older, larger hand, Allan’s son, Greg, handed my boyhood treat to me. In an instant I was back at my first St. John’s Regatta, the one where I’d won a coffee table cigarette lighter at the ring toss. Since I was only age ten, I would have been much happier winning the five bucks pinned to one of the blocks.
It’s amazing what a mouthful of spun sugar can evoke or a mouthful of any food eaten outdoors at a party like our regatta, especially when it becomes a tradition. Nowadays we have even more food treasures to make memories from. Outdoor food, combined with tradition, is a marvelous and wondrous thing.
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