Rants and Raves
Remember when the only restaurants that used chili peppers and cayenne were the Chinese, Mexican and Thai restaurants? And then, they always put a little asterisk or chili pepper by the menu item to warn the feeble bellied customer. That was civilized!
These days, a good 10 – 15% of the population have extremely sensitive guts (www.medscape.com/viewarticle/506173), not to mention the 1 in 3 people who are dealing with arthritic inflammation which is known to worsen with hot spices.
Please give us a warning if there’s chili or cayenne hidden in the dressing or batter or soup!
And all you kitchen staff, there are so many ways to make dishes interesting and complex other than dusting cayenne over them. Remember that the chili continues to bloom as the dish sits. You may not taste much heat when you’re cooking it, but by the time the customer gets it, it may burn a new asterisk.
If cayenne doesn’t bother you, you owe it to yourself to taste the lobster bisque and the Thai pizza at the Wayside Grill. We’ve had fabulous fried catfish there, too. It’s not available all the time, so ask ahead if you don’t want to be disappointed.
Wayside Grill, 2217 S. Mt. Shasta Blvd, Mt. Shasta
www.waysidegrill.com
My nom de plume for this column is Miss Mozie.
My real name is Josephine. My husband calls me Josie, or Dozie. I also answer to “shug”, short for sugar. You may or may not know me. You probably see me rushing around town, hopping in and out of my car. But I’m happiest when I can just mozie around, admiring flower gardens and trees and loving the view of the mountain.
I try to shop local and am interested in encouraging you all to keep our dollars circulating in Mt. Shasta. I don’t like to have to drive somewhere else to get what I need, and you may hear me rant about this. But I also feel so fortunate to live in this lovely small town. It’s really the healthiest place, with the most potential for healthy lifestyle, that I’ve ever spent time in. I’m able to eat well here (you’ll hear about this, too!) and get plenty of exercise.
I love my life and the people in it, and there’s not a lot I would want to change. So, take what I say with a grain of salt. ……But hold the pepper.
Miss Mozie
