Beef on Weck

Another simple yet indescribably delicious treat from the Nickel City. Take thin-sliced, slow-roasted roast beef, add a little (or more if you dare!) horseradish, some au jus and pile it onto a kümmelweck/kimmelweck (aka “weck”) roll. Sounds like a roast beef sandwich, right? Not so much. The roll makes the sandwich the classic that it is. A weck roll is basically like a Kaiser roll, but it is covered with kosher salt and caraway seeds. The salt is probably what makes it a staple in every bar in Western New York. Salt = thirst = more beverage orders. Not only that, it just makes the sandwich downright incredible. In this respect it doesn’t require cheese, onions, or any other toppings. Simplicity is best.

Whether you call it Beef on Weck or Beef on Wick, definitely call on these places to ease your curiosity or craving.

Schwabl's

Charlie the Butcher

Anderson's Custard

Brennan's

As an expat, your best bet is to enjoy your Beef on Weck in town when the ingredients are fresh. PLEASE don’t try to eat one while you drive! If you don’t have time to stop for a meal, pick up some rolls to take home since they are not found outside of Buffalo (though maybe as far as Rochester). Get a good quality roast beef, sliced thin, and ask the butcher for some au jus. Don’t forget the horseradish! Try to eat your sandwich that day. You could freeze the rolls, but they’re definitely not quite the same.

If you visit Buffalo frequently, make it a mission to try out any and all Beef on Weck sandwiches you can. It sounds like a simple sandwich, but you will find that not everyone does it the same and not everyone does it well. Compare and contrast and come up with your own personal favorite.

Mighty Taco

By nature I’m not a fast food person. Mighty Taco, however, is a splurge for which I am willing to sacrifice my health and well-being. For some reason, I get the impression that Mighty Taco is at least more natural than other “leading taco restaurants” due to the fact that they are localized all of their locations in the Buffalo area. I like to think they have more control about what goes into the food and therefore it is better for me.

Nothing beats a Super Mighty burrito. The ingredients are not at all unique, but a Super Mighty is a great alternative to a typical greasy burger and fries. And it always tastes better the later you have one. After moving to Rochester, I never quite found a good substitute for Mighty Taco. I ended up working with a student who was attending UB; he quickly became my supplier. When he came home to Rochester to work weekends, he would stash away an extra Super Mighty for me. In turn I would reward him with the occasional pick of the bellman shifts.

Nowadays I don’t need a connection, though there is a Mighty Taco a half-mile from my parents’ house. Thanks to shipping advances and online technology I can now order a dozen or two beef and cheese burritos, thus keeping my freezer well-stocked for Mighty Taco emergency withdrawals. They’re not Super Mightys, but I guess they’ll do. I just wish they shipped loganberry, too!

Ted's Hot Dogs

The hot dog. Simple fare that garners cult followings the world over. Some people will tell you that it’s not about the hot dog, but the toppings on the dog: slaw in the south; sauerkraut and mustard in NYC; pickles, peppers and tomatoes in Chicago; chili and onions on Coneys in the Midwest. Not at Ted’s. The hot dog IS what it’s all about. The toppings are the icing on the cake (or the mustard on the dog so to speak). They have killer burgers, too, but their full name is Ted’s Charcoal Broiled Hot Dogs. You have to have a dog at some point. Ted’s is the ultimate summer destination where you can enjoy eating outside while all your cares seem to just fade away. Even in the dead of the world-famous Buffalo winter, Ted’s makes it feel like you’re enjoying a summer cookout in the warm comfort of their restaurant.

Charcoal broiling is the key. Start with a regular, jumbo or foot long. Then, your hot dog technician expertly grills it to perfection. Having eaten nothing but Ted’s or home-grilled hot dogs, I assumed that’s what you got when you ordered a hot dog. On one particular family trip to Maine, we went out to lunch at a lobster dock. My sister and I (at the time) did not eat lobster, so I ordered a hot dog. When I picked up the red and white checkered paper tray, I stared, bewildered, at my lunch. I remember telling the server, “This hot dog isn’t cooked. Can I get one that is?” She replied that it was indeed cooked; it was boiled. WHAT? Who does that? Where were the grill marks? I guess I ate it. I wouldn’t have wanted to waste money, but apparently it was decidedly unmemorable. Give me a “ripper” any day. The darker, wrinklier and ripped it is, the better! It has to have that crunch or snap when bitten.

Add your choice of a few simple toppings like mustard, relish, onions, ketchup, chili, kraut and/or their own hot sauce to complete your dog. Round out the meal with their signature curly fries and a loganberry drink. It does not get any better than that.

Bison Chip Dip

I wouldn’t consider myself a connoisseur of chip dips, but I have yet to find one that surpasses or even matches Bison Chip Dip. Though the name has apparently changed to french onion dip, it’s still the best out there. I’ve tried other brands of pre-made dip and even packets you mix into sour cream. They don’t quite cut it. Some are way too oniony, others are too salty. There’s something about Bison Chip Dip. Perhaps it contains, as Don would explain, the “more ingredient.” Some secret ingredient that keeps you going back for more.

Thinking back, Bison Chip Dip makes me think of Troyer Farms potato chips. Crinkle cut in the blue bag. Crinkles made for better dipping- more places to hold the dip! It was a classic combination and, to my knowledge, the only combination allowed in our house. We were all chip heads, so we took our snacking seriously.

You know it’s serious when there are pages on Facebook devoted to the heavenly dip. Even more serious when you’re actually a member. Totally serious when you post on said page. Oh yeah, it’s that good. It’s even the official dip of the Buffalo Bills. I mean, how many NFL teams have an official dip? (Insert joke here.)

Friday Fish Fry

Continuing the streak of posts about healthy Buffalo foods, we now have the Friday Fish Fry. First of all, any meal with an alliterative name has to be awesome. This Western NY institution differs slightly from the classic English fish and chips. “Our” version seems to revolve around the world’s largest piece of haddock as opposed to several smaller pieces in the Brit version. In some areas of the country (the Midwest in particular), this feast is generally offered on Fridays during Lent as Roman Catholics observe their abstention from meat. Buffalo restaurants, however, have a fish fry on the menu every Friday. That’s 52 times a year. How can you not love that availability?

But it sounds so unhealthy. If you just said that, stop reading now. Seriously. Health concerns go right out the door when you head out for a fish fry. The Friday Fish Fry is not about nutrition at all; it’s all about family, friends and fun. It’s not uncommon for the slab of fish to hang over both sides of the plate and the French fries to number in the hundreds. Add cole slaw and tartar sauce and call it a meal. When Mom didn’t feel like cooking on a Friday, we’d hear, “How about a fish fry tonight?” I don’t ever remember a refusal of that offer. Even today it’s impossible to resist.

When you’re not trying to avoid cooking, the fish fry is also used as a socialization tool. It’s a great end to the week when you can get together and unwind. And for some reason, the more of a dive the place is, the better the fish fry. You definitely can’t go fancy with this one. If they use pesto, tarragon, roasted garlic, white wine reduction, or anything imported or infused anywhere in their fish fry description, run the other way! Just batter. Beer batter is even better. Classic fries. No fooling around- potatoes only. Top it off with a cold beverage of your choice and you’ve got yourself a fish fry. Simple, comforting, blue-collar and wickedly delicious! (Start your diet the next day.)

Pizza, Buffalo-Style

Every city, state, region and even country has its own style of pizza. Buffalo is not necessarily known as being world famous for its pizza, but it does have a style all its own. I suppose being geographically located between two major pizza cities- New York and Chicago- makes pizza from Buffalo a happy medium of the two styles. Almost like the Goldilocks pizza, not too thin and not too thick. It’s just right. For a city that’s not real pizza destination, there are certainly a lot of pizzerias. One on every corner. Maybe even two. At one corner, near where I grew up, there are actually 3 pizzerias.

Pizza, to me, is all about memories. Just like wings, pizza made an appearance at every celebration we ever had. Birthday = pizza. Sleepovers = pizza. Also like wings, we never took our pizza eating lightly. It was all about the sheet pizza. A huge rectangle of cheese, sauce and pepperoni, the sheet pizza never failed to fill you up. I can’t tell you exactly how big it was, but I’m thinking roughly the size of your average doormat. OK, maybe it seemed that big because I was smaller. The point is, it was huge! Comfort food at its best.

But how did it taste?

The dough: Soft yet slightly crispy, doughy and inexplicably tasty

The sauce: Not chunky, not sweet, just simply seasoned tomato sauce

The cheese: Lots of it!

Toppings: Only one mattered- pepperoni! I’m pretty sure I have eaten my weight in pepperoni several times over. Not that there’s anything wrong with that… is there?

Now that I live in the “New York Metropolitan Area,” all I can get is the insanely thin, fold-it-in-half-when-you-eat-it pizza. Don’t get me wrong, it tastes amazing. However, I miss the texture, the heft, the sheer volume of toppings. I wonder if anyone delivers across the state. Actually, Bocce’s Pizza does! Programming speed dial right now…

Sponge Candy

One of the most amazing confections ever created, yet one of the most difficult to describe. Scientifically speaking, the “sponge” center is made from corn syrup, sugar, baking soda and vinegar. Sounds unappealing and slightly odd, right? Poetically speaking, it is magnificently light and airy with a crisp texture that just melts in your mouth on contact. The flavor is basically like caramelized sugar or molasses. The sponge is crunchy but full of little air bubbles created by the baking soda-vinegar reaction. In some parts of the country it is sold just as the sponge (under names like sea foam or honeycomb), but the key to Buffalo sponge candy is the super thick chocolate coating- milk chocolate, dark chocolate and (my absolute favorite) orange chocolate!

Sponge candy was and still is a staple at Christmas time. Those chocolate-covered squares of culinary luxury looked so good sitting in the candy dish, waiting for company to arrive. Well, some were actually triangles, but I’m sure they originally aspired to be full squares. How hard it was to resist just taking ONE piece! Who would notice? Well, at about $18 a pound these days someone is sure to miss those valuable pieces of heaven. It’s so special, in fact, that I just can’t bring myself to shove a whole piece in my mouth and chomp away at it. For as long as I can remember, I follow the same procedure when I enjoy sponge candy: bite the chocolate off the bottom, bite off two or three adjoining sides, extract the sponge and allow it to melt in my mouth, and then savor the remaining sides and top since that’s where the chocolate is the thickest. It’s just too good to gobble! (What? How do you eat it?)

Where does one get sponge candy? I have eaten sponge candy from Antoinette’s Sweets, Fowler’s and Watson’s. Personally, I am confident when I say Watson’s is THE best. Ever. Hands-down. Without a doubt. Period. (I still ask for it on my Christmas list!)

I try to share the love by bringing sponge candy to people who had unfortunate childhoods without it. If you want to get your own, below please find links to Watson’s and Fowler’s. (Apparently Antoinette’s does not have a website.)

Watson's Chocolates 

Fowler's Chocolates