LEO/LHB Eats: True grits and more at 211 Clover

[Robin Garr]

<table border="0" align="right" width="210"><tr><td><img src="http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/211grits.jpg" border="1" align="right"></td></tr><tr><td>211 Clover offers a fancy version of shrimp and grits, a Southern specialty. LEO Photo by Nicole Pullen.</td></tr></table>LEO's Eats with Louisville HotBytes
True grits and more at 211 Clover
(Brunch at 211 Clover Lane; Wood City Grill)

OK, quick now, class, tell me three signature Louisville dishes.

Hot Browns? Very good, Suzie! The open-face turkey sandwich topped with bacon and cheese sauce has been a local tradition since Brown Hotel Chef Fred K. Schmidt built the first Hot Brown for the midnight enjoyment of famished dance-party-goers in 1926.

Modjeskas? Excellent, Timmy! The good folks at Busath's Candies in Louisville renamed their popular caramel biscuit candy "Modjeska" in honor of a visiting Polish singer who took the town by storm in 1883.
Who's got another?

Shrimp and grits? <i>BZZZZT!</i> Sorry, Bubba. This hearty Southern comfort food comes to us direct from South Carolina's Low Country around Charleston. Back in 1607, Sir Walter Raleigh's English colonists first chowed down on a slumgullion of boiled ground white corn that the local Indians called "rockahomine." It didn't take them long to notice that the tasty shrimp that abounded in the region's coastal waters went a long way to improve the nutritious but bland grits.

It would be almost 400 years before Shawn Ward, chef at Louisville's Jack Fry's, added Southern red-eye gravy to the dish, gave it a fancy plate presentation and started serving it for dinner. Louisvillians were dubious at first, but the dish soon caught fire; other local chefs caught on, and now you can find it at a dozen upscale eateries around town. A Louisville tradition? Maybe Bubba got it right after all.

Full reports in LEO and on LouisvilleHotBytes.

A mojeska wasn't always caramel covered marshmallow? Now sometimes covered in dark chocolate? What is this biscuit you speak of?

[Robin Garr]

A mojeska wasn't always caramel covered marshmallow? Now sometimes covered in dark chocolate? What is this biscuit you speak of?

I have never seen a modjeska in chocolate, and would consider this a historic aberration.

Caramel-covered marshmallow it may be, but the good folks at Busath's, back in our great-great-grandparents' era. did indeed call it a "caramel biscuit candy" before they renamed it in honor of the divine Mmle. Modjeska. You could look it up.

Dark chocolate covered mojeskas are fabulous! Around Easter, Muth's offers a dark chocolate mojeska egg. I don't even care the price, I just buy them.

The Modjeska

Helena Modjeska (October 12, 1840 - April 8, 1909), was a renowned Polish actress who specialized in Shakespearean roles.
Helena Modjeska

The Modjeska is a candy confection, that was created in Louisville. It was created because of the admiration of a local confectioner (Anton Busath) for the famous Polish actress, Helena Modjeska.

Madam Modjeska appeared in Louisville several times during the late 1800's (1878-1892). During this time, she appeared at the McCauley Theater and The Opera House in plays such as "Camille" and Thora" (later renamed "A Doll's House"). According to Madam Modjeska, in her book Memories and Impressions of Helena Modjeska, she was very "taken" with Louisville and enjoyed coming here.

It was during this time that Anton Busath came to Louisville from Alsace, France. He started his candy store on Louisville's then famous Fourth Street near the McCauley Theater.

There, nearly six years after her last appearance in Louisville Anton finally perfected his "caramel marshmallow wonder". It was with Madam Modjeskas' blessing that he named his wonder "The Modjeska". In appreciation, she sent Anton an autographed portrait of herself. The portrait hung in the store until a fire in 1947 destroyed the building. With the holiday so close, Edgar Busath (the son of Anton) asked a good friend Rudy Muth (a confectioner with a store on East Market Street) to use his candy kitchen to make candy for his family and close friends for Christmas. When it became apparent that he would not be reopening the store, Edgar gave Rudy the recipe for the Modjeska.

Today, Muth's Candies, now in it's fourth generation as Louisville's oldest and finest candy store, is still making Modjeskas with the same love and quality that Anton, Edgar and Rudy insisted upon.

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The above comes from the Muths Candy website. Note that the caramel is the original. Chocolate or caramel, the things are nasty. Only my personal taste and opinion of course.

I would have posted the link but I am tech impaired and don't know how.
muthscandy.com

I believe the Modjeska was first made at Schimpff's, which would mean it's Jeff's, not Louisville's.

[Robin Garr]

I believe the Modjeska was first made at Schimpff's, which would mean it's Jeff's, not Louisville's.

No, absolutely Busath's.

And with apoliogies to Steve. Best. Candy. Ever.

I believe the Modjeska was first made at Schimpff's, which would mean it's Jeff's, not Louisville's.

Although Schimpffs is a neat place and I would encourage any candy lover to go there, you are wrong.

And with apoliogies to Steve. Best. Candy. Ever.

And that is why different things are made. If we didn't have different tastes, we would only need one of each type of thing. Some people like fried eggs, some scrambled.

That said ... the damn things taste awlful .. the actress that they were named after must have been terrible .. the outer shell is lumpy and ugly .. the interior will take an old man's (me) teeth right out of the head. And they clog up the digestive system for a couple of days.

Other than that, they are no doubt pretty good. If I had a mother in law, I would give her a box.