Culture Watch: The Raptors head to the City of Angels... and snacks

Delon Wright is a Cali boy through and through. From multiple tattoos, including palm trees, the L.A. Dodgers logo, and an outline of the State of California, to spending the offseason working out with other California-bred NBA players, it’s no surprise that when the Raptors dropped another episode of “The Spot”, Delon took the Raptors camera crew (and Norm!) back (back) to Cali (Cali). What is more surprising is that he took them to a Caribbean café… for breakfast.

Wi Jammin Caribbean Café is located in Los Angeles, California, and is Wright’s go-to breakfast spot every Sunday that he’s in town. Their famous French toast is served with the customer’s choice of cereal ground up and dusted directly onto the French toast.

The camera scans the kitchen, and Canadian viewers immediately feel a twinge of hunger, followed by jealousy, of the selection of cereals that are not available north of the border. Delon orders the French toast with Fruity Pebbles (told you, drool), with home fries, turkey sausage, and scrambled eggs. The French toast appears to be drizzled with chocolate fudge, sprinkled with icing sugar, and then for the grand finale, Delon adds syrup. This probably isn’t a typical meal for an NBA player during the regular season — hey, it’s vacation. (And apparently on vacation Delon’s diet resembles that of Will Ferrell in Elf.)

Toronto may not have a breakfast café that serves cereal coated French toast, but there are many options for a decadent brunch throughout the city. Beaumont Kitchen in Sherway Gardens offers a peanut butter and jam stuffed French toast (served with vanilla ice cream, for anyone who is craving an entire plate of sugar between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00pm).

If you’re feeling adventurous, breakfast is always a fun meal to make, mainly because you’re able to get creative and it is nearly impossible to screw up. (Seriously, if you can’t make breakfast I can’t help you, man). Below are two recipes, one for Delon’s French toast, and one for his scrambled eggs.

French Toast for Delon Wright

Ingredients:

Two slices of thick cut bread (think Texas toast, and a little bit stale)

1 egg

¼ cup of half and half cream

1/3 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 cup of cereal of your choice, crushed (for Delon’s we will use Froot Loops, and you can just crunch it in a Ziploc bag with your hands)

½ cup of chocolate syrup (Nesquik is totally acceptable)

Butter, for pan

Directions:

Place a small square of butter in a frying pan, and melt over low to medium heat.

While butter is melting, whisk together egg, cream, and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, pour crushed cereal.

Dip bread in egg mixture, making sure to coat both sides.

Place bread in cereal bowl, and coat.

When butter is melted, add bread to frying pan, and fry for about 2 minutes (the amount of sugar in the cereal will make the bread burn quicker than regular French toast)

Flip toast and fry other side.

In a small saucepan, warm chocolate syrup before drizzling on French toast.

Serve with icing sugar and syrup, and please don’t have a heart attack.

Scrambled Eggs for Delon Wright

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1/8 cup of half and half cream

1 tablespoon of butter

¼ cup of shredded cheddar cheese

Kosher salt, to taste

Ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

The trick to cooking scrambled eggs is to cook them slowly and on low heat, so this is not a recipe for a hurried morning.

Melt butter in a frying pan over low heat.

Lightly whisk together eggs and cream.

When butter is melted, pour egg mixture into pan.

Add kosher salt and pepper. It is easier to add it after the eggs are in the pan, because the amount of salt and pepper used is easier to see, and kosher salt is intense.

Stir eggs, slowly, and constantly, until lumps begin to form (in about ten minutes… sorry!)

When lumps begin to form, add cheddar cheese and continue to stir until the eggs are finished.

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Now, enjoy your breakfast... and vacation!