Category: Food

In the kitchen with Gerald Oriol

Gerald Oriol is the owner and executive chef of Caribbean Breeze (233 Main St., Nashua, 883-4340, find them on Facebook and Instagram @caribbeanbreezerestaurant), a one-stop culinary destination for authentic Caribbean eats, featuring Haitian, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Jamaican and Dominican items all under the same roof. Arriving in the former Norton’s Classic Cafe storefront on the corner of Main and West Hollis streets in Nashua in late 2021, Caribbean Breeze also features a menu of many familiar breakfast items the space has long been known for. Oriol is originally from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and has amassed more than three decades of experience as a chef. For 19 years he served as an executive chef for Sodexo, and before that he worked for the DoubleTree Hotel in Cambridge, Mass. A certified executive chef through the American Culinary Federation, Oriol is also the recipient of several awards, including Sodexo’s Rookie of the Year award in 2001 and a silver medal in the ACF’s Hot Food Competition in 2004.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

A knife.

What would you have for your last meal?

I have so many choices. It would be whatever’s available to me, because as a chef, doing what I’ve been doing for so many years, I learn … to love and appreciate any food.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

I used to like to go to Chicken N Chips [in Nashua], but unfortunately now they are closed. … I used to travel a lot, so I’ve tried many places, but I don’t have enough time to eat out because of the business I have now.

What celebrity would you like to see eating in your restaurant?

Guy Fieri, because he knows and understands food … and I think his critique would be very well-received.

What is your favorite thing on your menu?

Whatever the customer tries, because that’s the food that I will make them … to please them and make them happy. Everything on the menu that I have from the islands [is] all very authentic.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

To be honest with you … I feel like Caribbean food is a trend, because people will feel like it’s not something they can find anywhere else. … And you don’t need to travel to the Caribbean or go down to Boston. You don’t need to leave New Hampshire.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

Unfortunately, when I get home, I get home late. … So if I have time, I will cook whatever my family wants to eat. … Usually I like to grill.

Haitian potato salad
From the kitchen of Chef Gerald Oriol of Caribbean Breeze in Nashua

4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 carrot, peeled and minced
2¼ teaspoons salt
1 small beet
2 eggs
½ cup sweet peas
½ onion, minced
⅓ cup red bell pepper, diced
⅓ cup green bell pepper, diced
2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Boil the potatoes and the carrot in water with one teaspoon of salt for 10 minutes, or until tender. Boil the beet separately in water with one teaspoon of salt until tender, then peel and mince. Boil the eggs separately in water with 1/4 teaspoon of salt until hard. In a bowl, place the cubed potatoes, minced beet, sweet peas, carrot, onion, red and green bell peppers and mix with the mayonnaise. Add the black pepper.


Featured photo: Gerald Oriol, owner and executive chef of Caribbean Breeze in Nashua. Courtesy photo.

Brews by the Oval

Ogie Brewing now open in Milford

Nearly four full years after Bill Ogert signed a lease to open his own nano brewery in Milford, his vision is now a reality. Ogie Brewing, a stone’s throw from the town Oval, celebrated its grand opening Jan. 6 with a lineup of 10 beers on tap, following many months of delays.

“I’ve loved how many people have come in on our days open and said, ‘We’ve been watching you for years, we’ve been so eager, we’re so glad it finally happened.’ That’s encouraging,” he said. “You stop and look around [and] … you suddenly see the reward for all the hardships.”

It was February 2019 when Ogert, a former aerospace engineer who originally became interested in homebrewing through his brother, found the former Bravo Pizza storefront on South Street. Eighteen months of litigation would follow, stemming from a neighbor’s complaint over a zoning exception and eventually reaching the state Superior Court. The pandemic hit right in the middle of the legal proceedings, Ogert pointed out, further delaying the process.

By September 2020 the two parties were able to settle in mediation, clearing Ogie Brewing to begin its construction phase. But with Ogert’s lease up for renewal the following February, he quickly found himself at a crossroads.

“I just had to make up my mind, like, you’re in or you’re out,” he said. “And my wife convinced me to just keep doing it. We renewed the lease. … I was still working my day job through all of this, and pretty much every penny I made went into keeping this place going.”

By May of last year Ogert decided to quit his day job in favor of getting the brewery open. Just before Christmas, Ogie Brewing held a “super soft” opening, pouring pints of one beer — an easy-drinking lighter version of a Norwegian farmhouse ale Ogert called “Soft Serve” — with the plan to hold a grand opening two weeks later with a full array of beers on tap.

“When you’re trying to pick one beer to please a broad audience, it has to be a little lighter and a little easy to drink. Not super-hoppy, not super-yeasty,” Ogert said. “We named it ‘Soft Serve’ because it was the only beer we served for the soft opening. People come in and they’re like, ‘Is that some kind of an ice cream IPA?’ I’m like, no, it’s just a play on words.”

As for the rest of his beer lineup, Ogert said his intention has always been to have a total of 10 that rotate out. His offerings out of the gate include a Belgian-style witbier made with Maine wild blueberries, a single-grain, single-hop American pale ale, a sour flavored with California figs, a German-style hefeweizen, and a hazy IPA with tropical aromas and flavors, among others.

“People ask me what I specialize in, and my honest answer is that I specialize in variety,” Ogert said. “I decided I’d start off with a menu that would hopefully have something for everyone and also expose people to styles they may not have ever tried. … And, I mean, I’ve spent so much time … getting each recipe to where it is now. The ones I didn’t like either got reinvented to [what] they are on the menu or they were discarded completely.”

Ogert also has plans to implement a food menu — he’s thinking simple items that pair well with beer. While he said he isn’t focused too much on distribution outside of the brewery, he is implementing a “crowler” system for his beers — similar to growlers, only in cans.

“They would usually fill it like a growler and then can it at that time,” he said. “It gives us the ability to just pour off taps without pre-canning stuff. If you’ve tried a flight and you’re like ‘Wow, I really like this beer, do you have any to go?’ We just pour them off the tap like it was [for] a glass, set it on the canner, attach the lid and out you go.”

Ogie Brewing
Where: 12 South St., Milford
Hours: Currently vary; see their Facebook page for the most up-to-date details on their hours of operation each week.
More info: Find them on Facebook @ogiebrewing or call 249-5513

Featured photo: Ogie Brewing’s starting lineup of beers. Courtesy photo.

A taste of Somalia

Batulo’s Kitchen coming to Concord’s Bank of New Hampshire Stage

At the Concord Multicultural Festival, Batulo Mahamed has gained a reputation over the last decade as one of the event’s most popular food vendors, building a following for her sambusa, or Somali meat pies. You’ll soon be able to enjoy her pies all year round, thanks to the launch of a new culinary artist-in-residence program with Concord’s Capitol Center for the Arts.

Batulo’s Kitchen, set to open Feb. 1 at the Bank of New Hampshire Stage, is the first participant of the new program, which aims to give new Americans an opportunity to start their own food businesses in a low-risk, low-cost setting.

“This is something that I’ve been trying for years to get done through the Multicultural Festival,” said Jessica Livingston, who joined the Capitol Center’s staff in March as community outreach coordinator. “We have several food vendors who are interested in starting a business … and the community obviously wants more access to these delicious foods.”

Livingston met with Sal Prizio, who took over as the Capitol Center’s executive director in late 2021, to discuss the establishment of the program.

“He said that there was a commercial kitchen just sitting there being unused and he wanted to do like a ghost kitchen program,” she said, “and I was like, ‘Wait, what? Are you serious? I’ve been trying to do something like this forever.’ … It’s a way to give back to the community and support local people and their food business endeavors, but it’s also a win-win for us because we can offer something different to the patrons who come here, rather than your typical concessions.”

Mahamed relocated to the United States with her family in 2004 from Somalia. In addition to being a regular vendor at the Multicultural Festival, she operates her own farm and sells her own fresh produce at local farmers markets through Fresh Start Farms.

“I was so excited to talk to Batulo about it because this has been a huge goal of hers, and I’ve always kind of promised that I would help her make it happen,” Livingston said.

Mahamed’s sambusa, known across the Multicultural Festival circuit as simply “Batulo’s meat pies,” are small triangular-shaped pastries that can be stuffed with one’s choice of ground beef, chicken breast or veggies. All are additionally prepared with bell peppers, onions, potatoes, salt, garlic, cilantro and curry powder.

Other than the sambusa, Batulo’s Kitchen’s menu will feature rice and vegetable meals, like basmati rice, stir-fried in onions and seasoned with veggie bouillon, cilantro, cumin and garlic.

“She’s keeping it pretty simple right now to what she knows,” Livingston said. “Her ultimate goal is to build up enough of a customer base and [have] enough income to be able to purchase a food truck when her residency is through with us. … She’ll be here all through 2023.”

Batulo’s Kitchen will soon be accepting orders for lunch pickup, as well as delivery through third-party services like GrubHub and DoorDash. Livingston added that she does expect Mahamed to also continue participating in the Multicultural Festival, due to return to Keach Park in Concord this fall.

“It’s strictly going to be a family business with her kids working with her, and I think that’s really kind of special,” she said. “It’s really all about preserving their culture, but doing it as a family and sharing the food that they love with people here.”

Batulo’s Kitchen
Opening Wednesday, Feb. 1
Where: Bank of New Hampshire Stage, 16 S. Main St., Concord
Anticipated hours: Wednesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
More info: Visit batuloskitchen.com, find them on Facebook and Instagram @batuloskitchen or call 848-2204

Featured photo: Batulo Mahamed, owner of Batulo’s Kitchen in Concord. Courtesy photo.

The Weekly Dish 23/01/26

News from the local food scene

• Celebrate Mardi Gras: Get your tickets now to the Franco-American Centre’s annual Mardi Gras celebration, happening on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 6 p.m. at the Alpine Club (175 Putnam St., Manchester). The event will feature a variety of Cajun and comfort items served buffet style, along with king cake and a cash bar. Activities will include karaoke, dancing, a costume contest, 50/50 raffles, door prizes and more. The cost is $25 for non-FAC members, $20 for members and $15 for 2022 volunteers. Pre-register online by Feb. 1 at facnh.com — non-members will receive one free raffle ticket and members will receive three tickets for a chance to win the door prizes, and additional tickets will also be available for purchase for more chances to win.

• From Venice to Bedford: Join the Bedford Village Inn (2 Olde Bedford Way, Bedford) for its own take on the Carnevale di Venezia, a three-day ice festival happening Thursday, Feb. 2, through Saturday, Feb. 4, from 6 to 10 p.m. each evening. Attendees will be fully immersed in Venetian culture, enjoying the sites of ice sculptures and ice bars designed to pay homage to one of Italy’s most famous annual celebrations. Activities will include live music, martini bars with specialty cocktails, a whiskey bar, a beer and wine bar and lots of ice. The Inn’s Great Hall will be offering snacks and desserts available for purchase with tokens, which will be sold at the door. Food items each evening will include Italian sausage subs, Carnevale lasagna soup, Sicilian-style pizza, vegetable minestrone soup, Cape Cod oysters, Jumbo cocktail shrimp, traditional or double chocolate cannolis and tiramisu cheesecake. Ice bar tokens are to be used to purchase all food and beverages at the ice bar — cash and credit cards will not be accepted. Tokens will be sold on site in bundles of five, 10 and 20 via credit card only — they are not cash refundable but can be used at any of the Inn’s dining outlets from Feb. 2 through March 31 for the face value of $3.50 apiece. Tickets are $40 per person (event is 21+ only). Visit bedfordvillageinn.com.

• QC Cupcakes completes move: Manchester’s Queen City Cupcakes has completed the move of its operations a few doors down, joining forces with its sister gift shop, Pop of Color, according to a recent announcement from its email newsletter. You can find the adjoining businesses, now known as Queen City Cupcakes & Gift Shop, between Market Square Jewelers and Granite State Candy Shoppe at 816 Elm St. Queen City Cupcakes has been open since 2011, offering freshly baked small-batch cupcakes daily in a rotating menu of flavors. Visit qccupcakes.com to see their most up-to-date cupcake menus.

• A bittersweet farewell: On Saturday, Jan. 21, Blake’s Creamery closed its 353 S. Main St. restaurant. “We have had the pleasure of serving this Manchester neighborhood with great pride for nearly 60 years,” reads a recent announcement posted to Blake’s website. “We are deeply appreciative to our loyal customers, employees and vendors who have supported us throughout the years. We will miss all of them.” The announcement goes on to say that Blake’s wholesale ice cream business will continue production and distribution to its many wholesale customers across New England. Visit blakesicecream.com to read the full statement.

Squeeze & punch

How to squeeze a lime

(Or a lemon, or an orange, or a tangerine, but limes lend themselves to being squeezed; they have the fewest inhibitions of any citrus fruit.)

Method 1 – Pure brute strength

Wash your hands.

Carefully place the lime on a cutting board in front of you. Carefully cut the lime in half.

Center your thoughts, then pick up half a lime, hold it over a bowl, and crush it.

The key here is rage. Naked, blind fury, if you can manage it. If you are a sports enthusiast, or a middle child, this should be fairly easy for you. The pain from previously unknown cuts on your hand will only make you angrier, eliciting even more juice.

Method 2 – An improvised reamer

A fork works well for this. So does a pair of kitchen tongs.

Cut the fruit in half, as before, but this time retain your composure. Insert the business end of the fork or tongs into half a lime, then twist it around, while squeezing with the hand that’s holding the lime. Tell the lime, “You might feel a little discomfort.”

You should be pleased with the result.

Method 3 – A hand-held juicer

Sometimes called a hand-juicer — though that implies that it actually juices hands — this looks something like the love child of a pair of pliers and a tea-strainer. It’s usually yellow or green — depending on the size of the fruit you intend to squeeze — and some models have a second squeezing cup, so you can tackle lemons and limes. It seems very gadget-y and might not fill you with confidence at first glance. It does a shockingly good job of squeezing citrus, though, and has become my juice extractor of choice.

A note on fresh orange juice

If you only need a few ounces of orange juice for a cocktail, a very good option is squeezing a couple of clementines. They have a fresher, zingier taste than orange juice from a carton, and they are roughly the same diameter as a lemon, so they are relatively easy to squeeze. I have found that after I have juiced both halves of a clementine, if I stack the spent carcasses of the two halves in the larger bowl of my hand-held juicer and squeeze them again I can extract a little more juice and theoretically a little citrus oil, which will intensify the flavor of the juice.

A very juicy cocktail

This is an adaptation of something called a Tangipahoa Planter’s Punch that I found in an extremely distressed copy of 1937’s Famous New Orleans Drinks and how to mix ‘em:

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces pineapple/mango juice. Could you use plain pineapple juice? The Fruit Police, or possibly the Tangipahoa Parish Liquor Commission, would probably not come crashing through the window, if you did.
  • 2 ounces fresh squeezed lime juice (see above)
  • 2 ounces fresh squeezed clementine juice. Could you just use Tropicana? That’s between you and your conscience.
  • 3 ounces white rum
  • ½ ounce raspberry syrup (see below). Could you use grenadine instead? I suppose so, if you were a COWARD!
  • 5 to 6 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker, and shake until the ice starts making “I can’t hold it together much longer, Captain” sounds.

Pour into a pint glass and garnish as you see fit.

A lot of tropical drinks have a sort-of generic, yeah-there’s-some-fruit-in-here background flavor. The nice thing about squeezing your own juices into this one is that you can taste each individual ingredient. The lime, clementine and raspberry all step forward and raise a hand if you look for them. The rum stands in the back with hands in pockets, humming to itself.

You know those miserable winter days when all you want to do is sit by a fire, read a book and eat soup? Alternate that with drinking this and lying on the couch and watching game shows. You’ll feel 12 percent more optimistic about life.

Raspberry syrup

Combine an equal amount (by weight) of frozen raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan.

Cook over medium heat. The ice crystals in the berries have already punctured the cell walls, and you will be surprised at how much liquid they give off.

Bring to a boil, to make sure that all the sugar has dissolved, then remove from the heat.

Strain through a fine-meshed strainer, and store in your refrigerator for about a month.

Feature photo: Tangipahoa Planter’s Punch. Photo by John Fladd.

In the kitchen with Rivka Rowe

Rivka Rowe is the owner and founder of Home Made by Rivka (homemadebyrivka.com, and on Facebook and Instagram @homemadebyrivka), a producer of homemade small-batch jams, jellies and spreads available in nearly two dozen flavors throughout the year. She started canning in 2011 and had turned her passion into a business by 2015. Among her most popular products are the wild Maine blueberry spread, the strawberry rhubarb jam, the carrot cake jam and the bananas Foster spread. Flavors like the pomegranate spread and the lemon honey jelly, Rowe said, go great with goat cheeses on crackers mixed into yogurt. The spiced pear spread is also a perfect glaze for pork or chicken, she added, and any of them can be mixed into softened vanilla ice cream and refrozen in single-serve cups for a quick treat. Locally, you can find Home Made by Rivka products in eight-ounce jars at Pop of Color (816 Elm St., Manchester) and at the Manchester Craft Market inside the Mall of New Hampshire (1500 S. Willow St.). Rowe also participates in farmers markets in Candia and Wolfeboro during the summer months.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

From a practical standpoint, my spoonula. It’s a spoon and spatula hybrid, and it’s perfect for stirring jam, mixing big batches and things like that. … From a less practical standpoint, I would say my audiobooks.

What would you have for your last meal?

There’s a restaurant … called Khaophums in Dover. Very specifically, it would be their vegetable pad Thai and vegetable spring rolls.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

My favorite restaurant overall would be El Camino Cafe in Plaistow. They have the best empanadas, and any of the rices are amazing.

What celebrity would you like to see trying one of your products?

It would be a toss-up between Sean Brock and Vivian Howard. Both of them are chefs that have a huge passion for the slow food movement … and heritage styles of cooking, and I really appreciate that, both personally and in business.

What is your personal favorite product that you offer?

I’d have to say the bananas Foster spread. I made that one for myself when I was coming up with flavors. I spread it in warm crepes and fold them up with vanilla ice cream on top.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

I don’t know if it’s a trend, per se, but the interest in globally inspired cuisine is something that I’m seeing more and more.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

I make a lot of quick stir-frys. I really like Asian cuisine.

Hamantaschen (Jewish jam cookies)
From the kitchen of Rivka Rowe

For the dough:
¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
⅔ cup white sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2¼ cups all purpose flour
1 to 5 teaspoons water, as needed
1 eight-ounce jar Home Made by Rivka jam, at room temperature

Sift together the flour and salt and set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar with a hand or stand mixer until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla to the sugar mixture and combine. Add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients in two batches, making sure to combine completely. If the dough is a little stiff, add the water, one teaspoon at a time, until the dough resembles a thick sugar cookie-type consistency (you may not need any water, or you may need to add the full 5 teaspoons). Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap or a tea towel and let it rest in the refrigerator for one hour.

Once the dough is rested, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Flour your work space and rolling pin. Roll the dough out to 1/8 inch in thickness and cut circles out using a cookie cutter, drinking glass or ring twist from a canning jar. Spoon 1 teaspoon of the jam into the center of the circle and prepare to fold it into a triangle shape — the cookie should be a triangle shape with the jam center showing. Fold over the left side of the circle at an angle, followed by the right side, overlapping at the top to form a point. Resist the desire to pinch the dough corner together. Fold the bottom of the circle up to form the two bottom points of the triangle — there should be a jam center, also in the shape of a triangle, if it’s folded correctly. Press down slightly on the corners to bond; pinching will come undone during baking.

Place the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for eight to 11 minutes, depending on your oven. The cookies will not spread, although the jam may leak slightly. The cookies should still be very light in color with just a hint of golden brown at the corners (if 1 teaspoon of jam is too much for the size of your cutter, feel free to adjust accordingly). Allow the hamantaschen to cool slightly on a baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack, as the jam will be very hot. Cool completely before eating.


Featured photo: Rivka Rowe. Courtesy photo.

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