West African pea fritters have many relations in the Americas. Easily the most lavish is the Brazilian acarajé (ah-cah-rah-Jeh), which might be stuffed with vatapá, a creamy paste flavored with seafood and nuts; caruru de quiabo, an onion-and-ginger-laced okra gumbo; bacalao salad; and the inevitable shrimp. In Brazil's northeastern state of Bahia, the acarajé is a street-food favorite.
By comparison, at first blush my black-eyed pea cake sandwich ($7.75) seemed rather reserved, especially in the company of a side salad. (I might have had fries instead.) Closer inspection, however, revealed the shrewd use of twin fritters, one for each half of the sandwich; while I started on the first, the second remained crisp outside, warm and delightfully moist inside. Each pea cake rested on lettuce, tomato, and pickled red onion, was draped in pepperjack cheese, and got an extra zing from spicy remoulade that was spread, above and below, across the wheatberry bread. This sandwich may not samba, but from where I was sitting, it worked together very nicely.
B. Matthews
325 East Bay St. (at Habersham St.), Savannah, Georgia
912-233-1319
www.BMatthewsEatery.com
