June 2013 by Sauce Magazine

meet the stud of

summer g r i l l - t o - g l a s s d r i n k i n g ∙ a n e w w a y t o p i c k l e ∙ t h e c u l t o f t h e ‘c u e s t. lo u is’ i n d e pe n d e nt cu l i n a ry au th o r it y June 2013

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contents june 2013

13 A La Carte

Reviews 19 new and notable: Sugarfire Smoke House

by Michael Renner

23 Nightlife: Flying Saucer Draught Emporium by Matt Berkley

24 Cookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Books: Award-Worthy Reads by julie cohen

Home cooking 27 Vegetize it: Monte Cristo Sandwich Avenging the Count by Beth Styles

cover details

30 One ingredient, 3 ways: Growler of Beer Good to the Last Gulp by Dee Ryan

32 By Popular Demand Taste's Mussels

features 34 summer stud From the depths of the sea to a plate near you

Last course 53 Stuff to do by byron Kerman

54 a chat with: James Smallwood

by ligaya Figueras

38 Smoke and Beers A peek into the secretive world of competitive barbecue by julie cohen

The Bar Where Everybody Knows Your Name by Stacy Schultz

47 That's the spirit Barrels find a life outside the bar

= recipe on this page

June 2013

BY Ligaya Figueras

octopus: the new it ingredient p. 34

Photo by Greg Rannells grill-to-glass drinking p. 15 a new way to pickle p. 14 the cult of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;cue p. 38

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june 2 013 • VO LUM E 13, Issue 6 @allysonmace

Allyson Mace Stacy Schultz @stacymschultz Meera Nagarajan @meera618 Julie Cohen @julieannacohen Ligaya Figueras Stacy Schultz Rosa Heyman, Anthony Orso Emily Lowery Michelle Volansky Julie Cohen Byron Kerman Jonathan Gayman, Ashley Gieseking, Laura Miller, Greg Rannells, Carmen Troesser CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATOR Vidhya Nagarajan CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Glenn Bardgett, Matt Berkley, Julie Cohen, Ligaya Figueras, Byron Kerman, Jamie Kilgore, Ted Kilgore, Cory King, Meera Nagarajan, Michael Renner, Dee Ryan, Stacy Schultz, Beth Styles RELATIONS DIRECTOR Erin Keplinger OFFICE MANAGER Rebecca Ryan ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Allyson Mace SENIOR ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE Angie Rosenberg ADVERTISING EXECUTIVES Rachel Gaertner, Jill George, Erin Keplinger, Allyson Mace, Angie Rosenberg ACCOUNT MANAGER Jill George INTERN Anthony Orso

PUBLISHER MANAGING EDITOR ART DIRECTOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR @ligayafigueras SENIOR STAFF WRITER SPECIAL SECTIONs EDITOR Fact checker PROOFREADER PRODUCTION DESIGNER ONLINE EDITOR EDIBLE WEEKEND WRITER CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

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use, in whole or in part, of the contents without permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. While the information has been compiled carefully to ensure maximum accuracy at the time of publication, it is provided for general guidance only and is subject to change. The publisher cannot guarantee the accuracy of all information or be responsible for omissions or errors. Additional copies may be obtained by providing a request at 314.772.8004 or via mail. Postage fee of $2 will apply. Sauce Magazine is printed on recycled paper using soy inks.

St. Louis, MO 63103 editorial policies The Sauce Magazine mission is to provide St. Louis-area residents and visitors with unbiased, complete information on the area’s restaurant, bar and entertainment industry. Our editorial content is not influenced by who advertises with Sauce Magazine or saucemagazine.com. Our reviewers are never provided with complimentary food or drinks from the restaurants in exchange for favorable reviews, nor are their identities as reviewers made known during their visits.

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We’re (obviously) big proponents of print here, yet we can’t help but squeal at all that the digital age offers. Did you know how many ways you can enjoy Sauce Magazine these days? From your computer screen to your tablet, even your phone, the options are nearly endless. Here are a few new ways to connect with us all month long. Thanks, Internet. We owe you one.

In Smoke and Beers (p. 38), we give you a glimpse into just how much fun St. Louis’ competitive barbecue team Missouri Shark Fisherman’s Club has creating award-winning ‘cue. Now you can join them. Tune in to St. Louis Public Radio 90.7 KWMU’s Cityscape on Friday, June 21 at 11 a.m. and 10 p.m., as two of the Sharks reveal their tips and tricks to help you become the shrub at barbecue Cielo Restaurant Bar master ofOrange your backyard pit this & summer.

Octopus is the “meat” of the moment, swimming its way onto menus from a Spanish eatery to a new neighborhood tavern. Don’t believe us? Check out our cover story, Summer Stud (p. 34), to see where you can track down this creature on a plate near you. Then, head to the blog section of SauceMagazine. com to watch a video of Sauce photographer Greg Rannells taming this eight-armed beast into this month’s cover model.

Wondering what all the fuss is about surrounding Sauce Magazine’s Food Truck Friday? Head to SauceFoodTruckFriday.com to watch as St. Louisans reveal what they love about the biggest and best picnic in town. Then, join us in Tower Grove Park on June 14 for the next Food Truck Friday. See you there!

facebook.com/saucemagazine | twitter.com/saucemag | pinterest.com/saucemagazine | instagram.com/saucemag

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pizza photo by beth styles

Now that farmers market stalls have been pushed open for the season, it’s more important than ever to know what to do with those pints of strawberries, bundles of asparagus and bunches of leafy greens. Head to the blog section of SauceMagazine. com every Monday, where veggie-lover Beth Styles offers easy and healthy recipes for using all your farm-fresh produce in her column, Meatless Monday.

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EAT THIS

We rarely abandon our dedication to chocolate desserts, but for the KEY LIME PIE at WINDOWSILLS CAFE & MARKETPLACE, we make an exception. A graham cracker crust serves as the base for the filling of cold custard spiked Photo by carmen troesser

with tart Key lime juice and a topping of whipped cream clouds sweetened with a splash of vanilla. The refreshing burst of citrus cuts the indulgently rich custard, making a generous slice a sweet end to any summer meal. Windowsills Cafe & Marketplace â&#x20AC;˘ 1326 Clarkson/Clayton Center, Ellisville 636.527.6400 â&#x20AC;˘ windowsillscafe.com

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MAKE THIS pickled onions active time: less than 5 minutes

Ideas in Food authors Aki Kamozawa and Alex Talbot have superb pickling and freezing ideas. Michael Natkin goes a step further in his cookbook, Herbivoracious, by combining the two methods into what he dubs “cryo-pickling”: freezing and thawing food in pickling liquid, a technique that results in a more concentrated flavor. Natkin gives his cryo-pickled onions a jolt of Japanese flavor. But being that it’s grilling season, we’re using his freeze-and-thaw trick to beef up a bulb destined for a burger. To make barbecue cryo-pickled onions: Combine ¹∕³ cup of vinegar and 2 teaspoons of your favorite barbecue rub in a bowl. Thinly slice half of a medium-size yellow onion. Place the onions in a freezer bag and pour the seasoned vinegar over them. Seal the bag, removing as much air as possible. Shake the bag a bit to make sure the onions are covered in vinegar. Freeze for at least 12 hours, thaw in the refrigerator, then pile them high on a burger fresh off the coals. – Ligaya Figueras

Once thawed, the onions will keep for about 3 days.

Vernon’s BBQ 6707 Vernon Ave., U. City, 314.726.1227, vernonsbbq.com

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photo by greg rannells

For a dash of local flavor, use Vernon’s BBQ rib or beef rub. $5: 6 oz., available at Vernon’s BBQ.

A Seat at the Bar

Grill-to-Glass Drinking

Four experts tell us what to sip, stir and shake

ted and jamie kilgore Ted and Jamie Kilgore, USBG, B.A.R. Ready, BarSmart and co-owners/bartenders at Planter’s House (opening soon)

drink photos by carmen troesser; illustrations by vidhya nagarajan

Grilling season has arrived. And at Salt – a restaurant where the kitchen crew works hand in hand with the folks behind the bar – that means grilled fare is just as likely to end up in your glass this summer as it is on your plate. When fresh fruit spends time over charcoal’s toasty embers, its bright color and tart flavor get traded out for smoky, savory elements. A quick squeeze, and the deeply nuanced juice is now perfect for mellowing the pucker-up character of lime juice and taming renegade rum in a classic daiquiri. For Salt’s Pisco Punch, viscous grilled pineapple juice turns this classic summer sipper into an accessible, tropical port of entry for drinkers unfamiliar with Pisco, a Peruvian spirit made from grape brandy. Wanna try this at home? It’s easy. Whether using limes, lemons or chunky pineapple slices, simply cut the fruit in half, place the cut side on a grill and let it cook for about 3 minutes, being careful not to burn the fruit. Once you run the grilled fruit through a juicer or reamer, the juice will keep in the fridge for 2 days. For the tastiest results, brush the grill grates with a little vegetable oil before you get started to keep the fruit from sticking. You also want to rub olive oil on the skin side of the fruit – a trick that “pulls up the flame and pulls up the smoke [into the fruit],” explained Salt bar manager and co-owner Matt Obermark. “They get really sweet and smoky. Everyone is into smoke these days.” – Ligaya Figueras June 2013

cory king

Grilled Daiquiri Courtesy of Salt’s Matt Obermark

Cory King, Certified Cicerone, head brewer at Perennial Artisan Ales and founder of Side Project Brewing

With the weather getting hotter, we’re craving lighter spirits, especially gin. Gin has its roots as a medicinal spirit, so it’s both good and good for you! The required flavor needed to call it gin is juniper, but a host of other flavoring agents can be utilized – like citrus, flowers and spices. If you prefer the piney boldness of a juniperforward gin, look for bottles labeled “London Dry,” such as Broker’s or Beefeater. If citrus and floral are more your thing, Hendrick’s and Plymouth are better options. For a new twist on an old classic, try adding Angostura bitters and a squeeze of lemon to your gin and tonic. Good for you never tasted so good.

For some reason, lagers have a somewhat boring reputation in the beer world. But what is a lager? Ignoring the wild yeast and bacteria that can ferment beer, Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ale yeast) and Saccharomyces pastorianus (lager yeast) are beer’s primary fermenters. Lager yeast has the ability to ferment beer at a cooler temperature, which has a big impact on creating more subtle, balanced flavors. In the hands of the right brewers, fantastic lagers can range from dry and hoppy to malty and incredibly strong. Try The Civil Life Vienna Lager, Victory Prima Pils and Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock to broaden your lager horizon.

1 Serving Combine 1½ ounces of Flor de Caña 4-year Extra Dry rum, ¾ ounce of grilled lime juice and ¾ ounce of simple syrup in a Boston shaker. Add ice and shake well. Strain into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass. To garnish, use a hand-held kitchen torch to brûlé one side of the lime wheel, if desired. Thread the lime wheel onto an oversized toothpick and position across the top of the glass. Salt, 4356 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, 314.932.5787, enjoysalt.com

glenn bardgett Glenn Bardgett, member of the Missouri Wine and Grape Board and wine director at Annie Gunn’s

I was at a wine and food class at Dierbergs School of Cooking with chef Lou Rook, and I was giving everyone a list of the wine pairings for the night. For the yellowfin tuna burger, I chose an Augusta vidal blanc. Missouri wines are nearly always in our classes. Almost immediately, a lady exclaimed, “Missouri wines! Are there any good Missouri wines?” Besides insulting my mother, few things set me off as quickly as this question. Spirited interactions occurred between us throughout the event, but her negativity rapidly changed to approval. After the class, I saw a member of the Dierbergs staff putting a case of vidal into her car. I gave her a hug and thought, another successful night of Missouri-wine missionary work. Cheers to all the nonbelievers. saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 15

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hit list

2 New Restaurants to Try This Month

Mi Linh 9737 Manchester Road, Rock Hill, 314.918.8868, milinh.net

The Libertine 7927 Forsyth Blvd., Clayton, 314.862.2999, libertinestl.com

the libertine photos by michelle volansky

Check your preconceptions at the door of The Libertine, the long-awaited new restaurant from Nick and Audra Luedde and local super-star chef Josh Galliano. Here, “buffalo style” crispy pig tails stand in for chicken wings and are far more addictive than their poultry counterparts. The house burger gets topped with house-made cheese “whiz” and served on a bacon-studded challah bun, while Three Little Birds arrive as one: hen, quail and chicken all pressed together for a brick of poultry that’s crisp, tender and perfectly cooked. Finish things off with The Libertine Candy Bar, a highbrow convergence of flavors likened to an Almond Joy and those ice cream-laden Snickers bars you pulled from the freezer at 7-Eleven as a kid. But first, head to the bar to fill your glass with small-batch liquors, local craft brews or a glass of bio-dynamic wine.

Love chicken wings? Try The Libertine's crispy pig tails (they're even more addictive).

June 2013

Vietnamese coffee

It’s pho and more at this new Vietnamese restaurant in Rock Hill. Mi Linh offers oodles of options among noodle soups and bowls, including the house specialty, mi, a delicate soup of egg noodles in a rich pork broth, made hearty with meat or seafood and enlivened by bean sprouts, celery leaf, chives and lime. From starters like spring rolls down to the do chua (pickled veggies) that accompany rice plates, Mi Linh pays homage to the fresh flavors that characterize this section of the globe. A taste of Vietnam continues with beverages, whether you’re thirsty for Saigon or Tiger beer, Vietnamese coffee, a guanabana smoothie or a glass of refreshing housemade green tea lemonade. saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 17

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reviews

new and notable: sugarfire smoke house p. 19 nightlife: flying saucer draught emporium p. 23 cook’s books: award-worthy reads p. 24

New and Notable: Sugarfire Smoke House by Michael Renner • Photos by jonathan gayman

or years when people asked me who had the best ribs, the most piquant sauce or the tender-est brisket in town, their questions were met with a raised eyebrow and a smug “I grew up in Kansas City.” And for years, that was all that needed to be said on the matter. St. Louis barbecue was unremarkable. Where was the deep hickory smoke flavor? Where were the crispy, charred nuggets of well-marbled brisket we in Kansas City called burnt ends? While Kansas City sauce was a brass band of sweet, spicy, smoky, tomato-y flavors thickened with molasses and painted on meat in layers, St. Louis’ was thinner, more like tangy, watery ketchup. Most distressing were the ribs, which were more often than not stewed so long in oceans of sauce as to render the Sugarfire Smoke bones soft and the meat sagging House like a bad facelift. And what the 9200 Olive Blvd., hell was a pork steak? Kansas City Olivette, 314.997.2301, was World Series barbecue; St. sugarfiresmokehouse.com Louis was bush-league. Roughly 15 years ago, Super Smokers, Bandana’s, and 17th Street Bar and Grill changed all that. And in the past five years, Pappy’s (with its Super Smokers lineage) and later Bogart’s (a Pappy’s spinoff) have set a new standard. Just as we’ve recently seen an explosion of local breweries, St. Louis has witnessed a surge in barbecue eateries. At least 10 barbecue restaurants have opened in just the past 18 months, including Sugarfire Smoke House, the latest venture by restaurateur Mike Johnson (Cyrano’s, Boogaloo, Roxane, Fu Manchu and a few more) and his partners, Charlie and Carolyn Downs of Cyrano’s fame. Housed in a modern strip mall on Olive Boulevard, just west of I-170, Sugarfire shoots for the rustic roadhouse look: dark-stained walls with inlaid squares of pressed tin, heavy plank tables and chairs, multicolored retro metal lawn chairs, and galvanized steel pendants. Baby-back pork ribs with a side of mac-n-cheese June 2013

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review new and notable: sugarfire smoke house On subsequent visits, when both were plentiful, I was still disappointed. It wasn’t the quality of the meat. The brisket was dry-rubbed, smoked all night and cut thicker than normal by hand. It was tender, with a meaty texture and deep, beefy flavor. And the baby-back pork ribs had a beautiful mahogany hue on the outside, a vivid pink tint inside and that toothsome chew that makes gnawing ribs such a primal delight. It’s enough to eat them as is, dry-rubbed with a sweet, salty, pepper mixture. Is that onion powder? Paprika? Some cayenne? Brown sugar? The kitchen won’t tell, but you can buy a jar to take home. Clockwise from top left: Crack pie, apple pie, Key lime pie, pecan pie, Mississippi Mud pie So, no, it wasn’t the meat I found disappointing. It was the lack of smoke flavor. Sugarfire uses hickory and cherry logs in its smokers – you can smell the smoke, you leave smelling like it – but I tasted none of it. Not when eating in the restaurant, not at home with takeout.

the hallway toward the ordering area and the soda fountain (which dispenses only Excel-brand, real sugar sodas made in Breese, Ill.). The door on the right lands you smack in the middle of the dining room, looking foolish as you “excuse me, pardon me” your way to the back of the cafeteria-style line. Once in the queue, there are sandwiches, plates, sides and meat by the ounce and pound to choose from. While there are several smoked turkey offerings, there is no chicken (except as a special

sometimes). Here, the focus is on pork, grass-fed beef and sausage. At the cash register, there is beer – craft and otherwise – wine and boozy milkshakes. Everything but the sides is served on butcher-paperlined jellyroll pans. Another lesson: Be prepared for disappointment. Like other small, local ’cue joints, Sugarfire makes only so much, and when it’s gone, it’s gone for the day. Looking forward to brisket and ribs on my first visit – the two items by which every barbecue place is judged – I found none.

Maybe some smoky barbecue sauce would help. Sugarfire covers all geographic regions with its sauce styles, each made in-house, excluding ketchup and mustard. I’m partial to KC sauce and Sugarfire’s is a good contender. There’s also the Texas Hot (more a medium-hot); Carolina mustard; white barbecue sauce made with a horseradish base; Sugarfire 47 made with onion, apples and raisins; and an intriguing coffee-based version. It’d be nice to know more about the sauces; maybe a table tent that explains each one. All sides are made in-house but are not always well executed. There are baked beans

(a mix of black, pinto and Navy that was too runny), fries (sometimes crisp and perfect, sometimes soggy and puny), and daily specials like cheesy grits, jambalaya and brisket-barley soup. The sweet potato salad of the day was chock-full of big, juicy whole cranberries, crunchy celery and salty pecans but overloaded with mayonnaise. Creamy, tangy coleslaw and a special of chunky, skinon red potato salad were the stars. Then there’s the burger, which, like the brisket, boasts grass-fed beef from Doniphan, Mo.’s Rain Crow Ranch – a blend of brisket, short-rib and chuck that gets ground daily in the kitchen. It’s handpattied, smashed thin and griddled to get those crispy edges. Salt and pepper are all the seasoning this delicious patty gets while cooking, before being served on a bun that’s soft enough that your fingers leave little indentations. There’s also the damn fine Big Muddy, a delicious towering mess of a sandwich piled high with scraps of brisket, slices of house-smoked sausage, lettuce and pickles. It’s drenched with so much sweet and white barbecue sauces that bibs should be issued, or at least a roll of paper towels. With pastry chef Carolyn Downs doing the baking, cookies and pies are no afterthought. Her apple pie is layered high, has a flaky crust and exudes just enough sweetness to be called pie. Crack pie, a cross between gooey butter cake and chess pie, is as addictive as its name implies. Calvin Trillin, the New York journalist and food writer who grew up in Kansas City, once said, “Ten or fifteen years ago, if someone asked me what to do if you had a barbecue craving in New York, I’d say, ‘Get in a cab, go to LaGuardia Airport and fly to Kansas City.’” I would have recommended the same, from Lambert. Nowadays, while I think KC still smokes St. Louis ’cue, my trips west are less frequent.

AT A GLANCE : niche Where Sugarfire Smoke House, 9200 Olive Blvd., Olivette, 314.997.2301, sugarfiresmokehouse.com

Don’t Miss Dishes Ribs, Big Muddy sandwich, burger.

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Vibe Made to look like a roadhouse barbecue joint, even if a bit forced. The dining room can be challenging to navigate with a full tray. The cafeteria line and clear-your-own-table practice mean extra work.

Entree Prices Sandwiches: $4.50 to $9.50. Plates: $11 to $14.

When Daily – 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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review nightlife: Flying Saucer Draught Emporium

Nightlife: Flying Saucer Draught Emporium by Matt berkley • Photos by Jonathan Gayman

hovering over the bar. The “beertenders” and waitresses are exceptionally trained and happy to help out with detailed beer descriptions. But be prepared to settle in with your pint, as this well-informed service isn’t the swiftest. The Food Heavy on brats, burgers, cheese, bread, German plates and cured meats, the menu is thankfully absent any Provel-infused flatbreads, deep-fried ravioli or “Stan the Man Burgers.” Instead, the build-your-own pizza option turned out the best pie I’ve had in recent memory. The herbed tomato sauce and savory finocchiona are the stuff of dreams. Less impressive was the Saucer Bratzel, a seemingly fantastic coupling of bratwurst and pretzel. The former was hardly enough to Flying Saucer satisfy, and the latter was Draught Emporium cemented to the plate by 900 Spruce St., St. hardened Swiss cheese.

order it: Flying Saucer Draught Emporium

Louis, 314.932.1456, beerknurd.com

t’s easy enough to dismiss Flying Saucer Draught Emporium as a prefabricated beer hall/restaurant chain. It is a chain – and a kitschy one at that. The St. Louis location – the 16th by the Texasbased group making serious bank on the imported and craft suds market – has all the hallmarks of its sister spots in Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee and the Carolinas. The company’s ubiquitous “beerknurd ” culture is in full effect: Random collectable plates line the walls. Quirky-cute rollerderby-type waitresses deliver pints in uniform short skirts. And Beerknurds who join the UFO Club checkmark their way across a list of 200 beers to eventually get their name on the wall. All the franchised hokeyness aside, St. Louis’ Flying Saucer is a beer-lovers’ dream. More than a fine addition to a downtown area much in need of new businesses, this is a great bar.

The Beer With 80 ever-revolving tap options and 150 bottles to choose from, it’s easy for even a veteran hops connoisseur to be intimidated. Rather than toss around a June 2013

book-length, leather-bound beer menu, the Saucer folks offer a user-friendly, four-page newsletter-style handout that’s broken down by beer type: ales, lagers, hybrids, ciders, etc. Overall, there’s a nice mix of choices, both foreign and domestic, ranging from heavy to smooth and everything in between. The list even includes handy bullet points and highlights to call out local selections like Perennial, Civil Life, Urban Chestnut, Six Row, 4 Hands, Schlafly and Morgan Street. For just $3 on Sundays, you can enjoy a pint of the approximately 20 local options that made it onto the draft menu. Those befuddled by the myriad options are welcome to free samples. Better yet, spend about $10 on a Saucer Flight, which includes five generous half-glass pours in themes like the Wheat Lover’s Flight, American Hophead or Around the World. The brew infusions take mixing and matching to a new level, combining Belgian witbier with framboise for the Raspberry and Cream, or a Bavarian hefeweizen with a splash of orange juice for the Hefe-Mosa. New arrivals and daily specials are called out on blackboards

The Location It’s almost criminal that The Flying Saucer didn’t land here in time to lay claim to the landmark Flying Saucer building adjacent to SLU. Regardless, the Saucer’s actual location at 900 Spruce St., was especially well chosen to cater to stadium-goers and out-of-towners. As such, the Saucer serves to complement other beer halls (i.e. nearby iTap) that will no doubt continue to appeal more to local beer nerds. The Crowd Unsurprisingly, on game days at nearby Busch Stadium, the Flying Saucer is awash with fans crowding the bar in deep lines – angling for open seats, navigating through an overflowing patio space hazy with cigarette smoke, or simply giving up and leaning against the nearest patch of brick wall to enjoy a stellar pint before piling into the stadium to overpay for plastic cups of blander beer. A much tamer, more laid-back crew of urban loft-dwellers, beer snobs and out-of-towners inhabit the Saucer during non-game days. It would be hard to imagine a more relaxed vibe than the one that seeps out of this place. Like any beer hall, this is a T-shirt and flip-flops, come-asyou-are type of joint that caters more to old college friends in their mid-30s than actual college kids. There is a not-so-subtle hint at this on the menu, which limits customers to only six pints per visit.

The Sheboygan Side-bySide is a double dose of brat madness. Served with a generous helping of German potato salad, these babies are delivered in crusty buns and come smothered in sauerkraut, red onion and spicy mustard. Wash it down with Perennial’s fruity and floral Saison de Lis. Brewed with chamomile flowers, this smooth customer has a golden body and cloudy little head that grasps the top of the tulip-style glass. Think of it as a Midwestern take on Hoegaarden.

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review Cook’s books: awardworthy reads

Dog Eared and James Beard Approved The James Beard Foundation Awards are like the Oscars of the culinary realm: It’s an honor just to be nominated. This month, we’re honoring four cookbooks that were nominated for a prestigious JBF award this year. Join us every Tuesday at SauceMagazine.com/blog as we cook and reveal recipes from these books. Then, enter to win a copy to add to your own collection.

True Food: Seasonal, Sustainable, Simple, Pure by Andrew Weil, Sam Fox and Michael Stebner

Canal House Cooks Every Day by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton

Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller and Sebastien Rouxel

Burma: Rivers of Flavor by Naomi Duguid

Expert pick: The Fat Duck Cookbook, by Heston Blumenthal

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illustration by vidhya nagarajan

In 2008, Patrick Connolly nabbed the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Northeast. While Connolly, now executive chef at Basso at The Cheshire, credits Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry Cookbook for inspiring him to initially leave his native St. Louis and enroll in culinary school. These days, he can’t keep his nose out of The Fat Duck Cookbook by Heston Blumenthal. “It’s mostly food porn, but the beginning is illustrated by a comic book artist [Dave McKean], and some of the drawings are what’s going on inside Blumenthal’s head when he’s coming up with his recipes. For a chef, it strikes a chord – it’s beautiful.” Basso, 7036 Clayton Ave., Richmond Heights, 314.932.7820, basso-stl.com – Julie Cohen

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vegetize it: monte cristo sandwich p. 27 one ingredient, 3 ways: growler of beer p. 30 by popular demand: mussels p. 32

Photo by CARMEN TROESSER

Turn the page to see how to make the famous Monte Cristo sandwich vegetarian.

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home cooking Vegetize it: Monte Cristo sandwich

Avenging the Count BY Beth Styles • Photo by Carmen Troesser

y first encounter with a Monte Cristo sandwich wasn’t that long ago. I was visiting my best girls in Los Angeles, and we had decided to do something we’d never done: Disneyland. By midday, we’d spun in the teacups, screamed in the Tower of Terror and had our picture taken in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle. Famished, we turned in to the first restaurant we spotted: Cafe Orleans. After perusing the menu, my friend decided to get the Monte Cristo, which was piled with turkey, ham and Swiss, fried in a batter, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and served with a berry purée. It sounded tasty, so when I noticed the restaurant had a meat-free version, I quickly scanned the description to see how the kitchen crew achieved such a feat. I was disappointed to learn that they just subbed mozzarella and brie for the ham and turkey, essentially creating a glorified grilled cheese. Surely the wonderful world of Disney could do better. This less-than-inspired sandwich was at the top of my What Not To Do list as I began hatching a plan for this month’s column. Although,

to be fair, the restaurant did have one good idea: Use more than one kind of cheese. Swiss is a must, as its distinct flavor marries really well with the saltiness of the “meat” and the sweetness of the jams. But my favorite melt-y cheese is Havarti. Since I often eat it with red grapes and crackers in the summer, I knew it could lend its talents here as well. As for the rest of the ingredients, I found that they can really run the gamut. Some restaurants just use ham and cheese; some add turkey to the mix. Some home cooks put sliced tomatoes in between, and a few especially carnivorous ones love to add crispy bacon. I even found several recipes that call for spreading mustard on one side of the bread and jam on the other. And don’t even get me started on the bread debate. Plain white? Sourdough? Brioche? Ciabatta? The perfect bread for your sandwich is like the perfect amount of cream for your coffee: It’s personal. So, while I went with Companion’s Pain Beaucaire, a really nice white bread that holds this batter like a champ, I encourage you to follow your taste buds. Just make sure whatever loaf you choose is thickly cut, so there is plenty of space to soak up the egg mixture. Between the bread, I decided on a classic combination with a couple

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twists: veggie deli turkey instead of ham, the aforementioned cheese duo, some crispy tempeh bacon, two kinds of jam and some Dijon mustard on the side for dipping. The end result left me believing that dreams really do come true.

Monte Cristo Sandwiches 4 Servings 12 smoky tempeh slices* 4 large eggs ½ cup milk (whatever kind you have in the fridge) 1 tsp. kosher salt plus more to taste 1 tsp. sugar 1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour 6 Tbsp. raspberry preserves 8 slices Companion Pain Beaucaire bread 8 slices Swiss cheese 24 veggie turkey slices* 8 slices Havarti cheese 6 Tbsp. fig spread Dijon mustard Up to 8 Tbsp. unsalted butter • Prepare the tempeh bacon according to the instructions listed on the package. As you finish each batch, remove the cooked pieces to a paper-towel-lined plate and let sit until ready to use. • In a shallow baking dish, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, sugar, nutmeg and flour. Set aside. • Spread 1½ tablespoons of raspberry preserves on 1 slice of bread. Top with 2 slices of Swiss cheese, then 3 folded slices of turkey.

• Sprinkle a little salt atop the turkey, then add 2 slices of Havarti cheese and another 3 folded slices of turkey, followed by 3 tempeh slices. Spread 1½ tablespoons of fig spread on a second slice of bread, and place it atop the turkey slices. Repeat this process until 4 sandwiches are made. • Melt 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter in a nonstick pan over mediumlow to medium heat. • Meanwhile, take 1 sandwich and pierce the bread on 1 side with a fork. Place the pierced side into the egg batter, press down and let sit for 1 minute. Pierce the other, upward-facing slice of bread with a fork. Flip the sandwich over and press this side into the batter. Let sit for 1 minute. • Once the pan is hot, place the battered sandwich in the pan and place a heavy skillet or pan on top of the sandwich. Let cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the sandwich, place the heavy skillet back on top and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip and cook 2 more minutes, this time leaving the heavy skillet off. Flip once more, and cook for 2 more minutes without the heavy skillet. (The goal is to melt the cheese by cooking it at a low temperature and flipping it more than once.) Remove to a plate and keep warm. • Repeat the dipping and cooking process with the 3 remaining sandwiches, adding more butter as needed. • Serve with a side of Dijon mustard for dipping. * Available at Whole Foods, 1601 S. Brentwood Blvd., Brentwood, 314.968.7744, wholefoodsmarket.com

June 2013

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home cooking one ingredient, 3 ways: Growler of Beer

Good to the Last Gulp By Dee Ryan | Photos by laura miller

hough we’re generally card-carrying members of the empty-plate-and-glass club, let’s just pretend for a second. Say you had a barbecue and a friend brought over a growler of a great locally brewed craft beer. And let’s say, for argument’s sake, that you didn’t finish it (rain; has to be rain). What’s left over may be a little flat, but don’t go pouring it down the drain just yet. There’s plenty of life left in that beer.

2. MUSSELS WITH URBAN CHESTNUT SCHNICKELFRITZ In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons unsalted butter over medium heat. Saute 2 medium thinly sliced shallots and 2 thinly sliced garlic cloves until fragrant. Add 3 to 4 thyme sprigs, 1 bay leaf, 1∕8 teaspoon crushed red pepper, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard and 2 cups Urban Chestnut Schnickelfritz* (or other lager/wheat beer). Bring to a boil. Add 2 pounds scrubbed and de-bearded mussels, and cover. Cook 3 to 4 minutes over medium-high heat. Shake skillet and cook until mussels open, about 2 minutes. Discard unopened mussels. Add ½ cup freshly chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon lemon zest, salt and pepper. Serve with crusty bread. * Available in growlers at Urban Chestnut Brewing Co., urbanchestnut.com

1. SCHLAFLY PALE ALE ASIAN-STYLE SPARERIBS Whisk together ²∕³ cup hoisin sauce, ½ cup Schlafly Pale Ale* (or other ale), ¹∕³ cup soy sauce, 5 minced garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon freshly minced ginger, 2 tablespoons honey, 1 tablespoon Chinese Five Spice and 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper. Pour into a large resealable bag, with a 2-pound slab of St. Louis-style ribs (cut into individual ribs), and seal. Marinate in the fridge overnight. Place a rack in a large roasting pan. Pour 2 cups Schlafly Pale Ale into bottom of the pan. Arrange ribs on rack, bone-side down. Pour marinade into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Bake ribs in 300-degree oven for 30 minutes. Baste with marinade, turn ribs over. Bake another 3 minutes and repeat with remaining marinade. Add more beer to the pan if it gets low. Raise heat to 450 degrees and bake until ribs brown, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven, remove rack and ribs, and let ribs rest. Heat pan drippings over medium-high heat until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Pour reduction over ribs or use as a sauce. Top ribs with ½ cup chopped cilantro.

3. SQUARE ONE MAPLE STOUT ICE CREAM Place 1 cup whole milk, 1 cup heavy cream, ¼ cup granulated sugar, ¼ cup maple syrup (Increase to ½ cup if not using Maple Stout beer.) and a pinch of salt in a saucepan. Simmer over medium heat. In a medium bowl, whisk 4 large egg yolks. Slowly pour 1 cup of cream mixture into yolks, whisking constantly to temper the eggs. Pour tempered egg mixture back into saucepan, whisking constantly. Place pan over medium heat and stir constantly until mixture coats the back of a spoon. Place 7 ounces semisweet chocolate chips in a medium heatproof bowl. Pour hot custard mixture through a fine mesh strainer into the chocolate, and whisk until chocolate melts. Stir in 1 cup Square One Maple Stout* (or other stout/porter), cover and chill in the freezer overnight. Add to ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions.

* Available in growlers at The Schlafly Tap Room and Schlafly Bottleworks, schlafly.com

* Available at Square One Brewery and Distillery, squareonebrewery.com

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home cooking By Popular Demand: mussels

By Popular Demand Taste's Mussels “My friends and I absolutely loved the mussels that used to be on the menu at Taste*. The spicy broth was to die for, and we would always ask for extra bread to sop it up. We were extremely sad to see it off the menu, and I have looked at many recipes to try to copy it! We would love to see the recipe in your magazine.” — Anjali Nigam * Due to popular demand, the mussels are, in fact, back on the menu at Taste.

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June 2013

Mussels Courtesy of Taste’s Matthew Daughaday 2 Servings ½ Tbsp. olive oil ½ Tbsp. canola oil 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 1 medium shallot, thinly sliced 3 Thai red chiles, thinly sliced 2 lbs. Prince Edward Island mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded 1 tsp. smoked paprika Salt to taste 1 cup white wine ¾ cup cold butter Fresh parsley for garnish Grilled bread for serving • In a small bowl, whisk the olive and canola oils together, and then pour them into a large saucepan over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the garlic and saute until it begins to take on color. Add the shallots and chiles, and saute for approximately 30 seconds. Add the mussels and toss to coat the mussels in the oil. • Sprinkle the paprika and a small pinch of salt over the mussels. Turn the heat to high, and toss once more to evenly distribute the paprika and salt around the mussels. • Deglaze the pan with the wine, then immediately cover the pan with a lid or another pan of equal size. Let the mussels cook until they have opened, approximately 2 minutes. Discard any unopened mussels. • Turn the heat off, strain the liquid into a new pan and set the mussels aside. • Place the pan with the cooking liquid over high heat. Add the butter and 2 tablespoons of water to the pan and bring to a boil, which will emulsify the butter. Taste the sauce, and add salt if desired. • Place the mussels in a large bowl or divide between 2 smaller bowls, and pour the sauce over the mussels. • Garnish with a few choice parsley leaves and serve with warm, grilled bread.

Taste 4584 Laclede Ave., St. Louis, 314.361.1200, tastebarstl.com

June 2013

Photo by greg rannells

Taste, 4584 Laclede Ave., St. Louis, 314.361.1200, tastebarstl.com

Eaten a dish at an area restaurant that you’d do just about anything to make at home? Email us at pr@saucemagazine.com to tell us about it. Then let us do our best to deliver the recipe By Popular Demand. saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 33

m Fro

summer stud

e h t of s th p de

Pulpo, poke, tako, octopus. Whatever you call it, this cool squid species is hot, hot, hot. This summer, it’s starring in dishes that span the globe, from a Spanish tapa to a Japanese salad to a spoonful of the Mediterranean Sea. This cephalopod may be elusive in the water – hiding by day, hunting by night – but right now, there are plenty of restaurants around town where octopus is in plain sight. So hurry up and catch this beast of the deep blue sea before it slips away. And if you’ve been scared away by those twisty tentacles before, now is the time to get aboard and cast the net again. With the eight-armed creature on display in this many ways, you’re bound to find one that captures your fancy.

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June 2013

ra nn ell s

se a to a plate nea r yo u

re g by s o ot ph

| as r e figu a y by liga June 2013

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Tantalizing Tentacle

Octopus is terrifying to the squeamish and entertaining to the adventurous. If you’re in the latter camp (and you should be), don’t miss this play, starring a single tentacle braised for five long hours until tender and meaty, then seared to perfection. Other cast members: Fennel – caramelized, aerated and its raw fronds snipped for garnish – gets honors for best supporting actress, but it’s the giggly tomato-water gelée that gets a standing O for flavor boost and visual effect. Spanish Octopus. Central Table Food Hall, 23 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 314.932.5595, centraltablestl.com

Hi-yah!

Gently poaching baby octopus in a court bouillon for an hour-and-a-half turns its skin a beautiful reddish-maroon, its underlying flesh a milky white and everything über-tender. What elevates this bottom feeder to luxe level is the harmony of Asian flavors. In every bite, you’ll savor those sucker-studded spirals with sesame seeds, wakame, cucumber, sesame oil, rice vinegar and a karate kick of jalapeño, red onion and sweet chile. Octopus Salad. The Lobby Lounge at Ritz Carlton-St. Louis, 100 Carondelet Plaza, Clayton, 314.863.6300, ritzcarlton.com

Smoky Little Suckers

When you’re talking pulpo in Spain, succulent octopus just wouldn’t be proper without sweet, smoky Spanish pimentón. This oily, tomato-y, potato-packed tapa stays true to tradition while delivering big on eye appeal – yes, those are whole sauteed baby octopuses. Wait, is that bacon we taste? Yes, even deep-sea creatures are better with a little smoky swine. Pulpo y Patatas. Modesto, 5257 Shaw Ave., St. Louis, 314.772.8272, modestotapas.com

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June 2013

Beachfront Barbecue

What began as chef Josh Galliano’s excuse to use broccoli-stem kimchi resulted in an unexpected edible seascape: A purée of Japanese white sweet potato becomes an island surrounded by a sea of piquillopepper broth and charred lemon sauce. Noodly kimchi swim offshore, while a single octopus tentacle perched atop the purée looks like a log carried in by the tide. We knew octopus was versatile, we just never realized it could be turned into maritime art. Crispy Octopus. The Libertine, 7927 Forsyth Blvd., Clayton, 314.862.2999 libertinestl.com

Food Truck Feed

Gas prices may not be budging, but when a food truck serves a delicacy like octopus, it’s worth the extra effort (and quarters) to track it down. Chop Shop’s cold Japanese salad is a medley of steamed octopus, daikon kimchi, seaweed, cucumber and kaiware sprouts tossed in an umami union of citrusy yuzu ponzu, red-hot gochujang and miso. We’re not looking for pretty here. We pulled over for the Pacific flavor punch and veggie crunch. Tako Truck. Chop Shop, twitter.com/chopshopstl, facebook.com/ chopshop314

Club Med

Octopus doesn’t need to be drowned in a dressing for it to taste delicious in a salad. Lightly seasoned with Mediterranean flavors – oil, garlic, preserved lemon, smoked paprika and parsley – this clean, bright salad is proof that fresh and simple are the keys to great cooking. Being that this dish shows such respect for ingredients, show it some respect and honor its plea to be paired with a glass of crisp white wine. Go for a bottle of the 2010 Schoffit Lieudit-Harth, a zippy dry riesling from Alsace, France. Octopus Salad with Chickpeas and Edamame. Olio, 1634 Tower Grove Ave., St. Louis, 314.932.1088, oliostl.com

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Ron Wakefield, mayor of Ellington, Mo., digs into some ribs at a local barbecue competition.

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June 2013

a peek into the secretive world of competitive barbecue by julie cohen | photos by carmen troesser

June 2013

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MATT RIORDAN

president

cousin

master sgt

Jerry Frichtel

Jim Forbis

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ROBIN BROWN

June 2013

t 12:35 p.m., Matt Riordan lifts the lid off the grill to reveal what appear to be 18 chicken breasts. I move in for a closer look but, mainly, to feel the heat. For although it’s midApril and the sun is directly overhead, the crisp air reminds me that winter has not yet loosened her fingers around spring. Peeling back the foil from an aluminum pan, Riordan sets his Miller down, wrapped in a black koozie emblazoned with the words “Missouri Shark Fisherman’s Club.” With a basting brush, he lovingly paints each piece of Frankenstein Chicken with an extra coat of secret sauce. I’ve tasted the sauce a handful of times. Every time I see the Missouri Shark Fisherman’s Club, one of the four teammates, their average age teetering around 59, urges a shot glass of it at me, daring me, once again, to guess the ingredients. From what I can discern, it’s a mix of ketchup, brown sugar, dry mustard and a handful of flavors I can’t quite place. I don’t push them for the recipe, though – I’ve seen other teams try. “Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cheerios,” Robin Brown, fellow Shark and Riordan’s “cousin-in-law,” likes to say. While Brown, Jim Forbis and Jerry Frichtel refer to the secret sauce as “World Famous Barbecue Sauce that Matt invented,” Riordan is quick to admit he got the recipe from the son of his daughter’s orthodontist and tweaked it to make it his own. “I’ve never had an original thought in my head,” he joked the first time I met him. “And I’m a putz!” Brown chimed in. As for the barbecued chicken breasts, they’re not actually breasts, but rather thighs with the knuckles cut off and the dark blood-red veins removed. The remaining meat is trimmed down into uniform rectangles and then cloaked in a thin layer of skin; it’s been slowly tenderizing on the grill since 11:30 a.m. The skin is also

June 2013

uniform, pulled taut around each rectangle, like fondant smoothed around the edges of a wedding cake, prepared in an elaborate, deconstructed, twice-baked potato fashion. “It’s a monster to do,” Brown says, having sidled up next to Riordan at the grill, with a twin can of koozie-covered Miller in hand. This morning, Riordan elaborates, the skin was peeled off the thighs, the fat scraped off, then the underside of the skin seasoned and re-wrapped around the meat. The Frankenstein moniker is making more sense. But why the hassle? “So when the judges bite through the skin, it tears instead of all of it sliding off,” Brown explains with a shrug. “A judge might only take one bite,” he adds. “It has to be perfect.”

Pig gear. “That’s just because they have sponsors.” He stoically sighs. “They’re always wearing something new.”

---

he Pigs might have great clothes but, as Brown proudly points out, they don’t have koozies. They don’t have the Sharks’ ride, either. During one competition around “beer-thirty,” the team slapped a decal (precisely centered, remarkably) of the logo from their hoodies on the shiny black trailer that houses their grills and equipment. The trailer also serves as a camper of sorts – some of the Sharks sleep on recliners on its floor during weekend competitions.

erhaps it’s the heat from the grill and smokers, but in just a few minutes, the weather seems to spike several degrees. Last night was a punishing one for the Sharks, along with the other 16 teams competing in the Florissant Fraternal Fires & BBQ. With temperatures in the mid 30s, and the teams’ tents and trailers parked on an elevated grassy field in North County, the wind whipping across the knoll made the night feel even colder. The Sharks toughed it out as they always do. After all, the 2013 competitive barbecue season kicks off in January with the Webster Groves Freeze-Que and lasts through October. Over the six years the Sharks have been a team, they’ve learned that severe weather conditions are just part of the game. Yet Brown is quick to rat out his buddy from A Pig’s Worst Nightmare. “In the middle of the night, Frank snuck off to his truck to warm his hands,” he whispers in a conspirator’s tone. “We’ve been giving him crap about it all day.” The Sharks and Pigs always try to set up shop next to each other at competitions, perhaps following the adage “keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” Whereas the Sharks tout simple black hoodies with a white cartoon shark, ringed in by their team name, the Pigs wear bright orange – showcased in an array of A Pig’s Worst Nightmare jackets, T-shirts, golf shirts, hoodies and ball caps. By the looks of the amount of people donning Pig regalia under the tent next door, the team must be three times larger than the Sharks. “They’re not all the team,” Forbis tells me, referring to a smattering of women, children and friends also wearing

“Hey Julie, you know what a pig’s worst nightmare is?” Brown asks, overhearing our conversation. Although I know the punch line to the joke, having heard it several times since first meeting the Sharks, I play along. “What?” I say. “A shark!” He shouts while the rest of us laugh. ---

In competition, a “shark” connotes a person who takes advantage of his rivals by hiding his skills until the moment just before he strikes – a reference which makes sense for a competitive team. However, just as everything the Sharks say has an element of self-deprecation, so does their name. For years, they’ve been going on family vacations together to Florida. “We always go fishing for shark but never catch one,” Brown tells me. “Never catch anything more than a catfish,” Riordan adds. In jest, the guys started calling themselves the “Missouri Shark Fisherman’s Club.” Riordan even printed shirts. Then, eight years ago, Frank Schmer, owner of St. Louis Home Fires, a store in Ballwin that specializes in fireplaces and grills, held his first barbecue competition in the store’s small parking lot. Nine teams came out to compete, along with about 250 spectators. After the success of the inaugural event, Schmer founded the St. Louis Barbecue Society. The following year, Riordan, Brown, Frichtel and Forbis attended the competition. As they wandered through the tents, the smoke seeping into their pores, Brown said to his buddies, “Next year we’re doing this.” saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 41

After the teams submit their entries to the judges, “frenemies” become friends, gathering to toast everyone’s hard work – and grab another cold one.

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t 12:45 p.m., Riordan pulls the rectangles of chicken off the grill and moves them to a cutting board in the prep tent. We’re entering the first window – the 15 minutes before turn-ins when the jabs and jokes between teams’ tents turn to an eerie silence as each team focuses on finishing its entry, possibly even setting down a koozie in the process. The wind and a band playing classic rock covers are the only sounds to be heard across the knoll. Prizes can range greatly at these competitions. At one, the Pigs won a whopping $7,777 for nabbing grand champion; other times, the purse can be as low as $100. Today at Fraternal Fires, the overall grand champion will take home $1,000. Winning St. Louis teams often

“

At a quarterly SLBS General Assembly meeting held at PM BBQ last January, I witnessed the words in action, as the new board of directors was sworn in for 2013. With spatulas raised in their right hands, in front of around 80 society members, they repeated the statement in mockseriousness; Dieckhaus mouthed at me from across the room: “We’re a cult.” The prep tent isn’t exactly Kitchen Stadium, seeing as two of the Sharks slept on cots in the center of it the night before. There’s a lawn chair, a makeshift countertop, a couple coolers and some red-stained plastic cups (remnants from the bloody mary turn-in at 8:30 this morning). A large metal tool chest on wheels doesn’t house screwdrivers and hammers but rather knives, tongs,

Sharks decided that, since the turn-in is 2:30 p.m., the brisket needed to hit the coals at 4:30 a.m. The pork butt’s turn-in is 2 p.m., which means it went on at 10 o’clock last night. If the elements behave as predicted, the meats should come out as flavorful and succulent as the Sharks’ prowess allows. But if the weather spikes or dips without warning – or the wind picks up or completely dies – the meat could be under- or overcooked. There are two schools of thought for competitive barbecuing: hot and fast or slow and low. The Sharks follow the latter. “Or slow and low until you have 40 minutes left and your ribs aren’t done,” Brown says. “Then you do hot and fast.” Six years of experience might make one wonder the point of having the times so painstakingly written out when, by

Other people have their boats or jet skis. Some of us have over $10,000 in [barbecue] equipment in our backyards;

it’s just what we do. Matt Dieckhaus, membership director for SLBS and member of Smokin’ Dave's BBQ team

advance to national competitions, and some have even gone on to open successful barbecue joints around town. PM BBQ and BBQ ASAP both got their starts serving ribs and chicken to a panel of barbecue judges. Yet money, breakaway businesses and bragging rights seem to be only secondary motivators in the passionate world of competitive barbecue. “Often you spend two hundred to win a hundred,” a member of team Bald-B-Que told me at one event. “If you’re doing it to make money, you ain’t gonna,” Brown reiterated. Matt Dieckhaus, membership director for the SLBS and member of Smokin’ Dave’s team, further explained, “Other people have their boats or Jet Skis. Some of us have over $10,000 in [barbecue] equipment in our backyards; it’s just what we do.” According to the SLBS’ mission statement, what they do is “promote the art of barbecuing and grilling as an opportunity to unite friends and family, to learn and experience while sharing knowledge of the Great American culture, so our youth may carry on the traditions.” June 2013

basting brushes, whisks and even an ice cream scoop. Propped in the middle of the tent is the most important and impressive piece of the Sharks’ arsenal: a standup white-board. On the board, carefully printed in black marker, is each category’s firing time and turn-in time. Scrawled at the bottom is a set of additional times: Toast: 1:07 1:37 2:07 2:37 “Those are written in stone,” Brown says, solemnly. “Just as important as the other times. Wait and see.” While the warming sunshine is welcome, it’s also troubling. As the white board dictates: The chicken’s turn-in is at 1 p.m., which means the Sharks needed Frankenstein to go on the grill at 11:30 a.m. For some of the other cuts, like the brisket, timing gets trickier. For this competition, the

”

now, they probably come as second nature; but experience is exactly why the Sharks created the white board in the first place. Sometimes the cases of beer (Miller Light for Brown and Riordan; Busch for Frichtel; and Bud Light for Forbis – “Not everyone doesn’t have to watch his figure,” Forbis says pointedly to lanky Frichtel’s can.) disappear faster than the Sharks realize. Sometimes the early morning wake-up call for the brisket comes, and no one has even remembered to go to sleep. And sometimes the moon gets chased, “but not in my underpants for at least four competitions now,” Brown assures me. At 12:50 p.m., Forbis pulls a Styrofoam takeout box from a cooler and places it on the makeshift countertop. Inside the box is a bed of bright green parsley that will become the chicken’s center stage. From the 18 chicken rectangles, the men choose six, the most identical in appearance, for each piece can’t be more than ¼-inch different in size. They show me that, when they’re extra concerned about the bird’s doneness, the “squeeze test” can at least assuage any fear of getting disqualified. If the squeeze produces saucemagazine.com I SAUCE MAGAZINE I 43

“A judge might only take one bite. It has to be perfect.” Robin Brown, member, Missouri Sharks Fisherman's Club

clear juice, they’re in the clear; but if it’s red, the chicken will be DQed. As for flavor, the most the Sharks can do is sample the cast-off rectangles – which prove to be shakingly soft and insanely tender – and hope that the six chosen warriors have the same qualities. From the front, if a scalpel, needle driver and suture scissors were subbed in for the knife, tongs and collection of empty beer cans, the Sharks could be mistaken for surgeons based on their serious and drawn visages as they scrutinize the rectangles. Yet from the back, in their faded blue jeans, worn sneakers and matching black hoodies, the Sharks look more like, as Dieckhaus warned me, a cult; a really fun cult. Once the six rectangles are chosen, Riordan lifts each one with tongs and lays it gingerly in the box as if playing a game of Operation. He spaces each piece equal distance from the next and then grabs a mini spray bottle and gives each a spritz, making them appear even more moist and appetizing. “I can’t tell you what’s in here,” he says even before I ask. “No one knows.” Although every competition is a group effort, the Sharks have learned one another’s strengths over the years. Riordan’s forte is plating, cutting and smoking; Brown’s is grilling and ribs; Forbis is best at grilling and pork steaks; and Frichtel excels in cocktails, chili and being KB. I’m not sure if the Sharks always use this acronym for Kitchen Bitch – they also say D.A.L. instead of Dead Ass Last – or if it’s just when I’m around. Part of being KB is walking the entry to the judges station during the turn-in window, Forbis explains. Riordan is

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no longer allowed to be KB. “One time he scratched his nose and [the food] almost slid off the plate,” Frichtel says, he and Forbis smiling in Riordan’s direction. Their laughter abruptly stops. It’s time. Frichtel holds out his hands, in which Riordan slowly lowers the plated box. Like a waiter carrying a martini through a crowded bar, Frichtel, along with a representative from each of the 16 other teams, traverses the grassy knoll, through the picnic pavilion and across a parking lot to the small building where six judges await. “We had to learn to not do it how we liked it,” Brown says as we watch Frichtel carefully picking his path. Although the judges go through a class sponsored by the SLBS that trains them on a ranking system based on taste, tenderness and appearance, it’s essentially a matter of personal preference. Brown might like his chicken with a kick, but four of the judges might hate spice. I’m told that St. Louis judges lean toward sweet over savory, so the Sharks have had to learn how to adjust. A whole sandwich of sweet and sticky pulled pork might taste too saccharine, but just a mouthful could win first prize. “It’s a crap shoot,” Riordan says. “A day where you think you’re going to get last place, you might win.” For the first few years, the Sharks had a penchant for winning the open categories – typically non-meat categories like the bloody mary competition or chili or dessert. “Everyone used to laugh at us when we kept winning only those,” Brown said. At last year’s Jakey in June, as legend has it, the Sharks stole a glass of A Pig’s Worst Nightmare’s pitcher of margaritas, poured a can of Lime-A-Rita in and then turned in the concoction as their own. This is the part of the story that none of the Sharks can get through without cracking up. When the margarita competition results were announced, the Sharks received first – ahead of A Pig’s Worst Nightmare. “Our ribs are getting better, though,” Brown says, fluidly pulling the tab off his empty Miller and throwing it in a pile for charity while opening another can. Ribs seem to be the measure of all things. Despite what we’ve been taught, the Sharks explain to me that, when properly cooked, slabs of smoky, sweet ribs should tug instead of melt off the bone. With Frichtel having returned, at 1:07 p.m., it’s time for the first toast. Like a call to prayer, team members, friends, spouses and grandchildren meet in the few feet between frenemy lines. Frank Bowlin, the infamous A Pig’s Worst Nightmare hand-warmer, raises a beer and booms in a voice as big as his body. “Friends, competitors, let us toast our first chicken turn-in.” He adds a few more words as everyone, including a stray middle school-aged boy who may or may not be trying to pass off a beer as a soda in his koozie, raises their cans. “He’s got a way with words, don’t he? A real silver tongue,” someone shouts. “Well, I’m not just a pretty face,” Bowlin responds, cupping his hands underneath his cheeks.

The toast quickly disbands. It’s 20 minutes until the rib turn-in, and there is still work to be done. ---

he Missouri Shark Fisherman’s Club love to use me as a tool to further their jokes. “Hey, when I introduce you to Steve,” Brown said to me at a charity event over the winter, referring to a friend who often attends the competitions but isn’t on a team, “You say, ‘Oh Steve, you’re the groupie? Right?’” This time, Brown’s instructions are: “Go tell Dieckhaus his chicken got DQed.” I nod and dutifully trot past tents for 2 Sauced 2 Q, Big Dick’s BBQ and Will Grill for Beer to arrive at Smokin’ Dave’s. Dieckhaus has his back to me; his 6-foot-5-inch frame is hunched over his workstation, where he is carefully plating his team’s ribs – six in a row, contrary to Riordan’s Lincoln-log technique of layering. “Hi Matt,” I say, “Did you hear that your chicken got disqualified?” “Who told you that?” he asks, narrowing his eyes. “I overheard it ... from a judge,” I shrug. “Just now.” “Robin put you up to this, didn’t he?” Dieckhaus says. He laughs loud and long. “It was one time! One time!” When I get back to the Sharks, Riordan is handing over the plated box of ribs, like a newborn baby, into Frichtel’s outstretched arms. --In a few hours, the Sharks will find out that their ribs have taken first prize. They’ll place eighth overall, their chicken missing second by just nine-tenths of a point to place third. The rest of their entries won’t do quite as well – the weather will eventually reach the mid-60s, throwing off the remaining categories’ cook times. Two weeks later at Smokin’ in the Park, their next competition in Smithton, Ill., they’ll win Grand Champion, qualifying them to compete in the American Royal World Series of Barbecue Invitational. Widely considered the Super Bowl of competitive barbecue, the American Royal is a monumental accomplishment, one the Sharks never deemed fathomable. ---

ut at this moment, at 1:27 p.m., as Forbis, Brown and Riordan watch Frichtel’s black hoodie, slowly shrinking in the distance, their only thought is on 1:37: the next toast.

As I prepare to leave and we talk about which summer competition I’ll come to, I ask them, “What’s a pigs worst nightmare?” Riordan points at me and smiles. “A shark.” June 2013

June 2013

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June 2013

Spirit Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the

Barrels find a life outside the bar By Ligaya Figueras | Photos by Greg Rannells

Three years ago, Ted Kilgore let a cocktail age in a whiskey cask and served the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first barrel-aged cocktail at Taste six weeks later. Now that barrel-aged cocktails are on menus all over town, the aging craze has migrated out from behind the bar. Folks are dumping everything from maple syrup to milk into the cask and letting wood and time work their magic. The result: The same deep flavors, round notes, heady aroma and stunning color we expect in the glass are landing on our plates.

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Worcestershire sauce

“We needed a good steak sauce,” explained Bill Osloond, executive sous chef at River City Casino, where a barrel-aged Worcestershire sauce has been served alongside a la carte orders of steak at 1904 Steak House since December. Recipe development went 20 rounds before the culinary team hit the jackpot with the winning 17-ingredient script, which included soy sauce, tamarind, curry powder and anchovies. “We took the gamble and filled our barrel with 52 gallons of our blend,” recounted Osloond. The River City team even built a wooden dolly on which the barrel that once held Blanton’s Kentucky Straight bourbon whiskey could be rolled (to ensure the liquid was uniformly covered) and transported. The thin sauce was served to guests after it had aged 3 months, although Osloond continues to age a portion of

batch No. 1 in the barrel, with hopes that a 1-yearold steak sauce will become the house standard. The taste? Vinegar is still at the forefront and lends the sauce a nice acid content. Tamarind pulp, warm spices like cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, and sweet molasses are easy to pick up. And thanks to the bourbon, the flavors of this dark beauty have harmonized and softened. 1904 Steak House at River City Casino, 777 River City Casino Blvd., Lemay, 314.388.7630, rivercity.com

Maple syrup

What do you do when the storage room is piling up fast with empty bourbon barrels? Paul Hayden, wine manager for The Wine & Cheese Place, knows that bourbon makes everything taste better – even sweet, sticky maple syrup.

The shop’s first batch of Sweet Sophie – made by aging organic Vermont maple syrup for three months in a spent Jefferson 18-year bourbon barrel – flew off the shelves when it was released last winter. Batch two, which hit the shelves in April, features the same delicious golden nectar – only this time, it rested in an empty Willett Family 9-year-old bourbon barrel. When you grab a bottle at The Wine & Cheese Place, pause to appreciate the hand-dipped wax seal before tearing it off to get a blast of bourbon on the nose, on the tongue and, especially, at the finish. The Wine & Cheese Place, all locations, wineandcheeseplace.com

Pickled cauliflower

Pickled cauliflower tastes good. But that crunchy

Vino Nadoz’s spring vegetable bruschetta sports sweet, acidic sherry-cask-aged cauliflower.

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crucifer left to pickle in a sherry vinegar-based brine for a month in a spent Alvear Pedro Ximenez de Anada sherry cask tastes 10 times better. “If you tasted it by itself, you wouldn’t know how to describe it,” Vino Nadoz executive chef Chris DiMercurio said of his cask-aged cauliflower. “It’s acidic, a little sweet and, at the back end, [has] a caramelized, aged note to it that is hard to pin down, but is really nice.” For a bite of sherry, spice and everything nice, order DiMercurio’s colorful vegetable bruschetta. Lemon mascarpone smeared on crostini and topped with a medley of butter-poached carrots, raw radish, sherry-cask aged pickled cauliflower and wilted leeks – this crunchy veg composition tastes every bit as delicious as it looks. Vino Nadoz, 16 The Boulevard, Richmond Heights, 314.726.0400, vinonadozwinebar.com

June 2013

Hot sauce

It pays to read about food trend predictions. “I saw the words ‘barrel-aged hot sauce’ and said, ‘I’ve got to try that,’” recalled Steven Caravelli, the corporate executive chef for Euclid Hospitality Group, which owns newly opened Mexican eatery Gringo. The plan: First, season new, charred oak casks with blanco tequila. Then, dump the tequila (destined for the bar), pour in the ingredients for the redhot condiment and let them take a three- to fiveweek siesta in the cask. Easier said than done when there’s so much you don’t know, such as what combination of ingredients makes for the best aged hot sauce. Round 1: red Fresno peppers, roasted garlic, white onions, sugar, salt and distilled white vinegar. “It tasted too sweet; like Crystal hot sauce – too much like an American-style hot sauce,”

Caravelli recalled. Round 2: Omit the sugar; add chipotle peppers. Bingo. The verdict: The Gringo house hot sauce isn’t as acidic as un-aged versions, with less of that tip-ofyour-tongue tingle. “It’s a rounder flavor because of the aging,” Caravelli explained. “The heat falls in the background and lands in a nicer place instead of at the front of the tongue.” Caravelli hopes that the sauce’s pepper, wood and tequila notes will strike the perfect chord on the signature Gringo Taco – a house-made crispy tortilla filled with ground local beef, shredded lettuce, diced tomato, jack cheese and sour cream – that’s “screaming for hot sauce.” Gringo, 398 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 314.449.1212, gringo-stl.com

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Savor Niche’s barrelaged ricotta in this bright dish, where it joins radishes, rhubarb, sorrel and crispy rye.

Milk Leave it to Adam Altnether, chef and co-owner of Craft Restaurant Group, to not only barrel-age milk, but to optimize the process. His project: Add whole milk to a 2-gallon new, medium-toasted Missouri oak barrel, and refrigerate it for about a week. “It’s all about taste,” Altnether said of determining when to pull the milk from its wooden home. “It’s about how intense you want it to be. If it stays in too long, it tastes astringent, like chewing on a wood chip.” Since then, Altnether has figured out how to achieve the same results in less than

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half the time: Pour the milk with minced oak chips into a vacuum-sealed bag and refrigerate it. The milk takes on the oakiness in just two to three days. Altnether used the aged dairy product to make some funked up ricotta. Packed into the silky, caramel-colored cheese are notes of oak, vanilla and smoke. The ricotta debuted in May, appearing in a dish alongside wild mushrooms and spring onions. Lately, the velvety cheese has entered into an artful composition with crunchy radishes glazed in pork fat. But the

smoke-on-smoke effect is kept in check with citrus notes from rhubarb rings poached in lemon simple syrup, a touch of rhubarb purée and the lemony tang of sorrel that garnishes the dish. “We’ve been barrel-aging cocktails for years at Taste. We’d been throwing around the idea of getting food into the barrels.” And now that he has conquered his dairy discovery? “This unlocks the door. The sky’s the limit.” Niche, 7734 Forsyth Blvd., Clayton, 314.773.7755, nichestlouis.com

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stuff to do:

this month by Byron Kerman

International Horseradish Festival May 31 to June 2 – Woodland Park, Collinsville, Ill. horseradishfestival.com Horseradish isn’t the root of all evil if you know how to use it. Take notes at the annual International Horseradish Festival in Collinsville. Growing horseradish is big business in southern Illinois, and the fest celebrates this potent condiment with a root-grinding demo, a recipe contest, “root golf,” a root toss and a bloody mary contest. Past concessions have included deep-fried horseradish pickles and pot-roast horseradish sandwiches. Bring or buy water – you’ll need it.

Midtown Taste & Art Fair June 1 and 2 – Compton Ave. to T.E. Huntleigh Ave. · 314.367.3146 midtowntaste.com The food-centric fun at the new Midtown Taste & Art Fair includes a wine tasting by Tavern of Fine Arts, a vodka tasting by Sub Zero Vodka Bar, a whisky tasting by Gamlin Whiskey House, craft beer, concessions by area eateries, a hot-dogeating contest by Nathan’s and a Food Truck Challenge cook-off. Look for arts and crafts, live music and kids’ activities.

Kimmswick Strawberry Festival June 1 and 2 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Kimmswick Park 636.464.7407 visitkimmswick.com They shut down all vehicular traffic in the town of Kimmswick on the first weekend in June for a very important reason: strawberries! The annual Kimmswick Strawberry Festival means vendors will offer strawberry shortcake, chocolate-dipped strawberries, strawberry cheesecake, strawberry iced tea, jars of June 2013

Clayton Farmers Market

strawberry jam, and festival foods like kettle corn and barbecue on the city streets. Don’t miss the pony rides, live jazz, street performers and kids’ rides.

St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival June 14 and 15 – Central Fields, Forest Park stlbrewfest.com The sample glass you receive at events like the St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival is generally small. That’s because, once you get going at a party like this, you need to pace yourself. You’ll find 80 styles of beer at this year’s fest from more than 20 local breweries, including 2nd Shift, 4 Hands, Augusta, Buffalo, Cathedral Square, The Civil Life, Crown Valley, Exit 6, Ferguson, Kirkwood Station, Morgan Street, O’Fallon, Perennial, Schlafly, Six Row, Square One, Trailhead and Urban Chestnut. Between sips, grab a bite from Eleven Eleven Mississippi, Harvest, LoRusso’s and Vin De Set.

St. Louis Garlic Fest June 15 – 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Carondelet Park 314.570.4945 · facebook. com/gatewaygarlicfest Kiss the one you love with hot, fresh-garlic breath at the fourth annual St. Louis Garlic Fest from the folks at the Carondelet Garden Urban Farm and the Carondelet Business Association. The Carondelet Garden Urban Farm volunteers have been busy growing 18,000 heads of garlic in 16 varieties at gardens scattered around South City to get ready for the big day. Check out the mini famers market, a rawgarlic-eating contest, a garlic-cooking tutorial and a class that reveals why garlic does a body good. Look for edibles from Black Bear Bakery, Iron Barley, Keeton’s Double Play, I Scream Cakes, Mom’s Kettle Corn, Arthur’s Hamburgers and My Big Fat Greek Truck, and a cooking contest.

Saturdays through Nov. 2 – 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 8282 Forsyth Blvd. 314.913.6632 claytonfarmersmarket.com People who live in year-round warmth have no idea the joys of seasonal farmers markets. With a sigh of relief, we welcome back the Clayton Farmers Market, where local honey, raw-milk cheeses, pastured chickens and produce await in a charming block of tents. Consider locally roasted coffee and warm, made-to-order waffles for breakfast and barbecue fresh from the smoker for lunch. Live music, kids’ activities and community service projects keep things festive.

St. Louis Uncorked 2013 June 8 – 3 to 11 p.m., Soldiers’ Memorial, 314.444.3291, saucemagazine.com/sponsored.php Unwind with local wine, live music, craft beers and gourmet food. This year, Uncorked plays host to the region’s most popular food trucks at Sauce Food Truck Alley – a perfect complement to your beverage of choice.

Dine out for the Cure June 13, participating area restaurants, komenstlouis.org Take action in the fight against breast cancer by dining out for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner. More than 100 area restaurants will donate a portion of their proceeds to Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s St. Louis affiliate.

Sauce Magazine’s Food Truck Fridays June 14 – 5 to 8 p.m., Tower Grove Park, 314.772.8004, saucefoodtruckfriday.com

Sauce Celebrity Chef Series: Marcus Samuelsson

There is something for everyone at this free monthly event. This year, the awardwinning event series boasts live music and activities for kids. The fun continues at the after-party at Southtown Pub, from 8 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.

June 3 – 6 to 10 p.m., Monarch Private Event Space, 314.772.8004, saucemagazine.com/celebritychefseries.php

St. Louis Art Museum Grand Opening