“What I hate is a story with a dame or a dame with a story. 30 Years I’ve walked this beat. Every gin joint, two bit floozy and doper from here to Pasadena has been put away by me. The answers are not in the bottom of a glass of whiskey. I got the call at 10:30 and hell; I knew this was going to be some meeting”
Or thoughts similar were probably going through the clichéd 1950’s mind of one Det. Mickey String who agreed to meet with me today for lunch at Gusto’s Market of Taste. Reading his thoughts you can see there is no logic, no coherent structure or anything even approaching a narrative, which may explain why he is a particularly useless detective. He was kicked off the force many years ago, and still uses the title “Detective” though “washed up” would be a better description. He came to me after reading my blog, hoping to find some leads for a case he was working on.
Looking disheveled and sweaty after sleeping on his desk for three nights, he said
“But I’ve seen your blog, you get out there. You see people. You can help me finally crack this case”
Playing along, I said “So, what do you have?”
“There’s been a double moi-der. I got the bodies of two Texan Oil Magnates in the trunk of a beat up turquoise 1952 Chevy Deluxe, a stolen manuscript and a tapir with a limp. It all adds up to a WHOLE lot of nuthin’. Capisce? “
“I’ll see what I can do”
First, I have to apologize to my readers in lockdown who are surviving on a combination of ramen and hardtack rations and living vicariously through my blog at the interesting foods on offer (I’m looking chiefly at YOU Stryker Leach). Today is not so interesting to you guys in that regard, but it is something I had to get done (besides for us, this IS kinda special). I had decided at the beginning of this thing to seek out more exotic foods around Taipei and to be honest, Italian food, or approximations of it, is all over the bleedin’ shop. I’d asked many of the foodie types, who warm brandy in their glasses the correct way, if they knew about anything unusual- I drew a blank there. I also asked real life Italian man Dr. Colossus if he had heard about anything that was bit outside the norm here, he said he wasn’t sure, but asked the question why would he look for it in Taiwan anyway? Which is a fair point. Quite by chance, Mickey String himself quite ironically clued me into an Italian delicatessen that he had been meaning to try, and it is unique enough to qualify for my nonsense. As a gruff voiced New Yorker, it is mandated by law that he has to have either some Italian or Jewish in him, and this place was likely to remind him of home. So off we went.
Well what can I say?
This place is good, Martin Scorsese wise guy movie good. It’s mostly a place that does wholesale and sells cheese and stuff (pictures below) to professional kitchens and home cooks alike, and it is located in the middle of a busy day market. It is a little bit blink and you’d miss it from the outside, but inside has a nice atmosphere. We decided to split an order of the cold cuts (smallest size at 440NT) with cheese and honey, and I had a pancetta truffle panini (320) and he ordered the chorizo (300). I could tell that the detective was enjoying the change to his diet which usually consists of cold coffee, slightly warmer cheap Bourbon, cigarettes and other 50’s foods from roadside diners.
Totally cannot fault it, absolutely bang on, and well worth the effort of going to that part of town (if you are from out of town- it is near Xingtian Temple which is a less touristy temple you can visit). We had coffee as well but I didn’t get a picture because all I can really say there, is yes it was good and it is a brown drink-usually served hot.
We chatted about some hot button topics of the day like the virus, what we can do if our hair is dull and lifeless and a few things he hadn’t considered in the case.
“Have you considered Tangiers?” This raised an eyebrow from Det. String.
As I left, I wished my not so hard-bitten friend well on the case, he extended his forefinger and thumb imitating a gun and clicked his tongue and winked at the same time, which I assume is a common thing from gumshoes unless TV has lied to me. I also hoped to God that the tapir was OK.
Website: Very extensive and probably a good read for Italian food buffs.
https://gustotw.oddle.me/en_TW/
52 Cuisines? 