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 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 wait for them to bring their beer-backed bars back, the folks at ReGrained have entered another food field and are ready to take it by storm! In fact, their latest triumph has already been selling out over and over.

And no wonder!

Their new upcycled Strozzapreti pasta is produced in collaboration with the folks at Semolina Artisanal Pasta and is as authentic and delicious as any pasta you might have ever enjoyed (if not moreso!). 

Not only is the ReGrained Supergrain+®-infused pasta delicious and satisfying (despite having very low fat), but it is also organic and has more protein and fiber than most pastas. In addition, each box recovers more than a pound of what would otherwise be wasted food and saves 80 gallons of water in the process of being less processed. And, as ReGrained is a certified B corp, sales also support environmental causes.

While all this may be very impressive (and indeed it is!), what may make the story most startling is that the entire partnership and product development was handled via zoom during the pandemic! 

Who says working from home is less productive?

I guess NOTHING can keep a good food idea down, eh?

www.regrained.com/products/strozzapreti-pasta

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 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!

Even as people continue to shelter in place, there are some things that are tempting enough to voyage forth.

One of these, at least for many, is chocolate.

Fortunately, there is a new a way to get your favorite treat without leaving home. Infact, this new service can take you to places you might not go even if you could!

Worldwide Chocolate is offering a subscription service unlike any other. In each Chocolate Flight Club package, you receive over 400 grams of samples of some of the best chocolates the world has to offer (including our friends at Dick Taylor, Dylesia, Ghiradelli, Lake Champlain, Nirvana, and MORE), along with tasting notes, a tasting survey sheet that will help you pick your faves, and links to exclusive video content that tells you even more about what’s in the beautifully-packaged box that can be as wonderful a gift for others as it is for you.

Though some items are exclusive to the Club, once you find some new favorites, you can go back to WorldWide Chocolate to pick up more or most of them (and maybe to find even more tempting treats)!

Whether you are wary of going out even for your favorite treat or just want to discover a worldwide menu of it, the Chocolate Flight Club from Worldwide Chocolate is for you (and anyone else you like).

Chocolate. Delivered. Sounds great, no?

www.worldwidechocolate.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 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 listeners and readers know, I am a big fan of Vermont! Where else can you find such an independent spirit (not to mention a VERY independent Senator) surrounded by such beauty?

While the scenery and vibe are great, many of the great food and drinks that come from the Green Mountain State make things even better no matter where you are! And while I have raved about Republic of Vermont honey, Good Mix and Yolo snacks,True North granola, Boves sauces and Benito’s and Greene’s Gourmet hot sauces, Schmilk Chocolate and Lake Champlain Chocolates, Vermont Amber organic toffee and Fat Toad Farm caramel, Ackermann, Runamok and Tonewood syrups and Sugar Bob’s Smoked Maple Products, Side Hil Farm preserves, Cabot and Jasper Hill Farm cheese and the famed Vermont cheese tours, as well as Sap and Tretap maple drinks, Töst, Vermont Organic Coffee, Vermont Switchel, 14th Star and Halyard Brewing, and Snow Farm Wine, as I am such a cider fan, I cannot mention the Green Mountain state without honoring the great family farmers who produce Champlain Orchards ciders.

While many other makers have one or two cider fan favorites, Champlain not only has a tree-full of award winners but are coming up with new varieties nearly every season! From the cleverly-named “core” set that includes their bestselling Kingston Dry, their smooth and gentle Foxboro Rose, and their Vermont-loyal Mac and Maple to winter’s ice cider and spring’s Honeycrisp and Estate series stunners like the Redfield Dry and the Crimson Topaz (which is as beautiful and sparkling as it sounds!), they literally have a cider for every taste and to complement every other favorite food, whether it comes from Vermont or not! It is no wonder they are part of the Lake Champlain Tasting Trail and a favorite stop along that historic route!

So no matter which food you choose from the 14^th state or any other, be sure to wash it down with some of Vermont’s finest, among which is surely Champlain Orchards ciders.

www.champlainorchardscidery.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 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!

When people think about Vermont (especially at this time of year), most conjure images of snow, skiing, and other cold-weather activities.

Who would have known that the Green Mountain State is also home to one of the best homemade hot sauces around?

But that might be expected from a company called Greene’s (with a final “e”) Gourmet!

As founder Chris Greene was raised on a Texas cattle ranch, his fascination with hot peppers may be more understandable (especially when you find out that his mother used Tabasco instead of soap to cure him of cursing). Still, it may be hard to see how he was able to bring that southern heat all the way to the mountains of Vermont. But forget seeing- the secret to Greene’s Gourmet is in the taste!

Woooowie!

Made without capsaicin extract, dyes, or anything fake, Greene’s sauces bring real southern heat to any dish and reveal his authentic upbringing and dedication to his favorite flavors, among which are the rich and garlicky Smokey Red, the gingery Dragon’s Fire, the appropriately intense Atomic Habanero and (also appropriately) a green sauce called Very Verde (“verde” being Spanish for “green”) that lowers the temperature but not the flavor.

If you want to get the full Greene experience, order a Firehouse Five and get 5 bottles for just $5 each!

After a day on the slopes or just at the office, it can be a good idea ro add some spice to your life. So what better way to do it than with the handmade, down-home flavors of the self-proclaimed Hot Sauce Guy, Chris Greene?

www.greenesgourmet.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 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!

During a recent escape to Nashville, I came upon an old Southern favorite that used to git a lotta folks in hot water, even tho that was jest what they used ter make it with!

I am talkin’ about- of course, moonshine.

And while the popular drink may have come out of and mountain creeks and into the main-stream, there is one place that I found mixes the old traditions with new flavors in a way that is both authentic and, to use an overused word, awesome!

Ole Smoky makes moonshine like Grandpappy used ter. However, in addition to a pure ‘shine that tastes a lot better than turpentine, they also offer a range of flavors and proofs that can suit any taste and tolerance. From the “barely legal” original, and the 128-proof Blue Flame to a milder and sweeter apple and pumpkin pie and Tennessee’s famed banana pudding flavors, a coffee companion called Mountain Java, and even Moonshine cherries, peaches, pickles, and pineapples, Ole Smoky can take you from the bar to the birthday party to the boardroom with all the sweet snap of White Lightnin’.

If you are still a but wary to dip a toe in the still, Ole Smoky also has a raft of whiskeys that come straight-up blended or blended with caramel, habanero, peanut butter, and even another hip beverage- cold brew! They also make their own Amaretto and a bunch of liquers and canned cocktails that take their sweet southern satisfaction to new places and new levels.

Prohibition may be long over and drink trends may come and go, but the legend and lure of moonshine has hung one for over 100 years. Ole Smokey is one reason why!

www.olesmoky.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 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 Matt’s Meals fans know, I am a pickle fan. In fact, one of my favorite recent discoveries has been Ma & Pa Pickles from right here in MA!

While I have long loved pickles for their flavor, I have recently been reading about the health benefits of pickles as well! As a fermented food, pickles add probiotic bacteria. As they are most often cucumber-based, they also have the antioxidant beta-carotene.

The only downside to using pickles for improved health, it seems, is that it can be awkward to carry a glass jar wherever you go.

Fortunately, I recently found another product that offers most of the benefits without the potential drawbacks!

Pickle Juice Sport (made by Pickle Juice Company, LLC) is an organic, sugar-free shot of pure dill-iciousness that offers 10-15x the electrolytes of most sports drinks, along with a proprietary blend of vitamins and minerals that offers all of power of pickles in easy-to-carry plastic bottles. In addition to upping your energy and protecting your gut, Pickle Juice also helps stop cramps almost immediately, making it a fast favorite of many athletes and others who deal with pain.

It may sound silly (or is that “dilly”?), but pickle juice can do a lot more than just float around the cucumbers until a pickle fan like me has gobbled them all up. From your brain to yout gut, these little green beauties have what it takes to take your health to the next level!

www.picklepower.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 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 many of us in this part of the world (and elsewhere) know, the fishing industry is hitting hard times due to climate change, government mishandling, and other factors. As a result, many long-time seamen and seawomen are getting off the water and looking elsewhere.

One of these is Myron Lapine, a long-time fisherman who started selling bait and eventually began baiting people with his amazing home-made pickles.

As the creator of Ma and Pa Pickle’s, etc., Lapine and his right-hand woman Michele (a.k.a, “PickleGurl”) make their own award-winning jams, chutneys, pickles, and pickled vegetables in a mouth-watering, lip-puckering line that includes sweet, Kosher and garlic dill pickles, okra, and green beans, all of which go great with any sandwich or right out of the hand-filled jars. Lapine also has a triple-threat combo of jalapeno, garlic AND dill which he calls the Wickle Pickle!

Having first found fame at the Topsfield Fair, the dynamic dill duo moved through farmers markets and won acclaim at the New Hampshire Pickle Festival (Yes, that is a thing!). They have also presented at the Institute of Contemporary Art and taught a pickle making class at the Vilna Shul Center for Jewish Culture. Even so, the pandemic has hit Ma & PA Pickle hard and they are now looking for support so they can continue to grow.

So whether you like pickles and jams or want to help some great pickle makers get out a of a jam, please look for to Ma & Pa Pickles, Etc. on facebook to reach out, help out, and pickle out.

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 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!

Even though National Honey Month is over, honey is still sticking in my mind (see what I did there?!).

And while I still love Bees and Thank You (with their great subscription service), local friends like Boston Honey Company, Maggie’s Farm, and Red Bee, Johnston Honey from MN, Nakakono from Africa, and Pacific Resources and Wedderspoon from New Zealand, I recently found another honey that is sweet for an extra special reason.

Savannah Bee Company is a GA-based hive (hence the name) that not only makes amazing honey, but also offers Bourbon barrel-aged coffee, bee-nies, bee-shirts, and bee-based hot sauce and health and home products. The even have a podcast hosted by founder Ted Denard who has been minding his bees and cues for 35 years!

Despite all these great offerings, my favorite item is their Peace Honey, every bottle of which results in a donation to the Boys and Girls Club. In addition to helping children, Savannah’s Peace Honey also supports the Bee Cause project that helps educate people about bees and protect their habitats so we all can enjoy more and protect not only the bees but the environment too!

And Peace Honey is not just a name- It is a lesson! After all, if all kinds of bees can live and work together to make such sweet products, to quote Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder, “Why can’t we?

Savannah Bee products are available all over (including at Disney World!) but can bee most easily found at https://savannahbee.com.

So buy some honey for a good cause or just bee-cause.

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 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!

It’s that time of year again.

Time to get a taste of pumpkin spice in pretty much EVERYTHING!

Unfortunately, much of that flavor is not from real pumpkins or actual, fresh spices and instead comes from chemicals and other things that may tastegood but ultimately make you feelbad.

Thank goodness for our friends at Golden Girl Granola and Undercover Chocolate, both of whom have come out with a new set of their authentically nutritious snacks just at the right time!

Undercover’s pumpkin spice adds real cinnamon, nutmeg, and other natural flavors to their scrumptuous chocolate-covered quinoa, making this healthy and fortifying snack not only more delicious (or at least asdelicious as their other flavors, which is saying something!) but also even more healthy. They make for a healthy treat for Halloween with no tricky chemicals to pronounce. Speaking of holidays, Undercover also offers a peppermint variety that will surely make a great stocking (or mouth) stuffer. All of their flavors are gluten- and nut-free, Kosher and Hallal, and give back to the rainforest farmers from whom they purchase their chocolate.

As for our Golden Girl, Pumpkin Harvest is a new, seasonal granola that, as with so many good things, is only available for a limited time. Like their other flavors, Pumpkin Harvest is made with all-natural ingredients (including REAL pumpkin!) that are wholesome and delicious. You can taste the familiar flavors of fall with pumpkin and pecans, baked with pure maple syrup and traditional spices like cinnamon, ginger, clove, and nutmeg. 

Fall is a great time to take a moment to enjoy the flavors. Fortunately, we now have more ways to enjoy them in a healthy and authentic way!

www.undercoversnacks.com

www.goldengirlgranola.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 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!

My wife and I recently crossed the border to visit Hudson, NY, for our anniversary, as is my practice, I reached out to the local tourism board (and a surprisingly large number of friends who had visited there recently) to get tips regarding places to eat and drink. While there were more than enough to choose from, one of my favorite stops was at Left Bank Cider.

Founded by a husband and wife who got into the cider game by saving the “unsellable” apples at local farmers markets and then pulping them in a food processor and squeezing the mash through pillowcases(!), Left Bank has assembled a more traditional pressing and bottling system but still keeps to their foraging roots, taking apples from the lands of local farmers who agree to let them use what they cannot sell. 

Many of these so-called “damaged” (and often rare) apples are on display in Left Bank’s hand-crafted tasting room (which, as the name implies, is on the left bank of Catskill Creek, which is a tributary of the Hudson River), but the real fruits of their labors are evident in the wide range of hand-crafted ciders that they make with hyper-local apples that are as fresh and flavorful as any and worth a visit to Hudson on their own. 

From the Old Gold that is made in honor of farmer friends named Goold and the similarly-named Mary Ann’s Mead to the wild-fermented Kabbin, the slightly sweeter Cherry Baby, and an apples and honey Spyser, Left Bank has a cider for every taste and offers a taste of the entire Hudson Valley in one cozy spot! Inspired by their poetic business partner, Left Bank’s tasting room also hosts readings and other cultural events, making it a great place to drink, listen, and enjoy the VERY local flavors along with the company of friends new and old.

If you like great food and drink as well as fun and funky shops and beautiful scenery, I highly recommendd visiting Hudson, When you are there, be sure to stay on the Left Bank.

www.leftbankciders.com/