We've Moved!

Hi! I've moved the web site to a new platform at robertfmoss.com and given it a much-needed makeover, so check over there for new content and updates. Some of the oldie but goodie posts that weren't totally lame or outdated have been ported over there, too.

Content from the old robertfmoss.com (a.k.a. alforno.blogspot.com) will remain here, though, just in case someone is in the mood for outdated references, stale jokes, and other lame material. Or needs to post comments to let us know where we can find free essays online.

See you at the new site!

New Winnow Show Page

For a while I was posting here on my personal blog when there was a new episode out of The Winnow, the food podcast I do with Hanna Raskin of the Post & Courier. Now, at long last, we have a show page for the podcast, which you can find here.

You can also follow us on Twitter at @winnowpodcast and visit our Facebook page, too. Instagram in the works as well.

Winnow Episode 11: Do's & Don'ts

We had a lot of fun with the latest episode of The Winnow, which just posted. Hanna and I tackled "do's and don'ts"—including food rules and taboos, what to eat when visiting certain cities, and what people are drinking when they don't want something with alcohol in it.

We even touch the third rail of food conversations: is it OK to put ketchup on a hotdog?

Here's how to listen:

iPhone: open the Podcasts app (it's a purple icon) and search for “The Winnow.” You can subscribe to the podcast and automatically receive new episodes as soon as they're released.

Android devices: Go to the Google Play store.

The Winnow can also be accessed via various third-party podcasting apps and through the Soundcloud app or online at the Soundcloud website. And, we have an RSS Feed, for folks who know what to do with those things.

The Winnow Episode #10: Openings & Closings

The latest episode of the Winnow is now out, and  Charleston restaurateur Brooks Reitz joins Hanna and me for Episode #10 to talk a little inside baseball about opening and closing restaurants and about selecting music (and other media) for restaurants, too.

Here's how to listen:

iPhone: open the Podcasts app (it's a purple icon) and search for “The Winnow.” You can subscribe to the podcast and automatically receive new episodes as soon as they're released.

Android devices: Go to the Google Play store.

The Winnow can also be accessed via various third-party podcasting apps and through the Soundcloud app or online at the Soundcloud website. And, we have an RSS Feed, for folks who know what to do with those things.

How Old is Katz's Deli?

Katz's Deli Dates Back to 1888—Or Does It?
(Photograph "Katz's Deli" by peasap from Flikr, licensed under CC BY 2.0)

I just finished up a piece for Serious Eats on the history of pastrami, and in the course of digging into the background of this beloved deli staple I also ended up looking into the history of Katz’s Delicatessen, since it is one of the country's most celebrated purveyor of pastrami. The more I dug in, the more I began to suspect that Katz’s, whose founding has long been dated to 1888, might not actually be as old as everyone has assumed.

Winnow Episode #7: The Institutional Edition

The latest episode of the Winnow is now out, and in Episode #7 Hanna and I talk dining institutions of all sorts: cookbooks by big-name restaurant chefs, beloved regional fast-food chains, and the trials and tribulations of museum restaurants.

Here's how to listen:

iPhone: open the Podcasts app (it's a purple icon) and search for “The Winnow.” You can subscribe to the podcast and automatically receive new episodes as soon as they're released.

Android devices: Go to the Google Play store.

The Winnow can also be accessed via various third-party podcasting apps and through the Soundcloud app or online at the Soundcloud website. And, we have an RSS Feed, for folks who know what to do with those things.

Charleston BBQ Extras

Cover image by Jonathan Boncek — great as always

There's nothing like a little leftover barbecue! This week, I wrote the cover story for the Charleston City Paper on the current barbecue boom that's happening here in Charleston. As always, there was far too much good stuff from my interviews that didn't make it into the piece. Here are a few of the choice bits.

A Significant Factor in the Booming Charleston Barbecue Scene Is the F&B Talent Already Here

Winnow Episode #6: Back to Work

A new episode of the Winnow is now posted. On Episode #6, Hanna and I get back to work. We talk about labor shortages in kitchens, the pieces we are working on, the closing of the downtown Bi-Lo, and more.

Here's how to listen:

iPhone: open the Podcasts app (it's a purple icon) and search for “The Winnow.” You can subscribe to the podcast and automatically receive new episodes as soon as they're released.

Android devices: Go to the Google Play store.

The Winnow can also be accessed via various third-party podcasting apps and through the Soundcloud app or online at the Soundcloud website. And, we have an RSS Feed, for folks who know what to do with those things.

Heritage Grain Malt Liquor

 This week for the Charleston City Paper, I talked with Ryan Coker at Revelry Brewing Co. about his collaboration with Sean Brock on Amber Waves, a heritage grain malt liquor made with Jimmy Red Corn, Carolina Gold Rice, and North Carolina barley and rye. That's right: malt liquor.

The Winnow Episode #5: Heading to Charlotte

A new episode of the Winnow is now posted. On Episode #5, we talk to Kathleen Purvis of the Charlotte Observer about dining in the Queen City, southern craft spirits, restaurant, décor, and barbecue.

Here's how to listen:

iPhone: open the Podcasts app (it's a purple icon) and search for “The Winnow.” You can subscribe to the podcast and automatically receive new episodes as soon as they're released.

Android devices: Go to the Google Play store.

The Winnow can also be accessed via various third-party podcasting apps and through the Soundcloud app or online at the Soundcloud website. And, we have an RSS Feed, for folks who know what to do with those things.

Winnow Episode #4: BevCon and Tiffanie Barriere

The latest episode of the Winnow is out! This time around, Tiffanie Barriere took a few minutes out of BevCon to join Hanna and me to discuss all thing booze, including, service, ice, and even jello shots.

Here's how to listen:

iPhone: open the Podcasts app (it's a purple icon) and search for “The Winnow.” You can subscribe to the podcast and automatically receive new episodes as soon as they're released.

Android devices: Go to the Google Play store.

The Winnow can also be accessed via various third-party podcasting apps and through the Soundcloud app or online at the Soundcloud website. And, we have an RSS Feed, for folks who know what to do with those things.

The Winnow - Episode 3: Beer Talk

This summer, I teamed up with Hanna Raskin, the food editor and chief critic for The Post and Courier, to launch The Winnow, a podcast devoted to what's happening in the Southern food world. Each week, Hanna and I delve into topics ranging from restaurant trends to boiled peanut season, and we invite a guest to join us each week.

This week's episode just posted, and our guest is beer guru Brandon Plyler of the Charleston Beer Exchange and Edmund's Oast.

The Tale of Two Derbies (Brown Ones)

A Brown Derby made with either bourbon
or rum. Can you guess which?

When people write about the Brown Derby cocktail, they tend to invoke the glitz and glamour of showbiz, presenting it as “a taste of the Golden Age of Hollywood.” After all, according to the widely accepted history of the drink, it was created in Hollywood during the 1930s, the era of Greta Garbo and Douglas Fairbanks and Busby Berkeley extravaganzas. The Brown Derby looks the part, too—a blend of bourbon, grapefruit and honey with a decidedly golden hue.

There are actually two competing origin stories. The first is that it was the eponymous signature cocktail at The Brown Derby, a three-restaurant chain in Los Angeles. The original location was shaped like an actual derby hat, and its Vine Street outpost was a popular hangout for Hollywood movers and shakers. The other version claims that the cocktail was actually created nearby at the Vendome Club on the Sunset Strip and named, for some reason, in honor of the Brown Derby restaurant.

There's a slight problem with both stories, though: the Brown Derby cocktail doesn’t appear to have come within 3,000 miles of Hollywood at any time during the 20th century.

A Little Signature Sandwich Theory

This week, the Charleston City Paper ran my Summer Dish essay pondering the thorny question of why the city of Charleston doesn't seem to have a signature sandwich. I talk about the cheesesteak in Philadelphia and the poor boy in New Orleans, of course, but also note that Columbia's signature sandwich may well be the pimento burger.

After I submitted the original copy,  then-editor Chris Haire (who has since decamped for his native Greenville to edit a half dozen or so publications up there) and I exchanged a few emails on sandwich theory.

A Mint Julep-Fueled Escape

Nicholas Cresswell: An Englishman Who Knew
When to Apply a Little Julep

In my new book Southern Spirits: 400 Years of Drinking in the American South, I tell the story of mint juleps and how they evolved from being a morning dram that tippling men knocked back as an “antifogmatic” into the most trendy drink of the sporting set in New York City. One of the stories I had to leave out involved the early form of juleps—basically, a glass of rum cut with sugar and a little water—and how Virginians’ practice of starting the day off with them helped one Englishman get out of a rather serious jam.

A Visit to Buxton Hall

My family spent our summer vacation up in the North Carolina mountains, which gave me a chance to finally check out Buxton Hall Barbecue. And I wrote about it for Southern Living's Daily South.

August & September Events

After laying low during most of June and July, I've got a busy August and September lined up with a serious of really great food events & book festivals. See the latest schedule here.

Benjamin Franklin: Early Rye Whiskey Advocate

In my latest book Southern Spirits, I discuss the dominance of imported rum as the spirit of choice in the Colonial South until it was eclipsed by domestically-distilled whiskey in the early 19th century. One of the first proponents of making domestic whiskey was none other than that most practical of practical men, Benjamin Franklin.

In 1765 Franklin published in his Poor Richard’s Almanac a tract entitled “How to manage the Distilling of a Spirit from Rye, or other Grain, that shall be preferable to common Rum”.

Prepare for the Video Robot Deluge

The New York Times ran a piece yesterday on the surge in online video and how news and magazine publishers are marshaling all sorts of resources—including semi- or fully-automated video generation tools—to churn out more of it.

It talks about the much-derided announcement from tronc (formerly Tribune Publishing) that it aspires to ratchet up from producing a few hundred videos to 2,000 . . . per day. And it talks about the rising prospects of two tech companies with eminently silly names—Wochit and Wibbitz—that offer automated services that scan the text of a script or news article, automatically find corresponding images and video clips from subscription archives, and generate on screen captions. They can even—if desired—produce complete videos with no human intervention.

Click-Baiting Editors and Barbecue Lists

Yes, I do actually think Cannon's is one of the best BBQ
joints in the Carolinas. And the South for that matter.

The Fourth of July is upon us, which means the Internet is awash with barbecue listicles. Time just ran two such pieces, but they carry a lot more weight than most such roundups because of who wrote them. The authors aren't fresh-out-of-college Millennials leaning primarily on Google and Yelp but two experienced writers with estimable barbecue credentials and a whole lot of pulled pork and brisket under their belts. But you wouldn't know that from the headlines that the editors slapped on the pieces.

The first one promises to name "The 8 Best BBQ Spots in the Carolinas." If you read the copy that follows, though, it's clear that the author, Rien Fertel, set out with a more limited scope: "In the eastern Carolinas," Fertel writes. "Tradition dictates that barbecue pitmasters go the whole hog."