What were some of my favorite food-related items of the past year?
Let me finish my lists of my best recommendations and favorites of 2022, addressing my Favorite Food-Related Items of the past year. This is certainly not a complete list but it's more a sampling of memorable food items I've experienced and/or posted about over the past year. This is also a purely subjective list, based on my own preferences, and makes no claims about being the "best" of anything. But all of the items here have earned my strong recommendations and I hope you will enjoy them as well. For more food-related items, you can just search my blog posts for the past year.
Favorite Culinary School: NECAT is a local culinary school which trains people from challenging backgrounds, from ex-convicts to recovering addicts, from the homeless to the chronically unemployed. NECAT fills an important need for culinary help while helping numerous people achieve a better life. It is such a worthy school, helping to transform lives, and it really touches my heart. It helps individuals while also helping the community, and I continue, year after year, to try to raise awareness of NECAT so that its good work can continue and even expand. It is one of my favorite causes and is well worthy of your continued support.
Food History Articles: Since the start of the pandemic, it's been tough for many food writers and some have simply written sporadically, especially those who concentrated on restaurant reviews. For myself, I've continued to devote many hours to researching and writing numerous historical food articles, combing through thousands of newspapers and books. I've especially delved into the origins of numerous foods, trying to seek out their true origins, and not just accepting the unsubstantiated claims of others. Here are the historical articles I completed this past year.
Favorite Culinary Trip: This past Spring, I spent two weeks in Croatia, traveling across the country, enjoying its food, wine, spirits, culture, history, and more. I can't rave enough about my experiences and you can read about my travels on this compilation page, which has links to the 38 articles I've currently written, with a number of articles still to come. Fiš paprikaš (pictured above) to Kulen, Mali Ston Oysters to Truffle Risotto, and so much more delicious food.
What were some of your favorite food-related items this year?
Let me finish my lists of my best recommendations and favorites of 2022, addressing my Favorite Food-Related Items of the past year. This is certainly not a complete list but it's more a sampling of memorable food items I've experienced and/or posted about over the past year. This is also a purely subjective list, based on my own preferences, and makes no claims about being the "best" of anything. But all of the items here have earned my strong recommendations and I hope you will enjoy them as well. For more food-related items, you can just search my blog posts for the past year.
Favorite Food Experience: Doris Wang, the former owner of the China King restaurant in Chinatown (which had to close due to the pandemic), had a pop-up celebration for Lunar New Year, offering her famous Peking Duck. It was an amazing and delicious experience, with lots of tasty food, starting with scallion pancakes and shumai. Then, we enjoyed her Signature Peking Duck Three Ways, and that crispy duck skin was so damn good! Hopefully, in 2023, Doris will open a new restaurant, making her Peking Duck available once again.
Favorite Food Event: In 2022, the Seafood Expo North America returned after a hiatus due to the pandemic. It was much smaller than usual, as expected, but still had much to offer. It's a fascinating event, offering so much information about the world seafood industry. And the seafood samples are tasty and fun. The event will return in March, and I expect it will be larger than last year, although probably not up to pre-pandemic levels yet. Food writers should attend this event as it is fodder for many fascinating articles.
Favorite New Bakery: Last February, Lulu's Bakery & Pantry opened in Salem, and it's become one of my favorite bakeries, offering a wide variety of sweet and savory treats, including a number with a West Virginia connection. The owners, Nikki & Jim, have excellent culinary resumes, and evidence the passion I seek. Pepperoni rolls, corn bread, biscuits, chocolates, cupcakes, muffins, sandwiches, and so much more. Their large Whoopie Pies are some of the best I've ever eaten, with almost a chewy brownie-like cookie filled with a sweet, creamy filling. Any time I visit the Salem area, I try to stop here to pick up something to take home. Highly recommended!
Favorite Hot Sauce: I was thoroughly impressed with Dr. Dane's Vietnamese Lemongrass Chili Sauce, which is also available in a vegan version. I found the sauce to be spicy hot, with a complex blend of flavors, a pleasant lemongrass element, and lots of umami. It's a versatile sauce, that I've used on everything from burgers to seafood, and which could be added to many different dishes. It's not just a "hot" sauce, but a flavorful sauce that happens to possess spicy heat as well.
Favorite Seasonal Donut: The Fried Dough donut, from Kane's Donuts, was a "fluffy, airy, yeast donut and doused with salted sweet-cream butter and heavily dusted with classic fried-dough cinnamon and sugar mix." The taste of this donut certainly reminded me of fried dough, and it was definitely light, buttery and airy, and not overly sweet. Very tasty and I look forward to its return this summer.
Most Anticipated New Restaurant: From the Xenia Hospitality Group, which is behind Krasi, Greco and Hecate, will be opening a new restaurant this year, Bar Vlaha, in Brookline. "Bar Vlaha is dedicated to the largest group of nomads in Greece who are called the Vlachs. They are shepherds who wandered and laid the foundation and roots of Greek cooking...The food will reflect homemade cooking. Fresh pies, spreads, baked breads with a heavy concentration on grilling or spit-roasted meats as well as a technique or braising done by the nomadic Greeks called ‘gastra." With my deep love for their other restaurants, I expect Bar Vlaha to be equally as compelling.
A History of the Club Sandwich (two parts)
Favorite Joke Article: For April Fool's Day, I wrote The Italian Origin of Hawaiian Pizza, a faux-historical article claiming that pineapple on pizza actually originated in Italy. Of course that isn't true, but I did have a couple people who thought it might have been. This isn't the first time I've written such an April Fool's article and it won't be the last. Be advised.
Favorite Old Tradition (Which Needs a Revival): Last year, while researching some items, I stumbled upon a fascinating old Thanksgiving tradition, having donuts on your Thanksgiving table! This tradition extends back at least to the 1930s, and lasted for over 100 years, until the 1940s. It apparently started in New England, but expanded across the entire country, even to Hawaii. It's time to revive this tradition, and I started this past Thanksgiving by having apple cider donuts on my table. Hopefully in 2023, more people will embrace this old tradition. Who wouldn't love donuts on Thanksgiving?
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Nova Scotia Trip: This past year, I traveled to Nova Scotia for a vacation, and there were some culinary highlights, including:
Dockside Donuts: Donut Poutine: This was my second time visiting this small food truck which serves hot, mini-donuts, made to order, where you choose your own toppings. They impressed me previously so I was sure to return on this visit. This time, they also offered Donut Poutine, and I thoroughly enjoyed the Banana version. The hot donuts were topped by banana and butterscotch sauces, whipped cream, banana slices and nuts. It was as delicious as I imagined, and highly recommended.
Steamers Lobster Company & Lobster Poutine: I love Poutine, and loved this variation, Lobster Poutine, which consisted of crisp french fries, topped by a light gravy (likely chicken), cheese curds, and a plentiful amount of lobster meat. A decadent and delicious treat, the fries generally held up well to the gravy, maintaining much of their crispness, and the sweet lobster meat was a fine addition. This would have been an excellent poutine without the lobster, but the addition of the lobster elevated the dish and pleased my palate.
Grand Banker: The Lunenburger: Their famed Lunenburger includes 6 ounces of fresh, local ground beef, smoked mozzarella, smoked bacon, baby spinach (which I had them omit for me), garlic aioli, Nova Scotia lobster (all knuckle and claw meat), and a tarragon butter sauce. It was also topped by a toothpick holding a bacon wrapped scallop. It all worked well together, creating a more decadent sandwich, which was only slightly messy from the butter sauce. Salty, smoky, sweet, beefy and cheesy. The burger on its own would have been excellent, but the addition of the lobster elevated it to a different level.
Waffle Love With Perogies: This small breakfast spot offers waffles and perogies. The Classic Waffle was served with two scrambled eggs, real maple syrup, fresh fruit, and 3 bacon perogies. The waffle wasn't the typical Belgian waffle, and was softer rather than crisper. I enjoyed its fluffy texture and taste, especially covered with some butter. The fruit was fresh and sweet, and the eggs were cooked just right. The perogies were excellent, and quite large, with a creamy and flavorful filling of potatoes, cheese and bacon. The exterior was crisp, with a nice texture, contributing to the quality of these items.
Favorite Vermont Diner: I made a quick day trip to Chester, Vermont this past November, and was quite pleased by the Savory Pancake at the Country Girl Diner. The pancake was huge, covering the entire plate, and is stuffed with ham and Vermont cheddar. What a delightful crispy exterior, and each bite was delicious, with tender ham, the fine flavor of cheddar, in the interesting vehicle of a crisp pancake. Why haven't more breakfast spots made such savory pancakes, rather than all of the sweet concoctions you usually find?
Favorite Pie: While in Vermont, I also stopped at the Southern Pie Cafe and bought their Coconut Chess Pie (and they also have Chocolate and Lemon Chess Pies). This was a superb pie, very moist with lots of tasty coconut and a crisp topping. I've enjoyed some of the baked goods from here before, but this was the first time I had this pie, and it won't be the last. Chess pie is similar to custard pie, and Southern Pie Cafe certainly knows how to bake an amazing one.
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