You Say BOBOTIE, I Say BOBOTIE

Following the March Wednesday over Water (aka, WOW) I found myself picking up a couple late night impromptu foodstuffs for my family at Wholefoods; whereupon I had the fortune of running into iconic restaurateur, food writer Crescent Dragonwagon, who was also shopping after hours.  After a few minutes of catching up, chatting, culinary pontificating, I mentioned that I had just completed a WOW show inspired by the Soul of a Nation exhibition at Crystal Bridges, where we served the traditional one pot South African dish, Bobotie.  I pronounced it “Ba-boo-tee” with an emphasis on the second syllable, almost as if to say, “shake your ba-boo-tie” Crescent, smiled and phonetically uttered the word COMPLETELY different than I had just seconds before – she said, “Bah-Ba-Dee” with more of an inflection on the first syllable, with a cadence of “zip-pa-dee” that could be the beginning or end to a funky, cool scat. 

I immediately blushed; and said, “Wait, is that really how you say it?”  And of course, being the socially gracious, well read, published writer that she is, Dragonwagon winked and said, “Oh, I guess, that’s how you say it…”  I realized that more than likely, the famed James Beard award winning cookbook writer that stood before me, was correct; and that I had just spent an hour and half in front of an audience of 200 museum guests mispronouncing the evening’s featured dish.

It seems that I’ve spent a lifetime mispronouncing or misusing words; and not just the culinary variety; at fifteen years of age, I excruciatingly remember telling my parents that my new high school girlfriend was an “intellect” rather than an “intellectual,” and in hindsight, honestly, she was neither, or wait, is it either?  And that’s not even breaking the surface of the scores of artist names and painting titles I’ve butchered during my eight year tenure at Crystal Bridges.  As a chronic “word butcher,” my advice to anyone who accidentally mispronounces or misuses a word in an embarrassing social situation is to either completely “own” your mistake like a badge of honor, or just simply grin and bare it with just a pinch of humility, which I guess is what this blog is when you get right down to it.    

Regardless, the WOW audience swooned over the centuries old South African minced meat dish that is traditionally made with exotic spices, herbs and an egg topping, similar to Greek Moussaka or British Shepherd’s Pie, sans the potatoes.  It’s really a casserole that can be easily made into one pot, then finished in the oven, a perfect dish for entertaining or feeding the family on a weekday, like perhaps, Wednesday.  We served it alongside a delicious, bright citrus slaw and a slightly spicy mango relish designed with fresh mint and medium heat peppers; the chilled slaw successfully cut through the rich, meatiness of the Bobotie, while the mango relish triggered the myriad herbs and brown spices layered throughout.  The recipe listed here will ensure that your next dinner party will impress even the most discriminating, finicky guest…wait, or is it insure?  Either way, they’re going to love it!       

Mispronounced Bobotie 

Ingredients

2 tsp coriander seeds, roasted

1 tsp cumin seeds, roasted 

½ tsp ground allspice 

Pinch of salt

1 tsp curry powder

1 T ginger root, peeled and roughly chopped

1 t turmeric

4 garlic cloves, chopped

½ long green chili, sliced

 1/2 small habanero pepper

2 slices bread

 1/2c milk

 3t vegetable oil

2 onions, finely chopped

 1 ½ lb. ground chuck

 ½ lb. ground lamb

1 green apple, peeled finely diced

1 tbsp. mango Chutney, plus extra to serve

½ c golden raisins, soaked in warm water, drained

½ lemon, juiced

Freshly ground black pepper

¼ c toasted sliced almonds

The Custard

2 large eggs

1 c milk

4 fresh bay leaves

Technique -

Use a spice grinder to grind the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, allspice and salt to a powder. Add the curry powder, ginger, turmeric, garlic and chilies, and pound until a fine paste forms.

Soak the bread in the milk for about 10 minutes, then strain and fluff up bread with a fork.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 5–6 minutes, or until soft. Add the spiced chili paste and cook for 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Increase the heat to high, then add the beef and lamb cook, stirring to break up any lumps, slowly simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the apple, chutney, raisins, lemon juice and mashed bread. Season with salt and pepper and spoon into a shallow baking dish. 

To make the topping, whisk together the eggs and milk and pour over the meat. Place the bay leaves on top and bake for 20 minutes at 325 or until custard is just set. Garnish with toasted almonds

Home Is Where the Art's Place Is

We all need a place to call home; a proverbial hearth that simultaneous garners sanctuary, familiarity, and inspiration alongside the people we love and cherish.  Home is not simply a place, but rather a state of mind and, at times, even of taste, touch, and smell.  The fragrance of fresh brewed coffee, frying bacon, and cigarette smoke transcends me to my childhood and the home kitchen of my grandma Dighero as she poetically maneuvers through her standard, grease laden daily breakfast.  No matter when:  childhood, adolescence, adulthood….I could count on those three intermingled perfumes to make me feel safe, and perpetually hopeful. 

These days I search heard for a surrogate to that important, ghost of a sanctuary; and sometimes, just sometimes I catch a whisper, hint, tiny taste and smell of those beautiful days…sometimes in the strangest, and most inexplicable of places. 

I’m asked on a weekly basis:  where’s your favorite restaurant, who makes the best burger, what’s your favorite beer, where do you go for a drink?  I typically derive answers based on the party questioning, and my answers to the independent questions alter day to day, depending on my mood.  However, the sum of all of those inquiries together lead me to one, undeniable location in Fayetteville:  Arts Place Bar and Grill.  {Notice, there is no “E” at the end of grill}

Dark, brooding, smoky, embellished with sounds of pool balls “clacking” intermittently beneath laughter, “rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb” muttering, and the unmistakable “sizzle” of burgers on a flat top grill.  Ahhh, this is home…this is where I come to make business deals, to celebrate the lives of contemporaries, to mourn the loss of important family, to be alone, to be part of a crowd, to break-up, to fall in love, and to, most importantly of all, drink a beer and devour the best cheeseburger on the planet.

There’s really nothing stylized about the Art’s Place burger; it’s an archetype of perfection, but one should never expect something groundbreaking or cutting edge.  The beef patty is fried in front of you, behind the bar on a flat top grill that has been seasoned with whiskey, bar brawls, and a million lonely hearts, then stratified with mayo, sliced tomato, cold iceberg lettuce, and thick sliced white onions…be sure to ask for extra crispy fries; and don’t be offended if the pretty girl sitting next you at the bar pays you little mind, because she is, well, you’ll just have to see for yourself.

Art’s Place is a lot of things to a lot of people, myself included; but at the very least it’s an important part of the edible culture of Fayetteville, Arkansas.  It may not be your idea of home, sanctuary, inspiration…but I guarantee it’ll be the best burger you’ve had in a very, long time.

Wasted Away Again in Michelada-ville

I lick the rim, instantly causing an involuntary spasm in my cheeks elicited from the combination of citrus, pepper, and salt; my mouth waters, so I part my lips and take a long, slow pull from the frosty glass; g-u-u-u-u-l-p,  g-u-u-u-u-l-p, g-u-u-u-u-l-p;  Mexican lager, lime, salt, umami cascade across my tongue, against my throat, and into my stomach.  I open my eyes, and the dream is gone…

I started drinking micheladas in 2002 at the newly opened Oseguera’s Mexican restaurant in Springdale, owned and operated by a trio of second generation brothers who learned the intricate tools of the trade from the family establishment located in Hot Springs.  Oseguera’s quickly became a weekly destination for me because of the exceptional hospitality, incredibly authentic food, and the house Michelada.  I still fantasize about their higado encellado, or beef liver with caramelized onions, delicately prepared with lard laden refried beans and coarse ground corn tortillas.  But the michelada was, out of the many wonderful items offered, the thing I craved the most.  The first time one of the gregarious brothers brought a tray full out to a table full of friends, some of which hailed from central Mexico, I reached for the sweating, footed, bulbous glass cautiously because I had never heard of such a thing.  The opaque goblet was rimed with chili salt, teeming with foam that ceilinged a dirty brown beer mixture.  I sipped, slurped, and gulped like Harry Dean Stanton emerging from the desert.

There was always a swirl of mystery around the Oseuguera michelada recipe; the boys were as welcoming and accommodating as any I’d ever met, but they were tight lipped and elusive about the ingredients of their house beer cocktail.  In fact, just before publication I contacted Anthony Oseguera, one of the brothers who now owns Mangos taqueria in Fayetteville, in an attempt to procure their coveted recipe, and his response was kind, but as vague as ever regarding the original ingredient.   I always ordered it with Tecate, but it was just as delicious with Negra Modelo; I could decipher fresh lime juice, salt, something spicy, and something earthy, umami.  But what the hell was that earthy, umami component?  I suspect that it could be Maggi, a dark liquid seasoning found in Latin and Asian markets that has a similar consistency and flavor as soy sauce, but is sans soy. 

These days micheladas can be found throughout the High South region at a number of Tex-mex and authentic taquerias, and most offer the base recipe with tomato juice, which I’ve learned is heresy for most diehards.  Although rarely do they compare to the Oseguera recipe, I still order them all the time, La Hacienda in Northeast Fayetteville makes a solid version, and Charley’s taqueria in Springdale makes one filled with a lime, lemon, pickles, meat sticks, and poached shrimp; and even though it seems more than a little superfluous, I order it almost every time I dine there

So, I still think about, fantasize about that first michelada from Oseguera’s, which sadly, subsequently closed a few years later, leaving a pretty substantial gap in the life that defined the culinary me.  It’s true, I’m a nostalgic guy; and I fell head over heels in love with Tammye, who later became my wife, over many sexy, blurry eyed evenings of queso fundido, higaldo  encellado, and the salty, ethereal kiss of the michelada.  It’s my own damn fault….thump thump.

Check out my Ozark Michelada recipe here using Ozark Beer Company’s American Pale Ale - Enjoy!

Ozark Michelada

Ingredients

Salt and Smoked Paprika, for rimming the glass

¼ cup fresh squeezed lime juice – probably 3 or 4 medium sized limes

Ice

1 can Ozark American Pale Ale

3 shakes of Worcestershire sauce

3 shakes Cholula hot sauce

1 shake of Maggi

Freshly ground pepper and lime wedge for garnish

Technique

Place enough salt and smoked paprika in a wide, shallow dish to cover.  Rub the rim of the glass with lime wedge, then dip glasses into salt, paprika mix.

Place lime juice, sauce shakes in the glass, mix, add ice, then beer, top with a few grinds of pepper, garnish with lime, serve, enjoy. 

*Keep in mind that it’s perfectly fine to add a splash of tomato juice to this recipe, but please don’t add tomato until after you’ve tried it without – Gulp Gulp!

The Art and Science of Aquaoir

The art and science of winemaking can be as complicated and vast as the varietals available to mankind; an infinite number of variables determine the descriptors that define a wine; fragrance, body, mouthfeel, taste are devised by the vintner through a myriad of techniques that can be beautifully subtle, nuanced.  The dirt from which the grapes are grown plays an integral part in that design; the idea of terroir is the belief that the land truly imparts something specific and unique to the grapes, an important layer to the final stratification of experience.

A relatively new technique known as Aquaoir suggests that aging wine underwater offers yet another interesting component to the art and science of making wine.  But what are its virtues?  Napa Valley’s Mira Winery owner, Jim “Bear” Dyke, believes aging wine beneath the surface of the ocean has potential to have a huge impact on the flavor and complexity.  In fact, Dyke (who was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas) engaged in a test a few years ago in the bay of Charleston, South Carolina, submerging 48 bottles of Mira’s cabernet sauvignon for several months. 

Of course, it’s not just as simple as throwing a few cases of wine overboard; rather, much work had to be done to ensure the relatively fragile glass bottles could be secured properly in the sometimes harsh subsurface environment, that includes variables for alteration in temperature, pressure, and even water current.  Dyke and team devised a “cage” system made from welded steel, flat bar, and expanded metal to act as a screen that allows the wine to be stored in a modular fashion.

After four months, the wine was raised from its underwater cellar; an ideal, quiet, and peaceful environment with little light, perfect pressure and temperature, and a consistent motion that seemed to soothe the wine, as if it were a baby being gently rocked to sleep.  Technically speaking, the constant rocking motion helps to keep the yeast particles moving in the wine, which has been an age old issue throughout the history of wine making, suddenly solved by nature.  Who would have ever thought? 

When hatched carefully from the metal cages, the wines were covered in beautiful, bumpy, coarse barnacle like objects, each completely different from the bottle next to it; a final, idiosyncratic display of its new character and metamorphosis.    

The wine was blind taste tested against the same wine aged on land, and suggested that indeed the two wines were different on both the nose and taste.  Before Dyke could move forward, the federal government put a hold on the project, claiming the wine had been adulterated due to potential contaminates in the bay.  Regardless, Mira intends to pursue the Aquaoir technique in the future; breaking ground in the art and science of making wine.

Napa Valley’s Mira Chardonnay, aged above water, is currently available in Eleven at Crystal Bridges.          

Pond Scum Cocktails, Hushpuppies, and Ozark Trout Cakes Will Make You a MAN

The June 2015 Wednesday Over Water (or WOW) garnered inspiration from the temporary exhibition Fish Stories: Game Fishes of North America; and much like the exhibition, the night’s food, stories, and insights offered a broad scope of tall tales, delicious foods, and an interesting cocktail…that almost got away.

Special guests included library director Catherine Peterson, Chef Melody Lane of the Great Hall kitchen, and Ed Javorsky, host of a popular radio show.  I was happy to disclose my family hushpuppy recipe as a starting point to the evening as Catherine Peterson offered insights into the nuances of the Fish Stories exhibition.  Chef Melody Lane made her first-ever appearance at WOW (and certain NOT to be her last), discussing her time as a fishing guide off the coast of Belize, and also her appreciation of the work of Japanese artist, Mineo Yamamoto, a master fish printer. 

WOW guests were also served several interesting exhibition-inspired foodstuffs, which included our version of a Trout Cake with a Mississippi Comeback Sauce—that’s a “kissin’ cousin” to the more-traditional remoulade sauce, but made with just a whisper of chili sauce.  It’s a must for anyone traveling through Mississippi when dining on fried fish, shrimp, or pretty much anything that could use tarter or remoulade sauces.

Pond Scum Cocktail

Finally, we allowed guests an opportunity to imbibe in something we like to call the “Pond Scum Cocktail” which features Tito’s vodka from Austin, aloe vera juice, fresh mint, and hydrated basil seeds that have a look not at all unlike that of tiny black fish or frog eggs.  Interesting to look at…delicious, refreshing, and fun to drink.  Give it a try at your next High South dinner party…it’s sure to WOW!

 Hush Puppies Recipe Serves:  a lot | Recipe from the kitchen of:  Mary C. Todd

1 can corn – drained 2 cups corn meal 3 cups flour ½ cup sugar 3 eggs – beaten 2 tsp. salt 1 chopped onion 4 cups milk Drop heaping teaspoons in deep fat and fry until golden brown.

High South Trout Cakes Yields Eight Trout Cakes 2 cups flaked smoked trout 2 tablespoons green onion – chopped 2 teaspoons drained capers 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper 1 large egg, beaten to blend 1/4 cup whipping cream 1 cup panko bread crumbs


Combine trout, green onion, capers, lemon peel, and pepper in medium bowl. Season with salt. Stir in egg, cream, and 1/2 cup bread crumbs to blend. Form mixture by hand into eight 1/2-inch-thick fish cakes. Place remaining 1/2 cup bread crumbs in a shallow dish. Roll trout cakes in bread crumbs, coating completely. Heat 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, and adding more oil as necessary, fry trout cakes until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side.

https://crystalbridges.org/blog/create-food-series-blog-the-one-that-almost-got-away/