Preparations for the Great American Road Trip are coming along swimmingly. I have had customized T-shirts printed (I know, I know – but if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing as cheesily as possible). I have been versed in the ins and outs of American football whilst getting drunk with an LSU fan, all in the service of something called “tailgating” that I’m apparently supposed to be doing very soon. And, lastly but most importantly, I’ve been practising my American cooking…
As well as the pre-Road Trip Gumbo I made back in July, I’ve since cooked Picadillo meatloaf, dirty cowboy rice (here’s hoping the cowboys are as dirty as the rice) and – yesterday – cornbread and polenta-fried fish with sweetcorn salsa. Yep, September is the month of the sweetcorn. And very satisfying it is too. I like the whole ritual of peeling back the leaves and the stringy bits from the actual yellow, kernel-y part. I also like eating it straight off the cob, although I challenge anyone to do that without burning off the roof of their mouth in the process. A distinct drawback.