T.S.D.O.B: Day 5 - The Ragin' Cajun Food Truck

Glad you could make it here for Day 5 of Thirty Straight Days Of Blogging. If you read yesterdays and still came back to see what I'm doing here, give yourself a hand! You are a real trooper! If you have come here to see me fuck up and forget minor details like the recipe, then give yourself a hand...right across the mouth!

Whatever reason you decided to stop by here, I'm going to do my best to make it an enjoyable visit. Let's get this party started!

I must admit that over the past couple years, my taste and excitement for food trucks has diminished. I've come across a few food trucks that are really more hype than good food. Plus, the prices for food on some of these so-called "Gourmet" trucks are just ridiculous. You might pay eight or nine dollars just for one food item and a bottle of room temperature cola.

Aside from a few bad eggs, I try and keep an open mind about them. When I saw on Twitter that a local food truck specializing in cajun food was going to be up the road from me, I decided to give it a shot.

With some of my family being from Louisiana, I was raised on cajun and creole food. I know what real gumbo looks and tastes like, and at an early age, I learned the importance of a good roux. So, whenever I see a restaurant selling (what they say is) cajun food, I'm always a bit hesitant. But, I set out to give this truck a try, and dammit, that's what I was going to do!

If you aren't too familiar with food trucks, don't go to one expecting a ton of options. Most will have about 4 to 5 main items to choose from and 1 or 2 sides. After that, they may have a couple combinations to save a buck or two while being able to try more menu items. This truck pretty much fell into line with this system.

I decided to get a combination of a half catfish po' boy sandwich and a cup of "gumbolaya".

The first item I tried was the sandwich.

I don't get catfish very often, but they did a good job frying it up properly. Nice and crispy on the outside, tender and delicious in the center. The bread was fresh and that dipping sauce on the side was ok, but I think the sandwich could have been dressed a little more. By dressed, I mean more veggies. Overall, not too bad. I wanted more catfish, but that's just me being greedy.

My combination also came with a cup of something called Gumbolaya.

In case you don't know, gumbo and jambalaya are 2 DIFFERENT foods! I wasn't sure what they were going to hand me. When I opened the container and saw this, I relaxed a little.

After a quick stir, I took a bite and...was not thrilled. I'm not sure what their intentions were, but this certainly wasn't gumbo. No wonderful, dark roux-based broth. No okra. No depth of flavor you would expect from gumbo. If it was just supposed to be jambalaya, it missed the mark on that one as well.

While their rice concoction wasn't the worst thing I've tried, it was lacking that deep flavor that usually comes from real cajun and creole food. It really could have been a lot better.

That's about it for this one.

The Ragin Cajun

See you tomorrow!