Posted by Zach Brooks, May 7, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Photograph from the blog 'We Are Never Full'
In France, if you order a "sandwich américain," what you'll end up with is a chopped beef, hamburger-like substance, topped with french (ironic right?) fries, and stuffed into a baguette. It is unclear whether the name comes from the notion that french fries are now fully associated with America (rather than Belgium, where they are probably from), or whether the French just consider us gluttons—either way, I'm not ashamed to admit that the sandwich sounds amazing (and I'd be happy to shout that out while waving a giant American flag).
Even better though, is a variation on the sandwich américain, where the hamburger is replaced with merguez sausage, and served from a street cart. Vendors can be found dishing out the delicious merguez frites, as they're called, on the streets of Paris, from stalls at flea markets, or at the fireworks display in Carcassone, which is where Amy and Jonny from the blog We Are Never Full discovered this Moroccan inspired, French treat.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, March 21, 2008 at 11:00 AM
When people find out I’m a food writer, they always ask me what my favorite restaurant is. I always respond that answering the question is like asking me who my favorite child is. I usually ask them what kind of food they’re looking for and give them a top three list of options for that particular cuisine.
Truth is, though, if some hungry felon held me up at gunpoint and needed to know my top five favorite spots, Hot Doug’s: The Sausage Superstore would absolutely make the list.
Owner Doug Sohn, a culinary school grad, brings his chops to bear on the humble hot dog. He serves the best Chicago style salad dog in the city. But, it’s not the basic dog I come for. It’s the duck fat fried French fries glistening with sea salt and the custom sausages with ridiculous luxury ingredients.
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Posted by Michael Nagrant, February 22, 2008 at 8:15 AM
With Quartino, Osteria via Stato, and now A Mano all slinging cured meats, Chicago’s downtown lunch arena is sporting more sausage than the Chicago Bears locker room after a big game. A Mano, the newest of the triumvirate, is helmed by Bin 36 veteran chef John Caputo and offers a wide selection of salumi, including the handiwork of Seattle’s sausage king, Armandino Batali. In addition to the charcuterie, A Mano features all manner of Italian-focused goodies from wood-fired pizzas to zingy crudo.
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Posted by Ed Levine, January 13, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Fishtown, a newly gentrified section of Philadelphia, may have the best cheesesteak in the city—which is saying something—as well as a fine bacon-wrapped meatloaf (Serious Eaters do love their bacon-wrapped meatloaf). The New York Times takes a look at food options in the neighborhood:
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Posted by Zach Brooks, October 17, 2007 at 11:00 AM
Photograph by Sarah Brooks
Much like most big cities here in the U.S., the streets of Stockholm are littered with stands selling their version of the hot dog. They call them "French hot dogs" or korv (from korvar, the Swedish word for "sausage"), and it is essentially a sausage stuffed into a French bread roll. Most stands in the city serve a generic-looking hot dog version, but for a real homemade sandwich, there's only one korv stand to visit—Östermalms Korvspecialist.
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Posted by Lia Bulaong, April 11, 2007 at 4:00 PM
Gridskipper's Beginner's Guide to Frankfurt is a great quick read if you're planning a short trip to the city: "It's no Berlin or Munich, but this fine sausage-making metropolis still has a few delights to offer. Most of the city was obliterated during World War II, so much of the usual euro-touring is replaced by cruising the streets, noshing sausages, stopping in countless apple-wine bars, and hanging out with opera fiends. If that's your thing, we have a few choice recommendations for your maiden Frankfurtage."
I spent my whole life disliking mustard until the first time I tried it on a street sausage in Frankfurt, and then my eyes were opened to its wonders! If your only exposure to sausages is hotdogs from street carts or at the ballpark, frankfurters in the city they're named for will blow you away as they exist on a different plane of tastiness altogether.
