This week, I find myself in the Emerald City. After a six
hour flight, three hour time change, and a good night sleep, I do what I always
do when I find myself in a new city, I walk around. I’m a big fan of the
Japanese concept of “tabearuki,” or, to walk around and eat, sampling many
places.
Our stroll began by heading to Pike Place Market. As we
walked in, we saw the crowd around one of the most famous sights of the market,
thrown fish. As you approach the shaved ice laden shelves, the fish mongers
chant as they toss whole fish from floor to cutting station. Everything from
black cod to whole salmon were heaved across the market.
While there certainly are numerous arts, crafts, clothes, souvenirs,
and other things available at the market, the produce, cheese, and food was what
drew me. We sampled carrot chips, which looked like bacon, but had the salty
crispness and texture of a freshly opened bag of Lays. We tried a yellow pluot,
soft and sweet, it was like a combination of a plum and a nectarine, about the
size of a racquetball, golden color throughout, with a small pit in the middle.
Various hazelnuts were available to taste, smoked, salted, raw, and other
flavors were poured into our eagerly awaiting hands. These nuts were more
rectangular that ovular, and had the same crunch of a filbert.
We followed our nose to a sweet/savory pastry shop. Piroshky
Piroshky bakery had a line out the door. An open window showed one of the
bakers folding, cutting, and weaving dough into knots bound for the oven. Sweet
breads were filled with fruits, nuts, and chocolate, and flaky pastries carried
mushrooms, cheese, onions, and ham. The hardest part was choosing, as every one
of them were as large as my fist. We decided on a cinnamon apple roll. Slices
of apple, soft and skin still on, peaked through the weaves of cinnamon and
sugar laden deliciousness. This paired quite nicely with the coffee from
Starbucks (which seem to have completely perforated every street of Seattle).
But not just any Starbucks, the original Starbucks, which started in Seattle,
remains open to this day. The menu isn’t different from anywhere else, but the décor
is still the antiquey dark wood that preceded the “third place” atmosphere.
Fromageries are not an uncommon sight in pike place either.
We noshed upon samples of fresh fromage blanc, a spreadable cheese the
consistency of whipped cream cheese, but with a richness and tang of chevre. We
tried a variety of blue cheeses, from mild and subtle, to crumbling and
fermented. We settled on a buttermilk blue that was soft, funky, and creamy, it
paired well with fresh ranier cherries, which are apparently at the peak of
season right now.
A shot of pickle juice, lattes made from a $3,500 home
machine, chai and passionfruit greek yogurt, slice of French baguette, pieces of
maple & bacon and huckleberry taffee, and a graciously given ferris wheel
ride later, we came upon Salumi, an Italian style sandwich shop that closes at
3:30 in the afternoon with good reason, they run out of meat. We lamented the
lack of porketta and grilled lamb, but we did nosh upon paprika sausage, fatty
and spicy. Slivers of fresh cotto, spotted with coarsely ground peppercorns and
cured, smoky soprasatta passed our lips as we made our own sampler platter
(pictured). We decided on the meatballs and the seasonal oregano salami. The salami
was firm, the meat and fat resembling stained glass. The meatballs were slightly
sweet, rich, and thick, despite chunks of onion and garlic that poked out as
you bit through them.
A very successful tabearuki, with weather that was as good
as could be asked for. We have another day to tour the city, so suggestions are
always welcome.
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