Brunch: The Mother of All Menu Opportunities

Mother’s Day didn’t officially become a holiday in the United States until 1915, but it’s more than made up for lost time, becoming the busiest day of the year for American restaurants. According to the National Restaurant Association, nearly four out of 10 Americans take Mom out for a meal on that second Sunday in May—many of them throwing over the breakfast-in-bed tradition in favor of an indulgent restaurant brunch.

Can you say opportunity?

Even restaurants that don’t normally serve brunch on Sundays will pull out the stops on Mother’s Day, whether it’s a high-end a la carte menu or an elaborate buffet.

Susanna Foo, a popular upscale Chinese restaurant in Philadelphia, serves a special three-course prix fixe menu featuring a choice of appetizer (such as dim sum, citrus cured salmon or sushi), entrée (crispy duck with sweet potato puree and star anise sauce, crabmeat egg fu yung, shaking filet mignon & diver scallops), and dessert (coconut crème brulee, warm apple tart with vanilla ice cream).

The Mother’s Day brunch buffet at the Harvard Club, in Cambridge, MA, meanwhile, might include such luxuries as lobster bisque; an assortment of pates and charcuterie, salads, smoked fish, raw oysters, and shrimp cocktail; a hot buffet with blueberry blintzes, spinach cannelloni and poached eggs with chipotle Hollandaise; crepe, omelet and carving stations (featuring coulibiac of salmon and sirloin beef); and an over-the-top dessert table.

Mother’s Day is a wonderful time to experiment with indulgent variations on classic brunch and breakfast fare. Make French toast with rich brioche or challah. Create an upscale hash with duck confit, smoked chicken or prime rib. Poach eggs in wine or stock, instead of water. Vary eggs Benedict by using crab cakes, lobster or even foie gras, topped with a flavored Hollandaise such as blood orange or sundried tomato. Use and promote local farm eggs, artisan-made bacon and specialty cheeses in omelets. Or integrate classic luncheon and supper dishes like seafood Newburg, pasta, savory crepes or poached salmon.

The success of a Mother’s Day brunch also lives in the details, the special touches that make the matriarch feel like Queen for the Day.

• Hire a jazz guitarist, harp player, classical trio or other elegant live music
• Give a fresh flower—carnations are traditional, but roses are wonderful—to every adult woman in the party
• Place a basket of wonderful baked goods, like muffins, chocolate croissants, hot popovers, scones and Danish, on the table
• Pour champagne or mimosas, milk punch, or a special house drink (like Susanna Foo’s Lycheetini made with fresh lychee nectar)
• Bear in mind that many moms will be dining en famille, so offer a children’s menu or a special price for the younger set
• Ramp up tea service with special selections and beautiful serving pieces
• Present a small plate of chocolate-dipped strawberries, truffles or other small sweets at the end of the meal

And, if you suspect that you’re only seeing some of your customers on special days like Mother’s Day, use the holiday as an opportunity to promote yourself the rest of the year, perhaps with a tasteful card offering $10 off a return visit, or another incentive to convert special occasion patrons into regulars.

Finally, be aware that service can make or break your customers’ Mother’s Day experience—or any other busy holiday, for that matter. Schedule your best servers, incenting them if necessary with extra pay or a bonus of some kind (especially if they themselves would ordinarily be celebrating the day). Consider whether you need two hostesses on duty to handle seating, covering the door and phones. For a buffet, in particular, make sure you have plenty of bussers to clear tables and refill coffee, and other personnel to restock and tidy up the service areas.

And don’t forget to call your Mom!

© 2008 Custom Culinary, Inc. All rights reserved.

10. Bayou Renaissance
Cajun and Creole cuisine are being reborn in New Orleans and beyond, as many displaced chefs open restaurants in their new home cities. Leroy Crump Jr. has opened Bon Appetit in Clarksville, WV, serving authentic New Orleans cuisine and spirits. And consumer magazines are spreading the gospel with articles about gumbo and jambalaya.

9. Made-in-House
The artisan spirit is spreading, to made-in-house specialties like cured meats and housemade pickles and condiments. Staffan Terje of Perbacco in San Francisco has his own curing room for charcuterie and Italian-style cured meats. And Bark River Hartland Bistro in Hartland, WI, features house-smoked chicken in salads and sandwiches.

8. One Note Wonders
Niche restaurants that specialize in one type of food are attracting attention, like New York City’s S’Mac—Sarita’s Macaroni & Cheese, and the P.B. Loco Gourmet Flavored Peanut Butters chain, which features peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made with a range of proprietary peanut butter flavors. Check out our recipe for Macaroni Con Queso.

7. Retail Rising
Retailers including Whole Foods and Safeway Lifestyle Markets are ramping up on restaurant-quality prepared foods, sushi, wood-oven pizza and rotisserie meats, enjoying category sales growth that outpaces restaurant sales. Can you say competition?

6. The New Age of Asian Food
Asian is gaining mainstream traction, with more accessible food and such Westernized trappings as wine lists and luxe décor. Taneko Japanese Tavern borrows from the izakaya tradition of casual Japanese pubs that are popular in Japan, and Typhoon Restaurant Group serves Thai in a sleek, comfortable atmosphere. Check out our recipe for Thai Red Chili Hollandaise Sauce.

5. Cocktail Culture
Classic cocktails are back, made with high-quality and artisan-made gins, whiskies, tequilas, and specialty liqueurs--$10 and $12 Manhattans, Sazeracs, Sidecars and house signature drinks designed by professional “bar chefs.” They’re accompanied by bar menus that tout fashionable small plates: cheese, specialty pizzas, antipasti, even chic deviled eggs.

4. Global Street Food Comes Indoors
In the marketplaces and public squares of India, Mexico, Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean, there are handheld foods that are ripe for translation onto mainstream American menus: The corn-based Mexican snacks known as antojitos, Indian chaats (many of them perfect for vegetarians), and Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches.

3. Approachable Authenticity
Ready-to-use sauces, spice blends and soups, desserts, even fully prepared entrees are earning their place, even in chef-driven kitchens. Components like stocks and sauces allow the back-of-the-house to get a head start. Finished items like soups and desserts give signaturization and help increase check averages.

2. Farmers Market Cuisine
There’s a new mantra for menus: fresh, local, natural, sustainable and seasonal. Farmers are the new food stars, and customers are clamoring for information about where their food comes from and how it’s raised. It’s all about going green, with menus as well as recycling, biodegradable packaging and eco-conscious design.

1. Casual Food Goes Gourmet
Burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, malts, finger food—they’ve all grown up, with premium ingredients and cooking techniques. Casey Thompson, executive chef at Shinsei in Dallas, serves Coconut Chicken Jalapeno Poppers with yellow curry dipping sauce. And how about those Housemade Bacon-Shallot Tater Tots at Ten 01 in Portland, OR?

Tuck into Wasabi Crusted Tuna with Miso Beurre Blanc and mojitos at Cheescake Factory, Greek Salad Lavosh at ARAMARK’s University of Michigan Health Systems account, a Tandoori Chicken sandwich at Cosi, Thai Foon Shrimp at Ruby Tuesday and Salmon Nicoise Salad at Mimi’s Café. These are mainstream American foodservice options?

You betcha. According to Restaurant & Institutions magazine’s 2008 New American Diner Study, ethnic cuisine and healthful menu options top the list as far as what foodservice customers are interested in, including up-and-coming foods from cultures like South America, Southeast Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean. And pulse-of-the-marketplace juggernaut The Hartman Group calls the adoption of ethnic foods one of the most important opportunities that both foodservice and the retail food sector can tap into.

Small wonder, since ethnic menu items address so many other important trends, including the changing demographics of the American population, consumer demand for bold flavors and lots of variety, and concern about nutrition and wellness—with their high ratio of healthy fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes, many ethnic specialties speak to a number of dietary issues, including vegetarian lifestyles. Often these items are also lower in food costs.

These trends go far beyond The Big Three ethnic cuisines of just a decade ago—Mexican, Italian and Chinese flavors, ingredients and menu specialties have become nearly as commonplace on today’s menus as signature hamburgers and mac-and-cheese.

But there’s still an art to the science of introducing ethnic flair to mainstream menus. Because of increased competition from “authentic” ethnic restaurants, consumers are already getting more familiar with a broad array of new tastes, and operators need to tread carefully when introducing ethnic choices to their own menus.

Fortunately, appetizers and sauces represent two relatively easy and low-risk areas in which to begin experimenting. Think of the way that by-now-familiar items like quesadillas, spring rolls and fried calamari have worked their way onto menus: in the appetizer section. Customers are more than happy to spend a few dollars to try a new flavor or ingredient by virtue of an appetizer, rather than making a commitment to an entire entrée—especially when those appetizers are so easy to share.

As far as sauces go, favorites like soy-ginger (a.k.a. teriyaki), pesto, and salsa began life as ethnic specialties that were introduced to American diners in order to jazz up favorite foods like grilled chicken, pasta and chips. Can Jamaican mojo, Spanish romesco and Japanese miso be far behind? In addition to serving as dippable flavor boosters for foods, many sauces do double- and triple-duty as marinades, dressings and sandwich spreads, giving the savvy operator a number of ways to introduce global flavors onto a popular menu.

Happily, there are also many iconic foods from lesser-known Latin, Asian and Mediterranean cuisines that are starting to “jump the tracks” into more familiar American territory. Here are some ethnic favorites to consider when making the translation.

Asian

• Indian tandoori – Although traditionally prepared in the ancient, beehive-shaped tandoor oven, this style of cooking also refers to chicken, fish, vegetables and other ingredients that are marinated in yogurt and spices (such as ginger, coriander, garlic, cayenne and garam masala) and then roasted
• Korean-style bulgogi – Part of the great tradition of Korean barbecued meats, bulgogi consists of thin slices of sirloin or other prime meat, marinated with a flavorful mixture of soy, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and ginger, then grilled or broiled
• Pad Thai – Sweet and spicy flavors distinguish this Thai specialty of stir-fried rice noodles with eggs, fish sauce, chili and lime, often garnished with peanuts, shrimp or tofu, and fresh cilantro
• Vietnamese noodle soups – Pho (pronounced fuh, as in fun) is but the best-known of a legion of comforting and delicious full-meal Vietnamese soups; this one generally consists of thin rice noodles cooked in a rich beef stock with slices of beef (or sometimes chicken), onions or scallions, and cilantro, which the customer garnishes at will with fresh bean sprouts, basil and other herbs, lime, and chilis or chili sauce
• Yakitori and other Japanese grilled foods – One of the centerpieces of Japanese cuisine is skewers of grilled, marinated chicken (called yakitori) and other skewered meats, vegetables, seafood, tofu and so on, often served with a soy-based dipping sauce on the side

Latin/Caribbean

• Churrasco and other grilled meats – The Latin American tradition of barbecuing or grilling flavorful pieces of marinated meat is observed throughout Brazil, Argentina, Guatemala, Chile and Puerto Rico. Churrasco is often served with rice, beans, salad, fried potatoes and the piquant green sauce known as chimichurri (generally made from chopped parsley, oregano, garlic, pepper, salt and chilis in olive oil)
• Jerk – Native to Jamaica, jerk is a style of cooking in which pork, beef, chicken or seafood is rubbed with a fiery jerk spice mixture (typically made with allspice and Scotch bonnet chiles along with thyme, nutmeg, garlic, cinnamon and clove), and then grilled over an open fire
• Cuban-style sandwiches – Cuban culture is rife with sandwiches, including this tasty pressed sandwich made with ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard on a crusty round Cuban roll and griddled under a weight until toasty
• Empanadas – These stuffed, savory pastries are seen throughout the Latin world, from Spain and Portugal to the Caribbean, Central and South America, and the Philippines. One of the most popular consists of hashed meat mixed with raisins and olives and spiced with cumin and paprika, but empanadas can be filled with anything from salt cod to sweet corn
• Dulce de leche – Meaning “milk candy,” this caramel-like sauce is popular in desserts from throughout Latin America, including cakes, cookies, ice cream and drinks, including coffee specialties

Mediterranean

• Mezze – What tapas are to Spain, the little plates of appetizers known as mezze are to Greece, Turkey and other places in the eastern Mediterranean. Mezze (or meze) can be anything from plates of olives, cheese and dips such as hummus (chickpea) and roasted eggplant spread to more elaborate meatballs, stuffed grape vine leaves and vegetables, and various sausages.
• Paella – Just possibly the national dish of Spain is this elaborate, shareable specialty made with rice and any number of vegetable and protein ingredients, such as chorizo sausages, chicken, shrimp, clams and mussels.
• Tagine – Referring to both the conical clay vessel and the Moroccan stew cooked within, usually lamb or chicken and other ingredients with raisins or other dried fruits, nuts, and such spices as saffron, cinnamon, ras el hanout (an elaborate spice mixture), garlic, cumin and ginger.
• Caldo verde – A filling, meal-in-a-bowl Portuguese soup made with kale, potatoes, onions and slices of spicy horizon sausage.
• Shawarma – This sandwich of pressed lamb, beef or chicken cooked on a rotisserie is popular throughout the Middle East (it is called doner kebab in Turkey); the meat is shaved off the turning spit and served on hot pita bread along with yogurt dressing or hummus and vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumbers.

If New England cuisine is the region most closely associated with its historical roots—every school child, after all, knows the story of the Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving—it’s also the part of the country that’s best known for its familiar and comforting ingredients.

That’s all to the good. 

Creative New England chefs can have a field day integrating these local foodstuffs into a modern interpretation of regional cuisine. Driven by the intensity of its seasons and its proximity to both land and sea (five of the six states have a significant coastal heritage), New England has become a breeding ground for the kind of high-quality, ingredient-driven menus that are revolutionizing American cuisine.

There’s a reason why Corby Kummer, writing of the exploding food scene in northern New England and Maine, has called the region “the next San Francisco Bay Area” in terms of culinary influence.
Here are some of the building blocks of the new, New England cuisine.

Maple Syrup – Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire all have significant sugaring industries, producing various grades of maple syrup that are used not only to top pancakes, but also to flavor sweet and savory foods such as glazed meats

Blueberries – Wild (both lowbush and high) berries are coveted for their tiny size and intense flavor, although cultivated blueberries are much better known

Cranberries – Grown in sandy, low-lying bogs in Massachusetts and other parts of New England, tart little cranberries are making the transition from traditional sauce to other applications, such as vinaigrette, baked goods and post-modern relishes

Clams – There are only two kinds of clams in New England (hard-shell and soft), but dozens of ways to eat them, from Ipswich fried clams to steamers and stuffies. Clam chowder—with all of its variations from Maine to Rhode Island—could be the subject of its own encyclopedia

Cod and Haddock – The fish that literally launched a thousand ships are in decreasing supply now, but still a favorite of New Englanders; salt cod and finnan haddie (smoked haddock) are two traditional products that are experiencing a latter-day renaissance

Potatoes, Beets and Other Root Vegetables – Harsh New England winters fostered a dependence on the root cellar, but there’s nothing old-fashioned about fingerling potatoes and roasted beets on today’s menus. Could parsnips be far behind?

Apples – John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) was born in Massachusetts in 1774, and New Englanders still enjoy apple pies, sauce, crisps, cobblers, cake, cider, vinegar and other delights

Corn – One of three native plants introduced to the colonists by the Indians—along with beans and squash—this sweet and seasonal product is still the stuff of corn chowder and succotash (cut off the cob and mixed with cooked cranberry or lima beans), corn pudding, relishes, salsas and all sorts of post-modern inventions

Tomatoes – The whole heirloom tomato craze that’s sweeping the country has important roots in New England, with its short intense summers and unusual old varieties like Golden Queen, Indian Moon, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Black Iceberg, and Eva Purple Ball

Beans – New Englanders rival the Italians and Mexicans in their enthusiasm for beans, not just with the traditional Saturday night baked beans, but with all kinds of other foods based on fresh and dried shell beans, including Jacobs cattle, yellow-eyes, soldiers, red kidneys, and many heirloom varieties

Lobster – Homarus americanus, or American lobster is generally regarded to be among the best in the world. Need we say more?

Cheese – The New England states have seen an important resurgence in the craft of artisan and farmstead cheesemaking in recent years, particularly in Vermont. Cabot® Creamery, maker of award-winning cheddars, was one of the first, but now dozens of other small dairies and cooperatives are producing fine cheeses.

Talk about comfort food: chowders, stews, savory pies, hash, baked beans and brown bread are the backbone of New England regional cookery. Although the coast is known for its delicious seafood (lobster, clams, oysters, and cod and haddock), the real story of the New England states is hearty and make-do. James Beard, writing about New England in 1970, called it “the corner of the continent where American cooking began.” It’s a straightforward style that translates well with contemporary chefs seeking a local or seasonal connection to the land.

Born of hardship and cold weather, the traditional food of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts is often about “putting by”—salting pork, drying or smoking cod, corning beef, making pickles or canning peaches, sugaring maple sap and drying beans. The flavors of these sustenance foods, as well as such staples as molasses, root vegetables, and corn meal, got into peoples’ souls, and they still inform the cooking of New England today.

Take chowder, for instance, surely one of New England’s most famous exports. Whether made with clams, fish, corn—or almost anything, for that matter—many a traditional Yankee chowder recipe starts with salt pork, and may be finished with condensed milk—the sort of ingredients that could be carried aboard a sailing ship, or sustain a body during a long winter. (Talk about the original shelf life!)

Warmer weather represents a bounty of seasonal foods: cranberries and blueberries, apples, fresh-dug clams and fish of all kinds, abundant poultry and game, and beautiful garden-fresh vegetables, from asparagus to zucchini. Contemporary New England restaurants like Aura in Boston and Victory 96 State Street in Portsmouth, NH, showcase this profusion with such signatures as asparagus soup with finnan haddie (smoked haddock), grilled Rhode Island squid with charred tomato vinaigrette, and maple-glazed pork tenderloin with cider reduction and scalloped apples.

Many traditional New England foods seem ripe for creative interpretation, in fact, including:

Savory pies – Yankee cooks are known for their skill as bakers, but some of their specialties aren’t for dessert (the original “mincemeat,” in fact, was a centuries-old technique for preserving meat in a strong solution of sugar). From chicken pie topped with biscuits to the seafood pies of the coast (often topped with buttered, crushed crackers or breadcrumbs), the thrift of these savory creations inspired the trendy-again potpie.

Stuffies – Legacy of the Portuguese fisherman who made Rhode Island and coastal Massachusetts their home, these stuffed quahog clams are often filled with such ingredients as bacon or chorizo sausage, along with chopped clams, onions and other seasoning.

Boiled Dinner – The no-nonsense name belies the soul satisfaction of this iconic specialty, which is well-known among the Irish as corned beef and cabbage. Made with cured beef or smoked pork shoulder—traditional “Cape Cod Boiled Dinner” starts with salt cod—and winter vegetables like cabbage, potatoes, carrots and beets, it resembles the French pot au feu as it may have been translated by the settles of “New France” (now Vermont and the province of Quebec). Leftover corned beef and potatoes would likely show up in hash the following morning.

Green Tomato Relish, Mustard Pickle and Piccalilli – New Englanders are famous for the pickles and preserves, which originally converted the bounty of summer fruits and vegetables into “canned goods” for the winter pantry. With trading ships sailing the Atlantic between the Old World and the New, spices like turmeric, mustard seed, and ginger were fairly commonplace, and used to flavor these characteristic condiment-relishes made with such fresh vegetables as green tomatoes, cauliflower, cabbage, gherkins and onions.

Indian Pudding – The ultimate pantry-based New England dessert, Indian pudding is a comforting, old-fashioned concoction made with cornmeal, milk, molasses, and—more elaborately—eggs, sugar, butter, and cinnamon or ginger. Like Italian polenta, it has a pleasingly granular texture, and can be served warm with hard sauce, whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Jonnycake (a.k.a. johnnycake) – Another dish made with cornmeal, this flat griddlecake (thought to be the precursor to the pancake and remarkably similar to a tortilla) may have indeed been taken on many a “journey.” In Vermont and New Hampshire, johnnycake batter is sometimes covered with melted butter and baked in the oven, but in Rhode Island—which has adopted the dish as its own—the slightly sweetened batter is always fried.

What do beef stew, Yankee pot roast and chicken pie all have in common? Each one starts with a great stock. Comfort foods are experiencing resurgence on menus today and, as with all American classics, traditional New England favorites are even better when they’re upgraded with subtle twists and premium ingredients, such as high-quality meats, fresh vegetables and herbs… and top-of-the-line Custom Culinary™ Savory Roasted® bases.

Even beef stew, one of the simplest and most beloved of New England-style foods, can become a signature item when it’s made with slowly braised short ribs, parsnips, heirloom potatoes, a bit of wine or microbrewed beer, and Gold Label Savory Roasted® Beef Base. A chicken pot pie, crafted from poached organic chicken, fresh carrots, thyme leaf, cream, handmade crust, and Gold Label Savory Roasted® Chicken Base, would be elevated into the culinary stratosphere.

Custom Culinary™ Savory Roasted® bases add authenticity and tremendous depth of flavor to stews, soups and braised dishes. Roasting deepens the intensity of flavor and aroma through the caramelization of natural sugars, while the quality of the ingredients ensures the best possible finished product.

Think about how any of the following New England-style menu items would be enhanced by using Savory Roasted™ bases, instead of water or standard chicken or beef stock.

Butternut Squash Bisque – Roasted butternut or other winter squash, pureed with chicken or vegetable stock and nutmeg, finished with cream

Vermont Cheddar Beer Soup – Aged cheddar, onions, carrots, ale or lager, and chicken stock, seasoned with dry mustard and paprika

Split Pea Soup – Smoky ham, bay leaf and thyme, and a touch of garlic and sherry, all simmered in chicken stock

Shaker Chicken Stew – Rich chicken broth with poached chicken, carrots and other vegetables, topped with scallion- and parsley-flecked dumplings

Chicken or Turkey with Bread Stuffing – Roast chicken or turkey, served with cubed toasted bread, onions, celery, chestnuts, ground pork or sausage (optional), eggs, poultry seasoning and chicken stock

Roast Beef Hash – Cubed or ground roast beef with caramelized onions and potatoes, thickened and moistened with a light, roux-based beef or chicken stock, fried until crispy and served with poached eggs

Sauerbraten – Boneless beef, slowly braised in a thick gravy made from beef stock, tomato paste, mirepoix and crushed gingersnaps

Shepherd’s Pie – Ground lamb or beef, cooked with onions, rosemary and beef stock, topped with creamy mashed potatoes and baked

Click here for more information about Custom Culinary™ Savory Roasted® bases.

Like any regional cuisine, the food of the Tidewater region of the United States is defined by its ingredients. And in the case of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia (much of which is also known as the Delmarva Peninsula or the Eastern Shore), there’s a wealth of products from the sea and land to choose from.

Crab
The single defining ingredient of the Delmarva region is the crab—not surprising considering that the region is bordered by the Chesapeake Bay to the west and Delaware Bay and the Atlantic on the east. (The Chesapeake takes its name from the Algonquin Chesepioc, or “great shellfish bay.”) Baltimore calls itself the crab capital of the world, known for its spicy boiled crab, crab cakes, crabmeat Imperial and other iconic dishes.
Although the region’s waters have had their share of ills, including overfishing and pollution, the Eastern Shore is still rich in seafood treasures. Chief among them is callinectes sapidus, the blue crab, also called a hardshell crab. Meat from the blue crab has a sweet, succulent flavor, almost buttery in its richness.
Blue crabs are small but full of meat, averaging 4 to 6 inches across the diamond shaped carapace. Lump crabmeat, taken from the body, is more delicate, while claw meat is almost nutty in flavor. The relatively high price of crabmeat is indicative of a premium, luxury product that—once picked—has virtually no waste but almost unlimited uses.
When they molt, blue crabs are called “busters,” or soft-shelled crabs, so-named because you can eat the whole thing, shell and all.

Oysters
The native oyster has had a rough time all over the United States, including the Chesapeake Bay. When European colonists first arrived in the area in the 1600s, the oyster reefs were so massive that they were a navigational hazard to ships, but today the harvest has been reduced to an estimated 1% of its former abundance, according to one study. A number of different restoration and conservation efforts have been put in place, including aquaculture projects, but the region’s appetite for oysters also must depend on supplies from other parts of the country.
That still means oysters on the half shell, oyster stew, baked oysters, and fried oysters in all their variations, including stuffed into sandwiches. A little-known specialty of southern New Jersey, which shares the Delaware River with that state, is chicken salad and fried oysters, which can still be found in some of the area’s classic restaurants.

Virginia Ham
It is said that Virginia Indians may have taught the first colonists the ancient methods of salting, smoking and aging venison and other wild game, and the Englishmen adapted the technique to their own plentiful pigs. These country-style hams are rich, flavorful, dry and salty—an acquired taste to be sure, but one that more chefs and food lovers are embracing today as interest in regional American foods reignites.
The craft has grown to include a variety of different products, used on their own and to flavor a number of other recipes, including bacon, sausage, and other smoked meats.
The most famous Virginia ham is the Smithfield ham, which must be cured and processed in the area of Smithfield, VA. Smithfield and other true country hams are usually soaked for 12-24 hours to remove excess salt, and then are boiled and baked. A little bit goes a long way, which is the reason these hams are so often served on biscuits to complement the rich, intensely hammy flavor.

The mid-Atlantic region of the United States is the birthplace of some truly classic American favorites

Maryland, Delaware, Virginia—if you remember your history, then you remember these states. In fact, Jamestown, Virginia, was the first permanent English settlement in the New World, founded on May, 14, 1607, on a marshy peninsula in the James River by a group of more than 100 settlers from England.

In the 1600s, Virginia’s lands extended as far north as Maine, and down south into Florida and west to the Mississippi River. The sheer size of that early territory gives an indication of the resources that the country’s earliest settlers had at their disposal. The food of the mid-Atlantic today still bears evidence of a remarkable convergence of riches, from the teeming tidal waters of ocean, bay and river to the verdant farmlands on their shores.

According to CiCi Williamson, a food and travel writer based in Virginia, in its first 200 years of existence, Virginia was much like California is today, setting the trends in food, hospitality, culture, and the arts.

“Brunswick stew, Virginia ham, peanut soup, spoonbread, grits, corn pudding, succotash, fried chicken, crab cakes, oyster stew, ginger bread, trifle, syllabub, roast beef and, of course, Sally Lunn bread are but a few of the delicious specialties developed across oceans and centuries that are still wildly popular today,” says Williamson. Over 400 years, adds Williamson, a unique regional cuisine has been created, beginning with English settlers and the additional foods of the native Virginia Indians, African Americans, and many other European arrivals.

It’s tempting to think that the food of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia consists of crab, crab and more crab. Certainly, crab cake—which may have been born of English fish cakes—are the iconic dish of the mid-Atlantic region, mixing sweet lump crabmeat with binders such as eggs and/or breadcrumbs and seasonings ranging from simple (chopped parsley) to distinctive (Old Bay seasoning). There’s also Crabmeat Imperial, a classic dish of crabmeat mixed with finely chopped red and green peppers and other seasonings, then packed back into its own shell or a gratin dish and baked. On the opposite end of the formality spectrum, crab boils are a ritual of tidewater life, a communal feast of spicy steamed crabs spread out upon newspapers along with mallets, bibs and plenty of cold beer.

But there are plenty of other culinary traditions here as well. From the waters come not only crabs in profusion, but also oysters, striped bass, flounder and mackerel. With the introduction of European pigs in the 17th century, ham and other salted and cured meats became core products in the mid-Atlantic culinary repertoire. And the rich farmland provided corn, tomatoes, wheat, beans, squash and other agricultural products to the mix.

Here are some of the other “tidewater treasures” that give the food of the mid-Atlantic region its luster:

Maryland Fried Chicken (a.k.a. Chicken Maryland) – fried chicken (either battered and deep-fried, or floured and shallow-fried), served with cream gravy

Brunswick Stew – traditionally a “hunter’s stew” that might have included squirrel or other small game, corn, beans and root vegetables, today this hearty regional specialty has found fans with rabbit or chicken, okra, lima beans, tomatoes and corn

Spoonbread – a pudding-like bread made with cornmeal, baked in a casserole; though similar to cornbread; it’s moist enough to be eaten with a spoon

Succotash – adapted from a Narragansett Indian dish of boiled corn, mid-Atlantic succotash is a blend of whole corn kernels and lima beans

Beaten Biscuits – round, roll-like biscuits that are incredibly crisp yet light, thanks to the fact that the dough is beaten (often with a mallet or even a hammer) for 20 to 30 minutes to make it glossy and well aerated

Baked Virginia Ham – Smithfield or other country ham, which needs to be soaked to remove the salt, then baked and served sliced, paper-thin

Sally Lunn Bread – rich, slightly sweet yeast bread that was brought to the colonies from England; it is said to have been popularized by a baker named Sally Lunn.

Restaurants don’t stay in business for 50 years—much less grow and prosper—without doing something right. Despite all the changes that have occurred in the last five decades, from increasing consumer sophistication and rapidly evolving food trends, to significant sourcing challenges, Phillips Seafood Restaurants has stayed on top.

From humble beginnings as a carryout restaurant in 1956, Phillips celebrates its half-century anniversary with 11 top-performing restaurants, a thriving cash-and-carry business and an internationally successful seafood processing division. “The great thing about this company is that they’ve never been afraid to grow and take risks,” says Bill Sexton, head of production for Phillips Foods, Inc., who started with the company 25 years ago as a chef at its world renowned Harborplace restaurant in Baltimore, which is the fourth largest independent restaurant in the country, with $16 million in sales.

The story of the Phillips family, recently chronicled in the book Empires of the Crab, by Dale Cathell, actually begins almost a century ago, and in many ways it mirrors the boom times of both the Eastern Shore of Maryland and the American restaurant industry.

Augustus Elsworth Phillips, Sr., was a sea captain and later a Chesapeake Bay waterman who may have started a seafood processing business, after the turn of the century, on Hoopers Island in the Chesapeake. His son, Augustus Elsworth Phillips, Jr., joined his father in 1921 to form A.E. Phillips and Son, one of the earliest and most successful commercial crab processors.

Brice Phillips was the third generation in the family business, and in 1956, he and his wife Shirley moved to Ocean City, Md., and opened a small carryout restaurant called Phillips Crab House as a way of selling excess crabs from their family's plant. In the way of so many American success stories, the restaurant grew to more than 1,400 seats, and Brice and Shirley Phillips, along with their sons Steve and Jeffrey, stepped into the future.

Throughout its 50-year history, Phillips has remained true to its Eastern Shore culinary roots—even as the company has traveled as far afield as the Philippines in search of more crab to supply its growing retail and foodservice supply business.

Phillips’ stock-in-trade is still crabmeat, in particular the famous Phillips Crab Cakes, which appear on the menu at every single restaurant, and are a key product in the Phillips Foods lineup. Through the years, many other specialties that have found a permanent place on the menu, according to Sexton—who helped Brice and Shirley Phillips found Phillips Foods in the 1990, to supply authentic Maryland-style seafood by mail order, retail, and to other restaurants. These include Crab Imperial (lump crabmeat baked in a casserole with Imperial sauce and cheese), the classically simple Crab Lumps Sauté, Crab au Gratin, and Crab Bisque.

Later innovations have included trendier items such as Phillips Crab & Spinach Dip, Blackened Swordfish, Cashew Crusted Mahi—talk about a chronicle of our time in menu terms—but the company has never strayed from its roots. Much innovation, in fact, stems from the Foods side of the business, where Sexton has supervised the development of such contemporary selections as Crab Rangoon and Fried Dim Sum, and the restaurants and production side cross-pollinate each other’s kitchens. On the menu at the Harborplace location, for instance: Ginger-Lemongrass Mahi Mahi with Thai red curry and coconut rice, which would have been quite a stretch for “Captain Ellie” a hundred years earlier.

To read more about Bill Sexton and Phillips Foods, click on the links.

The phrase ingredient driven has become a major buzzword to describe menus and food trends today. It’s all part of a larger drive on the part of chefs to explore traditional regional foodways and exploit local sources of food, from neighborhood farm-raised fruits and vegetables to fish caught in nearby waters.

The cuisine of the Pacific Northwest is a perfect example of the trend. “The Pacific Northwest, specifically Washington, Oregon and Alaska, is a place of unmatched beauty, and its food matches the nuances of the region,” says Mike Speranza, CEC, corporate executive chef, Custom Culinary, Inc. “The food is fresh and clean-flavored, often with a hint of Asian influence.”

According to Speranza, Pacific Northwest cuisine has evolved with the local fresh produce, meat, and seafood—not to mention the award-winning wines of Oregon and Washington State, which have been instrumental in drawing national attention to the region’s many gustatory gifts.
 
Chief among these gifts is seafood, the delicious local salmon, halibut, crabs, oysters and other northern Pacific species that have come to define the cuisine. It’s a category so important, in fact, that it gets its own star billing: see the related article on the Seafood of the Great Northwest.

Many of these species find their way into West Coast chowders, a favorite of local chefs and patrons alike. “Not to be outdone by the New Englanders, the Pacific Northwest has its own versions of chowder—probably as many recipes as there are chefs that make it,” notes Speranza. “Whether thick or thin, using cream, milk or broth, West Coast chowder is generally made with razor clams, one of the 500 varieties of clams coming from the Pacific coast. In California, Pismo clams are preferred, but in Oregon and Washington, chowders are often made with salmon.”

Mushrooms both wild and cultivated represent another of the Pacific Northwest’s blessings. Chanterelles, morels, cepes (a.k.a. porcini) and matsutake grow abundantly in the warm moist climate, finding their way into a broad spectrum of menu specialties. And then there are domestic truffles. “When we think of truffles, we usually think about a French farmer walking through the forest with his pig, searching for these expensive delicacies,” says Speranza. “But Oregon truffles are just as flavorful and much more affordable, and they are now harvested on tree farms and are available from November to March.”

In fact, it’s the adventuresome and experimental nature of the region’s farmers—and the chefs who support their efforts—that has led to the abundance of wonderful fruits and vegetables that are available in the Pacific Northwest. The region is justly famous for its apples, stone fruits such as plums and cherries, and fresh berries including huckleberries, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries. Washington State, in fact, is sometimes called the fruit basket of the Pacific Northwest.

Other agricultural specialties include sweet Walla Walla onions, asparagus, lettuce, beets, hazelnuts, heirloom beans and lentils, potatoes of all kinds (most notably Yukon Golds), and niche crops like Asian vegetables. One farm in Oregon is even hydroponically raising fresh wasabi, the horseradish-like root that used to be available only from Japan.

No discussion of the food culture of the Pacific Northwest could be complete without two other hallmarks, sourdough bread and coffee—“basics” that have reached high art in the region. “Sourdough has been popular since before the Klondike gold rush of 1898 in Alaska,” says Speranza. “During the winter months, the miners would use any means possible to keep their sourdough starters alive and warm, including sleeping with them. Alaskan sourdough is used to make delicious crusty bread, and wonderful pancakes that melt in your mouth.”

As for coffee, well…. this region was the launch pad for Starbucks, after all, and the hip, trendy coffeehouse culture that started in Portland, Ore., and Seattle has been gratefully embraced by the entire American culture. As Speranza puts it, “You can get a great cup of coffee or cappuccino just about anywhere in America today, but there is nothing like sitting in a coffeehouse warming up over a triple espresso and looking at all the beauty that the Pacific Northwest has to offer.”

Above: Chef Mike Speranza
CEC, Corporate Executive Chef, East Region
Custom Culinary, Inc.

Chef Mike Speranza says, People are always asking me "What’s The Next Big thing on menus?"  With a new year dawning, here’s what I’m answering:

10. Sweet, Meet Savory
From grilled salmon with honey-citrus sauce and maple-glazed pork, to caramels with sea salt and bay leaf crème brulee, sweet and savory are mixing it up, with the hot line borrowing from the dessert pantry, and the pastry chef sneaking into the spice rack

9. Global Exploration
What’s next on the ethnic food front? South America is a real hot spot, from
Brazilian steakhouses to Peruvian ceviche bars. And now that every school
kid eats sushi, interest in other kinds of Japanese food is growing—it’s no
accident that P.F. Chang’s new sister concept is a Japanese-style grill and tavern

8. Top Shelf Quality
Black Angus beef and Valrhona chocolate, sushi-grade tuna and Jack Daniel’s barbecue sauce… premium foodstuffs spell luxury and satisfaction, and they’re also spurring a trend toward simpler cooking techniques and ingredient-driven menus

7. Modular Menus
Bye, bye breakfast, lunch and dinner; arrivederci appetizer, entrée and dessert. Say hello to late-night menus, small plates, family-style platters, snacks and samplers, bar menus, tapas, antipasti, and every other way of encouraging diners to share and experiment, eating what they want, whenever they want

6. Comfort, Redefined
Retro classics like iceberg wedge salad, beef Wellington and lobster bisque are staging a comeback, while some favorites (think Caesar salad, hamburgers, mac-and-cheese) never went away—they’re just getting a creative new spin

5. Second Generation Ethnic
Now that American consumers are thoroughly comfortable with Italian, Chinese and Mexican cuisine, their appetite is growing for more specialized regional concepts like Tuscan and Sicilian, Southeast Asian, and the food of Veracruz and the Yucatan.

Above: Thai Roasted Chicken Satay with Roasted Peanut Sauce

4. Healthier Options
With an estimated 50% of the adult population* on a diet at any given time,
diners are interested in everything from smaller portions and low-fat or
low-calorie selections, to meatless entrees and lots of fruits, vegetables and
grains. The operative word is “option.”

3. Flavor Layering
Along with naturally flavorful ingredients, chefs are using multi-step prep to build more complex flavors. In other words, don’t just bake that pork loin: Rub it with spice paste, sear it on the grill, caramelize it in the oven, then sauce and accessorize with distinctive sides and garnishes

2. 100 Mile Menus
Local and seasonal spell freshness and flavor, which is the reason we’re seeing so many market-based menus and locally sourced ingredients. All this emphasis on terroir (the French word for food with a sense of place) means that regional American cuisine will continue to grow in importance

1. The Bolder, The Better
High-impact flavors and ingredients are what it’s all about, from ginger and wasabi to chilies—not just jalapeno and chipotle, but also guajillo and habanero, serrano and malagueta —and a whole world’s worth of specialty cheeses

*“What America Eats,” Parade Magazine, 2006