MMM HMM Magazine: Smoke Edition 1
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MMM HMM Magazine: Smoke Edition 3
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MMM HMM is a print magazine where each edition focuses on an ingredient or technique and takes a full-circle approach at exploring it: interviews with chefs around the city, professional reviews, farm visits, food theory, agriculture, speciality foods, fine dining, farming, and much, much more. At MMM HMM we pride ourselves on our high quality writing, photography, and research. We aim to be fresh, professional, engaging, and innovative. We strive for the excellent quality of our staff’s work to be matched by a top-notch publication. This edition delves into the alluring world of smoke. From down-home American BBQ to kettle smoked delicacies, we offer you, a lesson in slow-cooked luxury—an induction to the transformative power of smoke. Pour yourself a peaty scotch or light that rainy day Cuban cigar, read on, and get yo’ smoke on.
8–11
Drinking Like a Woodsman
12–13
Merken
14–15
Uni Spoon
16–17
What is Suanmeitang
18–21
Boston Smoked Fish
22–25
Real Men Know Their Weiners
26–33
Blue Ribbon BBQ
34–35
Smoke Gurus
36–37
Tootsie Tomanetz
38–39
Recipe for a Campfire
40–42
The Birth, The Rise, And The Weird Present of the BBQ Flavor
43–47
Encyclopedia of Jewish Smoked Fish
48–49
Mamaleh’s Delicatessen
50–52
Smoke Signals
53–55
Burning Questions
56–57
Thank Yous
Isabela Celedon Sophie Lipitz Brooke Mullen Hanna Yang
illustration by Katie Napoli
Isabella Celedon
Mezcal Imagine tequila’s sexy, badass sister: in a cigarette smoke-filled room, hazy lighting, a small glass filled with a clear liquid beckons you to the bar. That’s mezcal. To create this Mexican mystery, agave hearts, or piñas, are roasted in large stone pits called palenques, fueled by oak or mesquite fires. Once charred and infused with their distinctive smoky taste, the piñas are crushed using horse-pulled stone grinders. The pulp then ferments in wooden vats for an undetermined amount of time: it’s ready when the distiller decides it’s ready. Each of these steps is imbued with a sense of holiness and an unyielding adherence to tradition, giving mezcal its aura of mystique and charm. 8
The liquor’s taste can vary greatly depending on the type of agave, where it was grown, and the materials used during the roasting process. Mezcals can have lingering tropical, earthy, citrus, or even floral notes, although always rich in smokiness. Lovers of Seinfeld and the makers of a mean cocktail: you can try this “neo-tiki” mezcal-based special at Uni (Eliot Hotel, 370 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA): The Urban Sombrero: A blend of mezcal, blanco tequila, and gran classico, the fiery cocktail also features syrup made from stillwater new tropic IPA and habanero shrub. This new-age tiki take brings the heat and the smoke all in a comical tropical guise.
Sophie Lipitz
Allie Miller
Carmenère
Whiskey
One of the revered six Bordeaux grapes, Carmenère is the “scary spice” of this vineyard girl group. Celebrated as the “dark and mysterious cousin” of Merlot, this mainly Chilean-grown wine is distinguished by its incredibly smoky sensibility and dark, fruity flavors. Beware: similar to its Bordeaux counterparts, an underripe Carmenère reeks of vegetal green pepper and is a serious Carmen-don’t. The Carmenère was presumed to have been lost after phylloxera pests ravaged French vineyards in the 1800s. Little did the devastated Frenchmen know that, along with other Bordeaux varietals, Carmenère was growing in Chile. Realizing that this sexy wine was unique to their region, Chilean vintners staked their claim in Carmenère as their flagship wine. Flavor profile: the powerful “smoky sorceress” of South America, flaunts deep blackberry and blackcurrant notes along with a peppery and leafy finish.
As the legendary Ron Swanson once said, “Clear alcohols are for rich women on diets.” No one could have better summed up the masculine reputation of whiskey. Famously originating in outdoorsy Scotland, stored in rustic wooden barrels, and using a fermentation process involving the straight-laced barley, whiskey is the drink of true men. You drink it before or after you kill something. You drink it as you relax at your local cigar club. You even drink it while repressing hurt emotions left by a damaging childhood relationship with your father. Along with manliness, whiskey is famous for smokiness. Whiskey drinkers specifically look for smokey flavors in their drink, called peat. During the whiskey-making process, barley is burned in a peat fire in order to dry it, adding the smokiness to the drink. . Whether you decide on an American, Canadian, Irish, or traditional Scottish whiskey, all of them are going to pack some peat.
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Ivan Aleksandrov
Smoky Cocktails Humanity discovered the joy of smoky cocktails a long time ago. However, in 2007 veteran mixologist Eben Freeman took the idea of having a smoky note in cocktails to the next level. He added an extra touch of smoky manliness to your pansy mixed drink by smoking Coca-Cola and mixing it with bourbon. Since then, bartenders all over the U.S. slowly picked up on this idea and concocted some pretty ingenious methods to add the flavor of smoke to cocktails. Mixologists around the U.S. commonly play around with smoke guns — a tool once thought to be used strictly for food — to add a smoky flair. Some like to use liquid smoke for additional char, or they simply light the cocktail on fire. Another technique is to introduce a smoked ingredient to the cocktail, as opposed to setting the drink on fire. These days, bartenders at AQ restaurant in San Francisco add a charred bay leaf into their Mexican Piano cocktail, and the Apotheke in New York serves a Smoked Negroni made with a Lapsang Souchong (traditional Chinese smoked tea) infused gin. If you’re feeling adventurous, find some smoked jalapeno margarita recipes online (just don’t forget to coat the rim with smoked sea salt). In Boston, before the Back Bay restaurant Clio became Uni, Clio’s then-bartender Todd Maul would infuse ice cubes with smoke from liquor-soaked wood to 10
concoct “Frank O” — a rather smoky take on The Sidecar. With the closure of Clio, Frank O’s smoky soul withered away, but Maul’s idea helped to spark a fire in Boston’s craft cocktail scene. Try a “Smoking the Hive”— the brainchild of The Sinclair’s own Keven Halopoff, which consists of a downright perfect mix of mezcal, 10-year-old small batch Laphroaig scotch, smoked honey, and smoked sea salt. “Skyfall” at J.M. Curley is a mixture of quinoa vodka, craft barrel-aged gin, and aromatic woodsy bitters, served in a glass smoked over a piece of fragrant, burning cinnamon. If the only things that make you a woodsman are your flannel shirt collection and a well-kept beard, then you should try a smoke-infused cocktail and sip it like the sexy, well-groomed urbanized woodsman you are.
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Isabella Celedon In Santiago’s central market, bunches of smoked ají cacho de cabra, Chilean goat’s horn pepper, hang from strings tied to steel poles. They rest like long, curved fingers—their deep burgundy skins, dented in odd places and at sharps angles, give off a gentle shine. Under the peppers lie sacks full of a blood orange-colored spice: merkén.
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It’s a traditional condiment of the native Chilean Mapuches made exclusively in the south of Chile. Its name comes from the Mapudungun word medken, meaning “to crush or grind.” The process begins in February when barrels of ají cacho de cabra are picked while they’re still green. The peppers are sun-dried, smoked over a wood fire, and ground to powder. Salt, toasted coriander, cumin, and occasionally oregano, bits of Spanish colonial history, are then mixed in to finalize the process. Merkén is a staple in my parents’ home. Two small jars and a plastic container of the spice are permanent residents of the pantry–any unsavory dish is remedied with a generous sprinkle. However, merkén was ignored in popular Chilean cuisine for a long time. It gets no mention in Monica Alfaro’s classic Chilean cookbook, La Cocina Chilena, and most 20th century Chilean culinary histories don’t refer to it either. According to Claudio Soto, owner of Santiago, Chile’s oldest restaurant, very little attention has been payed to Mapuche culinary traditions. According to Soto, this outlook recently changed with general public’s recent interest in native cuisine. As the restaurateur explains, “within the past seven to eight [years], it’s become incredibly popular. They sell it everywhere; they use it everywhere. It’s basic. Anything you want to make, you start with merkén.” The Mapuche spice is only just beginning to be sold outside of Latin America. Search the aisles of specialty food stores in the U.S., and you might find merkén. While you’re there, keep an eye out for certain products infused with merkén, like olive oil, noodles, mustards, fig conserves, and garlic paste. Or take my mom’s advice: if you go to Chile, bring back as many jars of the smoky spice as your suitcase can handle.
“Merquén: A Chile from Chile.” Eileen Smith, The Latin Kitchen, 17 January 2013. “Merkén: the Mapuche Spice,” H.D. Miller. www.eccentric culinary.com, 5 April 2015. 3 “The exotic, smoky flavor of Chile comes to America,” Lauren Williams, The Los Angeles Times, September 29, 2011. 4 “The exotic, smoky flavor of Chile comes to America,” Lauren Williams, The Los Angeles Times, September 29, 2011. 1
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Sophie Lipitz
Maine urchin, Osetra caviar, raw yolk of a quail egg, chives, and one silver spoon. A dish created by James Beard awarded chef, Ken Oringer, for the original Eliot Hotel restaurant Clio in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. Boston native Tony Messina became Oringer’s partner and took over as chef for the Eliot’s new hot restaurant and bar, Uni. Messina wanted to put a spin on this dish, Oringer’s “signature”, and make it his own. What better way to transform a dish in one step than with smoke? Messina explains that he likes any kind of seafood with some smoke to it: “there’s something fun and delicious about it,” he says. “I had never had smoked sea urchin before but I said, ‘What the hell?’ I had just bought these Japanese smoking pots, they’re like little kettles.” In the transition from the upscale French bistro Clio to the Asian street food eatery Uni, there was a lot 14
of smoking wood left over. Picking the wood was the easiest part of Messina’s experiment. Not only was applewood easily accessible, but it was a logical choice for Messina. “Applewood reminds me of bacon,” he says. “If you don’t like bacon…if you’re not a meat eater that’s one thing, but if you are a meat-eater and you don’t like bacon, it’s something I don’t understand.” So applewood it was. Sea urchin, or uni, is an extremely delicate protein. Messina was aware that he was riding a fine line of oversmoking and changing the texture, or even worse, losing the iconic flavor. Messina recollects, “The first time I did it, I smoked it to the point where it was acrid. All it tasted like was smoke, and [it] just wasn’t good. [...] I ended up smoking it for a lot less time.”
Although the chef picked the wood right out of the gate he realized he had to tweak the smoking time. Messina dramatically lowered the amount of the time in the kettles to a quick three minutes, which was “just enough time so you could taste the smoke, but it didn’t overwhelm the dish.” Like uni, applewood is also delicate. But this wood still brings a light smoky flavor accentuated by the kettle-smoking process: “Its funny, just adding the smoke to [the spoon] didn’t only change the flavor, but it gives the impression that it’s a cooked dish now. So people who generally had an aversion to sea urchin will eat this just because it eats as if it’s cooked.”
Get on Messina’s good side and he might even do a table side smoking dish: “We take the kettle out to the table, and you know, smoke fills the dining rooms, and there’s something fun about that.” The chef reflects, “Sometimes I just add in smoke if I want to make a dish more savory or if I want to give the impression that something is cooked [even] if it’s not.”We agree that smoke transforms. Even with ingredients as delicate as raw fish, smoke is an essential part of a chef’s toolkit. It takes true finesse to make smoked uni one of the airiest things you’ll ever taste.
Noting the power of persuasion this small distinction has, Messina has incorporated other kettle-smoked dishes onto the menu. The same method is used for the hamachi tartare: a raw preparation of minced tuna set up in a smoking kettle for about three minutes. Like the uni spoon, “It takes on some of the smoky flavor as opposed to actually smoking and cooking the fish.” The chef elaborates that the kettles used at Uni give the same effect as a smoking gun and are “just really fun to use.” MMM HMM Magazine: Smoke Edition 15
Ivan Aleksandrov
What is Suanmeitang?
In our sad reality of too-many-options, ever-present social media, flaky friends and mild but constant disappointment, there are only a few things that I truly adore. One of them is Asian supermarkets. Every time I walk into one, I like to roam aimlessly amongst the aisles, stocked with bags containing strange, dried substances. I marvel at mysterious fruits and veggies and inspect weird fermented items, the origin of which I probably shouldn’t question. Once inside an Asian food store, I am surrounded by the sophisticated and intriguing ancient cultures of Asia. It makes me feel as if I have been transported into some distant and mysterious land, where unknown and exciting foods are cheap and abundant. Kitschy, yet very enjoyable pop music, sung in an oriental language, blares through the speakers softly. And every purchase is like a tiny culinary adventure in its own right. One of the many unexpected food items you can purchase in an Asian market is Suanmeitang: a peculiar dark-colored drink, usually sold in a small, pot-bellied bottle with a cheery yellow label. I randomly picked it off the shelf the other day at my local Asian food store. 16
I found out later that this unassuming drink has an enormous ancient legacy behind it. Suanmeitang has existed since 10th century. Its current recipe was finalized during the Qing dynasty reign, around the 18th century. It was originally a luxurious nectar, enjoyed by rich traders and aristocracy, but eventually it became accessible to the working class, establishing its popularity. These days, Suanmeitang is a very common drink in China and Taiwan. It is especially popular during the summer, when it is served chilled to help combat heat and humidity. The main ingredient of Suanmeitang are Chinese plums called Wu Mei. Dried and smoked Wu Mei plums are an essential ingredient in tradtional Chinese medicine. Their health benefits include blood purification, restoration of lactic acid levels within your organism, increasing energy, and last but not least, preventing constipation. To make Suanmeitang, Wu Mei are first dried, smoked, pitted and soaked in water to help extract their essence. They are then boiled with hawthorn berries, liquorice root, and sweet osmanthus flowers.
Sometimes rose blossoms may be added to the mixture. Then sugar is added, and Suanmeitang is boiled again and chilled. Suanmeitang may sound like something that your adorable grandma drinks when her bowels are feeling quite turbulent. However, there is a good reason why Chinese people have been loving this beverage for several centuries now. Suanmeitang has a very unique and highly enjoyable taste. While the taste of plums is very intense, it has just the right balance of sweet and sour flavors, and a barely noticeable smoky and salty undertones. When chilled, it makes for one of the best summer drinks I’ve ever tried. It is both was very throat-soothing and refreshing at the same time. Suanmeitang has been quenching people’s thirsts for a few centuries now. Next time you’re looking to quench your thirst, you should take it easy on those toxic-coloredsodas, and take a trip to your local Asian food market. Be kind to your body, and pick up that some refreshing ancient medicine in a weird bottle.
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Britany Chang MMM HMM Magazine: Smoke Edition 19
Sophie Lipitz
BOSTON SMOKED FISH CO. Bauman’s Boston Smoked Fish Co. is astoundingly the only fish smoke house in the city of Boston. Their locality and attention to working with other small Boston companies makes them stand apart. The only storefront of Boston Smoked Fish Co. is housed in the Boston Public Market—a North End marketplace dedicated to Boston-based food artisans.
Britany Chang
Chris Avery and Matt Bauman, graduates of the Boston University School of Law, cowrote an email to their 40,000 co-workers at PricewaterhouseCoopers informing the company that Matt was moving on—and in our eyes definitely up—to a pasion-packed career as a fish smoking entrepreneur. Matt was running the then-named “Matt’s Amazing Smokehouse,” and decided to focus full-time on his culinary business. After he left, Chris was the next to go. Matt convinced Chris that the budding business had “plenty of room for upper management,” and Chris soon decided to bring his passions to the smoky venture.
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Despite national recognition as one of the great meccas of seafood, Boston has a shockingly small fish farming and fish smoking culture. Unlike the iconic piers of Seattle or Japan, Matt says, the Boston Fish pier is unfortunately not yet a community hub. It can even be difficult to find quality fish for sale at reasonable prices around Boston—an utter shame in a city with such a great local fishing industry. Matt reasserts that he “would like to see fish smoking as more a part of the Boston seafood culture.” Matt’s infatuation with the process of smoking fish traces back to his roots in Michigan, the unsung production hub of American smoked fish. His passion is palpable even now, years after starting what has become a premier artisanal smoked fish company.
Giving us the tour of his smoked fish emporium, he explains the dedication and attention to detail that has gone into his work. Being his own boss, Matt explains, is stressful. Every inch of the smokehouse must adhere to stringent FDA regulations, and he expects each precious fillet of smoked fish to live up to his high standards.
Chris explains how inspired he was watching Matt follow and “find his bliss.” Bauman filled a void within himself, and within the Boston Proper smoking world. Boston Smoked Fish Company is a stepping stone to an exciting beginning of a thriving fish culture in our port city.
Matt explains that although the idea of running an old-school long wood cabin smokehouse is idealistic and exciting, it doesn’t fly with the regulations of the industry. Ultimately, their current facilities are much more suited to produce consistent, high-quality smoked fish. From their salmon belly bacon to bluefish pâté, Boston Smoked Fish Company experiments at every opportunity. Just recently, they started playing around with a Gravlax recipe and anticipate the cured fish to be incorporated on their line within the next few months. Through all the growth Boston Smoked Fish has seen in the past year, one thing has remained the same: their mascot. Billy the Bluefish has represented the playful feel of the company from the start. The name is attributed to Matt’s father, a lover of Bluefish and Matt’s greatest champion. MMM HMM Magazine: Smoke Edition 21
Illustrations by Natalie Mcgarvey 22
Allie Miller
I woke up with nervous morning wood. I rolled over and Martha was MIA, probably anxiously checking today’s superliked Facebook events and poking back all of the high school crushed. I dreaded all the poking I would have to do today. In bed I rip off my Fruit of the Loom sweatpants like Larry Bird entering the court. If I could channel orange the confidence of that strapping American hero today, I would sell my third nipple to an immigrant. Today I am more sweaty than normal, and as I rifle through my tube socks drawer, little chunks of knuckle hair begin to shed. I finally get to the khakis, and that’s where I falter. Jesus H. Christ, these pants are so pristine. I debate between picking the most recently pleated pair, and the inevitability of sauce spillage during the
day’s festivities. I decide to dance with the devil. Because it’s the Lord’s day, I cover my torso with my Bruce Springsteen Edition Tommy Bahama, and freakin’ jump into my shoes with New Balance. I stick the landing, imagining the cheers that Gabby Douglas received during her Olympic Meddling. Then I blow chunks. This is no country for old men. Downstairs I realize that the worst possible scenario has befallen the Smith house: we’re plumb out of wieners. I pick myself up by my britches and get behind the wheel, my knuckle hair shedding all over the Ford just thinking about happy hour. Inside Walmart, I glare at minorities and people who probably have less money than me, since I make lots of K per year. Hell, I’ve worked hard to get these wieners. MMM HMM Magazine: Smoke Edition 23
But by the butchery, I am confronted by a phantom. “John, go to hell” whisper the tween fast food puppets of Mr. Meaty. Their felt faces mock me between the slabs of meat. I replenish my weiner arsenal and quickly grunt myself to self-checkout, so the cashiers can’t see my tears. Back at home, the abundance of red, white, and blue snuggies put me in the holiday spirit. It’s the most blessed event of the year: the Fourth of July BBQ. The BBQ is the most sacred of all of the patriarchal holidays, with the man of the house sitting squarely at the hearth. I know that every year, on this day, it’s my responsibility to make the very best meat. I remember my father, standing behind the BBQ, stoking the coals, flipping the weiners, spreading the sauces with unbridled masculinity. Sometimes this responsibility is a lot for one man to take. The thought of serving someone over cooked beef is my deepest horror AND my secret shame. In the kitchen I open up the meat locker, and leaf through to the year 2016 to find the year’s itinerary. I kneel and recite the Pledge of Meatlegiance: “Gee God thanks for this here slab of animal! Yum yum grrr. Let’s put it in my tummy. Amen.” Just as I am giving the boys a scratch, the hot dogs start to chant at me from inside their muffling plastic wrapper:
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“Grill, Panini, Stove Top, Microwave, Bake, Broil, Toaster Oven, Easy Bake, Skillet.” At 5 o’clock sharp and everyone from the accounting firm has arrived. Fritos are freakin’ everywhere! Everywhere I turn my head someone is trying to talk numbers, but the only ones I can think of are 666. This is my personal hell. I dodge Tommy Bahama, Tommy Hilfiger, and Jimmy Buffet as I start to waste away again in Margaritaville. Already my manager and the other team leaders are eyeing my grill, walking past it every so often and mouth breathing. I tie my “Kiss The Cook” apron around my waist with resolve. Then I get behind the grill. I fire up the heat and just like they said it would, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes. My itinerary tucked into my tighty whiteys, and my rosary around my neck, I now feel strong enough to open up my Tool Box. The Italians: Garlic and Fennel, Hot and Sweet Red Pepper flakes. The chorizo: spicy pork mama, the relish: sweet, sweet pickles. The mustard: dijon, spicy, deli. The one for heros: sauerkraut. The classic: ketchup. The gang’s all here. Then I start to take stock of my assortment of tube steaks. Visions of my sausage arsenal swim behind my cataracs: pulled pork, pork ribs, brisket, beef, beef ribs, ribs, sausage, chicken, Montreal smoked meat, cheese. My third eye goes blind and Smokey the Bear grabs me hard and holds me tight. I delicately lay my wieners on the
piping grill like the hot pieces of meat they are. The casing crackles, the world smiles, godammit I am whole. Till next year my sweet meat lovers,
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wf Sophie Lipitz MMM HMM Magazine: Smoke Edition 27
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Ivan Aleksandrov photos by Sophie Lipitz
“Smoke is where we live,” jokes Dave Schaefer, the assistant manager of Blue Ribbon BBQ in Arlington, while smothering the viscous sauce onto a freshly smoked rack of spare ribs. Behind his light-hearted remark, there is an incredible amount of passion, hard work, and relentless dedication to Southern barbecue that make Blue Ribbon BBQ a beloved destination for both New Englanders who want to experience true Southern pit cooking, as well as Southerners, who yearn for a piece of home. Blue Ribbon draws inspiration from the vast regional landscape of American BBQ. Dishes from various parts of the South— St. Louis-style spare ribs, North Carolina Pulled Pork, Kansas City Burnt Ends and Texan Smoked Brisket—are lovingly prepared and featured on one menu. Schaefer says, “We serve dishes that hit people in different areas.” Whether a seasoned pitmaster or a BBQ rookie, anyone can find something to their liking at Blue Ribbon. “It’s all about bringing people together,” adds Scott Gubitose, Blue Ribbon’s head chef and general manager of all locations, “It comes from family. Even though I have a small family, it’s always a gathering when people get together. Everyone likes barbecues!” He continues: “BBQ at its essence is served on paper plates, styrofoam. There are no lines in Barbecue. It’s very democratic and classless.” MMM HMM Magazine: Smoke Edition 29
The Arlington location fully embodies this philosophy. In its charming and slightly kitschy interior, the tables are typically overflowing with trays full of tender brisket slices and piles of pulled pork, doused in various regional BBQ sauces. Fixins galore. Airy pieces of majestic, fluffy cornbread soup up seeping fluids. Eaters joyfully drown the numbing spiciness of hot sauces in rivers of sweet tea. It all began 20 years ago: two friends and Boston kitchen veterans, Chris Janowski, his brother Geoff Janowski and Ron Stoloff, opened Blue Ribbon BBQ. After Chris spent half a dozen years in the South, he returned to New England and realized that the local barbecue scene was lacking. Today, Blue Ribbon continues to churn out excellent barbecue, even though far removed from the homeland of the cuisine.
“You know, you can get bad Italian food in Italy, or you can get fantastic Italian food in, say, Spain. You need to open your mind. It’s done well, here. We are in a territory that knows nothing about this. We have to preach every day.” –Gubitose Gubitose says, “For 20 years, we have been really educating people on what barbecue is.”. Blue Ribbon BBQ has certainly been 30
giving New Englanders a quality education about their barbeque.The working hands behind Blue Ribbon put in incredible effort and attention to detail in order to preserve the flavor and the integrity of their food. Gubitose explains: “What’s different about Blue Ribbon is that we don’t crack cans. We make fresh 70 pound batches of beans with brisket trimmings every night. We smoke briskets overnight. The food doesn’t take care of itself, but it’s incredibly consistent.” Blue Ribbon also uses “green wood”— unseasoned wood that is 1-2 months old to create slower and cleaner wet smoke for its meats. Though already a celebrated restaurant, Blue Ribbon doesn’t plan to rest on its laurels. There’s a new location in Dedham, MA scheduled to open this upcoming spring. Their food goes through reinventions, too: barbecue is usually regarded as a cuisine with strict established rules, but Blue Ribbon experiments constantly. Besides rotating weekly specials (barbecued salmon and catfish sounds pretty great, doesn’t it), Gubitose and his crew constantly work on their tested formulas. “We have a pretty open mind,”—he explains, “the basic idea of the sauce is the same, we just add in some tweaks. We changed our sauce about 5 times over 20 years. That’s a lot. When we first started doing it, the basic idea of the sauce is the same, just with some tweaks.” When asked what dish is he most proud of, Scott dismisses the question with a chuckle. “They are all like kids. I’m not
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gonna pick a kid! But there are days when you favor one over the others” he laughs. This continuous quest for perfection and unmatched dedication to excellent food and is what makes both Blue Ribbon locations celebrated destinations in the Boston area. The icing on the cake is the hospitable treatment the customers receive. “Customers at Blue Ribbon are treated like family. We have customers here that have been longer here than I have, they still come twice a week,” says Schaefer, who has worked at Blue Ribbon for 14 years now. Blue Ribbon’s genuine but unpretentious Southern Barbecue brings people together. Schaefer explains it this way: “Barbecue started as poor people food, down South. It should be accessible. Everybody’s got access to it. It’s about taking the gnarliest piece and turning it into something beautiful.” Despite the sharp divide recent political events have forged in our country, BBQ is able to create new bonds and mend broken ones between vastly different people, who are sharing the same table. Americans of all generations, beliefs, views, races and gender and sexual identities should gather around a smoky pit and share a whopping feast of fatty meats and fixin’s to rekindle the withering sense of unity of the USA in these rather uncertain times.
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literal smoke show obviously.
Smoky female jazz vocalist
“smoke weed erryday”
a “smoke show� acclaimed pitmaster
illustrations by Hanna Yang
(self proclaimedbbq master)
Isabella Celedon
Snow’s is a classic establishment: painted wooden signs, old picnic tables under a metal roof, and direct heat pits fueled by post oak wood coals. The small venue is scattered with a few heat smokers to keep with the growing demand for their perfectly tender brisket. Tootsie Tomanetz, pitmaster at Snow’s and 81-year-old rural Texan, grew up thinking she would become a cowboy. Tootsie’s courteous and humble nature may lead you to believe that she’s your average pie-baking, scarf-knitting grandmother. Her track record proves otherwise. This woman is a 50-year veteran of the Texan barbecuing world, and that’s not an easy title to hold. In 2003, Tootsie opened Snow’s BBQ in Lexington along with her partner Kerry Bexley. By 2008, they were named the best Barbeque in Texas by Texas Monthly BBQ—high praise that has caused business and media attention to skyrocket for the small-town joint. Tootsie has been in the meat and BBQ world since 1966, tirelessly hauling hunks of meat, shovelling coals, and running two successful local businesses. At the beginning of her culinary career, Tootsie was asked to help out at her local meat market while they were short 36
on staff. “I guess I made a good hand,” she explains in her endearing Texan accent, “because I was asked to stay and worked there for 10 years.” At the meat market, Tootsie operated the register and worked in the slaughterhouse from time to time, all while learning to identify different cuts of meat according to the bone. “Working there felt completely natural,” the 50 year BBQ veteran recounts. “Everyone was always willing to give a helping hand, and I really enjoyed the work.” Tootsie and her husband later ran their own meat market which thrived for 20 years. That journey came to an end when, in 1996, Tootsie’s husband suffered a serious stroke. Tootsie explains in an interview with Texas Monthly BBQ, “I couldn’t see taking care of him at home and carrying on with the business.
I convinced him that we should sell.” The new ownership offered Tootsie a part-time position as a cook, a job she’s kept to this day. Even at the unfortunate closing of the meat market, Tootsie persevered. She took a six-year hiatus from the professional BBQ world beforeSnow’s was conceived. These days, Tootsie works a full week at the Giddings Public School before gearing up for her duties as pitmaster at Snow’s, open exclusively on Saturdays from 8am “‘til sold out,” according to their weibsite. The fierce 81-year-old makes sure that their meat upholds its mouthwatering reputation. Tootsie’s speciality is a pork steak cooked in her custom designed direct-heat pits. Tootsie knows this shoulder cut like the back of her hand, and it shows. Juicy and ridden with tiny pockets of fat, this dish gives pulled pork a run for its money. When crafting the flavor of Snow’s renowned BBQ, Tootsie sticks to her Texan roots. The rub she uses is a simple but classically Texan recipe: just plain old salt and pepper. She developed her “mop sauce”—the sauce doused on meat as it’s cooking—after watching local farmers make theirs. The cornerstones of this traditional recipe include: 1 gallon of water, 2 medium white onions (peeled and quartered), 1 stick of butter, 1 cup of white vinegar, and 1/2 cup of Worcestershire. Some would add lemon and chile pepper, but Tootsie “didn’t care for that,” she politely confesses. Instead, she tried adding mustard on a whim and loved it.
Dry mustard has been a part of the Snow’s recipe ever since. Thanks to the boom in Snow’s publicity, Tootsie offers, “People are very appreciative and friendly toward me now. Everyone wants to meet me, they’ll come up and shake my hand.” As we talk on the phone, I can hear Tootsie blushing, surprised at her own success. A talented chef, mother, laborer, and badass, the native Texan holds fiercely to her natural humility. Despite the awards and acclaim that Snow’s BBQ has received, Tootsie insists she’s still a “simple country girl.”
illustration by Hanna Yang
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Allie Miller Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. We took the time to break down all of the necessary ingredients of campfire gatherings that make them so special and intimate. At the the heart of it all is smoke. Here’s a recipe for the most campfire-y fun:
Sitting Around the campfire with only the sound of the crackling logs, people feel compelled to share—whether it’s a scary story or a heartfelt one. These stories are also longer than people usually would have the patience for. At a campfire, people are more accepting and more gullible. Something about the vulnerability and intimacy of the campfire lets people believe in ghosts and monsters again, and they let themselves believe in urban legends. Like stories, we cling to traditions. Screaming “white rabbit, white rabbit!” as the smoke curls around the circle, chasing the crowd like the monsters of these oral fairytales. 38
The usual campfire cliche: someone grabs their guitar and starts a sing-a-long. It’s the oldest trick in the book. Even Spongebob himself has tried it. It’s a classic move ( maybe a bit too classic) but somehow it always works. The campfire provides a place for that one sensitive boy or girl who just learned a few chords to try their luck. A few may laugh, but the music usually fits the environment. When there are no more stories to be told or feelings to be shared, the music does the rest.
confrontation with people’s faces can be scary, similar to how the dark environment could be, but it usually isn’t. The campfire unites people in their scaredy-cat feelings, and after a long day in the wilderness, the group ends up feeling close and bonded. Hot dogs, s’mores, everything roasted on a stick. No napkins. The more grease, the better. And the best part: most of the food is burnt. Some things might come out a little undercooked or showing scorch marks, but the mistakes are what make the meal perfect. It doesn’t really matter how it tastes because you’ve cooked it yourself. If the s’more is falling apart all over your hands, you’ve done it right. If your hotdog was so quickly roasted by the fire that the toppings are melting right off, it’s okay. Each snack, whether savory or sweet, is licked with the distinct taste of the campfire—poisoned or blessed with smoke. The campfire is a primal cooking experience where the result is less important than the process.
Something about sitting criss-cross applesauce, wrapped up in a blanket, or sitting on top of a log, makes people feel really close. Everyone can see each other’s faces, lit with the orange glow of the campfire. Everything else—the surrounding wilderness, or maybe just the backyard— disappears into darkness. This forced
One of the most iconic elements of the campfire is the night sky. Without the darkness and the stars overhead, the campfire itself seems unnecessary. The dark sky adds a balance to the flame’s bright flicker. The stars are the only other source of light. This draws a direct comparison to the two distinct kinds of natural lighting that everyone at the campfire gets to enjoy. Instead of sunlight or indoor florescent lights, those at the campfire should have an appreciation for their rare encounter with both stars and fire.
Smoke needs somewhere to go, and if you weren’t outside the campfire would fall apart. In a haze of denim cutoffs and slight B.O., the setting of the campfire is the glue that holds the whole situation together. In the expanse of the wilderness humans will naturally gather to the fire. Find the humane in the untamed. The sun has risen and the fire has long died but the campfire carries on through the smoke that lingers in your clothing and hair, flavoring the new day. MMM HMM Magazine: Smoke Edition 39
Ivan Aleksandrov
THE BIRTH, THE RISE, AND THE WEIRD PRESENT OF THE BBQ FLAVOR
Communists and Hippies may argue that Korea and Japan invented barbecue way before Columbus ever had the chance to pillage Native American lands. The term “barbecue”, however, originates from the word barbacoa, which is a term that the Taino people of the Caribbean used to describe a cooking method where a whole animal is placed in hole in the ground, covered in leaves and cooked slowly with fire. Columbus and his men brought barbacoa to the United States, and gradually, this way of cooking meat low and slow over indirect flame became popular amongst both Native Americans and new settlers alike. Cheap, tough cuts of meat are tenderized in the process and become mind blowingly delicious. Barbecue cuisine in the US encompasses culinary legacies of several ancient cultures and constitutes the pride of numerous Dads, Internet BBQ experts and actual pitmasters across the US. There are entire organizations and in40
stitutions in America that are devoted to preservation and cult-like worship of iconic BBQ foods like pulled pork, dry or wet-rubbed juicy slabs of ribs and smoked brisket. Sadly, a lot unfortunate souls who live outside of the US will never get to experience the sweet and smoky flavors of a classic American BBQ. To these people the word “barbecue” is mostly a snack flavor. Bottled BBQ sauce, BBQ popcorn, Barbecue chips, Barbecue pork rice buns, and Barbecue-flavored mayo are just the few of the BBQ-flavored things that can be found around the world. The sweet and sour smoky tang of these tasty abominations distantly recalls Memphis style of American BBQ. In the early 1900s, Memphians developed their own unique style of barbecue. Building upon the tomato and vinegar BBQ sauce that was popular in the Carolinas, they added dry
goods like sugar, spices and molasses, which were easily obtainable thanks to Memphis’ central location on the Mississippi river. This explosive combination of sweet, smoky, sour, tangy and umami was so delicious that it went on to conquer the world, albeit in a more artificial form. These days, every self-respecting brand of snacks will have a decent line of barbecue flavors. Even if you buy a bag of BBQ Lays in Russia, you will see the same old suspects on the list of ingredients (although in a slightly mutated form). Ingredients like tomato powder, garlic and onion powders, paprika, sugar, various spices and salt lend a faint taste of Memphis to pretty much anything out there. McDonald’s in the US is known for its McRib—a sandwich that features a boneless BBQ rib-shaped pork patty. Although it is quite well-known that the patty in McRib may be something
that is definitely not pork, the sandwich relentlessly preserves its cult-like status thanks to its twisted take on BBQ food: a combination of sweet and savory meat with crunchy sour pickles and spicy pungent onions. Outside of the U.S., many like to get more adventurous with their BBQ-flavored items. For example, a fishy take on BBQ snacks in form of shrimp BBQ chips is insanely popular in China and Taiwan. People of Thailand take that a step further with their beloved BBQ Canned Worms—a nutritious, protein-packed substance that is similar to popcorn in terms of texture, unfortunately enjoyed only locally in Thailand at the moment. In its birthplace, BBQ’s evolution as a flavor and a cuisine diversified it tremendously. Nowadays, pretty much any food can receive a BBQ treatment. One of the most daring MMM HMM Magazine: Smoke Edition 41
inventions belongs to The New York Times Magazine, which published a recipe of grilled oysters, served with barbecue sauce. Vegetarians and vegans didn’t stay behind on the fun, and now they can enjoy barbecued tofu and tempeh. That is as far as it gets from the origins of BBQ, since it was originally based on cooking pork. Perhaps the biggest difference between barbecues of past and present is the growing interest in fusion flavors and regional varieties. Chefs and commercial brands skew it on the bar-b (shout out to Australia and also Outkast) by adding unusual spices like Korean black garlic, heirloom hot peppers and smoky spirits. Ingredients that the Founding Fathers never heard of—liquid smoke, ketchup and soy sauce—are often added to sauces and rubs to increase the sweetness, tang and umami factor of the meat. Companies that sell commercial BBQ rubs and sauces are coming out with products inspired by regional varieties of barbecue flavors. For example, Fuchs—a large company that specializes in sauces and seasonings— recently put out a line of BBQ sauces using flavors from regional BBQ varieties. This line includes unusual creations like Alabama-style white BBQ sauce, which is based on mayo, apple cider and horseradish, and New Mexican Chocolate-Chili BBQ Rub. Just like the longer you cook the pork in a traditional barbecue, the more tender and flavorful it gets, the more BBQ cuisine lives, the more sides and unique facets it develops. 42
It is rather ironic how a real American BBQ experience involves long hours of cooking to achieve its intricate flavors and soft texture of the meats, whereas a modern BBQ snack is mass-produced using low-quality ingredients, simplistic flavoring and artificial preservatives. People gather together to participate in the traditional BBQ process and joyously savor the fruits of the labor in good company. It is one of the staples and pillars of American culture. Grabbing a box of Honey BBQ Lays, greedily ripping it open, and chomping down its contents all to yourself is not quite the same. It is not necessarily bad, though. Barbecue purists may scorn at dim sum BBQ pork buns, a bag of Honey BBQ bodega chips or barbecue tempeh, but these things have their own merit. Strange takes on BBQ and artificial flavors help to advance the BBQ and keep it interesting. Despite these ever-evolving forms of barbeque, the traditional American BBQ experience lives on. Its flame is hotter than ever, and Americans of all ages will not stop geeking out over meat, spices or sauces any time soon.
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Encyclopedia of Jewish Smoked Fish: Sophie Lipitz
A cultural and culinary lesson on the many variants and flavors of jewish smoked fish. A map to the the smoky, silky, treats of the tribe.
A 20¢ egg cream. Chubbs by the barrell. Knishes with an unknown calorie count. Ashkenazi Jews across America ache for these cornerstones of bygone days. Or at least I like to think they do. The delicatessens and appetizing shops of my grandparents’ day represented a lifestyle and a culture that was forged through immigration —one of the first success stories of Jews in America. Appetizing: “food that goes on bagels. Meaning, again, an array of smoked, cured, and pickled fish, spreads, salads, and roe. That’s right, you can have appetizing. And yes, before you even start, I know. It’s absurd; it makes absolutely no grammatical sense; it’s entirely made-up. Which actually makes it the perfect word, since the term itself refers to a relatively new, and novel, cuisine.” (Wikipedia)
Niki Russ Federman, the fourth generation co-owner of Russ & Daughters, explains in an interview with Serious Eats that, “Appetizing is a food tradition that many people do not realize is particular to New York; it’s one of New York’s most unique born and bred food traditions.” Appetizing tells the story of Jews in the early 20th century. Appetizing shops were community hubs, the beginning of American fusion into Eastern European cuisine, and a source of great profit for Jewish immigrants. The separation of appetizing and delicatessen at that time was for Kosher reasons. Delicatessen includes all of the meats we drool over: tongue, pastrami, and smoked meats but no dairy. Appetizing was the converse: fish treats and all the dairy you could handle - whitefish salad, schmears, pickled herring in cream sauce, blintzes, and more. MMM HMM Magazine: Smoke Edition 45
Smoked Sable
This fishy morsel that goes by many names; smoked sable, “poor man’s sturgeon,” and my personal favorite: revelation. Sable is a smoked black cod traditionally coated in paprika. This preparation results in a gorgeous and mouthwatering rust orange hue. From the jewish diners of L.A. to the fish counters of suburban Baltimore, smoked sable is coveted for its impossibly silky texture and rich aromatic taste.
Try sable right here in Boston at Mamaleh’s! Best enjoyed on their onion bialy, they serve up revelation in style.
Kippered Salmon
King salmon, hot smoked, moist and flaky. Even as a kid I knew where to find the best kippered salmon in Seattle. With a coy smile and a good $30.00 in my pocket I would zigzag up to the Pike Place Market fish counter. One stubby finger would point to the garlic pepper piece of belly king salmon. Tahoe, an old family friend and a former co-farmer with my parents would holler: “One hot smoke salmon belly!” and in a matter of seconds my hand picked piece would fly through the air to the back. There it would be trimmed and packed. Pacific Northwest salmon really are the flying fish.
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Lox
Derived from the Yiddish laks or German lachs, Lox is a salt-cured, cold-smoked salmon. The fan-favorite for bagel pairing, lox is often eaten with schmear, capers, tomato and onion. Salmon was not an Eastern European fish. The little known fact is that Lox was actually invented by Jews here in the States, using the smoking and salting techniques they brought with them. Lox is just as popular today, although exponentially more expensive, as it was in the early 20th century. Zabar’s, an extremely popular Jewish delicatessen in New York City, sells 2,000 pounds of smoked salmon a week and up to 5,000 during the High Holiday season.
The Great Bagel and Lox Book features inspiring new preparation of this cult classic such as: A bagel spoon dipped in smoked salmon custard, white salmon carpaccio, smoked salmon foie gras, cannoli stuffed with smoked salmon and cream cheese, and smoked salmon nicoise with chives and quail eggs.
Nova
Gravlax
Scottish Salmon
Another common misconception is that Gravlax is Jewish whatsoever. This classically scandinavian dish is sugar brined and marinated with dill and spices, then weighed down to push out the moisture of the fish and cure throughout the cut. Gravlax in Swedishmeans “salmon from the grave”—a tribute to the old tradition of burying the salon in the earth before curing. When all good and done, gravlax is a sweet and silky delicacy best served with a sweet mustard sauce.
Superbly fatty salmon and sliced so thin that Gaspe Nova can melt on your tongue, Saul Zabar describes this preparation as “the mildest, least briny lox we sell, with a smooth, silky texture and a clean and fresh taste.” Made from prime belly salmon, to most New Yorkers this is the quintessential lox to go with your urban judaism.
A happy medium between Lox and Nova, Scottish Salmon is fatty with the distinct smoke of lox! Often seen used in cream cheese wrap-ups and other snooty hors d’oeuvres.
Whitefish
Whether sold as a whole skin-on delicacy, in a salad, or sliced, white fish is a mild aromatic fish that takes on smoke like no other. Though mostly enjoyed by elderly Jews on the East Coast, this goodie usually come from the Great Lakes.
Though distinctly cured and never smoked, Gravlax often gets thrown in with the rest of the smoked salmon preparations.
Chubbs
This is a true classic of our grandparents’ day. Salty, oily, and smoky, this meaty freshwater fish from the Great Lakes slides right off the bone and makes for one of the best Jewish snacks available.
Sturgeon
Sturgeon is the elite of smoked fish. Fatty and the vessel for the indulgence sturgeon caviar, back in the days of appetizing shops sturgeon was a treat for only the well off. These days sturgeon is hard to come by and usually overshadowed by its siker counterpart—sable.
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Sophie Lipitz
MAMALEH’S DELICATESSEN One Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA
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Rachel Miller Munzer, an energy-packed owner of Mamaleh’s and a mother of two, danced around the light filled brunch rush. In her arms, a balancing act of kugel and gleaming platters of smoked fish. We agreed that for the most part, Boston has been devoid of Jewish eateries; she elaborates that even the few places that
did exist, when Rachel moved here 21 years ago, have slowly disappeared. “Mamaleh’s fills that void”, Rachel remarks. Squeezing into the booth next to me, she says that her favorite part of paying homage Ashkenazi culture in this way is “bringing a memory or a sense of place” to their customers. From their chopped liver appetizer to the cold beef tongue sandwich on rye, Mamaleh’s has a dedication to serve up the Ashkenazi vernacular, the staying food of our culture. “We never fathomed or anticipated that we would be an ethnic restaurant,” Rachel tells me. She elucidates that to some, “we are like a museum in a food-ish way.” It has been exciting for both the ownership and staff to see (often non-Jewish) millennials flock to Mamaleh’s to experience and learn about a new culture.
“Transporting” is a word I often use to talk about Mamaleh’s delicatessen. Between their stylised interior design to their authentic menu—Mamaleh’s is your favorite neighborhood deli in Los Angeles, it’s your grandma’s kitchen, it is an appetizing counter of a bygone New York.
Madeline Carpintiere MMM HMM Magazine: Smoke Edition 49
Long before smoke from Seattle’s fruitful weed dispensaries filled the skies, the Pacific Northwest hosted the ancient smoking traditions of its Native American inhabitants. From smoking salmon to sweat lodges, smoke was central to the lives and spirituality of the PNW tribes. Smoking was more than just a method of preserving meat or fish, it was a way of communicating with the unreachable. In the billowing, free vapor from their fires, Native Americans accessed the spirit world, and their ancestors. Before ol’ Lewis and Clark interrupted, Native American tribes comprised most of the population of the Pacific Northwest region. From modern day British Columbia to Northern California, this unique section of the US was home to tribes such the Tlingit, Tsimshian, Chinook, Coast Salish, and Tilamook. These tribes were traditional hunter-gatherers who used the land’s resources, especially the waterways, for survival. Water is a constant in the rainy, coastal PNW. The area has many freshwater rivers and streams that tribes used to fish, which the tribes relied on as one of their main sources of protein. Particularly the Klamath River Basin and other coastal waterways of Oregon were used for their high concentrations of salmon. Salmon’s accessibility made it a staple of the PNW tribe diet. Often, tribes utilized smoking as a preservation method, to keep the salmon fresh. By exposing the fish to direct smoke anywhere from a few hours to a few days, their food could be stored, carried, and consumed for longer periods of time.
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Allie Miler Salmon was not just a part of the native diet: it was central to their religion. Hunting salmon was just as important as giving the food the proper religious ceremony. In her book, Religion, Food, and Eating in North America, author Suzanne Crawfod O’Brien explains the importance of Native American food ceremonies:
“such ceremonies practiced throughout Native North America [...] are not merely gestures of gratitude, but the honoring and reaffirming of ancient relationships between human communities and the plant and animal people on whom they depend.” O’Brien explains importance of the “First Salmon Ceremony” to tribes like the Coast Salish. In this ceremony, a single salmon is caught, carefully prepared by smoking the meat, and shared with each member of the tribe before the actual hunting of salmon begins. The ceremony is meant to represent the deep respect and gratitude that the Salish had for their food. Another important smoky tradition of the PNW tribes was the sweat lodge. Tribes constructed sweat lodges by tying small wooden sticks together with rawhide, sometimes using mud or wooden planks. The materials were arranged in a circle and bent into a 4 to 5 foot high dome, which traps the smoke inside. At the center of the lodge, Native Americans lit a fire that would fill the lodge with hot, sacred smoke. Sweat lodges were first introduced to the Native American tradition as a way of purifying the body of European culture. In their private MMM HMM Magazine: Smoke Edition 51
lodges, corruptive European practices like alcohol and the inhumane treatment of the natives could be removed from the spirit. Sweatlodge ceremonies, called “Sweat Ceremonies,� used peace pipes or tobacco in the central fire. Once the tobacco was burning, the tribe members asked a question to their ancestors. The question was carried to the deceased, through the free-flowing form of the smoke. As ceremony progressed, the smoke engulfed those inside the sweat lodge, which they believed to make all participants connected to the spirits of their family members, and each other. Modern smoking methods have departed from the Native American tradition: the sacredness and certain spiritual beauty have been lost in exchange for stringent health regulations better suited for mass production of smoked salmon. But today, these traditions linger in the culinary culture of the Pacific Northwest. To many Seattleites, salmon is core to their local identity, whether or not they have any connection to these mostly lost tribes.
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Sophie Lipitz & Isabela Celedon
BURNING QUESTIONS Back when refrigerators were nothing more than a glimmer in the (very) distant future, smoking was used as a means to preserve food. The technique was first popularized out of necessity, but that indescribable smoky flavor helps it remain relevant even after the invention of modern appliances. But now that it’s not a necessity, how is it used? Are there different techniques to achieve a smoky taste? What really is a smoky taste? We have the answers to your burning questions.
illustration by Christina Chung
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What can you smoke? With the proper combination of temperature and time, pretty much any food can be smoked. Meat is the most common type of smoked food, due to its wide range. Bacon, ribs, ham, duck, turkey, sausage, salami... the list goes on. Fish is of course another common, and delicious, option. Hot peppers are often smoked as well, either to be ground into spices (cayenne pepper) or to be used whole. Is smoke considered a flavor or just a technique? Both! When something’s been smoked, the taste is undoubtedly there. Depending on the type of wood or coal used, it could be a lighter, sweeter undertone with a little bit of a kick, or a robust, fiery flavor. The various techniques using smoke—cold smoking (smoked under 85 degrees), hot smoking, grilling, or liquid smoking—are used to infuse foods with these various intoxicating flavors. Why do different woods or coals create different flavors? Different types of wood have distinct aromas—just put your nose to a plank of wood and you’ll be able to take in its scent. These unique scents are enhanced through smoke. In other words, when a given type of wood is burned, the smoke it creates will be an extension of that wood’s aroma. In theory, any kind of wood can be used for smoking. However, if you want to avoid damaging your smoker and wasting delicious food, only use hardwoods. Softwoods, like pine and cedar, have too much 54
resin. Some classic hardwoods include, but are definitely not limited to: hickory, maple, cherry, mesquite, oak, and pecan.
Hickory
This hearty, versatile wood gives off a sweet bacon flavor that leaves a golden touch on all foods graced with its silky smoke.
Maple
A tame neighbor of Maple syrup, this wood’s mild smoke adds a just touch of sweetness. Best used for poultry, small game birds, ham, and pork.
Cherry
A perfect match for chicken, turkey, fish, or ham. Cherry wood is even more mouth-watering when paired with the bolder flavors of hickory or oak. This delicate and fruity smoke lends a dark brown shade to poultry skin and a rosecolored tint to lighter meats.
Mesquite
This typically southwestern tree emits a strong, earthy smoke that pairs well with vegetables and rich meats.
Oak
The mighty oak’s wood is an absolute classic. Rarely overpowering, it’s the most versatile of the bunch and can be used to smoke practically anything.
Pecan
Similar to hickory in terms of sweetness, pecan’s slightly nutty flavor is delicious on it’s own and especially when combined with mesquite.
What’s the difference between using a smoker and a grill? Smokers rely on indirect heat: they separate the fire from its smoke, meaning that food is never in direct contact with the flame. Long wooden smokehouses are the norm in Native American traditions, while most industrial smokers are rectangular metal boxes. Regardless of shape or size, the point of a smoker is to infuse the food with lots of smoke while isolating it from a flame. This means that using a smoker takes time, unlike the more user-friendly grill, and results in tender barbeque with robust flavor. It’s like slow roasting a hunk of juicy beef on a stove: the longer you let it sit, the more flavor it will absorb. The grill, a staple in any middle class suburban household, adds a smoky flavor to food in a much shorter time. Food is openly exposed to the flame, which means that it cooks much faster than in a smoker. What is curing? How is it related to smoking? Curing is a broad term for any method that preserves or adds flavor to foods, often using salt, sugar, nitrate and nitrite. Think pickling, salting, or smoking. The salt dehydrates the food, which then hinders unfriendly bacteria’s ability to grow. Smoking can be used to preserve food, enhance flavor, or both. Smoke cooking is using smoke at a high temperature to cook meat or fish. Smoke curing is using smoke to add flavor to meat, sausage, or fish that has already been cured with salt, sugar, nitrate or nitrite.
What’s the difference between cold smoking and hot smoking? Cold smoking is a technique used mostly with fish—typically salmon—due to its high fat content. One of the main differences is that cold smoking only adds flavor to food, while hot smoking both cooks food and adds flavor. In other words, cold smoking doesn’t preserve food; the process still ends in a raw product that must be refrigerated. The process of cold smoking is time consuming and seems deceptively simple. In explaining the steps, we’ll take fish as an example. First, the fish fillet is cured using either a dry rub or a brining liquid. These salty and sugary concoctions coax moisture out of the fillet, allowing for a firm texture and more complex flavor. The fillet should absorb the brine or rub for anywhere from 15 to 48 hours. Then, using cold running water, the cure should be rinsed off of the fish. Now the actual smoking part begins. The fillet is placed in a smoker (usually kept at or below 100 degrees fahrenheit) with smoldering wood chips. There, it will absorb the smoke released by the wood chips. The fish should stay in the smoker for anywhere between six and and 18 hours, depending on the recipe. Once taken out of the smoker, the fillet must be cooled for at least four hours before consuming.
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Tootsie Tomanetz, Snow’s BBQ, Boston Smoked Fish, Matt Bauman, Chris Avery, Rac
Blue Ribbon BBQ, Tahoe, Tony Messina, Uni, Michael Serpa, Christina Chung, Natali
Sauce, Camp Nor’wester, Smoked Oysters, Artistic Fly Fishing Magazines, The Wurs Chad Michael Murray, Harry Houdini, 21 Savage’s Mixtapes
And, finally, our extremely talented staff: Ivan Aleksandrov, Allie Miller, Josh Smit
Caroline Barry, Vivien Teng, Clarissa Kuo, Madeline Carpentiere, Kaitlin Tsai, and Ang
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chel Miller Munzer, Mamaleh’s, Scott Gubitose, Green Crocs at Blue Ribbon,
ie Mcgarvey, Michele Humes, Ata Sunucu, Salmon Belly Bacon, Gold Mustard
st of Lucky Peach, Billie Holiday, Criss Angel, Smokey Robinson, George Foreman,
th, Brittany Chang, Alana Schwartz, Eunice Li, Abe Fleicsher, Angeli Rodriguez,
gelina Leung.
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Fall 2016 Produced in Boston, Ma mmmhmmmag.com photo by Britany Chang
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