Success Is in the Details for This Beloved Boston Deli

On a typical Saturday morning in historic Waltham, a suburb of Boston, people queue up and wait for breakfast and lunch counter service at Moody’s Delicatessen & Provisions. Maybe they are ordering the The Katz pastrami sandwich composed of delicate tendrils of meat with a pickle mustard and Swiss on rye bread, or the Pork Roll Breakfast sandwich with homemade New Jersey-inspired pork roll and spicy ketchup. This isn’t your typical run-of-the-mill egg-and-cheese-on-a-generic-English-muffin sort of place. This is the real deal, featuring dozens of homemade charcuterie, doughnuts, truffle chips, hot sauces, and made-to-order sandwiches. And it’s all delicious.

Created and founded by Joshua Smith, Moody’s is now one of the most famous purveyors of fine charcuterie and meats in the greater Boston area, serving some of the Northeast’s most exciting restaurants and beyond. Moody’s features nearly 180 products in their repertoire, which are rotated seasonally and can be purchased in their storefronts, online, or found in gourmet markets around the country. Smith is even running a large manufacturing site where he is selling his artisan meats to over 50 clients wholesale around the US.

Nina Gallant

When discussing Moody’s, Smith is so infectious about meat and charcuterie. He’s literally giddy, and his passion is contagious. Smith grew up in Charlotte, NC and New Jersey. He had no formal culinary education, but always enjoyed food. At 15 he worked at McDonald’s, and then at Dean & Deluca where one day the butcher didn’t show up and Smith learned the ins and outs of cooking from French Master Chef Charles Semail. That’s when the addiction started, learning how to tackle charcuterie at age 19.

Feeling restless, Smith hitchhiked to the West Coast for a period of time. He worked at various restaurants and eventually found himself at the Four Seasons where he incorporated his passion for creating homemade meats. After falling in love with his wife, they relocated to Massachusetts and settled down in the sleepy town of Waltham.

Marisa Olsen

With a few more restaurants under his belt in Boston and an itch to make more meat, Smith was determined to find a safe learning and experimental place for chefs to work and create homemade charcuterie. Backed by his former employer, the Four Seasons, Smith went to Iowa State to learn about cured meats and to hone his culinary skills. He began consulting for a few chefs in the area, and finally laid his eyes on an old Italian deli in Waltham, which he bought and re-opened as Moody’s.

With a growing family, Smith wanted to find a work-life balance so, with the help of his silent partner, he started Moody’s as a breakfast and lunch spot. Smith established a great rapport with the USDA and started making homemade sausage and pork rolls, which basically put him on the map. Three months after Moody’s opened, this Jewish boy from the South’s signature and sought-after breakfast pork roll was on the cover of Boston Magazine; a made-to-order, mouth-watering egg, cheese, and pork roll sandwich, topped with spicy ketchup.

Marisa Olsen

As Moody’s took off, Smith started to strategize how he could help chefs and farmers. He began to build a community, developing relationships not only with hungry customers, but with chefs and restaurateurs who believed in sourcing local food and sustaining relationships with other farmers and purveyors. Chefs began to come to Waltham to get their fix on hand-cured meats and Smith would sell wholesale over the counter.

Cheese goes hand-in-hand with meat, so Smith added onto the deli concept, creating The Backroom: a swanky, chic wine bar spot with a wood fire grill and oven behind the deli area. He has plans to add on and create another space dedicated to his other love–seafood. And he is even working on a taco and BBQ bar. Smith reflects, “It’s crazy to think that a sleepy street in Waltham will soon boast a deli, wine-and-cheese restaurant, raw bar, and taco bar. One can basically enjoy handmade salami, flatbreads, oysters, and braised tacos in one place.”

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In addition to his brick and mortar shops, Smith is very focused on his 10,000 square-foot manufacturing site, also set in Waltham. His wholesale business, New England Charcuterie, is taking off with about 70 clients, and you can find his meats in places around the country, such as epicurean hot spots like Murray’s and Eataly, but also farm stands and other markets in Bermuda and Miami, hotels and, of course, restaurants. Local Charlestown, Mass. restaurant Brewer’s Fork showcases Moody’s meats on his menu. “I have had a unique perspective on Moody’s and New England Charcuterie as I am not only a wholesale customer of theirs but I worked there for the first year of their existence while I was opening Brewer’s Fork. In addition to fact that you can taste the quality in the product itself, I know firsthand that Josh has a ‘no compromise’ policy on everything: If it is the best ingredient, the best equipment, the best people, he wants it no matter the cost. The restaurant and food business is often driven by people trying to drive costs down. Moody’s focuses on their commitment to quality and that begets a product that is second to none,” says John Paine, owner and chef of Brewer’s Fork. “That is why they have been so successful.”

Marisa Olsen

So how does Smith do it? Pork, love, and time, combined with patience, passion, and respect for the animals. Smith and his team are obsessed with quality and are fanatic about details. For instance, the coarse gray sea salt he sources (and has even raked) hails from the Ile de Re in France and he swears it’s what makes his bresaola shine. He’s even spent $10,000 of his own money to fund a study at Penn State that proves his method of curing whole muscle meat can become shelf stable through slow curing.

Smith has also developed great relationships with meat purveyors both on a local level and with cattle ranches from the Midwest. The animals are treated well, and often times Smith will pay farmers an advance so that the animals will stay on the farms longer (meaning they age and have a chance to gain the most optimal weight, often reaching as much as 350-400 pounds per animal). Smith believes in seasonality and being creative—from nose to tail. In the fall months, he plays with making sausage; in the winter he focuses on terrines and pâtés; and in the spring and summer he explores whole muscles and smoked meats.

“I love chaos–The more crazy it gets, the more focused I get.”

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New Valentine’s Day Candy That’s Still Worth Buying After Valentine’s Day

For many of us, the best part about Valentine’s Day is actually the day after the holiday. Feb. 15 presents us with some of the greatest discounts on candy that we’ll see all year. 50 percent off heart-shaped boxes of chocolate! Two-for-one deals on bags of red and white M&Ms! Give us all of the pink Reese’s NOW! Sales like these are almost enough to hold us over until the next round of deals, come the day after Halloween.

The best part is everyone can take part in this celebration. Regardless of your relationship status or tolerance for overtly commercial sentimentality, cheap-o candy doesn’t discriminate. No one is immune to the siren call of dollar chocolate, even in its sappy, heart-shaped form.

As you take time out of your post-Valentine’s Day schedule, to roam the aisles of your local drug store, we decided to help you out with your shopping list. Here are some of the latest novelty candies to hit supermarket shelves this season and they’re well worth eating far past the holiday. One thing’s for sure—they’re a lot better than stale conversation hearts.

Hershey’s Cupcake Kisses

Hershey’s

For a candy that doesn’t contain any chocolate, these Kisses are pretty amazing. They taste like buttercream, cake batter, and white chocolate, with a little crunch. Marry the first person to buy a whole bag just for you.

Skittles Love Mix

Skittles

Skittles’ new flavor mix contains all the pink and purple goodness that sugar can contain. The new bags contain watermelon, white grape, strawberry, cherry, and yumberry (yes, that’s an actual fruit). If you hate citrus, this combination is for you!

Reese’s Pink Hearts

Hershey’s

Even Reese’s had to get in on the millenial pink action. But just because this candy is the trendiest color imaginable, doesn’t mean it doesn’t taste as good as a classic peanut butter cup. Same goes for the sentimental heart shape.

Pink Kit Kat

Nestle Japan

Okay, so you probably won’t be able to score a sale on these Kit Kats, since they’re only available in Japan. But good news: They can be ordered online and shipped internationally. Here’s the weirdest part—their pink color is totally natural. The chocolate is made from ruby cacao beans and has a berry-like sourness. If you’re fortunate enough to try them, let us know if they live up to the hype.

Ghirardelli White Chocolate Crème Brûlée Squares

Target

In case you’re feeling fancy, track down these crème brûlée-flavored white chocolate squares. Ooh la la!

Heart-Shaped Peppermint Patties

Target

Even if you think Peppermint Patties taste like sugary chalk, the penguins on the packaging are so damn adorable. We may as well buy six bags.

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Kalustyan’s Foods of Nations and the Evolution of Neighborhood Tastes

A first glance down the Lexington Avenue corridor of Manhattan’s East 20s reveals little that would beckon a thrill-seeking food traveler into a detour. Taxi cabs occupy the parking spots on either side of the otherwise unassuming street, their vivid yellow exteriors a riot of color against the cement, like dual streaks of mustard flanking the sides of a street cart hot dog. Their drivers are on their lunch breaks, snagging quick, familiar meals at either Curry in a Hurry or Curry Express, bookending the same block between 28th and 29th Streets, their piquant, savory perfume overruling less enticing city smells for a stretch.

Food traveler or otherwise, should you find yourself lured down the avenue by the warm aroma of coriander and cumin, you’d easily miss the National Historic Landmark plaque, amidst a smattering of burgundy awnings at 123 Lexington Avenue, commemorating the home where Chester A. Arthur took the presidential oath of office on September 20, 1881. Other information to be found on the plaque—the home’s next owner was none other than William Randolph Hearst, newspaper mogul and father of sensationalist journalism.

The building itself must have some certain mojo, then, as the current occupant of the ground floor since 1944 is Kalustyan’s—a neighborhood spice market that is as sensational a reason to visit the block as any, especially for the particular ilk of adventure-seekers who puts grocery shopping on the spectrum between a dreamy way to pass a few hours and an all out, adrenaline-fueled, competitive sport. Arguably, Kalustyan’s is also as emblematic a New York figure as either of the aforementioned occupants in its limber ability to both follow and drive ever-changing neighborhood tastes.

Pamela Vachon

“People always say, ‘well, Kalustyan’s you have everything’ and I always say, ‘well we don’t have everything, but we have a lot of things,’” laughs Dona Abramson, manager of operations at the market since 2013. That which the majority of us would classify simply as “staples” or “condiments,” Kalustyan’s manages to sub-categorize into no fewer than 25 departments, including Beans, Peas, Lentils and Dal; Extracts, Flavors, and Floral Water; and Sugars, Jaggery, and Palm Sugar. Spending an hour on its website alone is to indulge in a little culinary escapism: 80 nations are represented in their foodstuffs. “(They) say ‘oh, it’s like a museum’ and I say except you can touch things and you can afford to buy them.”

To say Kalustyan’s has anything you can imagine would do it a disservice, no offense to your imagination. The bean varieties in the legume aisle read like a cast of characters from a Dr. Seuss book. Despite a culinary school pedigree, there are products I can more easily believe were ripped from Professor Snape’s catalogue than I can conceive of their function: Peruvian Freeze Dried Potatoes, Burmese Fermented Tea Leaves, Irish Moss Flakes. The hot sauce aisle inspires a Gatsby-esque emotional frenzy for like-minded heat-seekers. Even if you’ve come simply to snag curry powder, you’re going to have to get a great deal more specific in terms of culture, method of production, and degree of burn you crave. Nevermind the scores more spice blends not specifically designated as curry. Oh, and would you like that in a 2 ounces, 6 ounces, or 16 ounces package? All this in a store about a quarter of the size of an average New York grocery.

Pamela Vachon

Kalustyan’s obviously did not burst into existence as the temple of world flavor it is today, but from its humble roots what it has always done well is to keep a finger on the pulse of the neighborhood, with a generous interpretation of what qualifies as neighborhood. Aziz Osmani has been co-owner with his business partner Sayedul Alam since 1988: “Generations changed, ingredients changed, demands changed, and all these things had a a role to play. Besides a household grocery, we are in a stage that people consider us an institution, where you go and find things that you cannot find anywhere else, and people know that they will find it here.”

Kerope Kalustyan, a Turkish-Armenian spice trader, opened his market as a function for the small Armenian community who had settled in that area, providing access to taste-of-home ingredients unlikely to be found in the local Gristedes, including products such as bulgur, dried fruits, and specialty oils as well as spices. Then the U.S. saw a boom in Indian immigration in the 1960s and 1970s when immigration laws changed and many came here to attend college. At the time there were few places to find Indian ingredients in all of the U.S., nevermind just New York City. “Many years back, let’s say the ‘80s, we used to see many immigrant families that used to buy hundreds and hundreds of dollars in groceries,” Osmani explained, coming from all over the Northeastern U.S., establishing Kalustyan’s not only as a resource, but also as a cultural center, which in turn caused an influx of Indian immigrants to establish a strong hold in the neighborhood, and with it the nickname ‘Curry Hill.’”

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A generational shift happened in the 1990s, whereby the American-born children of the initial wave of immigrants were less interested in the foods their parents ate, but meanwhile the revitalization of the restaurant industry radiating out from Union Square was bringing more chefs through the doors, and Kalustyan’s responded with more Southeast Asian and Latin American products, as well as cocktail bitters to meet the growing interest in cocktail culture of the late 1990s and 2000s. “We used to have about three or four bitters, the basics,” Osmani explained, “and then over a period of time lately it’s increasing and increasing and increasing.” “It’s really become become a big destination for bitters and cocktail syrups,” Abramson added. “People don’t expect it; they think ‘oh it’s an Indian market’ but it’s so much more.” Following that they were ahead of the curve on the molecular gastronomy movement of the 2010s, rightfully acknowledging that “this is a moment and we need to be on top of it.” Initially driven by requests from chefs, they currently stock over 100 products for all of your emulsion, spherification, and flash-freezing needs.

Pamela Vachon

The moral of the story is, to stay relevant and serve whatever community treats you as a resource, you have to listen. “What we sort of do is if one person asks for something, we say sorry we don’t have that. If we start hearing it two, three times then we say alright now we have to look for it, we have to bring it in. We source things based on customer demand, if it falls within our big world.” A big world indeed, even with the smallest of packages.

So, what’s up-and-coming according to the lens of demand at Kalustyan’s? “Right now there’s a big interest in Middle Eastern,” says Abramson, “so, a lot of za’atar, sumac, tahini, couscous, bulgur…” due perhaps to several upscale Middle Eastern restaurants such as Ilili, Nur, and Kubeh who are experiencing a rise in popularity. “And then people want to cook with those flavors.”

But what I found more interesting is a bit of a full-circle trend that Kalustyan’s is experiencing now in a moment where authenticity has become avant garde. “There’s a period where you don’t want to eat like your grandmother and you don’t want the old stuff but now that’s kind of turning, and I hear young women saying ‘oh yeah my grandmother used to make that’ and I’m going to ask her for the recipe, and it seems there’s more of an interest in learning about your roots and your culture.”

No matter where your grandmother is from, you’ll do well to bring her recipe to Kalustyan’s with you.

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‘Hangry’ Is Officially a Word in the Oxford English Dictionary

We’ve all been there before. Who hasn’t experienced that awful feeling when you’re starving and then start to get mad that you’re starving? When there are no snacks to be found, hunger and anger collide to form the “hangry” phenomena. I’m sure you’ve used the term to describe your desire for pizza (when there sadly was no pizza) before erupting into a volcano of screams and tears.

If you’re looking for some academic sources to validate your unsatisfied emotional state, well, look no further. The Oxford English Dictionary has just included the word in their latest update.

While you may think the colloquial term is current linguistic development, it’s actually been around a lot longer than we thought. It may have been popularized in a recent Snickers ad campaign, but its first usage dates back to the 1950s. Though we’re betting the feeling itself has existed since the beginning of time, when cave people scrounged the earth for a smattering of berries or nuts or whatever cave people ate, only to find a bundle of leaves and sticks instead. I hate it when that happens. GRRR.

Here’s how Head of U.S. Dictionaries, Katherine Connor Martin, explained it in a statement:

“It is only in the 21st century that the word hangry, a blend of hungry and angry used colloquially to mean ‘bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger,’ has entered common use. However, the earliest known evidence for the word dates from 1956, in an unusual article in the psychoanalytic journal ‘American Imago’ that describes various kinds of deliberate and accidental wordplay.”

The OED also added a bunch of other new words, as well.  After consulting with various experts,  they decided to include “Me time,” “mansplaining,” “selfie” and  “swag,” among others. Maybe “dollarita” will make the cut next time around?

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BraveTart's Devil's Food Cake

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How to Make an Ice Luge

With the Winter Olympics starting, it’s time for us mortals to gather around the TV and marvel at what other human beings are capable of. Seriously, I can’t even believe I’m the same species as Olympians. There are people in this world sliding on ice at speeds of 100 miles per hour and the second I step foot on a partially-frozen puddle, I am down for the count. So, while I may not be great at winter sports—or anything having to do with winter, if I’m honest—there is one thing I am really great at: taking shots. And what’s one thing taking shots and the Olympics have in common? Luge! While you’re watching world-class athletes fly down a path of ice, I’m going to teach you how to make your own homemade ice luge so you can take part in the action—and get good and drunk in the process.

1. So, first things first, you’ll need some kind of bin. Any old storage bin or plastic tub will totally suffice—as long as it fits in your freezer!

2. Fill the bin with cool water. Make sure you don’t fill it all the way to the brim, though; you need to leave some room for expansion. Once the bin is full, put it in the freezer, tilting the container slightly length-wise. This will ensure that your shot will actually travel all the way down your luge. Leave it in the freezer until the water is completely frozen through. Depending on how big your luge is, this could take a few hours.

3. When your block of ice is ready, it’s time to carve paths for your shots! A sturdy knife, a hammer, or even a screwdriver would be the perfect carving tool. Get creative with the paths; make them intersect, carve an “S” shape, go nuts! They should be about an inch thick. Just be careful—if you want to carve two paths so that multiple people can use the ice luge at once, you need to make sure you’re leaving enough room between paths for both people to drink comfortably at the bottom!

4. Once you’re satisfied with the paths you’ve carved, you need to smooth them out. While ice in a drink is usually favorable, I doubt people will want to swallow shards of the ice luge with their shots. The simplest way to do this is to continue to pour hot water down the channels until they’re nice and smooth.

5. You’re all ready to go! My last few safety tips would be to make sure the luge is secure on a sturdy table before use. It’s also extra safe to have someone stand at the top of the luge while it’s in use, just to make sure it’s not sliding anywhere. Pour slowly, drink responsibly, and bring home the gold(schlager)!

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