The Heat Seeker: Into the Heartland

"The Heat Seeker: Into the Heartland" is food writer Alison Stein Wellner's paean to St. Elmo's Shrimp Cocktail:

"For the St. Elmo’s Shrimp Cocktail, the shrimp swoon all over themselves and are slathered in a thick cocktail sauce. A fork on the side of the bowl spears a lemon, saltines were scattered around the saucer. I squeezed the lemon, seized my knife and, in the middle of a sentence, popped some shrimp into my mouth.

"I dropped my cutlery as a sensation that I can only describe as what electrocution must feel like shot down my throat and then up my nose, forking its way into my brain. My hands started to rise and—yes!—I had the urge to clap my hands on my skull to keep the top from blowing off. My hands shot up in the air, my eyes started to water.

"And then it was done. As my hands went back onto the table to liberate a saltine from its wrapper, I looked at this seemingly innocent shrimp cocktail, in the middle of downtown Indianapolis, with new respect."

(Unfortunately for St. Elmo's Ms. Wellner ate her horseradish delight at Harry & Izzy's, not St. Elmo's Steak House.)

Read the whole piece on WorldHum.