Here in the Great Lakes, a local butcher is a good person to know. Let's say one day you walk in looking for something unique to throw on the smoker. No, not pork belly. We've done that. Beef brisket, done it. Most of the standard fare, we've covered. If you're a regular like Tom and [...]
Summertime Musings – Roast Pork, Sauerkraut, Potato Salad
Saturday morning: Farmers market. Sunny, light breeze. My wife insists on beets. My children get churros from a Mexican bakery stand. Cucumbers, squash, greens, mixed sprouts, red onions, baby potatoes, the early harvest of summer. Oh, and sauerkraut. Jeff Ziebelman called me over and suggested I try a bit of their "Zauerkraut", delicious. Red cabbage [...]
Drifting through Madison, WI – Bavaria Sausage and Holland’s Family Cheese
With some free time in the Madison, WI area you can discover all sorts of lovely surprises, including two new additions to our Purveyors page. On a recent business trip to the area, a walk around Capitol Square brought me to Fromagination, a specialty cheese shop featuring Wisconsin cheeses and other artisan and local products. [...]
In Praise of Cherries – Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Pan Sauce
The summer picking season has begun in the Great Lakes region for tart Montmorency cherries. Both Bing and Montmorency are grown extensively in Wisconsin and Michigan, thus the National Cherry Festival hosted in Traverse City, Michigan each year. On the festival website, they share this bit of history: French colonists from Normandy brought pits that [...]
The Blending of Lines – Defining Cuisine
One of the hallmarks of a definable cuisine is the ability to identify when it is being used as a highlight, a complement, to another approach. When a chef uses a slow roasted pork, glazed in hoisin, and served with an Asian Pear salsa as a taco appetizer, we can identify the elements of Latino [...]
Great Lakes Cuisine 