Cool as a Carnation

Cool Foods

"no pit,
no husk,
no leaves or thorns,
the tomato offers
its gift
of fiery color
and cool completeness."

- from Pablo Neruda's Ode to Tomatoes

I've been asked this week to write about cooling foods. Once I began to ponder this subject, I realized that we only need to look to nature and tradition to find the answers. During the hot summer months, nature provides just the right foods for us to eat.
Cucumbers
Did you know that cucumbers are 95% water? I was suprised at this myself. Cucumbers are an excellent cooling and hydrating food. I love a simple salad of cold sliced cucumbers, salt, lemon and olive oil with a pinch of pepper flakes. Not only are cucumbers delicious, but they are great for the skin. If you have never taken an afternoon respite with a cold drink and a couple of cold cucumber slices over your tired eyes, you don't know what you're missing!

Tomatoes, Lettuce and Other Summer Vegetables
Tomatoes, due to their high water content are very cooling. Tomatoes are heavenly fruit, and I could wax poetic about them all afternoon, but I know enough to leave that to Neruda. Though I grew up eating some great hybrid garden tomatoes, my first ever transcendental experience involving a tomato was in 2001. I was in culinary school, in August, and I tasted my first bright yellow heirloom tomato from the Union Square Farmer's Market. It changed my food life forever, and tomato sandwiches have been a staple lunch item every summer since. A slab of whole grain bread, crisp lettuce, generous dollop of mayo, thick slice of tomato sprinkled with coarse salt. It's practically food-gasmic.
Before I create another newsletter entirely about tomatoes, I can't forget to mention celery, broccoli, lettuces, radishes and melons. All cooling foods which are at their peak in the hot summer months.

Spicy Foods
Believe it or not, spicy foods can be very refreshing when it's hot. There is a reason that populations near and South of the equator eat so many chiles. Remember what I said about tradition? Consumption of spicy foods encourages perspiration which cools the body. (Sweating is good for you!)
Yogurt and Frozen Fruit
Many cuisines that include spicy foods also accompany their dishes with dairy based condiments to balance the heat. Think Indian food with minty raita or a glass of mango lassi. Yogurt and berries are one of my favorite summer snacks. While ice cream can be heavy and cloying in hot weather (I eat much more ice cream in winter!), yogurt and fruit are refreshing. Organic dairy yogurt provides essential minerals, fats and protein in addition to healthy bacteria which keeps your digestive system in check.
Instead of ice cream, try natural fruit-sweetened popsicles to cool off. However, don't rely too much on ice cubes or icy treats in the heat. If you opt for cool foods more often than ice cold foods you'll be better off. People who live in hot places know this, and they don't use ice. The metabolic heat generated by the body when consuming a lot of ice cold foods actually makes you warmer.

Eat light but get enough protein
Big meals can slow you down. Try to eat smaller meals more often. Grilled fish is a great option in summer. Fish is quick and simple to prepare, has plenty of healthy fats and protein, goes great with summer vegetables and is delicious. Wild Sockeye and Alaskan King Salmon are in season right now. I bought my salmon last week at Wild Edibles in NYC. To be sure you're making an eco-friendly choice, check out Blue Ocean Institute's Guide to Ocean Friendly Seafood. Don't be afraid to ask questions about the fish you buy. Some fishmongers have an attitude when customers start asking questions, but a
"shut up and buy it" approach is bad for business. Overfishing and pollution are incredible problems, and educated consumers and sellers can do the most to help. Stay tuned for more on this next week.

Finally... liquids!
Sweating is great, but be sure to stay hydrated. Listen to your body and drink plenty of pure water. To break the monotony, also try chilled mint tea, coconut water (great source of electrolytes), chilled seltzer with fruit juice, cool smoothies and yogurt drinks. Iced coffee or a cold beer may be refreshing, but they act as diuretics so be careful not to over do it.
If all else fails, surround yourself with flowers! I have read that summer-blooming flowers like roses, carnations and jasmine all have cooling effects. Rosewater is used in Indian food and sweets. You can also spritz yourself with a cool rosewater spray. Back home in the South, blooming jasmine covers shady porches in the summer but around these parts we might have to settle for a nice chilled glass of jasmine tea.
If anyone has any recipes for carnations, let me know. They are said to have a spicy, peppery, clove like flavor. Just stay away from those blue ones!

Whichever way you choose, stay cool and enjoy the weeks to come!

Locavore

Scorpacciata

n : eating a particular ingredient in copious amounts in it's period of local perfection

Happy Spring! Today is the official first day, and what a beautiful one. This weather reminds me of the breezy days and cool nights of summer that I spent in the Mid West as a kid. I returned to my local farmer's market today after nearly a two week hiatus. Every time I show up this time of year there is something new. Today I found sweet and sour cherries for sale, so it's definitely time to make some fresh Cherry-Jalapeno Preserves to top off the Grilled Tandoori Lamb I always make on the 4th of July. I also scooped up a huge bag of yellow wax beans which will surely go in a great salad this weekend.
Eating locally (among it's other benefits) really makes me feel that I'm returning to my roots. Our country's food industry and culture has changed so much in the past twenty years. My summer food memories always include the first deep purple stalks and leaves of spring potato plants, picking tiny red strawberries in my grandfather's garden in June, shelling peas on the front porch in Arkansas with my cousins, hand-cranked vanilla ice cream and cake with blueberries before the fireworks on the 4th of July and shucking bushels of fresh sweet corn (again, on the porch, but this time with my brother) at harvest time in Nebraska.
I'm only thirty years old, so I feel funny saying "things were better back in my day" but living in the city has made me extremely aware of the lack of food culture we have in this country. My family, though as modern as any, has always had food traditions.
But food tradition is more than eating hot dogs on the 4th of July or Turkey at Thanksgiving (though these are some of the few traditions we thankfully hold on to). Food tradition as part of an overall food culture, is about sharing a connection with your food besides seeing it as a source of fuel or a source of stress. So much of our food information these days is negative.
The other day I was in line at my local food coop. I spied a glass jar of beautiful large, red and white speckled Italian beans. The person in line before me picked up the jar, took a look and put it down. I also picked up a jar to admire the color and shape of the beans, as they were so well displayed in glass. I assumed she was admiring them too. I immediately started thinking about cooking them until tender, adding a bit of red wine vinegar, shallot, salt, pepper and parsley to make a delicous heirloom bean salad. Then, to my suprise the other woman turned around to me and said "Did you see the calorie count on these things? There are 700 calories per serving!!"

I humorously remarked that I don't really count calories so that number didn't mean much to me, and besides.. they're beans! Beans, the food that populations rely upon as a staple all over the world. Of course beans probably have a lot of calories. They are a staple energy food. They keep people from going hungry. I've never liked looking at food like a numbers game. That doesn't really make it very fun to eat. It is true that some people do have to keep track of food numbers for health reasons, but i argue that if our society had a stronger food culture (such as Japan, France, Italy or almost anywhere) we wouldn't have so many health problems and obesity in the first place. I don't blame my fellow shopper for all of this, she is just part of a society that views food in an increasingly skewed fashion.

I fondly remember a food culture that focuses on the positives, the community and nourishment that we gain when we gather to eat together. It's about awareness of what food grows around us, the season in which it grows and connections with people who grow and provide it. Food culture and tradition starts early, when we teach our kids where vegetables come from, how to cook and how to eat. There are a myriad of programs that contribute to this effort in NYC including Cookshop
My internship with cookshop exposed me to the shocking truth about the diet of kids today, most of them have never seen vegetables in any other form than french fries. However, with a little coaching, we were able to transform a group of 6 year kids that couldn't recognize a raw sweet potato into a group of twenty little chefs who neatly chopped and separated their ingredients, loved cooking, learning about, and trying new vegetables. Little minds are like sponges so it's important that they have something positive to soak up. Another great program of this sort is Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard
Since this program started by bringing vegetables grown by students into a school cafeteria in Berkeley, CA in 1997, schoolyard community gardens and the idea of homegrown, healthy cafeteria food has spread from coast to coast.

All this talk of food culture is inspired by an absolutely wonderful book I've just begun reading by Barbara Kingsolver called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It's not only an account of her own family's mission to live solely on locally produced and grown food for an entire year but also a compelling and thought-provoking examination of our society's food culture, and a joyous celebration of food and eating. I highly recommend!

Enjoy this first day of summer and the delicious months ahead! And thanks to the folks at Edible Brooklyn for the definition of that brilliant Italian term that titles this newsletter.

Strawberry Junkie

Wednesday, June 6th

Fraise, Fresa, Jahoda, Morango...

"Doubtless God
could have made
a better berry,
but doubtless God
never did."

- Dr William Butler, 17th century English writer

I woke up on Saturday morning at 7 am. As I stretched and yawned and looked at the clock, I wondered why on earth I was wide awake so early on the weekend? Then I remembered.. Strawberries! My subconscious knew enough to wake me up in time to get to the farmer's market to buy loads and loads of strawberries.
Last Saturday was the first time a fresh strawberry touched my lips since last autumn. I tucked into my first pint immediately after buying it, and shared a few with everyone around me. The first local strawberry of summer is more than just rewards for waiting out a long winter with only apples and pears to feed my fruit craving. Berry season has just begun, and I'm already up to a quart a week.
Strawberries are a member of the rose family, and are high in vitamin C as well as providing potassium and iron. The smaller the berry, the better the flavor some say. My favorite strawberries available at New York City farmer's markets are grown at Phillip's Farms in Milford, New Jersey. If you reside outside NYC, check out this map to find a farmer's market in your area.
There's nothing better than eating fresh strawberries out of hand, but you should try cooking with them too! With strawberry season also comes rhubarb. Rhubarb and strawberries are a perfect match for an easy fruit compote. Spooned over a lemon pound cake with some fresh organic whipped cream, this dessert reminds me of summers picking strawberries in Grandpa's garden.

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote

You will need:

• 1 pound rhubarb stalks, washed and cut into 1 inch lengths
• 1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced in half
• zest and juice of one orange
• pinch of cloves
• 1/3 cup sugar
  

What to do:

• Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan
• Cook over medium high heat until rhubarb is tender, about 5-10 minutes (some pieces will remain whole while the rest break apart)
  
• Remove from heat and place compote in a bowl
• Cover and refrigerate. Compote will thicken as it cools and the rhubarb will release it's red juices.
  
• Enjoy! Try this compote for breakfast on pancakes, or with yogurt/ice cream.