Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.

Recent samples can be found at Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.

If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.

Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.

Recent samples can be found at Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.

If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.

Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

While I am always amazed at the new food ideas I get to explore and share, I must admit that I am sometimes at a loss for qwords when asked to describe them.

That is why I am so glad to have a copy of Scottish wordsmith Paul Convery’s Eat Your Words: The definitive dictionary for the discerning diner. 

Published (appropriately enough) by Mango Books, this exhaustive and well-executed tome offers just the right words for everything from bouillabaisse to nucules and even has an entire section on the appropriate terms with which to describe various dining habits and dietary regimes (lest you make some other flavorless faux pasat your next repast). The book includes such comprehensive categories as ingredients from the plant and animal worlds, terms affiliated with farming and fishing, delicious words from the English-speaking and international worlds of cuisine, and ways to talk about every level of hunger or distaste without upsetting other people’s stomachs.

So whether you see yourself (or others) as macerators, macrogasters, or somewhere in between, this well-armed amateur’s a la carte approach to appetizers, aristons, arval feasts and all other alimentary appointments is always appropriate.

www.mangopublishinggroup.com

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.

Recent samples can be found at Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.

If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.

Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

I KNOW we just raved again about Spicy Shark and the work they are doing to save their noble namesakes, but as it is almost time to mark the 46^thanniversary of Jaws, I figured one more lap was not so bad.

Just in time for Father’s Day (which ALSO falls on June 20!), Spicy Shark is offering a 20% sale on all of their sauces and other tasty treats. All you need do is write “JAWSDAD” on the website (www.thespicyshark.com) and, until June 20 at midnight, you can enjoy everything for 20% off! 

Especially as Spicy Shark is a one-man operation, it is kind of a risk to offer so much. As we have seen, however, Spicy Shark founder Gabe DiSaverio is all about giving back!

From their signature Habanero and Jalapeno sauces to the Megalodon Carolina Reaper sauce and Scovie Award-winning Tiger Shark ghost pepper sauce to their smoked maple sriracha and award-winning hot honey and hot maple and blueberry maple syrups, The Spicy Shark has something to put on everything (and believe me, I do!).

You may pick up so many great condiments that you will need a bigger boat!

www.thespicyshark.com

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.

Recent samples can be found at Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.

If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.

Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

While the coffee behemoths continue their Buckin’ and Dunkin’ coast-to-coast battle for supremacy, realafficiandos know that the best coffee comes from individuals who really care about what goes in your cups. 

As Matt’s Meals fans know, I am a BIG fan of the little guy and, when it comes to coffee, I turn to friends like the folks at Beantrust, Blue Fire, Red Barn, Dean’s Beans, Fazenda, PJ’s, Rwanda Bean, Vermont Artisan, and, of course, the brave servers at Soldier Girl and Veteran Roasters. Another favorite that has been around longer than many of these old friends is the family-owned operation known as Espresso Love Café. The Café is currently celebrating a quarter of a decade in Edgartown and 10 years in Boston’s Financial District!

In addition to the hand-picked ground coffee, Espresso Love also offers bold bowls, super sandwiches soups, fresh fruit, eggs, and (much like Beantrust and its daughter doughery Bonny Breads) fresh-baked pastries. In celebration of a decade, Espresso Love Café in Boston has also released a new decadent summer menu chock full of creative coffees and other treats. For those who cannot make it to the city or the Vineyard this Summer, Espresso Love Café also sells and ships their beans and pastries, as well as meaningful mugs and snazzy shirts online. 

Especially as many are reticent to go back to work or travel, it is good to know that, whether you are venturing back downtown or headed out to the Vineyard, there is a family who cares for you and has your favorite pick-me-up ready to go!

www.espressolove.com

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.

Recent samples can be found at Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.

If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.

Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

Having grown up in apple country, I am a BIG cider fan and am ALWAYS looking for that perfect pint.

Recently, I found an AMAZING set of ciders that combines the cider-making heritage of Bristol, England, with the “keep it weird” ethos of Austin, TX, to make some of the most original and delicious ciders I have ever tasted!

Austin Eastciders takes the noble apple and does some stuff with it that might make traditionalists wince but that will surely make everyone smile! While their original dry and seasonal spiced ciders are worthy additions to the apple armada, it is their watermelon, pineapple, grapefruit, blackberry, and other forwardly-fruited flavors that have me whoopin’ it up like a rodeo clown on a bender. 

In addition to their always-available and rarer “Maker’s Stash” ciders, Austin makes spiked seltzers that are also made with real fruit. The options are so varied, in fact, that I am yet to try them all, but I sure as heck look forward to!

While each can is great on its own, the Austin Eastciders website (https://austineastciders.com) has great recipe suggestions to make their wide range of flavors go even further along your route to refreshment.

Don’t get me wrong- Apples are wonderful! As with so many things, however, it’s what you do with them that counts!

Thanks to Austin Eastciders for doing all they do!

https://austineastciders.com

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.

Recent samples can be found at Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.

If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.

Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

What do you get when you combine the formidable forces of one of New Zealand’s most decorated wine teams with one of the world’s most famous (and entrepreneurial) actresses?

Well, if those talented folks are the dynamic duo at Invivo wine and Sarah Jessica Parker, the result is Invivo X SJP, a delicious duo (so far) of Sauvignon Blanc and Rosé that will surely put any Cosmo out of your mind.

Lest you think that Ms. Parker is a square peg in the wine business, it so happens that she had an active and educaed hand (and nose) in the production of the wine line. The Rosé features grapes from France’s Golden Triangle that are cool-fermented to a steely dryness. The naturally elegant Sauvignon offers a citrusy spectrum with a rare touch of oak, making it great with a wide range of favorite foods.

In addition to helping spread the word about New Zealand wines, Ms. Parker is also supporting people in other countries by donating proceeds from Invivo X SJP to FEED, an international organization founded by another famous celebrity (Lauren Bush) that helps fend of hunger around the world, especially among children.

So the next time you are looking to get the gals together for a little fun in the city or to have a suitable sipper for your first wives club or even a honeymoon in Vegas, follow the fancy shoes and cut footloose with Invivo X SJP.

http://invivoxsjp.com

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.

Recent samples can be found at Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.

If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.

Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

As more people become vaccinated and begin to re-emerge into life, it is more important than ever to take stock and appreciate all that we still have in our lives. It is also important to not only look at our own backyards but also at lands further away (many of which are still deeply embroiled in the pandemic) and perhaps to even lift a glass and toast their trials and their determination to overcome and emerge as well.

That is why I have been so enjoying Cheers! Around the world in 80 toasts by Brandon Cook!

Even if you have not set foot outside of your own home for over a year, this brick of a book can take you on a whirlwind worldwide tour in the comfort of that home with the potential for an additionally comforting beverage in your non-page-turning hand! 

Organized by region (with a special section for ancient and ethereal toasts like the Esperanto “Ja vie sano,” the Elvish “Almien,” and the eternally-popular “L’chaim!”), Cheers!not only tells readers what to say in a wide range of languages but also suggests what to drink while saying it! It also includes a note section in which you can enter your own ideas for toasts and remember the places where and (more importantly) the people with whom you shared them.

So whether you prefer to Czech glasses with “Na zdravi,” a frost a “Kippis” with some Finlandia vodka, Hula through an “I ke ola” with a Mai Tai, or raise a pint with a friendly “Cheers,” Cook’s book has you covered no matter where you are and with whom.

We all have so much to celebrate. Let’s share our joys with the world.

L’chaim!

www.redlightningbooks.com

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.

Recent samples can be found at Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.

If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.

Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

As we all emerge (at varying speeds) from the pandemic, many of us are finding two things remain- anxiety and a changed relationship with food.

And while many people experienced a year in which their stress led them to eat more, there is a new book that can help us all deal effectively with anxiety by eating better!

Eat to Beat Depression and Anxietyby Dr. Drew Ramsey is a handy guide to how foods affect our mental and physical well-being and how use various foods to improve these elements in our lives so we can better deal with all the others.

Unlike many other so-called “diet” books, Dr. Ramsey’s latest does not prescribe or proscribe any particular foods, Rather, it explains how each type of food (including members of the popular “rainbow” and “chocolate” groups) can affect and often improve your body and brain and offers ideas and even recipes that can help you find more room in your diet to try more of them.

As he is not only a psychiatrist but also a farmer, Dr. Ramsey not only knows of what he speaks but also grows of what he speaks! This makes his book not only easy to follow but easy to- er- digest.

Even if you have had your shots and been maskless for some time, especially as we never know what tomorrow may bring, it is always vital to do all we can to improve our health and minimize stress. That is why this book remains timely and why it can surely help put food in its proper place both post-pandemic and pre-whatever else.

www.harperwave.com

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.

Recent samples can be found at Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.

If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.

Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!

Matt’s segments for “Connoisseur’s Corner” usually air on WBZ (1030 AM) Saturdays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25, and 11:55 AM and Sundays at 7:25, 8:25, 9:25 AM.

Recent samples can be found at Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.

If you have ideas for future segments, please send them to Matt@Matts-Meals.com.

Also, please follow me on Twitter @MattsMeals73.

Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our friends and neighbors in the food-service industry!