by Ari Weinzweig

Click here for information regarding our upcoming New England Dinner!

I can’t say I’ve seen it in person but I know that there was an episode of the Simpsons where Homer prays and thanks God “for giving us two kinds of Clam Chowder.” This month we’re focusing on New England so we’ll skip over the redder face of what’s commonly called Manhattan clam chowder and focus on the milk-based version we all know and love as New England Clam Chowder.

This is a subject deserving a lot more space than I’ve got here because EVERYONE who makes chowder and everyone who’s studied its history has a different take on it. The Roadhouse recipe has become pretty well a favorite of many folks in town. It’s got a lot of applewood-smoked bacon, which is probably a touch meatier and certainly slightly smokier than older versions that would have likely called for salt pork. For the moment let me just say that we make ours from East Coast Quahogs (pronounced “KO-hog”), the large, hard shelled clams that are native to the area. And that it’s got a really loyal following out at the Roadhouse. If you haven’t had it, ask for a taste next time you’re in!

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Crab cakes have been on my mind a lot of late—I’ve become ever more aware of just how many Roadhouse regulars tell me these are their favorite thing on the menu. Also because I’ve been writing about African American foodways and these have come up as one little asterisk of an item in that context. And lastly because I seem to been talking to a lot of Baltimoreans lately, most of whom I’ve mentioned below. One of them is Bonny…

by Lauren Bridges

Beausoleil: Grown in the cold waters of Atlantic coast of Neguac, New Brunswick, these tasty bivalves guarantee a trip to the ocean in every bite. Pristine Canadian waters provide a clear and clean brine, with a distinct delicate sweetness that could only come from such a cared for environment. They arrive to us at the Roadhouse in hand made wooden crates, the only of its kind, having been placed lovingly one by one to ensure safe travels. The impeccable…

While salmon gets the modern day mentions and Midwesterners are wild about whitefish or walleye, from an historical standpoint it’s probably shad that really should be our national fish. (It is, in fact, the state fish of Connecticut). To be convinced you need only read John McPhee’s marvelous book, “The Founding Fish,” or really any other work about early American food history.

It’s The Founding Fish
It was a fish that was native to the New World, it had (and still has)…

Speaking of Americana, here’s a dish I’ve been making it home that’s at the top of my cooking list of late. It’s easy, it’s great and it’s pretty quick to concoct. You know from the name that the dish has oysters in it. “Pilau” though you may not recognize right off, though when I tell you the other main ingredient in the recipe is rice, you’ll pretty quickly realize that pilau is likely an early American version of “pilaf.”

Pilau is…