Food: Stef & The Chef
If you ask us, one of the best parts of going on vacation is sampling the local foods, and in years of brief jaunts to northern Michigan, we have come to treasure its edible treats. Sure, smoked fish, pasties, and fudge are more vacation delights than regional cuisine. But what would a trip to the Upper Península be without them? If you have a chance for a quick get away up north, here are a few suggestions for where to find some of the best of these tourist attractions.
In mid to late summer, the eating bonanza begins before you even make it over the Mackinac Bridge - with cherries. The Lower Peninsula's northwest corner produces nearly one-third of the world's cherries. We recommend a stop at Amon Orchards in Acme (just north of Traverse City on US-31) where you can pick your own. Go for the well-known, dark, sweet Bing cherries, or try unexpected varieties like Schmidt or Heidelfingen or the white Queen Anne cherries. Juicy tart cherries are also delicious; you'll recognize their flavor as the source of cherry pie filling.
Amon Orchards farm market offers a dizzying array of cherry-based products made on-site, including a heady, unsweetened cherry juice concéntrate, home-baked cherry turnovers, and jars of cherry almond butter, cherry jam, andeven cherry barbecue sauce. They also make some of the best fudge we've had anywhere. No surprise that their cherry chocolate is a winner, but the peanut butter and other flavors are also creamy and rich, with none of the gritty or powdery texture from which other fudge versions suffer.
Given its reputation in northern Michigan, you might be surprised at how hard it is to find really good fudge. Ryba's Mackinac Island Fudge is trustworthy - and available in other locations besides on the Island - but don't be taken in by inferior substitutes. The boxed fudge from the Fort Fudge Shop, for sale in restaurants and hotel lobbies, is dry and artificially flavored and contains no butter. They shouldn't be allowed to call it fudge. Always ask for a sample before you purchase. Or, bring a cooler, stock up at Amon Orchards, and some home. Your friends will love you.
When you get over the bridge, you'll be in pastie country. Popular wisdom is that pasties - a soit of pot pie filled with potatoes, carrots, rutabaga, meat, and onions were eaten by the copper miners in the U.P., who warmed them on their shovels over fires. Root vegetables make possible a cheap meal ($3-$4) all year round. For an initial sample, make a quick stop on US-2 in St. Ignace at Jerri' s Pasties. This tiny, ramshackle grocery with characteristic U.P. hand-painted signs out front serves an oblong pastie, heavy on the vegetables, and light on the meat (beef or chicken), and smothered with gravy.
For a different style, try the Eagle's Nest Inn in Germfask, on Route 77, just south of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge (a vacation must-see!). The Eagle's Nest offers delicious, homemade food including a chicken soup with dumplinglike noodles, but its pastie is one-of-a-kind. The crust is better than pie crust - dense, flaky, and buttery - and the gravy is thick and flavorful. Inside are layers of tender, shredded beef with the expected vegetables. This pastie is huge, so you might want to split one with a companion.
Another northern Michigan protein source is smoked fish. Whitefish, lake trout, chubs, salmón, and other fish are smoked throughout the Great Lakes región, and we have tried many different purveyors. This summer, we found a new favorite: .VanLandschoot & Sons fishery on M-28 in Munising. A small sign encourages passersby to stop at this commercial fishing outpost on Lake Superior where men in rubber overalls, patching huge nets in the driveway, remind you who is on vacation and who is working for a living. A door leads into a large, cool, cement-floored building that smells overpoweringly of fish. A small cooler of fresh and smoked filets, with a scale on top, Iets you know you're in the right place.
When we visited, a man emerged from behind a wall, wiping his hands on a blood-stained apron. As he filled our order, he told us he was the third generation of VanLandschoot fishermen, "and probably the last." None of the younger kids want to go into the business, he said. "They see these weekjobs, and they don't wanna work 70, sometimes 80 hours a week." We couldn't fail to notice a cartoon taped to the counter with a drawing of a fisherman in a glass case and the label "Extinct Species: Commercial Fisherman." Whatever feelings one might have about the problems with the fishing trade throughout the world (and there are plenty), we were struck by this personal testimony of a family and culture in flux.
Creating even more mixed feelings is the fact that VanLandschoot & Sons smoked fish is unbelievably good. The smoking was enough to fully cook the fish and add a woody, meaty flavor while leaving the flesh still moist and fatty. The lake trout was the highlight for us, but the whitefish is also exceptional. The fish is shamefully cheap - about $2.50 a pound. Again, it's worth stocking up and bringing some home.
We would have loved to try their fresh fish filets too, if we had had somewhere to cook them. Fortunately , many U.P. restaurants can broil up a nice piece of lake trout or lightly fry some perch for another satisfying vacation meal (usually for around $9). Most restaurants are come-as-you-are establishments, and whatever they might lack in atmosphere, they make up for in portions.
Nowhere is this more evident than with one last tempting edible from the north - the cinnamon roll. We had heard vague rumors over the years about cinnamon rolls bigger than your head, but we had dismissed these as no more credible than cougar sightings in the dark woods. A little research, however, showed how wrong we were. The best cinnamon roll we've found is at Zellar's Village Inn Restaurant in Newberry (on 123 just north of M-28). They begin with a roll about the size of a dinner píate made with layers of cinnamon-sugar, walnuts, and soft bread, baked to create a thick, crunchy cinnamon glaze on the bottom. Then they slice it long-ways, slather butter over the inside of each slice, and grill it. Finally, the cinnamon roll is drizzled with frosting and served hot. It's divine with a cup of coffee or a glass of cold milk, but don't try to order anything else to eat.
We admit, there's something a little embarrassing about being tourists - or "fudgies" as northerners call people like us - but you can bet U.P. residents are grateful for the business if you're a pleasant customer. So indulge yourself. After all, you're on vacation. And bring us back some fudge, wouldya?