Jersey Eats Magazine - August/September 2011

JerseyEats Food & Drink in South Jersey

www.jerseyeatsmagazine.com

AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2011

Complimentary

Rutgers rediscovers the great red fruit:

Jersey

The

Tomato project Collingswood for lunch

|

Eating new orleans

|

Peaches: summer’s fairest Fruit

CP-0010445905

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

C O N T E N T S A u g u s t / Se p t e m b e r

F ea t u r e s :

d e pa r t m e n t s :

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10 12 14 19 26 28 30 31 34 36 40

I n

Sea s o n

Peaches Aplenty: Summer’s fairest fruit is in abundance from salads to entrees.

Mee t . . .

Learn to love (and use) fresh ginger root, knuckles and all.

I n

2 0 1 1

t h e

16 22

Mi n d i n g

t h e

s t o r e

Grocery retailers have shoppers on the brain.

T h e

T o m at o

p r o je c t

Rutgers rediscovers some old favorites.

K i t c he n

A Q&A with Chef Bill Fischer of Fischer’s Pelican Restaurant in Washington Township.

J u s t

a

Bi t e

5 great places to grab lunch in Collingswood.

b ee r

he re

Hops, a brew’s all-important ingredient.

W i ne Hold the grapes…South Jersey vintners bottle blueberries and other “fruit wines.”

w hat

we ’ r e

d r i n ki n g

The martini’s renaissance.

Go n e

t o

Ma r ke t

Kalamata, picholine, maddalena, oh my.

Know your bulk olives.

22 12

g r ee n

6

A sustainable Medford farm takes grass-fed beef to market.

De s t i n a t i o n

di ni n g

South Jerseyans soak up food and drink (and tunes) at the New Orleans Jazz Fest.

how

t o

Crab-cracking for the landlubber.

Wh at ’ s

i n

S t o r e

Learn to love (and use) fresh ginger root, knuckles and all.

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jerseyeatsmagazine.com AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011

ed itor’s

not e

JerseyEats www.jerseyeatsmagazine.com

VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1 AUGUST /SEPTEMBER 2011 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Mary Price

Come and Get it

Welcome to Jersey Eats, the magazine dedicated to everything food and drink in South

Jersey. Published six times a year, Jersey Eats will serve up entertaining stories, scrumptious photography and hearty sides of useful local information plated to invigorate your taste buds.

Jersey Eats thinks food should be fun, not haughty, so we’ll cover everything from grilled cheese sandwiches to Chateaubriand. Want to know what’s fresh? Check out In Season.

Looking to learn a new kitchen skill? Stop at our How To feature, where you’ll learn how to do everything from cracking a crab to jointing a chicken. Our Beer and Wine columns keep things local (Napa Valley, Schmapa Valley). Just a Bite offers great places to grab a workaday lunch for under $10. In the Kitchen is a glimpse into the personalities of your favorite area chefs. What We’re Drinking highlights a classic cocktail and Green focuses on anything and anyone helping out Mother Earth. Destination Dining explores food and drink near and far. Meet… treats readers to a brave new world of underused and uncommon ingredients.

What’s In Store is a collection of the hottest new kitchen, cooking and food-related products, and Gone to Market is what we find interesting or new in area groceries.

Jersey Eats is a smorgasbord of tasty treats from cover to cover. Our online exclusives at www.jerseyeatsmagazine.com are like dessert at the end of a great meal (ah, go ahead, have dessert first.) So dig in, enjoy, and savor our debut issue. The second course will be served in October.

Details on area cooking classes.

Five tasty restaurants on the Big Easy culinary map and a glossary of yummy Jazz Fest fare so you can talk food with the locals.

RECIPES:

EAT MY WORDS

by Tammy Paolino, a South Jersey food lover, at blogs.courierpostonline.com/eatmywords/

Zucchini Crabcakes, Fresh Maine Lobster with Citrus Seasoned Asparagus, Chicken Skewers with Roast Peach Salsa dipping sauce, and a Chicken, Peach and Brie Quesadilla plus more…

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Beth D’Addono Eric Herr Janet Leonardi Jeff Linkous Dr. Gary C. Pavlis Sandra Pilla Julie Shannon CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Douglas Bovitt John Ziomek Chris LaChall Julie Shannon CREATIVE DIRECTOR Tara Askin DESIGNER Natalie Nigito ADVERTISING director William Janus wjanus@gannett.com ADVERTISING Managers Melissa Bettner mbettner@gannett.com Tom Martino tmartino@gannett.com ADMINSTRATIVE SERVICES Jacqui Wilcox CIRCULATION Rick Steinmetz Executive Editor & General Manager Gene Williams gewilliams@gannett.com

Chow,

Online Only AUGUST/SEPTEMBER Destination Dining

SENIOR COPY EDITORS Sheri Berkery Tom Wilk

BMOC

(Big Meal on Campus): Top-notch cuisine replaces mystery meat at area colleges and universities.

ON THE COVER: Heirloom tomato and Burrata salad at Caffe Aldo Lamberti, Cherry Hill.

Photography by Douglas Bovitt

PUBLIC INFORMATION Jersey Eats is published six times a year by the Courier-Post. Phone, (856) 486-2920. Fax, (856) 663-2831.

Jersey Eats welcomes editorial ideas and submissions in writing by email. We assume no responsibility for the return of unsolicited material. Editorial inquiries: (856) 4862920, mcprice@camden.gannett. com. No portion of Jersey Eats may be reproduced without the express consent of the Courier-Post.

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Peach and Lobster Salad Recipe courtesy of Chef Mark Smith at Tortilla Press, Collingswood

Ingredients • • • • • •

•

Jersey peaches, peeled and sliced Olive oil Sugar 3 Tbsp. honey 1 Tbsp. fresh mint, chopped 1 fresh lime 8 oz. tail or a 1 lb. lobster, cooked and chilled 6 oz. spring mix Salt and white pepper, to taste

Directions 1. Peel the peaches and slice them thick so that they survive being grilled.

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3. Heat honey, add mint and stir for about 3 minutes until mint is infused with honey. Add juice of one lime to mixture. Set aside.

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2. Brush peaches with olive oil and then season with salt, white pepper and a pinch of sugar, and grill. Set aside.

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1. Combine into a stockpot: 2 quarts water, 2 leeks, trimmed and chopped.

2 carrots, peeled and chopped, 1½ cups onion, chopped, 10 peppercorns, 1 bay leaf, 1 thyme sprig and 1 garlic clove, peeled and smashed 2. Bring to a boil.

3. Reduce to a simmer and add: 1 cup white wine, ½ cup white wine vinegar and 1 halved lemon — squeeze in the juice, then add the lemon halves 4. Bring to a simmer again. Strain, if desired, and use in the recipe.

—JE

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

i n

s ea s o n

Peaches aplenty

Photography by Douglas Bovitt

W

ith its explosion of sweet juice and delicious flavor, nothing sums up summer quite like a perfectly ripe peach. Luckily, South Jersey has plenty of orchards including Sun Valley in Woolwich, one of our favorites. August is Jersey Fresh Peach Month and the fruit is as plentiful as are peach-related events. Celebrate summer’s fairest fruit by making one of these yummy recipes or heading out to an area event.

Peachy Tips: To ripen fresh peaches, put them in a paper bag that has a few holes in it. Once the fruit is ripe, you can keep it in the refrigerator in a plastic bag for up to a couple of days.

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jerseyeatsmagazine.com AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011

in Peaches and Crème Brulee with Blueberry Sauce

s ea s o n Recipe courtesy of Chef Anthony Marini at Cork, Westmont

Ingredients

Crème Brulee:

For Crème Brulee: • 6 egg yolks • 6 tbsp. white sugar, divided • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract • 2 1/2 cups heavy cream • 2 tbsp. brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. 2. Beat egg yolks, 4 tbsp. sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl until thick and creamy.

3. Pour cream into a saucepan and stir over low heat until it almost comes to boil. Remove the cream from heat immediately. Stir cream into the egg yolk mixture; beat until combined.

4. Pour cream mixture into the top of a double boiler. Stir over simmering water until mixture lightly coats the back of a spoon, approximately 3 minutes. Remove mixture from heat immediately and pour into a shallow heat-proof dish.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or overnight.

For Blueberry Sauce • 2 cups frozen blueberries, thawed • 1/3 cup sugar • 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice • 4 tsp. cornstarch

Blueberry sauce: Combine all ingredients in a medium nonaluminum saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook 3 minutes over high heat or until thick, stirring constantly.

Peach and Lobster Salad ; Photography by Douglas Bovitt

8

Plating: Halve 1 peach to remove pit, spoon 1 heaping tbsp. of cold crème brulee into the peach.

Burn 1 tsp. of sugar over top. Serve with blueberry sauce.

Serves 2

Photography by Douglas Bovitt

Freezer Facts •

Peach halves or slices packed with sugar or in sweetened syrup remain plumper and firmer than peaches packed without sugar.

• Use medium or light syrup to preserve the fresh fruit taste.

• Frozen peaches make excellent pies or cobblers. When preparing peach pie filling, be sure to account for the sugar added to peaches before freezing. Frozen peaches used raw in fruit salad or compotes are best served with a few ice crystals still remaining. If completely thawed, they will become mushy.

• Puree peaches, add a dash of lemon juice, sweeten to taste and freeze in small quantities to be used as toppings for ice cream, yogurt, pancakes or waffles.

• Peaches can be stored in the freezer at 0 degrees F for eight to twelve months.

One bushel (48 pounds) of peaches yields 32 to 48 pints for freezing.

-NJ Peach Promotion Council

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

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jerseyeatsmagazine.com AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011

Meet...

Ginger

A

h, the spice that adds a tangy freshness, light spiciness and mellow sweetness to your everyday dishes. We’re not talking about the powdered ginger found on the spice shelves in area markets, but rather fresh ginger sold as hands in the produce department. The cookingchallenged should know this: The two have different characteristics and are not to be substituted for one another in recipes. When shopping for fresh ginger, look for hands that appear smooth, breaking off what you need at the notches or knuckles. Peel only the amount you need and grate or chop to very fine consistency before adding to a recipe. Store any fresh ginger in a paper bag in the refrigerator’s crisper.

TASTY MORSEL

Photography by Douglas Bovitt

Fresh ginger can be sliced into planks or matchsticks, chopped, grated, puréed or minced, depending on its final destination.

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

TOYOTA and SCION

Ginger Scallion Chicken

...of Runnemede

Recipe courtesy of Chef Paul Yan of Tres Yan & Wu of Mount Laurel

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3. Mix ginger and jicama and set aside.

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I N

TH E

K I TCH E N :

Chef Bill Fischer Brought up by his marine machinist father on the docks of Cape May, Fischer was welding steel when other boys were stealing home.

After high school, he was making big money snagging scallops.

What followed was five years as a commercial fisherman hauling in clams, lobsters and fish. Wanting a life on land, Fischer turned to cooking, demonstrating a knack for seafood cuisine in culinary school.

Chef for 15 years at Caffe Lamberti, Fischer showed a cooking prowess that put the Cherry Hill eatery on the culinary map before he finally plunked down at his own restaurant, Fischer’s Pelican Restaurant in Wash.

Twp., where we caught up with him. n n n

JE: Was your mother a good cook?

BF: With a family of 10, she had to be; it was make enough rather than make it gourmet.

JE: Who would make a better date, Julia Child or Rachael Ray? BF: If I go back 75 years, maybe Julia Child.

JE: How do you spell flambé?

BF: Flambé.

Photography by Douglas Bovitt

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

41 Clementon Rd. • Berlin

EXTRA BITE Make two of Chef Fischer’s favorite recipes: Zucchini Crabcakes and Fresh Maine Lobster with Citrus Seasoned Asparagus. Visit www.jerseyeats magazine.com

JE: Grease fire. Quick, what do you do?

BF: Smother it... no water, dry chemical cornstarch, anything to remove the oxygen.

JE: If you weren’t a chef, what would you be?

BF: Fisherman. Being I am already…

JE: You’re on death row. What’s your last meal?

BF: I don’t think I would be hungry, but I guess a steak and salad.

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JE: You’re stranded on a deserted island; what three foods do you need?

BF: Water, fish for the protein and I need citrus to prevent scurvy, so oranges.

JE: What is a drupe?

BF: I don’t know.

JE: It’s a fancy-pants word for any fruit with a wooden pit: peaches, apricots, plums. See, you learn something here at Jersey Eats.

JE: Which of the following ingredients doesn’t belong in a standard bouillabaisse: lime juice, celery or orange zest?

BF: Lime juice.

JE: What’s your favorite word?

BF: Fish on.

JE: When you get to the pearly gates, what do you hope St. Peter says?

BF: You’re forgiven. n — Mary Price

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1 2

Just a bite collingswood Casona 563 Haddon Ave. (856) 854-5555 Lunch served 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Tuesday through Saturday

A Cuban sandwich that hits all your taste buds with its citrus marinated roast pork, ham, and Swiss cheese all topped with garlic mayo and Dijon mustard. Add a generous portion of plantain chips. Close your eyes and you’re in Havana heaven. $10.75

IndeBlue

619 Collings Ave., (856) 854-4633 Lunch served 11: 30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday Not your typical chicken wrap, this malai tikka wrap has just the right amount of spice with a buttery naan that melts in your mouth.

The chili mayo has a nice kick to it and the cucumber is a refreshing end. $6

3

El Sitio 729 Haddon Ave. (856) 240-1217 Lunch served 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily This chicken martini wrap is a party in your mouth. Parmesan crusted chicken paired with perfectly cooked spinach, punctuated in lemon sauce makes this a great combination. Accompanied by sweet potato fries, this is a meal satisfies. $8.50

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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

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Just a bite collingswood Woksabi 608 Haddon Ave. (856) 858-6688 Lunch served 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily You certainly get a bang for your buck with this bento box.

Complete with miso soup, salad, fresh sushi, dumplings cooked to perfection, and a sweet teriyaki sauce that complements the tender beef, this is a hearty lunch. Substitutions include tofu, chicken, shrimp, and salmon; $9

5

–Julie Shannon for Jersey Eats

West Side Gravy 714 Haddon Ave. (856) 854-3444 Lunch served Tuesday through Sunday, all day Like the peanut butter and jelly sandwich you used to eat as a kid, only 10 times better.

Gravy’s PB+J is a refined version of the classic.

Made with homemade peanut butter and cashew butter , they take this comfort food to a new level. It’s served with mixed berry jam, warm brioche, a petite salad of figs, gorgonzola, and walnuts. $7

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jerseyeatsmagazine.com AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011

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Story by Eric Herr

W

alk into any supermarket and chances are you’ll immediately see a wide array of fresh fruits, veggies, greens and other produce, along with fresh-cut flowers and baked goods.

Although there might be slight variations, the typical supermarket has fresh produce up front because it’s colorful, seasonal and teases your senses.

Meats, fish and dairy products are generally found along the outside walls with groceries in the center.

Checkout lines usually have a variety of gum, mints, candy and magazines, plus other last-minute impulse items for the taking.

“The whole idea is for the merchant to maximize profits while also giving the customer that complete sensory experience from the minute they walk in the door until the minute they leave the store,” explains retail merchandis-

ing expert and behavioral analyst Grant Mazmanian.

Mazmanian, who is president of Arizona-based Pinnacle Group International, specializes in organizational performance and conducts studies on consumer buying habits.

“Everyone needs staple items like produce, milk, bread, eggs, paper products and the like, but, somewhere during a shopping spree for those staples and keeping an eye out for bargain prices, chances are you’ll pick up a few ‘extras’ in other areas that weren’t on your original grocery list and that is exactly what grocery store merchants hope you will do,” says Mazmanian.

The self-service supermarket concept, initiated during the Great Depression and later popularized in the post World War II/baby boom era, was a radical departure from earlier years, when a merchant simply handed

products to the customer from behind a counter.

Today’s supermarkets carry 30,000 to 60,000 individual products, making consumer choices greater than before.

Research tells Mazmanian that if a store doesn’t carry the goods people in a given neighborhood want or if they have a bad experience, chances are they won’t come back.

“It seems like the magic number is three, meaning that if a customer is upset three times, that store has permanently lost their business,” says Mazmanian, adding that an angry customer will actually go out of their way to avoid patronizing a store.

In the long term, that can add up to millions in lost revenue and goodwill.

Mazmanian says low price is still a draw for many in these tough economic times, but is by no means the sole marketing elixir it once was.

Patrick Walls is putting the last few bags of groceries in his SUV after stopping in Marlton’s Bottom Dollar, a discount supermarket that recently

17

Graphic courtesy of Wegmans Food Markets

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

Above is the actual layout of the Cherry Hill Wegmans. Staple items, such as milk, juice and eggs, are usually placed toward the back of the store. The rationale is that customers might be tempted by impulse buys as they walk through the store.

opened in the Crispin Square Shopping Center.

“I think their prices are much better than others in this area,” says Walls, who on this trip bought juice, cereal and fruit for his 4-year-old son.

Low price is always enticing, but it was a stock of specialty condiments that brought Westampton resident Torrye Hairston to Wegmans in Mount Laurel.

She was on a mission to find

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unique Jamaican seasonings for her daughter’s graduation barbecue.

Hairston, a career development specialist for the Army, typically buys most of her groceries at a military commissary, but drove an additional 10 to 15 minutes for the trip to Wegmans.

“They tend to have a larger variety of things, especially as it relates to ethnic and international seasonings, so it’s definitely worth the few extra minutes to come here,” she says.

Attorney Howard Bernstein moved his wife, also an attorney, and their three young children to Moorestown from the Washington, D.C., area about a year ago.

Bernstein is a regular at the Mount Laurel Wegmans and typically spends upwards of $300 a week.

“The proximity to our home is one thing, but the store also has a good vibe, it’s competitively priced and is generally a one-stop shop.”

Keeping that so-called “good vibe” going and driving customer traffic is what it’s all about.

Stores build connections with customers through conventional means such as in-store coupons, promotions and specialty products, but there are also perks such as product samplings, coffee stations, eat-in cafes, Wi-Fi access and the like, which all evoke feelings of comfort and relaxation.

Then there are the more subtle but still recognized influencers, such as product placement and positioning on shelves, along with end caps and tie-in merchandising.

Not surprisingly, highly promoted and brightly colored packaged goods with “kid appeal,” such as cookies, breakfast cereals, snacks and the like are usually placed near eye level.

These often-name-brand items also tend to have higher profit margins than do less advertised items, found either at the top or the bottom of the shelf.

Many staple items, such as Continued on Page 21

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

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Hong Kong Fusion A rare surprise on the menu of the Cherry Hill restaurant goes Philadelphia’s Chinatown one better By| ADAM ERACE For the Courier-Post

Hip Hops Beer’s raw ingredient spices things up Story and Photography by Jeff Linkous

H

ops: those thumb-size yellow-green flower cones that make beer taste and smell like beer. As ingredients go, there’s probably nothing else that has the muscle they do.

Yeast comes close, damn close, since it’s yeast’s very life cycle – the fermentation process – that actually turns hopped-malt sugar into beer, leaving behind flavor notes that can be fruity, funky or smooth.

But hops have something yeast doesn’t, a certain marketing cachet. The kind of juice that gets things (i.e. beers) named after them: Hop Wallop, Hopslam, Hopfish, Hops Infusion, Hop-A-Lot-Amus, Hoptical Illusion, Hop’solutely, HopDevil, Hopnotic. That’s not even scratching the surface, nor getting into naming names, as in mentioning cultivars – Double Simcoe IPA, Nugget Nectar or Centennial IPA. Yep, the craft beer world is a hop-centric one, and those flowers serve as brewers’ calling cards and signatures. They get talked up on bottle labels, websites and more. These days, they make a bigger boast than yesteryear’s mere label mentions of using the choicest hops. And in craft brewers’ hands, they talk louder than some of the big brewers’ “triple-hopped” assertions and faint-tasting light beers.

For beer drinkers this all adds up to a clear invitation to know what you’re tasting, and more than a hope on brewers’ parts that you don’t for-

For 10 straight days last June, all I heard about was Xiaolongbao. This is not a person, nor a place. Xiaolongbao is the Chinese treasure better known as soup dumpling and it’s what my cousin, a notoriously picky eater, existed on for two weeks visiting her boyfriend’s family in Shanghai.

A specialty of Shanghai, broth-filled soup dumplings aren’t the most common Chinese menu item stateside, not even in Philadelphia’s Chinatown.

So when I saw Shanghai Juicy Dumplings on the menu at Hong Kong Fusion in Cherry Hill, the Iisting came with a cast of suspicion.

Hong Kong’s owner, Peter Chen, hung by our table as we scanned the menu. “Juicy dumplings,” I said, pointing to the words. “Soup dumplings?” Chen nodded and smiled. Vigorously.

Never having been to Shanghai, I can’t comment on whether Hong Kong Fusion’s Xiaolongbao ($5.95) are as transcendent as the ones my cousin gobbled on her trip, but they sure are transporting.

Cradled in the scoops of bone-white Chinese spoons, each sheer orb seemed to quiver, like liquid inside a waterbed.

The outstanding asparagus soup for two ($8.95), for instance, is a surprise amid the more typical liquid options (hot and sour wonton).

You could taste the vegetable in every spoonful, complemented by bits of tofu and crabmeat, almost twins in the broth, both so sweet and silky you couldn’t tell them apart. Stunning.

Bordentown’s loss was Cherry Hill’s gain when Chen and his wife, Lilly, relocated their talents earlier this year. Get here, people; the open reservations won’t last long, not with the eatery serving what is arguably the freshest, best executed and least Americanized Chinese food in town.

That isn’t to say totally un-Americanized, a caveat evidenced by the glossy mahogany sauce on the crisp swatches of orange beef ($11.95).

StiII, Hong Kong Fusion’s version of the staple was miles better than most, a huge plate of beef so light and delicious I finished it, despite already being stuffed by some of the snappiest Sichuan green beans ($8.95) I’ve ever had. Ask for them extra-spicy and Chen gladly will oblige.

While traditional Sichuan and Cantonese are the menu’s primary focus, Chen does make the occasional detour to other Asian countries such as Thailand and Japan. The latter offers clean sesamecrusted ahi tuna ($14.95) dressed with wasabi and soy. Mexico contributes a riff on fried ice cream involving vanilla cake crumbles baked into a fragrant, toasty golden shell ($5.95).

As indulgent as the ice cream was, I almost prefer the dazzling raspberry sorbet ($3.50). The scoop, vivid and magenta, was so refreshing it felt as if it was summer. I would go back for that alone.

Fortunately, Hong Kong Fusion is so inexpensive I could go back, order all the same dishes, plus a few extra, and still leave feeling like I got a deal. Delivery and take-out make it extra easy to keep up the habit.

I don’t know how the soup, err, juicy dumplings, would do in transit but it’s definitely worth a try.

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BEER get their Simcoes, Sorachi Aces, Nuggets, Nelson Sauvins, Amarillos, Citras or their ever-present Cascades, just to name a few. And likewise, please do remember the flavors and aromas that hops impart to the beer (spicy, citrus, pepper, tropical fruits, piney).

It’s enough to make you want to sharpen your palate to be able to pick out the flavors when you smell or taste them (since you might not always get to check out a bottle label).

That’s not always an easy task. Brewers often work with a blend of hop varieties to create the flavor profiles in their beers, and some hop varieties have similar flavors.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t try, nor shouldn’t try, since a hop variety you can pick out in one beer might be one you’ve heard of brewers using in their creations (remember, brewers love to tell you about their ingredients) and you’ll most likely be drawn to it (assuming you like it).

Plus, knowing your hops, like knowing your beer styles, can help you pair foods with your pints.

But here’s another reason to hone your palate: The ground is always shifting when it comes to craft beer.

Over the past few years IPAs – India pale ales – have grown into Double IPAs; some Belgian brews have been getting much hoppier, while some pilsners have gone imperial and become higher in alcohol strength.

With hops, it’s no different. Hop growers always come knocking with new cultivars, prevailing upon beermakers to give ‘em a try. “The Simcoes, the Amarillos ... in just the last six, seven, eight years ... all these new hops popping out. Beforehand, it was like Tettnang and Saaz, and stuff like that,” says Casey Hughes, head brewer for Flying Fish in Cherry Hill. “These growers are coming after us, trying to have us (use) these new styles of hops.”

The brewers do (Hughes says he’s put a number of new hops to use in Flying Fish’s Exit Series specialty

H ER E EVENTS Mount Holly: High Street Grill Fall Fest, 1 to 5 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 10, featuring all-American IPAs, all-you-can-eat blue crab claws, brats. Tickets $40 in advance, $45 at the door. www.highstreetgrill.net Philadelphia: Blues, Brews & BBQ, Electric Factory, 421 N. 7th Street, 1 to 5 p.m. and 6 to 10 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 17. www. brewsbluesand barbecue.com beers). Hughes recommends applied study. That means trying different beers and reading up on them and reading up on different hop varieties.

“Sorachi Ace, they’re going to be lemony; Citra, they’re going to be lychee or passion fruit. Amarillo’s going to be apricot, Chinooks are going to be piney, Styrian Goldings are going to be black pepper,” he says. “People can pick out Cascade right off the bat.

Sierra Nevada made it famous.”

Chris LaPierre, the brewer at Iron Hill brewpub in Maple Shade, suggests orienting your palate with single-hop beers, ones in which the brewery relied solely on a single variety for bitterness, flavor and aroma throughout the brewing process. (Miller Lite never explains it in their commercials, but most beers are triple-hopped along those lines – bittnerness, flavor and aroma.)

“There are a lot of breweries out there doing single-hop beers. Weyerbacher has their Double Simcoe; Founders has their Centennial (India) pale ale. Mikkeller does a single hop series,” LaPierre says.

If all this sounds like too much work when you’re having a beer, then here’s some parting advice: Enjoy the beer before you do anything else. n

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

Check Out Haddon Heights Best Kept Secret...

Continued from Page 18

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milk, juice and eggs, are usually placed toward the back of the store. The theory is that the setup was designed to encourage impulse buys along the way.

But some experts think that theory might be only partly true.

“We’d like to think that this is just a way to sell more products, but the reality is, most of that design originated from engineering requirements,” says Karen Meleta, spokeswoman for Wakefern Food Corp. based in Woodbridge, Middlesex County.

Inside supermarkets, tie-in merchandising – as the name implies — pairs products that go together (batteries with flashlights, graters with cheeses, mixing bowls with cake mix, razors with shaving cream, etc.) while end caps, for which manufacturers can pay hefty premiums, promote specific products at the ends of aisles.

The subliminal neuromarketing influencers, which are designed to increase the likelihood of the consumer buying a product without the use of motivators.

This cutting-edge and constantly evolving scientific approach takes into account how the brain makes decisions and factors in such variables as the consumer’s emotional and experiential response to stimuli.

So, the next time you go grocery shopping and come home with something not on your list blame it on the stimuli.

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Rutgers scientists collaborate to bring back Jersey’s famous (and yummy) ruby fruit

F Photography by Douglas Bovitt

Jersey

The

Tomato project

By Janet Leonardi

ame can be fleeting; consider the Jersey tomato.

Renowned nationwide, it was long held in the same high regard as juicy Florida oranges and sweet Georgia peaches.

But times change and so can the lipsmacking tangy taste of a just-pluckedfrom-the-vine tomato.

Sadly, Jersey tomatoes began losing their legendary luscious luster in the 1980s as consumers wanted beautiful-looking fruit not only during summer but year-round. As a result, many growers began planting commercial varieties that boasted better disease resistance, higher yields, earlier maturity and longer shelf lives.

Tomato lovers statewide soon found that like the old adage, beauty was skin deep, and began to voice dissatisfaction. What had happened to that juice trickling down your chin, the sun-kissed burst of flavor our local tomatoes were once so famous for?

In a state as proud of its Jersey tomatoes as its Jersey girls, this was not a good thing.

Hearing the rumblings of discontent, Jack Rabin, associate director for farm services at the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station in New Brunswick, along with a team of research colleagues, decided to take action.

They launched the Rutgers NJAES Rediscovering Jersey Tomato Project in 2007 to recapture the uniquely special tomato taste of memory. “The project looks at a great many things but a main focus is to identify and cultivate excellent eating tomato varieties well adapted to the

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

Jersey Pick 3

Moreton F-1 hybrid

Ramapo F-1 hybrid

Rutgers

Released by Joseph Harris Seed Company around 1953

Released in 1968 by Rutgers

Released in 1934 by Rutgers

• •

• •

•

•

One of the first F-1 hybrids Called “the July 4th tomato” because it matured earlier than other varieties of the day Soft consistency, part of what makes it taste good Adaptable to gardens, not tolerated to grow on commercial farms Benefits more than other varieties from a little extra fertilizer Indeterminate vine, needs a tall stake

• •

• •

•

•

Smooth reliable fruit quality, appearance and taste Free from many horticultural defects such as fruit cracking Later main-season maturity Shy yields along with moderate softness got it displaced from commercial use by farmers Moderate sweetness, discernible Jersey tomato tartness and reliable fruit quality Semi-determinate, it can use a shorter stake than Moreton F-1 hybrid

state’s growing conditions,” Rabin says.

“People remember pulling up to a farm stand on the drive back from the Jersey Shore to buy a warm, aromatic basket of fresh-from-the-field tomatoes. Suddenly something was missing — a taste, an aroma, a texture, an experience,” he says.

Now the team at NJAES is bringing back lost tomatoes and the taste that goes with them. And in the past few years, they have reintroduced two popular hybrids, the Ramapo F-1 and the Moreton F1, both of which had disappeared from the market.

The Ramapo, which was extremely popular when Rutgers released it in 1968, was eventually judged too soft for shipping and became unavailable. However, after a multiyear project that involved retrieving fragile seeds from a retired plant geneticist and sending them abroad for germination, Rutgers was able to return the Ramapo to farms and home gardeners.

After another long absence, Moreton seeds are also back.

• •

• • • • •

• •

Pleasing flavor and taste of the juice More uniform sparkling red internal color ripens from center of the tomato outward Smooth skin Freedom from fruit cracking “Second early” maturity Handsome flattened globe shape Vigorous healthy foliage to ripen more fruit and reduce sunscald Firm, thick fleshy fruit walls for its time Uniformity true to its type in the field

TASTE FOR YOURSELF Annual Snyder Farm Open House and Great Tomato Tasting Visitors can taste heirloom and hybrid tomatoes, and take wagon tours of the farm’s research plots. Sponsored by Rutgers University’s New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station.

• •

•

Aug 31, 3 p.m. to dusk (rain or shine) Rutgers Snyder Research & Extension Farm, 140 Locust Grove Road, Pittstown (Hunterdon County) For additional information or to RSVP, go to www.snyderfarm.rutgers.edu and click on events, or call (908) 713-8980.

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figs

The Tomato project

Jersey tomato & Hass Avocado salad with wild arugula and ciabatta Ingredients

Recipe courtesy of Chef John Piper at Seasons 52, Cherry Hill

Directions:

For Salad: • 2 ripe New Jersey tomatoes, cut in 1-inch chunks • 2 avocados, peeled and cut in 1-inch chunks • ¼ cup cilantro, chopped • 2 ounces sherry vinegar • 2 ounces extra-virgin olive oil • ½ teaspoon sea salt • Pinch of black ground pepper

For Plating: • 4 thick sliced pieces of grilled ciabatta bread • 2 cups arugula (wild organic) • Balsamic vinegar (aged) to taste

1. Place avocado and tomato chunks in a large bowl; combine all other salad ingredients and toss well, carefully combining all ingredients. Allow salad to rest one hour at room temperature.

2. Season ciabatta bread with extra-virgin olive oil and toast until golden brown, cut in thick slices and place on plate.

3. Add 2 cups organic arugula (or as much as desired) to marinating salad and toss well to coat leaves.

4. Spoon salad over the ciabatta bread slices, add a little of the juice on top. Drizzle with aged balsamic vinegar and serve.

Serves 4

Photography by John Ziomek

Heirloom Tomato and Burrata

Recipe courtesy of Caffe Aldo Lamberti, Cherry Hill

Ingredients:

Directions:

•

1. Slice an X on the bottom of each tomato.

2. Drop them in boiling water to blanch for 30 seconds, remove with slotted spoon and shock in ice water to cool tomatoes.

3. Remove from water and cover, then refrigerate until needed or overnight Photography by Douglas Bovitt for next-day preparation.

4. Remove from refrigerator for serving, peel tomatoes, then slice and alternate with other varieties and buffalo mozzarella for the best color display.

5. Season liberally with smoked sea salt and extra-virgin olive oil and garnish with your favorite greens.

• • • •

Seasonal varieties heirloom tomatoes (Brandywine, Ruby, Striped German, Green Zebra, etc.)

Smoked sea salt Boiling water Extra-virgin olive oil 2 ounces burrata

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

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Today, John Ebert of family-run Springdale Farms in Cherry Hill is growing 10 acres of tomatoes with Ramapos and Moretons among them.

“Ramapo was the only tomato we grew throughout much of my childhood. It’s great-tasting with just the right balance of sweetness. It was and probably still is the perfect Jersey tomato.”

If you have a nose for science and are wondering what actually makes a tomato palate-pleasing, Rabin explains the winning formula: “In general a tomato needs to have a minimum of 4 ½ to 5 percent sugar; a 10- or 12-to-1 ratio of sugar-to-acid plus an attractive aroma, form and structure.”

This may sound pretty simple but all science is an art and, as it turns out, tomato growing is no exception. Just ask Dave Sheppard of Jersey Legacy Farm in Cedarville, Cumberland County.

“We’re commercial growers and soil and growing conditions are key.

Tomatoes grow best with daytime temperatures of 85-90 degrees and 65-70 degrees at night,’’ Sheppard says.

Rutgers was a top performer for many New Jersey processors including Campbell Soup, Heinz and Hunt’s, and was preferred by commercial growers through much of the mid-20th century.

Today’s seeds are derivative selections.

Rabin says, “Rutgers was justly famous in its day, until it was replaced by varieties with superior disease resistance. As a result, we no longer have the original Rutgers tomato seed, even at Rutgers, but we’re working on it.”

With tomatoes now in prime season, let your taste buds decide if that quintessential Jersey tomato taste has been rekindled. And whether you opt for Ramapos, Moretons, Rutgers or any of the hundreds of other varieties of state-cultivated tomatoes, perhaps Lew Hart of Lew’s Farm Market in Moorestown, a tomato grower for 39 years, says it best: “They’re all good eating.” n

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WIN E

South

Blues Jersey

Vintners bottle the plentiful low bush fruit

Story by Dr. Gary C. Pavlis

B

Rutgers Extension agent and member of the Garden State Wine Growers Association

lueberries have always been popular with consumers. However, recent studies showing their health benefits have boosted the demand of this native New Jersey fruit.

The berries’ exceptionally high antioxidant levels have put the fruit in the culinary limelight the past few years. From entrees to desserts to marinades, blueberry recipes have exploded in popularity.

New Jersey ranks third in annual production of blueberries and they are the official state fruit. There is no shortage of the locally grown gem, rendering wines from Jersey blueberries a sustainable option. It seemed natural that another New Jersey agricultural industry should take advantage of the local supply of blueberries. Jersey’s wine industry is the fastestgrowing segment of agriculture, doubling in size in the last seven years.

There are more than 50 wineries in New Jersey and beyond the 80 varieties of grapes and the plentiful crop of blueberries, there are many other fruits grown in the state that also wind up inside a corked bottle thanks to a local winery.

Stone fruits, which are fruits that include a woody pit such as cherries, nectarines, peaches and plums, are fermented into wines and served mostly with dessert. Beside blueberries, other berries such as blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, black currants and cranberries also find their way into winery’s stainless-steel fermenters.

Winning winery Heritage Vineyards in Richwood took home 12 medals and the title “Winery of the Year 2011” at the annual New Jersey Wine Competition held in May. Judging of the wines took place through blind tastings by a panel including representatives from the Society of Wine Educators, The Wine Press, the American Wine Society, and other certified wine judges and distributors.

-Philip Cole/JE For more information, go to www.newjerseywines.com

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

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New Jersey fruit wines are 100 percent fruit made and are not flavored wines. Some wine purists may have an issue with wine made from anything but grapes but, by all accounts, fruit wines made here are some of the best in the country.

Some of the wineries pressing blueberries include Tomasello Winery in Hammonton, Cedarvale Winery in Logan Township, Renault Winery in Egg Harbor, DiMatteo Winery in Hammonton, Sharrott Winery in Blue Anchor, Valenzano Winery in Shamong, Natali Vineyards in Cay May Courthouse, Heritage Vineyard in Mullica Hill, Bellview Winery in Landisville, and Plagido Winery in Hammonton. Plagido’s blueberry wine won the Best of Show Governor’s Cup for the best fruit wine in the 2010 New Jersey Wine Competition.

Recently I visited one of our new South Jersey wineries located in Pilesgrove. Chestnut Run Farm produces wines made from Asian pears. These pears are quite different from California Bartlett pears. Asian pears have a spicy taste that accents the sweet pear flavors and these flavors carry over to the wine.

The winery owner, Bob Clark, and I enjoyed a selection of his wines at a local Thai restaurant and the match was spectacular. Off-dry fruit wines are a wonderful accompaniment to spicy foods while sweeter versions of fruit wines are spectacular when paired with desserts.

As Americans, we tend to end meals with coffee as an accompaniment to dessert. In wine-savvy countries such as Italy, France and Germany, it is understood that some of the finest wines produced in the world are dessert wines and when enjoyed with a special dessert, they can be the most wonderful part of the meal.

Wine lovers should seek out these wines and make a future dining experience truly memorable. That’s the beauty of New Jersey wines -- there is always something new to taste and enjoy. n

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jerseyeats.net AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011

Wh at

we ’ r e

d r i n ki n g

Martini Redux

Hendricks Cucumber Martini • • • •

1/2 ounce simple syrup 4 slices English cucumbers 4 ounces Hendricks gin Ice

— Larmadou Graves (Charles Butterworth) in “Every Day’s A Holiday” (1937)

Photography by Douglas Bovitt

Muddle, shake. Serve straight up in a chilled martini glass with a slice of cucumber as a garnish.

“

Why don’t you get out of that wet coat and into a dry martini?

“

Shaken or stirred, vodka or gin? That’s how simple it used to be to order a martini.

Then things got complicated in the 1980s when Stolichnaya unveiled six flavored vodkas.

Absolut wasn’t far behind with the Sour Appletini, Chocolate Martini and the Lemon Drop Martini.

In the ’90s, “Sex and the City” made cosmos famous, and martini bars popped up all over the country. Martinis became signature elixirs for which presentation trumped taste, and little black swords adorned with pearl onions gave way to gummy bears and cinnamon sticks.

Living in the “new normal” tends to have a way of making us nostalgic for simpler times and a simpler martinis. And so, it’s back to basics with a martini James Bond would approve of –– sans the candy. n

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

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jerseyeatsmagazine.com AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011

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Gon e t o m a r ke t

Olives on the

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ooking for a casual appetizer that requires little preparation?

Think olive tray. Area grocery stores and gourmet food shops offer an array of bulk olives perfect for scooping and plating. (No food know-how needed.) Bulk olives are available at fine area groceries including Wegmans, Genuardi’s and ShopRite. These are a few tasty varieties:

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Noon to 5:00 pm Allaire State Park Farmingdale

Maddalena: Also known as the Alfonso olive , this beauty is a product of Chile. It is brine-cured in vinegar and has a rich tasty flavor that may be slightly bitter or acidic.

• Kalamata: Greek black olive, harvested fully ripe, almond shaped, brine cured with a rich and complex fruity flavor.

(Rain date: Sept. 5)

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Picholine: French green olive, saltbrine cured, with subtle, lightt salty flavor.

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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

GR E E N

Three years ago, Sarah Ann Jennings, left, and Mary Beth Melton returned to their families 226-year-old Medford farm where they now raise free-range chickens and grass-fed cows for market.

Here’s the beef

A family-owned sustainable Medford farm is a veritable happy place for livestock, which in turn makes for healtheir tastier meat

I

Story by Sandra Pilla | Photography by Chris LaChall

magine, if you can, an existence completely devoid of stress. No one hassling you. No worrying about how you’re going to make the mortgage payment, or where your next meal is coming from. Living off the figurative fat of the land — which, incidentally, is free of unnatural chemicals. And, when your number is called, being blissfully ignorant of all the implications and circumstances.

Minus perhaps the occasional irritation of a pesky fly or gnat, this is the idyllic life of the bovine that roams the 100 acres of The Jennings Farm in Medford.

And when, alas, these cows are led to their (kinder, gentler) slaughter, the fruits of this peachy existence are evident in the resulting beef.

If your life were this tranquil, wouldn’t you be far more appetizing?

This is largely what motivates practitioners of sustainable agriculture — a movement that, at least in New

Free-range chickens, utilized for laying eggs and afforded a natural life cycle, are vital cogs in the operation.

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GR E E N Jersey, isn’t so easy to sustain, given the Garden State’s high property taxes, complicated regulations and endless red tape.

Yet sisters Mary Beth Melton and Sallyann Jennings — whose grandfather, Jerome Jennings, purchased the farm in 1914 — are persevering, even despite Mother Nature’s lack of cooperation in hydrating the pastures.

“The animals are really pretty spoiled here,” says Jennings, who also boards more than a dozen horses on the sprawling property — a side business that has been supporting the farm’s overall operation.

“We are trying to protect these animals and give them a stress-free, happy life, unlike in the Midwest where animals are in dust bowls and smelly grass,” Melton says. “The taste of our beef is better because of the grass, but also because our animals are allowed to flex their muscles and frolic and play, which makes their muscles more tender.”

The humaneness extends to all seasons: “We strive for the animals to be comfortable in the wintertime and not to be cold, even though their ancestors were bred to tolerate it, and keep them in the shade in the summertime,” adds Melton. Jennings even outfits her horses with fly masks when they exit their stalls.

Even more important than these creature comforts, however, is the lack of pesticides, antibiotics and hormones in their food — the principal requirements for organic-farm certification.

The sisters say they strictly adhere to these guidelines but haven’t pursued the official “organic” designation due to a complicated registration process.

“We’re sustainable, not organic,” Melton says of the label. “We are trying to sustain the earth, the soil — not take from or harm it — so that the animals have forage.”

The Jennings property is also preserved farmland, meaning the state government has subsidized it with the mandate that it can never be sold

Horses roam the 100-acre Jennings Farm.

IF YOU GO: The Jennings Farm 40 Jennings Road, Medford (609) 975-8053 www.thejennings farm.com jenningsfarmland@ gmail.com Store hours (call first): Monday and Thursday, 4-7 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. for development other than agricultural. Along with the neighboring, also family-owned Johnson’s Corner Farm, which grows fruits and vegetables and thrives on agri-tourism, The Jennings Farm offers respite from Medford’s rapid residential development. On a recent Saturday, nary a human soul could be found on the bucolic property, estimated to be 226 years old and located down a long road now dotted with houses near the entrance.

Melton and Jennings took over the farm three years ago and also live on the property. They bought their first herd of cattle about a year ago and now have 30 calves and steers, many of which are still too young to become meat. An average of one cow per month is sent off for slaughter at Bringhurst Meats in Berlin, a butcher with Animal Welfare Approved certification — which is vital for these sister farmers.

“They have a human approach to slaughtering: The animal is taken by surprise, either with a stun gun or while

asleep,” and the deed itself is conducted under the watchful eye of a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector, explains Melton. The butcher then hangs the carcass in a 40-degree environment for optimal meat tenderness.

But beef isn’t the only food business at The Jennings Farm. Free-range chickens, utilized for laying eggs and afforded a natural life cycle, are vital cogs in the operation.

“The bottom line is the chickens do more for us on our fields than lay eggs.

They aerate the soil; they are a part of the whole process,” notes Melton.

“That’s very exciting because we don’t have to buy artificial fertilizer: They fertilize for us.”

To protect the fowl from foul play — the chickens from hawks and their eggs from raccoons — the farmers have created a unique dwelling dubbed “The Egg Mobile,” which is essentially a huge wooden coop on wheels with slats that are closed at night. At least one of the egg mobiles is whimsically painted.

But during the day, the hens are free to

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

GR E E N cluck about the land and dine on the organic feed.

The farm supplies the Vincentown Diner with the resulting organic eggs, while some of its beef goes to The Farm and Fisherman, a new BYOB in Center City Philadelphia whose trademark is out-of-the-ordinary cuts of meat, seafood and vegetables that are locally sourced.

Melton and Jennings have had to turn down other restaurants because their farm doesn’t have enough supply, but they do have a commercial freezer and have met the required guidelines for selling their products onsite. Available for purchase during their limited store hours are the eggs ($4 per dozen) and all manner of beef, from ground ($5 per pound) to tenderloin ($20), plus liver and chicken bones for soup.

The farmers’ next steps include installing underground water lines so the cows can drink any time and procuring a desperately needed working tractor. They’re currently using a small lawn tractor equipped with a fence to spread and even out the manure.

“Anyone who would like to donate a tractor to the cause, we’d be thrilled,” says Melton.

When they’re not farming, the women are involved in other pursuits: For Melton, it’s dealing with the copious paperwork required to run a business; for Jennings, it’s caring for the five rescue dogs on the farm — an extension of an organization she founded in Baltimore in 2004 called Recycled Love, about which she also published a book. Among Jennings’ early rescues were three of the dogs notoriously used for fighting by nowEagles quarterback Michael Vick.

Above all, the sisters remain committed to making the family business a success.

“My sister and I thought it would be very difficult to walk away without trying to keep the farm in the family,” says Jennings. “So we’re trying to make it work.” n

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Jersey eats Jazz Story and Photography by Beth D’Addono

H

e may be a Burlington County attorney on the outside, but Richard Isolde’s heart beats in time with the sassy brass of New Orleans.

Isolde, who built his Beverly house as a close replica to a manse on the edge of the French Quarter, adores all things connected with the Big Easy, from its vibrant culture and architecture to its signature sound. Then there’s the pork chop sandwich.

Like many New Orleans wannabes, Isolde and his wife are rabid fans of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, or Jazz Fest (www.nojazzfest.com), an annual music festival that draws close to a half million fans over the course of seven days each spring.

What’s so special about Jazz Fest? Depending on who you talk to, it’s a tie between the music and the food, followed by, in no particular order, the

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

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people-watching, the after fest shows around town, and did we mention the food? Held on the oval of the Fairgrounds, a horse track that can be quite pungent when muddied, Jazz Fest is an annual tradition for a legion of locals and fans from all over the world. A treasured chance to meet up with far flung-pals, the event connects regulars with school chums, relocated siblings and music fans drawn together by for love of roots and blues, Zydeco and gospel and boiled crawfish washed down with overpriced beer.

The juried food concessions all have their ardent supporters – some line up first for a fried soft-shell crab po’boy, others queue for stuffed artichokes, crawfish Monica and bread pudding. For Isolde, who’s made the pilgrimage close to 20 times, it’s all about the pork chop sandwiches, two slices of white bread around a thinly sliced and floured deep-fried chop on the bone, a savory treat cooked up by Linda Green of Miss Linda’s Catering.

He ate five of the 4,000 she sold this year during his first three days of festival. “If you’ve got a bad hangover, you can hit that sandwich, and that ya ka mein, ‘old sober’ (a traditional noodle soup good for the morning after) is

TAsty Morsels Visit www.jerseyeats magazine.com to read about five great eateries in New Orleans and a cheat sheet for New Orleans cuisine right there. And for dessert, the mango freeze. You go two steps and you’ve got a complete meal at Jazz Fest.”

Anisa Butash, a Monmouth County native who recently moved to Key West, always makes a beeline for the strawberry lemonade stand for a fresh-squeezed cooler swimming with bits of sweet strawberries. “I dream about that lemonade,” she said. Then there’s the crawfish bread, gooey with cheese and local mudbugs.

The food at Jazz Fest tends to be on the heavy side: rich shrimp and grits, spicy boudin balls, cream-based crawfish Monica over pasta, bread pudding. Medford fan Lauralee Dobbins likes to pace herself, and hydrate in the hot Louisiana sun with buckets of her favorite beverage, rose mint ice tea flavored with honey. “I’ve tried making it at home but just can’t get it Continued on Page 38

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HO W

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Crack a Crab Whether you’re a landlubber or seafood aficionado, there is a right way to crack a crab so that you yield the most meat for your effort. We asked veteran seafood guy Tony Vitale, owner of Vitale’s Seafood in Hammonton, to show us his technique. Do try this at home.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Remove back shell.

Remove lungs.

Scrape the insides out. (This means the yellow gunk that looks like mustard, deadman’s fingers, etc.)

Split the crab. (You’ll see crab meat peeking out of the sides.)

Pull the legs out exposing the meat. Remove meat.

Crack the claws and remove meat.

For video on how to Crack a Crab go to www.jerseyeatsmagazine.com/howto

Photos by John Ziomek

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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

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d e s t i n ati on d i n i ng Continued from Page 35 right. It’s so refreshing and completely unique to the festival.”

Despite his cameos on the second season of the HBO show ‘‘Treme ’’ – he’s one of the chefs – Alon Shaya spends most of his time in the kitchen at John Besh’s Dominica in the Roosevelt Hotel. Chef/partner Shaya, who hails from just outside of Philadelphia in Penn Valley, always tries to get at least one day in at Jazz Fest.

He adores the pheasant and andouille gumbo. “It’s a true gumbo that is not too thick, with a dark roux, and always seasoned perfectly. It is by far my most favorite thing there. Second would be a fried soft-shell crab po’boy from the Galley Restaurant. I go to hear the great music, and the food is better than any other festival I have been to.”

Manasquan residents Sean and Laura Clark have made Fest a habit for 12 years now, after landing in town to see Phish in 1996. Sean Clark loves the evening shows as much as the festival music lineup. “I remember seeing Karl Denson at the House of Blues circa 2001 or 2002. In the balcony section near the stage was Jimmy Buffett, Lenny Kravitz and Warren Haynes, who were all there as fans. You just don›t get that anywhere else.”

And the food always has him coming back for more. “Gotta’ have the cochon de lait po›boy (slowroasted pork butt served with slaw and some kind of horseradish creamy mayo on a torpedo roll). Then there’s the soft-shell crab po’boy covered with tartar sauce. I think it›s great that many of the vendors are owners of local restaurants and not just folks who do the festival circuit.”

For first-timer Ellen Lewis, a Sea Isle City native who just moved to New Orleans to work at Harrah’s

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

de stinat i o n d ini n g after working in Atlantic City for a dozen years, the whole vibe of Jazz Fest is amazing. “It’s a great crowd.

And so far, the crawfish Monica is just delicious.” Rosa Ramirez of North Milford heartily agrees. “I love pasta, and this is the best.” When Fest is over, Acme Oyster is her favorite spot for fresh Louisiana seafood.

The friendliness of the crowd still impresses Philly native and Rowan grad Mark Turowski, who moved to New Orleans to work as a genuine rocket scientist at a NASA facility in Mississippi. “This place gets in your blood,” he said. “The vibe is like nothing I’ve ever experienced.” He’s a big fan of Natchitoches Meat Pies, spiced beef folded into a flaky crust and served with Crystal hot sauce on the side. After Fest, he heads to Port A Call, a burger joint on Esplanade Avenue that always has a line of waiting customers. “The trick with that burger is to never put it down,” he said.

“Keep it in your hand the whole time, washed down with a monsoon -- their version of a hurricane.”

When Cherry Hill residents George and Linda Mangimi started planning their 25th wedding anniversary trip, there was only one destination in mind. “Jazz Fest,” said George, who loves the city so much he got a “laissez les bons temps rouler” – “let the good times roll” – tattoo.

The couple hopes to move to the Big Easy once their kids are out of school.

Mangimi convenes with friends and family every year for Jazz Fest, good times that revolve around eating at places like Mother’s for breakfast, and Cochon for house-cured Cajun-style pork and Southern comfort food. His Fest eat of choice? Cochon de lait po’boy, that slow-roasted pork. “It’s just the best,” he said. “The whole Jazz Fest experience is something you have to see for yourself to get. It’s just too much fun.” n

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Except for the fact that it’s 70 proof, Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey liqueur could be confused for a bottle of clover honey. With a nose that’s sweet and spicy, with solid cinnamon notes and a light floral undertone, it’s a good pour. Available at fine area wine and spirit shops. $22

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2011 jerseyeatsmagazine.com

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Celebrate Indian Summer with Nunzio touring the farmers' market, cooking new recipes and enjoying a lovely Italian luncheon.

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Cat Snack Fever With apologies to Ted Nugent, this is a must-have for cat lovers with an eye for design. The Trigrito cat bowl from Alessi features a resin cat figurine that holds two stainless steel bowls.

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