ANNOUNCER: And now, Signature Dish, a WETA original series.

SETH: Today on Signature Dish, we're serving up a hearty dose of comfort.

I can't wait to try it.

After getting up close and personal with the catch of the day.

PETE: Got some really nice looking fish in there.

Probably make some really nice fish and chips.

SETH: We'll enjoy a festive Mexican staple.

DAVID: Pozole in Mexico, it is the soup of the soups.

It's a reason to celebrate.

CAROLINA: Salud.

SETH: Salud.

And visit a joint that's doing red sauce right.

That is exactly the flavor I was hoping to find.

You nailed it.

I'm Seth Tillman, WETA producer and DC native.

And I love good food.

That's why I'm traveling to restaurants across the DMV.

At each stop, looking for the one thing you've just gotta try.

That Signature Dish.

My hankering for comfort food will first take me from one capital city to another.

In the shadow of Maryland's State House and along bustling Main Street, sits Preserve.

JEREMY: I met Michelle at the Culinary Institute of America in upstate New York, and then we moved to New York City to build our resumes.

We lived there for about two and a half years.

MICHELLE: We got married in 2008, then decided to move to the DC area.

SETH: After living and working in northern Virginia for a spell, Jeremy and Michelle began to look for a more permanent place to put down roots.

JEREMY: I grew up in Pennsylvania and Michelle grew up in Delaware, and never really made it to Annapolis very frequently.

But then when we came and saw this community, we were jaw dropped.

MICHELLE: I feel like it was an aha, wow, everything clicked, moment.

At Preserve, we highly focus on preserved items.

I want to say that we use something pickled, preserved, fermented in every dish.

A second meaning is preserving community, by buying from local farms, by making choices to sustainably protect the Bay.

JEREMY: We're very fortunate to be in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

There's a plethora of local natural ingredients, beautiful farms, produce.

MICHELLE: I think that many things can become comfort food throughout your life.

It can be things that come from global inspiration.

So whether you're eating kimchi, curtido, or Jeremy's favorite, the sauerkraut at Preserve, you can feel that it's comforting, which I think that is very important for our menu.

JEREMY: We want to be creative and explore that, but we also don't want to pigeonhole ourselves into being so off-the-wall.

So we do take dishes that people are familiar with, and then have our own twist to it.

So it's still that comfort food that they remember, but maybe perhaps in a different way.

SETH: Before I head east to Preserve, I'm first meeting Chef Jeremy due south of Washington for an adventure on the water.

Chef.

JEREMY: Seth.

SETH: Nice to meet you.

JEREMY: Nice to meet you.

SETH: Well, I got to ask, what are we doing here, so bright and early on the banks of the Potomac?

JEREMY: So our signature dish is the fish and chips, that uses blue catfish.

It's an invasive species to the Bay.

And we have Captain Pete out there who's going to show us how he brings them in.

SETH: That sounds awesome, but when I hear invasive, I'm not thinking delicious.

But that's not the case with the blue catfish?

JEREMY: Not at all.

It's a very clean, delicious fish.

SETH: All right, should we go hit the open seas?

JEREMY: Let's do it.

SETH: You know, Chef, I've never been much of a boat guy in my life, but a beautiful crystal clear morning on the Potomac like this, I think I get the appeal.

JEREMY: Absolutely.

SETH: Captain.

PETE: Good morning.

SETH: Nice to meet you.

PETE: Nice to meet you.

SETH: Permission to come aboard?

PETE: Sure.

Come on.

Get on here.

Be careful.

SETH: All right.

So we're going to be catching some fish today?

PETE: Yeah, we're going to go out here and try to catch some of these invasive blue catfish.

We set a few lines last night and hopefully we had a bunch of fish this morning.

SETH: Let's set sail.

PETE: All right.

♪ ♪ SETH: And so Captain, we're here to protect the Chesapeake, but we're doing it on the Potomac?

PETE: Yes sir.

It's a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, and these fish are very invasive.

They go everywhere.

They're every place in the Chesapeake now, but it's been devastating to the environment.

And they'll eat crabs and fish, rockfish, clams.

They even eat the native grasses.

So I think that's what really makes them taste as good as they do.

JEREMY: So Pete, do you have any spots on the river that are more full of these blue catfish than others?

PETE: Yes, but you got to know where they're at.

You just can't go out here and set a line any place.

But in order to catch a lot, you have to know where to set at.

Well, we're going to pull up here now to this line, and we're going to find out what's on it.

SETH: All right.

Oh, whoa.

My goodness.

PETE: Okay, there's one on every hook.

What we're going to do is we're going to take these fish off, we're going to throw them into this ice water right here.

(splashing).

Cool them down a bit.

And we're going to take the hooks off that have the old bait on them, pull that bait off, put a new piece on, and go to the next hook.

And we just do this over and over and over again.

This next one here is a good size for you to try it if you want to.

SETH: A little starter catfish to work with?

PETE: Yeah, a starter catfish.

There you go.

SETH: All right.

PETE: Why don't you get up here and give it a try?

Unclip him and I'll give you the de-hooker.

SETH: All right.

The de-hooker, let's give it a shot.

PETE: Twist with your left hand.

SETH: There's some real expertise involved with this.

PETE: Well, when you've done a couple million of them like I have.

There you go.

SETH: Yeah, all right.

PETE: You got it.

All right, now... SETH: Chef, you're next.

Sorry about that.

PETE: No, you're fine.

SETH: No, no, I was actually apologizing to the fish.

(laughing) ♪ ♪ PETE: All right, well we're done for the day.

We fished our lines and this is our catch.

JEREMY: Are you happy with this haul?

PETE: Yeah, it's pretty good.

Got some really nice looking fish in there to make some nice filets.

Probably make some really good fish and chips.

(laughing) SETH: Well fish and chips sounds good to me.

All right, should we head back, get cleaned up and head over to the restaurant?

JEREMY: That sounds great.

Let's do it.

SETH: All right, you guide us home, Captain.

PETE: All right.

Here we go.

(camera shutter) JEREMY: All right Seth, welcome to the kitchen here at Preserve.

SETH: All right, so this is one of the catfish filets?

JEREMY: Yes.

So we caught the fish, it gets sent to a facility where they have USDA inspectors to make sure the authenticity of the catfish.

And it comes to us in a, in a sealed box.

SETH: So this is the real deal here?

JEREMY: The real deal.

SETH: Well they really do clean up nicely.

JEREMY: Absolutely.

SETH: So how are you going to go ahead and turn this into fish and chips?

JEREMY: So we'll take the filet and separate it down two pieces.

And then we'll remove the bloodline, this darker area.

So what I'll do is take the knife, kind of cut the filet down the middle.

If it was too thick when I go to fry it, then the outside would likely be more burnt than beautiful golden brown.

Now we're going to go ahead and make the batter.

So for that, we use a rice flour.

So the dish is gluten-free.

We do have a malt aioli that's served with it.

So there is a little bit of that, but beyond that, it does lend itself to people who usually can't enjoy the fish and chips.

SETH: Got it.

JEREMY: So we have our rice flour, we take our baking soda, our baking powder, and a little bit of salt.

So now I'll whisk it up, just to incorporate all the ingredients together.

SETH: And the rice flour, that's going to help it keep kind of a nice, lighter consistency?

JEREMY: Lighter, a little bit more crispy, I feel, than using flour.

So we have our club soda here.

SETH: Club soda?

I think actually my mother-in-law adds club soda to her matzo ball recipe.

So I think I know this trick.

You get some of those bubbles in.

JEREMY: Yeah, so it makes a more airy batter.

SETH: And this is a lot different than some really heavy beer-battered fish and chips recipe.

JEREMY: Yes, this is our take on a tempura-style batter.

We add a little bit of dredge, and it's the same mixture that we used to make the batter, but it's just something to help the batter adhere to it.

So we'll drop that in there.

So now very lightly we're going to coat the fish.

So now that the fish is battered, we make sure we have our potatoes on standby.

So we just use a standard russet, and we cut them into batons, at which point they are fried to blanch them.

And then we cover them with a little bit of plastic to steam them.

SETH: So these are already kind of partially cooked, because they're going to need a lot more time to cook than the actual fish?

JEREMY: Yes.

So the next step is we take the potatoes and then they'll get put that in the fryer.

At which point we'll take the catfish, and that gets slowly ribboned over top of the potatoes, to help keep the fish from sticking.

And then we just let those cook for about three to four minutes until everything is golden brown.

Season it with sea salt.

And then we're ready to move to the plate.

It's going to be finished with a little bit of green salad, shaved red onion, the house lemon vinaigrette, and a nice big dollop of malt vinegar aioli.

And once we get this plated up, we'll be ready to enjoy it at the table.

SETH: All right Jeremy, this looks amazing.

JEREMY: Thank you.

SETH: But I have to ask, what pairs nicely with an invasive species like this?

MICHELLE: A good local beer.

So we partnered with Pherm Brewing in Gambrills, to create the Picnic Pils.

It's light, delicious, just like the fried fish.

SETH: Well cheers to that.

MICHELLE: Yeah.

SETH: Drink local.

MICHELLE: Cheers.

JEREMY: Cheers.

SETH: That's good.

MICHELLE: Yeah.

SETH: All right.

Wow.

It's so crispy.

MICHELLE: Oh, thanks.

SETH: And that fish is so mild and flaky and delicious.

Nothing like what I would've imagined those blue catfish tasting like.

That's outstanding.

And tell me, Jeremy, about this dip.

JEREMY: So this is a malt aioli.

So traditionally you get your fish and chips with a little ramekin of vinegar.

We decided to add richness to the dish in the form of a mayonnaise.

SETH: Well I always just absolutely douse my fish and chips in malt vinegar.

That's a really nice touch.

It's just such a comforting taste.

It just kind of takes you back.

MICHELLE: Yeah, it's like summer at the beach, and boardwalk fries, and everything delicious about, like a nice summer fried fish entree.

SETH: And it'd be hard to imagine eating much more locally than this.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I think that doing our part to support the Chesapeake Bay and its biodiversity, it really ties back to supporting local, whether that's with the fish, with the beers we pick.

So we always really want to go back to how can we be of service within Annapolis?

SETH: And it's just amazing, having, you know, caught some of those fish, to know that they could yield such an incredible flavor.

So I'm kind of happy to do my part to help the Bay.

MICHELLE: Looks can be deceiving.

SETH: And hopefully enlist a few more people in the DC area to enjoy a great meal and get rid of the species in the process.

This was wonderful.

JEREMY: Thank you, Seth.

♪ ♪ SETH: As I make my way back west, I'm stopping just shy of the district line, Takoma Park, to pay a visit to Cielo Rojo.

DAVID: I was born in Mexico City, I came here to the United States when I was 16 years old.

Mexico City is just a place where like, there's so many cultural encounters.

There's a lot of influences from different parts of the country.

CAROLINA: I was born in Chile, I moved to the US when I was eight to the DC area.

Then I moved to San Francisco about 2005, and that's when I met David.

We worked at a restaurant together, and one of the inspirations for this restaurant is just our experience living in California, eating California-influenced Mexican cuisine.

And coming back home to visit my family, and not seeing as many options as we wanted.

There's definitely a tradition in Mexican families to come together and eat.

When we opened we wanted people to kind of form community around our restaurant.

DAVID: Mexico is a very vast with a lot of history, and people are very hardworking people.

And I think after working really hard, you want to always go home and make something that makes you feel good.

So anytime you have a bite of anything, a taco, or you know like, you try pozole, or mole, or anything, it just brings you home.

Because there's so much love into it.

SETH: David.

DAVID: Hey, what's up?

How are you?

SETH: Good to see you.

Carolina.

CAROLINA: Nice to meet you.

Welcome to Cielo Rojo.

SETH: Oh, thank you so much for having me.

And what is this contraption that we're looking at right here?

CAROLINA: This is our molino, which is a corn mill.

We get corn from different small farms in Mexico.

It used to be just Oaxaca, but now it's like that territory.

SETH: So how does this machine even work?

DAVID: So every day prior to milling, we cook it in a process that's called nixtamalization.

So it just allows the corn to break up and soften, so we can ground it.

It can be digestible.

SETH: And so this corn here, this is going to be used in your tortillas and tostadas and everything else?

CAROLINA: Yeah, I would say the heirloom corn that we use here is at the center of everything we do.

And you can taste the difference and the freshness.

DAVID: In fact, corn is one of the main ingredients for our signature dish, the pozole verde, that I would love to show you.

Why don't we fire this up, and then you can follow me, and we can do it together?

SETH: Sounds great.

Let's do it.

DAVID: All right.

So here we go, Seth.

Welcome to our kitchen in Cielo Rojo.

This is our kitchen set up to make our pozole verde, and these are all the ingredients.

SETH: All right, so pozole, we're talking about a soup or stew here?

DAVID: Yes, yes, absolutely.

So pozole in Mexico, it is the soup of the soups.

It's something that we make, and we gather family, gather people.

It's just party time.

SETH: And a lot more corn too, I can see.

DAVID: Yes, absolutely.

So we have a couple versions of dried corn here.

We nixtamalize corn, we actually also take some of that and cook it a little longer.

And this is hominy, it's just a little bit thicker.

It's like meatier.

So much easier to bite into it.

SETH: Oh yeah, I could snack on that all day.

So these are all the ingredients that are going to actually go into the soup?

DAVID: Yes, absolutely.

We have the star of this dish, which is the tomatillos right here.

SETH: All right, well anytime I see tomatillos in the supermarket, I'm just kind of intimidated.

DAVID: Yes.

SETH: I don't know, are they tomatoes, are they peppers?

DAVID: They're basically similar to a tomato, but they're very different in taste and flavor.

And I'm sure you've had a salsa verde anywhere.

So it's very sour, very acid.

SETH: Giving a nice brightness to the soup.

DAVID: That's correct.

SETH: All right, so how do you put it all together?

DAVID: So here we go.

We got some tomatillos that we're going to go and start putting into the blender.

And then we have some cilantro, some pumpkin seed.

These have been previously toasted.

Some dry oregano.

We have some bay leaves.

And we have some epazote.

Some jalapeños, some onions, some roasted poblano peppers.

And we have some serranos.

These are probably 20 times spicier than the jalapeños.

And we have some garlic.

Now that we have all ingredients here, we're going to go ahead and cover this blender and start blending.

(blending) SETH: So that's it?

DAVID: Yeah, that's it.

Yes.

SETH: This is like the anti-mole, it's so much simpler.

DAVID: Yes.

I think it's probably why we make it all the time, because it's so simple to make.

Just a few ingredients.

Add some hominy, get some toppings, and you have a pozole.

Now that we have our salsa verde blended, we're going to grab a pot and put our sauce.

And then we're going to go ahead and grab our hominy.

We're going to add some chicken and also some chicken broth.

Now that we have our pozole cooked, we're putting everything together.

We have some of the hominy, some green cabbage, some radishes.

We're going to use some of our cashew cream that we're going to put on top of our tostadas.

And we're going to queso fresco, some avocado.

And we also like to add some pico de gallo.

We have oregano, and micro greens to finish up on top.

SETH: Oh chef, this looks incredible.

The color of this dish alone.

DAVID: Yeah, absolutely.

Look at it.

It looks like a Mexican flag, in just that, like the tostadas.

There cannot be nothing more Mexican than pozole.

CAROLINA: And you can't really celebrate pozole without a fresh margarita.

SETH: More beautiful colors.

Well cheers to that.

DAVID: Salud.

SETH: Salud.

Nice and smoky.

All right, I'm going to dig in here.

Oh, wow.

Just excellent.

And for something that is so warm and hearty and comforting, it also gives you such a nice little bracing kick from those peppers, and the acidity from those tomatillos.

Such a nice balance.

And speaking of corn, I see these beautiful tostadas here.

DAVID: Yes, absolutely.

And I'll tell you a story about this.

In Mexico, traditionally as a ritual, we gather with the family and everybody makes a line.

And normally we have all the ingredients, the toppings, and everything aligned, so everybody can just top their bowl and make it to their taste.

SETH: But here, you've nicely done the work for me, so I appreciate that.

DAVID: Yes.

CAROLINA: So if you choose, you can also just crack it and throw it in the soup.

Everybody has a different style of eating pozole.

Typically, or traditionally, people eat it on the side like David.

But I like to break it all in to get a little bit more crunch.

SETH: I love the idea of putting a few more little bits of texture in here.

This whole thing is just, it seems to me a testament to just good quality, fresh ingredients.

CAROLINA: Yeah, I would say that's like the focus point of all of our food here, is that we are a scratch-made kitchen, and we put a lot of love into how we make the food.

And I would say a clear example of that is the hominy.

You know, although it's a lot more work to get the corn from Mexico, to mill it from scratch every day, you can really taste the difference.

I think it goes right in line with Takoma Park values of really caring about where their food comes from and that's why we chose to open here.

SETH: Well, I'm glad you guys did.

This was comforting, fresh, delicious.

Thank you.

DAVID: It was a pleasure to have you.

SETH: To satisfy my last comfort food craving, I'm off to DC's Hill East neighborhood.

I'm visiting The Roost Food Hall's only full service restaurant, Caruso's Grocery.

MICHAEL: I grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and part of my family comes from Sicily.

When they got here in the early 1900s, they opened a little grocery store in Baton Rouge called Caruso's Groceries.

And I grew up spending a lot of time there.

MATT: I grew up uh, upstate New York, about 45 minutes north of New York City.

My dad had an Italian-American restaurant when I was growing up called Scoozi.

MICHAEL: Italians, obviously, there was a huge immigration from Italy into the US.

A few key parts.

One of those was in Louisiana, that's the one I'm most familiar with.

But in general, wherever they went, they came with cooking traditions and with a real passion for food.

MATT: But they didn't necessarily have the same ingredients that they have in Italy.

So they adapted.

They used the ingredients that they found here to make dishes that were similar.

These things like chicken Parmesan and fettuccine alfredo and penne alla vodka.

Maybe they have roots in Italian cuisine, but they really became ubiquitous here in the United States.

MICHAEL: For years, I kind of carried this around.

I talked about maybe trying to do one of these restaurants, a true Italian-American restaurant.

But it wasn't until I met Matt that finally it was like an instant click.

He knew exactly what I was talking about.

MATT: The main goal for the restaurant was to make the best possible versions of these dishes.

So if we're going to make chicken parmesan, it's not going to be deconstructed, and it's not going to be my interpretation of that dish.

It's going to be, what are the components of a great chicken parmesan?

MICHAEL: It's about the details.

A lot of people fumble the ball right at the beginning, but you got to start with the best possible ingredients.

MATT: We went through a process of selecting tomatoes before we opened, and we tried 15 different varietals until we landed on what was right for this restaurant.

We're so specific on everything we use here.

MICHAEL: The thing that I really appreciate about Matt, is that if a detail is going to make a difference on the plate to the guest, we are not going to cut any corners.

And he makes sure that when it comes to the kitchen, that that is always true.

SETH: Matt.

MATT: Hey Seth, how are you?

SETH: Good to see you.

Michael.

MICHAEL: Hey.

Welcome to Caruso's Grocery, here at The Roost.

SETH: Well, thank you so much for having me.

Love the smell of garlic that's hovering in the air.

I can tell something good is cooking.

What are you making today?

MATT: Our signature dish, chicken parmesan.

SETH: Well, I love a good chicken parmesan.

MATT: Well, it all starts with having a great sauce.

We're actually making it in the back right now.

Why don't you follow me back?

SETH: Let's check it out.

Catch you back at the table.

MICHAEL: All right.

Catch you back.

MATT: All right, so this is where we make our tomato sauce.

This is Erika.

She makes all the sauce here at Caruso's.

SETH: Hi Erika, you have a pretty important job here.

And what is this contraption?

MATT: This is called a tilt skillet.

SETH: A tilt skillet.

Well, I feel like it could double as a bathtub.

And so what goes into the sauce?

MATT: So we start with olive oil, garlic, onions, a little bit of salt, and our Italian seasoning.

Then we add our California tomatoes.

These are grown in Modesto, California.

The reason we go with these, they go from the field into the can within hours.

SETH: And so it's got that nice little balance of sweetness and acidity?

MATT: Sweetness, yeah, acidity for sure.

We tried a lot of tomatoes before we opened, and these are our favorite.

SETH: Well, there is just some incredible aroma coming out of the sauce.

So this is what's going to go on top of the chicken parm?

MATT: Yeah, underneath and on top.

SETH: So just smothered in sauce.

I love that.

Should we head out and get that prepped?

MATT: Yeah, for sure.

Let's get going.

SETH: Let's do it.

Thanks Erika.

All right, so this is the chicken parm pounding station, I guess.

MATT: It is.

Yep, absolutely.

SETH: And so what is it that you guys do to take the chicken parm to the next level?

MATT: So we source really good chicken, very, very important.

And we pound the chicken super thin.

It makes it super tender, cooks very, very quickly.

SETH: Yeah, because I've definitely had some chicken parm that spent a little too much time in the fryer.

MATT: Yeah, for sure.

SETH: And you've got just the medieval tool... MATT: Absolutely.

SETH: To get that job done.

MATT: Yeah.

So we take our chicken breasts, we trim it up a little bit, just so it's even in size here.

We put the plastic wrap on the chicken to protect it from tearing.

SETH: Are we talking flat side here or?

MATT: We use this side here.

This is a little bit too tough on the chicken.

SETH: Maybe a little aggressive, right?

MATT: Yeah, a little aggressive for sure.

SETH: Just tenderize it a little bit.

MATT: Yeah.

Veal you could be a little bit harder on, but the chicken you want to be nice and gentle.

Really take your time.

SETH: And so this is just happening all day, every day at Caruso's?

Just uh... MATT: Yeah, I mean it's about two, two and a half hours of prep a day is pounding chicken.

SETH: Oh my gosh.

MATT: Okay.

Take it out here.

SETH: Almost paper thin.

MATT: Almost paper thin.

Yeah.

So here we have seasoned flour, so make sure it's fully coated in flour.

Same thing with the egg.

And then into our seasoned house made breadcrumbs.

Lots of different seasonings in here.

Oregano, basil, salt, chili flake, garlic powder.

And then it's ready for the fryer.

So we take the chicken, we place it in the fryer gently.

We cook it until it's golden brown on one side, flip it over, golden brown on the other side.

Take it out, drain off any excess oil.

And we're going to season it with a little bit of salt.

Then it's ready for the tomato sauce and the mozzarella cheese.

We add a little bit of Parmesan cheese on top as well.

And then we place it into our salamander for everything to get all nice and bubbly.

And we serve that with a side of spaghetti marinara.

SETH: All right, Michael, Matt, I love how it's just swimming in that red sauce.

MATT: Oh wait, hold on one second.

Need a little bit of cheese.

SETH: Oh, boy.

Of course, a little more Parmesan on top.

Oh, that's the good stuff right there.

MATT: Good?

SETH: You nailed it.

That is exactly the flavor I was hoping to find when I came in here.

MATT: Good.

SETH: Perfect execution.

And the chicken, it's nice and juicy.

Got to go in for another bite here though.

And that sauce, what a nice little compliment that is to the chicken.

All right, I got to try a little of this pasta here as well.

Not the best bite.

MATT: Oh, Seth.

You got to go for the full bite here.

SETH: Oh, you got to dig deep?

MATT: Yeah, dig deep for the full spoonful.

SETH: Fork goes all the way in.

MICHAEL: That's the way.

I'd like to see you eat that bite.

MATT: That's not going to happen.

SETH: All right.

Well if you won't do it, I will.

I'll do anything for the camera.

I'm going to end up like the baby in the picture with the spaghetti bowl on his head.

And so is it kind of tricky to find that line where you're paying homage, without becoming one of those chain restaurants that we won't name on the show?

MATT: Yeah.

Yeah, I think this is the most difficult dish, because everybody's had chicken parm at some point in their life.

So we needed to come up with something that was you know, relevant, that's identifiable, but it's also best in class.

SETH: And for both of you, I'm guessing to be able to work on something that's so personal to you, that must be really nice.

MICHAEL: Absolutely.

I think this place means a lot to both me and Matt.

We knew that we wanted to create this thing that had this familiarity, this comfort, for so many people.

And then with everything that happened to everybody over the last three years, we think that the relevance of this experience and people's desire for it is really through the roof.

SETH: Well, I'm ready, and definitely going to be coming back to enjoy this delicious, hearty, and very generous portion size as well.

So thank you so much for inviting me here.

MICHAEL: Thank you.

MATT: Our pleasure.

Thank you.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ANNOUNCER: To find out more about great food in the Washington metro area, visit weta.org/signaturedish.