Docsconz- The Blog

Bucatini with Tuna (Yellowfin) Sauce

It has been a few years since I had made this dish, mostly because it is difficult to get good tuna here and I used to make it with bluefin when that was relatively plentiful and cheap (I know, I'm dating myself). While I love where I live, one of the area's biggest negatives has been that it has been relatively difficult to get top quality fresh seafood at a reasonable price. That recently changed, though, when I discovered at the beginning of November that Pura Vida Seafood, fishermen from Suffolk County in Long Island, are now making the trek up to the Saturday Farmers Market in Troy, N.Y. Though that market has always been one of the best in the area, I have generally stayed closer to home, shopping at the Glens Falls and Saratoga Markets. With Pura Vida and their fantastic variety of wonderfully fresh seafood, I have started making the drive down to Troy more regularly. This past Saturday I loaded up on sea scallops, grey sole, clams, oysters and some gorgeous yellowfin tuna.

This dish was one of my mother's Friday staples as I was growing up. It couldn't be simpler, however, the quality of the fish is critical.

Ingredients:

FRESH yellowfin tuna      1.5 pounds

500g good Italian Bucatini pasta

1 large can of whole tomatoes preferably San Marzano DOP

1 large red onion cut in half and sliced 1mm thick on a mandoline (diced is fine)

2 large cloves of garlic sliced thin or minced.

1 clump of fresh basil chiffonaded

1 tablespoon chili powder (optional)

salt and pepper

4 tablespoons good olive oil

Procedure:

1. Cook the onions in 2 tbsp of olive oil on low medium heat until translucent then add the garlic and cook lightly.

2. Add the can of tomatoes and a half a can of water and heat through. Once heated, I took a stick blender and pureed everything together. Add the chili powder at this point if desired.

3. In a separate pan cook the tuna in a tablespoon of olive oil to sear it.

4. Add the tuna to the tomato sauce and simmer for several hours with a lid on and kept just ajar. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon or spatula.

5. Cook the pasta al dente then transfer to a large pasta bowl.

6. Once the pasta is done add the chiffonaded basil and remaining olive oil to the sauce and stir.

7. Add the sauce to the pasta, breaking up the tuna as you do. Toss and serve hot.

December Tomatoes

These tasty beauties were at The Santa Monica Farmers Market at the beginning of December along with many other varieties, a bounty not generally seen at this time of the year in the Northeast. The quality and variety of the produce at the market was wonderful. I especially drooled over all the juicy citrus and the fresh nuts, items we don't have in our markets back east. I was surprised to find only limited meat, cheese and fish, though, all items generally more readily available at the better northeastern markets. It was good to see a number of L.A. Chefs and restaurateurs out shopping the market, too. Mixologist Matt Biancaniello from the Library Bar at the Roosevelt Hollywood Hotel goes every week to buy fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables to use in the bar. I had the opportunity to visit him at the bar later that evening. His creativity and work are very impressive and absolutely worth a visit for all fans of the cocktail. His candy cap mushroom infused bourbon was amazing! More photos from the market below.

 

Oakland - A Bit of Brooklyn Out West

James Syhabout's newish restaurant, Commis, already has a Michelin star. It is a small, minimalist space with a central open kitchen, reasonable prices and intense, creative cooking. With the loss of Chez Panisse's star, Commis currently boasts the only Michelin star in the entire East Bay Area. That, however, doesn't mean that there isn't plenty of good cooking going on there.

With a noon arrival at the Oakland airport I was met by my host, one of my very best friends who goes all the way back to Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. and who was also the best man at my wedding. Now an Oakland resident for over twenty years, he is well versed in all aspects of that city. After loading my bags in his car, we made a beeline for Pho 84, located in downtown Oakland and named for the year it opened. I started with the Goi Cuon or shrimp rolls - shrimp with iceberg lettuce, bean sprouts and cilantro rolled in rice paper and served with peanut sauce, a refreshing and tasty welcome back to the Bay Area. With a name like Pho 84, the pho better be good and what I had was quite good and quite satisfying. The Pho 84 House Special was replete with rare done steak, well done flank, tendons and meatballs in a rich beef broth topped with cilantro and onions. My visit was off to a great start.

Early Pomegranates

Early pomegranates at the Montclair (Oakland, CA) Farmers Market 11/28/10

Cipollini

Photo taken at The Union Square Green Market, Saturday, Nov. 13th, 2010.

Starchefs ICC 2010: Art vs Craft - Keller, Kinch & Barber Discuss

The main theme of the 5th Annual Starchefs International Chefs Congress this past September in NYC was Art vs. Craft. There is no question that cooking involves craft and good cooking involves plenty of it. The more controversial question is whether the craft of cooking can aspire to or ever be considered art. While my personal preconception is to say that some cooking is clearly "art," the question really isn't that simple a one to answer. The dilemma comes from trying to define what "art" actually is. The Free Dictionary offers at least one definition of the word that reads:

"the conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, movements, or other elements in a manner that affects the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium."

However, a discussion in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy suggests that it is actually quite difficult to come up with a universally acceptable definition of what constitutes "art" and that "Whether art can be defined has also been a matter of controversy." It is not clear (to me at least) from this discussion that there really is any clear and universal definition of what art is, even among its more traditional considered areas. Still, thanks to the rise of creativity and new forms and styles of cooking, the question of whether or not cooking can be considered art is a legitimate one.

The organizers of the International Chefs Congress sought to address that controversial question with a discussion of Craft vs. Art involving three of the most prominent chefs in the United States today, Thomas Keller, Dan Barber and David Kinch along with moderator Michael Ruhlman. A detailed account of the proceedings follows. Though much of what is written below are actually direct quotes from the discussants, they are offered as paraphrase rather than in quotes. Once again, I am indebted to my son and assistant, L.J. Sconzo, for his yeoman work in transcribing the discussion. Let's see what they had to say:

Breaking News: Five New Certified Master Chefs

Congratulations to my friend, Richard Rosendale*, Executive Chef of The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.VA and 4 other talented, dedicated and dogged chefs for earning the coveted Master Chef Certification from the American Culinary Federation. They survived a grueling week of culinary practical exams to emerge with an incredible accomplishment to their credit. The Press Release from the American Culinary Federation is below:



November 2, 2010

Five Chefs Receive Certified Master Chef® Certification from the American Culinary Federation

St. Augustine, Fla., November 2, 2010—Five chefs from Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire and West Virginia joined the elite group of chefs known as Certified Master Chefs® (CMC®) following an eight-day cooking exam, sponsored by McCormick For Chefs, at The Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, N.Y., Oct. 23-30, bringing the current number of CMCs in the U.S. to 66.

“This exam was the strongest showing by a group of candidates in recent history. Every day showed growth and refinement within the candidate pool,” said Brad Barnes, CMC, CCA, AAC, chair, Certified Master Chef Subcommittee. “I believe those who were unsuccessful will regroup shortly and begin their plans to retake the exam. This scenario is not unusual, and the CMC community welcomes chefs to further their skills and return a second time. On behalf of the CMC community, we congratulate these new masters.”

Chefs who passed the exam are: • Brian Beland, CMC, of Sterling Heights, Mich., executive chef, Country Club of Detroit, Grosse Pointe

Farms, Mich.; ACF Michigan Chefs de Cuisine Association • Daniel Dumont, CMC, of Hampton Falls, N.H., corporate chef, Ocean Properties Ltd. Hotels and

Resorts, Portsmouth, N.H.; ACF Piscataqua Chapter • Robert Mancuso, CMC, of Dedham, Mass., executive chef, The Country Club, Chestnut Hill, Mass.;

ACF Epicurean Club of Boston • Richard Rosendale, CMC, of White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., executive chef, The Greenbrier, White

Sulphur Springs; ACF national member • Brian Sode, CMC, AAC, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., executive chef, The Bear’s Club, Jupiter, Fla.;

ACF national member

The process to earn CMC certification is as follows: First, chefs applied for the CMC exam, showing documentation that they were a Certified Executive Chef® or Certified Culinary Educator®, providing two letters of recommendations from current CMCs and meeting rigorous education and experience requirements.

Then, 12 candidates took the practical exam, which is administered in eight segments: healthy cooking, buffet catering, classical cuisine, freestyle cooking, global cuisine, baking and pastry, Continental/Northern European cuisines and market basket, demonstrating that the candidate is well-rounded. Each category was graded on kitchen skills/presentation and tasting. The minimum passing score for the exam is 75 points out of 100. For chefs to keep the CMC title, they must recertify every five years, documenting 80 hours of continuing education.

To view photos from the exam and to read daily summaries, visit www.acfchefs.org/CMCexam. -more-About the American Culinary Federation

The American Culinary Federation, Inc., established in 1929, is the premier professional organization for culinarians in North America. With more than 20,000 members in 225 chapters nationwide, ACF is the culinary leader in offering educational resources, training, apprenticeship and programmatic accreditation. In addition, ACF operates the most comprehensive certification program for chefs in the United States. ACF is home to ACF Culinary Team USA, the official representative for the United States in major international culinary competitions, and to the Chef & Child Foundation, founded in 1989 to promote proper nutrition in children and to combat childhood obesity. For more information, visit www.acfchefs.org.

*I met Chef Rosendale while attending the 2009 Bocuse D'Or Competition in Lyon, France. 

Three Pears

Starchefs ICC 2010: Dan Barber - Building Concepts

Note: The Starchefs ICC has grown over the years such that it is impossible for one or two people to cover everything in detail. As such, I will rummage through the notes and photos that I and my son, L.J. took during various presentations and present them as completely as possible, posting them in no particular order. I will do as many as I can over the next few months until I give up! The first one will be on Chef Dan Barber's Day Two presentation "A Recipe for the Recipe: Concept Building at Blue Hill." Though I will not be using quotes, the description below is a very close approximation of Chef Barber's words, thanks to the transcription skills of my son.

Pumpkin Soup 2010

For the past few autumns, I have taken to making pumpkin soup. Some of you may remember the pumpkin soup I made for The Albany Times Union last year (Unfortunately, the link is no longer active). Making soup is a great way to use the wonderful heirloom varieties of pumpkin that have been showing up in the local markets, such as the Galeux d'Elysines (the light orange pumpkins that look like they have peanuts growing out of them) I used here. In my area, Sheldon Farm Market always has a great selection of heirloom pumpkin varieties.

Taking the medium sized pumpkin, I roasted it in a 325º F convection oven for two hours, scooped out the seeds and then scooped out the flesh, enough to fill a Vita-Mix blender about half way. I added two cups of home-made chicken stock, two sticks of cinnamon, a bulb of fresh Kilpatrick Farm ginger some toasted cumin and cardamom (about a tsp), two tablespoons of Argyle Cheese Maker's Greek style yogurt,a generous dash of cabernet vinegar, a good squeeze of agave nectar, salt and pepper and blended them to a fine puree.I let the puree slowly simmer for several hours to thicken .

To serve the soup, I put several small chunks of beautiful Longview Farm's Feta cheese on the center bottom of the bowl. On top of the cheese I layered several strips of house roasted (by my wife), spicy hot Sheldon Farms red chilis in olive oil and about a tablespoon of freshly crumbled bacon atop that. I sprinkled fresh thyme leaves over the top before finishing the plating by pouring the soup around the solid ingredients and adding a dash of fruity olive oil and an additional squeeze of agave nectar on top (maple syrup would make a fine substitute). The result - well balanced and delicious! Try it!

Fresh Ginger

I picked up this fresh ginger root on Saturday from Kilpatrick Family Farm at the Saratoga Farmers Market. It is a revelation! I never had freshly harvested ginger root before. I had never even seen it this fresh before. It is juicy, piquant and absolutely full of flavor. I sliced some thin along with some garlic and sauteed it with some of the season's last haricot verts from Farmhouse at Top of the World that my wife purchased on Saturday at the Glens Falls Farmers Market.

Revised Tour Itinerary and Pricing - Northern Spain 2010 with Gerry Dawes & Yours Truly

Gerry and I have made some revisions in the tour to bring down pricing without sacrificing quality. Here are the updated details:

 

Prices quoted are without airfare from the U.S. to Bilbao and return from Barcelona and include five and four star hotels, all designated restaurant meals with wines selected by Gerry Dawes and bus transportation within Spain.  Pricing depends on how many travelers will be joining the tour.

2 travelers:  $7,000.00

4 travelers:  $5,000.00

6-8 travelers:   $4,500.00

10-16 travelers:  $4,000.00

Itinerary: 

Day 00 USA-Madrid-Bilbao Evening Flight
 

Evening departure from the U.S. with each guest arranging own their flights.
Day 01 Saturday, Nov 27 Arrive Madrid, transfer to flight to Bilbao

Gerry Dawes will meet guests at the Bilbao airport.  We will take a short trip into Bilbao and see the Guggenheim Museum from the outside and have some tapas in the old quarter.

 

Guggenheim, Bilbao.  Photograph by Gerry Dawes©2010.

Leaving Bilbao, we will make another short trip to have lunch at Extebarri, where chef-owner Victor Arguinzoniz has taken the  art of  grilling to a new level.  Some experts consider Etxeberri to be among the top restaurants in Spain.

After lunch, we will drive an hour to San Sebastián, where we will check into the magnificent turn-of-the-19th century Hotel Maria Cristina by 5 p.m.

Siesta time until dinner at 9:30 p.m. at either Restaurante Arzak, Juan Mari Arzak and daughter Elena’s three-star temple of gastronomy, or Martín Berasategui’s superb three-star Restaurante Martín Berasategui in nearby Lasarte.  All three chefs are long-time personal friends of our tour organizer.  

 

Carlo Petrini at Eataly

For the second time in three days, I drove back and forth, about 4 hours each way, from my home in upstate New York to Manhattan to see and spend time with a person whom I admire. The first time was to see Chef Rene Redzepi at Williams-Sonoma, buy the new Noma book and have him sign it for me. I had told him in Copenhagen that I would make it if I could. Happily, I did. That time was after I got out of work. This time, Saturday morning, I left my home first thing to make it down to see Carlo Petrini, the founder and leader of the International Slow Food movement.

 

I had met him before, in Naples, Italy during the 3rd International Slow Food Congress in 2003. The Congress happened to coincide with a trip I was taking to the area with my then twelve year old son, Andrew. I had become acquainted with Slow Food only a year earlier when I had taken my eldest son, L.J., then 12, on a culinary trip to my paternal homeland of Sicily. The leader of that trip, Peggy Markel, introduced us t the concept of Slow Food. When I discovered the overlap of our itineraries in Naples it seemed only natural to become a part of it. Meeting people like Pamela Sheldon Johns, Alice Waters, Corby Kummer, Jose Iturriaga de la Fuente, Winona laDuke, Myrtle and Darina Allen and Carlo Petrini amongst many others and hearing their stories was quite inspirational. When we got home, we kept Slow Food as part of a lifestyle and became members, though there was no chapter local to us. When L.J. was a junior in High School , he undertook the significant legwork necessary to start a local chapter. Since he was a minor, an adult was necessary to co-sign the papers with him, so I stepped in. The two of us along with Rocco Verrigni, Pat Sheldon and Kim Feeney as founding members, were then able to get our Slow Food Saratoga Region chapter off the ground.

Earlier this week, I received an email from Ed Yowell, Slow Food USA's Regional Governor for the northeast, saying that Carlo Petrini would be in town and would like to meet with members at Eataly. Attendance would be limited to 25 and complimentary tickets were available on Brown paper Tickets. My timing was good and I managed to pick a couple up. I knew Carlo and Eataly would make a very interesting combination.

We met at 1PM in the back of the store in the kitchen classroom. Petrini was accompanied by Marion Nestle and a translator.The group took seats around the classroom and the meeting started with Petrini asking us to say something about ourselves. As might be expected, the group was full of interesting people, including Nestle, Cesare Casella and others.

Once Petrini heard our stories, he started talking about why he was there, explaining that "America is constantly undergoing great change." Continuing with a quote from Edgar Moran, Petrini stated that 

“Every thing needs to start again, but it has all already started.” 

Saying that this was absolutely true in the USA, he noted that the movement is continuing to grow and transform. Transformation, according to Petrini, "comes from the grass roots and is much more important than revolution." Change from transformation may be as radical as revolution, but "transformation respects life, tradition & memory"… a kind of metamorphosis as in nature similar to when an ugly chrysalis becomes a lovely butterfly. "I feel this growing energy whenever I come back to the USA."

"As a movement," he continued in an animated fashion speaking of the value of Slow Food's Terra Madre gatherings, "we have to reconcile science with traditional knowledge… and to establish a dialogue between the two… because the level of knowledge in science is high and that of traditional knowledge is low… so there is no dialogue… dialogue must be between equals." According to Petrini, this realization borne from Terra Madre changed Slow Food, so that it was no longer just an association of gourmets, an elitist movement. "Terra Madre has brought everything back to earth." Petrini noted that Terra Madre is everywhere, 163 countries, rich & poor countries alike. According to Petrini, "all those who attended Terra Madre are back in their home countries working". As an example, he cited the story of a cook from Rio De Janeiro who went home from Terra Madre and built a school for the children of the favelas (slums) to teach them how to cook manioc root. To date, over 17000 children have gone through that school and now have some sense as to how to cook a staple meal. He asked, "So what is the impact?" and answered, "Self esteem is the best thing people can get from Terra Madre." This "can really push people… a simple African farmer can come to Terra Madre and realize that he is not alone, he can realize that there are much bigger things… now with renewed self-esteem goes back & works even harder – the realpolitik…not that from professional politicians, but that from the grass-roots. Like a snail that goes on and on and keeps growing."

 

Continuing to discuss Terra Madre, but switching gears to describe the approach to the upcoming summit, Petrini, stated, "We deal with agriculture and food, but not in a specialist way, because food is life." The first Terra Madre was designed only for farmers, the 2^nd also included chefs and then the third added musicians and youth. The upcoming Terra madre will be focusing on indigenous peoples and the over 2000 languages that are at risk of disappearing, a significant part of culture. To safeguard biodiversity, Petrini opined with great conviction, "we must safeguard all biodiversity including cultures and languages." For example, the tools used to describe traditional farming practices all over the world are described in indigenous, local languages. If the languages are lost, so will be much of the knowledge held within them. This year at Terra Madre "there will be no politicians, only indigenous peoples speaking in their ancestral languages." He added, "The message must be clear… we will draw up a document to deliver to governments all over the world." He outlined this year’s goal to be "the construction of 1000 gardens in Africa in 1 year’s time with all the communities involved. . no missionaries…. The Africans will create the gardens." Petrini noted, "African Terra Madre communities will be in charge of the gardens," adding "we will just need to give them a hand." He described the plan as "A message of the real fraternity of Terra Madre…. Just a small thing, but many small things can actually bring change."

 

Petrini, moving on with the audience in rapt attention, listening to every word of this charismatic man,, stated, "Another important idea is to build a seed-bank of memories. All 1700 Slow Food chapters around the world shall fill the bank with memories and experiences of old farmers and artisans to create a common heritage for everyone to safeguard the memory of traditional knowledge…even farmers & old cooks are wise and intellectual… take the camera & film them… we need to gather this traditional knowledge all over the world… in different languages and contexts." With many heads nodding in agreement, Petrini smiled and continued to his next agenda item.

 

Surprising most, if not all of the people in the room, Petrini, announced his intention to hold the next International Slow Food Congress next year NYC, noting "We need a big hand to accomplish this. NYC is a very big city… our message must be conveyed in the cities as well as the countryside." It was clear that while the intent is there, this will be a tall order to fill in just over a year's time. Can it actually happen in that time frame? Exciting if it can. Petrini added, "The time has come to have Terra Madre ... now is the right time in the US to seize the opportunity… a message from the USA is a message to the whole world. Right now the Slow Food movement is very strong in the US and there is much interest at the world level at what happens here. NYC would be the right choice."

 

He apologized for not speaking English, blaming his old teacher, who he said, "didn’t do a good job."

 

Shifting gears yet again, Petrini, discussed what he feels to be the pillars of the Sloe Food Movement, stating, "The first of two strong bases of the movement is 'affective intelligence'." Claiming that the world is "overwhelmed by rational intelligence, but lacking the intelligence of the heart," Petrini said, "Slow Food's’s intelligence is the intelligence of the heart, affective intelligence," adding, "this can convince a lot of people to volunteer." For Petrini, "The second base is 'austere anarchy.'" He described this by saying, "Each chapter (of Slow Food) can do what it likes. (The organization) is not based on a hierarchy." This is true "all over the world," but is a difficult concept to explain to Americans." For Petrini, the word "austere" makes the difference and makes the concept palatable and workable. For him the chapters grow in their own communities and reap their own rewards.

 

Nicola Farinetti

Speaking of the day's hosts, Eataly NYC, Petrini provided some background and history behind the concept, which started in Italy as the brainchild of Oscar Farinetti, an Italian Industrialist and old friend of Petrini. Brought to the US by Mario Batali, and the mother son pair of Lidia and Joe Bastianich, Eataly NYC is managed by Farinetti's son, Nicola. According to Petrini, "The idea behind Eataly is food quality that is fair for everyone…pay producers and farmers, but keep prices reasonable for all, a very difficult thing to do." Whether they can successfully manage that for the long haul remains to be determined. Petrini was excited by the fact that the staff of Eataly is young. The staff(400) has an average age of 30.

 

With Petrini's meeting come to a close, the group was lead up stairs to a balcony overlooking the store, where we were treated to a lovely, simple meal of mozzarella, salad, pasta and pizza, a satisfying end to a fascinating afternoon. I'm glad I went.

 

Impressions of Eataly

The biggest problem with Eataly, the new omni-Italian food emporium on Madison Square park in NYC, is that it is too popular. I have now been there three times, A Sunday, a Thursday and most recently this past Saturday. The place that it most closely resembles in my experience is the Östermalms Saluhall in Stockholm, an amalgamation of retail ingredient stands and restaurants under one roof. Of course the food style is different and unlike the Saluhall, which is composed of a number of competing vendors, many of whom are selling variations of the same thing, Eataly has a variety of areas each focusing on a specific type of Italian product. While much of the product at Eataly is imported from Italy, most of the fresh produce such as the vegetables, meats, seafood and the raw ingredients for the freshly made cheeses, gelati, etc. come from the United States. The quality is by and large exceptional and the food in the restaurants is very, very good. The difficulty? Getting to it.

The only time in my experience that I was able to dine and shop unhindered by crowds was shortly after opening at 10AM on the Thursday I visited. By 11AM, I was hungry for pizza and pasta and had no trouble getting a table directly. Within a half hour or so, however, the lines had formed and the waits had started. While the service was , as one might expect in such a high volume place, a bit perfunctory (a busboy tried to clear a plate while I was still eating from it), the food, including a lovely pizza Margherita with mozzarella di bufala and San Marzano tomatoes was superb. The paccheri with frutte di mare was even better. For those interested in the pizze, a good strategy on busy days is to get one from the Eataly To Go window outside on 24th St. Though there isn't a place to sit, the lines are considerably shorter and the wait is reasonable. The wait inside on the Sunday around 12:30PM was described at about an hour. Sandwiches on the Sunday I was there, including prime rib and roast pork on Italian bread, were tasty, although a bit skimpy on meat and a bit pricey. I was tempted by the raw bar for oysters or clams, but I'm sorry, $30 for a dozen littlenecks on the half shell is a little too expensive. The same price applied to the oysters. While still expensive, I can understand the pricing a little more given the pressure on oyster pricing after the Gulf oil spill. Over all, the quality of the ready to eat food at Eataly is very good and would make a very worthwhile interlude while shopping if and when the crowds calm down a bit.

A bit more accessible, time and price wise, are the sweets and coffee located just off the entrance on Fifth Avenue. The gelati were particularly superb. The pistachio was simply extraordinary, while the fig tasted like I was eating them right off the tree. I was thrilled to discover that the milk for the dairy products made at Eataly, including the gelati and the mozzarella, actually come from the Dairy farm in Washington County, N.Y. where we get our milk from, Battenkill Valley Creamery.

The mozzarella, made continuously in the center hall, has improved in taste over the few weeks since I first visited the market. While never bad, it has ratcheted up in that time, to the point that it is now starting to rival some of the better mozzarelle in the City.

The pasta selection is extraordinary. From a wide variety of freshly made pastas to the cornucopia of imported Italian brands, including the original Italian Barilla, the quality is superb and the prices surprisingly reasonable. The only bafflement for me, was the relatively paltry selection of flat dry pastas such as tagliatelle, fettucine and pappardelle, some of my favorites. Most of the brands were previously unknown to me, but so far, I have tried a few different ones and each has been excellent. Most of the package sizes are in the 500g range, though some are full kilos and others are 250g.

The meat counter is truly beautiful with excellent quality meats including a variety of beef, pork, veal and lamb. I bought some Piemontese beefsteaks from Montana this past weekend, cooked them in the CVap to 125ºF and finished them in a cast-iron griddle pan. Very lean to start, they were surprisingly tender and amazingly flavorful. While not inexpensive, they were truly superb and worth every cent.

The seafood display is amongst the best that I have seen in the USA in terms of variety, however, the quality and freshness appeared to vary. nevertheless, an astute shopper can get some marvelous seafood here that may be otherwise difficult to procure. Of course, as with all quality seafood nowadays, the prices can sometimes leave one gasping for air. The Florida rock shrimp I bought this past weekend, however, were relatively reasonably priced, immaculate and perfect for a ceviche with mango, cilantro, lime, cipolline onion and diced red chile.

The produce section, which even includes its own "vegetable butcher" at no additional cost, maintains some beautiful produce and fruit. While a good portion of it is not particularly Italian, that did not keep me from drooling. The mushroom section with matsutakes, French bluefoot mushrooms, fresh porcini and fresh truffles amongst other varieties was particularly enticing. The mango I purchased to use in my ceviche was at the perfect stage of ripeness.

This incredible emporium has more than just food. It also includes some associated products such as kitchen ware by Italian design companies such as a personal favorite, Guzzini as well as Alessi and others, books and more. The selection of Italian beverages, alcoholic and non is also exceptional. In addition to all of the food, drink, wares and restaurants available, Eataly also intends to become something of a cultural icon in the city, hosting cooking classes and special events such as the upcoming Identita Golose in New York.

Eataly was originally founded in Turin, Italy by Oscar Farinetti in conjunction with Slow Food, the International food related organization started in Italy by Carlo Petrini (more on Carlo Petrini and Slow Food to come soon). Along with Farinetti and his group (Eatly NY is managed by Farinetti's son), partners in Eataly NY include Mario Batalli and Joe and Lidia Bastianich. The objective of the market and Slow Food is to highlight top quality food and make it as accessible as possible.  Though the market food isn't being given away, considering the quality, most of it is priced as accessibly as it reasonably could be. The restaurant fare, given that it is basically a glorified mall food court, is a bit of a different story. While the quality of the food itself is still good, the overall value of the experience, including the prices, service, the waits and the generally cramped nature is reduced and at the moment generally not worth it.

There is much to be said for this incredible market. As it stands now, with customers often times having to line up simply to get into the building, it is too crowded and busy to be fully enjoyable. Hopefully, as the novelty wears off, the crowds will dissipate to the point that it can be both a successful business and a totally enjoyable experience.As the dynamics of the place change, the value quotient likely will too, or so I hope. It clearly has a lot of potential to be a truly great one stop shop for dining and retail grocery purchases.

 

I hope you had a wonderful Columbus Day!

Landscapes For Landsake

Leigh McCloskey's "Mikey"

Of course, open farmland is necessary to grow the crops and raise the animals that become our food, but it nourishes more than just our bodies. Some of the most beautiful farmland in the country exists in eastern New York State, especially in Washington and Rensselaer counties. Still packed with small family farms, the quality of the produce is wonderful, as is the scenery. The open farmlands of this area also nourish our collective soul through the work of a number of extremely talented artists who have made this area their home and the inspiration for much of their work. This weekend, The Agricultural Stewardship Association is holding their ninth annual Landscapes for Landsake curated Art Show at Maple Ridge in Cambridge, N.Y. to benefit the organization's important work in preserving this valuable farmland as farmland for future generations.

Unfortunately, it is getting ever more difficult to keep this marvelous land doing what it does so well - working as farms. With suburbia or even industry ever approaching and the difficulties of surviving as a farm getting ever greater, the pressures on this land continue to grow, even as the actual amount of farmland continues to shrink. Contributing artist, Leslie Parke described the situation thusly:

The message and the work of ASA are important for anyone who enjoys a meal of good, clean and fair food or those who just enjoy a bucolic view. This event is always a great way to support those goals and have a good time in the process. Curated with works chosen by Evan Wilson, the show itself takes a broad look at what makes a landscape from traditional vistas to more narrowly focused views of animals, farm implements and more to exceptional pieces of furniture and sculpture made from found products of the landscape. To support the work of the ASA click here.

 

Dining at Mikla

 

It has been some time since I dined at Mikla, chef Mehmet Gurs’ penthouse restaurant in Istanbul, but the flavors from the night are still fresh in my mind. The meal was a fitting end to a spectacular foray into Turkey; much like the days I spent there; each dish was rich with Mediterranean flavor.

Before I delve into the meal itself, I would like to thank Chef Gurs for accommodating my seven-person group so handily and on such short notice. It was only two weeks before our dinner that the group even decided to travel to Istanbul, so Chef Gurs’ swift generosity in offering a table at which I could celebrate my dad’s birthday from afar must not go unnoticed. We were not an easy group to host, either. Out of the seven of us, only three had the desire to budget for a tasting menu, which made the timing quite difficult, and regrettably unsatisfactory for some.

Although I was assured that everything would be taken care of (it was), I was given a scare when I arrived at the reception to find a reservation for “Johns Gonzo –Party of Two”, written in by the chef himself. Naturally, I assumed that this was meant for me, and that it was incorrect, which caused a bit of difficulty. It was not until a few minutes later when the chef’s very capable manager, Ms. Sabiha Apaydin, found the reservation in my name, two spots underneath Mr. Gonzo’s. I was immediately relieved, and was able to enjoy my evening from that point on.

We spent our first hour at the restaurant’s bar, half of which is an open terrace at what feels like the top of the world, where we drank the sunset along with our Turkish wine. After the sun was down and the city illuminated, we moved to our table at the other side of the restaurant to begin.

The meal began with an amuse of chilled pea soup with the slightest hint of mint – a promising beginning.. The soup hit just the right spot after a hot day in the Turkish sun, and refreshed my palate before I even knew it was necessary. I played a game with the globules of olive oil that dotted the surface as I alternated between spoonfuls of soup laced with olive oil and without. Following the soup was a Carpaccio of North Aegean grouper with Kalamata olives, lemon and dill. Both as a follow-up to the chilled pea soup and simply on its own, the dish was magnificent. Thin slices of grouper were laid out neatly on the plate, with olives and herbs distributed pleasantly along the fish’s surface which made for an exciting time in scooping up all the little bits of flavor. The dish seemed to be the pure essence of the Mediterranean, although I would hardly have pegged it as Turkish. Misconceptions can be funny like that.

The next dish did not play the same tune as the previous two, and instead of light and airy the dried beef with Turkish cheese (that bears resemblance to Parmesan Reggiano) struck a decidedly heavier chord. A hint of nutmeg lined the periphery of the tousled beef while the cheese accented the plate’s hearty attitude. Simply marvelous. The meal seemed to alternate themes from this point forward and pleasantly contrasted my expectations. From the beef and cheese course we were taken back to the Turkish countryside with a plate of goat cheese and fig, accented with a special Turkish preparation of honey, truffles and arugula. My mouth is watering at the thought of succulent fig and honey juxtaposed against the dryness of the goat cheese and arugula.

While the previous courses evoked thoughts of Tuscany, it wasn’t until the next course that it became clear that Mikla is a Turkish restaurant, first and foremost. The cherry wood smoked lamb loin with a walnut pistou and pinto bean puree precisely satisfied my preconceptions of gourmet Turkish cuisine. The walnuts complemented the nuttiness of the rare protein, and as such the three of us doing the tasting were absolutely floored.

The next course saw a return to the sea, and featured grilled grouper, anchovy and olive oil-poached artichoke. Its artful presentation added to the course, with splashes of color provided by tufts of asparagus, zucchini and a fantastically flavorful red/green olive puree around the uniform tones in the center of the plate. This is fish done right.

The final savory course was a beef cheek and vegetable “pot au feu” with some more pea soup serving as a sauce if one so desires. I did, and so consumed my simultaneously light and substantial entrée with gusto. The light mint of the soup wonderfully lifted the darker flavors of the beef cheek into a very successful balance. Although each seafood dish performed wonderfully on its own, it was the clearly the turf that took dinner to another level.

We finished up with four phenomenally prepared desserts, each one as good as the last. Starting off was the “Bergama Tulum” (Turkish cheese) with a fig confit and walnut puree. The richness of the nuts and cheese paired well with the sweet confit and the resulting plate felt distinctively Turkish, much like the lamb. Following that was the vanilla panna cotta with a wild lavender flower preserve. Although the preserve was very sweet, when taken in moderation with the panna cotta it made for a wonderfully creamy and delicious dessert.

The final two courses seemed to depart somewhat from the Mediterranean theme, with a warm raspberry soup and vanilla ice cream, as well as the “Truffled Truffle”. The raspberry course was reminiscent of a deconstructed pie, and the inclusion of the vanilla ice cream made it seem vaguely American. That isn’t to say it was bad, it was in fact far from it, but it was certainly unexpected. The small truffle was served under a glass dome on top of its plating, which intrigued me greatly. Inside of the chocolate exterior was a creamy concoction of cognac, truffle, and more chocolate, which absolutely blew me away as I finished out the meal.

Altogether, I was thoroughly impressed by Mikla. Mehmet Gurs’s operation on top of the city gets my wholehearted recommendation for the smoothness of its operation, its friendly service and particularly the incredible quality of its food. I’m sure that he has developed some new dishes over the four months since I’ve been there that I would love to get out and try. It’s just too bad I won’t be able to travel abroad again for a very long time.

noma Now...and Then - A Look Back During Lunch

 

The end of a great meal is always a bittersweet experience. I am exhilarated by the meal I just had, but saddened that it is done. Such was the case when Scott Boswell and I finished our dinner at noma. Our sadness, however, was considerably tempered by the fact that we would be returning to the restaurant in just a few hours for lunch, this time accompanied by our wives and my one-day-shy-of-eleven year old son. In addition, we would get to experience some of noma's culinary history. Our dinner consisted of noma's current menu and some of its newest dishes. The lunch would consist of a collection of dishes from the last three years. We left our dinner at noma the night before quite happy. We had eaten an amazing meal and were coming back for more!

The snacks we had at lunch were the same that we had at dinner the night before. A discussion of them with photos can be found here.One dish that requires a little further discussion is the live fjord shrimp. For his age, my son is a very experienced and adventurous diner, but I knew that he would be challenged eating the live fjord shrimp and he was.Rene Redzepi told us that about 90% of the people to whom he serves it are challenged by it. He says, "It's because of the eyes...an oyster, no problem, it doesn't look at you and move, but essentially it's the same thing." My son did eat it, but didn't really enjoy it and unfortunately, it put him a little on edge going into the rest of the meal. Happily, his raised defenses soon began to melt away.

 

At dinner, Scott and I very much enjoyed the wine pairings using the wines of the Loire Valley. Since many of the same wines would be paired with lunch, I opted to experience another side of noma that I had heard about - their natural juices, and had my lunch paired with them. Another reason for choosing the juices was that I would be having dinner later that night at Restaurant A.O.C. and wanted to limit my alcohol to remain fresh for that - or at least as fresh as possible. That didn't stop me from trying noma's own Pilsner style beer to start my meal. It was golden, hearty and refreshing.

Cucumber Juice 

 

Cucumber was the unifying bridge between the first full course and the paired juice. We were served a salad, but a salad unlike any that I had ever had before. Called "Gem Salad and Hazelnut Milk, White Currant and Juniper", the main part of the salad was the leaves and the  root of a gem lettuce that had been cooked in an aromatic tea made from "wild plants." The root was then sliced and arranged on the plate looking like little white coins. The cooked leaves were arranged around the salad with a perimeter of nasturtium leaves, while the plate was dotted with sweetly tart white currants. This all rested on a small pool of hazelnut milk and was dressed on top with a vinaigrette of green juniper oil from Gotland and apple vinegar. Each plate also held a cucumber blossom that added a bit of cucumber flavor and a touch of color to the dish. The juice was a cucumber juice, which truly tasted of the essence of itself and mingled nicely with the faintly sweet salad. The dish was a lovely study in texture with no element proving overly assertive, but each adding subtle nuance. 

 

Invasive species can be a real problem. Sometimes, however, an invasive species can be an improvement - at least culinarily. The razor clams in the next dish, Razor Clam and Parsley, Horseradish and Dill, are Pacific razor clams, which have invaded and overtaken the native variety. Chef Redzepi prefers these clams to the native North Atlantic variety, stating "they are quite larger, do extremely well in our cool waters and are extremely tasty." Not having a basis at hand to directly compare the two varieties, I can't personally confirm the differences, but these clams were certainly quite tasty, quite large and quite beautifully presented, wrapped in a shiny parsley sheet next to  grated frozen horseradish with a swirl of clam and dill juice poured onto the plate. Chef Redzepi, who serve the dish, urged us to use the spoon and the fork to get each of the flavor elements in each bite. He was right about that too.

 

I have certainly had pineapple juice before, but this was the first time I ever had apple pine juice. The next juice pairing was apple juice infused with pine. It was a remarkably delicious combination, tart, sweet and with added depth from the pine. It was paired with another dish that I had a version of in NY at the Corton dinner, Tartar and Sorrel, Tarragon and Juniper. 

 

One of the oldest dishes still in their rotation, the development of this dish has an interesting story. Chef Redzepi explained that when this dish was first conceived, it seemed that most new dishes were being prepared with some type of new machinery and/or new chemical. While he has nothing against either of those things, he and his crew wanted to see if they could " make a dish where we only used our hands and still make it feel innovative." They used to make this dish with a mortar, but now they do use a blender. At the Corton dinner, I was enthralled by Redzepi's skillful use of sourness, especially with sorrel. In Copenhagen, the sorrel was even more sour, but the dish was even better. As Chef Redzepi explained to us, in Denmark he is able to get wild woodsorrel, which grows in shade in forests. By virtue of being relatively sun deprived, the wood sorrel, a type of oxalis, becomes even more sour. While I enjoy sour, too much can be unpleasant. With this even more sour wood sorrel, I was even more amazed by Chef Redzepi's balancing skill. He had instructed us to pick up a little of the meat and and a little of the sorrel with our hands, dip it in crushed juniper then in a tarragon emulsion before eating it. Eating this dish was as much fun as it was delicious and it was quite delicious. The apple pine juice made a perfect pairing.

 

There are few things I enjoy eating more than langoustines. I was thrilled when I saw them come out on the next plate. I use the term “plate” loosely, as the langoustines were served on large stones. Nevertheless, or more likely, as a result of the stones, the dish, Langoustines and Söl, Rye and Parsley, was particularly stunning and dramatic. Once again, we were instructed to eat the langoustines with our hands, picking them up and dipping them in beads of “mayonnaise,” which was actually an emulsion made from Pacific oysters and seaweed. The protein rich oysters are simply blended with a touch of oil before the seaweed is added. The result is a deep, rich, primal oceanic flavor. The langoustines, small, but extremely flavorful, were, according to Chef Redzepi, alive just a couple of hours before. They are fished from very deep waters from a specific area of the Faroe Islands, which are located in the North Sea between Iceland and Norway, to the northwest of Scotland. They were magnificent.

 

Potatoes and Milk Skin, Lovage and Yogurt was really a study in potatoes, with the other ingredients used to highlight the essential potato-ness of the dish. In the center of the plate lay a very smooth potato puree made only from potatoes and potato stock without any fat. To add a little creaminess to the dish, the kitchen layered milk skin on top. Some slightly cooked small potatoes were scattered around the plate to provide textural contrasts, while chervil and watercress stems were placed to add color, flavor and visual drama. The dish was finished with a sauce made from yogurt whey and lovage oil. It was a surprisingly complex dish with many subtle nuances of flavor and texture. It was my son's favorite savory dish of the meal.

 

A pairing with a crazy good, flavor saturated celery juice couldn't have been better.The celery juice was carried through to the following course, King Crab and Leek, Ashes and Mussels.

 

The king crab, from the north of Norway, was plated next to the leeks, which had been covered in hay ash. The small logs were then bathed table-side with a foamy sauce of mussels. The plate was then sprinkled and finished with fried bread crumbs. One might think that the ash would impart a burnt or at least strongly smokey flavor to the dish, but somehow it doesn't. The overall gestalt of the dish was similar to the langoustine dish from earlier and the oyster dish from last night, incorporating very elemental and primal sea flavors and eliciting a very specific taste memory. Ash coatings seem to be a growing trend. According to the noma staff, the use of ash in food was a Viking tradition. More recently, I first became of the creative use of ash in modern cooking via Andoni Luis Aduriz, who presented his ash coated beef at Madrid Fusión several years ago. This particular dish, was put in service at noma over the past three years or so and Redzepi may have used ash before then, so it is not clear to me, if one has come from the other's influence or if they were arrived at independently. I have since seen ash used elsewhere, most recently prior to this meal at Town House in Chilhowie, Virginia, where leek ash was used in a lamb dish. This would also not be the last meal I would encounter an ash coating on this trip. The ash is certainly visually striking and all the dishes I have had with it, have been outstanding, yet I have so far been unable to discern more than a subtle flavor contribution from the ash in those dishes. Based on the evidence, I have had so far, though, I am happy to continue exploring its continued evolution.

 

Like the celery juice before it, noma's carrot juice spoke of the essence of the very best carrots. This was poured more for fun to taste it then it was to be a specific pairing for the next dish, Turbot and Stems.

 

The turbot was spectacularly delicious, served with a sauce of elderberry capers, white wine and roasted turbot bones and accompanied by celeriac, puree, beach cabbage leaves and a variety of stems and herbs. Though the plating could not be considered so, this dish, was perhaps the most classical of all that we had. It is also one of the oldest noma dishes that we had, as it has been served using different fish and accompaniments seasonally “for a long time.” This was another of my son's favorite dishes. In my estimation, fish doesn't come any better than this.

 

Sea buckthorn is a flavor I had been totally unfamiliar with prior to this trip to Scandinavia, but it is a flavor that I will now seek out when I can. The next dish was accompanied by a sea buckthorn juice, that was bright, tart, refreshing, addicting and colorful. Its flavor seems like it should come from a tropical fruit rather than a berry from very northern latitudes.

 

The parade of seafood continued with Lobster and Red Currant, Rosehip and Salad. The lobster was sauteed and served with a lobster cream that used the lobster coral, lightly cooked lettuce leaf, roasted salad root, pickled rose petals, sorrel leaves and a creamy red currant wine sauce. The lobster, barely cooked, was sweet and tender. Sorrel leaves added a nice, piquant component while the rose petals added a touch of sweetness. The dish was pure, luxurious decadence.

 

Our last savory dish moved away from the sea. Beef Cheek and Verbena, Pear and Endive. The cheek from ox was braised in hay at 72ºC for 24 hours and served with chicory (endive) cooked in red currant wine sauce, pear, verbena, a verbena and spinach puree and a sauce which had been cooked with chicken and brown butter and poured table-side. This dish really reflects Redzepi's pairing talents, utilizing ingredients that most mortals would not consider to be intuitive combinations such as ox cheek and pear and performing culinary alchemy to create something absolutely marvelous.

 

Lingonberry juice worked well with the dish. It had a flavor and mouthfeel reminiscent of cranberry juice, but deeper, fuller and more robust.

 

The forest in summertime was the theme of our first dessert, a noma classic, entitled simply, Blueberries and Wood Sorrel. The dish contained wild Danish blueberries, a blueberry sorbet, a pine granita layered on top to look like forest moss, a pine flavored sorbet, wood sorrel leaves, wild thyme flowers, brioche croutons for crunch and pine oil to finish. This dish, marvelously creative, fully reflects the Scandinavian basis of Redzepi's cooking.

 

Elderflower liqueur has become quite fashionable in recent years and with good reason. The juice at noma, served with the first dessert supported it - refreshing and delicious.

 

I'm not sure that I have ever tasted a better dessert than Walnut and Blackberries, Cream and Powder, despite the fact that I am generally not terribly enthusiastic about either walnuts or blackberries. Walnut is incorporated into an ice cream and a powder. The powder is made using walnut oil and maltodextrin. The dish includes frozen cream and dried blackberry. Minimalist in appearance, the flavors are anything but, achieving great depth and perfect balance. I loved this when I had it in NY at the Corton dinner and I loved it no less here. 

 

It was paired with sorrel juice, which really, really grew on me the more I drank it. Outstanding!

 

Our final dessert, based on a Danish breakfast called Øllebrød, which basically means "beer bread", consisted of a small porridge made from rye bread and ale. The bread had been soaked in the ale for a while then pureed. Underneath there was milk foam and skyr sorbet. This dessert straddled the boundary between sweet and savory, reminiscent of Sam Mason's Beer and Pretzels dessert that he served at Tailor and I most recently had at a Sam Mason retrospective dinner at Aldea. Both desserts are definitely designed for adult palates and work extremely well for them.

 

Based on the previous night's dinner and the day's lunch, it is interesting to try to gauge how noma has changed over these recent years. While delicious proteins were served throughout both dinners, it struck me that over the past three years the emphasis of the plates has shifted away from the central proteins and more towards the supporting elements or vegetables as the main element on the plate. At lunch two of the savory courses lacked any visible or central animal protein, while at dinner there were four and those dishes that did possess significant animal protein, seemed to use them in more integrated ways, such as The Hen and the Egg, The Oyster and the Sea and the Dried Scallops with Watercress and Biodynamic Grains. As the animal proteins appear to have receded from their centrality, the dishes have also become even more sophisticated. Of course one dinner and a lunch is not enough evidence to commit to such a sweeping conclusion, but these are the impressions I was left with after our too brief journey into the cuisine of noma.

I was left with even more impressions and thoughts about this wonderful restaurant. The food at noma is delicious, original, beautiful and of a place. The service is friendly, warm, efficient and extremely professional. The space is warm, inviting and comfortable. It is no wonder that Rene Redzepi and his restaurant have become popular, but I believe that what makes it resonate so deeply with its diners goes beyond that. noma merges modern sophistication, elegance, luxury and comfort with something more elemental or even primal. With an emphasis on such things as roots, rocks, seaweed, raw food, red food, marrow, eating with hands, skins on the chairs, woodsy interior, foraging, pine, berries, wildflowers and more, noma taps in to atavistic tendencies that run deep in our collective psyche. It strikes a deep chord. That it is done so well helps that chord ring loud and true, making for a very powerful and visceral response from most diners. In a sense, as modern diners, we have a restaurant in which can have our cake and can eat it too. We have a very sophisticated restaurant that comfortably allows us to deeply respond to deep primal culinary instincts.This time we left noma not having the consolation of returning for yet another meal there in a few hours. That was indeed very sad, but we still had some other things to look forward to.

Oven Dried Tomatoes

 

Sun-dried tomatoes have received a bad rap in recent years - perhaps because they were just about everywhere and in everything back in the '80's and early '90's or perhaps because most people have only tried commercial versions. That's too bad, because they really are a great product, especially when starting with good tomatoes. The best I can recall was when I was in Sicily back in 2002 at Anna Tasca Lanza's Tasca d'Almerita Regaleali Estate and Cooking School with Peggy Markel's Culinary Adventures. Of course they grew their own tomatoes and dried them in the glorious Sicilian sun, which I could swear I tasted in every bite. 

Unfortunately for tomato drying purposes, we don't have too much Sicilian style sunshine where I live, so actually drying tomatoes in the sun is not a very practical project. The good news is that drying them in an oven is very nearly as good.

 

My wife bought a bushel of Juliette plum tomatoes from Linda Gifford at the Glens Falls Farmers Market and dried her own. She washed them, cut them in half, scored the backs of each half tomato and placed them on cookie racks with a little salt sprinkled over the tomatoes. She then placed them in the convection oven to roast at the lowest setting of 170ºF with the door propped just ajar to allow the exit of moisture. The duration can be quite variable depending on the amount of moisture in the tomatoes as well as the ambient environment. The object is to get a texture between leathery and brittle. It took her about 4-5 hours to get a great result.

 

So forget about what you thought you knew or didn't like about sun-dried tomatoes, if you have never had freshly dried ones! So long as you have good plum tomatoes, it is pretty easy and they are oh, so good!

Food, Farms & the Future at Skidmore College

 

Tomatoes - September 2010

 

I have lamented about the apparent dearth of really good tomatoes around where I live this summer, but these from Kim Feeney and her husband Kevin London at Farmhouse at Top of the World were an exception to the rule. The tomatoes were sampled and the photo taken at last weekend's Saratoga Performing Arts Center's Food and Wine and Fall Ferrari Festival held on the grounds of SPAC. They sell their tomatoes and other produce at the Glens Falls Farmers Market.