Florida Foodie By cover art

Florida Foodie

By: WKMG and Graham Media Group
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  • Summary

  • Food is part of our traditions and cultures, and it affects our health, our economy and all of our communities. So, Florida Foodie is giving you some food for thought, taking a closer look at what we eat, how we eat it and the impacts on Florida and what it means for everyone, everywhere.
    Produced by WKMG, in cooperation with Graham Media Group.
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Episodes
  • Greenery Creamery, Sampaguita help people create core memories through ice cream

    Greenery Creamery, Sampaguita help people create core memories through ice cream
    Jul 2 2024
    Marie Mercado had no plans of becoming a “professional ice cream lady.” She had her sights set on the stage. “I wanted to be an opera singer,” Mercado said. “I did perform. I did shows in New York. I moved to Japan, I did a couple of performances there. I was there for a year and then I was going to move to Germany, but then I’m like, ‘OK, let me pay down some student loans. Let me figure out my life, get everything settled, get everything squared away before I move.’” That decision brought the South Florida native to Orlando. Mercado said she met her partner in the City Beautiful, who introduced her to the idea of running her own business. “When you’re a musician you work 90% of your time alone, right, actually. So I like the idea of building my own community,” she said. Mercado looked to her childhood when she decided to start her own business. Growing up in South Florida, she said her neighbors would give her family a glut of mangos every year. “My dad one day was like, ‘Hey, why don’t we turn this into ice cream so we can enjoy this for a couple more months instead of trying to eat this all in one day,’” she said. Mercado said she was always dabbling in the kitchen as a child, so her parents thought making ice cream would be a perfect fit for her. “I started my career as an ice cream lady at 7 years old,” she said. This ultimately led her to open the Greenery Creamery in downtown Orlando in 2018. “I consider myself a professional ice cream lady and I have a very important job,” she said. “I have to provide ice cream options for people in the community.” Mercado takes the job seriously. She tries to make sure that everyone can have something in her ice cream shops — offering vegan and allergen-friendly options. “People don’t realize consciously that ice cream is a way to create core memories. So people don’t think ‘Oh, it’s baby’s first steak.’ They think, ‘Baby’s first ice cream,’” she said. Greenery Creamery offers a wide variety of flavors, some familiar and some that are a little more outside the box of traditional ice cream. In 2023, Mercado took her passion for ice cream in a different direction. She opened Sampaguita in Orlando’s Mills 50 District. “I say Greenery Creamery is a journey of self-expression and Sampaguita to is an exploration of self-identity,” Mercado said. Sampaguita is focused on offering Filipino-American-inspired flavors, a nod to Mercado’s Filipino-American heritage. Sampaguita is the Filipino name for the Jasmine flower, which is also the national flower of the Philippines. “Jasmine flower means love and purity, guidance and truth and so it just has so many layers to it. So I said, ‘Yes, this is the name that fits everything,’” Mercado said. On the latest episode of Florida Foodie, Mercado shares more of her journey from opera to ice cream. She also talks about some of her experiments with ice cream flavors and shares some frozen treats with Candace Campos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    26 mins
  • Caribbean Moonshine delivers tropical flavors with an eye towards history

    Caribbean Moonshine delivers tropical flavors with an eye towards history
    Jun 18 2024
    Mike Webber and Steve Nichols did not originally plan on becoming moonshiners. The pair saw it as an opportunity when Florida decided to relax some of its craft distilling laws. “Florida changed their craft distilling laws in 2020 and relaxed them a little bit more in 2022 to match those of Tennessee,” Webber said. “Today, there’s a very popular 13 Moonshine craft distilleries in a five-mile stretch in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. In 2002, there were none. (Tennessee) changed (its) craft distilling laws to allow craft distilling in a public place like Orlando Vineland Premium Outlet Mall, just like Florida did, and we wanted to be on the front end of telling the story.” The pair decided to call the business Caribbean Moonshine as a nod to history. “Moonshining was actually born in the Caribbean and was way popular for centuries before it was ever done up in the hills of Tennessee and Kentucky,” Webber said. Of course, the pair had a lot to learn before they could set up shop. They managed to find an expert from Tennessee to teach them the trade. “Steve had a friend that introduced us to a shiner up in Tennessee called Shine Girl. Her name is Danielle Parton. She’s actually Dolly Parton’s niece,” Webber said. That was their foot in the door. The pair wanted to take the process back to its roots, using cane sugar in the fermenting process. “We use Florida cane sugar, and we distill that to 185 proof,” Webber said. “Then we go to a distillery that has access to the Zephyrhills Springs in New Port Richey, and we blend our 185 proof with Zephyrhills Spring water, which is smooth and ultra-purified, we’ll add more Florida cane sugar in the flavoring to flavor it.” The flavors are nods to the Caribbean and Florida, including banana, coconut, marmalade and peanut butter and chocolate, which is their No. 1 seller. Caribbean Moonshine opened its doors in the Orlando Vineland Premium Outlet Mall, right in the heart of Orange County’s tourist district. This has allowed them to have people from all over the world taste their product. “A lady come in and she says I’m from Barbados, and I want to try the rum,” Nichols said. “So she tried our flavor. She said, ‘This is amazing.’ She called her husband over. Well, her husband’s a rap artist named Etcetera and he come over after a long day at Disney with the kids and he was tired. He didn’t want to move but he did and when he come over here, he was blown away. So much so that he invited Mike and me out to the Grammys for the release of his album, Sagittarius.” On the latest episode of Florida Foodie, Webber and Nichols share more of their story about opening their distillery. They also talk about tours of the distillery and mixology classes offered there, along with some of the products they still have in the works. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    19 mins
  • Melao Bakery went from struggling business to must-stop destination

    Melao Bakery went from struggling business to must-stop destination
    Jun 11 2024
    Edward Colón has been working in his parent’s business, Melao Bakery, since they first opened it in 2008, shortly after moving to Kissimmee from Puerto Rico. “The first years, we slept inside the store,” Colón said. “We had those foldable beds. We folded the beds, we put them in storage and we opened up.” Colón was in his teens at the time and his younger brother had just been born, adding to the challenge of churning out authentic Puerto Rican cuisine daily. “I did a lot of (making) bread while I was trying to finish school and college,” he said. “So I was making bread and I would go to college and then come back and forth. So it was not easy.” The family started renting a small building on a quiet road in Kissimmee. “We struggled,” Colón said. “There was no Spanish places around at that point — not like now, obviously. We knew we had a great product at that point, So, we took the risk.” The gamble ended up paying off for the family. They now own the building they first opened in and have a second just outside of Orlando. The family also employs more than 150 people. Despite the success they have seen, the family still puts many hours on the business. “I work basically seven days a week,” Colón said. We work around the clock. It’s an everyday thing. I got employees that come in at three in the morning. And I have employees that get out at (midnight).” That dedication has turned Melao Bakery into a destination spot within the Kissimmee community. “Most people come straight from the airport,” Colón said. “People get there and get to eat every type of food that you find in Puerto Rico.” Colón said the goal was always to give people a feel and taste of the island territory, but making it accessible to everyone. “We don’t just have Puerto Rican clients, obviously, we have all kinds of clients — specifically in the Kissimmee store,” he said. The bakery is located just outside of Heritage Park. Many people stop by after various activities at the park or the Silver Spurs arena. The family is now looking to expand their business and get their products into more places. “We’re working on mass production,” Colón said. “We’re growing our kitchen area, and our bakery area — everything’s, gonna be double of what it was.” He added that the family wants to make sure they can maintain the same quality as they increase the quantity of their product. On the latest episode of Florida Foodie, Colón shares more of his family’s story and the challenges they faced. He also gave Lisa Bell a sample of some of the delicious food available at Melao Bakery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    26 mins
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