civilized ku # 1122-26 ~ food and a quiz
Thursday, September 29, 2011 at 12:44PM 
Wall of Fame ~ Primanti Bros. - Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen
Primanti Bros. sandwich ~ Primanti Bros. - Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen
Vincent's pizza ~ Vincent's Pizza Park - Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen
Sausage and Squid ~ Mallorca - Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggen
Paella ~ Mallorca - Pittsburgh, PA • click to embiggenOne of the benies of travel is the opportunity to partake of regional cuisine. In the good 'ole US of A that means avoiding the ubiquitous ever-spreading-like-a-plague chain restaurants to be found everywhere.
While in Pittsburgh, the wife and I made it a requisite to indulge in 2 local specialties neither of which could be labeled "indigenous" inasmuch as they do not include any local/regional ingredients. However, they are prepared in what might be called a local tradition.
The most famous specialty - at least so across the US - was a Primanti Bros. sandwich, which is testament to their claim that " Man Does Not Live By (meat, cheese, tomato, coleslaw, fries and) Bread Alone." Primanti sandwiches feature absolutely fresh tomato, coleslaw (crisp and not "runny"), fresh cut and cooked to order fries (yes, in the sandwich), fresh Italian bread, and the meat and cheese of your choice. FYI, all of the freshness comes from the fact that the original Primanti Bros. is located in Pittsburgh's Strip District, aka: produce/market district.
Less famous nationally but, IMO, deserving of a ranking equal to the Primanti sandwich is Vincent's Pizza - a pizza to die for (caveat: eating one - and who can eat just one? - may hasten that death). Like a Primanti sandwich, fresh ingredients are featured and, because they go light on their very tasty sauce, the fresh taste of those ingredients comes through tasty and strong. And the crust, thin-ish and crisp except for the extremely thick edge crust, tastes like fresh baked bread.
Our pizza had 5 toppings - sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, green peppers and cheese which were piled nearly 3 inches high. A true artery clogging meal if ever there was one.
FYI, Re: the sausage and squid dish - the Spanish sausage arrived at our table en flambé and the squid was stuffed with Prosciutto and spices.
The Quiz The Pittsburgh sports hero mural - each Primanti Bros. location has one - features 13 athletes. Can anyone name all 13 without using the Google Machine? And, PS - the rest of the world take note, there's not a soccer (football is not played with a round ball) player in the lot.
Reader Comments (3)
Let's see... the one right below the Pirates logo might be Johnny Depp. The rest I have no idea.
I think I might need to let out my belt a notch after just looking at the food.
I went to a Primnti's in Harmarville last month while visiting friends. Not the same as the original in the Strip, but way cleaner than the one in Oakland.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ryU4VFuLtEw/TkHY5ueim3I/AAAAAAAACHQ/sE1SJO04q3g/s1600/081011.jpg
As for the Wall of Fame, I can get most of them ...
12 Bradshaw
68 Jagr
Cowher
32 Franco Harris
21 Roberto Clemente
8 Willie Stargell
36 the Bus
58 Jack Lambert
I can't tell who is behind the tv ...
gotta be Mario behind the TV Nick... I see a "C" for captain and can't think who else it would be.