Everyone has a favorite hot sauce, and the hot sauce families want you to choose theirs. And the Baumer family is no exception. Listen as we talk with third generation Crystal hot sauce CEO, Alvin Baumer, III. He is known to family and friends as Pepper. We talk food dynasties, the ups and downs of the food industry, and all the quirky, but important food things that people in New Orleans consider important. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

The company began in 1923, founded by Pepper’s grandfather, Alvin Baumer, Sr. He reincarnated the company from its beginnings making snoball syrup. After Hurricane Kathrina, as well as previous catastrophes, the company has emerged with its strong base as hot sauce with its eyes on the future. Now the company is sold in countries around the world.

Alvin “Pepper” Baumer, III

My friend, Micheline (Micki) Maynard, who writes the CulinaryWoman Newsletter on Substack, joins me as we talk about 300 episodes of Tip of the Tongue and my first video podcast! Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Micheline Maynard is is an author, reporter and a podcaster.

She publishes the CulinaryWoman Newsletter, which comes out every Sunday.

Her expertise is the restaurant business, and she writes for Food & Wine, Time Magazine, the Boston Globe, and the Ann Arbor Observer in her hometown in Michigan. Most recently, she published Satisfaction Guaranteed, the story of Zingerman’s famous Deli. Micki and I got to know each other when she lived in New Orleans for a year and she’s been a guest several times on Tip of the Tongue.

What a pleasure to speak to 98 year old Betty Fussell! She praised her Scottish genes. Her book, How to Cook a Coyote: The Joy of Old Age, is a nod to M.F.K. Fisher and her book, How to Cook a Wolf. But the wily coyote is a trickster and shape shifter, always there for both good and bad. Listen to our conversation. Betty lays out her current project and the pains of finding a story line in her book. All writers will be able to identify with the struggle, which Betty faces with humor despite blindness and the limits of age. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

 Angus Rittenberg is co-founder and CEO of WYNK. He produces legal THC beverages, and he invented the machinery that can be adapted for state by state compliance. It is now the most widely distributed low dose cannabis seltzer in the United States markets. We talk about the intricacies of law when adaptations must be made in each state, as well as the benefits of a THC seltzer over alcohol. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Michael Fors likes wine. He solved the problem of quickly and gently aerating wine by inventing a special decanter that he calls Liquid Jazz. There are also special glasses that will aerate by the glass. He tells us his story. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Michael Fors

Decanting with Liquid Jazz

We speak with Joe Mann of Verdad Real Estate and Neal Bodenheimer of CureCo about their new project, The Warbler Hotel in New Orleans on legendary St. Charles Avenue.

We discuss the issues of building a hotel from the ground up in an historic neighborhood, the issues of integrating food and beverage into the hotel with the right feel for guests and for city residents to make the place lively and inviting for everyone

Rendering above of The Warbler Hotel’s rooftop pool

Additional renderings can be found here

Renderings provided courtesy of EskewDumezRipple

The food is being developed in conjunction with Chicago’s Andrew Zimmerman of Sepia, a Michelin starred restaurant. The feel of the hotel is a nod to the Jazz Age and promises to have an Art Deco vibe. And CureCo is contributing its beverage luster as a James Beard Foundation Award winning developer of Cure. All of this talent will coalesce in the martini bar and restaurant, Mildred’s.

Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Madagascar is an island that fascinates the imagination. There is the animated movie, Madagascar, which amuses and takes advantage of the mystery of the place. But in real life Madagascar is full of culinary riches which seem independent of the society’s culture. But the soil and climate support vanilla, chocolate, caviar, honey, and other specialty foods. Emmanuel Laroche became

interested in Madagascar and its culinary treasures, exploring the culture with curiosity and deep respect for the people nurturing those treasures. His book. A Taste of Madagascar, reveals secrets of the food, problems of the island, and the stories of the people.

Laroche has exhibited his curiosity before. His first book, Conversations Behind The Kitchen Door: 50 American Chefs Chart Today's Food Culture, explores chefs and their stories.

His own podcast, “flavors unknown”, explores cooks, chefs, and mixologists, has been on the air since 2018. And for an everyday job he is Vice-president of Marketing at Symrise North America.

Listen to the podcast from 2022 with Emmanuel about his first book.

We talk to Heidrun Metzler about her new book, German Heritage Baking: Time- Honored Recipes, Traditional Techniques, and Culinary Secrets.

These recipes are not adaptations of German recipes. These recipes are the real German recipes. They are beautiful and delicious. We talk about her award winning cookbook. Listen! It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Heirun Metzler lives on a macadamia nut farm in Hawaii. She is a photographer who took her own photos that appear in the book. And she is an avid and accomplished horsewoman. Read more about her and the book on her website.

Heidrun has been baking for decades. She learned from the kitchens of her relatives where she helped with baking in the great traditions of Germany. She moved to the United States in the late 1970s, and she missed the baked goods of her home. That was a great motivator and she shares her recipes in her new book.