a question regarding each of two former Detroit restaurants

[pieter+dieter]

Is there anyone who might know the recipe for " Jean's Sauce Of The Islands"? It was a staple ingredient used at the Brothers Barbecue[[?) spots. I know of only two locations for this fine old business. One was on, I believe, Greenfield, and the other was downtown on E. Jefferson at St. Antoine[[?). They prepared some tasty offerings. One was the appealingly named "Boogaloo Sandwich". [[ I would also love to have -- at least 24 hours before I die -- the recipe for said sandwich.) The sauce, of which I spoke earlier, was also bottled and sold by them so that customers would be able to have it for use at home.

A final, unrelated request: has anyone any pictures of Cardinales[[?) Restaurant? Inside? Outside? Shots of the owners -- Antoinetta[[?) and Adolfo[[?) Cardinale. Anything that might bring on the stabbing pain of young life lost. Anything. I want to see it. And cry. What a place. Simply the best. The jukebox! The prurient bread sticks. The wine that Adolfo called "cold coffee" [[which he served in coffee cups). And that whole story. Oh, my. How splendidly old Detroit.

[Gary]

I don't know the recipe for Jean's Sauce of the Islands, but I wish I did. That stuff was addictive. The original Brother's was on Curtis at Wyoming in a dinky little building, later they moved around the corner to a much bigger store on Wyoming.

As I recall, the Boogaloo sandwich was ground beef with Jean's sauce, mustard, diced onions and green peppers served on a french [[or maybe Italian) roll. I'm getting hungry just thinking of it. Akbar's on Livernois used to serve a similar sandwich that was just as good.

[pieter+dieter]

Dear Gary,

Thanks for the help. Perhaps someone else will help us with a recipe for the as yet mysterious -- I always enjoyed the romantic-sounding name -- "Jean's Sauce Of The Islands". Wyoming! Yup. Sounds right. I didn't know that it was Wyoming that had been given that treatment by the city. By treatment I mean the decorative, attention-getting structural steel assemblage that ran for several blocks, quite near the curb, along that stretch of the street. I liked it, though I am used to hearing such undertakings [[think Washington Boulevard) panned. I even liked the latter.

Was the Wyoming effort even a city project? It may have been a neighborhood matter. The neighborhood would, however, have had to coordinate things through the city given that the curb strip constitutes an easement held by the city. [[I think.)

If it was the city's doing, was it possibly an Alex Pollock idea? Do you remember the part of the decorative enhancement that stood in front of a day-care center? It was tres cool for De-twaw. Happy children swinging on overhead exercise bars?

The way I'm using past-tense, if it's all still there [[minus Brothers) I'll be accused of having fled our town and of having not been on Wyoming for decades -- but I still live in town and within a mile or so of the site I'm nattering on about. I'll have to run by and see how things stand on those blocks.

Your reconstruction of the Boogaloo sounds very, very believable. I, at least, am a buyer of your theorem, as things stand tonight. Let us see what or whom else turns up out there. Thanks a lot, fellow epicure. Care to take a flyer on the sauce?

[[Gary, I once told a really nice husband and wife team -- who had a restaurant in my neighborhood -- that they could guarantee themselves a phat future if they would start serving the Boogaloo. I worked on them for some time to do it. I can be real pesky. They were cooks! And caterers! And on Woodward!! They didn't get around to doing it. Sorrowfully, they have not survived the economic deterioration that has taken us all by the gullets. They were swell people. I think it would have been a deal changer. Do you agree? I mean, who could fail serving up Boogaloos?)

On another note: I've often imagined that the sandwich would rule if it was sold, from
street-vending tricycle-with-a-hot-box rigs, on the streets downtown. Also, they used to sell it, at least at the downtown spot, as a half order, or a full order. The half order was perfect for my needs. And I do think that they referred to the roll as being "French". Which of the two -- were there more? -- restaurants did you go to?

Ah, well. As you allude, a sweet addiction. With your extraordinarily refined palette, and your clearly sophisticated life style, I would expect you to have something to add about Cardinales. In my experience, and I'll make this real simple, it was the best restaurant in our solar system. Ever.

Nice talking to you about all this. Life is good, is it not?

[detroitbob]

When I worked at Galligan's the owner used to come in on the off nights and bring treats for the staff. ribs, the boogaloo, etc. ...the may have been doctored up commercial used as sauce as a base. A lot of bbq joints use Open Pit as a base and add to it...I don't know if it was the brand used at Brothers as the 'base' or not. The "garbage" pizza at Ren Cen Deli next door to Brothers was also great.

[gazhekwe]

Sauce of the Islands sounds as if they may have added some islands elements to a commercial sauce. As detroitbob says, a lot of restaurants have special sauces that are repurposed and maybe embellished other things. Big Boy and Thousand Island dressing for example.

So for the islands, how about some allspice, some really hot pepper seasoning, scotch bonnets would be traditional, and thyme. You can use milder peppers, and maybe they did, since Gary remembers green peppers. Now a little cinnamon and lots of black pepper. See if that helps.

The way Gary remembers it, the Boogaloo sounds a little like a take on the sloppy joe, would that be right?

[gazhekwe]

I found a NYT review of BBQ restaurants from Sunday, July 3, 1988. Look at this!

Brothers Bar-B-Que, Detroit, Mich. 581 East Jefferson Avenue; 313-963-7298 COMMENTS AND HOURS: Just across the street from the gleaming Renaissance Center, Brothers has an atmosphere that is strictly Down Home. Pork ribs are the specialty, slathered in Jean Johnson's sweet, spicy Sauce of the Islands. Another favorite is the Boogaloo sandwich - French bread filled with ground pork, cheese, onions, green peppers and sauce. Open 11:30 A.M. to 9:30 P.M. Monday to Thursday, 11:30 A.M. to 11 P.M. Friday and Saturday; closed Sunday. Second location [[not sampled): 18091 Wyoming Street.

[bdglsmn]

Wow Thanks for this post! I have been back in town now for about 3 1/2 years after being on the West Coast for 9 years and I have been trying to remember who sold the Boogaloo. I remembered the name but I forgot the place. That was a GREAT sandwich!

[gazhekwe]

Well, let's try to recreate it. We know it had ground pork, not beef. French bread or roll, which? How about any crusty roll, a ciabatta maybe? Onions and green pepper, raw, chopped, sliced? Or chopped and cooked along with the meat? What kind of cheese?

The sauce, the review says sweet and spicy. A lot of people I know doctor Open Pit with their own special secrets. Can we start with Open Pit? Is it sweet enough as is? Then add the hot sauce preferably with scotch bonnet peppers, allspice, cinnamon, thyme and black pepper. More sugar? orange juice maybe?

Here is a list of jerk spices with proportions for one recipe. You are supposed to coat the meat with oil, rub on the spices and grill.

• 2 tablespoons dried minced onion
• 2 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper [[I might leave this out if you use the scotch bonnet hot sauce, but I am a wimp)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Maybe add this amount of spices to 2 cups Open Pit and adjust to taste?

[Gary]

Nice detective work gazhekwe...yeah, I guess you could say the Boogaloo was a kind of glorified sloppy joe, but it sure tasted unlike any sloppy joe I ever made at home. It's quite possible that the sauce was a commercial barbeque sauce that had been doctored up with some additional ingredients as you suggest. Whatever they did, it definitely had a unique flavor. The sandwich that Akbar's served was made with ground beef instead of pork, ketchup instead of Brother's sauce and I think they put theirs on a hot dog bun instead of a french roll. Either way, both were very good.

[jcole]

How does this one sound:
From Taste Of Home

Jamaican Barbecue Sauce

"Since visiting Jamaica, I've become a big fan of jerk chicken and fish," writes Lee Ann Odell from Boulder, Colorado. "I came up with my own version of that zesty island flavoring especially for this contest. It's a great sauce for ribs, whether you're grilling them or making them in the oven. It makes me feel like I'm on vacation!"
SERVINGS: 16
CATEGORY: Low Fat
METHOD:
TIME: Prep/Total Time: 20 min.
Ingredients:
1 bacon strip, halved
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1 tablespoon chopped jalapeno pepper
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup molasses
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Directions:
In a saucepan, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Discard bacon or save for another use. In the drippings, saute the onions and jalapeno until tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat; cool. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 2 cups.

[Gary]

pieter+dieter...I am not familiar with Cardinale's and I'm surprised nobody has come up with any memories of the place. Where was it located?

As far as I know, the decorative iron bars and concrete kiosks in front of the store fronts on Wyoming at Curtis were put there by the city in an effort to dress up and/or re-vitalize that stretch of businesses. There were similar efforts along several other neighborhood business strips all around town. Those bars are all a bunch of rusty eyesores now on Wyoming, but there are still quite a few viable storefronts that appear to be doing well along that section of of the street.

jcole ...I don't know if that recipe is close to Jean's Sauce of the Islands or not, but it sounds like something worth trying. Any recipe that calls for bacon fat, molasses, onions, jalenpeno peppers and ketchup is okay by me.

[EastsideAl]

My goodness, I sure remember "Jean's sauce of the islands"! Brother's was my go-to BBQ back in the late heyday of Detroit 'cue joints. I was overjoyed when they opened one downtown, saving me that long ride out to the westside [[although I had friends out near there who were BBQ crazy like me that I used to visit as an excuse to take that trip to Brother's). I used to pick up ribs there on my way over to Canada, since they were basically right across from the tunnel. I remember bringing it over for my family who also flipped over the sauce, even though it was a bit spicy for their Canadianized palates.

Wyoming and Curtis had once been one of the main shopping and restaurant areas of Detroit's Jewish community. So we used to go over there when I was a kid to get certain foods for members of my family. When Brother's first opened , there were still a few Jewish businesses on those blocks, and I remember stopping in there for the first time on our way out of the neighborhood, grabbing some tref-y ribs to go with our armload of fresh rye bread, corned beef and kosher salami [[well, we weren't actually Jewish anyway...). The sidewalk covers, etc. went up later as a way to enhance that shopping area as it, like almost all other street shopping areas in the city, went into a decline.

Cardinale's I remember too, but barely. It was a real old-style place in a little storefront, and looked like what I imagine a lot of old ethnic businesses in Detroit looked like 100 years ago. It was on a street off Gratiot way down in the old old Italian area not too far from Mack Ave. I want to say it was Moran, but I'm not sure. I am told by a San Marinese friend of mine that the Cardinales were actually San Marinese.

[pieter+dieter]

Some poorly organized thoughts regarding Brothers and Cardinale's restaurants:
About Jean's SOTI's, it wasn't thick coming from the bottle, as I recall. [[But I'm old as hell -- and all of this happened in the last century!) So because of this consistency point, I don't think it's going to turn out to have begun from someone's commercial offering; at least not a thick one. Also, it was sold at the restaurant -- presumably for a price the average consumer would think reasonable. This price would also have to be found reasonable from the restaurant's standpoint given their cost of materials, labor, bottling, and labeling. So it doesn't make sense to me that they would start with the already profit-laden product of another's devising. And, heck, they're cooks. Food preparers. But who knows what may have been done to reduce the manual labor aspect of all this. Food preparation is damn hard work. Maybe they did begin from someone's else's sauce. I just don't think it's likely. They struck me as being thrifty -- in a good way. [[Of course, they certainly were influenced by the cooking of others -- maybe even to the extent of lifting the entire recipe, but I choose to think otherwise. Heck, this is my past we're talking about here.)

And now that we know Jean's last name, we may yet come up with the cook herself. I do remember that she was, I believe, the wife-owner of the
husband-owner. [[Lovely post Gazhekwe.) Some details: the onions and green pepper were, I think, cooked with the meat. The bread was a small, loaf-type affair -- of course, split along one side, from end to end. It was then wrapped in deli paper, if that's the term.

About Cardinale's Restaurant, I may be misspelling it. It may be Cardinali's.
Someone will know. This fine establishment is legendary. EastsideAl, it was on Grandy just north of Gratiot, if we take Gratiot to be an east-west street.

At this wonderful spot, at the end of a packed-house night which might have seen something like three diners filling each seat -- from the earliest arrivals till the latest hangers-on -- Antoinetta would come out of the kitchen into an area behind an old unused bar that probably served as storage and a butler's
pantry-arrangement for the front-of-house needs. She was a smallish woman with an impish face. She looked exhausted. She was soaked. She looked at the room full of people still eating the last of the dishes that we had seen her making throughout the long evening. [[We could look into the kitchen through an opening of some three feet by two feet.) She was seldom out of view. And she never stopped moving. And this went on for maybe six hours. Six days a week. Lunch and dinner.

When she stepped out of the kitchen at night's end, she would be smiling self-consciously. And she continued to do so -- smiling, blowing her hair from her face, and looking as if she might fall over. Table after table would stop talking and turn to acknowledge her.

Antoinetta, at these moments, tired, relieved, and clearly happy, had a further look about her though that always baffled me. Now, when I think of her standing there, it seems to me she was saying, "There is one thing that no one else can do. No one else can prepare these dishes that kill, absolutely kill you, on the first bite."

One lunch, I was there with a party of six or seven people, including several who hadn't been there before. I handed a forkfull of my dinner to one of these newcomers from several seats away. She took it and turned back to someone beside her as she put the fettuccine in her mouth. She turned back to me in a perfectly unintended double-take. I was watching her, waiting for her to taste it. Did I know what her reaction would be? I don't know. But I'll never forget it. That dish killed me on first tasting, week in and week out for years.

It breaks my heart that I never once did more than wave or smile or blow Antoinetta a kiss on the nights -- Fridays, Saturdays -- when she died a little in that kitchen. I don't know exactly what I wish I had done. But I know what I should do now. I love you, Antoinetta.

[pieter+dieter]

Some poorly organized thoughts regarding Brothers and Cardinale's restaurants:
About Jean's SOTI's, it wasn't thick coming from the bottle, as I recall. [[But I'm old as hell -- and all of this happened in the last century!) So because of this consistency point, I don't think it's going to turn out to have begun from someone's commercial offering; at least not a thick one. Also, it was sold at the restaurant -- presumably for a price the average consumer would think reasonable. This price would also have to be found reasonable from the restaurant's standpoint given their cost of materials, labor, bottling, and labeling. So it doesn't make sense to me that they would start with the already profit-laden product of another's devising. And, heck, they're cooks. Food preparers. But who knows what may have been done to reduce the manual labor aspect of all this. Food preparation is damn hard work. Maybe they did begin from someone's else's sauce. I just don't think it's likely. They struck me as being thrifty -- in a good way. [[Of course, they certainly were influenced by the cooking of others -- maybe even to the extent of lifting the entire recipe, but I choose to think otherwise. Heck, this is my past we're talking about here.)

And now that we know Jean's last name, we may yet come up with the cook herself. I do remember that she was, I believe, the wife-owner of the
husband-owner. [[Lovely post Gazhekwe.) Some details: the onions and green pepper were, I think, cooked with the meat. The bread was a small, loaf-type affair -- of course, split along one side, from end to end. It was then wrapped in deli paper, if that's the term.

About Cardinale's Restaurant, I may be misspelling it. It may be Cardinali's.
Someone will know. This fine establishment is legendary. EastsideAl, it was on Grandy just north of Gratiot, if we take Gratiot to be an east-west street.

At this wonderful spot, at the end of a packed-house night which might have seen something like three diners filling each seat -- from the earliest arrivals till the latest hangers-on -- Antoinetta would come out of the kitchen into an area behind an old unused bar that probably served as storage and a butler's
pantry-arrangement for the front-of-house needs. She was a smallish woman with an impish face. She looked exhausted. She was soaked. She looked at the room full of people still eating the last of the dishes that we had seen her making throughout the long evening. [[We could look into the kitchen through an opening of some three feet by two feet.) She was seldom out of view. And she never stopped moving. And this went on for maybe six hours. Six days a week. Lunch and dinner.

When she stepped out of the kitchen at night's end, she would be smiling self-consciously. And she continued to do so -- smiling, blowing her hair from her face, and looking as if she might fall over. Table after table would stop talking and turn to acknowledge her.

Antoinetta, at these moments, tired, relieved, and clearly happy, had a further look about her though that always baffled me. Now, when I think of her standing there, it seems to me she was saying, "There is one thing that no one else can do. No one else can prepare these dishes that kill, absolutely kill you, on the first bite."

One lunch, I was there with a party of six or seven people, including several who hadn't been there before. I handed a forkfull of my dinner to one of these newcomers from several seats away. She took it and turned back to someone beside her as she put the fettuccine in her mouth. She turned back to me in a perfectly unintended double-take. I was watching her, waiting for her to taste it. Did I know what her reaction would be? I don't know. But I'll never forget it. That dish killed me on first tasting, week in and week out for years.

It breaks my heart that I never once did more than wave or smile or blow Antoinetta a kiss on the nights -- Fridays, Saturdays -- when she died a little in that kitchen. I don't know exactly what I wish I had done. But I know what I should do now. I love you, Antoinetta.

[DetroitScooter]

Incredible! Thanks for taking me back to a past that I never knew... we only moved up here nine years ago [[and we love it), but I sure wish that I was around to sample these wonderful places and tastes. Thanks very much for sharing those good times.

[gazhekwe]

As for finding Jean Johnson, let's hope someone who knows her pops in and sees this. Google is full of recipe connected info re: Jean Johnson, Portland, OR food writer. Nothing about BBQ Sauce that I could find. She has a book, too, and I did look through it. Nothing recipe related in Detroit though.

[pieter+dieter]

Debra, My friend Jeff Broder sent this to me. He may have found it on Chowhound on the web. It's not from any of the original Brothers family or employees, as you can tell from the first two lines, but the writer seems to care about the whole business of the Boogaloo. [[A believer!) It might be worth a test batch that you could then try out on some of the old-heads we must all know. Those that remember the sandwich, that is.

BOOGALOO SANDWICH

The lady that owned Brothers took the recipe to the grave.
This recipe is very close.



A. Jean's Sauce Of The Islands



1 gallon can of ketchup.
1 quart lemon juice
2 cups Worcestershire
4 cups sugar or to taste
1/2 cup Jamaican paprika
2 Tbs cumin
Cook over low heat till proper consistency.

B. Boogaloo Sandwich


For The Boogaloo sandwich [[best sandwich on earth)
Obtain quality fresh bakery French bread type sub buns
split sub buns down the middle as you would for a sub.
Boil chopped Spanish or white onions in salted water uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes.
Drain onions in colander. Do not rinse.
Sauté ground pork at medium high heat in a skillet until browned. Brother's used course ground pork. You want some of the pork almost crispy.
Ladle some boiled onion into each bun, followed by sliced American cheese on one side of the bun add pork that has been mixed with the sauce [[A., above).
Wrap in aluminum foil for about 5 minutes too heat bun and melt cheese.
I used to buy about 10 Boogaloos a week for my employees in Royal Oak. I was heartbroken when they closed.
The extra sauce can be kept for weeks in the fridge.


Well there we have the latest in our attempt to capture the glory that was the Boogaloo Sandwich. And thanks to our friend Jeff Broder, who writes for the Metro Times. He lets the story come slowly out of the person that's lived it -- sounds like a good recipe.





And now for a note regarding the other restaurant that was a subject of this thread way back when: Cardinali's.



First note the new spelling; now correct, I hope. Next, other posters have pointed out that it was on Mitchell, just off Gratiot. It was not on Grandy, as I had originally thought. And let me say again, you never had better.

[pieter+dieter]

I just noticed that the New York Times [[TNY) piece concerning Brother's, posted above, mentions green peppers. Maybe we will have to try it both ways.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

As for finding Jean Johnson, let's hope someone who knows her pops in and sees this. Google is full of recipe connected info re: Jean Johnson, Portland, OR food writer. Nothing about BBQ Sauce that I could find. She has a book, too, and I did look through it. Nothing recipe related in Detroit though.

Jean Johnson and her husband had a son named Clifton, who I went to Beaubien Jr High with [[early 70's) which was right down the street from the BBQ place. I remember him telling us about what it was like working at Brother's BBQ when he got out of school everyday. I wonder what Clifton is up to now? He was a good guy.

[Zacha341]

Arghh. I am hungry just reading this. And yes Open Pit is a good base sauce to build more custom flavors too. Yummy!

A bit off the subject... what's up with that Sweet Baby Rays sauce...? Just plain ole nasty IMO. You can't even fix it. Ugh.

Well, let's try to recreate it. We know it had ground pork, not beef. French bread or roll, which? How about any crusty roll, a ciabatta maybe? Onions and green pepper, raw, chopped, sliced? Or chopped and cooked along with the meat? What kind of cheese?

The sauce, the review says sweet and spicy. A lot of people I know doctor Open Pit with their own special secrets. Can we start with Open Pit? Is it sweet enough as is? Then add the hot sauce preferably with scotch bonnet peppers, allspice, cinnamon, thyme and black pepper. More sugar? orange juice maybe?

Here is a list of jerk spices with proportions for one recipe. You are supposed to coat the meat with oil, rub on the spices and grill.

• 2 tablespoons dried minced onion
• 2 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper [[I might leave this out if you use the scotch bonnet hot sauce, but I am a wimp)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Maybe add this amount of spices to 2 cups Open Pit and adjust to taste?

[Gannon]

Back then, ketchup used sugar...not High Fructose Corn Syrup...so you'll have to carefully buy ONLY the Heintz Original Recipe.

That will make a huge difference.

[Zacha341]

Yeah, that cheap HF Corn Syrup is bad... I try to avoid it. Hard though, it IS in everything. Yikes!

Back then, ketchup used sugar...not High Fructose Corn Syrup...so you'll have to carefully buy ONLY the Heintz Original Recipe.

That will make a huge difference.