Musings on Spinach Dips

Ahhh, the subtle nuances of the Spinach and Artichoke dips I have loved in my life... and some I have not been so fond of.
All different, yet all providing fulfulling pleasure in their own ways....as Willie Nelson croons, I could say "To all the spinach dips I have loved before, your creamy goodness brings me back for more,....your tanginess I adore, some crabmeat makes me love you more, to all the dips I've looooved before..."

And now, for your amusement and mine, a brief dissertation on various spinach dips. You see, my husband and I have left a wake of destruction across this land, tearing into spinach dips like kids on crack. Over the years, we have gleaned enough expertise to earn a doctorate in this field.... (ummm, the field of appetizers?) So here are my findings.

1.) THE BIG KAHUNA, THE GOLD MEDAL: J Alexander's, Columbus, Ohio.
In 1994, I tried this for the very first time, and it's still the mother of all spin dips. Its consistency is creamy and smooth, its flavor cheesy yet mellow, its base color a gold, the chips are crispy white corn. Simply, no other dip in the universe can even compare.

2.) The Rooftop Restaurant at Vendue Inn, Charleston, SC......
Mmmm, divine. This was a creamier consistency, with whole chunky artichokes that Russ and I fought over. In fact, I had to bite a piece of kitten-sized artichoke in half to appease him. The base color was more of a white, and the spinach not as smoothly blended as the J Alexander spinach dip, which can be good, because sometimes you like to have a bit of variety in each bite. I loved the subtle sour cream-like aftertaste.

3.) Rush Creek Sports Bar (now KC's), Worthington, OH--- WTF is that?? A blob of cold mayonnaise with a few strings of spinach thrown in. No, no, no. I give it a 1.5. A disgrace to the Spinach Dip family's good name.

4.) King Street Grille, Charleston, SC..... Stringy and dry. Not creamy and blended. A bit cold. Chips too salty. Delicious if, for example, your plane went down and you were stranded on an island with the choice of eating this dip or your own big toe. Like, I'll take it if I must. But its dryness, and lack of tartness, makes me give this one a 4.5.

5.) A surprising dark horse candidate: RED LOBSTER. Yes... believe it. This has a leg up because of the crab factor. Sweet crab meat......thick and creamy...chunks of tangy artichokes....colorful chips.... my God, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

6.) Applebees... Booooo. It could have been a solid 5 or 6, but the fact that I had a plateful of chips left over after about a two teaspoon-sized bowl of dip was wiped clean... now that just makes me mad.

7.) A strong contender: Max and Erma's. This, too, has crab. And like typical M&E portions, the bowl could feed a small army. Base color is a pale greenish-gold; it is bold and flavorful, blended wonderfully. Always a solid favorite. Damn.

8.) Moose McGillicuddys, San Diego, CA.....yum. Robust hints of parm and romano cheese, served piping and steaming in a bread bowl. I was warm, happy, and satisfied, like a little girl tucked in bed after bath night. I love a dip that can do all that.

9.) Jake Melnick's Corner Tap, Chicago.... Hot and decadent dip, as sinful as the gangsters that once ruled that city. And damn, we loved it. It's bad (that means good) knows it, and doesn't try to fight it. It's as creamy as melted taffy. The steam rose to the ceiling.

10) Cannon's, New Orleans, LA.... Dayyyam. Stumbled off the St Charles streetcar and stumbled into love, Creole style. Spicy and thick, like a thick soup, but not in a bad way. Very flavorful...... bold, but not impertinent or precocious. A dip who knows who it is.

12) Ye Old AssFreezer Bar and Grille, Nuuk, Greenland: On an ice-fishing expedition, we popped into an igloo and lo and behold, the spinach dip that our waitress, Anke Kirrgkerradddd, brought us was straight from the States. We feasted on a steaming, lumpy dip with notes of butter and cream, zesty artichokes....and then followed it up by a platter of whale blubber. There's no place like home.....

13.) While trekking through Bhutan, the least-travelled country in the Himalayans, we certainly got hungry. So we popped into the village of Paro--- the "Capital City" if you will-- and bothered some monks at the Takstang Monastery. Coincidentally, they were whipping up some lunch in their little kitchen and playing the latest Killers CD. We lunched on a big batch of spin dip-- and man, I mean this stuff was FRESH, they grow their own in their backyard. It was a pure, untouched delicacy. Very light... in fact, all it had in it was hunks of spinach and artichokes, mixed together with some warm goat milk. But we were hungry and it tasted like heaven. OOOooooommmmmm..... everything Zen.
*MORE BLOGS UNDER "ARCHIVES"....