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The complaint that celebrity chefs don't really cook is such a common one that as an insult these days it lacks teeth. Gabrielle Hamilton, owner-chef of NYC's Prune and the author of new memoir Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, gives the old hue and cry some substance in Food & Wine with her mouthy account of real life behind the swinging doors:
"It sounds so romantic when the real chefs talk about using only locally grown produce, but I don't know how to do that where I live. I accept the need to order ingredients from Israel and South America and Holland and New Zealand. If I relied on my forager, the ex-stockbroker, we'd be eating rutabagas eight months of the year. You love your seasons, but they really try you," she writes. "That said, the one season I can count on is winter. Like a U.S. Treasury bond, it hangs on a long time and has a low yield. Going to my greenmarket any time between late October and early June is like passing through some Soviet Gulag. Nothing is available but cabbage and potatoes and softening apples. A few die-hard farmers cheerfully sell wreaths and bathroom potpourri they have fashioned out of dead flowers and fruits; I have to avert my eyes. In winter, the only market I go to daily is my local Key Food supermarket."
What, not a fan of winter squash 17 months in a row? Turnip mash? Collards with chopped collards and collard sauce? Hamilton goes on to elucidate other sins of her kitchen:
"Actually, I'm a fan of supermarkets. They've become so good over the years that the average home cook could recreate anything I make in my restaurant with supermarket ingredients. Hellman's mayonnaise. Goya cooked chickpeas. Bird's Eye frozen Fordhook lima beans. We use them all at Prune. Goya cooked chickpeas are constant, standardized, reliable. To pick through a bag of dried chickpeas, sort them by size, get rid of the twigs and pebbles, train my staff to cook them the same way every day (perfectly tender, correctly seasoned) and to dedicate two hours' worth of burner space in my tiny and already burdened kitchen would be a bad business decision. I will continue to let Goya make the chickpeas, just as I let Lafite make the wine; I don't feel the need to crush my own grapes."
Oh, man! I'm with you, Gabrielle! I am with you! There are certain things I just refuse to make myself: yogurt (Fage does it better), Indian and Mexican food (anything where you have to toast and grind separate ingredients, forget it), hot sauce (Huy Fong has me covered). I'm adding Goya canned chickpeas to my shopping list right now!
Two hours to cook chickpeas - hasn't she heard of a pressure cooker?!
In a perfect world, we all would be able to have our own little veggie garden and buy the other 80% at a local farmers market. It is snobbish to assume that everyone can follow these ideals. In the real world, there are not farmers markets in every city and not everyone has the time to grow their own food.
Most supermarkets at the least carry organic produce and canned or frozen veggies so even...+READ
In a perfect world, we all would be able to have our own little veggie garden and buy the other 80% at a local farmers market. It is snobbish to assume that everyone can follow these ideals. In the real world, there are not farmers markets in every city and not everyone has the time to grow their own food.
Most supermarkets at the least carry organic produce and canned or frozen veggies so even shopping at a chain store can be somewhat environmentally friendly.-COLLAPSE
I buy absolutely everything from the supermarket. If the locals want me to buy their stuff, they can try to convince Publix to carry it.
It doesn't say anything about the quality of the items, other than that the author finds some supermarket items acceptable. It doesn't say anything to deride "buy local" other than that her locality doesn't provide all she needs at some times of the year. It doesn't really say anything, other than that her decisions are based more on making a profit than the quality of her product or her effect...+READ
It doesn't say anything about the quality of the items, other than that the author finds some supermarket items acceptable. It doesn't say anything to deride "buy local" other than that her locality doesn't provide all she needs at some times of the year. It doesn't really say anything, other than that her decisions are based more on making a profit than the quality of her product or her effect on the earth. So far as I've heard no one has claimed that you can get whatever you want whenever you want in any locality, only that local buying should be a priority, as indeed it should be for everything.
There's nothing snobbish about it, just pure practicality as cooks have practiced since the dawn of time. A dumb and, clearly, ambiguous article.-COLLAPSE
I like to shop local for a few reasons and not one is because I am a snob. 1. I find the fresh strawberries, blueberries and especially peaches when in season to be superior compared to imported. This is a given because they get to the end user quicker. Sometimes picked the night before there sold at my local market. 2. I personally detest all that wax on cucumber and perfectly shaped bell...+READ
I like to shop local for a few reasons and not one is because I am a snob. 1. I find the fresh strawberries, blueberries and especially peaches when in season to be superior compared to imported. This is a given because they get to the end user quicker. Sometimes picked the night before there sold at my local market. 2. I personally detest all that wax on cucumber and perfectly shaped bell peppers. Give me an oddball shaped pepper with a little dirt on it anyday 3. It supports the local farmers. 4. It is a nice family outing on a Saturday morning especially if you have little ones. 5. The farmers let you try their product before you buy so it gives you the opportunity to try new things. Also, there is nothing more disappointing than buying fruit or vegetables only to find they are tasteless. (Think of peaches or nectarines picked before ripe due to transportation time.) I have even taken to growing a small garden in my backyard. Nothing better fresh tomatoes. I will buy these products in the winter when out of season but much prefer local produce. And lastly, I don't trust fruits and vegetables that were imported from a country where there are no restrictions on pesticides. Call me a snob if you wish.-COLLAPSE
What’s the subject? That “buy only local and cook only local” is snobbish crap. I agree with Gabrielle Hamilton, she is right on.
That you can take "normal" quality items and make magical things, and nobody can tell that you did.
What is the subject of this article?