wichita bites
Posted on 09. Feb, 2011 by Carrie in op-ed
words > JASON DILTS
Every city has a flavor, a taste that defines the tapestry of a community. Diversity in palette is often an indicator for diversity in people. Here in the ICT, there’s a plethora of plates to bite!
Take Zaytún, for instance, which offers Wichitans a unique way to taste the Middle East in middle America by mixing Indian, Pakistani, and Mediterranean cuisine. There’s a daily lunch buffet featuring popular Pakistani and Persian dishes, but it’s the restaurant’s dinner snack menu that is most alluring. If you’ve never had Indian snack food, you’re missing out on a taste bud tsunami.
Samosa chaat is a colorful dish that almost looks too pretty to eat—it’s a veggie pastry stuffed with a spicy potato mixture and deep fried, bedded under lush chickpeas, chopped onions, and tomato, with chilies and green chutney sauce topping it off. Pani puri is just plain fun to eat. It’s a round, hollow ball of unleavened Indian bread, fried crisp and filled with a mixture of water, tamarind, chili, chaat masala, potato, onion and chickpeas. They’re served as a plate of eight and each is small enough to fit into your mouth—and the sensation of eating a water filled treat is one you won’t forget! Indian snacks are best washed down with a mango lassi, a cold treat of mango pulp mixed with thick cream. Zaytún is located in the Brittany Center off 21st and Woodlawn and open for lunch and dinner every day.
Everyone’s had Mexican food, but I doubt most have ventured to a Mexican dessertery. Tropicana, located in NOMAR at 214 W. 21st St. N, offers a colorful and fun place for unique sweets. Mexican ice cream is their specialty; it’s less sweet than its American counterpart and often infuses more savory flavors such as beans and cheese. Mango, coconut, and rum raisin are among their best flavors, mixing real fruit and packing a powerful taste. Other interesting choices are vanilla cheese, avocado, bean, and rose petals—yes, the flower. I never thought it was possible to crave roses ‘til I ate there!
Tropicana is more than cold treats; they have dinner dishes such as quesadillas, tortas, and empañadas. Smoothies galore populate their menu. There’s a tasty variation of corn on the cob, with mayonnaise, fresh veggies, and spices smothered on buttered corn slabs. They also serve various fruit cocktails with chili-powder spices that give sweet flavors just enough kick to bite. They’re next to a laundromat and open seven days a week.
These are two of literally thousands of plates one can take a bite out of in Wichita. We’re notorious for hidden wonders like these, but we’re also famous for being corn-fed. From the exotic to the ordinary, there’s a vast amount of quality food to be eaten here.
We visit places like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco with anticipation of biting into those city’s collective foodie identities. But what is the flavor of Wichita? That’s a big question, given the surprising assortment of cuisines and cultures in our city. We here in the middle have a lot to offer an empty stomach! If you were going to give someone a bit of Wichita, though, what would it taste like?
We want to know what you think. What foods represent the best of Wichita? What dishes are mandatory? When you think of Wichita food, what comes to your mind? E-mail your answers to
jdilts@nakedcitywichita.com and help us bite ICT!
