Rhodie Eats For Rhode Island’s Road Scholars

Road scholars in need of quenching their thirst might consider quaffing coffee milk, the state drink which is a blend of milk and coffee syrup. Our own Eclipse brand is manufactured here. Newport Creamery’s signature “Awful Awful” consists of milk, ice milk, and flavored syrup. Their other house specialty is a “cabinet”–no oak or maple veneer, but rather a concoction of milk, syrup, and ice cream. The supremely thirsty may opt for frozen lemonade. In Rhode Island it’s Del’s. Stop at the sign of the lemon to imbibe a Dixie cup of granulated ice flavored with lemons and sugar.

If you’re driving along our scenic Atlantic coastline, we’ve numerous clam shacks off the beaten path for you to indulge casual seafood. “Clam cakes” are deep fried dough mixed with chopped clams, shaped into spheres. Try a “stuffie,” a clamshell packed with bread stuffing made with breadcrumbs, onions, spices, and chopped clams. Our clear broth chowder, “chowdah,” is anemic broth made from clams, potatoes, bacon, onions, herbs, and spices. Its murkiness has the appearance of dishwater or a polluted bay.

Savvy Rhode warriors should become acquainted with “gaggas,” a small hot dog with natural casing slathered in mustard, meat sauce, chopped onions, and celery salt served on a steamed “wiener” bun. A “dynamite,” often referred to as a “sloppy Joe on crack” is a mixture of fried hamburger, peppers, onions, tomato sauce, and crushed red pepper on torpedo roll–it’s dynamite! A “pizza strip” is great to-go food, recognizable as a rectangular slice of bready crust slathered with pizza sauce–no cheese, no nothin’–served at room temperature.

If during your road excursions you wish to connect with Rhode Island’s colonial heritage, try our “Johnnycakes,” pancake-like disks made from our own ground white flint corn, rendering this breakfast staple our founding fathers’ answer to roof shingles. Savvy Rhode warriors know they’re good to go with plastic utensils, paper napkins, and a ready road map place mat. Those of you cruising along any one of Rhode Island’s two-lanes, gunning it past our rusted and eroded bridges, will surely enjoy breaking for some of the finest “Rhodefill” bar none, to slurp or chow down.

Eva Pasco
Author, UNDERLYING NOTES(238 pgs); Chick Lit for Discerning Women:

Winding past Rhode Island’s affluent coastal communities, prominent landmarks, cherished institutions, and olive oil spills of the underworld…

FREE READ (Chapters 1-3) and easy ordering at Booklocker, home of UNDERLYING NOTES by Eva Pasco:

http://www.booklocker.com/books/4431.html