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Doug Wolfe leaves void at Flint Farmers Market

            The table and chill case at Edna’s Herb Shop at the Flint Farmers Market were looking bare today. That was because owner Doug Wolfe, a fixture at the market for 20 years, is closing up to join wife JoAnn at their Upper Peninsula home.

“I thought I might have a buyer (for the business), but that didn’t work out, so I’m winding up things.”

Edna’s offered a wide variety of items in addition to dried seasonings, such as coffee beans, nuts, dehydrated fruit, honey, artisan salt and cured meats, such as proscuitto and pancetta.

Doug says he adapted the business to his own tastes. “I sold things I use and like. I never brought in anything just to say I had it.”

He comes from the family behind Dale’s Natural Foods in Flint and, later, Flint Township. Doug once owned as small health-foods store in Lapeer.

JoAnn and Doug bought their U.P. place 17 years ago as a retreat. But his wife, a registered nurse, moved there four years ago when she took a job at the hospital in Newberry.

Doug has been driving north on weekends, returning to the market on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“I’d thought about closing up here for a while. I have no doubt the market will find a suitable vendor to fill this space.”

He sold his dried herbs and spices to Mexico at the Market and meat slicer to Knob Hill Meats.

He said he plans to pursue retail opportunities near their home. “I’m not going to just sit around. The wife would not approve.”

I recruited Doug to one of my Flint Journal reader tasting panels back in 2000. He brought a discerning palate and broad culinary knowledge. I particularly remember our forays into the world of extra-virgin olive oil and honey.

Other veteran market vendors honored Doug with a few gifts and words of good wishes this morning. They will miss him along with the Live2eat guy and a whole lot of other people.

Goodies just like grandma used to make (It's true)

Dawn Anschuetz (left) and Tami Johnson with samples of products they sell under Michigan’s Cottage Food Law.

 

  

            Shameless yet obviously false claims are made by industrial food producers that their products are “homestyle” or “just like grandma used to make.” Nobody is fooled.

Dawn Anschuetz, Tami Johnson and DeAnn Alexander can make that claim stick. They are producing products in their home kitchens that you and I can buy.

The three Flint-area women are able to sell their food to the public because of Michigan Public Act 113 of 2010, known as the Cottage Food Law.

          The law allows them to sell nonperishable foods at farmers markets, farm markets, roadside stands or other direct markets. The products cannot be wholesaled or sold over the Internet or by mail order.

          Cottage food producers do not have to be licensed, but must include nutritional labeling on each package. They are limited to sales of $15,000 annually. Their activity falls under Michigan law regarding food safety and allowable ingredients.

 “The law is a great opportunity for anyone who is thinking about starting a food business, but don’t necessarily want to invest to establish or rent commercial (kitchen) space,” says Alexander, of Linden.

She makes jams, jellies and soup, pancake and cookie mixes. But she also operates an incubator of sorts at the farmers market for others, such as Anschuetz and Johnson, who want to take advantage of the law.

Under the name Dawn’s Delights, Anschuetz sells her German chocolate, red velvet and carrot minicakes. Before Easter, you could buy her cupcakes decorated like bunnies and chicks.

Johnson goes by Tami’s Sweet Treats and sells scones and cookies.

All their products are sold under the Artisans Pantry sign, across from the Artisans in Culinary prepared foods booth. The Flint Farmers Market is at 420 East Boulevard Drive just west of I-475 and off Robert T. Longway Boulevard. It is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

The Grand Blanc farmers market, operating on Sundays starting in May, also is a good place to buy real “home style” products.

For more information, go to www.michigan.gov/mdard and click on Cottage Food Law under quick links. To contact Alexander, e-mail her at info@thefoodieinsider.com. 

 

 

 

 

Steak, wine and chocolate in 1-day roadtrip

    It sounds like a great road trip. You will hit @The Grill House near Allegan, @St. Julian Wine Winery in Paw Paw and @Chocolate Garden near Coloma, all on Sunday, May 6, and for only $99.

    This is another of DeAnn Alexander's neat food roadtrips (www.foodieroadtrips.com).

    The coach leaves the Kmart parking lot at Miller Road/Ballenger Highway, Flint Township, at 7:30 p.m., collecting more foodies at Sam's Club, 2525 Town Centre Blvd., near Lansing at 8:40 a.m.

    The Grill House has been featured on the Travel Channel and the Chocolate Garden has been featured on the Food Network. Sign up before April 15.

Jon Foley's stamp is all over The French Laundry's bar

 

 

 

 

Sometimes Jon Foley is a customer at his own bar.

 

            FENTON -- You don't easily have a conversation with Jon Foley at his work site, the bar at the French Laundry.

          He is too busy, the room is noisy, Jon talks in bursts and I am hearing-challenged.

          The only way I ever was going to mine a tiny fraction of the rich lode of Jon's brain is to sit down with him one-on-one. We finally did that one Monday.

          The French Laundry (www.lunchandbeyond.com) has several things to recommend it. One is its bar service. That is Foley's domain.

          Since starting at the restaurant in 2004, he has made it a mecca for craft-beer devotees. He also has become a master mixologist in his own right.

          A third of the 60 listed cocktails are of his creation. See what kind of ride you get on the Sidecar Named Desire, consisting of Woodford single-barrel bourbon, Hennessy VSOP Cognac, Drambuie, Cointreau, two kinds of bitters, lemon juice, simple syrup, served in a martini glass swished with Chartreuse liqueur and dipped in sugar.

          "I am fascinated by the pre-Prohibition cocktail culture. It's part of the history of an era but it's also timeless. A proper cocktail is transcendent."

          Foley says he will lead a class in tiki cocktails this summer. "Yes, there will be sampling.” Of course.

          Back to the grain beverage. The Laundry's embrace of craft beer moved in step with the Michigan craft beer industry, now with more than 100 breweries and brewery restaurants.

          "When I started here in 2004, our drafts consisted of kolsch, pear hard cider and root beer. We offered 12 bottled beers.

          "In '06, we expanded to nine taps and 25 bottles. In '09, we went to all Michigan beer, dropped root beer and expanded to 55-60 bottles."

          The move to all-Michigan brews as a no-brainer, Foley says. "In 20 years, Michigan has become one of the top five craft beer states.

          "Our beer industry is something to be proud of in these tough economic times."

          (See Jon's list of favorite beers below.)

          I said craft brewers are turning out beers that rival those of winemakers who fuss over a vintage by using only the best grapes, pressing them oh so carefully and then aging the juice for months in new French oak.

          “Look at it this way,” said JF. “Almost anyone can afford to be a beer connoisseur because for ten dollars, you can buy the equivalent in beer of a first growth Bordeaux costing hundreds of dollars.”

          Yes, friend, but to appreciate that barrel-and-bottle-aged imperial stout in a similar fashion to that 1982 Chateau Latour, you should consume it in four-ounce pours served in a tulip glass at least four times that size.

          I exaggerate only a little.

          I said this to shift the conversation to the general inappropriateness of beer glassware. The Laundry does it right by serving complex, higher-ABV beers in 8-ounce snifters, a practice that should be copied.

          How often does someone walk up to the bar and ask for a Bud Light and, when it happens, what do you say, I asked. “It might not happen for three weeks and then it might happen three times in a night.

          “I’ll always have a lager or Pilsner on draft and I’ll offer a taste. Most people think it's pretty good.”

          To illustrate just how much the Michigan beer scene has changed, Jon adds, go back to the early ‘90s when the state had but two, Kalamazoo (Bell’s) and Frankenmuth. There was but one for a time when a storm leveled the latter’s facility.

          “Bell’s is doing 70,000 barrels a year, but it’s still a craft brewery. Oberon almost became a brand onto itself, which obscures the fact that Bell’s makes 40 different beers.”

          Foley says he strives to take care of all bar customers equally, but a select few get special consideration. “I only got 12 bottles of Founders Better Half. My 12 best customers got them.”

          It is a worthy goal for anyone to get as close to Jon’s good side as possible. You could start by stopping in March 22 when he taps a firkin (nine gallons) of Arcadia seasonal Whitsun.

          There’s still more to Jon. I’ll be back with it.

 

Jon Foley's 10 favorite beers

    1.  Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA, 2. Prima Pils (Victory Brewing Co.), 3. Founders Breakfast Stout, 4. Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza, 5. Arrogant Bastard strong ale (Stone Brewing Co.), 6. New Holland Dragon’s Milk, 7. Dark Horse Black Ale, 8. Hennepin Ommegang, 9. Arcadia Hopmouth, 10. Bell’s Hell Hath No Fury ale.

     HONORABLE MENTION – Bell’s, Short’s seasonals, Dark Horse seasonal stout series, New Holland Draft Hatters, anything from Original Gravity, Arcadia Whitsun.

1 for 2 at the apple recipe judging

          FRANKENMUTH -- I have judged numerous food (and beverage) contests in my food-writing career. Going in, I always wonder whether my scores and opinions will jibe with those of other judges or if I will be off in my own corner, left to decide if I'm off base or the only competent one.

          At the 8th annual apple recipe contest, I was one out for two.

          In the anything apple category, I gave a low score to a cheesecake whose filling had the texture of Dannon yogurt. It took second prize.

          Affirmation came in the pie segment. The very first pie set before judges came in a shallow castiron pan. It was nicely domed, the crust was tender and flaky and the apples perfectly al dente.

          You don't want to award a near perfect  high score to the first entry in any contest because, if something better comes along later, you found you went overboard on that first sample.

          In this contest, like most, you can't go back and change scores.

          But, damn, that first pie was flatout great. I gave it 29 out of a possible 30 points.

          I needn't have fretted. None of the other double-crusters came close to Yankee Spy Apple Pie. It took the grand prize.

          But there was a bonus grin for me. I learned later that this super pie was made by Dan Beck of Mundy Township (a suburb of Flint). I wrote about Dan and his pie passion several times for The Flint Journal.

          Dan and wife Linda each had been runners-up in prior contests. Their vow to each other was they would keep entering until one came away with the $500 grand-prize and a trip to Florida to compete in the national apple pie contest.

          But that wasn't all. Linda Beck picked up a $150 check for coming in second with her crumbtop pie.

          They were joined in the winner's circle by Virginia Prince of Flint, whose Apple Harvest Delight Cake won first place in the open segment.

          I was happy to see that half of the 17 double-crust pies were of the old-fashioned variety with minimal ingredients. Dan Beck's filling consisted of apples, sugar, cinnamon and flour. (I'll bet there was a pinch of salt in there to mesh flavors.)

          Other entries had as many as 20 ingredients, such as dried cherries, blueberries, blackberries, pecans, cream cheese, sour cream, canned chilies and Red Hots, yes, Red Hots.

          Those things are distractions, not enhancements.

          It always is gratifying to see so many Michiganders in one place who enjoy baking. It's a big deal just to be picked to compete in the finals during Snowfest here.

          Thanks to Zehnder's, the Michigan Apple Committee, Michigan Sugar Co., the local Maytag retailer and WSGW-AM for sponsoring.

To taste the ultimate cider, you gotta come and judge

JIM PARKER

 

 

          GRAND RAPIDS -- Apple grower Skip Sietsema proudly displays the traveling trophy he received for winning the 15th annual cider competition at the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market Expo here.

          But he has to issue a disclaimer to those who visit his Ada orchard market with the intent of sampling the prize-winning cider.

           "I have to tell people the cider I made for the contest isn't the same I make to sell," Sietsema says. Not that it isn't good, of course.

         You see, the cider the 30 Michigan mills made for the 2011 competition was from small batches of selected apples. It typically is produced a few days before the judging.

          "We experimented with 20 different apple blends," Sietsema says. "The one I entered has six different varieties, three older ones and three newer ones."

          He’s keeping the names of the varieties under his hat.

          Sietsema won the first time he entered the contest. "I tasted the ciders that won in previous years and wasn't that impressed. I thought I could do better."

          Chances are good that the ciders he tasted came from one of three orchards that have dominated the competition. They are Hill Brothers and Engelsma's Apple Barn, both near Grand Rapids, and Erwin Orchard and Cider Mill near South Lyon.

          Perhaps Sietsema's first-year success will inspire more cider makers to enter the contest. The state has about 100 cider mills.

          It stands to reason that making a "reserve" cider for judging will sharpen the skill of the person who makes it and thus improve the consumer product.

          Keep in mind that cider is continuously being made after the harvest starts and will change from one pressing to the next, says Bob Tritten, MSU Extension horticultural specialist based in Flint.

          "In early fall, a mill might only have three or four apple types at its disposal. By November, he might have a couple dozen or more as they ripen."

          I have been a judge at nine of the 15 contests and have seen a dramatic increase in the overall quality of the cider entered.

          The scoring form Tritten developed uses a 20-point scale. The most important criterion is the balance of sweetness and tartness.

          Of the samples I tasted this year, I scored none lower than 16. I gave most a 17 or 18. I found I had given Sietsema's cider a perfect 20.

          Jim Parker of Sterling Heights has sat on the judging panel at every contest. He qualifies by virtue of having tasted cider from more mills than any of the rest of us. The Chrysler retiree’s hobby is orchard-hopping, with the tally exceeding 500.

          He says a truer way of assessing Michigan cider quality might be to buy a jug from each mill without the producer knowing when it was purchased.

          “That would be a lot of samples to judge, but at least the public would know the winners came from the regular product,” Parker added.

          Tritten says Parker’s idea has merit but the contest as now devised offers producers the opportunity to take cider-making to the next level.

          “The mills that enter welcome the challenge. It’s a chance to really show the craft involved.”

           Jim Parker wrote a book covering his favorite orchards. Call him at (586) 979-2884 or e-mail ciderlight@wideopenwest.com.

Good wine, great food, poor match-up at Grand Rapid's snazzy Reserve

This post is both about a red-hot 15-month-old wine bar in downtown Grand Rapids and how not to go about matching wine with salty cured meats.

Friends Margie and Doug Theodoroff of Flushing had raved about Reserve. I made a note to check it out when there a couple of weeks later.

Reserve boasts a temperature-controlled, by-the-glass system that can handle 102 wines. My server said it's the biggest such setup in the Midwest. It's more like a wall of wine taps.

Once I stopped gawking, I turned my attention to the list. I'm continuing on an Italian wine kick after visiting the ancient peninsula in August.

Red choices included a Chianti Classico, Barbera d'Asti and, on the obscure side, the 2007 Allregrini from the Venato and one made with the aglianico grape from the province of Basilicata in far southern Italy.

Any of these would have been a poor choice accompanying the food I ordered, but probably the Allegrini, made in the Ripasso tradition, was the worst. Ripasso means blending nearly dried up Corvina grapes with some from the regular pressing.

Ripasso wines sometimes are called the "poor man's Amarone" as the latter is made with nothing but shriviled late-harvest grapes. This makes for a dense, alcoholic -- and expensive -- wine.

Another of my current interests is smoked/cured meats. Reserve's charcuterie/cheese list includes prosciutto, country ham, several salumi choices and speck, which is cured and smoked ham from Italy that is sliced paper-thin like prosciutto.

I added a washed-rind, aged goat cheese from Evergreen Lane Creamery in Fennville. This I loved.

The La Quercia prosciutto -- made in Norwalk, Iowa, incidentally -- is delicious but on the salty side, at least to my palate. I knew right away this would kick up the acid and tannins in the Allegrini. Yuck.

Instantly, I remembered something I had written in a Flint Journal article long ago: The best libation for salty/smoky foods is dry sparkling wine.

Bubbly clears and refreshes the tongue after each bite. A glass of L Mawby Blanc de Blanc from Reserve's wall of wine would have made the experience much more enjoyable.

As for Reserve itself, it is urban chic and not one bit out of place in Grand Rapids, a city with ever-growing sophistication.

Chef Matt Millar offers small, medium and dinner-size plates that include several intriguing choices. One is scrambled egg with char roe in brioche with creme fraiche.

Another -- from the dinner list -- is scallops with pork belly, spinach, cauliflower, fried kale and truffle oil.

Dinner options fall into the $16-$29 range.

Reserve opens at 4 p.m. Monday-Saturday. It's a 201 Monroe NW, conveniently across from the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and DeVos Place convention center.

www.reservegr.com

Bloody Marys complete morning tailgate brunch

           I resolved to do a post on the Bloody Mary cocktail before the Nov. 26 tailgate gathering two blocks north of the Big House in Ann Arbor.

          But Jennifer and Srinivas Naidu got me back on track. The young Ann Arbor couple were whipping up the ultimate brunch libation for anybody showing the least interest.

          The mixture of V8, vodka, pepper sauce and Worcestershire was the perfect accompaniment to host Kathy Merrill’s Crushed Buckeye Chili.

          The Naidus didn’t overlook the traditional garnishes of celery stalks and stuffed olives joined on toothpicks.

          I dug out my blog tease file with a couple of articles on the Bloody Mary.

          Both discuss the several theories about the BM’s origins and the many variations that have evolved over the decades.

          I won’t delve into the speculative history here. Reading about the various recipes with their several substitutions prompts me to propose the formula below.

          It’s a vegetarian’s delight except for the beef stock. Free-spirited vegans will allow it.

          My feeling is to stick with a basic blend for the cocktail and go as nuts as you wish for garnishes. You might even toss them with a splash of vodka a half hour or so before taking orders.

          If the Naidus don’t reprise their cocktail service next year at Merrill’s morning tailgate soirees, I will be prepared to step in. The tradition is established.

 Tailgate Bloody Mary

1 (46 ounce) can tomato juice

2 cups vodka

1 cup beef broth

½ cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons horseradish

Ground black pepper and celery salt to taste

           Recipe should make 8-10 servings, depending on how crazy you go with garnishes and how much ice you include.

          Have a bottle of cayenne sauce handy for those requiring more heat.

 

       

Forget Tuscany, Piemonte is Italy's premier wine region

 

            Imagine you have been airlifted into a place of rolling hills, vineyards as far as the eye can see and wineries with slick signage and lovely reception buildings. Yet, the whole area is quiet with little traffic on the winding roads.

            You could be in Napa Valley except for the peacefulness and the words you see on signs and buildings. They're in Italian.

            Okay, you're in Italy, but where? This happens to be Piemonte, southeast of Milan. More specifically, you're among the Langhe hills, the most densely planted portion of this vine-happy region.

            We spent four days there in late August with La Dolce Vita wine tours. The principals are Claudio Bisio and his Ohio-born wife, Patricia Thomson. They lead small groups in Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and the Dolomites, the Veneto and Sicilty, in addition to Piemonte.

            They took us to four wineries, all of which had hosting areas as nice as any you will find anywhere, but with appealing old world touches. But we were there at an appointed time.

            The first was at Marchesi di Barolo, which is the only winery in the whole area open to walk-ins. But its Website doesn't list hours and suggests you make an appointment.

            So no, there are no buses or vans (except ours) making the rounds of tasting rooms among the dozens of wineries in Piemonte. It was kind of nice.

            The Langhe is best known for Barolo and Barbaresco wines. Those are names of villages. The grape used in both is nebbiolo, which gets the best south-facing hillsides.

            In the U.S., the grape we most identify with Italy is sangiovese. Sangiovese is grown in Tuscany and shipped here most often as Chianti. I wish I had stock in the brokers who put rustic sangiovese in straw-wrapped bottles and sent it here by the shipload.

            Barolo and Barbaresco have better breeding than Chianti Riserva at its best. Most of us just don't know about them.

            The only problem with these distinguished wines is that most need years in the bottle to be fully appreciated. I'm at an age where buying something that I shouldn't open until at least 2014 (until 2030) doesn't connect.

            In our visit, six different Barolos were poured, varying in vintage from 2000 to 2007. The 2000 was sublime, showing why Barolo is worth waiting for if you think you can. The others were way too shy, even with roasted saddle of wild boar.

            But there are other red wines from Piemonte that are tasty young and affordable, too. The names are barbara and dolcetto -- and also nebbiolo without all the pampering.

            I recently bought a barbara d'Alba and a dolcetto d'Alba at the Village Corner in Ann Arbor. (Alba is the town near which the wines were made.) The barbara was full of fresh fruit while the dolcetto drifted more to dried fruit with a stiffer backbone but still delightful. Each cost in the neighborhood of $16 after grand re-opening markdown.

            As for white wine, the best in Piemonte is the cortese grape, raised around Gavi. The bottle will invariably say (blank) di Gavi. Arneis is another white grape yielding crisp, lively wine, the one you might choose if you are there in midsummer.

            If somehow I am inspiring you to book passage to Piemonte next year, make it easy on yourself by booking appointments online at the same wineries we visited. And then I'll tell you the names of the restaurants Claudio and Pat took us to.

            Wineries:  Marchesi di Barolo, Barolo; Silvio Grasso, La Morra; Conterno Fantino, Monforte; Villa Sparina, Gavi. I can follow up if you wish with the wines poured at each.

            Restaurants: La Cantinetta, Barolo; Osteria di Vignaiolo, La Morra; Bovio, LaMorra; and Osteria del Arco, and Osteria al Barbarossa, Alba. Theoretically, any place with the name osteria serves good food and wine at reasonable prices.

            Another way to sample the local wines is at the enotecas, i.e., wine bars. I really wanted to check out one or two but time was lacking.

            The Langhe hills and beyond is a clean, largely rural area with great views and heaven for hikers and bicyclers. Alba and Asti are real towns while La Morra and Gavi are more like villages with activity. If you are driving about and happen upon sleepy hamlets, stop in if you see little food shop/bars. Those are real folks in there who will be happy to see you.

            Info about La Dolce Vita Wine Tours can be found in Pat Thomson's blog, which you can access from my blog.

            I'd be delighted to hear from anyone else who has been in Piemonte. 

  

Porridge -- a waste of oat power

 

          I do not look forward to that day in November when I trade my Kashi Crunch for Bob’s Red Mill old-fashioned rolled oats. I can eat Kashi Crunch 4-5 days a week, 52 weeks a year. By the time May 1 comes, I am so sick of oatmeal I could spit.

          Easing my pain somewhat is knowing that hot cooked oats is Scotland’s national breakfast. If the Scots can choke them down 300 days a year (Their summers are very short.), I can deal with them for half a year (Ours are, too.)

          My attitude is also improved somewhat knowing that Scots approve of doing just about anything to make oats taste good.

          I know this because I observe from afar the world porridge championship, which takes place every October in the village of Carrbridge in the Highlands.

          Oct. 9 also was World Porridge Day. I doubt it is celebrated anywhere but Carrbridge that one day.

          There are two divisions in the competition. One involves learning who can produce something truly wonderful from oats, milk, sugar and a pinch of salt.

          The second, or specialty, category allows contestants to doctor oats in any and every imaginable way.

          This year’s winning recipe involves mixing hot oats with a cooked blueberry slurry. I imagine Neal Robertson is serving this right now at his Tannochbrae Tea Room in Auchtermuchty. 

          Matthew Cox, a chef with Bob’s Red Mill, an American company, won the specialty first prize last year with a concoction that obliterated the oats with pears, tart cherries, hazelnuts, cinnamon and pear brandy.

          Substitute dirt for the oats and you have something that most people will eat, unless you tell them about the dirt. Tell them a little while later.

          Goldenspurtle.com, the contest’s Website, offers a long list of past specialty winners plus runner-up recipes that authorities deemed worthy.

          Most I would call formulas for company porridge. Examples are Canadian Whisky-Apple Pudding, Oatmeal Waffles with Fruity Date Porridge Ice Cream, Porridge with Spiced Autumn Fruit Compote and Canadian Cran-Apple Crunch.

            Others are harder to categorize, such as West Coast Seafood Porridge, Thai Curried Porridge, Butternut Squash Porridge Risotto and Kedgeree Porridge.

            To enhance the entertainment value of this post, I decided I would prepare one of the more bizarre offerings. I picked Kedgeree Porridge, having a vague notion that Kedgeree is a mixture involving rice.

          The adaptation involves seasoning hot oats with curry powder and nutmeg and pouring it over chunks of smoked haddock.

          I include it among those items I think might taste good but am afraid to know for sure.

          But I dared to try and, by jove, it is ruddy good. Indescribably so.

          All this leads to the simple fact that oats are just another food, like potatoes and pasta, that is a blank canvas on which to create something entirely edible.

          It’s just that the porridge thing has given them a poor image.

          After making it, I made a few changes in the recipe. Oh yes, the contest winners receive a trophy topped by a wooden stirrer known as a spurtle.

          I’ll bet the Scots have a cutsy name for what we Yanks call a spatula.

Kedgeree Porridge

1 small onion, chopped
½-stick butter
¾ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 ½ cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 cup whole milk
8 oz. smoked whitefish, skin removed

Grated nutmeg
2 hard-cooked eggs

Pour the water into a saucepan with a large pinch of salt, add the oats, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and cook until thickened, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet on medium-low, add the butter and sauté the onions. Add the oats along with the milk and whisk in the curry powder.

Reduce the heat to low and cook the mixture until thickened and it has turned a creamy yellow color.

Break the fish into a few chunks, add to the skillet and spoon over the oat mixture until the fish is heated through.

Divide the porridge among 4 bowls, grate a little nutmeg on each serving and serve with slices of the cooked egg.

 

The noble swine of Austria comes to America

         

          TRAVERSE CITY -- The ultimate Spanish ham comes from the prized Iberico pig. Only recently imported to America, it sells for $30 a pound. The best Italian proscuitto ham comes from Parma in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Likewise expensive.

          Mangalitsa is an heirloom breed that provided pork to the Austria-Hungary monarchy (You've heard of the Hapsburgs) 150 years ago.

          The wooly breed had all but disappeared by the 1970s, saved only by the establishment of a gene bank.

          The Mangalitsa is back and someday soon may be regarded with the same reverence as the Iberico. More significantly, the preferred cuts from the Mangalitsa could come from pigs bred and raised in the United States.

          It already is happening. You can go online and order prosciutto and bacon, even whole hams, from U.S.-bred Mangalitsas. How about $60 plus shipping for two pounds of Mangalitsa bacon?

          Michigan soon may be a base for Mangalitsa mania, thanks to farmers Marc Santucci of Traverse City and Wilhelm Kohl of Haslett and John Hoagland of Cherry Capitol Foods.

          Santucci and Kohl started by importing a few piglets from Austria. Their first litter of seven was born in September 2010. Once the litters start coming twice a year, Hoagland will be the sole distributor.

          "I want to establish a processing operation in the Traverse City area," Hoagland says. "That will be a big deal."

          What is so special about the Mangalitsa, you ask. The term "fat pig" applies, not because it is obese as pigs go, but because it develops a high ratio of fat to muscle.

          Why would diet-conscious Americans want to eat fatty pork?

          First, fat means flavor. Second, the fat on a Mangalitsa is highly monounsaturated. Yes, good-for-you fat, forget the calories.

          These are a few of the facts I learned at Pigstock TC II, three days of demos and discussion centered on the hairy, well-insulated Mangalitsa.

          Learning along with me were local chefs and students from the Great Lakes Culinary Academy in T.C.

          The inaugural Pigstock last fall turned Miles Anton into a dedicated butcher. The chef/co-owner of Stella Trattoria here took part in the butchering of a Mangalitsa, inspiring him to process several whole pigs and lambs and beef sides for meat served there.

          "I realized whole animal butchery was a logical step," Anton says. "Utilizing quality whole animals has decreased Stella's footprint on the environment, challenged my creativity as a chef and exposed our guests to unique cuts and preparations."

          I had to get back downstate before Anton served a seven-course Pigstock feast, showing off a different part of the pig or techniques such as curing or smoking.

          Receiving top billing at Pigstock were an Austrian couple, Christoph Weisner and his wife, Isabell.

          The couple have been breeding and raising Mangalitsas since 1999 and more recently started exporting them. Weisner heads the Mangalitsa Pig Breeders Union in Austria.

          Anton is tracing the footsteps of Brian Polcyn, chef-owner of the Forest Grill in Birmingham and Cinco Lagos in Milford. He has been practicing the art of charcuterie for 20 years. He authored the 2005 book "Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing" with Michael Ruhlman.

          The Forest Grill dinner menu includes a $19 charcuterie platter and an $18 proscuitto appetizer.

          Polcyn was at both Pigstocks, co-hosting with the Weisners the lectures and demos with the Mangalitsa.

          "This is the kind of food people should be eating," he said here. "We as chefs have to educate the public to create awareness, which leads to demand."

          The Mangalitsa needs 18 months to mature, compared with seven months for the super lean hybrid hog that goes into American factory pork.

          I compare Mangalitsa with kobe and waygu beef first imported from Japan and now being raised and marketed in America. If I were a steak lover, I might consider ordering a hugely expensive waygu ribeye a once-in-a-lifetime indulgence.

          With the Mangalitsa's utility for charcuterie, I may be on the lookout for a small hunk of pancetta or bacon that won’t break the bank.

          Or, as Polcyn says, the more I know of the Mangalitsa's virtues, the greater may be my willingness to shell out. That goes for all the food we put in our mouths.

          Kohl says he plans to open a visitor center in June to allow chefs and culinary students to learn more about the breed.

          One more thing. He says the black-footed Iberico is a Mangalitsa transported to Spain. So there

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