Year: 2024

In the kitchen with Jonathan Buatti

Jonathan Buatti, owner and head baker at Bearded Baking Co. (819 Union St., Manchester, 647-7150, beardedbaking.com)

Jon started his culinary career at a family friend’s restaurant in Hampton Beach. Jon was typically a bus boy at the restaurant but volunteered to take a plated dessert shift in an attempt to switch it up. From there, he graduated from Salem High School’s Culinary Tech program, earned his associate’s degree in Baking and Culinary Arts from Southern New Hampshire University, and his bachelor’s degree in Culinary Management from SNHU. In 2019 Jon purchased the Bearded Baking Co. (formally known as Michelle’s Gourmet Pastries and Deli), where he is currently providing customers with breakfast, lunch, pastries and custom cakes. In the fall of 2020 Jon was selected to compete on Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

A super-sharp knife. I’ve learned that cooking is much safer with a sharp well-cared-for blade than not … .

What’s your must-have kitchen item?

It’s a combo of cake-decorating tools for me — a bench scraper and an offset spatula. With those two things, I can do anything. The bench scraper is brilliant because it allows me to get cakes perfectly at 90 degrees — perfectly flush with the board and level on top. And then the offset spatula allows me to pull the edges cleanly on top, so if you look at a cake head on, it looks like a square.

What would you have for your last meal?

It would have to be barbecue — ribs or brisket or something, just a good barbecued meal. It’s sweet and smoky. Barbecue, wings, barbecue chicken pizza, pulled pork, the list goes on and on.

What is your favorite local eatery?

For my wife and me, the Crown Tavern is our crown jewel. It’s our go-to spot. We had our wedding shower there and a lot of our big life events.

What celebrity would you like to see eating something you’ve baked?

I am obsessed with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. It would be funny because he’s obviously very health-conscious, so I would see him eating a cupcake or something. It would be a wild moment.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

Our Bismarcks at the shop are awesome. Just a long-john, a yeast doughnut with raspberry jam filling, whipped cream and powdered sugar.

What’s the biggest baking trend you see in New Hampshire right now?

It’s not a thing in particular, but in the wake of Covid everybody wants things in like single servings and smaller portions — individual serving sizes of any sort. Cookies and brownies and cupcakes — anything that you can get packaged on its own is really popular. There seems to be an attitude of, ‘Oh no; I don’t want my stuff touching anyone else’s stuff.’

What’s your favorite thing to cook at home?

My wife and I like to make a Sopa Toscana, like a take on the soup at Olive Garden. It’s a kale soup with a creamy base and potatoes and all the Italian spices — oregano, basil and everything.

You can really take these in any direction by changing what you stuff them with … Try it stuffed with peanut butter and topped with some sea salt or chopped pistachios.

Once you’ve settled on your definition of done, you can pop them in the fridge or the freezer. I really like them from the freezer. They are like a Riesen texture that way, only dairy-free. The chilled dates taste like caramel.

Punk rock Indian cuisine

Aatma Curry House offers your Saturday dinner

By John Fladd
[email protected]

According to Chef Keith Sarasin, opening a restaurant can feel a lot like a bad break-up.

For the past two and a half years Sarasin and his team have been running Aatma Curry House as a pop-up restaurant. For one or two nights they would cook and serve their food at specific events, but they didn’t have a permanent home. During that time, Sarasin was looking for a location for a brick-and-mortar Indian restaurant.

“We found three different locations over the course of those two and a half years,” he said, “and each time something would happen that was out of our control. And by the third time this happened, we were looking at a place in Kittery, and when it fell through, it was a lot like a heartbreak or a breakup in a relationship where you just go through these deep emotions of, ‘I’m so close!’ Ultimately I used that frustration and anger and angst to come up with the concept of Atma Curry House.”

Aatma represents an unusual restaurant concept. Customers place their orders throughout the week, then pick it up at a predetermined time each Saturday. One of the advantages of this system is that it gives Sarasin and his staff an opportunity to connect with customers individually.

“We get to have interaction with every single person and talk about our passion and feed them little extra things,” Sarasin said. “We love throwing surprises and handwritten notes in every single solitary order.”

That passion is reflected in Aatma’s very ambitious goal. “It’s punk rock,” Sarasin said. “It’s turned-up food; the flavors are there and super traditional. A lot of times the food that we eat in the West when it comes to Indian food is muted or toned down, not just from a spiciness standpoint but from a spice and flavor standpoint. We decided on Day 1 that Curry House was going to bring the best Indian comfort food that exists in the entire Northeast.”

Part of that mission involves giving customers food that they are familiar with, but at the same time trying to expand their understanding of what Indian cuisine can be.

“We have our staples,” Sarasin said. “For instance, we have our Aatma Butter Chicken, and our butter chicken is based off of the original premise of the dish in Moti Mahal in Delhi, but we add a couple of secret ingredients to it that makes it very New England.” (Moti Mahal is a respected chain of restaurants in India that originally introduced iconic Indian dishes to the West, butter chicken being one of them.) “So we have our staples like butter chicken, dal, things of that nature, but every week we add new menu items and change dishes out to encourage people to try things that are different beyond just what they’re used to.”

Another way the staff at Aatma challenges preconceptions of Indian dishes is by “putting a New England spin” on them. Sarasin used gulab jamun, an Indian dessert spiced with cardamom, rose water or saffron and served in a sugar syrup, as an example. “We have a classic gulab jamun that stays on the menu all the time and they’re made the exact same way, very traditional. Sugar syrup is added just like it typically is with a little bit of cardamom but then our spin on it is we actually add maple syrup to that syrup and it is absolutely mind-blowingly good how well it works.”

Sarasin said his vision for Aatma is to marry tradition with rebellion; it has been a tricky needle to thread. “That’s where I was at personally after feeling defeated, but also the spirit of India is based off of these things. When you think about Indians kicking out the British Raj, or the story of how tea was forced upon them and they created something beautiful out of it, you realize that this is a very Indian attitude. I hope this is an homage to that tradition.”

Aatma Curry House
75 Mont Vernon St., Milford
Aatma takes orders online Sunday through Thursday, for pickup between 1 and 3 p.m. on Saturday. Visit the website, aatmacurryhouse.com, to order and to find out what dishes are on the menu in a given week.

The Weekly Dish 24/11/28

News from the local food scene

• Last bit of recipe: In the Nov. 21 issue of the Hippo, the last chunk of the recipe for “Paper Bag Apple Pie” was sliced off. The missing instructions read:

“Fasten with paper clips. Bake at 425°F for 1 hour. Split the bag to open.”

• New salad source: A branch of the fast-casual restaurant chain Sweet Green has opened in the Market and Main shopping complex off River Road in Bedford. The menu focuses on fresh, light dishes like salads and protein bowls. Sweet Green is at 7 Market St, Suite 2, Bedford, 978-650-3965, sweetgreen.com, and is open seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

• New supermarket: A new Whole Foods Market will open in Nashua, Tuesday, Dec.10. The 44,600-square-foot store will be located at 272 DW Highway The store will open at 9 a.m. on opening day. Regular store hours will be 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

• New coffee: Nashua-based company Rare Breed Coffee (2 Pittsburgh Ave., Nashua, 578-3338, rarebreedcoffee.com) has released a limited-time seasonal coffee called Sleigher. Rare Breed describes the coffee blend as “indulgent” with “notes of brown sugar, orange spice, and vanilla.” See rarebreedcoffee.com.

• Rescue and recreation: Tickets are on sale now for the Winter Carnevale and $2,500 Holiday Shopping Spree Raffle to benefit the Salem Animal Rescue League (4 Sarl Drive, Salem, 893-3210, sarlnh.org). The SARL Winter Carnivale will be held at the Castleton Banquet and Conference Center (58 Enterprise Drive, Windham, 898-6300, castletonbcc.com) on Friday, Dec. 6, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. The event will feature artisan chocolate tasting by Loon Chocolate, food and drink, dancing, live and silent auctions and more. Tickets are $100 per person or $1,000 for a table of 10 and can be purchased through the SARL website.

• Gingerbread houses: To Share Brewing (720 Union St., Manchester, 836-6947, tosharebrewing.com) will host a gingerbread house workshop Sunday, Dec.1, at 4 p.m. Build and decorate your own gingerbread house. The price is per house; sharing is recommended. Each house will have sugar windows and the base will include battery-powered lights. Tickets are $55 through oopsiartedagain.as.me.

Treasure Hunt 24/11/28

Hello, Donna,

Can you provide any information on this black plastic pin? I have provided a few photos to try to help. Thank you in advance.

Jenny

Dear Jenny,

First I want to say thank you for all the pictures. Multiple views help always.

Your pin is from the Victorian Era. Used for mourning times. It is a cameo style (which means the center woman is raised, not recessed into it. That would be considered an intaglio.)

Even though it feels like plastic, it’s most likely Gutta Percha. That is made from a sap from special trees. Very common in that era.

Your pin looks to be in great condition for the age. Remember being a mourning pin it was mainly used just for that purpose back then. It’s a nice piece of history, Jenny.

The value on one like yours would be in the $100 range. Thanks for sharing with us.

Donna Welch has spent more than 35 years in the antiques and collectibles field, appraising and instructing. Her new location is an Antique Art Studio located in Dunbarton, NH where she is still buying and selling. If you have questions about an antique or collectible send a clear photo and information to Donna at [email protected], or call her at 391-6550.

Kiddie Pool 24/11/28

Family fun for whenever

Trip to the museum

Looking for an out-of-the-house thing to do this long weekend?

• The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (6 Washington St. in Dover; 742-2002, childrens-museum.org) is open Tuesday, Nov. 26, for its morning session (9 a.m. to noon); Wednesday, Nov. 27, for morning and afternoon (1 to 4 p.m.) sessions; Friday, Nov. 29, and Saturday, Nov. 30, for morning and afternoon sessions, and Sunday, Dec. 1, for the morning session. Reserve a spot online in advance; admission costs $12.50 for everyone over 12 months and $10.50 for 65+.

• SEE Science Center (200 Bedford St. in Manchester; see-sciencecenter.org, 669-0400) is open Tuesdays through Friday (closed Thanksgiving) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (last admission at 3 p.m.) and and Saturdays and Sundays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last admission at 4 p.m.). Admission costs $14 per person for ages 3 and up.

• The Aviation Museum of N.H. (27 Navigator Road in Londonderry; aviationmuseumofnh.org) will be open Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission costs $10 for ages 13; $5 for ages 6 to 12 and 65+ and veterans and military, and is free for kid 5 and under.

• McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center (2 Institute Drive in Concord; starhop) is open Wednesdays through Sundays from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission costs $13 for adults, $12 for 62+ and ages 13 through college, and $10 for kids ages 3 to 12 (kids 2 and under get in free).

Save the date

• Zach Umperovitch, builder of contraptions of all shapes and sizes, is inviting everyone to join him at SEE Science Center on Thursday, Dec. 5, from 5 to 7 p.m. for a free public event to celebrate the launch of his new book. Zach worked for three and a half years with Rube Goldberg’s granddaughter Jennifer Geoge and illustrator Ed Steckly to create a book that anyone can use to build 25 machines. Zach will have several machines on display and attendees can purchase a book and get it autographed, according to their website. Advance signup is required for this free event. A News Q & A with Zach Umperovitch can be found in the June 13 issue of the Hippo at hippopress.com. Visit see-sciencecenter.org or call 669-0400 for more info on the event, and check out @ZachsContraptions on YouTube and @zachscontraptions on Instagram.

Alice in a Winter Wonderland

Jan Brett’s new book tour

By Zachary Lewis
[email protected]

Jan Brett is releasing a new book, Alice in a Winter Wonderland, on Tuesday, Nov. 26, and is traveling to 17 cities in 23 days to get the word out on her newest story, which she wrote and illustrated over a two-year period. Brett has won many awards and is a New York Times No. 1 bestselling author.

The author and illustrator of The Mitten, The Nutcracker and The Snowy Nap, among countless other books, is launching her new book tour at Oyster River High School on Friday, Nov. 29, in partnership with Durham Public Library and Gibson’s Bookstore. Registration for the 530-seat event is already at capacity.

“Everybody knows about Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which was published in the 1800s. I always loved the book when I was little. I loved the whimsy of it. I loved the topsy-turvy-ness. It sort of reflected the way I used to feel as a child. It’s like you never know what’s coming up next,” Brett said.

Brett has put a twist on the story. “I set my book in Alaska, because I wanted to take away from the very British … sides and references to that part of England. The Cheshire Cat, there was a kind of cheese in Cheshire that had this cat on it, and so [Carroll] put that in the book.”

The beauty of the tundra, past and present, inspired her too. “I’ve always been fascinated by glaciers and the glaciation of North America and how human beings lived there,” she said.

“There were all these megafauna from the Pleistocene that lived at the same time as human beings. I thought that was really, really cool. I’ve always loved that idea and wished I could travel back in time,” Brett said, “so I found a way to travel back in time through this story. [Alice] falls through the rabbit hole. It was a hole in the glacier and then she finds an underground world.”

The Cheshire Cat is converted into a Pleistocene animal, the smilodon.

“Smilodon is a saber-toothed cat. It’s got these huge fangs, and it … lived in the United States, in Alaska and really North America, more like Canada, along with woolly mammoth, short-faced bear, which was a huge, wooly rhino. There were also mastodons, which is another kind of elephant likely to have fur, so I put those in the book,” Brett said.

One ancient hoofed mammal that is still around today is Brett’s favorite. “Actually we have one creature that I’ve been really obsessed with, which is a muskox…. It’s like a very, very furry kind of half-ox, half-sheep kind of animal. I’ve done a couple books about it.”

Despite updates to the classic, Brett’s adaptation is a sincere and thoughtful retelling.

“Probably one of my favorite pages is the griffin because I think it’s such a cool creature. It’s supposed to guard treasure and you see it in the Middle East, but it’s a mythic figure that obviously Lewis Carroll really liked. He loved puzzles and math, so I tried to tip my hat a little bit to that,” she said. Carroll was a Mathematical Lecturer at Christ Church, a college at Oxford, and his knowledge and curiosity about the world made his book a joy for countless generations. Brett puts the same care into her new telling of the story.

“I tried to put a lot of little puzzles in it,” Brett said. “I loved to just get my pointer finger out and just like go around the page and see what I could see and maybe there would be something fun to look at and something that would be informative…. It’s not like everything has to have a reason. It’s just fun to be able to spot things, so that was the underlying reason for all the detail and why it took two years to do it.”

At each stop of the tour, Jan Brett will talk about her story and take time to sign books.

“Every time I do a book I write about how I got the idea,” Brett said. “Hopefully [readers will] go to those places someday and extend their frame of reference and if they themselves want to be a writer or an artist they’ll just say, ‘Oh, look at this, this is the way she does it. I wonder how I’m going to do it?’”

Featured image: Courtesy photo.

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