C2, GAF on Milt Rosenberg, 720 AM, 4/1

C2, GAF on Milt Rosenberg, 720 AM, 4/1

Milt Rosenberg has interviewed people like Margaret Thatcher and Henry Kissinger, and tomorrow he’s going to interview Catherine Lambrecht (Cathy2), Gary Fine (GAF), and Bruce Kraig.

Listen to the Milt Rosenberg show, WGN radio (720 AM), on Tuesday, April 1, at 9:00PM.

Don’t let the date fool you; this is a for real and it should be good.

Topic? Those are three polymaths, so I could imagine anything, food or beyond.

Hi,

Food history is the topic I was told, which means we can be all over the map.

Regards,

It will be two polymaths and a polymath to be named later. The focus will be on food history, and that is not my specialty, so I have been postponed. Cathy, Bruce, and ????

GAF wrote:It will be two polymaths and a polymath to be named later. The focus will be on food history, and that is not my specialty, so I have been postponed. Cathy, Bruce, and ????

Food history not your specialty??? Don't you remember what you ate last week?

I tried to suggest the history of Chinese food, but it wasn't polymathic enough.

Some very interesting stuff.

I was intrigued by Bruce Kraig's remark that Lincoln and Douglas would not have had broccoli because it wasn't invented yet...did I get that right? C2, do you know what he meant?

Informative chat -- very impressed with the range of knowledge, and Rosenberg is posing some fairly difficult questions.

Cathy had a good line about there being no such thing as cheap fusion cuisine - fusion is what you pay the big bucks for, good authentic homestyle food is what costs a few dollars on Devon. I'm not as sure about Bruce's contention that Indian food in Chicago is "Indian upper class restaurant food," and mostly post-WWII Indian food at that, in fact, since there are several very regionally-focused Indian restaurants in Chicago using village methods and ingredients (in modern kitchens, of course).

The duck "vindaloo" arepas at Vermillion are a good example of the extreme end of the fusion there - corn masa cakes with curry duck. As Rick Bayless points out, though, many core elements of what we consider traditional Mexican food and ingredients are actually Southeast Asian, brought to Mexico from the Philippines by the Spanish (rice, cilantro, limes, etc.), so the fusion is not as arbitrary as it seems on the surface.

Terrific Show!

Missed the first half hour, but the remainder was infinitely interesting.

All three guests were interesting, as was Milt R, and I got a kick out of Cathy's 9th inning reference to rotted shark.

Enjoy,
Gary

Santander wrote:... many core elements of what we consider traditional Mexican food and ingredients are actually Southeast Asian, brought to Mexico from the Philippines by the Spanish (rice, cilantro, limes, etc.), so the fusion is not as arbitrary as it seems on the surface.

... and flour, lard and cumin came over the Atlantic, still from the Spanish (the cumin from Arab cuisines, iirc).

I'm actually thinking about a "two little indians" fusion dinner, mixing Subcontinent and Native American dishes, such as a samosa stuffed with a smoky shredded chicken in mole, or a fried flour tortilla wrapped around traditional masala dosa filling. Corn is not frequently seen in Indian cuisine, that could be a tough thing to figure out how to use. It beares thinking about.

It was also interesting that they were all pretty much stumped by "What haven't you eaten that you'd like to eat?" Must admit, I'd need more than a nanosecond to answer that one, too.

Still thinking...

This is a nice place to start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delicacy

I haven't eaten wild cloudberries right off the plant, and have wanted to for many years. I also haven't ever eaten a meal cooked by Bridgestone in his own kitchen, something I think many of us would like to try.

Hi,

A few weeks ago, I was a guest on the Milt Rosenberg Show along with Carol Haddix of the Chicago Tribune and Bruce Kraig of Culinary Historians. Gary Fine was originally contemplated though Gary ultimately declined. However when I asked both Gary and Bruce how to prepare, I didn't get any clear direction beyond be yourself.

In the green room conversation with Milt and the other guests, I quickly understood why one couldn't really prepare. Milt suggested it would be an easy going conversation with people free to throw in ideas. He did offer one piece of advice: if you couldn't tell a story in one minute or less, then don't tell it. This is a challenge to someone like me who loves digging into the details, which meant I would have to dispense with being my usual precise self.

Once introductions were cleared, the first question of the evening made me wonder why was I there: "If Socrates invited friends for dinner, what would he serve?" Milt turned to Carol who stated, "He certainly would have had roasted meats ..." To confirm, Milt turned to Bruce who elaborated more about this meal. I sat on the sidelines trying my darndest not to do what I do: interrupt. I listen to enough radio that this conversational (bad) habit of mine wouldn't be welcome. I raised my hand instead, which I almost never do, then Milt pointed at me, "Stuffed grape leaves." Milt got enthused and asked Bruce, "Would there have been grape leaves?" Bruce went on and on. I raised my hand again and eventually was acknowleged, "Yogurt ... Bulgaria ... Balkans." Again Bruce was brought on to verify. From this wee segment it became clear the pecking order: Bruce, Carol and Cathy.

Dinner between notable people in history continued between Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln in Chicago 1858, whom Milt noted were not only political rivals but romantic ones as well. While Bruce offered suggestions on the hotel they may have dined and the menu, I waited til he was winding down to dessert. I raised my hand and once acknowledged, "Lincoln had a sense of humor and like to stick-it to people. I could envision Lincoln bringing a piece of his wife's Almond cake. This was a cake made in 1825 to commemorate the visit to Lexington, KY of the Marquis de Lafayette, who helped George Washington win the American Revolution. A piece of this cake given to Stephen Douglas would emphasized Lincoln had both the recipe and the prize of their romantic rivalry: Mary Todd Lincoln." Bruce was giving me an enthusiastic thumbs up, which was really very much appreciated.



During breaks the conversation would continue a bit, ideas offered on other conversational directions or there would be heads up on a query Milt was considering. Milt suggested during a break a lightening round of restaurants of good quality that should be better patronized: Carol suggested Sol de Mexico, I suggested TAC Quick offering you don't have to spend Arun's price levels for authenticity and don't recall what Bruce offered. Later in the program Milt unexpectedly inquired, "What food have you not yet tried?" Carol suggested caviar. I drew a blank, then offered what is largely the truth, "I have done most of what I want and have largely whittled down the list," though I might have been more specific with a few more moments thought. Bruce offered the food from Laos, which I would never have come up on my own.

During one break, Milt read aloud an e-mail that he suspected was the owner of the restaurant. He inquired with us, "Does anyone know a Gary Wiviott?" Everyone laughed, assured him Gary had no ownership interests, then gave them a bit of Gary's background.

On-air Milt read a question from a listener on, "What is traditional?" Once Bruce offered his opinion, then I added, "Penelope Bingham of Culinary Historians has been researching Thanksgiving traditions. She advised of a Vietnamese family who serves a turkey and lasagna on Thanksgiving, because that was how they experienced their first Thanksgiving." I learned from reading my e-mail the next day the question was not only Penelope's, she was quite amused to be quoted back to herself.

Maria Kijac who wrote the book, The South American Table, had also listened to the program. She phoned my home the next day to advise I had made a mistake describing the jibarito sandwich. I knew as soon as the words "Ripened plantains," exited my mouth I had a made an error but I knew it wasn't worth correcting. Sharp eared Maria wanted to make sure I did know what was what.

Of course the converation did turn to off the beaten path foods, where I had an opportunity to interject, "Rotten shark." I also provided a less than one minute sketch on raccoon dining at Moto along with myth building via Time magazine. Milt didn't seem too thrilled with raccoon as a dining option.

In the green room as well as on-air Milt complained about fusion food. He was especially put-off by the French-Indian fusion at Vermillion, which is near his office. He was disappointed by the lack of authentic Indian food. I offered what I considered my best thought of the evening, "If you want authentic, then you need to go lower down the price scale. If you go to Devon Avenue to Khan's BBQ or an Indian-Pakistani taxi stand, then you will have your authenticity at very low prices."

I did succeed in getting LTHforum.com into the conversation as practically the very last statement I made. It wasn't from lack of trying, because I brought it up during several breaks.

I'm glad I agreed on the spot to do the Milt Rosenberg show. If I had really contemplated what I was getting myself into, it would have been very easy to talk myself out of it.

Regards,

Thanks for the re-cap Cathy2. I missed about the first 45 minutes of the show as I mis-read the original post by Hammond. What I caught, I really enjoyed, and I thought you did a great job. I thought you all did an especially good job in contrast to the professional food critics who were on a few weeks earlier. I mean, yes, as you say, there are a few authentic Indian places, you know!

I offered what I considered my best thought of the evening, "If you want authentic, then you need to go lower down the price scale. If you go to Devon Avenue to Khan's BBQ or an Indian-Pakistani taxi stand, then you will have your authenticity at very low prices."

As I mentioned above, I liked this line too, and thought you were solid throughout, offering some of the most focused anecdotes and suggestions with an upbeat delivery that was missing from the other two panelists.

I find Milt's social worldview myopic, but I am addicted to his show and general erudition (am listening in the background tonight, in fact), and he's certainly a gentleman. A professor friend at U of C mentioned that his physical myopia is distracting - you supposedly can't tell when he's really looking at or engaging you. How did you find the man himself?

Hi,

Milt and I have long shared a one-degree of separation. My dear friend Mom2 was his wife's roommate in Ann Arbor and attended their wedding. I had alerted his producer of this fact when he invited me to the show.

When we met in the green room, he immediately turned to me inquiring about a mutual friend we may have. When I mentioned Mom2's maiden name, Milt countered with her married name. He remembered her husband Phil and inquired about him. I told him he had died of Alzheimers, a disease which was discussed the night before in conjunction with Wally Phillip's death. We discussed Phil's personality who was a classic salesman. I knew from the past that Phil and Milt would one-up each other whenever they socialized. I just kept thinking of those stories especially when the conversation turned to the business on hand. In a sense I saw Bruce Kraig and Milt also doing a bit of good natured testing of each other's knowledge base.

While Milt certainly kept the focus on the conversation at hand. I overall found him good company. I certainly enjoyed how he kept everyone on their toes, including himself.

Regards,