Ruth Reichl's Blog, page 34

2013 Gift Guide: Day Sixteen

Remember when chefs used to wear toques?  That went out sometime in the 80s, when open kitchens became the rage and chefs who wanted to look hip began sporting baseball caps instead.   

But for a long time after that chefs continued to wear the traditional black and white chefs pants. So dull! Now that too is starting to change: today's trendiest chefs wander around their kitchens in bluejeans.

That gave chef Chris Cosentino, of San Francisco’s Incanto, an idea: why not design a pair of jeans specifically for chefs?  The result is Betabrand’s Chef Jeans, which are designed to be cool in the kitchen.  The crotch is vented, the fit is relaxed, and there are special pockets for a cell phone and a sharpie (you never know when some fan will demand an autograph).

The pants have many other interesting details like apron lining on the pockets and bone buttons. Available only since November, they’re the latest thing. 

Don’t feel like spending $118 on your friend?  Then maybe you’d like to invest in these meat feet socks.

A three-pack sampler is $33, and they even come with a replacement guarantee should you lose one. The socks are currently sold out, but they’re so adorable they might just be worth waiting for. 

 

2013 Gift Guide: Day Fifteen

Oh Rubbish!

My first attempts at recycling - back in Berkeley in the 70s - were so annoying that it was a relief to move to Los Angeles and give the whole thing up.  We had so many receptacles in the kitchen: brown glass, green glass, clear glass, bi-metals, aluminum, tin- that there was barely room to cook.  But the compost bucket was the worst; a big odiferous mess. 

Looking back, I can’t believe how easy recycling has become. Composting, on the other hand, continues to be problematic for city people. That’s why I was so excited when I found the sleekly designed Urban Composter Bucket. 

You can throw any organic material into this neat little bucket - even leftover meat and fish - and the bucket immediately begins the composting process. Within a matter of days you have a nutrient rich fertilizer.  The company's trick is the composting spray, which uses "effective microbes" to break down food quickly (like the Japanese version, Bokashi, but without the messy granular mixture you use to jumpstart the process.) The tap allows you to drain off your organic fertilizer, dilute, and use it immediately, while the tightly sealed top makes the whole thing virtually odorless. 

Everybody's looking for ways to help save the environment.  This is one small step; at $75 it makes a very practical present.  

 

 

2013 Gift Guide: Day Fourteen

A Great American Oil

For years food-savvy travelers returned from Austria with Styrian pumpkinseed oil for their friends. A classic Austrian ingredient, it’s an important addition to soups. Mixed with apple cider vinegar it makes a classic dressing. Bread tastes great simply dipped into the oil. In Austria they even use pumpkinseed oil like hot fudge, splashing it across vanilla ice cream for a very delicious dessert.

But why buy a European product when pumpkins are an indiginous American vegetable?  Wholehearted Foods makes roasted pumpkin seed oil, from organic pumpkins grown in the Finger Lakes region of New York and very gently pressed. It takes 11 pumpkins to make one small bottle of oil, which explains why the flavor of this deep green oil is so intense. 

But the Wholehearted people don't stop with pumpkins; they press oil from an entire range of organic squashes grown on nearby Martin Farms. At the moment they’re out of Kabocha, Delicata and Acorn Squash oil, but they still have some Butternut Squash Oil on hand. It has a warm golden color and a flavor so nutty that I often add it to dishes for people with nut allergies.  And unlike pumpkin seed oil, which has a very low smoke point, you can use butternut squash oil as you would any vegetable oil in cooking; it's particularly good for sauteing vegetables, adding a lovely subtle flavor of its own. A bottle of oil costs about $12, but introducing your friends to this truly American product is a gift in itself.

 

 

2013 Gift Guide: Day Thirteen

I was introduced to Hot Bread Kitchen through their wonderful tortillas: handmade with stone-ground organic corn, they're like no tortillas I’ve encountered before. Deliciously resilient, they actually taste like corn.

The tortillas became such a staple in my house that I began sniffing around, trying to find out who was making them. That's when I discovered that Hot Bread Kitchen is more than a bakery; it’s an enterprise dedicated to giving low-income immigrant women professional experience.  The breads, which are inspired by the native countries of the bakers, are merely the starting point of a very ambitious program of scholarships and job placement. (Some of their trainees have gone on to work at instututions like Daniel.) But this is a two-way street; part of Hot Bread Kitchen’s mission is introducing Americans to a whole new world of breads.

The breads themselves are wonderful.  One of my favorites is

Moroccan M’smen,

thin, floppy, flaky flat breads that have the texture of butterfly wings and the flavor of butter. 

Persian Nan-E Qandi,

a sweet bread made with milk and honey, is a perfect afternoon snack.

Their crisp Armenian Lavash crackers

have real crunch when you take a bite.

And this time of year they’re making traditional German Christmas Stollen

filled with dried fruit and nuts. The layer of marzipan running through this sweet bread keeps it moist and tender.

Their Global Bread Box, containing all four breads makes a wonderful Christmas present. (The breads all freeze well.)  At $70 it’s more than just another silly gift: it's a fine way to welcome new citizens to our country.  

 

 

 

2013 Gift Guide: Day 12

Let the Beats Go On 

I love my Kitchen Aid mixer; every time I use it I’m reminded of the huge Hobart mixer we had in our Berkeley restaurant. That one was an antique, but it was relentlessly reliable, turning out dozens of cakes on a daily basis, year after year.  

But much as I love my little mixer, it has one annoying problem: the beater blades aren’t deep enough. As every cook knows, you want your beaters to touch the sides of the bowl for maximum efficiency. 

That’s why I’m so thrilled by the new Beater Blade attachment, which has rubber-sides extending all the way to the edges of the bowl. This allows you to get the most out of each pass of the beaters. The attachment is $20-$30, depending on the model, it's available online and at most kitchen stores, and I can’t think of a better present for a passionate baker.

Now if only they’d do something about the whisk attachment......

 

 

2013 Gift Guide: Day Eleven

Silver Linings

Just pulling this copper pan, with its warm shining color, out of the cupboard gives you instant bragging rights; it’s that beautiful. But when you start telling your friends about its amazing attributes, their jaws really drop.  

Unlike most French copper pans, which are lined with tin, this Atelier du Cuivre beauty is lined with silver. Why? Because silver, which is a fantastic conductor of heat, melts at 1825 degrees, meaning that this pan gets really, really hot. (Tin melts at 425.)  Most American copper pans are lined with stainless steel, which is not a very good heat conductor. (The purer the metal, the higher it's thermal conductivity; stainless steel is made of iron, chromium and nickel.)  I’ve never cooked with a pan that got so hot, or responded so quickly to the flame.  

The pans are hand-crafted by a master artisan, Jean Pierre Couget, who's been named a Meilleur Ouvrier de France. M. Couget works in a town called Villedieux-les-Poeles, which translates roughly as “God’s village of the frying pan.”  Pick up the pan, and you'll understand.

The handles are made of wrought iron, a poor conductor of heat, which means they won’t burn you. Unlike so many clunky handles, they hug your hand in a very comfortable embrace. 

Finally, you can have your pan personalized.  The engraving is not just a vanity move: a pan this beautiful is a constant temptation to others.  

I'm in love with my pan, which sears steaks and lamb chops like nothing I've ever used, works wonders with pancakes, and maintains such a low temperature that it roasts pine nuts without burning, makes fabulous sauces and is the perfect pan for caramelizing sugar. Still, I’ll admit it has a drawback: you pretty much have to polish it after every use. (I should note that Atelier du Cuivre sells the best copper polish I’ve ever encountered).  I've copied their advice on caring for your pan below.  

A  ten-inch pan is $500. That’s a lot of money for a frying pan. On the other hand, amortized over a lifetime it's a fair price for an instant heirloom. 

The Atelier du Cuivre website is great to browse, but it doesn’t offer much in the way of ordering advice; to order, email  the American distributor:  bernadettemurray@atelierducuivre.us.

Or call 212 371-7358. 

 

CARE: 

Your heirloom cookware deserves the attention and care that matches the attention to detail by which it is made. We like to say, “Show your cookware the love that it shows to you.”  Always use wooden or rubber cooking utensils to protect the lining of the pot. Do not use abrasives when cleaning.  Use warm soap and water, finish with a wipe of silver polish for the interior, soap and rinse again. Chefs vary in the care they give to the copper. Some love the dark colored, worn look of its use, while others prefer to polish the copper to its gleaming finish. Atelier du Cuivre offers a superb copper-cleaning product that allows you to do this is a matter of seconds, quite easily, thus removing the barrier for some to copper because of the perceived maintenance of it. (For difficult food stuck to the pot, simply put water in the pot while it’s still hot and scrape with a wooden spoon, much the same as you would for deglazing. It’s that simple.) Rinse copper with cold water.  Dry immediately to prevent rust on your cast iron handles (rust is easily removed by a sponge and towel dry, should any present itself.) Do not use a dishwasher for cleaning your pots. We also recommend seasoning your cast iron handles with olive oil or dish detergent that is gently wiped off before the first use. With frequent use by chefs, the oils from their hands keep the cast iron handles in beautiful condition.

 

2013 Gift Guide: Day Ten

An Extravagant Baking Kit

There are people who know how to give great gifts. Thomas Keller is among them. Lately I’ve waited with bated breath to see what was going to arrive for Christmas... and it's always exciting. 

Keller’s presents arrive in a gorgeous wooden box emblazoned with the French Laundry’s iconic clothespin label.  One year the box contained a spade and wonderful little packets of seeds - along with everything you’d need to get them started: soil, little pots, even gardening gloves.  Another year it was bottles of Armando Manni’s extraordinary olive oil.  

One of my favorite gifts was the chocolate tart kit that included a reusable tart pan, pre-measured dry ingredients, a Tahitian vanilla bean in a glass jar, a Vic Firth rolling pin, a Bouchon oven mitt and, of course, Bouchon’s chocolate tart recipe. There was even a small bottle of Meyer Family Port that perfectly complements the finished tart.

Keller’s now selling the chocolate tart kit, along with a number of more extravagant gifts (like his personally chosen set of knives for $900).  The boxes make quite an impression, and  it’s hard to imagine anyone who wouldn't be thrilled when they arrived.  Prices vary; the boxes are shipped from the Napa Valley on Wednesdays. 

 

2013 Gift Guide: Day Nine

Organic Seeds

There were a lot of impressive speakers at last September’s Seed Conference at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, including Ferran Adria, Dan Barber, Alex Attala, Sean Brock and Glenn Roberts.  But the person who impressed me the most was Frank Morton, who’s been raising salad for chefs since 1980 at Gathering Together Farm in Oregon.  He spoke so passionately about conventional seed breeding that I began surfing his website, reading the essays. 

But Morton doesn’t just raise salad for fancy restaurants; 15 years ago he and his wife created Wild Garden Seeds, and since then they've been selling their organic seeds all over the world.  The catalogue is amazing: they offer 82 kinds of lettuce, 9 kinds of kale, 18 kinds of mustard, 5 kinds of quinoa, huazontle... the list is very long.   

They’re constantly adding new vegetables to the list.  This year’s great find is this Pandero Lettuce:

 "With a single cut, these mini-head type romaines create instant salad mix."

If you know a passionate gardener, a gift certificate would make a wonderful present; they start at $12. Actually, just turning a good gardener onto the site would be a gift all by itself. 

2013 Gift Guide: Day Eight

For the serious food photographer

 

Every time I pull out my IPhone to snap a picture of some dish I’m reminded of what a terrible photographer I am. My food always looks so pale, so unfocused. That’s why I’m counting on one of my friends to give me one of these for Christmas. 

According to everything I’ve read, this neat little Orbit Pro camera attachment can turn even clunky photographers like myself into instant wizards. It’s got a whole slew of lenses: fisheye, macro, telephoto, wide-angle.  It’s small.  It’s been very well reviewed. It’s only $239 - and if you buy it today, on cyber Monday, you get a $75 break and free shipping.  

Come to think of it, why am I waiting for someone else to buy me one?  

 

2013 Gift Guide: Day Seven

Everyone who’s ever used sous-vide equipment understands the problem: the food comes out looking wan and rather sickly. The solution has always been a blow torch, which gives pale food a lovely tan. But there’s a problem:  torches were invented to weld metal, not cook food, and they impart an unpleasant flavor known as "torch taste".  Enter the Searzall.  It turns an ordinary blowtorch into a fine piece of cooking equipment. 

When Dave Arnold, founder of Booker and Dax, was teaching sous vide technique at the French Culinary Institute, he set out to solve the torch taste problem. His Searzall is still in the testing process, but prototypes have been tested by an impressive number of chefs, starting with David Chang and his team at Momofuku and going on to:

Wylie Dufresne of WD-50 and Alder
Nathan Myhrvold and the Modernist Gang
Paul Adams Online and Food Editor from Popular Science
Nils Noren from Red Rooster
Mark Ladner from Del Posto
Michael Natkin, popular vegetarian cookbook author
Daisuke Nakazawa of Nakazawa Sushi
Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern

Now there’s a Kickstarter campaign to fund the project.  Kick in $65 and you can offer your friends the very first Searzalls off the assembly line. The final product’s not due until June, but if you pledge  by December 15 you’ll get a special holiday card  to send your friends the good news. 

Of course, if you're looking to really impress somebody, you might want to up the ante. For $1000 your friends can jump the line with one of the hand-made pre-production prototypes that will go out in January. (That also gives them the privilege of becoming part of the feedback team.)  And for $5000? A day in the Booker and Dax lab with Mr. Searzall himself, Dave Arnold.