It's Season 2 of The Dish!

Today’s story takes us back to 2014, Ann Arbor. That’s when Eric Holloway started making cheesecake with his mom. Before that, Eric was in a bad place. But he’s come a long way from growing pot for a living to baking cheesecakes.

• EK’s Cheesecakes offers custom orders that are available for delivery or pickup at Stadium Market in Ann Arbor.
• They also offer a rotating menu at their storefront in Dexter on Fridays and Saturdays. EK’s Cheesecakes shares its storefront and kitchen with Rich Grains Bakery

We’d love for you to fill out this listener survey. It will only take a few minutes, and it will help us know what you want to hear!

Is there a culinary creative we should get to know in your area? If so, tell us about them. You can send your tips to TheDish@MichiganPublic.org

GUEST:

• Eric Holloway is the owner of EK’s Cheesecakes and co-owner of Rich Grains Bakery.

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A brand new season of The Dish is here, and we’re kicking things off with a Michigan favorite – pączki. We’ll take you inside a popular Hamtramck bakery known as "Pączki Headquarters," to see what it takes to make thousands of these rich jelly donuts ahead of Fat Tuesday, plus we’ll talk to a food writer about why this Polish tradition is so beloved, and how the pączki keep evolving.

GUESTS:

• Micki Maynard, journalist and editor of Culinary Woman Newsletter on Substack
• Suzy Ognanovich, New Palace Bakery family member

Photo caption: New Palace Bakery offers traditional and new flavor pączki.

Photo credit: Ronia Cabansag

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Chef Eddie Vargas has a long history with birria — a flavorful stew that is slow cooked until the meat of choice is fall-apart tender. Filled with dried chiles, garlic, and spices, the stew is traditionally made with large cuts of goat or lamb. However, in the U.S., it is most often made with beef. In the past decade, birra tacos, quesabirria, and even birra ramen have taken off. Listen to how Eddie is making this traditional stew. And stay tuned because in 2025, Eddie is opening a new taqueria called Tacos Wuey Detroit with his father Jose.

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Music in this episode by Audio Network and Blue Dot Sessions.

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For Chef Prej Iroegbu, Detroit is home base for both his family and his business: a series of well-loved food trucks called Fork in Nigeria. But his culinary talent was born and nurtured in Nigeria.

The Fork in Nigeria menu offers savory meat dishes made with goat, lamb or oxtail, and equally hearty but less heavy veggie-based dishes, like cassava leaf stew and spinach and kale soup.

Many of his ingredients, Irogebu said, are sourced directly from Nigeria, including peppers, yams, and various spices. He also imports palm oil, a key ingredient in Nigerian cooking.

Iroegbu’s most popular dish incorporates egusi, another import that he said he struggled to find in the U.S. The ground melon seed is served in stew form with fufu, a white, flavorless ball of pounded yam.

Fork in Nigeria Food Truck WEBSITE: https://forkinnigeria.com/

Bonus footage from Prej's kitchen: https://www.michiganpublic.org/podcast/the-dish

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A couple in Grand Rapids is cooking up homemade corn masa that’s garnered the attention of true tortilla lovers from all over the country. Madre Masa is one of the few Michigan businesses utilizing a process called nixtamalization in creating the dough for their corn tortillas.

Click here to see photos of the blue and yellow corn tortillas and the milling process with Renata Fernández Domínguez and Bek Ostosh.

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Music in this episode by Audio Network and Blue Dot Sessions.

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Every week, the display case at Q Bakehouse features an array of pastries that blend European form with East-Asian flavor. Owner Rachel Liu Martindale's current bestseller is a chili crisp scone. Rachel walked us through the recipe, and offered some tips for experimenting with new flavors in baked goods.

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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After attending culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu, and then cooking at a two Michelin-star restaurant in Chicago, Chef Ken Miller brought his skills back to Michigan. His most recent culinary experiments, including his accidental everything-bagel miso, incorporate fermentation, preservation, and zero-waste strategies. Chef Ken let us into his creative process within Michigan's fine dining world.

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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The Marasigan family is bringing all the flavors and fun of a Filipino house party to West Michigan via their restaurant, Adobo Boy. Chef Jackie Marasigan shared why she's excited to share her culture with a community that might know nothing about Filipino food. We also learned what makes the restaurant such a warm welcome for Filipinos far from home.

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Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions.

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