Roadfood on Rick Steeves

We are going to be on Travel With Rick Steeves on public radio this weekend talking about Roadfood. To see what stations near you carry it, go to his website. If there isn’t a station you get, Rick’s producer tells me that the show becomes available as a podcast from I-tones on the website.

Love is a Many-Layered Cake

Many ultra-thin layers of yellow cake alternating with chocolate fudge icing: that’s the obscure Smith Island cake as invented by the ladies of Smith Island, Maryland, an inhabited island in the Chesapeake reachable only by boat.  Smith Island’s economy is based on the blue crab, but the cake is beginning to make a name for itself, too.  Hear about this cake, and how you can sample it on the mainland, by catching Jane and Michael Stern’s appearance on this weekend’s episode of Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table.  The Cove, in Crisfield, MD imports genuine Smith Island cake by ferry.  If you miss the show on radio you can listen the the Sterns’ segment, or the whole show, online.

“We’ve Come A Long Way, Baby”

Those are Jane Stern’s words, as she describes the life journey from hot Nestle’s Quick to the pure, thick, intense hot chocolate of Sahagun, in Portland, OR.  Jane and Michael Stern appear on this weekend’s edition of Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table to giddily describe Sahagun’s amazing potion.  You can listen to the show on your local public radio station, or you can catch the Sterns’ segment, or the entire show, online.  Also be sure to get a look at the Roadfood.com review of Sahagun.

Crumbs

What grabs you, the cake or the crumbs?  If you said crumbs, you’ll want to listen to last weekend’s episode of Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table, because Jane and Michael Stern discuss the crumb cake to end all crumb cakes: the one made by B&W Bakery of Hackensack NJ.  The bakery calls it “heavy crumb cake,” and they’re not kidding.  The show has already aired but you can still listen to the Sterns’ segment, or the whole show, online.  You can also check out the Roadfood.com review of the B&W.

Twenty Questions with Tony Luke, Jr.

The name Tony Luke is certainly synonymous with great sandwiches, but it turns out there’s much more to this R&B-singing, spatula-slinging son of Philadelphia. In our inaugural interview of the “Twenty Questions” series with Roadfood restaurateurs, we talked with Tony Luke, Jr. about his passion for food, the craziness of life beyond the counter, and his plans for global cheesesteak domination.

1. Who served you your first life-changing meal, and what was it?

That would be my father and it was eliche with garlic and olive oil. It’s a very simple dish, but it was amazing. My father always cooked with a lot of spices so he added red pepper flakes as well. I really learned how to cook from my father.

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Essence of Cleveland and Great Polish Food

Do you enjoy muscular lengths of juicy kielbasa, heartwarming bowls of halushka, and buttery pierogi dressed in well-cooked onions?  Then you’ll want to catch Jane and Michael Stern’s appearance on this weekend’s episode of Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table.  The Sterns talk about the terrific Polish cuisine to be found in Cleveland at the Polish cafeteria named Sokolowski’s.  You can also listen online: here’s their appearance, and here’s the whole show.  In the Roadfood.com review of Sokolowski’s, Michael Stern said: “This hearty food is of high quality and dished out with good cheer in abundance.”

Eat Oysters, Love Longer

The Louisiana oyster industry makes its annual trek to Washington, D.C. this week to meet with legislators, and to feed them plenty of Louisiana oysters.  They’re bringing chefs from Galatoire’s (Roadfood.com review), the Acme Oyster House, and Bacco’s to help make their case, and to prepare Louisiana oysters raw and cooked.  While this is an annual event, this year the visit is of particular importance because of proposed federal regulations on the harvesting and sale of raw oysters that could hit the Louisiana industry hard: the FDA has proposed a requirement that Gulf oysters be specially treated and processed during the warmer months.

Don Ames of New Orleans’ WWL radio recently spoke with Mike Voisin of the Louisiana Oyster Task Force about the trip and the issues facing the oyster industry.  You can listen to the conversation here.

Masa Master

Todd Martin, proprietor of the Tucson Tamale Company (Roadfood.com review) in Tucson, AZ, sees the tamale as something like a sandwich: he’ll stuff one with just about anything.  Jane and Michael Stern assert these hand-rolled specimens as perhaps the finest tamales in the Southwest, and they tell Lynne Rossetto Kasper of The Splendid Table about it on this weekend’s episode of the radio show.  If you miss it, you can listen online: choose the Sterns’ segment or the whole show.

A Most Sponge-Worthy City

Jane and Michael Stern love the sponge candy at Alethea’s in Williamsville, NY (a Buffalo suburb).  What is this stuff called sponge candy?  A specialty of the Buffalo, NY area (and also found in select geographical pockets around the country), it’s a crisp, airy, brittle chunk of caramelized sugar, usually enrobed in chocolate.  The texture is unique in that the hard crunch gives way almost immediately as the center quickly dissolves, leaving the lucky eater with the mouth-filling flavors of caramelized sugar and chocolate.

They are also ecstatic about the top-drawer sundaes available in the ice cream parlor section of this candy store.  Alethea’s makes their own sundae toppings, and that makes all the difference.  We’ve been there and can corroborate everything the Sterns say about Alethea’s (as if their recommendations need corroboration!).  Oh, wait… where are Jane and Michael saying all these wonderful things about Alethea’s?  On this weekend’s episode of Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s The Splendid Table!  Listen to the show on your local public radio station or, if that’s not possible, hear the Sterns, or the whole show, online.  Also be sure to see the Roadfood.com review of Alethea’s.

Connecticut Silver and Georgia Gold

Prospectors once hoped to mine silver in Connecticut and gold in Georgia.  Those plans didn’t pan out, but today there are two great old inns on the former mining sites: the Silvermine Tavern in Norwalk and the Smith House in Dahlonega.  Jane and Michael Stern made a recent appearance (actually, the show was re-broadcast from the previous Christmas season) on Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s radio show called The Splendid Table to present these two inns as ideal spots for holiday repasts.  As we see it, old inns are just as splendid for any winter-time meal as for a Christmas dinner, so the Sterns’ recommendations are relevant throughout the season, at least in the case of Smith House.  Unfortunately, the Silvermine Tavern operates as a B&B only now; the restaurant has permanently closed.  You can listen to the Sterns’ segment online.

Pictured above: Smith House on the left and Silvermine on the right.  In the Roadfood.com review of Smith House, Michael Stern says it’s “an elbow-to-elbow eatfest. Tables are communal, shared by local folks and visitors, who all behave as though they were at a family party, passing platters back and forth, chattering happily about the delicious food.”