Ohio Humanities Council - Key Ingredients

EXHIBITS

BOWLING GREEN
May 15 – June 15, 2007
Wood County Historical Center and Museum, 13660 County Home Road Bowling Green OH 43402

DAYTON
June 17 – July 31, 2007
Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, 2600 DeWeese ParkwayDayton OH 45414

AMELIA Please note!
August 1 – August 29, 2007
Clermont County Public Library - Amelia Branch, 58 Maple Street
Amelia, OH 45102

MOUNT VERNON
August 31 – September 29, 2007
Mount Vernon Public Library, 201 N. Mulberry Street Mount Vernon OH 43050

BREMEN
October 1 – October 29, 2007
Bremen Area Historical Society, 161 Carter StreetBremen OH 43107

URBANA
November 1 – November 29, 2007
Urbana College Student Center, 479 College Way Urbana OH 43078

TWINSBURG
January 4 – January 30, 2008
Twinsburg Public Library 10050 Ravenna Road Twinsburg OH 44087

AURORA
February 3 – March 7, 2008
Aurora Historical Society, 115 East Pioneer Trail Aurora OH 44202

May 15 – June 15, 2007

BOWLING GREEN AND WOOD COUNTY

Wood County hosts numerous festive food events throughout the year. True to its agricultural heritage, the early August Wood County Fair in Bowling Green celebrates farm life with cooking contests, food and produce displays, farm animal competitions, entertainment, and numerous food booths serving local favorites such as pork-a-leans, elephant ears, Italian sausages, roast corn, and kettle corn as well as other popular fair foods.

Most of the towns and villages in this rural county have local festivals, and while most of these do not focus exclusively on food, food is a significant feature. The Pemberville Free Fair, the second weekend in August, offers foods that reflect its strong German identity, such as bratwurst and fried bologna. The Seven Eagles Arts Center in Grand Rapids hosts a Lost Arts Festival in May that features re-enactors who give demonstrations of pioneer cooking, offering tastes of roasted groundhog or deer jerky. Wood County Days at the Wood County Historical Center and Museum in Bowling Green on the second weekend in June is a heritage festival that includes local foods, particularly pork-a-leans. They Walked Here Before Us: A Woodland Indian Celebration, an annual Pow-Wow along the banks of the Maumee River, offers a glimpse of Native American life and foodways.

The Grand Rapids Apple Butter Fest, held the second Sunday of October, is one of the most successful events in the area, drawing 75-100,000 people. It started as a fundraiser for the historical society by offering demonstrations of apple butter stirring and selling homemade apple butter. Volunteers now must begin preparing for the Fest a month in advance, meeting to peel apples and stir the butter.

A number of ethnic festivals occur in the county, and these all use food as a way to celebrate identity. The Perrysburg Heights Mexican Festival and a Cinco de Mayo celebration at the Wood County fair grounds offer authentic tastes of homemade Mexican-American food, usually with a Tejano flair. The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo in Perrysburg hosts an international festival featuring foods and displays from Muslim cultures around the world. In nearby Toledo, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, German, Irish, and Mexican festivals organized by churches and ethnic organizations offer the enticing dishes popular in those ethnic communities.

The International Program at Bowling Green State University holds an annual international dinner at which the foods are prepared by students and faculty. Other student clubs offer food events throughout the year -- an African dinner, a Cherry Blossom festival, Chinese New Year, a German Oktoberfest. The annual Black Swamp Arts Festival offers more exotic fare than most local festivals—Cajun, Vietnamese, Thai, and southern-style Barbecue.

Key Ingredients Links:

www.ourohio.org
www.keyingredients.org

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June 17 – July 31, 2007

DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Key Ingredients presented by Sinclair Community College. In conjunction with the traveling Smithsonian exhibition Key Ingredients (on view at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery from June 17-July 31) the Cityfolk Festival will showcase deep and delicious food traditions from throughout our region. See demonstrations from our finest kitchen creators, specializing in a wide variety of tastes including Cuban cooking from El Meson plus the process of making pure maple syrup, the art of creating craft beer, the benefits of organic foods and a farmer’s market. Key Ingredients is located at the corner of Monument and St. Clair, Saturday and Sunday between 1 and 7 PM.

The Dayton International Festival, also known as the World A-Fair, held in mid-May for the last 33 years, brings together almost three dozen Miami Valley organizations and communities, representing African, Chinese, Columbian, Czechoslovakian, Dutch, Ethiopian, German, Greek, Guatemalan, Hungarian, Indian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lebanese, Mexican, Panamanian, Philippine, Polish, Puerto Rican, Russian, Scottish, Yugoslavian, and Vietnamese cultures, among others.

Presented by the St. Ignatius of Antioch Maronite Catholic Church, the Lebanese Festival takes place at Riverscape MetroPark in downtown Dayton. Along with having live music, the festival offers a variety of typical Lebanese foods, including kafta, kebbe, shawarma, falafel, lubyi, fattoush, tabouli, and fresh mountain bread made on site.

The German Picnic, presented by the Dayton Liederkranz-Turner, draws in approximately 40,000 people to the three-day event. The food at the festival is not limited to German food, with some vendors selling typical “fair food.” However, the German food is by far the most popular among festival-goers. People wait in lines for bratwursts, mettwursts, pork schnitzel, sauerkraut, and bread, along with various types of cakes and pastries, including streusel, cherry strudel, and Doebler’s Bakery’s famous bienschtick, or “bee sting,” a yeast pastry with pudding inside.

Dayton was the port of entry for many Appalachians migrating from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia looking for jobs as the coal mines started dwindling. Festivals such as Mountain Days reinforce a sense of pride in heritage and culture. Produced by Our Common Heritage, the Mountain Days Festival takes place at Eastwood MetroPark. Three stages showcase country, blue grass, and traditional music. The Mountain Men Encampment on the festival site gives visitors a taste of living off
the land as they watch participants make stews, beans, and breads, and go through other daily activities. Visitors also have the opportunity to buy stone ground cornmeal from

Hunt Family Farms, located in Franklin. The more traditional types of Appalachian food, such as soup beans and cornbread, are sold along with fair food.

The Asian Cultural Festival is held at Miamisburg Library Park. The festival celebrates cultures of China, India, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Traditional foods from each country are also sold.

Places
Cedar Land Bakery and Restaurant, a family-owned restaurant, offers traditional Lebanese food. The menu include shawarma beef and chicken sandwiches, shish kebab, kebbe, falafel, pita bread, hummus, baba ghannouj, fattoush, tabouli, grape leaves, and pastries.

The Amber Rose Restaurant specializes in German, Polish, Hungarian, Russian, and Italian foods, and serves such foods as sauerkraut balls, pirogies, knockwurst, braised red cabbage, and spaetzle, helping to preserve the strong ethnic identity of the area.

Food at the Little Saigon restaurant is described as very similar to the foods eaten in Vietnam. The cooks have successfully adapted their recipes depending on the foods available to those found in Vietnam. The International Foods Asian and Mexican Market sells foods more common to Asian and Mexican cooking such as the root vegetables jicama or taro. Saigon Fish Market offers a large selection of Vietnamese snacks and sweets, such as sweet rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves.

Visitors to the National City 2nd Street Public Market have a chance to sample the unique elements of Puerto Rican foods at Las Americas Specialty Foods, specializing in empanadas, black beans, and arepa (a fresh corn pancake cooked with a slice of mozzarella cheese). The recipes were shared by the Colombian owners of El Meson Restaurante, which offers Burro Supremo, Fiesta Chicken Wrap, and Black Bean Soup à la Cubana.

Organizations scheduled to exhibit in
Key Ingredients include:

Boston Stoker - Coffee roasting

Dean Dohner - Maple syrup to sell and sample.

E.A.T. Food for Life - Organic farming, healthy eating, and darkfield microscopy

Freshwater Farms - Area fish hatchery featuring smoked trout

Grand Lake Produce - Hydroponic tomatoes and other fresh produce

The India Foundation - Pre-packed Indian snacks and drink concentrates, Indian foods and recipes

Bob Irvin - Honey production, enclosed honeycomb display and honey for sale

Maya Tech - Mayan cooking sauces, pictures and scrapbooks

Second Street Market - Cornucopia of items relating to foods from the market, including local produce and locally handcrafted baskets and pottery.

Pat Turnbull - Beer-making

United Irish of Dayton - Irish foods and UID cookbooks

Organizations scheduled to present cooking demonstrations in Key Ingredients include:

El Meson - Paella

Maya Tech - corn tortillas

Sinclair Culinary Arts - possibilities include pastry demonstrations

The Ohio Humanities Council is pleased to acknowledge the support of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation for producing this booklet and providing many of the fine illustrations found on its pages. Also, our thanks to the Cincinnati Museum Center, Cleveland State University Library, Gold Star Chili, Inc. of Cincinnati, the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the Ohio State University, and many individuals who shared photographs to illustrate Ohio’s rich culture of food.

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August 1 – August 29, 2007

AMELIA AND CLERMONT COUNTY

The Taste of Clermont festival is held on the 2nd weekend of September on Batavia’s Main Street Business District. This annual event, attracting audiences of close to 25,000, began in 2004. In addition to live music and art displays, the event features local restaurants.

Visitors to the Clermont County Fair can see displays of diverse agricultural accomplishments throughout the cattle, poultry, and vegetable competitions, as well as special community events like
the Cake and Pie Auctions. 2006 marked the 157th year of the Fair, occurring annually at the Fairgrounds in Owensville.

The Shaw Farms Fall Festival is family-oriented and includes a corn maze, hayrides, live music, and over 30 displays and playhouses of storybook characters. Shaw Farms, which offers mostly locally grown produce, is best known for its corn but also sells Amish Wedding brand products (from salsa to pickled okra to peaches), candles, old-fashioned candy, honey, and Amish ham and bacon, all produced in Ohio.

Places
Harmony Hills Vineyards is the only winery in Clermont County. Bill and Patti Skvarla planted their vineyard in 2001, which became bonded as an estate winery 2003. The vineyard itself is made up of 3,500 vines on three acres of land, producing 500-600 cases a year.

The Historic Clermont Inn offers the Batavia Blaze Burger, a hamburger that was created to support getting a minor league baseball team to Batavia. Although the team never made it, the sandwich remains. The restaurant also sells Jerry’s Cheesecakes, made in nearby Milford. The owners make all food from scratch.

Cynthia Cassell and David Uible, owners of Vista Grand Ranch, have been raising bison for 13 years. Customers can buy Vista Grand Ranch meat at local grocery stores and meat markets, but the pair holds a Ranch Days event once or twice a year, when customers can come directly onto the ranch to buy meat. Cindy and David also own the restaurant Bistro Joe’s in New Richmond, where customers can order buffalo burgers, steaks, and sandwiches.

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August 31 – September 29, 2007

GAMBIER AND KNOX COUNTY

The Knox County Fair has, since 1849, celebrated the county’s rich agricultural heritage. Hundreds of young people display 4-H youth projects, with spirited competitions in showmanship and judging of the grand champion lamb, hog, steer, and dairy cattle. Adults share their culinary expertise in juried competitions for many types of home-prepared foods, from baked goods to preserves to specialty lamb dishes. Visitors can enjoy a delicious locally grown pork patty sandwich offered by the Knox County Porkettes, the county pork association.

Perhaps the most distinctive culinary event is the Danville Lions Club Raccoon Dinner, now in its 63rd year. The evening includes a raccoon meal (sourced from local trappers) and a program of live music and a guest speaker. The Utica Ice Cream Festival celebrates the local brand Velvet ice cream and presents music, food, and sheepherding demonstrations. Visitors can tour the ice cream factory and enjoy refreshments in the restored mill. The Danville-Howard Turkey Festival recalls the long history of turkey production in the area with parades, entertainment, a cake auction, an Amish bake sale, a smokehouse demonstration, a sub sandwich eating contest, and a turkey dinner. The Fredericktown Tomato Festival features a competition for the largest tomato and exhibits fine examples of homegrown vegetables, baked goods, canned goods, and tomato products; visitors can also enjoy free tomato juice at the Hospitality Tent.

The Centerburg Oldtime Farming Festival hosts an auction of pies from 25 local bakers, agricultural displays, traditional music, and a show of antique tractors.

Places
Market on the Square is a lively gathering place in Mount Vernon’s Public Square on summer and fall Saturday mornings. More than 40 farmers sell a wide range of products: beef, lamb, bison, pork, eggs, cheese, maple syrup, herbs, preserves, fruits, baked goods, and produce. Travelers who enjoy a leisurely drive through the countryside will encounter over 50 roadside stands along the county’s beautiful country roads. Handmade signs announcing “EGGS 4 SALE” or “Local Honey” beckon visitors onto farms run by central Ohioans, including the Amish. Be sure to learn more about the county’s many pick-your-own fruit and produce operations.

The annual fall Heart of Ohio Tour features approximately 10 stops in a self-drive tour of one section of the county that changes from year to year. Food is always a highlight; free samples may include ice cream at a dairy farm, cider and apples at an orchard, lamb tastings at a sheep farm, or burgers at a beef operation.

Mount Vernon’s growing cultural diversity is evident in the increasing variety of locally owned ethnic food restaurants. Indian, Korean, Greek, Italian, Mexican, and Chinese food is available within a few blocks of the Public Square.

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October 1 – October 29, 2007

BREMEN AND FAIRFIELD COUNTY

The hog roast is a Fairfield County tradition that finds its roots in the county’s German and Appalachian heritage. A hog roast is just that: a whole hog is cooked on site for a large group of people. Along with the meat, the meal often includes potato salad, beans, bread, beer, soda, pies, and cakes. At the Bremen Oktoberfest, Rienschield’s Meats and Deli roasts and serves a hog outside of the business.

The Millersport Sweet Corn Festival, held the week before Labor Day, was started in 1947. The festival has a large variety of food stands and festival-goers can eat an assortment of fair foods and, of course, bags of kettle corn or ears of fresh roasted sweet corn.

Today, Appalachian foods are often made for the nostalgia they inspire and the traditions they mark. The Wilkesville Bean Dinner, held in Vinton County, just south of the Fairfield County line, offers traditional Appalachian foods. This event, in its 138th year, features beans cooked in iron pots over coals and served in enameled buckets.

Places
Rienschield’s Meats and Deli, the only food manufacturer in Bremen, is best known for their sausages, made from beef and pork. Altogether, they make 50 products, including hams, bacons, bologna, beef jerky, and lunch loaves, from hormone-free animals.

The Lancaster Farmers’ Market takes place on Wednesdays during the summer. Vendors selling locally grown produce and homemade baked goods include: Rosanna Miller’s homemade granola, mulberry jam, gingered rhubarb jam, maple sugar candy, cabbage, zucchini, and various herbs; Mary Thomas, well known at the market as the “The Pie Lady”; Jim and Lea Agsten of Ohio Homestead Gardens and Apiaries, who sell honey, onions, garlic, elephant garlic, raspberries, green beans, jams, and jellies; Ralph Hugus, third generation owner of Hugus Fruit Farm, which sells fresh fruit at the market and at their Rushville location; and Carl Friend, who sells sweet corn from Neeley Farms out of the back of his truck.

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November 1 – November 29, 2007

URBANA AND CHAMPAIGN COUNTY

The Ohio Fish and Shrimp Festival is held at Freshwater Farms in September. Established 20 years ago by Dr. David Smith, Freshwater Farms is the largest indoor hatchery in Ohio, producing rainbow trout, largemouth bass, yellow perch, bluegill, and many other fish. Those attending the festival can buy freshly harvested shrimp and a variety of foods from vendors. Visitors can shop for items such as fresh, smoked, and marinated fillets, trout fillet patties, and trout jerky.

Places
One of the oldest and best-known businesses in the area, Carmazzi’s Deli and Candy Store has seen five generations of family members working in the business. In addition to candy, the Carmazzi family still sells sandwiches at the deli, as well as fruit baskets at Christmastime.

Another long-standing food business of Urbana is Crabill’s Hamburgers. Forrest Crabill started selling nickel hamburgers out of a buggy in 1927; current coowner, Forrest’s granddaughter Marsha, now handles the business. Crabill’s Hamburgers also sells potato chips made by another local business, Mumford’s Potato Chips and Deli. Asa Mumford founded the business in 1932, which became known for its hand-cooked kettle chips. Present owner, Marilyn Leopard, focuses on the quality of their product; some of the smaller grocery stores in the area as well as some nearby restaurants offer these special chips.

An Urbana restaurant with a widely known reputation, Airport Café, was established in the mid- 1940s at Grimes Field Airport. Owners, Pat Hall and her son Doug, make an effort to maintain a neighborly atmosphere and patronize local food producers. The Airport Cafe is known for its “hundred dollar hamburger,” underscoring the fact that many customers are pilots who land in Urbana just to get a burger. Pilots also frequent the cafe for its “from scratch” foods and its homemade pie (particularly the butterscotch), selling at $2 a slice.

Located in downtown Urbana, the New Family Table Restaurant is family owned, and 70-year-old Ruth Stamper makes the daily special, pies, cole slaw, potato salad, and macaroni salad using her family’s recipes. The restaurant is open for all three meals and serves breakfast – featuring their famous pancakes - 24 hours a day.

Robert’s on Miami is a newer restaurant which offers some unique menu choices such as a Reuben salad, a Tilapia Sandwich, Veal di Parma, and Deviled Chops. In addition, customers can order more standard fare such as pastas with alfredo and tomato sauces and New York strip steak.

A fifteen-minute drive north on US-68 will lead to Marie’s Candies. Started in 1956 the company is known for its Tur’kins, consisting of chocolate, pecans, and caramel, and for peppermint taffy-like candy covered in chocolate. They also make chocolate figures, such as bunnies, terriers, and Ohio State University logos, along with caramels, mints, roasted nuts, and chocolate-covered potato chips.

The area offers two raspberry farms: The Champaign Berry Farm, features black and red raspberries. Customers pick their own raspberries from bushes growing on the 28-acre farm. The raspberries are sold by the pound and the quart. Prepicked berries also can be purchased as long as they have been pre-ordered.

The Robert Rothschild Farm began in 1977 when Robert and Sarah Rothschild started selling berries. During one season with an excess crop, Robert Rothschild produced some award-winning raspberry jam and the farm has been in the jam business ever since. Although all production is still done on site, the farm now distributes across the country. There is also a cafe serving salads and sandwiches.

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January 4 – January 30, 2008

TWINSBURG AND SUMMIT COUNTY

February 3 – March 7, 2008

AURORA AND PORTAGE COUNTY;

At the Mantua Potato Festival in Portage County, local vendors serve a variety of potato-based foods, including pierogies, salt potatoes, bread, soup, dessert cakes, pancakes, donuts, and even potato chip cookies. Attendees can purchase a cookbook featuring festival foods and enjoy potato-centered activities, including potato chip and mashed potato eating contests, a “Bake Off ” competition, and a potato stomp race, along with musical performances, carnival rides, and a parade.

Places
The Countryside Farmers’ Markets in Peninsula and Akron offer produce from local providers. The smaller Twinsburg Farmers’ Market brings in a variety of vendors from Summit and surrounding counties. Vendors include: Luther’s Farm and Farm Market, a family business for 100 years, that began as a dairy farm and now raises Black Angus beef and a variety of fruits and vegetables; Heron Hill Farm, selling a variety of fresh vegetables grown from organic, untreated seeds; Blue Jaye Farm offers a variety of produce, including herbs, flowers and even Christmas trees, along with pesto, jam, and maple syrup; Goodell Farms, started in 1825, produces three grades of maple syrup: light, medium, and dark amber.

In addition to farmers’ markets, Portage and Summit counties boast a wide variety of roadside stands and produce markets. Sirna & Sons Produce is an example of a year-round produce market, also selling a variety of cheeses, meats, wine, beer, and spices.

Customers looking to deal directly with the farmer may be interested in learning about the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy, a nonprofit corporation headquartered in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The Countryside Farmer’s Market and the Hale Farm and Village are also located within the park. The CVCC Farmer’s Market has two locations: the “country” market held in Peninsula on Saturdays from 9-12, and the “city” market held in Akron on Thursdays from 3:30-6:30.

For those traveling through Portage and Summit counties, consider visiting: Ninni’s Bakery, in business since 1932 and best known for its Italian cookies, including macaroons, thumbprints, and pizzelles; the New Era Restaurant, known since 1938 for its strudel, stuffed cabbage, and pigs in a blanket, offers home-cooked Eastern European and American dishes; Luigi’s Restaurant in the heart of Akron is thought by some to serve the best pizza in the area; family run Marcelita’s, in operation for 28 years, is a must for anyone interested in Mexican dishes made from original recipes.

Portage County is the country’s largest producer of individually wrapped chocolates. There are several small chocolate companies in the area, such as the Hartfield Chocolate Factory, Temo’s, and the largest, family-owned Harry London’s, which pioneered individually wrapped chocolates. Temo’s and Harry London’s are located by the Akron-Canton airport and offer tours.

Amish restaurants in the area, such as the Hartfield Kitchen, offer traditional fare such as chicken soup with rivels (dumplings) and hot date pudding.

The Akron area is also known for its drive-in burger restaurants such as Skyway or Swenson’s Drive- In found throughout the city. They serve some of the best hamburgers around, along with sloppy joes, and steak, pork and fish sandwiches.

Influenced by Serbian culture, Barberton is known for its “Barberton chicken,” fried in lard and served with French fries made from scratch and hot rice (like Spanish rice with Hungarian peppers). Barberton chicken can be found at the Belgrade Gardens (the original), Hopocan Gardens, White House Chicken, and Milich’s Village Inn.

There are other Eastern European restaurants and markets as well, such as Al’s Corner Market and Al’s Quality Meats, which makes Eastern European meats and sausages. Leach’s Sweets and Meats also makes Hungarian and Eastern European pastries.

Ohio is also one of the largest producers of Swiss cheese in the country. During “The Golden Age of Cheese” between 1855 and 1910, Aurora was known as the largest cheese center in the United States. Be sure to check area restaurants for sauerkraut balls. Containing ground sauerkraut, ground ham, bread, mustard, and other ingredients mixed into a paste, coated with crumbs, and deep fried, sauerkraut balls are a unique regional food.