the road | the food | a new direction
What makes the Sonoran hot dog? Is it enough to wrap a dog with bacon before cooking it? Does it have to be inserted into a bolillo? Or does it only become a Sonoran dog when the strangely compatible array of toppings — beans, tomatoes, onions, mustard, crema and/or mayo — lands atop the package? Dalina Castellanos writes about the Sonoran dogs’ origins in Hermosillo, Mexico, how it took hold in Tucson, Arizona, and Los Angeles’ eventual bastardization of the concept. Check it out.
Mountain Rest, at the far western reaches of South Carolina, bordering Georgia, is certainly a part of Appalachia, but when they celebrate the 56th annual Hillbilly Day on the 4th of July you can be sure tongues are planted firmly in cheek. Which is not to say that the stereotypical “hillbilly” culture celebrated at this festival is entirely foreign to the thousands of folks who attend in fanciful getups each year. The old-timey banjo and fiddle music is for real, as are the cloggers. But don’t expect to run into the real Jed Clampett. Continue reading
We both ordered burgers from the long burger menu: Sue a Wert’s Cheeseburger, Bruce an Alyssa’s Barbecue Cheeseburger. Bruce hoisted the burger to his mouth and took a bite, whereupon this virtual Super Soaker of a hamburger took aim on his shirt and pants. These are among the juiciest burgers we’ve ever enjoyed! They also taste very good. The namesake burgers are stuffed with mushrooms and onions. You can also get burgers without the “Wert’s” prefix; these are unstuffed. Continue reading
Voodoo Doughnut has just opened their first store outside of the U.S., in Taiwan in a repurposed old tobacco factory warehouse that now features local artists and designers (sounds like the perfect spot for Voodoo!). They hope this will be the first of up to 20 Voodoos in Japan and Taiwan, although Dunkin’ Donuts, Mister Donut, and Krispy Kreme have not exactly taken the region by storm. One early report: liked the doughnuts, not the premium prices.
Combine pig, hickory charcoal, and the High Country of North Carolina and what do you get? A 4th of July to remember, at the 47th Roasting of the Hog in Beech Mountain (the highest town in the United States east of the Rockies). The local fire department claims they’ve perfected their seasonings and charcoal blends over the years, to the point that they may just serve the finest barbecue in the High Country. Dinner (they do turkey as well as pork) is served from 6 until 8 p.m. and includes all the fixin’s, tea and lemonade, and even a Moon Pie for dessert! Continue reading
If you’re on the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge, perhaps enjoying a pizza at Grimaldi’s, followed by ice cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, why not make it a triumvirate of treats by taking a stroll over to Jacques Torres Chocolate in DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, that area of Brooklyn between the two bridges). Continue reading
The Alabama state tourism department has declared 2015 the Year of Alabama Barbecue, and as part of the promotion they have created the Alabama Barbecue Hall of Fame, which features 29 veteran barbecue restaurants in its inaugural class. From Golden Rule Bar-B-Q in Irondale (which is the oldest barbecue restaurant in Alabama – they opened in 1891!) to Whitt’s Barbecue in Athens (opened in 1966 – they bent the rules slightly) all 29 inductees have been smoking meat for 50 years or more. I see a road trip in our future! Check out the entire list here.
“Before God was God and boulders were boulders, the Basques were already Basques.” That Basque saying refers to the Basque people’s very long history, said to predate the arrival of the people who became most of today’s European population. The descendants of Basques who came to this country primarily in the 19th century have a strong cultural identity, which is celebrated each year in Elko, Nevada at the National Basque Festival. This year’s festival runs from July 3rd through 5th. One thing you can count on: there will be plenty of robust Basque cuisine to sample. Continue reading
A couple of decades ago it seemed as if every American chef with a name and a reputation to promote set up shop in Las Vegas, NV. A more recent trend has taken that idea to the country’s regional food specialists. As difficult as it once would have been to imagine, you can now find branches of Buffalo’s Anchor Bar and New York’s Di Fara pizzeria in Sin City! Do a little digging and you’ll also find Michigan pasties, Detroit-style pizza, and even the towering pastrami on rye sandwiches of Manhattan’s famed Carnegie Deli. Read more about this new twist on the Vegas food scene in Larry Olmsted’s piece in Forbes.
What began in 1946 as the Homecoming, a 4th of July weekend festival for soldiers returning home from World War II, in 1950 was transformed into the peacetime Blackberry Festival in Carlisle, Kentucky (the blackberry became the official state fruit of Kentucky in 2004). Celebrated on Carlisle’s courthouse lawn, the festival features rides, games, a Blackberry Queen, plenty of live music (there’ll be gospel Wednesday night), a Thursday night parade, and fireworks on Friday night. Continue reading
We’re always on the lookout for great root beer (our current favorite bottled RB includes Virgil’s and Hank’s). Even more thrilling are drive-in root beer stands, like the small NJ-based chain called Stewart’s Drive-In. Frank Stewart opened the first Stewart’s drive-in, selling his specially formulated root beer and salty, thirst-inducing popcorn, in Ohio in 1924. Over the years, the chain expanded and contracted, and ownership changed and changed again. Today, the chain is based in New Jersey, and most of the drive-ins are in the Garden State, too. Continue reading
We love traditional Tuscan dishes prepared in the traditional manner, but we are also impressed with the lightened preparations served at La Solita Zuppa, a small and popular Chiusi spot run by the Gallicly puckish (but Italian, we believe) Roberto and Luana Pacchieri. The day’s unwritten menu is recited with great enthusiasm by Roberto, in English if you prefer; they especially try to make non-Italians comfortable here. Continue reading
One of our favorite dishes will soon be available in three locations in suburban Milwaukee! Hoppel poppel is a Midwest breakfast specialty of eggs scrambled with chunks of potatoes and salami, and sometimes other vegetables. What makes the hoppel poppel at Benji’s deli so special is the use of kosher salami, which scents the whole mish-mosh with a touch of garlic. We like to order ours in the super configuration, which adds peppers, onions, and mushrooms (and cheese, but we ask them to hold it – cheese don’t go!). Continue reading
We find this hard to believe, and it’s incredible if true: the Cherry Fair in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania is said to go back to the 1700s! Presumably they skipped a few years since that first fair for, say, the Revolutionary War or something. The fair, these days, is held at the circa 1736 Historic Schaeffer Farm, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2011. Continue reading
We’d be the first to admit that barbecue in the Northeast must be graded on a curve. We’ve rarely had barbecue in our home region that compares favorably with the stuff obtainable in the barbecue regions of America’s South, Midwest, or Texas. It’s just a fact of Northeast life. But it doesn’t mean that we and our fellow cold-weather Q-lovers are condemned to a barbecue-less existence. We just have to readjust our sights somewhat (and avoid the local Q for a few months following a barbecue-country trip). Continue reading
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