Alice Waters, Alice Waters, Alice Waters (File under There’s no Place Like Home)

I admire and respect Alice Waters beyond what words could possibly say. She is, as I have mentioned here before, the mother of California Cuisine and started with nothing more than the desire to cook good food responsibly.

Many of the twenty five or so books that I have read in the past week include Alice Waters as the writer of the Foreword, Preface or Introduction. By my count it is no less than twelve that I read this week.

As I have mentioned here before Alice Waters started Chez Panisse in California. She started as a novice with nothing more than the desire to make great food with great ingredients. Some of the highlights of her words follow here.

In “Fresh” by Janet Fletcher Alice says; “ To my way of thinking, the proliferation of farmers’ markets is the single most and heartening development in this country in my lifetime… Farmers’ Markets bring us the greatest variety of the freshest, tastiest, and most beautiful food there is, food that is neither wastefully packaged, cosmetically waxed, nor irradiated.”

In “A Celebration of Woman Chefs” Alice says; “There is something that women understand instinctively in a way that men, perhaps do not; that food is primarily about nourishment. Cooking is more than art; It is a daily sacrament in which we act out our commitment to each other, to society, and to the earth.” WHAT A STATEMENT! Think about that for a minute or two and I’m sure that it will bake your noodle just as it did mine. Such a beautiful sentiment, PERFECTLY WORDED. And I’m a man. Moreover she says; “perseverance and unswerving dedication are ultimately rewarded.” Good to know.

One of the woman Chefs I came across in that book is Deborah Hughes. And I must say that I really like her. She co owns the venerable Harvard staple Upstairs at the Pudding. The Pudding for those of you that don’t know was a secret society at Harvard and can boast on its wall the trophy kills of Teddy Roosevelt. She says that schools don’t teach much about; “the relationship between common sense, chemistry and the work ethic, and may be robbing young chefs of their intuition – You can’t be a good cook without intuition – You must learn the fundamental components and techniques but it takes your instincts to create.” WOW!

Another Chef I have always admired is Lidia Bastianich (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidia_Bastianich). She says; “Food for me is really the protagonist. I can only transport food or exalt it.” And “The product is 50% or more of what I do. I have to embellish it or bring it out or dress it up a little bit – as simply as I can.” PROFOUND!

I also took the time to read Chez Panisse Café Cookbook, Chez Panisse Vegetables, Chez Panisse Fruit and Chez Panisse Desserts.

In the cookbook she says; "The concept of an open kitchen is a simple one: cooks and diners should interact and cooking smells should fill the room.”

In Vegetables Alice says and I find this very telling and important; “We didn’t know how to manage a kitchen and fill orders for dozens of different dishes at once, so we hit on a format we have stuck with ever since: one menu, no choices, one price.” Also very telling is; “A few principles have emerged… the finest food is produced and grown in ways that are ecologically sound.”

In Fruit she says; “Pay attention to what you’re eating.”

I am going to dedicate a full post to Waters’ Book “The Art of Simple Food.”

Are you dreaming big and inspired? And what’s more, are you working each and every day in pursuit of that dream?

A la prochaine

SDM