Episode 52: The Lee Brothers, Matt and Ted Lee

Siblings Matt and Ted grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. When they left to attend colleges in the Northeast, they so missed the foods of their hometown that they founded The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue, a mail-order catalogue for southern pantry staples like stone-ground grits, fig preserves, and, of course, boiled peanuts. When an editor of a travel magazine asked them to write a story about road-tripping their home state in search of great food, they embarked on a second career as food and travel journalists. They currently are contributing editors at Travel + Leisure and frequently write food stories for Bon Appetit, The New York Times, Fine Cooking and Food and Wine, among other publications. Ted lives with his wife, the artist E.V. Day, in Brooklyn, NY; Matt, his wife Gia, and their two sons live in Charleston, SC. On this weeks episode of Chefs Story, Matt and Ted speak with host Dorothy Cann Hamilton about starting a boiled peanuts business, bringing Southern food to New York City, and their latest cookbook, The Lee Bros. Charleston Kitchen. With more than 100 recipes and photos, maps of walking and driving tours, and stories to accompany nearly every dish, it explains the simple but sophisticated culinary allure of the South Carolina port city, ranked number one on Condé Nast Travelers Top U.S. Cities list for the past two years and voted their readers favorite city in the world for 2012. Learn more about future business endeavors of the Lee Brothers, and find out how you can bring authentic Charleston cooking into your kitchen today! Fundamentally, our uncle was a big influence in our lives as a restauranteur. [11:30] We want to celebrate Charleston culture, and tradition. In this book, we have a gazpacho recipe inspired by a little French cafe in the 1980s. [41:15] -- Matt and Ted Lee on Chefs Story