Boston was actually the first stop on the tour, and the License to Spill van came to the Home Show at Patriot Place, where Chef Ben Lacy of Tastings was participating in the Home Show's Chef Fest. The day of the event, I reviewed my email exchange with the show producers and realized I had missed one key feature: the signature dish was baked beans! Now, I've gotten a lot less picky over the last few years, but I still really don't like beans and hadn't tasted baked beans in probably more than 20 years. But my rule for blogging-related events is that I'll try whatever I'm offered, and as it turned out, I did enjoy the beans. I'd had Lacy's cooking once before at a visit to Tastings and was impressed by his emphasis on local ingredients and beautiful presentation.
Aside from eating beans, I spent some time chatting on camera with charming host JD Roberto about Boston's classic foods, particularly seafood. I think I said something about how scrod isn't an actual species of fish - like gefilte fish - and babbled about the molasses trade, which was hopefully accurate. I dutifully mentioned that Boston baked beans are the ultimate signature dish of the city because the script - and the fact that baked beans were the signature dish of the event - called for it, but to be honest, I don't think they're really a thing anymore. People who live here don't eat them all the time (well, I certainly don't), and I suspect that tourists don't really look for them. Tangentially related, no one who is from here calls Boston "Beantown." Just don't do it.
Beans aside, I had a blast shooting the segment, although I didn't actually get to spill anything on the carpet. Too bad! It'll air this Friday, April 19th, on the following stations:
- Boston (Manchester) - WBIN (IND Channel) at 1am
- Springfield-Holyoke - WBQT (CW Plus) at 5am
- Springfield-Holyoke - WSHM (CBS) at 6am
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