Why debates over culinary ‘authenticity’ may miss the point
For many of us, the word “authentic” conjures up memories of Grandma’s cooking. It’s personal: from the type of sauerkraut she used to fill her pierogi, or season that sopa de pollo, or the lengths she took to make chili soybean paste. Whatever your family’s roots, you’ve come to judge anything that falls outside of…
Sunshine in a bowl
Things in bowls are expressions of love. Sure, other food can substitute for those three words we all find so hard to say when we really need to, but when the snow is falling and you’re curled up in bed sick, there’s nothing better than a steaming bowl of something delicious. What’s our proof, you…
Breakfast goes ethnic
If you ever get tired of the same old drab breakfast day after day, you can shake up your daily routine with some exotic new dishes: From Venezuelan-inspired eats nestled in Grosse Pointe Woods to unique treats in the heart of Ham-town to beloved diners in Ann Arbor and beyond, metro Detroit is packed with…
Fat is back
One of the best movie lines of all time comes from Woody Allen’s 1973 Sleeper. Health-food fanatic Miles Monroe (he eats a lot of seaweed) dies and wakes up 200 years in the future. When he tells the scientists about his diet, the white-coats ask wonderingly, “Had they no hot fudge sundaes?” Turns out, in…
Rebooting the boot
In metro Detroit’s dining scene, there’s perhaps no food as misunderstood as Italian. Most customers think of Italian food as “spaghetti and meatballs,” or such “Italianese” derangements as “steak Gorgonzola Alfredo” dreamed up by some corporate chain. More accurately called “Italian-American,” this fusion fare is relentlessly “kicked up” for the next generation — always “zestier”…
Eating great even when it’s late
The night has grown late. Maybe you watched too much of that Law & Order marathon, or flipped channels until football was all done, or maybe you just put off making something to eat because you didn’t really want to. Regardless, the clock’s just past 10, and most of those normal places you’d eat have…
The new black
First off, metro Detroit has always had plenty of black food, whether it’s Creole, soul, or the wide range of time-honored barbecue joints, from Aunt Bessie’s to Vicki’s. These days, it includes comforting dishes like chicken and waffles at Kuzzo’s, restaurants such as the west side’s Jamaica Jamaica that cater to Detroit’s Caribbean immigrant communities,…
Across the Pacific
Until a generation ago, the Asian food most Americans were familiar with was Chinese food. And it wasn’t even real Chinese food, it was an odd kind of Americanized cuisine ginned up with oil, salt, and sugar to appeal to native-born diners. Some have even gone so far as to call it America’s “first fast…
Les butcherettes de Detroit
By now, most of us are familiar with those striking images of pigs, cows, or chickens crammed in suffocating pens, unable to move — much less roam free — before they’re killed, strung up, and hacked apart limb by limb. The confinement is enough for an animal to go mad with panic. They shove one…
Special sauces and exotic condiments are spicing up area dishes
Chef Sarah Welch doesn’t mince words when talking about how she and her team find ingredients for the ever-changing menu at Republic Tavern in Detroit. “It’s all about finding ingredients that excite us,” she says. Republic Tavern prides itself on serving “new American” fare, but that doesn’t mean it’s just turning out meat and potatoes.…
