Chef's Corner

Traditions and sous vide

2007-10-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

Tradition is an important part of what we do here at L'Etoile and with the recent Food for Thought Festival, food traditions were the main subect - it was titled "Rediscovering our Regional Food Traditions".

With that said, I had an interesting trip to New York for the International Chefs Congress. The number one cooking subject the chefs were talking about was sous vide cooking.

Sous vide is a relatively new, high tech way of cooking, developed about 30 years ago in France. Slate has a good article here. Basically sous vide involves putting your ingredients in a heat-safe bag and sucking out all the air. The bags are then cooked in what is called an immersion circulator which maintains a very constant cooking temperature - like +- one tenth of a degree!

There are several benefits of sous vide. Food can't be overcooked because the water bath being used is set at the desired final temperature of the food. The longer the food is cooked, it will simply not get any more done. Pretty cool.

There is also the benefit that this process can be used to create dishes that simply cannot be done using any traditional cooking methods. Joel Robuchon did a demonstration where he stuffed a cabbage leaf with a whole sqaub breast and a huge chunk of foie gras and wrapped the whole thing with a thick slice of bacon! These are tradional ingredients that would other wise have to be cooked separately, in order to insure perfect cooking of both proteins. I have to admit that is was inspiring to sit in a room full of amazing chefs from around the world, all of us with our eyes fixed on a culinary icon, while he uses a machine that some of us have never used before to make an amazing, wish-I-would-have-made-it dish.

Another benefit is the simplicity of the process. The need for experienced and talented line chefs is lessened because the machine and the process is doing much of the hard work. Although many consider this a benefit, this seems a little weird to me. Using technology in order to hire less skilled people wouldn't really feel right to me, but I have had many of my chef friends tell me how much they like not worrying about things being over cooked and sent back to the kitchen.

Some problems with sous vide
First, and this is a big one, when you pull some meat prepared with this process out of the bag, there is no wonderful smell that you would get with roasted meat. Sure, you can (and probably will) sear it quickly to add that outer texture and in doing so the traditional smell will come alive. However the kitchen that is cooking a bunch of sous vide steaks will have none of the traditional mouth watering smell of grilled, seared, or roasted meat. To me, this is a very important tradition.

Second, you have to plan ahead much more. Not that we don't plan here at L'Etoile, but a big part of what we do is based on the ingredients that are currently available. This sets us apart from most other restaurants where they determine what they will serve and then go out and source the ingredients. We look at what is in season, what our farmers have available, and then create the menu, which gets back to the traditional way of cooking - using the ingredients you have. With sous vide many restaurants have tomorrows dish cooking today, so as to stay ahead of the game. Some places will say "slow roasted" and what that means is that it was sous vide for many hours, sometimes over night to cook something like short ribs. So if you want to have those short ribs on the menu then you have to have the bags cooking all the time. I'm not sure if I like it.

Third, immersion circulators aren't inexpensive and most restaurants that depend on sous vide use more than one because of the time it takes to cook using this process.

And last, city health departments aren't quite sure what to think about sous vide. In fact, the New York city health department went so far as to crack down on sous vide cooking last year. The reason is that most of our health laws are for cooking and storing food when air is present. With sous vide, the food is in a vacuum so the traditional air borne bacteria are not an issue.

Tradition meets high tech, what to do?
So, sous vide, one of newest most high tech way of preparing food. How do we think about a high tech, highly mechanized cooking process along with the traditions of growing, harvesting, and cooking local food? We understand that what is old now (like gas stoves) was once high tech. So we know that not all new things should be rejected, we're just not quite sure how it all fits in with the way we do things at L'Etoile. I love the way food tastes when it has been braised in red wine all day, and I like that each duck is different and has to be felt and touched to tell when it is done, so we haven't gone sous vide yet, but if you have an opinion, we'd love to hear it.

Local Night Out - Sept. 27th

2007-09-17T09:18:00.000-07:00

Many area restaurants that don't normally have locally produced food on their menus are changing their offerings for this special night. The list of participating restaurants is at the Buy Fresh Buy Local site: http://www.reapfoodgroup.org/BFBL/index.htm

At L'Etoile, we're offering a $35 prix fixe dinner menu. We hope this menu entices people who've never been to L'Etoile to come in and experience our unique offerings. So, if you know of anyone who has never been to L'Etoile because they thought it was too pricey, now is your chance to let them know to try us out.

If you've been to L'Etoile before and are "hard core" local food eaters we suggest you go to one of the other restaurants that night which don't normally have a significant local emphasis. It would be great if those restaurants had lots of people asking about their ingredients and where they come from. AND it would be also great if they had lots of customers on that night. It is very important that restaurants (as business owners) can see that there really is a significant population of us who care about where our food is grown and are willing to make purchasing decisions based on this.

So yeah, we're actually saying if you've been to L'Etoile and you like what we are all about, then on the 27th it might be a great night to support another restaurant that is giving the local ingredients thing a try.

Flooding and Buying Local

2007-08-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

The recent flooding was quite devastating to some of our local farmers here in southern Wisconsin. If you haven't already read about the effects, here are a couple of articles.

Flooding damages organic farmers' crops

Flooding Devastates Organic Farms

What this means is that some vegetables we expect in the late summer and fall will be in short supply. Root vegetables such as beets, turnips, and parsnips and lots of lettuces were hard hit.

So, what can we do?
We can buy local. It sounds simple, but it might require us to change our expectations about what is available and the price we should pay. At L'Etoile, we will adjust our menu compared with what we normally might serve in the fall - the consequences of choosing to buy local.

A big part of buying local is buying what is available. There are some fast growing vegetables such as baby romaine and arugula that can still be planted and grown this late in the season. So we can all pitch in, buy what the local farmers have to offer, and adjust our menus. With this in mind, I've included a recipe for a tasty arugula salad below.

An easy way to buy local is at our local farmers' markets. There is a farmers market almost every day of the week somewhere in Madison.

Sunday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Stoughton Farmers' Market

Saturday

These are just the markets in the greater Madison area! There are many more in southern Wisconsin which you can find at one of these two web sites.

Arugula Salad
1 bunch Arugula
1/4 pound bacon
1 shallot minced
1 T mustard
1 T red wine vinegar
4 T extra virgin olive oil
1 sunny side up egg

In a large saute pan, crisp the bacon and remove to paper towels. In the same pan, saute the minced shallots on low heat for about a minute. Remove from heat and add red wine vinegar, mustard, and the olive oil. Whisk in the pan while still warm. Crumble up the crisp bacon slices and combine with the vinaigrette. In a separate bowl place the arugula and drizzle the warm vinaigrette over the top. Top this off with the sunny side egg and serve. Salt and pepper to taste. Quick and easy.

Tomatoes are in full season

2007-08-20T10:09:00.000-07:00

Tomatoes are in full season right now. It is a bit early because (until this past weekend) we had a lack of rain. As many people know, when tomatoes are in season, they are plentiful!

So not only do we use tomatoes now, we also look for ways to preserve some of these tomatoes for later in the year. Pickling, canning, freezing, and drying are all ways to preserve foods and at L’Etoile, we’ve been busy drying tomatoes for use later. If you’d like to dry your own tomatoes here’s a useful site (http://www.doityourself.com/stry/dryingtomatoes)

Everything you ever wanted to know about the tomato
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato

Garlic is also plentiful right now. Most people don’t know it, but much of the garlic found in grocery stores comes all the way from China. Quite the trip! At the farmers’ market we buy 6 different varieties of locally grown garlic. Garlic is cured (dried) right at the farm – usually they simply let it dry in the sun – so it will last a long time on your shelf. No need to buy garlic grown thousands of miles away when such excellent garlic is grown right here and available at out Dane County Farmers’ Market.

All this talk about tomatoes and garlic has me thinking about ratatouille. (Or maybe it's the new animated movie starring Remy the rat?) In any case, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, garlic, and zucchini are all in season and plentiful at market. Just the time for a quick and easy (and tasty) ratatouille recipe ...

Ratatouille

Ingredients:
2 sweet red peppers
1 large eggplant
1 green zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 sweet onion
2 large cloves of Rocambole garlic (I like this variety because it has large, easy to peel cloves, and it has a mellow sweet garlic flavor)
2 Heirloom paste tomatoes, like Amish Paste, or you could use a San Marzano
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence (you could use dry, Penzy's has a good one, or you could source out some fresh herbs at market: savory, rosemary, thyme, sage, lavender, chives, parsley. If you use fresh you will need about 3 teaspoons of herbs chopped up.)
1/4 cup of olive oil
salt and pepper

Method:

Slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch thick circles and salt them fairly liberally on both sides and let drain in a colander. The salt will pull out the excess water. Set the eggplant aside and cut the onion, summer squash, zucchini and peppers, into a 1/4 inch dice. Finely chop the garlic. For the tomatoes, bring a pot of water to a boil, remove the core and make a small "x" at the other end with a pairing knife. Submerge the tomatoes for about 15 seconds and remove to a bowl of ice water. The skins will come off easily now. After the skins are removed, cut the tomateos in half, remove the seeds, and then cut into a small dice. Then return to the eggplant, it will be soft and pliable, gently squeeze the excess water out and dice. In a large saute pan or iron skillet, heat the olive oil on medium high, then add the garlic and saute briefly. Then add the onions and season with a little salt and pepper. Stir for about 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes and stir until some of the liquid evaporates. Add the rest of the vegetables and the herbs, stir and turn down the heat. Simmer the mixture for about 15-20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. You can serve it with grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with sea salt, or with any grilled meat or fish.

A Quick and Easy Side

If you are thinking that this is a little too involved for you, I love to mix 1 part red wine vinegar and 3 parts extra virgin olive oil. Then slice some great heirloom or cherry tomatoes, and season them with sea salt and pepper. Drizzle a little of the "vinaigrette" over the top. Tear some basil leaves or toss in some arugula and shave some parmesan or pecorino style cheese over the top. You will have a delicious summer side for any meal.

Our James Beard Experience

2006-12-17T08:27:00.000-08:00

When my sister Traci asked if we were ready to do a dinner at the Beard house in New York, I answered, “sure, why not!?”. I had no way of knowing the amount of work my response would entail for us over the next 5 months.

The first thing to consider was the date. I wanted to make sure that we go a time of year when we could really showcase the beautiful variety of produce, cheeses and meats our farmers bring to market and to our restaurant. For me, what makes L'Etoile what it is, is the way we take what the seasons and the farmers give to us and turn it into simple, honest, delicious dishes. This is why I felt, in order to give them a real taste of our style food, we had to bring as many local Wisconsin ingredients as possible.

Mid summer, Traci comes to me in the kitchen and says that the Beard house wants to know if we would come cook Thanksgiving for them. Sweet! I love Thanksgiving and I can only imagine that Mr. Beard loved Thanksgiving too. So, we were officially in. Our next step was to consider which staff members to take and find out whether they would be willing to give up their holiday with their families. Bringing our entire kitchen staff was a no-brainer but we also felt it important to represent the many other positions, or rather, people, that make L’Etoile special; our long time servers, the office managers, our maître'd, and even the bartender. Luckily for us, they were all excited and willing!

I asked Katy, our head baker and cafe manager, if she thought she could replicate our delicious bread in New York. I knew she would say yes, even if she didn't quite know how. That's just Katy. With Katy on-board, our team was complete!

Next up for me was writing the menu. I love the traditional turkey dinner and all the fixins. I didn't want to miss out on eating stuffing, sweet potatoes, gravy, apple pie & ice cream! So I considered, like so often is the case with any of my menus, what I would want to eat. However, instead of a family-style thanksgiving meal, I broke the dinner up into 5 courses.

Then, I needed to think ingredients. I went about it just like I do at L'Etoile. I thought about the ingredients that would be available in November and who we could get them from. Matt's turkeys, Ela Orchard’s apples, Blue Moon’s red cabbage, Harmony Valley's everything... and so on.

Once the menu was done, the Beard house called me again and asked if I was willing to stay a couple extra days and teach a class, like we do in Cafe Soleil. I agreed and added the class with the controversial name, " a Quintessential Brunch” on my list of things to prepare for. I call it controversial because I thought it should be called “a Holiday Brunch”. I imagined many New Yorkers, like Americans everywhere, would have lots of visitors during the holidays and might like to get some brunch ideas. I guess the Beard house thought that since there was nothing like a Bûche de noël or eggnog on the menu, it had to be called something else. Truth be told, I didn't really care what they called it! Though, I did find it funny how it all played out in their minds.

In considering the Beard dinner, I decided that since so many of our staff were coming and since I of course, didn’t want to miss out on a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, we should have a staff meal just like we do everyday at L’Etoile. Except this time, we would also invite all of the Beard house staff to eat with us. Apparently, this never happens, which was made evident by the staff's excitement and gratitude. Some warned me that having to do 2 turkey dinners in one night was a bit much, but I didn't care. Thanksgiving is for everyone.

When the Monday before Thanksgiving came, we packed the huge load of food and wine in to the cargo van that our hardcore, bookeeper Tracey, would drive all the way to the big city. The rest of us jumped on a plane in time to meet up with her when she arrived in front of the Beard house, late Tuesday night. Eva, our pastry chef, Katy and I started prepping the following morning at 7:30am. Wednesday afternoon, the rest of the crew arrived. I have to say our day of prepping, the eve of Thanksgiving, went along pretty smoothly, other than a few minor glitches in the bread making process. (Which a determined Katy easily overcame.)

It was amazing to see our crew all come together. I felt like we had worked so hard to get there and that no one was going to let anything go wrong. We were feeling loose, listening to some New York hip hop on the radio (Hot 97!) as we prepped. It was a good time, all of us cooking together in the highly reputed Beard house kitchen. Even my fiancé, Lili, joined in to help clean and cut the moutain of brussel sprouts.

After our day’s work was done, we had dinner at DB Bistro Modern, where one of my former line cooks, Huy Duong, works. He set us up nicely, providing additional dishes to taste with every course. They had this unbelievable (32$) burger stuffed with foie gras and truffles and served on a toasted parmesan bun. So delicious! Another favorite was the stuffed pig’s foot and lentil appetizer. I was so happy to see Huy doing well. At L’Etoile, his talent shone as he worked his way through every station of the kitchen. He has what we call “finesse”; multi-tasking and moving fast, while keeping plates clean and neatly put together. I know that Huy will be a great chef some day.

Thanksgiving morning came early. Our day began at 7:30 am. One of the things that made our dinner stand out was that we had brought all our own ingredients and that we were preparing everything there. This meant that we would need the time to make, start to finish, all the bread, the puff pastry, as well as the crackers and mini- baguettes used for the canapés. Eva also had to churn the cinnamon ice cream that would be served with the apple tart tatin! With everything being made from scratch, it was a big day.

I started out by making a list, just like we do at work. I wrote every aspect of the menu and who would be doing what. I also wrote out who was in charge of the different dishes for family meal. Then, we went to work. It was fairly quiet and calm through the morning hours. Yet, the emotions were starting to creep in. I wasn't worried about the food or the service. I was so confident in the ingredients that I spent most of the day, dreaming about James Beard and his love for food, for cooking and of course, for eating. I thought about how cool it was that this eccentric man was able to leave such a legacy behind by creating a space for chefs, both young and old, to showcase their talents and their personal cooking styles.

I began to feel so very proud to be there, representing such a great group of farmers and sharing the end result of their great efforts with the people of New York. I must admit, at first, all I wanted to show New York and the Beard house was that in Wisconsin, we have such great things happening with our amazing local artisans and producers and co-producers. But, as the day progressed, while listening and watching our fantastic crew work with such pride and finesse, I began to think a little differently. I decided that what I really wanted to show our guests was that great food can be found locally, even in N.Y., and how they too can forge relationships with hardworking people to provide them with all the food they could want or need. I also wanted to challenge our dinner guests, that night, to ask their local restaurants to do the same.

We finally got to family meal; turkey, sausage stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, red cabbage, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, corn pudding and even the green bean casserole (the last of which had to first be explained to some non-natives and secondly why we love it on thanksgiving!). Eva made us an extra apple tart for dessert. Yum! It was so much fun. Plates overflowing with food, we sat together for our menu meeting. I first talked through all the dishes, who we bought the ingredients from and how we prepared them. Then, Michael Kwas, our wine director, took over and explained the wines and the local Madison beer, that would be served with the different courses.

Afterwards, the crew and I were off to change into fresh white coats before the guests arrived. While most of the kitchen crew worked on the canapés, I began cooking in the back. At the James Beard house, guests arrive through the kitchen and say hi to the chefs on their way to the reception area. There is just nothing like the smell of Thanksgiving coming from the kitchen. You could see everyone’s faces light up as they passed through. Some of our diners were a little freaked out by the fact that my turkeys still weren’t in the oven! I just laughed it off knowing that since the birds were broken down into sections, they were easier to handle and faster to cook.

The dinner went by so smoothly that before we knew it, we were half way through, thinking "yes, we're doing it!". And, the second half of the meal was as seamless as the first. After dessert was served, I was introduced to the crowd. As I was passed the microphone, my emotions were hard to keep in check. It was so hard to put in to words the gratitude I felt for our crew and for my sister, and for Lili being there and helping me get through this moment in my journey as a chef. I really felt like our team could not have done any better that night. Thinking back on our performance together, it feels like a dream.

From the bottom of my heart, I will be eternally thankful for their support that night. I wanted to make James Beard, our farmers, my crew and my family proud. But mostly, I hope that we showed our diners how amazing food can be when you choose great ingredients, real food, delicious and local. And also, to remind folks to praise an ingredient not only for what it is but where it came from and who grew it.

Wishing you all loads of good eating this New Year!-Tory

In the words of Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food

2006-11-12T20:53:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

Hearing Carlo Petrini's opening speech was one of the most inspirational moments of the Terra Madre experience so I wanted to share it with you...

Inaugural speech, Terra Madre 2006

Dear Delegates,

Welcome to the second edition of Terra Madre. When I think about how nervous we were in 2004, when we organized the first edition of this extraordinary event, and I see this room today, which is packed after two years of work building a dense network of local communities all over the planet, communities of food producers, farm communities, I think of a metaphor that will do justice to our work here. What did we do in the first edition of Terra Madre? What have we done in these two years? We have prepared the ground; we have spread good fertilizer, we have plowed, we have broken up the soil, and now we are ready to plant our seeds. These are the seeds that will make the network of Terra Madre a tangible and believable thing. And now, all that remains is to ask ourselves, what is the seed?

What is the distinctive sign of this extraordinary session, with citizens, shepherds, nomads and fisherman that have come to Turin from 150 different countries? What is the seed that we have to plant? I’ve given it some thought, and I think that the strong seed of Terra Madre is the practice of the local economy. The local economy that all of us want to bring about in the villages and in the countryside. The local economy that you all know so well is based on three principles: the principle of solidarity, the principle of support, and the principle of subsistence. Solidarity and subsistence are the strength of the local community, and it is in this way that people can produce food. In producing food, people adopt the habits that shorten the distance between the producer and the consumer, to contribute to the wellbeing of the community, to help those who work in the fields to prosper, to give health, to give beauty to their own land. This local economy is in perfect harmony with nature. Look! The communities are primarily a place, a place and a people: the people of a certain place and their local economy are extraordinarily compatible with a philosophy of sustainable development.

On the other hand, you know that the world’s food crises are today a fact of life, visible to everyone. We hear daily about water shortages, excessive use of chemical fertilizers, infertile soils, the loss of biodiversity, global warming and entire ecosystems threatened. People still call it silly, but already the thing is so evident, so strong, that the media can no longer avoid this reality. The communities of people, religious communities, political communities, the most sensible politics, have already made it clear that this food crisis is dramatic! Dramatic. Look! The land is our common home, and our common home must be governed by an honest economy; it must be governed by a natural economy. What governs this earth, on the contrary, with force and often with arrogance, is the iron hand of the market economy; do not confuse, let us not confuse, we must not confuse the market economy with the local economy. The distortions of the same market economy that at the beginning had beneficial effects for communities are evident to everyone today, and the world’s resources are not infinite. And yet you can’t apply a law on the exponential extraction of resources, because the market currently demands hyperproductivity. This generates an unsustainable food situation that is beyond madness. FAO data tells us that we produce food for 12 billion people, when there are only 6.3 billion people living. Meanwhile, 800 million suffer from malnutrition and hunger, 1.7 billion suffer from obesity, and the rate of diabetes is growing exponentially along with cardiovascular diseases caused by malnutrition. It’s madness! It’s madness to continue to ask more from the land. This predation of resources, this logic in which consumption must be fast, is taking us from a point of abundance and waste to a terminal point, it is arriving at its terminal point!

However you all see that this unsustainable economy is becoming clear enough; what is not clear is the degree of our own complicity, our own responsibility as individual consumers in this so-called developed world. To what degree are we in the so-called developed world responsible, complicit, in an unstoppable consumption? It’s because of this that I think it will be difficult for us in the so-called developed world to become the standard-bearers in combating the economy of the market. We are accomplices, we are participants, and you, you citizens living in the so-called underdeveloped world must show us the way, the way of an economy for a relocalization of consumption and relocalization of agricultural production. What’s needed is a return to agricultural production in every single state, and with this, instead of conflict, we must work to build a perspective, a point of view, of true, frank and sincere support at the level of the local economy. The communities present here validate these local economies’ right to exist.

However, you can see that the damage wrought by the many authors of the market economy is not simply the realization of the disaster such as the one being created, not simply that; it is also the ridicule, the sneering, the derision, the declaration that local economies are not scientific. What do you care about these local economies that have no future! That have no perspective! Here there is much work to be done, because this vision is not an archaic one, but it is an extremely modern vision. The dignity of the local economy is the only one that allows for the realization of what is becoming an oxymoron: sustainable development. If we want to bring about sustainable development, we must reinforce the elements of the local economy and be aware that there is so much creativity in the world for making this local economy. You American delegates from green California, you bring about this local farming economy: constructing farmers’ markets that bring together producers and consumers; giving energy back to organic agriculture. You farmers of India bring about an economy that fights the predominance of seeds and reinforces the agricultural economy. Our own Italy, from the moment she chose to support regional production, from the moment she chose to support methodical modes of production that strengthen the fabric of the tourism associated with our beautiful country, she too brings about, consciously or unconsciously, a strong local economy, to such an extent that the market economy now copies the good ideas of typical products and seeks also to take them away. We must have the strength to give this economy back to the citizens, because food must be good, clean and fair.

Good, clean and fair. Good, absolutely good, it is not that we are condemned to eat badly! Even during the historic troubles of this country, many of my gastronome friends speak of the “Italian memory”. The Italian gastronomic memory has a name: hunger. Built into this memory is the wisdom of many women, which brought about, along with a subsistence economy, some masterpieces, very simple, but good. Clean, because one cannot produce nourishment by straining ecosystems, ruining the air, and destroying biodiversity. Fair, because the citizen must be paid; if we want the young people to stay and return to the land here in our countries they must have dignity and fulfillment, and they must be valued. It inconceivable that a civilized nation could enslave the workers of other nations to produce tomatoes. It is inconceivable that a civilized country can encourage organic economies like that of green California at the same time that it reduces many Mexican farmers to slavery.

So good, clean and fair are three adjectives that farmers must offer to the consumers, whom I would like to call co-producers, in an effort to change this system that is turning into a big mistake. This is the meaning of the international network, this is what virtuous globalization means. We are planting the seeds of a virtuous globalization and this virtuous globalization must have the strength to claim the collective rights that make up the economy and that bring about a new frontier of rights. Look at the French Revolution, which strengthened in everyone the knowledge that while we have some individual rights, time and history call us to collective rights. The right to water, the right to clean air, women’s right to remain in the systems of agricultural production, the right to defense of biodiversity, the right to peace, the right to peace. I would like to acknowledge the communities here today that have come from war-torn countries but have nevertheless managed to gather here in Turin. Accompanying them to their villages when they return will be our feeling of gratitude for the work that they do, because for the most part, it is the farmers who pay for these wars.

But the network is brought about also by alliances, and it is for this reason that the 2006 edition of Terra Madre has cooks and university professors present. The cooks because it is they, working culturally and with culture, transform the products of nature. Farmers need cooks, and cooks need good farmers, as well as university professors. It is a marvelous thing that in this public assembly of farmers there are 250 university professors present from all over the world; it’s a marvelous thing because we must safeguard traditional knowledge which, as the great intellectual Claude Levi-Straus has said, has been at risk of disappearing throughout the last 30 years. We must safeguard cultural knowledge, wisdom, the traditions of the rural world, and to do this we must forge an alliance with universities and an alliance with official science. No more misunderstandings between science and traditional knowledge, but more dialogue and collaboration, and you will see that many problems will be resolved, and we will resolve also the problem of genetically modified organisms, if science will speak with the farmers. It is dialogue, dialogue is the perspective we are called to, dialogue with science, with institutions, with politics, and I share the feelings of this entire assembly in expressing gratitude to the president of the Italian republic.

President, President, your presence in this place is a source of pride for us, we are happy to be in a country where the president listens to the voice of the humble, listens to the voice of a suffering world. Mr. President, please allow me to thank your wife, as many of us, many of us know that Mrs. Napolitano has given much of her expertise, her passion and her generosity to defending the cause of the farmers of Campania. Mrs. Clio! We are grateful to you! We are grateful to you! You have welcomed us into your own home! Because the world of farmers speaks a different language in every part of the world, and the world of farmers is grateful to you as someone who has spent time, with passion and generosity, defending just causes. In conclusion, dear delegates, I want to bear witness to the all the affection of this generous region of Piedmont, of this beautiful city of Turin, this affection that has offset the fatigue of the long journeys of these days, journeys undertaken by people who have left their armaments behind in the faraway lands of Mongolia or Nordic lands, by those who have moored their fishing boats on the great Lake Victoria, or on the coast of Alaska or on the Amazon River, by those who have descended from the mountains of the Andes or of Tibet, by those who have left the fields of rice in India or Madagascar.

Thank you! Thank you for the gift of your presence. If the earth is our mother, brotherhood will govern these days of work. There are no differences of race, of idiom, of culture, of creed, of religion. We know that the brotherhood is stronger. Allow me to pay tribute to you, delegates from all over the world, by paraphrasing a great Piedmontese poet: “If the world resists, the world must do it by means of people like you. People who accept the new civilization, but only up to a certain point. People who do not believe that advancement necessitates all of the past, people who do not see unhealthy contradictions between modern and old customs, people who hold in their hands the future of the earth.”Have a nice Terra Madre, everyone.

Chef Tory with Carlo Petrini before the dinner of 1,000 chefs.

Terra Madre

2006-11-09T10:01:00.000-08:00

Meeting of 1,000 chefs

After landing in Milan, I am greeted by a group of well-dressed Italians waving Terra Madre signs. They usher me alongside several other delegates towards buses that will take us to Turin. The buses gradually fill, and we are on our way. There is a lot of excitement as people exchange stories of where they are from and what they do. Different languages, jobs and personalities come out in colorful conversation.

I find it kind of funny that no one seems to know what will happen next. Where are they taking us? Will we get a chance to eat and shower or at least brush our teeth(!) before going to the conference? Then, I start to feel what I can only describe as the "European experience"... winding our way through small towns on narrow roads, tiny cars and motor scooters zooming past us, with the mountains in the distance becoming clearer and clearer.

Since the food on the flight left me unsatisfied (big surprise), while riding along I begin to day dream about the culinary wonders that the Salone del Gusto will have to offer. In case you don’t know this about me, I have a deep, deep love for all things pork. And I believe the act of making cured pork products is a true art form. I hear the Salone will have hundreds of small-scale meat producers from all over Europe. I picture a big giant buffet that is "all I can eat"! I drift off to a nice, proscuitto filled nap before arriving in Turin.

Turin, a sprawling city in the foot hills of the Alps, is located in the Piedmont region. Last winter, the city had a partial makeover because of the Olympic winter games. The conference is to be held in the Oval building of the Lingotto, the space housing the ice rink for the games. As we pull in to the parking lot, there is an incredible mass of people. 6000 people from all over the world will descend on this mountain city, not counting the security and volunteers. The president of the Italian Republic will speak at the opening ceremony, so we are told to we can’t bring in our luggage. There is a makeshift area up the hill set up for us to check our bags.

I find my way to the American delegation stand. They hand me my delegate badge and a pass for the Salone. You need your badge for everything at the conference. They also inform me that I have about 3 hours to kill before the opening ceremony. I of course, make my way over to the Salone.

I wander through the diverse gathering of people filling the huge complex as I make my way next door. The most impressive to me, though far from the largest, is the Kenyan delegation. From head to toe, they are dressed in their colorful traditional costume. And, they all have made sashes in the colors of their national flag, embroidered with "Terra Madre 2006". I guess what impresses me the most is how proud they are to be part of this meeting.

Ok, so the Salone… I don’t think anything could have really prepared me for the first time I walked in and found myself standing in the middle of this massive moving crowd. All the people maneuvering their way in to a stand to get a taste of whatever is offered, maneuvering their way back out, and repeating the process over and over again. It is like going to the Madison Farmer's market on a Saturday @ 8, the day of a Badger game. But this market is open and busy from 11am to 11pm and has sample tastes of cured meats, all sorts of artisan cheeses, delectable chocolate from around the world, Italian wines, aperitifs and digestifs, gelato, beer, fruit, vegetables, oils…

To put it into perspective of how big the Salone is, there are about 700 cheese makers alone, each with at least 2 if not 3 cheeses to sample and or buy! Needless to say, I was WAY overwhelmed. I managed to get a few bites of cheese, a slice of dried sausage and a cup of peach gelato before going back to the Oval for the opening ceremony. You'd be surprised how pushy those Italian ladies can be!

I run into Nate Berg from the Native Bay restaurant in Chippawa Falls and Bruce and his wife Joan Sherman from North Pond Café in Chicago. It was nice to see familiar faces after Salone-goers had their way with me. I meet some other restaurant folks, reppin' Chicago and California, everyone seeming equally overwhelmed. Gradually, everyone starts to get to know one another. People were genuinely interested in our restaurant, what it was like to take over after Odessa and how things were going for Traci and me. Everyone I met was supportive and happy for us, so that was a pretty good feeling.

After lunch it was time for the opening ceremony. We are welcomed with the singing of a choir of Italian women, all of them rice farmers, who belted out a few emotional hymns. Then, much like the Olympics, the flags of all the nations are marched in to the arena. 150 countries are represented at this world gathering. We are treated to speeches from Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, the President of the Italian Republic and from the most inspiring of them all, Carlo Petrini, the founder and president of Slow Food and Terra Madre. Deservingly, he receives the largest ovations of the conference. Overcome with emotion, I lean over and whisper to Nate “How did we get here!?”. He responds, “We’re just a couple of good cooks from Wisconsin!”. Jet-lagged and happy, we kick back and enjoy the rest of the opening ceremony.

Terra Madre, Mother Earth. It is a conference of incredible importance in the forming, cultivation and preservation of food traditions from around the planet. I admit that on my way to Italy, all I could think of was getting to taste some amazing Italian delicacies (which I certainly got to do). But, what Terra Madre turned in to for me was an "all you can eat" buffet of knowledge, doled out to us from incredible minds like Carlo Petrini, Vandana Shiva, Alain Ducasse, Michael Pollen, Alice Waters, Harold Mcgee, Fritjof Copra, Ferran Adria, just to name a few.

It made me feel really proud to be doing what Traci, I and our staff do at L’Etoile and Cafe Soleil every day. That is, important work with real purpose, promoting sustainable farming and artisan cheese making. And then delivering these tasty ingredients to our guests the best way we know how. Yes, delicious promotion of a way of life that is in danger of being taken over by industry, rapid urbanization, and the consumerist mentality spreading quickly throughout our society.

If nothing else Slow Food and Terra Madre have inspired me to just continue doing what we do. To always know where our food is coming from and how it was treated during its life, to respect the ingredient and the farmer who grew it. I think that Madison is a great place to do this. We have such great resources to share with the rest of the state of Wisconsin, which has so many great things to share with the country. We have got a long way to go but I love being on board for the ride. We will get there Slowly, one delicious bite at a time.

I am going to leave you with a highlight of a dish that I was inspired to make on my trip. In Italy, the steaks are often fire grilled, served simply drizzled with olive oil, a little radicchio and a lemon wedge. You really get to taste the meat and I loved it.

So, I decided to make a hickory smoked and grilled Flat Iron steak from Fountain Prairie Farm. We are topping the dish with a little sylvetta (wild Italian arugula) from Shooting Star Farm and a little Stravecchio cheese (Wisconsin’s version of Parmesan Reggiano) and finishing it off with a little drizzle of Tuscan olive oil and a reduction of Balsamic vinegar. The Italians also make these great potatoes that are boiled and fried in olive oil and then tossed with a little chopped parsley. So, those had to make an appearance as the starch on the dish.

There it is, simple... great meat, cheese and arugula with light potatoes. I’d give you a recipe but it’s that easy. I love it! Try it at home or come in and have Mike Kwas, our wine director, pair it with a great Italian red. Either way, thanks for reading. Next up is the Thanksgiving dinner at the Beard house in New York. It is going to be a real wild trip so check out the Chef’s Corner for some “behind the scenes” action.

See you later- Chef Tory

Off To Turin

2006-10-24T10:27:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,

Thanks for visiting and welcome to my first Chef's Corner blog entry! I wanted to start a blog to give you a look into what it is like to be a chef/co-owner of a restaurant that is committed to buying local, seasonal, and sustainable ingredients. I also am planning to give tips on what is growing in Wisconsin, what treasures I find at the Dane County Farmer's market, and some delicious recipes for you to make at home. Since I usually stay in the kitchen at L'Etoile, unless I'm doing a cooking class, I don't often get to talk about our dishes, and what the inspiration was behind them. So from time to time I will be doing just that, picking dishes from our current menu and giving you guys the 411 on where we got the ingredients and why I think they are delicious.

This week's Chef's Corner is special because I am fortunate enough to be going to Turin, Italy, representing L'Etoile Restaurant as a SLOW Food USA delegate. SLOW Food is an organization that was started in Italy and continues to grow around the world. In brief, it is a movement that is committed to the preservation of culinary traditon, sustainable agriculture, and to eating food that is grown locally. The event taking place in Turin is called Terra Madre and it is held every 2 years. Terra Madre gives like-minded individuals, farmers, and this year, cooks, the opportunity to meet and share ideas, visions, and stories with people from around the world. The interesting thing to me is that they don't just invite people who are already part of the Slow Food movement, but people who could be and in some cases should be involved. This means that those in attendance get to engage in real debate, learn from people with differing perspectives, and increase their overall knowledge about global sustainability - the obstacles and the success stories. There will be many workshops and panel discussions; Keynote speakers in the past have included Prince Charles and Alice Waters. This is all very exciting and, of course, will all be very enlightening. The other part of the conference is something called the Salon Del Gusto, which is set up to take place in Turin at the same time as Terra Madre. Salon Del Gusto is a huge open air market where Italian slow food farmers and vendors will set up, and will offer samples of their delicious treats. Can anyone guess what I am really excited about?! I have always been in love with Italian food and culinary history. Since I am trained in classic French cuisine, and happen to have a restaurant with a French name, people naturally tend to think of me as a French chef. I personally feel like my style and approach is closer to Italian ideals rather than French, though many of my recipes and techniques come from French techniques. Regardless, I can't wait to see what those guys have to offer! I have heard rumors from Matt Smith at Blue Valley Gardens that there is a whole section of the Salon Del Gusto that is just chocolate makers! That alone is so exciting that I can hardly stand it. Not to mention the salted cured meats, the fantastic cheeses, artisan bakers, wine makers and amazing produce, truffles anyone?

In my next blog I promise to post as many pictures as I can. There are sure to be some familiar faces with such a large group of WI artisan cheesemakers and SLOW food members making the trip with me. Odessa will be there too, so I'll try not to just take pictures of food, but I'm not making any promises.

I would like to sign off this week with a recipe for a soup made with Romanesco, an Italian variety of cauliflower. For you market-goers, it is the vegetable that looks pre-historic, with green cone shaped flowerettes. I spoke with the Martin's at the Jones' Valley Farm stand last week and they said that their romanesco is really starting to get sweet now that we have had a frost. You can also get romanesco at the Harmony Valley Farm and Mammoth Produce stands at the Saturday market. This is a velvety, rich soup that will surely warm you up on a chilly Wisconsin autumn night. Bon Apetito!

Roasted Romanesco Soup with Grated Parmesan Cheese

Ingredients:

1 head of Romanesco (you can substitute any cauliflower)
1 small onion -(sliced thinly)
3 cloves garlic -(crushed)
2-3 sage leaves
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
3 Tablespoons of butter
1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream
3 cups of vegetable stock
1/4 cup of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 Tablespoon of chopped parsley

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Separate the head of romanesco into flowerettes. Heat an oven safe saute pan on medium high heat. Add the olive oil, 2 Tablespoons of butter and the romanesco, season it with salt and pepper and begin to brown lightly. Then place the saute pan right into the oven. Roast for about 10 to 15 minutes, the romanesco should be browned and tender. Reserve.

Heat a soup pot on medium and place the other tablespoon of butter in it. Add the sliced onions and a little salt and pepper and saute for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 more minutes. Stack the sage leaves on one another and slice them as thinly as you can. Add them to the pot and stir for about 10 seconds. Add the vegetable stock and bring it to a simmer. Add the cream and the roasted romanesco. Simmer the soup for about 10 minutes and taste for salt and pepper. Puree the soup in a blender, food processor or with a hand blender until smooth. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
If you want to be a little fancy, a light drizzle of white truffle infused oil would be a super delicious way to finish this simple soup.