Okay, so I understand I'm blogging about something generic to all Italian Americans- calamari. I'm not Italian American, but my husband is and so I've been exposed to many fried calamari antipastos at restaurants, weddings, home cooked meals, etc. And despite the popularity of this dish, there are still many different types of flavors and textures that you can get from frying calamari and I have very particular taste of what kind I especially like. I mean, you can screw up calamari. It takes a special cooking touch. So when it comes to my style of calamari, I go for lightly battered, crispy, but not too much where its uber crunchy and slightly burnt. I also do not like the feeling of eating mostly batter which overpowers the bite and there's very little meat to sink your teeth into. That's not very delicious in my book. I want to taste the clean, white squid.
So recently, I popped in to a new pizza joint by my hood (UES represent!) Toscano's (formerly known as Totonno's) for some pizza and calamari with my foodie lover husband, Coco, and we were pleasantly surprised by this local joint, specifically the calamari. It fit every qualification mentioned above- light, crisp, zesty, and juicy. I squeezed a bit of lemon on those tasty sea creatures and I swear, it only took 5 minutes for me to clean the plate. One of the best calamari dishes I have had in the city in a LONG time and who would have thought it's in my very own backyard. I've been back twice since just to order it for myself!
Don't underestimate the commonness of some of your favorite foods- whether it's calamari, french fries, guacamole, or plain ol' rice. These comfort, traditional foods, with a unique twist catered to your special palette, have the power to not only take on a whole new meaning and taste but also make you feel happy! Isn't that what food is supposed to do?
Here's to you. Here's to me.
Kathy.
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