Feature Article |
Street Fare
By April White
Chapulines
You may not want an English translation for this Mexican bar snack. And if you order chapulines in Oaxaca, Mexico, or at Center City’s Tequila’s, you won’t need a translation. These are, undeniably, grasshoppers, complete with antennae. Tequila’s owner David Suro only recently began importing this crunchy Mexican standard, flash-frying the ’hoppers in butter, garlic, lime and tequila, the way he remembers them from his home in Guadalajara. Ask for a bowl of them at the bar; the slightly sweet mahogany bodies are a Spanish-accented answer to peanuts. Or try them wrapped in a corn tortilla with a ballast of chunky guacamole.
Cupcakes
Cupcakes have long been an essential part of American childhood, but leave it to a New York joint, Magnolia Bakery, to elevate the miniature treats to the level of trend. In Philly, kid-pleasing cupcakes have so taken center stage in the snack world that it’s getting hard to find a simple birthday cake. At Brown Betty in Northern Liberties, the family recipe for pound cake informs the rich, thickly iced cupcakes. And at Center City’s Grocery, chocolate-on-chocolate cupcakes fit snugly into tailored plastic cupcake suitcases.
Panzoratti
Now that Ikea has started serving panzoratti, this onetime Philadelphia favorite, too long overshadowed by its crusty cousins pizza, calzone and stromboli, may make a comeback. The only problem? Ikea calls panzoratti “pizza pockets,” and serves them fast-food-style, from a heat table. It falls to no-frills Vincent’s Pizza in Merchantville to protect the tradition, frying the individual-sized dough shells, stuffed with marinara and handfuls of mozzarella, until the skin blisters, and serving the crisp pizza balloons in waxed paper.
Gaufres
Philly understands waffles as breakfast; they’re a diner standard. But Brussels does us one better with eat-them-anytime, sweet-and-savory gaufres. The gaufres (pronounced “go-fras”) at all three Center City locations of Bonté look like typical waffles, but are made with a thick, yeasty, pearl-sugar-studded dough favored by Belgian street vendors. (Owner Brad Messinger claims to have bought the recipe from a gaufre maker in front of Notre Dame du Finistère.) The waffle is shaped on a hot iron, which darkly caramelizes the exterior while leaving the interior chewy, then served in a paper sleeve.
You may not want an English translation for this Mexican bar snack. And if you order chapulines in Oaxaca, Mexico, or at Center City’s Tequila’s, you won’t need a translation. These are, undeniably, grasshoppers, complete with antennae. Tequila’s owner David Suro only recently began importing this crunchy Mexican standard, flash-frying the ’hoppers in butter, garlic, lime and tequila, the way he remembers them from his home in Guadalajara. Ask for a bowl of them at the bar; the slightly sweet mahogany bodies are a Spanish-accented answer to peanuts. Or try them wrapped in a corn tortilla with a ballast of chunky guacamole.
Cupcakes
Cupcakes have long been an essential part of American childhood, but leave it to a New York joint, Magnolia Bakery, to elevate the miniature treats to the level of trend. In Philly, kid-pleasing cupcakes have so taken center stage in the snack world that it’s getting hard to find a simple birthday cake. At Brown Betty in Northern Liberties, the family recipe for pound cake informs the rich, thickly iced cupcakes. And at Center City’s Grocery, chocolate-on-chocolate cupcakes fit snugly into tailored plastic cupcake suitcases.
Panzoratti
Now that Ikea has started serving panzoratti, this onetime Philadelphia favorite, too long overshadowed by its crusty cousins pizza, calzone and stromboli, may make a comeback. The only problem? Ikea calls panzoratti “pizza pockets,” and serves them fast-food-style, from a heat table. It falls to no-frills Vincent’s Pizza in Merchantville to protect the tradition, frying the individual-sized dough shells, stuffed with marinara and handfuls of mozzarella, until the skin blisters, and serving the crisp pizza balloons in waxed paper.
Gaufres
Philly understands waffles as breakfast; they’re a diner standard. But Brussels does us one better with eat-them-anytime, sweet-and-savory gaufres. The gaufres (pronounced “go-fras”) at all three Center City locations of Bonté look like typical waffles, but are made with a thick, yeasty, pearl-sugar-studded dough favored by Belgian street vendors. (Owner Brad Messinger claims to have bought the recipe from a gaufre maker in front of Notre Dame du Finistère.) The waffle is shaped on a hot iron, which darkly caramelizes the exterior while leaving the interior chewy, then served in a paper sleeve.
Originally published in Philadelphia magazine, May 2007
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