A spicy and simply delicious way to start your day

After eating one of these the other morning, I was reminded that, to my biased palate, this Texas breakfast taco at the Roadhouse is one of the tastiest foods you’ll find in the ZCoB! I could happily eat a couple a day!

It’s one of a trio of different Texas breakfast tacos on the Roadhouse menu right now during the week. A warm flour tortilla, filled with freshly scrambled eggs, dressed up with some freshly grated Monterey Jack cheese and a bit of that zesty IASA Peperoncino from Italy.

What makes it so good? Like so many things we make here, each of the ingredients is lovely on its own, and then they all come together in a singular, super tasty way. The Monterey Jack might be one of the more underappreciated of the exceptional ingredients we work with. We’ve been buying it from Vella Cheese in Sonoma—just a couple miles from Sam Keen’s house for over 30 years. While probably thousands of dairies make Monterey Jack, to my knowledge, only TWO make it using old-school artisan methods. The cost, of course, is far higher, but the result is radically more flavorful. The Roadhouse probably pays 20 times more to get the Vella Cheese than it would to get some standard commercial offering, but man, is it good. At every level, our determination and dedication to this special cheese, I believe, is one of the many ways we turn our food philosophy into real-life values.

From the time we started buying the cheese in the late ’80s until he passed away a bit over a decade ago, Vella Cheese, for me, was almost synonymous with the man who ran it. Ignazio (Ig) Vella was an amazing supplier with whom we shared so many guiding principles. Now that I think about it, in Sam Keen’s context, Ig was very much an insightful if informal philosopher of what we could call “the world of curd.”

Writing for the Los Angeles Times, journalist Valerie J. Nelson described Ig as:

The elder statesman of artisanal cheeses … He was a gruff straight shooter, and the salvo was his way of warning that success required a willingness to toil for uncertain financial gain. Once that caveat was spelled out, Vella invariably became an unselfish teacher and tireless advocate for small-scale producers of cheese, according to those in the industry.

I would agree. To me, he was also a friend and mentor. Ig passed away in the spring of 2011 at the age of 82. In reflecting on his life and work, I find a kind of spiritual calling—a reminder that dedication, integrity, and craftsmanship matter. A reminder that when we do our work well—honoring our values and staying true to the hard-working, down-to-earth, community-conscious commitment to quality that Ig embodied—special things are very likely to emerge. In that sense, each of these tacos is more than just food—it’s a testament to the values that Ig Vella lived by his whole life.

The IASA Peperoncino is what really takes this taco to a special place. It comes from Italy, where Ig’s father, Tom Vella, was born. IASA is an outstanding “spread” of spicy red peppers in olive oil. At our house, we buy quart jars and use it nearly every day! At the Roadhouse, it’s already appeared on a number of specials. It’s also on the menu as an optional condiment and as a part of the Bakehouse artisan bread appetizer. The eggs, the creaminess of the cheese, and the umami-spice of the IASA all come together on the taco to make for what I think is a wonderful way to start your day.

If you like a bit of spice, you’ll love it. Swing by the Roadhouse during the week for breakfast, order a cup of that really good Roadhouse Joe coffee, and get your day off to a solidly delicious start!

A Conversation about Poetry & Leadership

Once upon a time, Michael Dickman was a cook at Zingerman’s Delicatessen. Now, he’s an award-winning poet and Princeton University creative writing lecturer. Michael shared a taste of his latest book, “Pacific Power & Light,” at Zingerman’s Roadhouse earlier this month. Afterward, he and Zingerman’s Co-founder Ari Weinzweig discussed how poetry helps people pause, notice details that typically get lost in the hustle and bustle, and make unexpected connections between ideas.

Engaging with poetry benefits people in all kinds of professions, according to Michael. His students from Princeton often email him this discovery after they become doctors, lawyers, stockbrokers, and more.

“They often say, ‘This has changed what my life is like, whether they’re working in an ER or teaching at an elementary school,” Michael told the audience. “They felt that something was missing, and poetry helped them find it.”

Ari remarked that poetry is not only a missing piece but a tool for navigating challenging situations. It helps him process stressful world events and reflect on his personal journey as a leader.

“New situations call for new tools, and poetry is one of them,” Ari said.

Michael also told the story of how “The Captain’s Verses,” a poetry collection by Pablo Neruda, ignited his poetic imagination in high school. It happened at an unlikely moment: after a friend dragged him into the local mall’s bookstore.

“I’d never read a whole book before,” he admitted. “I read it from cover to cover and cried at the end. I’d never had that experience before.”

Michael read a poem from this book and a few other favorites, then dared the crowd to create five-line poems with a series of crowdsourced words: alligator, Panama, patty melt, periwinkle, and running, plus the title “All Night Long.” At least 40 new poems resulted, each wildly different from the next.

Deli Chef and Managing Partner Rodger Bowser was one of those audience members. He and Michael Dickman became fast friends on the job more than 20 years ago.

“Never in my life have I been as creative as when I was working with Michael,” Rodger explained. “He got what I was trying to do and provided inspirational energy I can still feel when he’s in the room. This workshop took me back instantly.”

Don’t miss the next one!

Check out all the upcoming events at the Roadhouse.

Pepper-spiced deep-fried maitake make for some marvelous eating!

One of my favorite new foods in the ZCoB over the last few years, these chicken-fried mushrooms are more than worth making a trip across town to try!

To be clear, there’s no actual chicken involved here. The “chicken-fried” is a reference to the batter in which they’re dredged, and the way they’re deep fried! They are, to my taste, absolutely delicious! They start with buttery, meaty, moist maitake mushrooms grown in Michigan. The maitake—also known as hen-of-the-woods—are spiced with that totally terrific farm-to-table Tellicherry pepper from Kerala on the west coast of India. Like the Roadhouse’s more famous fried chicken, the heat from the pepper is prominently present upfront but not overpowering.

Maitake are used widely in Chinese medicine, loaded with nutrients, and contribute to immune system health. So there are, it seems, possible health benefits to eating them, though for me, it’s all about how tasty they are. In the wild, maitake can grow to be huge, but the folks at Stony Creek manage the growth so the mushrooms are harvested at a more manageable size. Because they’re cultivating the maitake so effectively, Stony Creek is making it possible for us to get a year-round supply of these great mushrooms, which opens up the door to doing delicious dishes like this one for many months to come. Mycologist Paul Stamets says,

Maitake mushrooms are known in Japan as “the dancing mushroom.” According to a Japanese legend, a group of Buddhist nuns and woodcutters met on a mountain trail, where they discovered a fruiting of maitake mushrooms emerging from the forest floor. Rejoicing at their discovery of this delicious mushroom, they danced to celebrate.

When you taste these chicken-fried mushrooms—either on a Chicken-Fried Mushroom Sandwich or as an entrée of their own—I forecast that you will find yourself dancing as well! I know they sure get me going. The other evening a guest stopped me to say, almost glowing as she spoke, how darned good they are! I agree!

Roadhouse Reservations

A wonderful way to take your coffee drink to the next level

From a bit of butterscotch in the flavor of the Roquefort to the very wonderful butterscotch syrup that the crew in the Roadshow crafts regularly. It has quietly become one of the most remarkably delicious things we make!

Butterscotch was “invented” near the town of Doncaster in Yorkshire in the north of England in the late 18th century. Later it became popular on this side of the Atlantic to the point that, as the L.A. Times wrote, “Once upon a time, butterscotch was the darling of the American sweet tooth.” The Roadhouse crew is out to recreate that sweet reality. The Butterscotch Pudding has long been a big, big seller on the dessert menu. A few years ago, the team out in the Roadshow trailer set out to build on that success by putting butterscotch into a homemade syrup that folks could order in their cappuccino or lattes!

Rachel Seng, the wonderful Roadshow manager, offers

One of my favorite things about the butterscotch syrup is the process of my learning to make it. The first time I made it a few years ago, I had zero idea what I was doing, but once it was done (and burnt) I knew what I could do differently and what had likely happened. From the browning of the butter (which is oh-so-satisfying to witness), watching the mountain of sand-like brown sugar turn into a molten caramel, to that final sizzle once the scotch is added. It’s one of those syrups you’re not allowed to walk away from. It demands constant attention for almost an hour while it’s cooking. Its need for attention is part of what makes it so rewarding to prepare—you’re watching each stage and seeing it go from a pile of ingredients to something that makes people close their eyes in wonder.

I’m a caramel kind of girl through and through. I love a sweet sauce, which is essentially what butterscotch syrup is. It is amazing in a drink, as a topping with gelato, or just by the spoonful. The complexity is always so vibrant—the sweet, the salty, the buttery goodness—it never gets old. Once butterscotch season rolls around I keep a spoon in my pocket so I can squeeze a little dollop to taste when I need a quick pick-me-up or moment of joy. It really is one of the best things to come out of the Roadshow.

I agree with Rachel. It really is terrific. A bit of bitterness from the caramelization of the sugar, sweet but not overpoweringly so, and a little savoriness from the pinch of sea salt.

As Rachel mentioned too, if you’re ordering gelato inside the restaurant, you might consider asking for Butterscotch Syrup on your gelato (it’s not on the menu but just ask) to make a Roadhouse Butterscotch Sundae. I will assure you from just taste testing the other evening in order to write this piece, it is mind-blowingly good. I’m not a big dessert eater, but with this one, I wanted to eat a whole bowl! Seriously, like drive-across-town-to-get-it good!

Plan your Roadshow order

Pulled pork, real Monterey Jack, fluffy eggs & more!

One of the best things on the Roadhouse’s regular breakfast menu is this remarkably good Smothered Burrito!

What makes it so magical? The Smothered Burrito is another example of combining a series of super-high-quality ingredients into one amazing assemblage. When you take a bite … the burrito leads with the nice liveliness from the fresh cilantro. Then there’s a bit of spice from the Roadhouse’s Salsa Ranchero (chopped Bianco di Napoli tomatoes, cilantro, cumin, coriander, New Mexico fire-roasted green chiles, and minced onion) that’s ladled over top. You bite through the feathery light flour tortilla into the fluffy scrambled eggs, then find the great smoky softness of the pulled pork. Last but not least, there’s a generous bit of the milky mellow Monterey Jack from Vella Cheese in Sonoma (one of only two or three dairies in the country that still make REAL Monterey Jack the old-fashioned way). It all comes together in this blend of creamy, slightly spicy, super smooth, savory goodness.

The pulled pork, which has been terrific for 21 years now, became even better six weeks or so ago when head chef Bob Bennett made a connection with a farm about 90 minutes west of here to source a regular supply of Red Wattle hogs. An old heritage breed that’s particularly full flavored, the Red Wattle had become so deeply endangered around the turn of the century that Slow Food put it on their Ark of Taste, “a living catalog of delicious and distinctive foods facing extinction.” Happily, a half dozen or so farms are raising them and the population has risen to roughly 3000. In the burrito, the pulled pork is particularly terrific—Eastern North Carolina-style, whole hog, smoked for about 15 hours over oak logs, dressed with a vinegar sauce that’s based on that amazing barrel-aged cider vinegar I wrote about last month from Gingras up in Quebec!

One of the Smothered Burrito’s biggest fans is nationally known poet, Ken Mikolowski. Given the overlay of two of his passions—poetry and this smoked pork-stuffed burrito—a few years ago I asked him for a poem. Here is what he composed:

“Roadhouse Burrito”
tasty when eaten
with relish

The Smothered Burrito is on the breakfast menu, Monday through Friday. It’s also the Friday morning Blue Plate special at a particularly special price!

Make a Roadhouse reservation

Super for your salads at home
and in the Roadhouse pulled pork barbecue

This great apple cider vinegar might well be one of the humblest ingredients we have on hand in the ZCoB. It gets very little attention, and it’s almost never written about in articles, yet its quality contributes quietly to the full flavor and deliciousness of any number of better-known Zingerman’s dishes.

It’s probably been over 30 years now since I tracked down this vinegar. As I was doing the research for the little pamphlet that became “Zingerman’s Guide to Good Vinegar,” I kept reading about how apple cider vinegar was at the core of colonial cooking. It was in every old American cookbook. And yet, when I looked around the modern-day marketplace—filling up as it was with artisan offerings from Europe—I couldn’t find traditionally made cider vinegars. This is, of course, in the days before the internet, so tracking down obscure items took more than two minutes. Eventually, I got the name of Pierre Gingras, a vinegar maker in Montérégie, about 45 minutes to the southwest of Montreal.

Get to Know Gingras

The Gingras family has been doing pretty much everything a vinegar fan would want for over a century. Organically grown apples are hand-picked specifically to be made into vinegar. No windfalls are used; if you hadn’t realized it, the name windfall originally had nothing to do with finance—it’s about fruit that falls from the tree in heavy winds. Windfalls are easy to gather but have been bruised and begin to oxidize immediately thereafter. By contrast, most commercial cider vinegar is made by repressing the “dregs” left behind after a first pressing is done for fresh cider. With the Gingras’ vinegar, it’s just the juice of whole fresh apples that’s used.

The crew of vinegar makers at Gingras use the old-school natural conversion process (known as the Orleans method after the French city on the Loire River). It takes place in what they call “The Founder’s Cellar,” which has 36 very large casks made from French oak, each of which holds 5400 liters. The Gingras Founder’s Cellar is apparently the largest vinegar aging cellar of this sort anywhere on the planet. During the aging, the vinegar is given room to breathe and evaporate out of the wood cask. They mature the vinegar for over a year and it is unpasteurized and unfiltered. Most importantly, it tastes terrifically of apples! In 2017, Vinaigrerie Gingras was bought by the Levasseur family, owners of Au Coeur de la Pomme not far from Montérégie in Frelighsburg, where they have been producing apples and artisan apple cider vinegar for over 30 years. They have diligently continued on with all of Pierre Gingras’ positive vinegar-making practices!

Gingras packs in glass bottles so you can see the natural mother of the vinegar floating inside. It’s a wispy bit of a white cloud that you may—or may not—see in each bottle depending on how the vinegar comes out of the barrels. If you do see it, know that it’s totally edible and actually packs extra enzymes, minerals, and vitamins.

For your own use at home, you’ll find the Gingras vinegar for sale at Zingerman’s Mail Order and on the shelves at the Deli. Here, we use the vast majority of what we buy in the kitchen at the Roadhouse. It’s been the core vinegar in the Eastern North Carolina barbecue at the Roadhouse since we first opened in 2003. With the wonderful new Michigan-raised Red Wattle hogs that the Roadhouse has sourced over the last six weeks or so, the pulled pork has increased in flavor even further still. The Gingras vinegar costs us about 10 times as much as the mass-market commercial cider vinegars that nearly everyone else uses. But it tastes sooooooo much better!

Get your Gingras