Welcome to Indiana - Purdue Farmer's Market in West Lafayette, IN
Some scones from the market
My experience with food thus far in West Lafayette has been pretty interesting. Most of my meals are spent in the various dining halls around Purdue, but when the farmer’s market rolled around on Thursday, I knew I had to check it out. As a first year freshman, I find myself running around campus or desperately trying to navigate the swarms of people on my knock off penny board during my cross campus trips to various classes or to study at a library with friends. So in all the hubbub and frenzy of syllabus week, I decided to seek the comfort of the more familiar notion of the Purdue Farmer’s Market. So apparently in the Midwest it starts getting cold in the middle of August! In California, the heat builds up all the way to the end of August and bursts into a shower of falling leaves that leaves a few trees bare for winter. Here the cold has already started to sink in, with the average temperature not reaching above 80! It’s a big shock for a California kid like me who spent two months in a tropical country over the summer. I’m usually still in shorts and a t shirt at this time of the year, but in Indiana I’m forced to wear jeans, closed toe shoes and a light sweatshirt in order to stay warm! That said, I needed some good old comfort food to make my transition to the Midwest a little better so of course I hit up the farmer’s market for some good old rib tips.
Looong line
So how I found this little spot is simple: I saw a long-ass line and decided to get in! I figured Indiana must be pretty good at barbecue since they’re a midwestern state (you know, just generic Californian stereotypes about the world) and I must say I’m mildly disappointed. I waited less than ten minutes before I got to the smoky grill where I tall, middle-aged cook manned the grill, tending to a handful of patties and sausages before turning his attention to the smoker. And as I stood there staring at the grill, the kind lady serving the customers snapped me out of my reverie. I ordered a six-dollar plate of rib tips, which contained a surprising amount of ribs! They served them in the little rectangular paper bowls, and I watched as the server piled one rib after another into the bowl, probably totaling to like six ribs! I paid with cash then walked down to the stand for condiments where I got a good helping of honey mustard and good old barbecue sauce. I walked back to the bench my friend Noah was sitting at and that’s where my day took a turn.
Grill time!
The first rib I bit into was alright – actually I have to say that it was really fucking dry. I hope I’m not wrong when I say that ribs are supposed to be quite moist and juicy, with the meat falling off the bones. Instead I bit through what I guess was a mix between protein and some sand. It was definitely very tough meat, and the first thought that ran through my head was “wow, I bought some really expensive jerky that’s still on the bone.” The next few ribs were sort of the same, with the sauces more or less saving the day. And then I got to the last piece, something that I can only describe as a piece of charcoal advertised as a rib tip. I bit through the crunchy blackened skin expecting to find some semblance to meat under it, only to find the same tough jerky situation but with the horrible taste of charcoal in my mouth.
And there it was. My welcome to the wonderful state of Indiana.
This is going to be an excellent four years.
PS I am well aware that I might just have gotten a bad bowl of rib tips or something but it’s been a really long week of my first week of college just let me vent.
You can find me on Instagram as @stumpyeatsfood and on yelp at theplumpcat.yelp.com. You can also check out more of my photos on Flickr! If you've got a restaurant recommendation or even a recipe that you think I should try, send it to me at ryanjchen2@gmail.com!
Thank you for reading!
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