Each Saturday morning, my wife and I hold a special ritual. Some families wake up to a long breakfast, some cartoons with the kids, others just sleep in for a couple additional precious hours of rest. For us it’s an early morning at the markets. We wake up before the sun comes up and visit the two small markets in town. To me this commitment means more than supporting local crops and their growers, it’s about inspiration and respect.
I have always believed that in order to be a better cook, one must deeply and unpretentiously understand their ingredient and where it comes from. After all carrots don’t come out of he ground wrapped in cellophane with a barcode.
I grew up in a family where each meal was labored upon with much detail and attention. We lived off the land and you made everything that you could buy off a shelf. Things were not available year around. There were seasons to respect. And when those seasons came around their limited supply was reflected in our cooking. Nothing went to waste.
Whatever you could not make yourself you bought it from your neighbor.
Need flour to make bread? Go down to the mill.
New broom? The man down the street makes them.
Need pots to cook with? Go see the blacksmith.
It was nine years after birth and a 3000 mile plane ride before I walked into my first supermarket. This is the life I grew to love. This is the life I miss.
The few summers I remember were spent with my mother’s parents. Going to the farm with my grandfather each morning taught me the natural cycle of things. Everything made sense on the farm. Even as a child, one could relate that to make oil you need olives. To make cheese you need cows. It is no surprise now that the smell of manure brings a smile to my face.
Visiting the farmers each week brings me back to that childhood in a place where people’s connection to their food was integrated into every aspect of their daily life. Browsing through the stalls you can picture the face behind the counter pulling their crop out of the ground. The smell of dirt still lingering. Strike a conversation with these people and you can see the passion in their eyes.
Once they find out what I do for a living, they welcome me each week with their prized possessions. The really good stuff that is “just food” to most people. One of the farmers last week, inspired by my work handed me a jar of peach salsa he had made proudly with everything he had found at his farmer’s market. It was delicious.
Yesterday I met a group of six farmers not too far from were I live, who tend to 500 acres. On an old plantation they began planting crops a couple of years ago, leaving behind their former jobs where produce was planted for speed growth and volume rather than taste. I watched enchanted as they carefully picked and dug each crop from its resting place. Their hands, worn from years of laborious love for the land, brushed the dirt off each eggplant, pepper and okra. Hands wrinkled and soiled. The same hands I remembered watching as a child. Upon their face, the look of my grandfather as he offered from the tip of an old pocket knife a taste of plenty. A taste of real food.
These are the brave men and women of the food industry. These are the people that allow me to dream and create. Their work and struggle has become my inspiration.
Kyuri Zuke (quick pickled Japanese style cucumbers)
This Zuke traditionally is a mixture of cucumber, sea weed, rice vinegar and soy sauce. I find that the following recipe is much more flavorful, and a great way to use up farm stand produce.
2 Cucumber – shaved with a potato peeler, then cube the core.
Seaweed – reconstituted* in water and roughly chopped
Ginger – to taste, peeled and grated
Cilantro – cilantro and ginger are great friends
Scallion or green onion – sliced
Napa cabbage or regular red – finely sliced
Soy sauce
Rice wine
Sriracha
This is not so much a formula as it is a true home recipe. Use the ingredients to your liking.
A good ratio for the vinegar to soy sauce is 2 to 1. Be careful with the sriracha (also known in our kitchen as cock sauce. If you’ve seen it you know why) as it packs quite a punch of spicy.
If necessary season it to taste further with a pinch of kosher salt. A good drizzle of toasted sesame seed oil doesn’t hurt either if you find some tucked away in the back of your pantry.
Allow the zuke to sit for at least a couple of hours at room temperature or 24 hours in the fridge. I personally like it served with a spoon, but it’s a great topping on noodles, and hot dogs.
*to reconstitute is to rehydrate a dry ingredient in water. Normally takes a couple of minutes.
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