I have cooked and been involved with food almost all of my life, and I can't imagine a more exciting time to be a chef than now. The dialogue and conversation about food is everywhere--television, chat rooms, social media outlets and among everyday conversations. I had the opportunity to cook at the White House last fall for the first Obama State Dinner with the Prime Minster of India and his wife, and a few weeks ago, I cooked for Michelle Obama again. I'm so completely inspired by the work she's doing. She's putting the conversation of making better food choices at the forefront of the American consciousness and showing us that we all have a role to play in this effort--from chefs, parents, kids, farmers, school administrators, food companies, ad agencies, etc.
When I was growing up in Sweden (I was born in Ethiopia, orphaned as a baby and adopted by a Swedish couple), my grandmother made almost all of her food from scratch. It was natural for her to follow the seasons, allowing her food to be dictated by the produce available in the market. We ate our food three ways: fresh, pickled and preserved. Going into her house, you would've thought she was running a little canning factory.
Between the ages of six and nine, my palette was taking shape as well as my identity as a chef. It was then that I learned the difference between salty, sweet, sour and even spicy. At the time, I was unaware that the process of cooking and using food in the way we did at my grandmother's house in a small industrial city in Sweden would become completely chic and modern in New York City 30 years later. It's now become cool to take a class on pickling in your free time and know what's in season in your area.
My other window into food is what my relatives in Ethiopia are eating. Spices, of course, are essential. They are also constantly preserving foods like my Swedish grandmother did but drying instead of canning or jarring. This method allows for constant nutrition in an often unstable economic situation.
In Ethiopia, 
food is often looked at through a strong spiritual lens, stronger than anywhere else I know. It's the focal point of weddings, births and funerals and is a daily ceremony from the preparation of the meal and the washing of hands to the sharing of meals.
As I prepare to open the Red Rooster in Harlem in the fall of 2010, I think a lot about how food will affect my community, a neighborhood that has been starved of the amenities that are readily available to the rest of the city. Harlem has a rich cultural history and vibrant community, and Red Rooster is my way to give back to the neighborhood that's been my home for many years.
By opening the restaurant, we want to make sure it's affordable and offers fresh foods directly from nearby farms and food crafters, without alienating the community itself. I look forward to inviting children and budding chefs into our kitchens to teach them how to prepare great foods from wholesome ingredients and how to share that knowledge with their audience. I'm looking to contribute to a new landscape of food and dining in New York City and encourage New Yorkers to head north and discover Harlem.
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I don't know. I have read detailed explanations of why it IS possible and other detailed explanations of why it is NOT possible. I wish I knew which data to trust.
In order to further his culinary development, or at least his culinary vocabulary, I shall provide him with a key "ingredient": It's "palate" and not "palette"!
The former is, as he would like to imply, a metaphor for taste, derived from early thinking that the palate or roof of the mouth was the seat of the sense of taste.
The latter is the device for holding an artist's colors - specifically oil paints - that also has a metaphorical extension as the artist's characteristic coloristic style, or "palette." Of course a chef could use it to mean his characteristic ouevre, but that's not consistent with Marcus's context of being a boy of six. "Palate" is, and that's what he apparently meant to say.
Bonne chance, Marcus, et bon appétit!
I've never been fond of going through the grocery store and seeing produce from other continents, brought in just so we don't have to eat seasonally (which, again, presents few inconveniences here in Cali). I do not understand how it is economical to pack and ship in an airplane delicate fruits like strawberries -- without some sort of subsidy or at least forbearance regarding the social cost (pollution, etc).
Thank goodness as a society we're finally realizing that "globalization" is not a suitable goal in all cases. Long live the local/ organic food movement. Let's bring that to as many products and services as we can.
so...I think it's a little funny, but good that people are thinking and talking more about healthy foods, and maybe even growing some of their own.
I liked this article : )
You had to mention Portuguese food. Clams and pork.......see what you started. I guess we'll just have to visit this year.
Of course if any says out loud: "americans need to pay more for their food" they would be laughed out of town or accused of being un-american...or lynched. Good food is the key to almost everything that is good- or at least bad food may the key to almost everything that is bad...
Thank you for the lovely post.
Yet it takes roughly the same time to make a macaroni and cheese dish from scratch as it does to make one from a boxed mix. Involve/engage your kids in the cooking process, even small 'food prep' tasks like peeling vegetables can help us re-acquire healthy habits and connect us to each other as well as the food we eat.
this reminds me of my approach and history with food and eating.
What you learn while growing forms intensively what your turn out to be. I always say, i thank my parents, my aunt and my grandmother greatly, because the spoiled the tongue and mind i use today. And these 2 form my demands when i sit at any table or any bar, or - of course - in any Coffee House.
Every child ought to be spoiled from day one: his mind, his body and his palate.
It may cost more, but how much would you save as a nation in the long run if you had healthly kids, rather than fat and obese?
Just a thought...................
What if your waiter/waitress exhibited manners in keeping with your table manners, slopping the food on your plate and treating you with neglect, as if they would rather be watching the TV, or have somewhere else to be?
What if your COOK did the same thing, exhibiting the 'eh, it's not important' attitude about cleanliness and food safety/preparation?
In a sense, we've already seen what's happened when regulatory agencies began slacking off on food inspections - a rash of e. coli and salmonella outbreaks.