AND NOW . . .THE MULTIMEDIA EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME . . (get this!)
"Recipes"--Bill Wharton's new CD-Rom cookbook/Blues album, with a culinary
travelogue and gumbo video, interfaced with the Sauce Boss website and all
on a
single disc. If you think this is a lot to byte off, you're right.
No one has
done it. It is a mouthful just saying what it is:
1. A full length Blues album
2. A cookbook
3. A Culinary travelogue
4. A History of Bill Wharton's Liquid
Summer Hot Sauce
5. A gumbo video
6. A link to the sauceboss.com website for
current recipes, concert
listings, photos, sound clips, and MP3 giveaways
"Recipes"--it's cyberblues. An interactive root crop. Music and food.
You can
play it on your stereo, or load it into your computer and print
out recipes for
tonight's dinner. It's here. Right now.
And if you haven't checked out our sauceboss.com website lately, NOW's the
time.
We've just re-upped it with a totally new look. Webmaster JB has
been working on
it and there's lots of new stuff. Check it out. It's
happening!!
WE HAD A BLAST AT THE 11TH ANNUAL NATIONAL FIERY FOOD FESTIVAL IN
ALBUQUERQUE. The sauce was flowin' and it was HOT! We ate peppers,
tortillas, tamales,
tacos, peppers, enchiladas, carne adovada, fajitas,
burritos, peppers, rellenos,
tostadas, sopapillas, chorizo, quesadillas,
peppers, guacamole, peppers. . .(Did
I say peppers?).
What a great bunch of folks at the Fiery Food Show. Hats off to Dave
Dewitt and
company for a righteous (riotous?) time. With record
attendance, the
Albuquerque Civic Center became a city unto itself--a
veritable beehive of
capsicum activity. So many samples to taste. Not
only Southwestern, but pepper
concoctions from all over the
world--Caribbean, Thai, Chinese, Jamaican,
Indonesian, South American you
name it, it was there. Tasting all that hot food
worked up a monster
appetite, soooo . . .
How ‘bout some NEW Mexican food? Light as a feather, beans and rice, talk
about
the goood stuff y'all!
Since I was the head liner guest chef for the show, I figured it was
required
reading for me to sample a few menus from the area. Armed with a
list of
recommendations from the locals, we hit the strip. Route 66. Oh
yeah.
FIRST, EL PATIO. Near the university is a totally-charming, little
house-turned-restaurant. On a Tuesday night, a lone unamplified acoustic
guitarist strummed Spanish and classical accompaniment to a truly joyous
meal.
"Be careful, these plates are hot," warns the waitress. Straight
from oven to
table, the melted cheese over beans and rice, and the peppers
"Man!" I had to
try the carne adovada-a southwest BBQ-pork marinated in
red chiles, with
potatoes, beans, rice, and sopapillas (a small pita-like
bread with honey). At
$7.25, a steal. I couldn't finish it. The rellenos
swam in the beans and rice
like a summertime bather sinking in a sea of
flavor. El Patio--the real deal.
The next place we stopped was the
SANITARY TORTILLA FACTORY. Like El
Patio, the
ambience there was flavored with that Southwestern feel--a deep
groove of an
ancient mixture of blood and culture--the Natives, the
Spanish, the Nuclear
device technicians- all speaking Albuquerquese. And
so it is at the Sanitary
Tortilla Factory/M & J Restaurant. "Home of the
Hongo Burrito". Without a
doubt, the best Huevos Rancheros I have ever
eaten. The Virgin Mary shares the
walls with letters of testimony,
Christmas trees, and folk art. The check-out
counter is a little shrine
sharing space with the cash register and little bits
of paper, business
and the Deity, all together in the same breath. Owner
Beatrice, will talk
about the angels in her life, to the chagrin of husband,
Jake, as he
scoffs at such nonsense. It's a beautiful thing. It's a family
business
that cranks out tortillas and blue corn chips, along with the
traditional
sopapillas with honey for dessert. Ummmmmmm
Sanitary Tortilla Factory And M & J Restaurant 242-4890
2nd St. SW Albuquerque
NM 87102
El Patio de Albuquerque 268-4245
142 Harvard SE Albuquerque NM
SO WHAT DOES DRIVIN' ALL NIGHT TO GET TO SOMEWHERE IN MICHIGAN HAVE TO DO
WITH
ANYTHING? I guess it's our manifesto, as we travel down the road in
search of
the Holy Grail of BBQ. From Syracuse to Key West, we know where
the good ‘que.
is. Moody's in Woodbine, the Ridgewood in Bristol TN, ol'
T.C. out back of the
Zoo Bar in Lincoln, Nebraska, the Dinosaur, or how
bout my granddaddy's low
country BBQ hash. An old family recipe. He made
it with goat and pork and
plenty of hot sauce- brothers and sisters and
family, all eatin' together. Son,
look out! This is the real deal.
WE HOLDIN'. We got the good stuff and we know how to use it. It's the
Traveling Gumbo Show--down the road into your life and we ain't stoppin'.
From
Sopchoppy to Paris, it's happenin'. Git on the train, it's about to
leave the
station. Red beans and rice! Let the good times roll. This
wild Tchoupitoula
has flew da' coop. Jumped ship. No longer at the
reservation. Gone.
Seriously out of the country. What's for supper?
Bye Bye. Let me get my hat.
So long. We got enough gas? See ya!
