Food Note

Food Note:
Philly Food Grows on You
by LaNeshe Miller White

Re-PLACE-ing Philadelphia is building an expanded archive of cultural memory that includes multiple histories, re-place-ing the established with new narratives and understandings. Notes from invited artists and community members consider place via the street, sound, food, trees, rivers, and other portals. 

LaNeshe Miller White shares her take on quintessential Philly foods.

 

As a Philadelphia transplant, originally from Bridgeport Connecticut, there are some Philly foods that puzzled me at first, but now I understand their charm: 

Breakfast sandwiches on a roll. Prior to coming to Philly I had breakfast sandwiches on bagels, English muffins, or regular bread, but never on a roll. Rolls were previously reserved for lunch sandwiches, now a “bacon, egg and cheese on a long roll with salt and pepper” is what I need for breakfast. 

Water ice. It is somehow different than the Italian ice I was used to. I can’t quite pinpoint what the difference is but water ice is a summer staple for me now. 

Scrapple. What IS scrapple? I don’t know, and I don’t think I want to know, but I’ll indulge in it on occasion. 

Soft pretzels. Who would have thought dipping bread in mustard would one day be considered a meal?

Food from trucks. I never once ate food from a truck before coming to Philly, but during my stay at 

Temple University I became accustom to mobile delicacies, especially the temple Crepe Truck.

Food Notes
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