cham101

Allow me to educate the masses on the deliciousness that is lake trout. Lake Trout is not found in a lake nor is it a trout. It can be any type of mystery fish usually it is whiting and sometimes I am not sure what it is, it depends on who is making it. Now, there are various ways of lake trout marination, I've seen it marinated in hot spices and/or lemon. I've seen it lightly battered and breaded, it all depends on the secret recipe of the preparer. The lake trout guy at the BFM under the JFX is Jamaican, he uses a lemon marinade with a light breading, the fish is deep fried to order. Now last year the price was $5 for a 3 piece and $7 for a 4 piece. Once you place your order you must wait 5 minutes for the chef to prepare your fish. Once the fish is fried it is then place on two piece of a brown colored tasteless white bread. I never eat the bread, nobody does, but the bread plays a key role in what happens next. The 3 piece and the bread is placed in a small plastic bag and given to you. You then move on to the condiment table and grab the hot sauce. Most people opt to pour a liberal amount of hot sauce straight from the bottle over the fish and the bread while it is still in the bag. The bread mops up all the extra sauce so it doesn't become a hot sauce mess. You can then proceed to sit at a table or on the curb and dip into the bag tearing off pieces of the fish from inside the bag. Very tasty. You don't have to wait for the FM to enjoy LT. There are several LT emporiums that run up and down Park Heights Avenue, some on Reisterstown Road, one of my favorite LT places in in Waverly (light batter, lemon marinade, big pieces, $5.99 for a large 2 piece, fries, soda) and a special place I like called Chick'n Trout on Greenmount right outside the prisons (light breading no marinade, very crispy $3.99 for a 3 piece with fries). In fact, most LT places are called Chick'N Trout, but I digress. The Greenmount Chick'N Trout is a good place to relax after a night in the lock-up. Not only will you get delicious LT, but when I go I often find myself helping people review their release paperwork and determine when their court date next will be. I must forewarn you, you will be ordering your food through 3-inch plexiglass and the eating area is covered with grease. But it is good lake trout. So that is what LT is, a ramp to me is what I sleep under.

You can find me easily at the market. I'll be the only white person standing in line for the lake trout. Yum!

Thanks for the info. I'm pretty sure I have run into Perilla last year, I didn't know I could eat it. I had a big handful of wild strawberries for lunch when I was on the trail on Saturday over at the Patapsco and realized I had forgot my lunch. The wild strawberries didn't taste very good but it kept my stomach from being empty. I also have a wild strawberry patch growing out of the crack in my concrete curb in my alley. I have to be quick about grabbing the little strawberries because a large rat lives in a drain pipe behind it and we are both competing for the same fruit supply. I spend a great deal of my time in deciduous forests. If I can get good at identifying edible plants and knowing what to do with them then I can further decrease my pack weight, and that is always a good thing. I will check out the Gibbons and Brill books. Please, please, please keep the pictures coming. Maybe I can organize a "gather the free food" hike event during July and August.

I'd hit any one of the taco trucks parked out on Broadway. But you won't need $10, only about $4. Mmmmm! taco truck.

I am absolutely fascinated by the CP article explaining the edible plants that grow wild in the Baltimore area. Is there any way you might be able to add some pics and give us some harvest windows of opportunity so we know for what we are looking? I would love to find some tasty free treats locally and would like some visual help with this project.