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Saturday, November 7. 2015Yankeeland Cuisine: Fluffernutter Most kids in New England are raised on Fluffernutter on white bread. On this manna they grow big, strong, smart, and well-mannered. What is less-widely known is that there is a gourmet version of this gooey nourishment - Fluffernutter with banana. Toasted! That is our version of regional haute cuisine and I am sure it is government-approved. However, I still prefer a grilled cheese with ketchup. Cheddar, please, white bread, and tomato slices in it. Yum. Lobster is overrated. It's just a big bug, but I am happy to promote Yankeeland's Clam Chowda, Cod Chowda, and baked beans. Especially Cod Chowda. With hot biscuits on the side. Comments
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However, I still prefer a grilled cheese with ketchup. Cheddar, please, white bread, and tomato slices in it. Yum.
Grilled cheese sandwich with my mother's homemade relish is the way I remember. I have had very few grilled cheese sandwiches without her relish. Ah yes, Fluffernutters. I had plenty of them growing up, but I can't remember when I last had one- definitely before I left NE. I am tempted to find a jar of Marshmallow Fluff just to have, after decades of abstention, another Fluffernutter. Which reminds me of a conversation I once had in TX with a fellow employee who, courtesy of his father's job, spent a year or two of his childhood in New England. In describing his discovery of the differences between the way English is spoken in New England compared to Texas, it is of note that the example he used was the pronunciation of "Marshmallow Fluff." Fluffernutter with banana- bet Elvis would have liked one. I'm in OK, but I assume your Texan pronounced it 'marshmellow'. Except on television, I've never heard anyone pronounce it in a way that rhymes with tallow.
I can assure you that no one outside of NE has ever heard of a fluffernutter. I'm still wondering if you are joking or if it's some serious stoner munchie food.
I asked my wife if she knew to make sure it wasn't just me. She said "Do I really want to know?" But it takes Fluff, Fluff, Fluff to make a fluffernutter. That picture shows an inferior Kraft product. We were just talking about peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches. I liked to put it on club crackers back in the day...
Does anyone remember "Snow's?" They made corn chowder [which NO ONE that isn't from New England has ever heard of], along with both NE Clam Chowder and Manhattan Clam Chowder [Manhattan?!? New Englanders' can't stand 'that' kind of chowder!].
I love peanut butter and fluff sandwiches! The perfect lunch item that can survive the uncharted territory of the school locker.
Incidentally I was always of the understanding that Fluff - the true stuff made in Lynn, MA - could not be found outside of NE as it would lose its loftiness. I was proven wrong. I was able to find it out here in SF at my local World Market outlet and I shed tears of joy in the aisle. Although a life-long New Englander, I grew up eating Manhattan style clam chowder as my folks grew up in New Jersey. It was much later in life - my 20s - when I developed a love of the New England version. Does that mean I'm drummed out of the club? Here in Israel they cut to the heart of the matter with chocolate spread. Top of the line is Nutella and its local knockoffs, bottom of the barrels is stuff that resembles margarine with tons of sugar and cocoa.... not that the kids complain.
Peanut butter is just now catching on. Marshmallows are for barbecues and bondfires. In my Jewish elementary school in New York, one recently arrived Israeli mother searched in vain for chocolate spread. In desperation, she sent her son (my classmate) to school with a Hershey bar "panini" melted between slices of bread.... creating more Zionists in one morning than a pack of Bibi's stem-winders. That's the real reason I moved here... Fluffernutter kerfuffle.
Being a Southern boy I have never had jarred marshmallow (pronounced mellow). I do think I may have seen it in the grocery store. I don't care for marshmallows, even if you do roast them over an open fire. No offense intended. Mallo Cups were pronounced mallow (rhymes with fallow, tallow). Elvis had it right about banana sandwiches but I have never had one fried in butter. BD, that grilled cheese sounds perfect--with tomatoes, no ketchup; without tomatoes, ketchup. Garden fresh tomatoes only--no grocery store 'maters unless they are exceptional which is infrequent in these parts. Lobster is ok, but i only eat it when in Maine. I never have understood the attraction--I think it is just an excuse to eat melted sticks of butter. Chowder is great stuff. Wonderful 'naner Sammich 2 slices of loaf bread of your choice. Coat one slice with mayonnaise of your choosing and amount. Coat one slice with peanut butter of your choosing and amount. Peel and slice a non-green banana, either in lengths or rounds, your choice--I prefer rounds, Mrs. red prefers lengths. Your preference usually depends on how your Mama or Aunt prepared this treat for you when you were still a little babe. Cover one slice of bread (i prefer to doctor the peanut butter side) with your banana cuttings. Sprinkle white sugar (Dixie Crystals is good) liberally on the banana to your satisfaction. In lieu of sugar, clover honey can be drizzled in an amount to your taste. I like this better; cousin Tim liked sugar. Close sandwich and press to seal in the sugar or honey, and banana. This is important as it makes the sandwich much easier to handle and the ingredients will not so readily fall out, and they will fall out. Coffee or milk. Sweet tea if you must. If you try hard enough, you can squeeze 800-1200 calories into one of these things. If you are conservative with your applications you can get under 400. Bon appetite. I grew up in the town where Marshmallow fluff was made. It was just down the street from where the board game Monopoly was made. I do love fluffernutter sandwiches but they should be toasted and made while the toast is still warm. Either wear a bib or lean over your plate. Never put marshmallow fluff in the refrigerator.
Boston English is different. Just for the record I went from Boston to Texas in 1964 and I only asked for a 'fork' once. After that I asked for silverware. All soda's are called 'tonic'. Your back porch/deck/stairs are a piazza. Your living room sofa is a 'divan'. A shake is a 'frappe' and a soda is a thin frappe made with soda water. A rutabaga is a turnip (and a turnip is a turnip too). A New England dinner is corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and turnip (rutabaga). When you pronounce a word with an 'R' in it you don't pronounce the 'R'. When you pronounce a word without an 'R' in it you put an 'R' into the pronounciation if you can. Ex: "warsh your caa". North of Boston ocean water temps above 40 degrees are perfect for swimming. Fried clams are better than lobster. Cod is the state fish of Massachusetts (or used to be). You can buy a plate of quahogs in most of the local bars near the coast (in season). If you can eat a plate of quahogs you are a New Englander. Most people who have been to Maine haven't been "down East". When a hurricane makes it's way up to New England it's time to go quahogging. The New England coast is beautiful in the summer, my favorite place is Manchester by the Sea. When we were kids my dad would drop my mother and us kids off at the singing sands beach. I remember going to the carnival at Manchester by the Sea on the 4th of July 1950 and watching the biggest bonfire in history! Well, the biggest bonfire I can ever imagine seeing. Joe Kennedy used to smuggle scotch into the U.S. from Scotland during prohibition at a tiny private beach in Marblehead (this is the source of the Kennedy fortune). The Mafia 'owned' the police in most of Mass until the 50's. It was safe to travel into Boston at night even into Roxbury in the 50's. The Mafia was pushed out by federal prosecutors and replaced by black and hispanic drug gangs and after that it was no longer safe. |
The warm weather we experienced over last week has fled, with daytime temps in the upper 40's and overnight temps below freezing. This meant we had to fire up the Official Weekend Pundit Woodstove to keep the chill off overnight....
Tracked: Nov 08, 21:16