60-Second Stir Fry: Ted Lee - a podcast by WNYC Studios

February 22, 2013 —

Maybe it's because I'm tired of living in 50 shades of gray February weather, but I decided to stage native South Carolinian and cookbook authorTed Lee's Stir Fry in front of the bright backdrop of WNYC's lobby.

Not only did I luck out with a background that harmonized with Ted's luscious creamsicle-orange V-neck sweater, I also got a soundtrack courtesy of sister stationWQXR.

Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" seemed synced with the tension Ted felt in the Stir Fry's hot seat... or, to be precise, hotbench. 

Lee says oysters are the best reason to be from the South. Roasting them on the beach is considereda rite of passage. It sure beatsmyrite of passage in the sleepy suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, where we spent idle summer evenings tossing rolls of toilet paper into the trees of people's front yards. I blame this juvenile delinquency on not having oyster roasts on the sour, industrial beaches of Lake Erie.  

I asked Lee where the South starts. To me, the South has more of a metaphysical boundary, one that begins with the first time somebody addresses me as "ma'am." Ted Lee gives it a hard, geographical boundary, and places the South alluringly close to New York City. Under Stir Fry duress, he says it starts south of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Why, that's less than a three hour drive away from the Holland Tunnel! (Okay, longer if you get stuck in weekend tunnel traffic and Parkway volume.)

I'll head there this weekend, and start looking for a beachside oyster roast to crash.

 

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