Rhode Island’s Deluxe Food by Ruth Paget
I first learned about what a great state Rhode Island is for seafood lovers from my Portuguese roommate on the Close Up government study program in Washington, D.C. in 1982.
We both wanted to promote our respective cities that were trying to revitalize downtown areas. My roommate promoted steamers, a steamed clam stew made with Portuguese linguica sausage. I promoted Detroit’s art institute, Greektown, and great concerts. (I had seen Run DMC, Michael Jackson, Prince, and the Beach Boys while in high school.)
I have learned more about the port city of Providence and the Ocean State in Linda Beaulieu’s cookbook entitled The Providence and Rhode Island Cookbook: Big Recipes from the Smallest State.
This cookbook contains more than 200 recipes drawn from Rhode Island’s Portuguese, Italian, French-Canadian, and American heritage. I am an Italophile for all Italian seafood dishes and other elaborate fare, which abounds in Rhode Island thanks to Italian grandmothers and graduates of the Johnson & Wales Culinary Institute headquartered in Rhode Island.
Rhode Island’s famous diners serve breakfast creations such as the following that are worth the trip to Rhode Island:
-tiramisu pancakes made with instant coffee mixed into the pancake batter and topped with a mix of ricotta cheese, instant coffee, and confectioner’s sugar.
-eggs Benedict Newport Style made to suit the tastes of the wealthy with eggs, Canadian bacon, and lobster on an English muffin.
For lunches, Rhode Island visitors can find delicious and relatively inexpensive items such as: -wedge salads made from fourths of iceberg lettuce with blue cheese buttermilk dressing, crumbled bacon, and diced tomatoes.
-pepper and egg sandwiches made with fried peppers, onions, garlic, eggs, and Parmesan cheese in a baguette sandwich
-smoked bluefish pâté made with more mushrooms and goat cheese than butter for flavor
For seafood, Rhode Island visitors can try the following signature dishes of the state:
-clams casino stuffed with onions, green peppers, and bread crumbs topped with crumbled bacon
-lobster ravioli
-seafood lasagna made with tuna, flounder, and clams using white and red clam sauce
-frutti di mare – marinated seafood salad using shrimp, squid, and bay scallops
-spaghetti alla vongole – clam spaghetti
For dessert, the people of Rhode Island make use of regional fruit and historical ingredients in dishes such as:
-applesauce-spice cake
-Glocester cranberry-apple pie
-blueberry cornmeal cobbler
-Portuguese rice pudding, which has Port wine it
People who are attracted to dishes like the ones above would probably enjoy reading and cooking from the recipes in The Providence and Rhode Island Cookbook: Big Recipes from the Smallest State by Linda Beaulieu
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
