Matt and Ted Lee are brothers who grew up in Charleston and moved to New York. They had what they thought was a great idea – to sell boiled peanuts to all the Southern-themed joints in the Big Apple. It didn’t go well.
But the boiled-peanut fiasco helped launch them into new careers in the food world. They created a catalog of Southern food for other folks who had moved away. They started writing articles, then cookbooks. And now they’ve written a different kind of food book. It’s called Hotbox, and it’s about catering – what they call “the food world’s riskiest business.”
This is the first time we’ve had two guests at the same time on SouthBound, much less two brothers. So to help you tell them apart while you’re listening: Ted is the one in the hat.
Let's keep the conversation going. Who do you want to hear from next on the SouthBound podcast? Submit your idea in the box below. You can also send a tweet to @tommytomlinson or @wfae, and email me at ttomlinson@wfae.org.
Show notes:
- The thing that put them on the map: The Boiled Peanuts Catalog
- A mention of their boiled peanut adventures in the New York Times in 1994
- Their boiled peanuts recipe
- The Amazon listing for "Hotbox"
- A list of their cookbooks
- A recent story (with a quote from Matt) on whether Charleston's time as a great food town has passed
Other music in this episode from bensound.com
New episodes of SouthBound will come out every other week on Wednesday. Subscribe:
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SouthBound is a production of WFAE. Our host is Tommy Tomlinson. Our producer is Nick de la Canal. Our audience engagement manager is Joni Deutsch, and our main theme comes from Josh Turner.