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Civilized Dining Near Death
February 27, 2013
seasonal food
“The preparation of good food is merely another expression of art, one of the joys of civilized living…” Dione Lucas
Survival depends on finding a source of nutrition. Today there is a trend to look to restaurants for food service. In the distant past the household was challenged to grow, kill, store, and otherwise provide the food for a family. Now by driving through, it is possible to leave the drudgery of dietary delicacy decision making to the folks at Dairy Queen. Restaurants now exist in giant chains with processed ingredients provided by the central supplier. This has given rise to a slew of cooking shows and networks, and celebrities. These celebrities enjoy food and know how to prepare it. That is why they are out of the ordinary in 2013. They remember, or have been trained, to eat and enjoy a variety of seasonal foods. They may have even visited a farm. No wonder we regard them as very special beings.
The McRib is not a seasonal food, although Americans believe it is. The pumpkin spice latte is not either. Pumpkins themselves are seasonal, growing outside in fields and needing to be picked at a certain time. Latte flavoring is forever. It is possible it will remain in your organs forever also. How is it possible that America is so far removed from grow it, kill it, eat it, that they have no idea where their food has been, or by whom it has been handled? I am not a stuffy or a picky eater, which might be challenged, since I am a vegetarian. What I want when I pay another entity to feed me is attention to detail, each and every detail. I want to feel the careful work that has been done to please my palette every time I put a bite into my mouth. When I cook that is what I hope to achieve. Of course, I do not always succeed, but there is never a doubt that I have made the effort. I would rather fail royally in my own kitchen than to be fed by the careless.
Food as Metaphor
February 22, 2013
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I have a sourdough start that has been living for about 5 years. I feed it potato water, sugar and potatoes to keep the yeast alive. The yeast lives in the air and will be different in each geographic location. Technically beer yeast and bread yeast are different strains, but they are both alive. The sourdough is a domesticated life form growing in my kitchen. Each time I make bread I take out half of the starter and add potatoes and sugar to the bowl. After it grows for a day or so I refrigerate it because I have no need to make bread every 24 hours. The ritual of making the bread and keeping the levain alive is important. Mine is unusual because I use no flour in the starter liquid.
Making and sharing food has deep significance. Not everyone has time or interest in bread baking or cooking as a sport, but everyone gets hungry. The way we deal with our appetites tells us something about our relationship to divine providence. To be too strict or picky results in loss of joy, whereas to be undiscriminating will have the exact same result. Culinary taste can and does vary greatly, but the full pleasure of dining is in the execution. The delightful MFK Fisher wrote before the advent of Food Network and the crush of celebrity chefs as entertainers. I have purchased tickets to see Anthony Bordain live on stage in Providence because he does the same schtick. His travel and dining adventures are metaphor fairy tale food stories. Once I saw that he and I will have traveled to the same city at the same time I knew I had to see his show Good and Evil, an obvious referral to food as life. He and I do not eat the same things, but we dine with the same attitude. I look forward to the evening with delight. It will be tasty.
Feasting
February 6, 2013
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Feast is the perfect place to eat an early lunch on Saturday.
Feast in Tucson
Hungry Girl
Quiet table with a view of the mountains
Indochine cocktail
Tasty fresh cocktail with ginger cilantro and whiskey
Kale brussel sprout salad
Krispy kale, sliced brussels sprouts, dates, fried shallots, and more in super salad
Leeks and peppers
I enjoyed the full flavored leeks with a variety of peppers, both hot and sweet
asparagus mushroom waffle
The combo of the garlic crisp waffle with the creamy mushroom asparagus sauce was terrific
Seafood Chowder
Bob enjoyed his creamy chowder.
Shank of lamb
His lamb was cooked perfectly and served beautifully.
no room for dessert
Classy Tucson Dining
The menu changes seasonally so you will always find a new treat in store. A gourmet delight!!
Rhubarb in Rhode Island
January 30, 2013
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It is thrilling to plan travel on various levels. I adore museums and classy architecture. Gardens, formal and botanical, please me greatly. The culinary delights of a new terroir and culture top my list. I am such a fan of farmer’s markets, known in most of the world as simply the market, that I literally plan to eat everything in season and local wherever I go. One of my favorite festivals in Europe is Spargelfest, the over the top celebration of asparagus harvest. I love the stuff, both white and green, although I can’t really see why they bother with the white. Do not express that feeling about white asparagus in a German speaking country unless you are ready to be lectured. After all, these are the Spargelfest people, and they know a thing or two about spargel. Restaurants feature special menus that highlight the seasonal star in all possible ways. I have not seen spargel desserts or beer, but I would not be surprised to find that they exist. Roadside and city corner stands are set up for the purpose of streaming spargel farm to table. These temporary businesses are swamped with asparagus fans getting festive with both green and white.
I am really excited to learn that when I visit Rhode Island there will be fresh asparagus!!! They promise kale all year. The wintertime farmers’ market in Providence will hook me up with what I need. There is also a slight chance of rhubarb in the harvest forecast for early May. Now that would just put the icing on the cake. I love alliteration as well as asparagus and rhubarb. I can really relish a Rhode Island Rhubarb extravaganza. Fiddlehead ferns, which I have never knowingly eaten, will be ready as well as alliterative all by themselves. Perhaps most intriguing is the fact that Anthony Bordain will perform live at the Providence Center for the Performing Arts, talking with Eric Rippert, another chef, about food. The name of this show is Good vs Evil. I believe I must see that performance. I have very few heroes in show biz, and Mr. Bordain is one of them. I just now became acquainted with Mr. Rippert, and think there is major potential. The theater itself just hit the national news for allowing producers to decide if tweeting is permitted during each show, and then strictly mandating that those in the tweet seats ( at the back) lower the lights of their phones. The folks in Providence have a long history of tolerance, but draw the line at performance tweeting. How very civilized!!
Christmas Dog Party
December 26, 2012
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- Dogs’ Christmas
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- Dressed to party
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- Lodge on the Desert Dogs Party
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- Newly Rescued
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- Dogs rule the Patio
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- Poodle strikes Pose
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- Merry Christmas
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- We watch from inside
When we arrived for our Christmas party for two at the Lodge on the Desert we were greeted by a festive group of dogs and their owners who clearly came to be of good cheer. These jolly folks gather to eat outside at the Lodge on the Desert because the canine companions are welcome to join in the fun. The Retriever in the fancy dress was given an order of scrambled eggs, which we were able to observe from our seats just inside the doggie patio. A rip-roaring good time was had by all. We are more than pleased to have chosen Lodge on the Desert as our restaurant of the year for 2013. We don’t go out to eat very often, and look for a superior quality that sets a place apart from the rest. Tucson’s reigning Iron Chef is on the job there, and was willing to adapt for my vegetarian requests. He was personally riding the range on Christmas, and waved to us at our table as he walked across the patio. Our food was superb, as was the service. I will detail the gourmet delights for you at another time. For now, if you love your dog and want to party, this is my highest recommendation. My coon hound Artemisia was none the wiser that her parents celebrated Christmas dinner at a dog restaurant without her. I will appreciate it, gentle readers, if you keep this as our little secret. She howls at other dogs, and at food, therefore would be too loud and rowdy at a food centered event. We do love to see quiet well-behaved dogs enjoy the restaurant privileges the Euro dogs take for granted. I believe this hotel, with a recent remodel that has brought back the charm, will build a reputation for hospitality and gourmet dining among the human and the canine connoisseurs of elegance and good taste.
The Personal Service of Farming
October 31, 2012
scarecrow
What are the personal services you use in daily life? You may not be aware of all of them. If you buy prepared foods, that preparation has been done for you. You know if you hire a child care helper or manicurist that you are buying personal services. It is hard to find all the ways others contribute skill and time to our daily lives. Compared to primitive self reliance our modern lifestyle is comprised of paying more for labor and transportation than we pay for goods. Many have lost the skills needed to make anything from scratch. Farming in the US is a prime example. We are running out of people who know how to grow food as this profession declines rapidly in young people. If we don’t train or import some people to do the service of farming we will face serious problems.
My grandparents owned a farm when I knew them so I was exposed to the milk cow, the beef cows, the pigs, the gardens, and even to the butter churn. I lived in the city of Tulsa but considered the grandparents spread in Arkansas where was assistant farmer on the weekends to be extremely romantic. I rode a mule and shot a rifle. I thought of myself as very Annie Oakley when I was about 5. My parents had grown up without modern 1950’s conveniences and liked the idea of jet setting rather than farming. They enjoyed the country club and the University Club, and garden club, and host of other urban activities that Tulsa and Pittsburgh offered them. They did not seem lazy to me, but they certainly had a different style when it came to personal services than my grandparents had. There was no way they would ever own a mule or live next to a barn. They were over all of that. They were urban, upwardly mobile, and believed themselves to be super liberated. I suppose they were.
Every generation acquires some new skills and drops others that no longer serve the moment. It is a great idea to stay abreast of technology, move with the times, and accept the reality of now. In some phases of life, however, it is healthy, good, and indeed necessary to play a creative skillful part in carefully designing reality. If one chops no wood and carries no water the disconnection from source becomes disabling. The spirit has no dwelling in a world that offers only convenience. The soul requires art, and the spirit creates those artful moments that last in memory. One’s own self realization can’t be purchased, downloaded or installed. There is no service that can impart the satisfaction derived from self expression. Once practiced, polished and realized each one of us has a gift of powerful personal charism to offer to all the sentient beings. We can only hope that some young Americans find a vocation in farming.
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