souslaterre

There are a lot of talented cooks/chefs out there, doing amazing things; keep up the great work! Here’s to a bountiful 2012.

Traveling

Please take the time to follow my travel Tumblog, Moving Through Places. I am leaving for Asia on Monday and I will be writing about my various discoveries on that Tumblog.

Yes, it will include food.

Interview

A few weeks ago, I was interviewed by a friend, Uyen Cao, for a column in the UC Davis’ student-run publication, The California Aggie. I forgot all about the unedited version:

Individuals who elevate food are naturally selfless people; these are the folks who slave away in the kitchen, working meticulously to coax out flavors from their products in every possible way—all for the enjoyment of others. I can’t think of a better way to connect with people other than to serve them something good that I’ve made with my hands (on a side note, I’m sure some sort of sexual innuendo would be fitting after having said that).

For some reason, Americans have this notion that cooking is expensive, that eating right is expensive. It doesn’t have to be. In reality, convenience is what burns holes through pockets. It’s a lot easier to raid the dollar menu three times a day than it is to do any actual cooking, even though the amount of money spent is likely to be the same in the long run.

I’m also willing to bet that when most college students do groceries, they end up spending a lot of money because they usually get more products than they can consume in an appropriate amount of time (as do most Americans, my case in point being my mother—shit goes bad and moldy in the fridge all the time, mostly because she loves to buy in bulk because, well, “it was on sale”).

And so, my advice is this: stop it with the fast food, and put a limit to how much you eat out. Shop at the farmers market, and make it a plan to go every week. That way, you’ll get into the habit of only buying what you’ll need to sustain yourself for a couple of days at a time, and you get to be a responsible grocer by buying locally. If I could, I’d buy my products a day at a time. Fresh, tasty ingredients are what makes a dish great to begin with.

In terms of health, I’m not one to promote healthy living. I eat a ton of meat, I love fat, and I think the one thing I can’t not have in my fridge is butter. However, I am all about moderation. Look at the Italians and the French; they all eat rich, fatty foods and drink a lot of wine, but they are mostly skinny, model-like motherfuckers. Be more European.

In terms of creativity? Limits on ingredients definitely induce creativity. Iron Chef is the perfect example. The only problem is that it takes someone who knows a lot about the culinary arts in order to make most out of limited options. All I can say to this is that experience matters. If you enjoy cooking and you like being in the kitchen, keep doing it. Make cooking an excuse to get away from the stresses of homework. Be hard on yourself. Step out of your comfort zone. The more you learn and pick up, the better off you will be when it comes to food.

Now, let’s be honest. Most college students aren’t going to have the time or resources to prepare intricate six-course meals for their roommates. It’s all good. Do what you can, just so long as it’s enjoyable; but if you can bust out with some fancy French technique or feel like dabbling in a little bit of molecular gastronomy, I’m all for it. I respect those who try to make food more than what it is, just so long as there’s a respect for the process and a respect for the ingredients. I think food becomes an art form once the artist understands the basics, and from there, decides to take the work into his or her own hands to shape its focus and direction to convey meaning and invoke emotion. Those are the cooks and chefs that really get it, and if there’s anything I’ve learned from doing an entire year of Sous La Terre, it’s exactly that. I can wow people with amazingly executed dishes with sous vide meats, foams, purées and such, but I can just about equally win anyone’s heart with a simple pasta dish.

The best “low cost/tasty but classy” dish to make: bread pudding. First, you can use up all that old, stale bread you have laying around. Second, even though it’s fairly simple, it involves a decent amount of technique, so it keeps it fun in the kitchen. Third, depending on what variation you decide to do, you can make it sweet or savory, and you can eat it hot or cold. It’s the perfect dish to make that would last you all week.