‘Michigan Blue’ Magazine

Posted on 19 February 2007 under Cookbooks, Michigan Cuisine, Rants

As part of my Michigan Cuisine project web site I’m constantly on the lookout for anything on the subject, from food festivals, to recipes, ingredients, notes on cultural influences, etc. Finding the January/February 2007 issue of Michigan Blue: Michigan’s Lifestyle Magazine at a Meijer store (actually, a Meijer in Ohio just south of the state line) was a rather interesting experience. The photography is great, the layout is clean … it’s simply a well-designed magazine. I like it.

There’s a certain Michigan-specific food writer, Patty LaNoue Stearns, who is writing for this magazine. I like her work quite a bit. I have a couple of her books, “Good Taste: A Guide to Northern Michigan Cuisine” and, one of my faves, her “Cherry Home Companion“. This latter book has a very cool binding, being wirebound within an exterior hardcover. Of course, the recipes are quite good as well, from a Spicy Cherry Peanut Mix from the Cherry Marketing Institute, to recipes from Gourmet and Cooking Light magazines, even some from Keith Famie’s Adventures In Cooking.

I do have some ideas I’ve formed about Michigan Cuisine, my own definition, as it were. No citrus as it doesn’t grow here natively, no salt-water creatures … simple concepts. It’s a bit limiting, that’s for certain, but to me, such concepts are defined by what’s here, not what’s done with things that are brought here in a truck or a plane. To me, that’s not “Michigan Cuisine”.

No, you can’t even have pineapple on your ham. The line in the sandy beach is that simple.

So when I look through a magazine of this caliber with “Michigan” emblazoned on the cover as it is, I have problems with pics of Sautéed Alaskan Halibut from Tapawingo in an article written by Ms. Stearns, and a recipe and full-page pic of Seared Scallops (by Kathleen O’Neill of The Canape Cart in Ferndale) in an article by Lisa M. Jensen, the magazine’s editor.

This is exactly why I started the whole “Michigan Cuisine” thing, trying to assemble recipes specific to this state on my site, starting the assembly of a book to help define it, keeping within some real limits with it. Neither Chef Tad or I could find any solid info on the subject, so that’s what I’m putting together.

Frankly, I feel publications about Michigan have an obligation to stick with subject content that is Michigan. Covering dishes that are simply made here by high-end restaurants by amazing chefs doesn’t quite cut it.

That being said, there are other recipes and such in this issue of “Michigan Blue” that I can certainly appreciate as Michigan Cuisine. There’s a recipe for Organic Green Salad and another for Butternut Squash Gratin in the article from Ms. Jensen, and a two-page article on Michigan brewmasters with a list of 24 breweries. Ms. Stearns also wrote a great two-pager on Chef Guillaume Hazael-Massieux at La Bécasse on Glen Lake in Leelanau County. The pic of his Cassoulet (”duck confit, Toulouse sausage and pork meat served in a white bean and tomato casserole”) is making me hungry.

Now, we do make concessions in Michigan Cuisine. The Organic Green Salad uses lemon juice. As Chef Tad points out, this is for color, freshness and flavor, so it’s a necessity, like salt and pepper. And in the list of brewmasters, under Stroh’s, Rick Coates wrote, “So it isn’t brewed in Michigan anymore, and it was never considered a craft brew. Still, Stroh’s is part of the Detroit brewing legacy. Located at the old brewery on Gratiot Road, Stroh’s was at one time the third largest brewery in the United States.”

I like how he starts this with, “So it isn’t brewed in Michigan anymore …” That’s exactly the right approach.

You can’t have Mackinac Island fudge without the cocoa bean, which isn’t grown here but has defined a major part of the state’s tourism. But Alaskan halibut and scallops? Nope, and Heck Nope. You may as well talk about the nearest Chinese buffet or Thai restaurant, or even the diner down the street that serves southern or Cajun dishes.

Those aren’t Michigan Cuisine either.

Every single ad in “Michigan Blue” is for a Michigan company. (Ok, so I’m not so sure about Marine Innovations.) The schedule under the hading of “excursions”, the things to do listed in the article “Cold Play”, and the drop-dead gorgeous photo on page 43 of a sculpted waterfall, they’re all Michigan.

I picked up a copy of Midwest Living last week at Barnes & Noble in Ann Arbor … and put it back after finding an article trumping the pleasures and relaxation in Houston, Texas.

Michigan is losing so much, with the auto industry going downhill, Pfizer shutting down in Ann Arbor, etc., etc., ad nauseum.

What it does have is history, culture, tourism, technology, and wonderful, amazing people, particularly its farmers, hunters and fishers.

And solid restaurants and specialty food manufacturers making food specific to Michigan.

“Michigan Blue” magazine is very cool for Michigan, and I hope its readership spreads far and wide. But I’d certainly like to see food articles on dishes that capture the essence of what’s here, not just what’s made here by chefs and cooks who get their ingredients elsewhere.

Chef Tad makes a deep-fried farm-raised alligator appetizer, and I’d love to have the recipe. They sell alligator fillets at Hiller’s in Ann Arbor. But you’ll never find that recipe at the Michigan Cuisine web site. Sorry ’bout that, folks. There won’t even be a photo.

Get to Meijer and get a copy of “Michigan Blue”. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. As for me, I’ll keep reading it too, while still hoping for a change in their policy on food.

Real Michigan food, that is.

Methinks I’ll email Ms. Stearns and tell her about this post. Yup, I think that’s a good place to start.

If she replies, once that discussion’s done maybe I’ll start on my other pet peeve. You know the one; “Northern Michigan” being defined as the Traverse City area. I mean, hey, Michigan has a few hundred miles of a whole other whole continent over that bridge …

Pasties, anyone?

A quick note: While this post is labeled as post #106, there are some I’ve thrown away without posting them. Apparently, six to be exact. This post makes an even 100. I wonder what I’ll be complaining about when actual post #200 rolls around …

Read Comments

  1. 19 February 2007 @ 10:55 am Posted by Patty LaNoue Stearns

    Hi Dave:

    I so agree with you that we need to talk up Michigan’s bounty whenever we can, but if I had to go through a Michigan winter without lemons or limes or shrimp (which actually is being farmed here in Michigan), I think I’d curl up and die! Variety being the spice of life and all.

    Tapawingo is one of many restaurants in northwestern lower Michigan (yes, that’s the correct designation for this part of Michigan, I agree) that have teamed up with local farmers and are really making a difference. It’s unfortunate that the dish pictured in Michigan Blue was not native, because Tap has led the effort to showcase Michigan products in the growing season– from late April, if we’re lucky, through November. Hydroponics are helping to extend the season.

    Anyway, bravo for your efforts, and thanks for buying my books! I certainly appreciate the beautiful produce our state offers, and write about it as often as possible.

    Cheers,

    Patty

  2. 19 February 2007 @ 12:06 pm Posted by LunaPierCook

    Hi Patty! Just looking over your photos of “Paris in the Springtime”. Very nice indeed! Paris sounds like a lot of fun. Catherine of the Frog Leg Inn down in Erie, Michigan, is French born-and-raised, and she always has interesting stories to tell.

    The whole problem I see with what’s actually Michigan Cuisine is that folks do feel it needs to be added to. Sure, I love snacking on whatever I can my hands on at the Whitney Oyster Bar in Charlevoix, or something different from the Blue Pelican in Crystal Lake. (I’d love to try their new Crab & Brie Cheese Quesadillas … maybe this summer?) And last I heard, the Frog Leg Inn’s own frog legs are actually the Indonesian variety. I’ve already had Chef Tad’s Canadian Lake Erie Walleye twice this month …

    But to me, that’s exactly what defines the various cuisines. This country has a huge variety of them. Lemons, limes, shrimp, collectively, I’d call that Floridian Cuisine for want of a better term. So, off I head to Flrida Monthly magazine, the May 2006 recipes page … and find Florida this and Florida that in the ingredient lists.

    Not an Alaskan halibut in the bunch.

    I do have a Florida cookbook. It’s really quite nice, talking about history, cultures, where certain dishes developed, etc. So the question then becomes, why doesn’t Michigan have such a thing? And, back to my original post, why don’t magazines for and about Michigan stay true to the state when it comes to food?

    We have so much to offer here. Yes, let’s partake in other cuisines now and then. I’m not sure, but the pre-packaged jello I just ate may have had a Made In Japan sticker on it …

    I applaud the folks at Tap and others who try to promote what’s available here, really I do. But to only showcase the Chefs and restaurants here while not doing the same for Michigan’s bounty (excellent term, by the way) seems, I don’t know … flawed? Yes, that’s the word …

    Thanks for replying! Lisa (Michigan BLUE’s editor for the rest of you) has emailed to say she’s working on the deadline for the next issue. Honestly, I’m looking forward to it … and no, I don’t mean so I’ll have things to complain about! ;-)

  3. 19 February 2007 @ 5:02 pm Posted by joey randall

    Found this site by accident and just subscribed to Michigan Blue. Thanks, Dave, for the hot tip! I’ll be stopping back in …

  4. 19 February 2007 @ 6:51 pm Posted by LunaPierCook

    Joey, good to hear it! I’ll either be subscribing myself, or just picking it up at Meijer. Most magazines only want to be that good.

    Ummm … Joey? I just checked out your blog. Recipes in every post?? That’s a lot of work! I’ve linked to you now under “Non-Monroe County Blogs”. I think people should know where to read those “musings” of yours. ;-)

  5. 21 February 2007 @ 12:25 pm Posted by joey randall

    Thanks Dave. As a novice blogger, I’m honored that you included me in your link. (I haven’t learned how to do that).

    Indeed, I love food and Michigan ~ both featured in my blog. My photos, though not of food (often macro-flowers from my garden) highlight the day. “Musings of a Ho-Hum Housewife” refer to my book, “Diary of a Ho-Hum Housewife”, a NaNoWriMo (http://www.nanowrimo.org/ ) novel written 2 years ago that I have since been editing and hoping SOON to “kick out the door”. Wish me luck!

  6. 21 February 2007 @ 12:37 pm Posted by LunaPierCook

    Ok, Joey … good luck! ;-) My sister Barb, the one who’s the “real” ccok of the family, has loaned me a Michigan food novel from the 1930’s that has four pages in the first chapter devoted to making a pot of soup. I’m thinking one of these days I might put that in here just to let people see how wonderful that writing was.

  7. 21 February 2007 @ 9:57 pm Posted by Karen Angelosante

    Jeremy Restaurant and Bar in Keego Harbor uses seasonal Michigan foods in his menu.
    I love Michigan Blue Magazine. The photography is always fabulous.

  8. 22 February 2007 @ 8:49 am Posted by LunaPierCook

    Wow, Karen, the Cider-Glazed Duck Breasts at Jeremy’s sounds incredible. The place is actually close enough Mary and I might just have to try it sometime. Thanks!

  9. 24 February 2007 @ 7:38 am Posted by Karen Angelosante

    HI Dave,
    Chef Jeremy uses many ’seasonal foods’ in his menu so for instance, because Meyer Lemons are in season in California, there will be a special menu of a few entrees, salads, desserts, martini’s using Meyer Lemons as ingrediant in the March is for Meyer Lemon menu. When late spring hits, the menu will be predominantly Michigan. Jeremy is an amazing chef. His wife, Paula, is a true hostess with the mostess! The restaurant is small and has a friendly bar. We love the food and love that there are 1/2 portions available. Anyhow, stay tuned to the web site for the Michigan menu Jeremy is putting together for May, June, July.

  10. 24 February 2007 @ 11:10 am Posted by LunaPierCook

    Karen, you’re just getting me more and more curious here … do you work for them? To be honest, no harm done if you do. I enjoy when folks come in here and talk about their places and encourage it. Beyond that, all of it sounds eally good … thanks!

  11. 24 February 2007 @ 1:58 pm Posted by joey randall

    Popping in again, Dave.

    Indeed, Jeremy’s is a wonderful find. Recommended by the staff at Tribute, both my husband and I each celebrated memorable ‘big’ birthdays there 2 years ago. We have been back several times since and it’s always delightful. It’s true~Paula is remarkable.

    I’m looking forward to visiting again soon, tasting from the Meyer Lemon menu. Yum!

  12. 24 February 2007 @ 3:40 pm Posted by LunaPierCook

    Ya’ know, Joey, if Karen’s an employee at Jeremy’s, maybe we can hit her up for a recipe … ;-)

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