Happy harvest time! This is the free edition of the newsletter. Welcome to our new readers. Paid subscribers get even more features, such as Red Beans and Advice on Monday, The Conversation on Wednesday and they are automatically eligible for giveaways. (You’ll meet the winner of Pour Me Another and see the arrival of Bread Head below.)
Please think about becoming a paid subscriber. It’s easy to upgrade by clicking this button. Thanks so much for reading and your support.
Let’s Talk About Terroir
This week, I got my hair cut and some highlights put in. My appointment was at 1 pm and we finished up around 4 pm (you can’t rush these things). I had planned to go home and have a late lunch/early supper, but when I got to the intersection of Causeway and Jefferson Highway, I spotted a Popeye’s.
The whole time I have been here, people have insisted that Popeyes is better in Louisiana, its home state, than elsewhere in the country. I’ve been skeptical, since it’s a fast food franchise. Shouldn’t it all taste the same?
But this was my chance to test it out, and guess what? There might be something to that theory. The batter was crispy and light, the chicken nicely cooked. The Popeyes staff member wished me a blessed day. All in all, it exceeded my previous Northern Popeyes experience.
On a grander scale, the concept of eating something where it originates is called “terroir” (pronounced tear-wahr) or “of the earth.”
I am a firm believer in it, yet in a world where food trends move with alacrity, recipes circulate at lightning speed, and produce can be shipped from any part of the world overnight, terroir seems to be an outdated concept. Why not eat what you want, whenever you want, wherever you are?
It’s a balancing act
As someone deeply concerned about the planet, I am determined to buy as many local products as I can. We may love balsamic vinegar from Modena or soy sauce made in an ancient Japanese method. But to get it from there to here requires fossil fuels, whether by jet plane or freighter. It’s disingenuous to own an electric vehicle and then fill your cupboard with items whose shipment created more CO2 emissions than you’ll ever save with an automobile.
But if we adhere too strictly to terroir, there are flavors we will never taste, and dishes we many never get to discover. Once, when I was on a sustainability rant, someone stopped me and said, “Bananas aren’t grown in Michigan.”
They had a point.
However, terroir allows us to discover things right under our noses that we may enjoy just as much as those far flung ones, perhaps even more. When I lived in Phoenix, one of my biggest surprises was the peaches sold at the Downtown Farmer’s Market.
I had no idea peaches grew in Arizona; I’d always thought of them as being native to Michigan or Georgia. The Phoenix area is also home to a terrific olive oil producer, Queen Creek Olive Mill, whose owners are from Southern Ontario.
Here in Louisiana, the first satsuma oranges are arriving at our markets. They will make their way up north, but there is nothing like a fresh satsuma that a grower hands you as a lagniappe for your purchase. Likewise, winter brings Ponchatoula strawberries that rarely make it out of the region. They are a little Gulf Coast secret.
I’ve been enjoying seeing chef Michael Gulotta’s Instagram posts from his trip to Madagascar. (That’s his lunch at Marais Restaurant above.) He is known here for incorporating Asian flavors into his locally sourced dishes. No better way to learn about those flavors than to go to the spot where they originate.
Gumbo here, or there?
Coincidentally, Michael makes one of the best gumbos at his restaurant, Maypop, that I’ve ever eaten. And, gumbo is one of those dishes where I can go either way on terroir.
I don’t think you only have to eat gumbo in the South. Education and migration have combined to produce some delicious versions in other places. However, when you taste gumbo here versus elsewhere, you’re eating something that might have multiple generations of heritage, like this one based on her family’s recipe that Allison Richard serves at the High Hat Cafe.
It’s why I’m amused by efforts across the country to create the Italian Beef sandwiches featured on The Bear. Italian Beef abounds all over Chicago. The specialists can make it in their sleep. Why eat a facsimile? Just wait until you’re in Chicago.
Likewise, on my first night in Ballater, Scotland, a few years ago, I wanted some takeaway. My two choices were Chinese and fish and chips. It was pretty easy to decide which to choose.
But if you do eat a po’boy in Vermont or a beef in Brooklyn, you’ll have some concept of what goes into making it - and more appreciation when you can try the real thing. Maybe, just maybe, someone elsewhere will improve on the original, depending on the local ingredients they have available - their terroir.
Have you ever been unexpectedly surprised when a dish you had hundreds or even thousands of miles from its home turned out to exceed your expectations? Is there something you will only eat where it originates?
Circling back to Popeyes, I am lucky to live in a city where great fried chicken is only a menu click, drive through or a gas station stop away. I probably won’t be eating a lot of it. But now I can confidently say, “Yes, it is better - at least at this Popeyes.”
The Drunkest And Most Sober Cities
New Orleans and Chicago share a popular trait: they are places where people go to drink alcohol. Yet, neither of them take the overall top spot in a new ranking from the Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration.
It looked at the nation’s drunkest and least drunkest metropolitan areas based on a variety of criteria: safety (binge drinking and drunk driving deaths); number of bars, breweries and wine bars per 100,000 residents; Google trends for 15 alcohol related categories; and walkability.
The winner in the drunkest category was Milwaukee. The most sober city is Memphis. That might be a surprise if you’ve ever been to Beale Street on Friday night, but Memphis simply doesn’t have density when it comes to alcohol. The city with the most drinking establishments per 100,000 is, yes, New Orleans. The least can be found in Riverside, California.
The survey is loaded with interesting statistics including one I would not have guessed. About 22 percent of adults said they are cutting back on drinking alcohol. Take a read and see how your home town measures up.
A Michelin Star - Finally - For Dirt Candy
For the past 14 years, Amanda Cohen has been making magic with vegetables at her New York City restaurant, Dirt Candy.
Long before veganism became an embraced eating style, and before Daniel Humm sent it to upscale heights at Eleven Madison Park, Amanda was gaining an avid fan base.
After battling her way through the pandemic, she’s gotten some overdue recognition. Guide Michelin granted Dirt Candy a coveted star.
She told Gothamist that she couldn’t attend the ceremony because she was working, and if she had, she would not have had much company. Among the new one-star restaurants, Amanda said she was the only female proprietor.
The award is nice, but she believes it says more about Michelin’s evolving standards than it does about her cooking. “Ten years ago, I would've said it means the world and I'm so happy to be recognized,” she said.
“Now, it's a little bit of a different story. I feel pretty well established, so I don't feel like I'm fighting for space or recognition in the New York culinary scene. So if we had never gotten the recognition, I would be fine with that.”
But to quote my mother, take the award. A Michelin star can boost business an estimated 15 to 20 percent in the first year, especially as tourists discover a spot.
Delicious Things To Watch
This is a great week for food related television shows.
Michelle Obama is expanding her Waffles and Mochi children’s franchise with Waffles and Mochi’s Restaurant on Netflix. The animated figures will cook for guests from around the world.
On Tuesday, the sixth season of Somebody Feed Phil reaches Netflix. Phil Rosenthal also has a new book coming later this month and he is hitting the lecture circuit.
Stanley Tucci began a new season of Searching For Italy on CNN last week. His first episode explored Calabria. This week, he visits Sardinia.
Welcome! First Time In Korea, which you can find online, has a new set of friends - brothers, actually, who visiting from New Zealand. The first thing they did when they hit Seoul was head out for fried chicken. (They’d love New Orleans.)
They subsequently visited a meat market and a seafood one. Both featured restaurants where you can have your choices cooked. It’s fun seeing how much they enjoy discovering new dishes.
We Have A Winner For Pour Me Another!
Congratulations to Kathleen Lewis of New Orleans! She has won Pour Me Another, the cocktail guide by J.M. Hirsch of 177 Milk Street.
Kathleen says, “I am a retired chef from California. I retired to New Orleans in 2020 after a long career in Los Angeles and San Francisco. I'm a graduate of Mary Risley's Tante Marie's Cooking School in San Francisco, class of 1980.”
Paid subscribers to the CulinaryWoman Newsletter are automatically entered in our giveaways. You can upgrade your subscription and become eligible for the next one (hint: it’s a cookbook that’s getting a lot of sweet attention).
Just click the button. Kathleen’s prize is on its way to her directly from Milk Street.
Meanwhile, our most recent winner, Mark Remillard posted this photo of his prize and some CulinaryWoman swag. We love it when people win!
What I’m Writing - And Saying
I was tickled to join Liz Williams, author and founder of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, on her podcast, Tip of the Tongue. We talked about Satisfaction Guaranteed, focusing on Zingerman’s roots and the business concepts that fueled its growth.
I am always looking for new trends, and I spotted one in menu boards. Have you seen this style where you live? Turns out that it is from New Zealand. I talked to its creator in a story for The Takeout.
You never know where your work might pop up. Last week, my writing about the 2009 Chrysler bankruptcy was cited in the Northwestern University Law Review. (It’s a great read for fellow bankruptcy geeks; possibly a tad dry for anyone else).
Keeping Up With CulinaryWoman
I can be reached at culinarywoman at gmail dot com. You can find details about my upcoming events on my website.
Find us on Facebook and Twitter at CulinaryWoman. My New Orleans adventures are on Instagram @micki_in_nola. And I’m also posting at LinkedIn under Micheline Maynard.
It’s flu season and people are still testing positive for Covid. Be sure to get your vaccines. Stay safe. I’ll see our paid subscribers tomorrow with Red Beans and Advice. If you’d like to join them, simply upgrade here. Have a good week.