At the Fancy Food Show, I sat down with Todd Courtney, the creator and namesake of Todd’s DIRT. Although this was the middle of a major food convention, his personality made me feel welcome and I could imagine we could have a great time at a Ravens’ tailgate party, sharing ideas while he watched ribs on a parking lot grill.
Almost two decades ago, a friend of Todd’s father was known for his spice rubs. When Todd married, he asked for a jar of the rub as a gift. Todd was inspired to make his own rub, based on what he could identify in the taste of this family friend’s creation. Although the friend did not share the recipe, he did offer insight to Todd into the creation of his own.
I got the impression, as Todd spoke with emotion about the perfecting of his original DIRT, that had the friend just handed him the recipe, it would have just moved from generation to generation without much outside notice. But, because the friend inspired Todd to perfect his own, it instilled a passion and pride for his own creation.
You can taste the result of that pride and passion in the samples of chicken cooking at the front of his display area. Of course I had to try samples of all three versions of DIRT.
The Original DIRT has a hearty taste. The flavors I found included oregano and garlic. These were not over-powering, but were the tastes my tongue enjoyed most. In the container, it looks a lot like a class three felony, and like Todd said, the name “Todd’s CINSAMILLION” made for too big a label. It also resembles grass clipping, so after using a few different names in trials, DIRT seemed to be the name that he and his customers kept coming back to.
Crabby DIRT had the taste that another popular seafood spice puts together. However, Crabby DIRT adds flavor to the meat, and unlike its competitor does not become the dominate taste. Like its original counterpart, this spice looks like dirt. However, the color is that of sandy earth from my house on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Unlike the Original DIRT, you will not get arrested on suspicion for carrying a jar of it, although just the smell of these spices in the jars is addicting. (Todd gave me several samples to return home with. I shared them with buddies who love to grill. As we sat around the table, playing cards, they each would take a moment to smell their samples, and the most common utterance was, “Mmmmm…” followed by, “I can’t wait to try this out.”)
The third flavor is Bayou DIRT. I cannot talk about whether the spice looks like Louisiana swamp dirt, because I have never been there, but true to its name, it does look like a red clay-based dirt I have seen many places. This was my favorite taste on the chicken samples. I used to work at a famous restaurant chain as a waiter and happy hour cook and their food is good for the price, but I got the impression their idea of Cajun cooking was to cover chicken in paprika and cayenne pepper then burn it to a crisp. Todd’s Bayou Dirt is how I wish every Cajun food was spiced. It had a bit of kick, but the reward for handling the kick was a flavor that makes me hungry just thinking about it. Unlike my former employer restaurant, this creole taste first delivers flavor and finishes with the kick.
The most prevalent ingredients in all three DIRTs are: sea salt, pepper, and oregano. Each develops its own distinct flavor from the additional ingredients.
Todd Courtney did not just one day start making DIRT and had a ready market. He first bottled DIRT in 1993 and gave it away in labeled Mason jars as gifts for Christmas and weddings, as his father’s friend did before him. Word of mouth grew that his was the best stuff around to use. As it grew popular, the demand for making it grew.
In 2009, while he worked as the finance manager for a local car dealer, he requested to have one weekend off per month that he dedicated to making DIRT. The dealership’s response was to choose…either cars or DIRT. As Todd put it, paraphrased, “Let’s see…sell cars, or follow my dream of becoming my own boss selling something I love,” and so the choice was fairly easy.
That choice was not so easy financially. He gave up a sure paycheck in the middle of one of our toughest recessions in American history to start his own business. His wife who helps in the business has kept her full-time day job.
But, I have a feeling his financial end will soon pay off big. A year ago, Todd’s DIRT was on the shelves of 40 stores. Currently, it is on the shelves of 500 stores and he shared that a major grocery chain has agreed to display Todd’s DIRT in the spice aisle.
Unlike his father’s friend, the recipe will not die with him. He plans on growing the business to build a future for his three teenage children, of which at least one will be directly involved in the company.
-Guest Writer Sensei Miller (SEM)
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Kabob Bazaar is one of my regular stops in Clarendon, and they also have one in Bethesda. I usually order the jujeh (chicken) kabobs or the kubideh (ground beef) kabobs and upgrade to the rice dish with the carrots. Order the kabobs with rice, not bread because the bread comes with the meal anyway. The bread basket contains house-made flat bread, herbs to roll into it, and yogurt sauce to put the rolled bread in. They also have good vegetarian sides. It is a shame that Kabob Bazaar’s menu is not easier to navigate on their website.
