Off this morning to the Coastside Farmer’s Market. There are still a few weeks to acquire the perfect heirloom tomatoes. And the Cipponeri Family Farms in Turlock, CA have their luscious peaches and other stone fruit in abundance now. Tricolor corn from the local fields is in my basket today along with some dark green kale, cucumbers, a dozen perfect tomatoes and a loaf of artisanal rye/multigrain sourdough bread. Lunch today was a slice of that good bread with some Dijon mustard and some fresh ham and a tangy swiss cheese. A really good bread can make a meal. And, one of the peaches was at its point of perfection. Nothing was needed to make that peach a taste memory. “Do I dare to eat a peach?” declared Mr. Prufrock. Indeed.
My friend, JD Hixson and I are exchanging thoughts on food and the good life. He speaks of a Gourmet Paradigm, a mindset around food that involves harmony, evolution, and sustainability as foundations of the philosophy. Until reading this thoughtful essay I had not considered food to have a “mindset”—but of course, it does, whether or not we are conscious of it. So, I began to ponder: what are my values around food acquisition, preparation, cooking and sharing?
My first teacher was a remarkable woman, friend and mentor, Josephine Landor. Her husband, Walter, a highly cultured German gentleman founded Landor Associates in San Francisco, a global leader in brand consulting and design located on a ferryboat docked in the San Francisco Bay. They had homes in the city, Kenwood in the wine country and Puerta Vallarta. My wedding was at their St. Helena, CA estate. Josephine seemed to have been born with elegant and discriminating taste. I learned from her a basic respect for and care of ingredients. When we brought home a fresh head of lettuce, romaine, for example, she always carefully washed the lettuce, discarding any blemished leaves, then drying the leaves and placing them in either a plastic container or bag lined with a paper towel. The towel would absorb any excess moisture. She kept this in the refrigerator. So when we went to make a salad in the evening our lettuce was crisp and clean and ready for mixing and serving. I have continued this tradition and I’m fond of adding a crisp salad to many evening meals. I learned from Ed Brown of the Zen Center that you could make a great variety of salads by using this basic guidance:
1. Fresh lettuce or greens (kale, spinach, endive, etc. watercress, etc)
2. Vegetables (tomatoes, carrots, squash, cucumbers, green onions, celery)
OR a single fruit
3 Fruit (apple, mandarin oranges, grapes, peaches, pears, kiwis, watermelon, etc.)
You can experiment with having fruit and some vegetables together, but not all are happy bedfellows. Best to separate. Tomatoes are technically a fruit, but according to a reputable source:
“Tomatoes are botanically defined as fruits because they form from a flower and contain seeds. Still, they're most often utilized like a vegetable in cooking. In fact, the US Supreme Court ruled in 1893 that the tomato should be classified as a vegetable on the basis of its culinary applications.”
4. Nuts or seeds (walnuts, pecans, cashews, almonds, sesame seeds, etc. Glazed nuts are very nice.)
5. Cheese. (Blue cheese or Gorgonzola, Parmesan, Asiago, Gouda, etc.)
Hence a green plus a fruit, plus a nut/seed, plus a cheese . . . invent your own.
Or, of course, if you have something as precious and seasonal as an heirloom tomato, then perhaps forget all of this lettuce formula. Nothing beats a ripe heirloom with the tiniest drizzle of a fine olive oil and a sprinkle of white balsamic. Or simply serve it au natural.
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