Road Food

     Those of you who watch The Food Channel know that Andrew Zimmern hosts the Bizarre Food show.  But perhaps you didn't know that he currently resides in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.  He has also recently begun a new venture, the AZ Canteen.  It is a food truck with, as you might expect, a menu that is not typical.  Of his road food Zimmern says, "I want to create tasty food that might inspire and stretch the average American's idea of what food can and should be."  And he certainly has.  You've probably never eaten a crispy pork belly, a griddled veal tongue slider or a goat sausage grinder.  They are all on the menu at the food truck, parked each week day on Marquette Avenue in Minneapolis.

 

     So of course I wanted to see the AZ Canteen for myself.  Over the lunch hour I made my way to downtown Mnpls, as the locals spell it, and looked down a long row of 19 food trucks that stretched for 4 city blocks.  Wanting to sample food from more than one truck I began with an appetizer, a cup of andouille, oyster & crab gumbo.  It was all that I expected and more.  It was redolent with the hot spices of the sausage and filled to the brim with seafood and vegetables.  The okra provided the substance that gave it body.  It was wonderful!

 

     Unfortunately, the canteen won't stay in the Twin Cities for long.  As the temperature falls the truck will migrate east and then south to milder climes and be spared the brutal Minnesota winter weather.

     Not even the gumbo could stave off that kind of cold!