Alice Waters on 60 Minutes (file under Everyone has got a dream)

I just finished watching Alice Waters on 60 Minutes. And what can I say that I haven’t already said. At first I was unsure about the interview because it seemed that CBS and 60 Minutes were trying to diminish her impact on the way that food is viewed in the United States.

It covered the precocious Waters development into the marvelous dreamer that she is today, was then and always will be. It touched on her push in the Slow Food movement and the resultant Slow Food Expo 2008 which took place outside of San Francisco’s City Hall as well as the Edible School Yard Program. Both of which I have written about here before. One point which she made loud and clear and that I also have written about here is that the food we are eating is at worst killing us and at best making us sick, all in the name of profit.

What struck me was the timing of the interview. In fact, Leslie Stahl outright said, that organic is expensive and that in these times it may not be possible for America to wake up, so to speak, to the organic, slow food, REVOLUTION that she helped to form in the United States. The reason I found this interesting is that the other day I read an article which regaled McDonald’s with praise for turning a 14% larger profit in the last quarter. For me, this was a telling statistic, and a very sad one.

In the current economic reality, jobs are being lost in the United States, so too are homes and the fabric of society is being tested. Yet, in this reality, while other companies are slashing jobs and finding ways to bolster their bottomline, McDonald’s is, on the other hand, reaping the profits of misery. At least that is the way that I see it.

You see, the economic reality is forcing people (though Americans have rarely needed a reason to eat fast food) to choose the easiest method for food intake. That method naturally being fast food.

I am guilty of eating McDonald’s every now and again. But since I have become acquainted fully with the organic and slow food movements I find myself eating it less and less. Now nothing more than a momentary guilty pleasure.

I loved the interview with Waters. I thought it was on the whole balanced and represented a much grander exposure for Waters. The one part I was especially fond of was when she was asked about the White House having an edible landscape. A garden. She spoke of the symbolism involved with installing such a feature. And I couldn’t agree more. Change you can believe in. If you know what I mean.

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM

A History of Cooks and Cooking (file under a Poetic Soul)

I took much longer to read Michael Symon’s book; “A History of Cooks and Cooking,” much more than I normally would. The very first paragraph reveals a very different kind of Chef. A different cook. One with the soul of a poet. In a very different vane than Anthony Bourdain. It captures the spirit and imagination of the reader and demands that you keep reading.

Michael Symon, for those of you who don’t know, is the newest “Iron Chef” in America. He has been regaled with numerous awards and is the Owner of two very fine restaurants in Cleveland. Yes, that’s right, I said Cleveland. You can check out a bit more about him at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Symon.

Rarely do you come across a professional of one sort who has the ability to express beautifully in words, what their drive and passion is. Michael Symon certainly fits that bill. Take for instance the very first paragraph of the first chapter;

“Hovering over an industrial city spreading beside the Pacific, an angel tunes into the tangled whispers of human thought, watching over silliness and drama, and brushing comfort when and where it will. Suddenly drawn to comprehend, this angel descends past Sydney’s opera house, art gallery, library, museum and botanical gardens. On wings of inquiry it glides across cathedral, conservatorium of music and hospital. It floats over the hotels, department stores and shopping complexes. It circles the stock exchange, banks and corporate towers. It glances towards the sporting stadiums and beaches.”

Adds new meaning, for me anyway, to the soul of a chef. A poetic soul. One which tries to both understands and illuminate exactly what it is we do.

I have read many “anthropological” studies of food, cooks and cooking and none has entertained me as much as this one. In it, you can understand that cooking, its precursors and its by products are something which he feels very passionate about. Attacking it from a very different angle than any that I have read so far.

If you want a great read, an interesting anthropological study of cooks and cooking throughout history you would be hard pressed to find one more informative and entertaining than Michael Symon’s “A History of Cooks and Cooking.”

H. L. Mencken once wrote; “The proof of an idea is not to be sought in the soundness of the man fathering it, but in the soundness of the idea itself. One asks of a pudding, not if the cook who offers it is a good woman, but if the pudding itself is good.”

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM

Camaraderie (file under Kitchen Love)

At least two or three times I have written about the camaraderie that develops in a kitchen. It is a bond of brothers and sisters that come together to complete a task together in the most beautiful and wonderful ways. But that camaraderie is not limited to just the kitchen in which you work.

Currently, at Without Reservation, when I go out for a smoke, I am facing the smoking area of another kitchen. A couple of times a day I will see their Pastry Chef, or Sous Chef or just some of the line cooks doing the same thing that I am, having a cigarette and working through whatever needs to be worked through that day.

There is the normal small chitchat but then there are also conversations which reveal the true camaraderie of the kitchen. I have been speaking with the Sous Chef and Pastry Chef there since I started at Without Reservation. They constantly give me good advice and are interested in my progress in the kitchen. This also filters down to the line cooks as well. I am struck by the camaraderie that develops.

It is a nice feeling to escape the constantly balmy thirty five degrees of the kitchen and to have a conversation with someone for a minute or two, or five as the case may be.

This experience has led me to believe that there is an unspoken bond between kitchens the world over. Anthony Bourdain has spoken about this many times too. Perhaps it is because we are all in the joyous suffering of burns, cuts, scrapes and failed experiments. Perhaps it is the cigarette or perhaps, maybe, just maybe, it is something deeper. Something more human. Something spiritual which transcends our humanity and instead highlights our shared experience and makes us reach for one another. I’m not sure what it is. But I can tell you this, it makes me feel extremely happy to know that this exists outside of the military or a hockey team.

Moreover, in going back to Reservation this week, I felt as if that camaraderie still exists even when people move on. I don’t think it is true in every case, but certainly, it would appear, in mine.

Just something that I’ve been meaning to write about for a while.

Todd English once said; “I liked the energy of cooking, the action, the camaraderie. I often compare the kitchen to sports and compare the chef to a coach. There are a lot of similarities to it.”

Are you dreaming big and inspired?

A la prochaine

SDM