June 20, 2025 • 34 mins
We present once again a collection of fantastic visions from you, dear listeners! This batch includes adventures both near and far, the finer points of pasta salads, and a deep dive into a delicious urban myth.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hello, and welcome to Saber Protection of iHeartRadio. I'm any
Reo and.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm Lauren Bolblabaum, and today we have an episode of
listener Mail for you.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Yes, you know we love these. Yes, Oh, y'all are
so delightful you are, and we love that you take
the time to write in and you share these stories
with us, and we love how you interact with each
other after hearing from each other. It's the best. It's wonderful.
(00:38):
It's been a minute since we've done one of these.
And I counted on you, Lauren, because I was just like,
I don't know what number. This is, no idea.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I did have to look it up. This is number
twenty two, just my favorite numbers.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Oh it is okay, great, cool, Yes, but yeah, thanks
as always to everyone for writing in. We've got some
really good ones today.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, yeah, some real meaty ones. Yeah. Truly truly a
spot of joy in a really heck and weird world
that we're living in right now. So so thank you
all so much. But yeah, you want to dive in, yes,
I will start.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
And I do have to say I have loved how
many people have written about pasta Sality, especially after Lauren's
pretty Uh. I won't to say not intense, but just like.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Slightly slightly harsh.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Yeah, you know that's okay. Yeah, but that didn't stop
you all?
Speaker 2 (01:47):
No as well?
Speaker 1 (01:48):
It should shunt. Yeah, no, it shouldn't. So we've got
some pasta sality emails here. Kelsey wrote, when Savor's latest
episodes started in my cueue this afternoon, I was prepping supper,
specifically pasta salad. I had not glanced at the title
or synopsis before listening. It was very fun listening to
(02:09):
you talk about pasta salad while I made some. When
I make pasta salad, it is usually because it is
hot out and I am trying to avoid cooking late
in the day. It is always a what have I
got and how can I use it?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
For centure.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Occasionally I crave a lemony garlicky feta and olive strewn taboule,
but no one else in my house really wants that,
so it's just for me. Tonight's pasta salad is fusilli
with grated parmesan dice, tomato dice, bell pepper, corn, and
chopped pickled chilis. The dressing is salsa, canola oil and
a bit of mayo, a squirt of ketchup with cumin, coriander, paprika,
(02:48):
and regano all run through the food processor to smooth
and emulsify. It'll be served alongside grilled Smoky's and a
green salad. I have to say all of your sometimes
I'm so envious of your dinner situations listeners when I
(03:11):
hear what you do and how you have these go
to recipes. My mom, she was a big to boulet.
Oh she loved it, but similarly, my brothers and dad
didn't really like it, so it was just for her also.
(03:32):
But yeah, I mean that sounds that sounds delightful. That
sounds like the tabulet one sounds like exactly what I
would like to eat. That other one if you left
out the pasta, I would be great with it. But uh, yeah,
it's just a personal thing that I'm going to have
(03:52):
to continue working through, you know or not?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yeah, sure, lean in.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeah, But I also appreciate like it's a like a summertime.
It's a fun time. I can make this. I have
to say, this is something I have to work through.
If I see like I have to put something in
a food processor.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Oh oh man, we need to get you like one
of those little immersion blenders.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
That you just have.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Oh it's so easy, Annie, I know.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
E'sye. I know, I need to work through it. Okay,
we both have things. Maybe we'll think about more.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
There you go. There, that's always always room for self consideration. Sure, yes, uh,
Cale wrote, Hi Annie and Lauren, your recent episode on
You Guessed It? Pasta Salad had me considering whether or
not it is a dish I actually enjoy. I loved
the butt when you say how it's never really the
main event, but more of a side option at potlucks
(04:58):
and barbecues. This is eventually what I decided as well,
and ultimately it's a side I most often try to
avoid due to my sensory issues with certain food textures.
Lo and behold. A few days later, my partner lovingly
made pasta salad as a main dish for dinner. I
took this as a sign from the universe that maybe
it was time for me to give it another chance,
(05:19):
especially because the dish was a childhood favorite of my partners,
as her mother would make it on hot days because
of its simplicity and well general coldness. The verdict, I
can now say I am a big fan of my
partner's pasta salad. It is still up for debate whether
I enjoy all pasta salads or just this one. But
I do think any dish made with love is a
(05:39):
dish worth trying, regardless of past experiences. While my partner's
mom passed away some years ago and I never had
the pleasure of meeting her, I feel so lucky I
get to meet her in all the wonderful qualities and
traditions my partner shares with me. Thanks so much for
continuing to be a bright spot in my week and
for allowing me the opportunity to cry about pasta salad.
(06:00):
Oh always, absolutely, we support crying about food. Oh but yeah,
that is so lovely. That's really cool.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
That is that is and there is something special about
someone sharing something that is important to them, that has
this history, maybe to their family or something. And so
there's something about that that I do think adds an
extra like, okay, I can taste how much you love this? Almost?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah? Yeah? And of course any personal dietary restrictions notwithstanding.
You know, if if someone makes a dish with love,
you know, even if you're even if you think you
might not like it. Try it, Try it, you might
be so pleasantly surprised. Yeah, yeah, when you can. When
it's when it's safe too, you know, yeah, have fun
(07:01):
out there.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
But yeah, yeah, don't make yourself miserable. But no, Generally,
when people make something, I think they want to share it,
and they're happy to share it, and so if you're
open to it, I say, go for it.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Absolutely no.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Bass the salad. Okay, Now we have a note from
Ric about a couple different things. Ark wrote, Dorito's are
an interesting snack. I can't recall anyone coming close to
making a similar slash clone of the chip. They are
(07:39):
a chip I enjoy, but it is also a chip
that I need to be in the mood for. They
do hit the spot when in the mood. If I'm
going to have a walking taco, I will take Dorito's
over Frito's. While Frito's are the original, I think Dorito's
make a better walking taco. I've also used them in
a taco salad instead of regular tortilla chips to give
(08:02):
a bit of a twist. They do have a variety
of flavors, but there is something about the original nacho
and cool ranch flavors. I've tried a couple of different
flavors over the years, but nothing really struck me. If
I go overseas at some point again, I'll have to
look and see what is there and even compare their
base nacho to what we have here. Oo Oh, pasta salad.
(08:25):
I know you are definitely going to hear a lot
of strong video here. While I don't mind pasta salad,
I think there are very few that are done really
well to the point that I want to have more.
During the summer or at potluck type gatherings, I'll grab
a small bite to try. I think a large majority
fall into the It's fine, but nothing really special or
(08:45):
memorable going on. The dressing really makes a difference on it.
I generally encountered it either being overdressed or underdressed, and
when overdressed it seems like it will be an oil
bomb or a Mayo bomb. Yes, with the dressing, I
think an oil based one works better for the most part.
While I like a good Mayo for the most part,
(09:05):
I think mayo and pasta don't really go together. Well.
Maybe someone can change her mind, but I haven't found
one I liked yet. Seems like it is more common
with elbow macaroni for some reason, and oil and vinegar
with the appropriate herbs works better. As Lauren mentioned, she
might like an orizo based pasta salad more. Those are
(09:28):
generally simpler and not overdone. Just cook up some orizo ads,
some good chopped olives, dice cucumber, some sliced cherry or
grape tomatoes, a little finely diced red onion or shallot,
and a little asiago. Then at a dressing of your choice,
a simple herb red wine vinaigrette would go well. I
don't have a recipe handy, but I do remember having
(09:50):
one like this that was definitely one of the better ones.
Also a wild thought, maybe if we take a sosa
pasta salad add some doritos to it. Finally, I can't
remember if you've done an episode on lentils. I've been
cooking with them a lot more recently. They are so versatile.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
We we have a November of twenty twenty two, the
sentimental lentil episode. Yes, classic title. Hats off to Annie
for those titles all the time.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
I have to say, I'm loving this sort of Madman esque.
Let's just add doritos to it.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Yeah, it does. Why let's go Yeah, walking taco withas
I do think that sounds really good. That sounds slightly
overwhelming to me, Like Dorito's are already kind of like
a heightened flavor experience, and so I'm like, would I
be able to handle a walking taco dorito situation?
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Only one way to find.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Out, right, And yeah, like why not put some cool
ranch Dorito's into your nice orzo pasta salad? I don't
see where we could possibly go wrong?
Speaker 1 (11:17):
No, I mean at least the experiment will give more knowledge,
more data, and you can go from there.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Which is always worth having.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Yeah, it is, And I really hope more listeners continue
to write in about pasta salads and perhaps experiments with Dorito's.
I think that would be great. Love that.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
I love that other people have strong opinions about this.
That's I mean, I shouldn't be surprised. We have strong
opinions about just about every.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Food out there. But yeah, here we are. Yes, it's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Well, we do have a bunch more listener mail for you,
but first we've got a quick break for award from
our sponsor and we're back. Thank you sponsored, Yes, thank you,
and uh Okay, Nova wrote first, let me thank you
(12:19):
for doing an episode on cultured meats. I was very
sad to hear that bistro and vitro was never a
real thing. I'll have to wait a bit longer to
sample some lab meat, though apparently not in my home
state of Florida. To make it more relevant, I've been
waiting for a Saber Classics episode to come up on
chocolate chip cookies to write you this email, but decided
to throw caution into the wind and send it anyways.
(12:42):
Based on your cultural references, I deduce that both of
you are in my age group or thereabouts, so you
probably remember the days of the chain email. You may
have even seen this one come through your inbox at
some point in time, because it's been around for a
long time. I received it in two thousand and nine.
It was possibly a chain letter even before or email
was commonly used. I always had my doubts as to
(13:03):
its authenticity, but either way, I have made these cookies
several times and they are yummy. Indeed, it's a bit
long winded, so feel free to paraphrase Okay and then
Nova pastes in this chain email. That is a thing
that exists, so okay, let's go into it a little background.
(13:25):
Nieman Marcus, if you don't know already, is a very
expensive store. They sell your typical eight dollars shirt for
fifty dollars. Let's let them have it. This is a
true story. Good mark of any actual true story on
the internet.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
My daughter and I had just finished a salad at
Anemen Marcus cafe in Dallas, and we decided to have
a small dessert. Because both of us are such cookie lovers,
we decided to try the Nemen Marcus cookie. It was
so excellent that I asked if they would give me
the recipe, and the waitress said, with a small frown,
I'm afraid not, but you can buy the recipe.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Well.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
I asked how much, and she responded, only two fifty
it's a great deal. I agreed to that and told
her to just add it to my tab. Thirty days later,
I received my visa statement and the Nieman Marcus charge
was two hundred and eighty five dollars. I looked again
and I remembered I had only spent like nine to
ninety five for two salads and about twenty dollars for
a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement,
(14:17):
it said cookie recipe two hundred and fifty dollars. This
was outrageous. I called Neeman's accounting department and told them
the waitress said it was two fifty, which clearly does
not mean two hundred and fifty dollars by any reasonable interpretation.
Nieman Marcus refused to budge. They wouldn't refund my money because,
according to them, what the waitress told you is not
our problem. You've already seen the recipe. We absolutely will
(14:39):
not refund your money. I explained the accounting department lady
the criminal statutes that governed fraud in the state of Texas.
I threatened to report them to the Better Business Bureau
and the Texas Attorney General's Office for engaging in fraud.
And I was basically told, do what you want, don't
bother thinking of how you can get even, and don't
bother trying to get any of your money back. I
(14:59):
just said, okay, you folks got my two hundred and
fifty bucks, and now I'm going to have two hundred
and fifty dollars worth of fun. I told her that
I was going to see to it that every cookie
lover in the United States with an email account has
a two hundred and fifty dollars cookie recipe from Nieman
Marcus for free. She replied, I wish you wouldn't do this,
and I said, well, perhaps you should have thought of
(15:20):
that before you ripped me off and slammed down the phone.
So here it is. Please, please, please pass it on
to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid two
hundred and fifty bucks for this, and I don't want
Nimon Marcus to ever make another penny off of this recipe.
And then the recipe follows, I'm not going to read
it out right now, but you can absolutely Google. You
(15:43):
can email as or Google if you want the purported recipe.
Nova finishes the email. If you are planning a new
cookie esque episode, may I suggest Stroopwaffle. Growing up, we
would visit my family in the Netherlands every few years,
and these guys were a special treat for us. But
more recently they have been popping up at restaurants all
(16:03):
over the US. Okay, several things. First of all, yes,
for some reason, I was just thinking about streep Waffles
the other day and how we have not we've been
remiss and not talking about them.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Indeed very important. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Second of all, you're correct about us being of an age.
I'm like a couple years older than Annie, but certainly
I remember chain emails and physical chain letters. I even
remember the Ya horror books by Christopher Pike from the
late eighties or early nineties called Chainletter and Chainletter too,
the Ancient Evil. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Oh yeah, it'd be like, if you don't send this
to ten people, that's the end.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
For you, right, yeah, yeah, And this one functions on
like a slightly. It's not a threat to you, but
like you're sticking it to the man if you continued
the email, which which is a great way to motivate
people to send along an email. That is an urban myth.
(17:12):
It has indeed been debunked. One weird detail that proliferates
within the myth is that the writer found the charge
on her visa statement, but Nieman Marcus only accepted American
Express until nineteen ninety nine, which is years after the
story began circulating. This is one of our points of evidence.
(17:36):
I had to look into this, so okay, Niam and
Marcus maintains that they have never charged customers for recipes. Furthermore,
they didn't even have a company recipe for chocolate chip
cookies in the mid nineties, but apparently people believed this
story and were writing into them, like absolutely incensed, to
the point that by nineteen ninety seven they were so
fed up with this rumor that they had their executive
(17:56):
chef create a chocolate chip cookie recipe and they posted
it online for free, with like explicit notice that anyone
was free to distribute or print it as they wished.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Oh my goodness, this.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Was in nineteen ninety seven. You can still find that
recipe on their website. It is different than the one
in the chain letter. The chain letter version uses powdered
oatmeal and like a grated chocolate bar. The company version
uses instant espresso. They both sound pretty good anyway. As
(18:33):
of twenty sixteen, which is when Facebook had an iteration
of this tale circulating, Nieman Marcus's VP of communications told
Eater that she had not received an angry email about
the whole thing in six or seven years, and you know,
good for her. Wow, not done yet. So this is
(19:02):
not the first urban myth about a customer being like
sneakily overcharged for a recipe by some kind of uppity
retailer and then taking revenge by distributing said recipe. Snopes
found iterations of this going back to nineteen forty eight,
when this cookbook titled Massachusetts Cooking Rules Old and New
(19:22):
printed a recipe called twenty five dollars fudge Cake along
with this story about a woman who enjoyed a slice
of cake on a train, asking the chef for the recipe,
and being billed twenty five dollars for it, which at
the time was a lot more outrageous. In the nineteen sixties,
the villain was the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and it was
a three hundred and fifty dollars red velvet cake recipe.
(19:44):
In the seventies, it was Missus Fields and a two
hundred and fifty dollars chocolate chip cookie recipe. Some versions
of that story shifted the blame to Marshall Fields the
department store, and Snopes thinks that that is probably where
it to Nieman Marcus the department store.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Fascinating. That is so interesting to me.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
It's really wonderful in a kind of sick way.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Wow, because I feel like every chain letter I got
what the end wanted, some action from you. This one
I guess spreading this recipe. Yeah, but if it's not
really their recipe, I don't know that's interesting to me.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
I mean, it's a part in my use of an
industry phrase. But it's a great way to go viral.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
I guess they clearly did. I can't believe that me
and Marcus is still like, please.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Leave us alone about the heck and cookies.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
The recipe is all for free.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
We didn't even have one, but we made one for you.
Please leave us alone. Wow, this poor VP of Communications,
this woman who made it up through the chain of
command at name and Marcus and has been plagued by
accusations oh god decades.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Yeah, wow, whole thing. So thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Yes, thank you for putting that on our radar.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
We got to look into it. How wonderful.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Wow. I had no idea. That's now I want to
I want to go in all further deep dive.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Right like urban legends about I'm sure that others are
out there now now, I'm like, these can't be the
only ones.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, okay, well listeners right in if you've got any more, Yeah, okay,
but in the meantime, do you have more listener mail?
For you. Yeah, Janet wrote one of your episodes, asked
to send you my interesting cooking projects. I feel like
(22:17):
many concepts and food differ only by tradition. For example,
every culture has a version of things like bread, fried dough,
and dumplings. To test how different or similar food concepts are,
I like to make hybrid monstrosities a midway point in
between two disparate food ideas. This one is Lamington pizza.
(22:40):
I took the idea of a baked dough circle topped
in cheese, sauce, various herbs, especially basil and other vegetables
or meats. I combined it with the idea of a
square of sponge cake dipped in chocolate sauce and coated
in desiccated coconut or sometimes other nuts, oftenandwich with cream
(23:01):
and jam. This resulted in me making a marscapone and
sliced pineapple jam filled square bakedo dipped in tomato, chili
and chocolate sauce and covered in sliced roast almonds and
fresh basil. Thus it is a completely new abomination because
the pineapple is inside the pizza. It was generously filled,
(23:23):
so it was a rich dessert. Both soft and crunchy,
with the brightness of the basil counterpointing the sweet sour
of the jam, the richness of the marscapone, and bitter
umame of the chocolate sauce. It was so much better
than it had any right to me. If I made
it again, I would definitely coat it in desiccated coconut
(23:43):
to pair with the pineapple. Please find picture attached and
picture wells attached.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Yeah, I would absolutely try that. It does look slightly
like an abomination. It looks a little aggressive. That's a
good word for it. Yeah, threatening, Aura, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
It's a little menacing. But I adore that you're doing these.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Yeah, like, why not?
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Absolutely you might. I mean you could discover something. Maybe
this will become a whole thing we don't know, or
it could be the stepping stone to something.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Else, right, And really you never know until you try.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
You never know until you try. I do love I
know that's what it is. But I love your continued
usage of desiccated coconut.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Uh oh does that make you feel like like like
mummies are about?
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Yeah? Okay, it just adds another layer of like monstrosity.
It's said with fondness. This is great. Please write in
any other experiments.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Yeah, yeah, I need to know more about more of these.
That took a number of turns I did. But again,
I'm really really curious. Huh, I am.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Too, I am too. Yeah, keep the listeners. We always
want to hear about your food experiments.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Oh yeah, well we do have a little bit more
for you here today, but first we've got one more
quick break for a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
And we're back.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Thank you sponsors, Yes, thank you, Cecilia wrote your podcast
topics are always interesting and enlightening and sometimes amazingly pertinent
for me. On April fourth, you put out an episode
about Turkish Delight. I was in France at the time,
but made sure to listen as I was headed to
Turkey in a few weeks. Once we got to Turkey,
I started looking out for Turkish delight or Lookum, as
(26:09):
you said it was called. That is the name used
in Turkey, but because they want to appeal to tourists,
the shops there also call it Turkish Delight. I did
get some on our second day there. The shop had
lots of varieties, but I wanted to try the plain ones.
I bought a box of three flavors. They had rose,
honey and mint. They were delicious. Later I bought another
box to take to my son and his wife. That
(26:30):
box was from a rest stop on a highway and
it contained rose and lemon. I like those even better.
All attach a photo of a shop in the town
of Saffron Bola, which is named after Saffron. After Turkey.
We went to Cambridge, England to visit our son, daughter
in law and grandson. They lived next door to a
Sri Lankan family and mentioned that the family had cooked
(26:50):
a delicious dish for them that included leaves from the
curry tree. I tried to correct them to say that
curry wasn't a plant, but a mix of spices. They
insisted the neighborhood said that there was a curry tree.
That night, I looked at your podcast feed and saw
an episode on the curry Tree that I had just missed.
It is hard for me to keep up with podcasts
when I'm traveling, so I listened to that episode and
(27:11):
admitted my misunderstanding. The next day and now camembert ah
cam and Beert. As I said at the top, we
were in France, Normandy. Actually for the month of April.
We have a house there in a small village. We
spent the month getting the house ready for the market.
So if you know anyone looking for a small house
in a small village in Normandy, let us know. We're
asking ninety five thousand euros. It's a charming village and
(27:33):
we love the Normandy area, but with a grandson in England,
we need to spend more time in England. We'll still
vacation in France, though we've been spending time in Normandy
every year except twenty twenty since twenty ten. One year
we visited Camembert. There's a museum there devoted to the cheese,
but it was a disappointment. It consisted of some wallboards
with pictures. I don't even know if there's a factory
(27:55):
there producing cam and Beert. We did see the statue
of Marie Harel in the town center. It was interesting
to learn more about the statue through your podcast.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
So we're moving to Normandy, Lauren.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not doing it next week.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Let's go put our funds together. Cecilia continues. The Prisidon
Factory has a larger and more interesting museum that we
visited in Laval last year. That one takes you through
the entire history of cheese in that area, with lots
of pieces of equipment on display. They describe and detailed
the production of the cheese, but they don't let you
(28:33):
visit the actual factory. I suppose her reasons of safety
and cleanliness. In contrast, we did visit the factory in
Lone l'abier. On that visit, we were right on the
floor where the biscuits were being made. They were making
chocolate cookies at the time. They have a gift shop,
of course, but our guide told us we couldn't buy
the biscuits we saw them making because those were made
(28:55):
to ship to America. They are sold here under the
name Pierre Biscuity. But we were discussing camm bear. Our
house in Normandy is not far from the President factory
in Don, France, which claims to be the largest manufacturer
of cam and beer's in the world. We often see
the President trucks go by the house with the morning's milk.
(29:17):
Whenever we go out walking or driving in Normandy, we
see cows in the fields and orchards. Most of the
herds we see are small, twelve to forty cows. I'll
attach a picture of some normand cows. We see other
varieties as well. I have some Camembert in the fridge
at all times when I'm in Normandy and most of
(29:39):
the time here in North Carolina. There are many brands
available in the grocery store in Normandy. I've tried several
of them. Most are made from pasteoroid's milk, but I
did find one made from raw milk. I didn't notice
a difference in taste, but maybe I'm just not sophisticated
enough to taste the difference. I often buy the President brand,
(30:00):
but I've tried others as well. The cheeses in the
supermarket in France are fresher than the ones I buy.
Hear there's one variety I've bought called Les Rustique. This
one is creamier. When my sister in law was visiting,
she said that that one was the best, but it
is still made from Pastchoi's milk. And finally, you asked
(30:21):
for recipes. I loved baked bree or Camembert. And if
you are having people over or have a large family,
that's a wonderful way to serve the cheese. But if
you are just one person in the household eating it.
Baking a whole cheese at once is not a good idea,
so I have found out a way to enjoy baked
caman beert one serving at a time. You need a
(30:44):
five inch wheel of cammbert, a five inch round pocket peda.
I buy Joseph's which are low carb, a pop up toaster,
and a wire cheese cutter. I hope everyone who enjoys
cheese has a wire cutter. It is the best way
to cut soft cheese. Take your wheel of cheese and
cut it first in half so you have two semi circles.
(31:06):
Do the same with the peda. Then stand one semi
circle of cheese on the cut side in the wire
cutter and use a knife. Score the outside rind parallel
to the cutting wire, about one eighth inch in from
the edge. You need to score the front part where
the wire enters the cheese and the top, but once
the wire is in the cheese, it will continue to
(31:28):
cut through the rest of the rind. This trims off
the outside rind. It's fine to use this as the
first slice, but if you prefer not to eat that
much rind, you can just leave that part off. Next,
score the cheese twice more and cut two semicircular pieces
of cheese, put each one in the peda pockets and
(31:50):
drop them in a pop up toaster toast on a
medium setting until the cheese melts. The peda will keep
it from leaking into the toaster. I've been doing this
for years, never had a problem with leaking. That's it.
Enjoy your low carb sandwich. Well, I just have to
let you know how much I enjoy your podcast and
how often it relates directly to something in my life.
(32:16):
And lovely pictures were attached, by the way, Yeah, so
sad sometimes where we're.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Like, yeah, there were there were pictures. They were images.
We're not in an image medium, no, but yeah, oh
I love it when y'all write in and these like
weird coincidences. I promised that we're not surveilling you.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
No, no, but people write in about that kind of frequently.
Yeah right right, yes, also a cheese peta.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Oh right. I'm kind of mad at myself for never
having thought to do this.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Yeah. Yeah, it sounds like so.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
So obvious, like you have that you have the technology,
Like why wouldn't you.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
Just put the cheese in Theah?
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Yeah, delicious, so cool and oh my goodness. Thank you
for all of the information about Camembert and various cookies.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Yes, yes, always, we love that you go on such
You always sound so well traveled. You go on all
these journeys, Cecilia.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
And a lot of y'all.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
Yeah, a lot of you do, and we love that
you share that with us and we get to live
somewhat vicuriously through you. Yes. Well, this brings us to
the end of this listener mail episode, but we do
love so much hearing from all of you.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Yeah, absolutely, thank you. Thank you to everyone who wrote in.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
Thank you to everyone who wrote in, and please keep
those letters coming. We'll be here for twenty three and
if you would like to message us, you can. You
can email us at Hello, atsavorpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
We're also hypothetically on social media. We are on blue
Sky and Instagram at saver pod, and we do hope
to hear from you. Save is a production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers
Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening
(34:37):
and we hope that lots more good things are coming
your way.
Hello, and welcome to Saber Protection of iHeartRadio. I'm any
Reo and.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm Lauren Bolblabaum, and today we have an episode of
listener Mail for you.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Yes, you know we love these. Yes, Oh, y'all are
so delightful you are, and we love that you take
the time to write in and you share these stories
with us, and we love how you interact with each
other after hearing from each other. It's the best. It's wonderful.
(00:38):
It's been a minute since we've done one of these.
And I counted on you, Lauren, because I was just like,
I don't know what number. This is, no idea.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
I did have to look it up. This is number
twenty two, just my favorite numbers.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Oh it is okay, great, cool, Yes, but yeah, thanks
as always to everyone for writing in. We've got some
really good ones today.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Yeah, yeah, some real meaty ones. Yeah. Truly truly a
spot of joy in a really heck and weird world
that we're living in right now. So so thank you
all so much. But yeah, you want to dive in, yes,
I will start.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
And I do have to say I have loved how
many people have written about pasta Sality, especially after Lauren's
pretty Uh. I won't to say not intense, but just like.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Slightly slightly harsh.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Yeah, you know that's okay. Yeah, but that didn't stop
you all?
Speaker 2 (01:47):
No as well?
Speaker 1 (01:48):
It should shunt. Yeah, no, it shouldn't. So we've got
some pasta sality emails here. Kelsey wrote, when Savor's latest
episodes started in my cueue this afternoon, I was prepping supper,
specifically pasta salad. I had not glanced at the title
or synopsis before listening. It was very fun listening to
(02:09):
you talk about pasta salad while I made some. When
I make pasta salad, it is usually because it is
hot out and I am trying to avoid cooking late
in the day. It is always a what have I
got and how can I use it?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
For centure.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Occasionally I crave a lemony garlicky feta and olive strewn taboule,
but no one else in my house really wants that,
so it's just for me. Tonight's pasta salad is fusilli
with grated parmesan dice, tomato dice, bell pepper, corn, and
chopped pickled chilis. The dressing is salsa, canola oil and
a bit of mayo, a squirt of ketchup with cumin, coriander, paprika,
(02:48):
and regano all run through the food processor to smooth
and emulsify. It'll be served alongside grilled Smoky's and a
green salad. I have to say all of your sometimes
I'm so envious of your dinner situations listeners when I
(03:11):
hear what you do and how you have these go
to recipes. My mom, she was a big to boulet.
Oh she loved it, but similarly, my brothers and dad
didn't really like it, so it was just for her also.
(03:32):
But yeah, I mean that sounds that sounds delightful. That
sounds like the tabulet one sounds like exactly what I
would like to eat. That other one if you left
out the pasta, I would be great with it. But uh, yeah,
it's just a personal thing that I'm going to have
(03:52):
to continue working through, you know or not?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yeah, sure, lean in.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeah, But I also appreciate like it's a like a summertime.
It's a fun time. I can make this. I have
to say, this is something I have to work through.
If I see like I have to put something in
a food processor.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Oh oh man, we need to get you like one
of those little immersion blenders.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
That you just have.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Oh it's so easy, Annie, I know.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
E'sye. I know, I need to work through it. Okay,
we both have things. Maybe we'll think about more.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
There you go. There, that's always always room for self consideration. Sure, yes, uh,
Cale wrote, Hi Annie and Lauren, your recent episode on
You Guessed It? Pasta Salad had me considering whether or
not it is a dish I actually enjoy. I loved
the butt when you say how it's never really the
main event, but more of a side option at potlucks
(04:58):
and barbecues. This is eventually what I decided as well,
and ultimately it's a side I most often try to
avoid due to my sensory issues with certain food textures.
Lo and behold. A few days later, my partner lovingly
made pasta salad as a main dish for dinner. I
took this as a sign from the universe that maybe
it was time for me to give it another chance,
(05:19):
especially because the dish was a childhood favorite of my partners,
as her mother would make it on hot days because
of its simplicity and well general coldness. The verdict, I
can now say I am a big fan of my
partner's pasta salad. It is still up for debate whether
I enjoy all pasta salads or just this one. But
I do think any dish made with love is a
(05:39):
dish worth trying, regardless of past experiences. While my partner's
mom passed away some years ago and I never had
the pleasure of meeting her, I feel so lucky I
get to meet her in all the wonderful qualities and
traditions my partner shares with me. Thanks so much for
continuing to be a bright spot in my week and
for allowing me the opportunity to cry about pasta salad.
(06:00):
Oh always, absolutely, we support crying about food. Oh but yeah,
that is so lovely. That's really cool.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
That is that is and there is something special about
someone sharing something that is important to them, that has
this history, maybe to their family or something. And so
there's something about that that I do think adds an
extra like, okay, I can taste how much you love this? Almost?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah? Yeah? And of course any personal dietary restrictions notwithstanding.
You know, if if someone makes a dish with love,
you know, even if you're even if you think you
might not like it. Try it, Try it, you might
be so pleasantly surprised. Yeah, yeah, when you can. When
it's when it's safe too, you know, yeah, have fun
(07:01):
out there.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
But yeah, yeah, don't make yourself miserable. But no, Generally,
when people make something, I think they want to share it,
and they're happy to share it, and so if you're
open to it, I say, go for it.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Absolutely no.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Bass the salad. Okay, Now we have a note from
Ric about a couple different things. Ark wrote, Dorito's are
an interesting snack. I can't recall anyone coming close to
making a similar slash clone of the chip. They are
(07:39):
a chip I enjoy, but it is also a chip
that I need to be in the mood for. They
do hit the spot when in the mood. If I'm
going to have a walking taco, I will take Dorito's
over Frito's. While Frito's are the original, I think Dorito's
make a better walking taco. I've also used them in
a taco salad instead of regular tortilla chips to give
(08:02):
a bit of a twist. They do have a variety
of flavors, but there is something about the original nacho
and cool ranch flavors. I've tried a couple of different
flavors over the years, but nothing really struck me. If
I go overseas at some point again, I'll have to
look and see what is there and even compare their
base nacho to what we have here. Oo Oh, pasta salad.
(08:25):
I know you are definitely going to hear a lot
of strong video here. While I don't mind pasta salad,
I think there are very few that are done really
well to the point that I want to have more.
During the summer or at potluck type gatherings, I'll grab
a small bite to try. I think a large majority
fall into the It's fine, but nothing really special or
(08:45):
memorable going on. The dressing really makes a difference on it.
I generally encountered it either being overdressed or underdressed, and
when overdressed it seems like it will be an oil
bomb or a Mayo bomb. Yes, with the dressing, I
think an oil based one works better for the most part.
While I like a good Mayo for the most part,
(09:05):
I think mayo and pasta don't really go together. Well.
Maybe someone can change her mind, but I haven't found
one I liked yet. Seems like it is more common
with elbow macaroni for some reason, and oil and vinegar
with the appropriate herbs works better. As Lauren mentioned, she
might like an orizo based pasta salad more. Those are
(09:28):
generally simpler and not overdone. Just cook up some orizo ads,
some good chopped olives, dice cucumber, some sliced cherry or
grape tomatoes, a little finely diced red onion or shallot,
and a little asiago. Then at a dressing of your choice,
a simple herb red wine vinaigrette would go well. I
don't have a recipe handy, but I do remember having
(09:50):
one like this that was definitely one of the better ones.
Also a wild thought, maybe if we take a sosa
pasta salad add some doritos to it. Finally, I can't
remember if you've done an episode on lentils. I've been
cooking with them a lot more recently. They are so versatile.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
We we have a November of twenty twenty two, the
sentimental lentil episode. Yes, classic title. Hats off to Annie
for those titles all the time.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
I have to say, I'm loving this sort of Madman esque.
Let's just add doritos to it.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Yeah, it does. Why let's go Yeah, walking taco withas
I do think that sounds really good. That sounds slightly
overwhelming to me, Like Dorito's are already kind of like
a heightened flavor experience, and so I'm like, would I
be able to handle a walking taco dorito situation?
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Only one way to find.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Out, right, And yeah, like why not put some cool
ranch Dorito's into your nice orzo pasta salad? I don't
see where we could possibly go wrong?
Speaker 1 (11:17):
No, I mean at least the experiment will give more knowledge,
more data, and you can go from there.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Which is always worth having.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Yeah, it is, And I really hope more listeners continue
to write in about pasta salads and perhaps experiments with Dorito's.
I think that would be great. Love that.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
I love that other people have strong opinions about this.
That's I mean, I shouldn't be surprised. We have strong
opinions about just about every.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Food out there. But yeah, here we are. Yes, it's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Well, we do have a bunch more listener mail for you,
but first we've got a quick break for award from
our sponsor and we're back. Thank you sponsored, Yes, thank you,
and uh Okay, Nova wrote first, let me thank you
(12:19):
for doing an episode on cultured meats. I was very
sad to hear that bistro and vitro was never a
real thing. I'll have to wait a bit longer to
sample some lab meat, though apparently not in my home
state of Florida. To make it more relevant, I've been
waiting for a Saber Classics episode to come up on
chocolate chip cookies to write you this email, but decided
to throw caution into the wind and send it anyways.
(12:42):
Based on your cultural references, I deduce that both of
you are in my age group or thereabouts, so you
probably remember the days of the chain email. You may
have even seen this one come through your inbox at
some point in time, because it's been around for a
long time. I received it in two thousand and nine.
It was possibly a chain letter even before or email
was commonly used. I always had my doubts as to
(13:03):
its authenticity, but either way, I have made these cookies
several times and they are yummy. Indeed, it's a bit
long winded, so feel free to paraphrase Okay and then
Nova pastes in this chain email. That is a thing
that exists, so okay, let's go into it a little background.
(13:25):
Nieman Marcus, if you don't know already, is a very
expensive store. They sell your typical eight dollars shirt for
fifty dollars. Let's let them have it. This is a
true story. Good mark of any actual true story on
the internet.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
My daughter and I had just finished a salad at
Anemen Marcus cafe in Dallas, and we decided to have
a small dessert. Because both of us are such cookie lovers,
we decided to try the Nemen Marcus cookie. It was
so excellent that I asked if they would give me
the recipe, and the waitress said, with a small frown,
I'm afraid not, but you can buy the recipe.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Well.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
I asked how much, and she responded, only two fifty
it's a great deal. I agreed to that and told
her to just add it to my tab. Thirty days later,
I received my visa statement and the Nieman Marcus charge
was two hundred and eighty five dollars. I looked again
and I remembered I had only spent like nine to
ninety five for two salads and about twenty dollars for
a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement,
(14:17):
it said cookie recipe two hundred and fifty dollars. This
was outrageous. I called Neeman's accounting department and told them
the waitress said it was two fifty, which clearly does
not mean two hundred and fifty dollars by any reasonable interpretation.
Nieman Marcus refused to budge. They wouldn't refund my money because,
according to them, what the waitress told you is not
our problem. You've already seen the recipe. We absolutely will
(14:39):
not refund your money. I explained the accounting department lady
the criminal statutes that governed fraud in the state of Texas.
I threatened to report them to the Better Business Bureau
and the Texas Attorney General's Office for engaging in fraud.
And I was basically told, do what you want, don't
bother thinking of how you can get even, and don't
bother trying to get any of your money back. I
(14:59):
just said, okay, you folks got my two hundred and
fifty bucks, and now I'm going to have two hundred
and fifty dollars worth of fun. I told her that
I was going to see to it that every cookie
lover in the United States with an email account has
a two hundred and fifty dollars cookie recipe from Nieman
Marcus for free. She replied, I wish you wouldn't do this,
and I said, well, perhaps you should have thought of
(15:20):
that before you ripped me off and slammed down the phone.
So here it is. Please, please, please pass it on
to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid two
hundred and fifty bucks for this, and I don't want
Nimon Marcus to ever make another penny off of this recipe.
And then the recipe follows, I'm not going to read
it out right now, but you can absolutely Google. You
(15:43):
can email as or Google if you want the purported recipe.
Nova finishes the email. If you are planning a new
cookie esque episode, may I suggest Stroopwaffle. Growing up, we
would visit my family in the Netherlands every few years,
and these guys were a special treat for us. But
more recently they have been popping up at restaurants all
(16:03):
over the US. Okay, several things. First of all, yes,
for some reason, I was just thinking about streep Waffles
the other day and how we have not we've been
remiss and not talking about them.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Indeed very important. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Second of all, you're correct about us being of an age.
I'm like a couple years older than Annie, but certainly
I remember chain emails and physical chain letters. I even
remember the Ya horror books by Christopher Pike from the
late eighties or early nineties called Chainletter and Chainletter too,
the Ancient Evil. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Oh yeah, it'd be like, if you don't send this
to ten people, that's the end.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
For you, right, yeah, yeah, And this one functions on
like a slightly. It's not a threat to you, but
like you're sticking it to the man if you continued
the email, which which is a great way to motivate
people to send along an email. That is an urban myth.
(17:12):
It has indeed been debunked. One weird detail that proliferates
within the myth is that the writer found the charge
on her visa statement, but Nieman Marcus only accepted American
Express until nineteen ninety nine, which is years after the
story began circulating. This is one of our points of evidence.
(17:36):
I had to look into this, so okay, Niam and
Marcus maintains that they have never charged customers for recipes. Furthermore,
they didn't even have a company recipe for chocolate chip
cookies in the mid nineties, but apparently people believed this
story and were writing into them, like absolutely incensed, to
the point that by nineteen ninety seven they were so
fed up with this rumor that they had their executive
(17:56):
chef create a chocolate chip cookie recipe and they posted
it online for free, with like explicit notice that anyone
was free to distribute or print it as they wished.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Oh my goodness, this.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Was in nineteen ninety seven. You can still find that
recipe on their website. It is different than the one
in the chain letter. The chain letter version uses powdered
oatmeal and like a grated chocolate bar. The company version
uses instant espresso. They both sound pretty good anyway. As
(18:33):
of twenty sixteen, which is when Facebook had an iteration
of this tale circulating, Nieman Marcus's VP of communications told
Eater that she had not received an angry email about
the whole thing in six or seven years, and you know,
good for her. Wow, not done yet. So this is
(19:02):
not the first urban myth about a customer being like
sneakily overcharged for a recipe by some kind of uppity
retailer and then taking revenge by distributing said recipe. Snopes
found iterations of this going back to nineteen forty eight,
when this cookbook titled Massachusetts Cooking Rules Old and New
(19:22):
printed a recipe called twenty five dollars fudge Cake along
with this story about a woman who enjoyed a slice
of cake on a train, asking the chef for the recipe,
and being billed twenty five dollars for it, which at
the time was a lot more outrageous. In the nineteen sixties,
the villain was the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and it was
a three hundred and fifty dollars red velvet cake recipe.
(19:44):
In the seventies, it was Missus Fields and a two
hundred and fifty dollars chocolate chip cookie recipe. Some versions
of that story shifted the blame to Marshall Fields the
department store, and Snopes thinks that that is probably where
it to Nieman Marcus the department store.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Fascinating. That is so interesting to me.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
It's really wonderful in a kind of sick way.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Wow, because I feel like every chain letter I got
what the end wanted, some action from you. This one
I guess spreading this recipe. Yeah, but if it's not
really their recipe, I don't know that's interesting to me.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
I mean, it's a part in my use of an
industry phrase. But it's a great way to go viral.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
I guess they clearly did. I can't believe that me
and Marcus is still like, please.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Leave us alone about the heck and cookies.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
The recipe is all for free.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
We didn't even have one, but we made one for you.
Please leave us alone. Wow, this poor VP of Communications,
this woman who made it up through the chain of
command at name and Marcus and has been plagued by
accusations oh god decades.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Yeah, wow, whole thing. So thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
Yes, thank you for putting that on our radar.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
We got to look into it. How wonderful.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Wow. I had no idea. That's now I want to
I want to go in all further deep dive.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Right like urban legends about I'm sure that others are
out there now now, I'm like, these can't be the
only ones.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Yeah, okay, well listeners right in if you've got any more, Yeah, okay,
but in the meantime, do you have more listener mail?
For you. Yeah, Janet wrote one of your episodes, asked
to send you my interesting cooking projects. I feel like
(22:17):
many concepts and food differ only by tradition. For example,
every culture has a version of things like bread, fried dough,
and dumplings. To test how different or similar food concepts are,
I like to make hybrid monstrosities a midway point in
between two disparate food ideas. This one is Lamington pizza.
(22:40):
I took the idea of a baked dough circle topped
in cheese, sauce, various herbs, especially basil and other vegetables
or meats. I combined it with the idea of a
square of sponge cake dipped in chocolate sauce and coated
in desiccated coconut or sometimes other nuts, oftenandwich with cream
(23:01):
and jam. This resulted in me making a marscapone and
sliced pineapple jam filled square bakedo dipped in tomato, chili
and chocolate sauce and covered in sliced roast almonds and
fresh basil. Thus it is a completely new abomination because
the pineapple is inside the pizza. It was generously filled,
(23:23):
so it was a rich dessert. Both soft and crunchy,
with the brightness of the basil counterpointing the sweet sour
of the jam, the richness of the marscapone, and bitter
umame of the chocolate sauce. It was so much better
than it had any right to me. If I made
it again, I would definitely coat it in desiccated coconut
(23:43):
to pair with the pineapple. Please find picture attached and
picture wells attached.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Yeah, I would absolutely try that. It does look slightly
like an abomination. It looks a little aggressive. That's a
good word for it. Yeah, threatening, Aura, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
It's a little menacing. But I adore that you're doing these.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Yeah, like, why not?
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Absolutely you might. I mean you could discover something. Maybe
this will become a whole thing we don't know, or
it could be the stepping stone to something.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Else, right, And really you never know until you try.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
You never know until you try. I do love I
know that's what it is. But I love your continued
usage of desiccated coconut.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Uh oh does that make you feel like like like
mummies are about?
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Yeah? Okay, it just adds another layer of like monstrosity.
It's said with fondness. This is great. Please write in
any other experiments.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Yeah, yeah, I need to know more about more of these.
That took a number of turns I did. But again,
I'm really really curious. Huh, I am.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Too, I am too. Yeah, keep the listeners. We always
want to hear about your food experiments.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Oh yeah, well we do have a little bit more
for you here today, but first we've got one more
quick break for a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (25:48):
And we're back.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Thank you sponsors, Yes, thank you, Cecilia wrote your podcast
topics are always interesting and enlightening and sometimes amazingly pertinent
for me. On April fourth, you put out an episode
about Turkish Delight. I was in France at the time,
but made sure to listen as I was headed to
Turkey in a few weeks. Once we got to Turkey,
I started looking out for Turkish delight or Lookum, as
(26:09):
you said it was called. That is the name used
in Turkey, but because they want to appeal to tourists,
the shops there also call it Turkish Delight. I did
get some on our second day there. The shop had
lots of varieties, but I wanted to try the plain ones.
I bought a box of three flavors. They had rose,
honey and mint. They were delicious. Later I bought another
box to take to my son and his wife. That
(26:30):
box was from a rest stop on a highway and
it contained rose and lemon. I like those even better.
All attach a photo of a shop in the town
of Saffron Bola, which is named after Saffron. After Turkey.
We went to Cambridge, England to visit our son, daughter
in law and grandson. They lived next door to a
Sri Lankan family and mentioned that the family had cooked
(26:50):
a delicious dish for them that included leaves from the
curry tree. I tried to correct them to say that
curry wasn't a plant, but a mix of spices. They
insisted the neighborhood said that there was a curry tree.
That night, I looked at your podcast feed and saw
an episode on the curry Tree that I had just missed.
It is hard for me to keep up with podcasts
when I'm traveling, so I listened to that episode and
(27:11):
admitted my misunderstanding. The next day and now camembert ah
cam and Beert. As I said at the top, we
were in France, Normandy. Actually for the month of April.
We have a house there in a small village. We
spent the month getting the house ready for the market.
So if you know anyone looking for a small house
in a small village in Normandy, let us know. We're
asking ninety five thousand euros. It's a charming village and
(27:33):
we love the Normandy area, but with a grandson in England,
we need to spend more time in England. We'll still
vacation in France, though we've been spending time in Normandy
every year except twenty twenty since twenty ten. One year
we visited Camembert. There's a museum there devoted to the cheese,
but it was a disappointment. It consisted of some wallboards
with pictures. I don't even know if there's a factory
(27:55):
there producing cam and Beert. We did see the statue
of Marie Harel in the town center. It was interesting
to learn more about the statue through your podcast.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
So we're moving to Normandy, Lauren.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not doing it next week.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Let's go put our funds together. Cecilia continues. The Prisidon
Factory has a larger and more interesting museum that we
visited in Laval last year. That one takes you through
the entire history of cheese in that area, with lots
of pieces of equipment on display. They describe and detailed
the production of the cheese, but they don't let you
(28:33):
visit the actual factory. I suppose her reasons of safety
and cleanliness. In contrast, we did visit the factory in
Lone l'abier. On that visit, we were right on the
floor where the biscuits were being made. They were making
chocolate cookies at the time. They have a gift shop,
of course, but our guide told us we couldn't buy
the biscuits we saw them making because those were made
(28:55):
to ship to America. They are sold here under the
name Pierre Biscuity. But we were discussing camm bear. Our
house in Normandy is not far from the President factory
in Don, France, which claims to be the largest manufacturer
of cam and beer's in the world. We often see
the President trucks go by the house with the morning's milk.
(29:17):
Whenever we go out walking or driving in Normandy, we
see cows in the fields and orchards. Most of the
herds we see are small, twelve to forty cows. I'll
attach a picture of some normand cows. We see other
varieties as well. I have some Camembert in the fridge
at all times when I'm in Normandy and most of
(29:39):
the time here in North Carolina. There are many brands
available in the grocery store in Normandy. I've tried several
of them. Most are made from pasteoroid's milk, but I
did find one made from raw milk. I didn't notice
a difference in taste, but maybe I'm just not sophisticated
enough to taste the difference. I often buy the President brand,
(30:00):
but I've tried others as well. The cheeses in the
supermarket in France are fresher than the ones I buy.
Hear there's one variety I've bought called Les Rustique. This
one is creamier. When my sister in law was visiting,
she said that that one was the best, but it
is still made from Pastchoi's milk. And finally, you asked
(30:21):
for recipes. I loved baked bree or Camembert. And if
you are having people over or have a large family,
that's a wonderful way to serve the cheese. But if
you are just one person in the household eating it.
Baking a whole cheese at once is not a good idea,
so I have found out a way to enjoy baked
caman beert one serving at a time. You need a
(30:44):
five inch wheel of cammbert, a five inch round pocket peda.
I buy Joseph's which are low carb, a pop up toaster,
and a wire cheese cutter. I hope everyone who enjoys
cheese has a wire cutter. It is the best way
to cut soft cheese. Take your wheel of cheese and
cut it first in half so you have two semi circles.
(31:06):
Do the same with the peda. Then stand one semi
circle of cheese on the cut side in the wire
cutter and use a knife. Score the outside rind parallel
to the cutting wire, about one eighth inch in from
the edge. You need to score the front part where
the wire enters the cheese and the top, but once
the wire is in the cheese, it will continue to
(31:28):
cut through the rest of the rind. This trims off
the outside rind. It's fine to use this as the
first slice, but if you prefer not to eat that
much rind, you can just leave that part off. Next,
score the cheese twice more and cut two semicircular pieces
of cheese, put each one in the peda pockets and
(31:50):
drop them in a pop up toaster toast on a
medium setting until the cheese melts. The peda will keep
it from leaking into the toaster. I've been doing this
for years, never had a problem with leaking. That's it.
Enjoy your low carb sandwich. Well, I just have to
let you know how much I enjoy your podcast and
how often it relates directly to something in my life.
(32:16):
And lovely pictures were attached, by the way, Yeah, so
sad sometimes where we're.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Like, yeah, there were there were pictures. They were images.
We're not in an image medium, no, but yeah, oh
I love it when y'all write in and these like
weird coincidences. I promised that we're not surveilling you.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
No, no, but people write in about that kind of frequently.
Yeah right right, yes, also a cheese peta.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
Oh right. I'm kind of mad at myself for never
having thought to do this.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Yeah. Yeah, it sounds like so.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
So obvious, like you have that you have the technology,
Like why wouldn't you.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
Just put the cheese in Theah?
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Yeah, delicious, so cool and oh my goodness. Thank you
for all of the information about Camembert and various cookies.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Yes, yes, always, we love that you go on such
You always sound so well traveled. You go on all
these journeys, Cecilia.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
And a lot of y'all.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
Yeah, a lot of you do, and we love that
you share that with us and we get to live
somewhat vicuriously through you. Yes. Well, this brings us to
the end of this listener mail episode, but we do
love so much hearing from all of you.
Speaker 2 (33:55):
Yeah, absolutely, thank you. Thank you to everyone who wrote in.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
Thank you to everyone who wrote in, and please keep
those letters coming. We'll be here for twenty three and
if you would like to message us, you can. You
can email us at Hello, atsavorpod dot com.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
We're also hypothetically on social media. We are on blue
Sky and Instagram at saver pod, and we do hope
to hear from you. Save is a production of iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, you can visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers
Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening
(34:37):
and we hope that lots more good things are coming
your way.
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
Popular Podcasts
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.