Roadfood Digest

Bill Cosby eats free.  All others pay cash.  Mr. Cosby told the Washington Post about Ben’s Chili Bowl half-smokes: “You can describe it the same way a wine connoisseur would be able to tell difference between a pinot noir and a merlot."  Ben’s Chili Bowl celebrated 50 years of half-smokes this week with a show Thursday night at the Lincoln Theatre in D.C. featuring Mr. Cosby and Roberta Flack.  And yesterday, there was a block party celebration in front of Ben’s with Mayor Fenty and Ben’s founder Ben Ali.  Read all about Ben’s Chili Bowl in The Washington Post.  Here’s a companion piece in the Post.  And here’s a Washington Post photo gallery of Ben’s.  And Aamer Madhani here writes a post-block party ode to Ben’s for The Swamp, the Chicago Tribune’s Washington blog.

See the Roadfood.com reviews of Ben’s Chili Bowl.

Here's a couple of WFMZ videos from the Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market in Pennsylvania.  In this first video, Stephanie Esposito talks to vendors and customers about the price-versus-quality considerations of shopping at the Farmers Market.  In the second video, Joscelyn Moes visits the market to learn more about succotash.  Succotash?  Yes, succotash: a mixture of corn and lima beans!

Those are chicken pies we photographed at the Allentown Fairground Farmers Market.  See our Roadfood.com review here.

Valle Crucis, North Carolina recently sponsored a media tour of the area, and it is paying off.  Tim Cable of WJHL in Johnson City, TN put together a video on the Mast General Store.  You can see it here on his Tricities.com blog Cable Country.  The photo above shows honey for sale, from Michael Stern’s Roadfood.com review of the Mast General Store: “What we liked most, culinarily speaking, were the jars of mountain honey – beautiful, clear, and delicious – available with or without the comb inside the jar. We took home several pints and are reminded of this wobbly old store every time we spoon out a portion.”

Joe Tennis of the Bristol Herald Courier has written a story about Valle Crucis, with a focus on both the Mast Farm Inn and the Mast General Store.  Says Henri Deschamps, owner of the Mast Farm Inn: “Listen, man – if you spend any time here, you’ll see this place as heaven.”  Check out Michael Stern’s Roadfood.com review of the Mast Farm Inn.

 

 

The date: This Friday, August 1st.  The time: 12:30 pm.  The place: Fountain Square in Cincinnati.  The challenge: eat as many Camp Washington chili cheese coneys as you can in three minutes.   The grand prize: a trophy, a t-shirt, a hat, a $50 gift certificate to Camp Washington Chili (Roadfood.com review) and, most importantly, the respect and acclaim from your fellow gluttons.  12 contestants will vie for the championship.  Only one will be the Camp Washington Chili Cheese Coney Eating Champion!

Last year, the winner managed to consume nine Skyline Chili coneys.  Will the switch from Skyline to Camp Washington affect the outcome?  Be there to find out!  See the video of last year’s contest:

 

 

Not only are they holding a testicle festival this weekend at the Rock Creek Lodge in Clinton, Montana, they are holding the world’s largest testicle festival.  For the uninitiated: beef comes from steer, and steer are castrated bulls.  After castration you are left with what’s often called “swinging beef” or “Montana tendergroin.”  Why waste?  So people eat ‘em!  They are sliced and fried, and sometimes served with a dipping sauce, which may make them go down easier.

If you are looking for total testicle immersion, make your way to Montana this week and have yourself a heapin’ helpin’ of Rocky Mountain Oysters.  Buy ‘em by the sack!  See the festival website for more info (and be forewarned, the festival site contains some so-called adult content; this festival can get pretty rowdy).

 

 

A few weeks ago when musicians Rhett and Link asked permission to use one of my photos in a music video they were making, I had no idea that it would become part of what is the most entertaining BBQ-focused song I've ever heard. Backed up by the Homestead Pickers, Rhett and Link sing a high-energy ode to barbecue all around the South, offering their unvarnished opinions about everything from mayonnaise sauce to the status of the state of Florida. My favorite verse contains these lines:

When my life is through

Bury me in barbecue

But make sure it's vinegar-based

Because you know that slows decay...

Summer Saturdays from 6-9 p.m. are Cruise Nights at Bethel, Connecticut’s Sycamore Drive-In, with classic cars, a DJ, giveaways, and of course, the Sycamore’s famous French Style Steakburgers and homemade Old-Fashioned Root Beer.  This Saturday, July 19, should prove to be an extra-special Cruise Night as The Sycamore celebrates their 60th anniversary.  Read more about the Sycamore in B.J. O’Brien’s story for the Bethel Beacon, and Brian Koonz’s story for The News-Times of Danbury.  Brian Koonz has also posted a video with some interviews he did at the drive-in.

Michael Stern, in his Roadfood.com review of the Sycamore, says “It is famous for its root beer, made on premises from a top-secret recipe and served in frosty glass mugs. The root beer varies from sweet to dry, depending on where in the barrel yours comes from, but whatever its nature on any day, it always makes the perfect basis of a root beer float.”

Click the picture above to view a video of Senator McCain’s visit to Ted Drewes Tuesday.  You can also read about his visit in The Trail, The Washington Post’s political blog, and on the KSDK website.  Senator McCain’s choice of concrete?  Chocolate.

See Michael Stern’s Roadfood.com review of Ted Drewes.

 

Moomers Ice Cream won a "Good Morning America" poll to find America's best ice cream.  The Plummer family, owners of Moomers, appeared on the show; here's a video of their appearance, and a brief story in the Traverse City Record-Eagle, and another one on mlive.com.

Pictured above is Michael Stern catnip, i.e, a turtle sundae.  From Moomers.  About which, he says: "Layering of caramel and fudge makes the turtle sundae a delicacy we never can resist; and this is one of the best there is. The goodness of the nuts makes a huge difference. These are crunchy, buttery, and full of flavor."  See his full review on Roadfood.com.

Bridgewater Chocolate of Connecticut makes astoundingly good chocolate confections.  We've never been to the store, but we've mail-ordered from them numerous times; a Thanksgiving favorite of ours are the pilgrim hats, which are hat-shaped candies of soft and creamy caramel in dark chocolate.  In the Michael Stern photograph above, from his Roadfood.com review, is a coconut igloo, of which Michael says, "Intense dark chocolate and creamy-rich coconut are, in my book, an unbeatable combination. Here they are in a coconut igloo, married perfectly."

TasteTV has a 1:17 video of the proprietor of Cocoa Bella Chocolates taking viewers on a survey of the Bridgewater Chocolate items in his store.  As you can see, Bridgewater specializes in taking prosaic and familiar candies and, through skill and imagination, and top-quality ingredients, turning them into uncommon treats.