The world is a complicated place and getting more so every day. The recent recession has shown that there is a center to every family and that is food.
We all gather around the dinner table as many times a week as we can, to sit down and enjoy a meal together. There seems to be a divergence of sorts in the food world. The complicated meal that takes more than a couple of hours to make has been some what supplanted by the meal that only takes an hour or less. This does not however mean that we have reduced the quality of what we eat, by no means. If anything the opposite is true. With food being in the main stream of the internet we have become much more aware of not only how to prepare our food, but what’s in it and how it got to the store. The chain of food processing is no longer a mystery. Some have written, exposing the underbelly, pardon the pun, of the beef, poultry, and pork industries, with much of it focused on the bad side. I believe that if you want to eat meat poultry, or pig or any other once living animal, then you should make am effort to see the slaughtering process from start to finish.
That said, many people have written about the few growing number of farmers who are making an effort to raise their product as humanely and sustainably as they can. The difference in taste is noticeable. Beef for instance is grown and marketed as a commodity. Plain and simple. Get as many cows as big and as fast to market as you can. Most of these are corn fed and taste like it. For the most part there is nothing wrong with this. We need to feed the world some how. A few however see the industry as waiting for a niche player to enter. Organic beef, grass fed, humanely slaughtered, etc. there is a market for this. As more people become aware of food there will be more demand on higher standards for the industry.
So simple right. What does it mean to me?
Simple is finding the best ingredients you can and not messing with them. Get the most natural flavour out of them that you can and do not bury that flavour by over spicing, or over cooking.
Take the so simple and yet we screw it up day after day. The way we put everything on the burger, is it any wonder you need the meat at all? I mean cheese, tomato, pickle, onion, bacon, bbq sauce, mustard, ketchup, mushrooms, I mean really, come on, who are we kidding.
With that many toppings you would need a 3/4 pound burger to taste the meat. And yet we eat these everyday. The only things on there that hasn't been processed to death are the toppings.
We all do not have the ability to locally source our meat, but, we can choose how we cook it in our homes. There are several good sources for this. Ozersky TV has a great vignette by josh on cooking a burger on the grill. The Minetta tavern has taken this one step further by putting together, what is reputed to be the best hamburger you can buy. Albeit for 26 bucks US$. There are pizza places that are trying to hold true to and view of history of pizza. Sourcing 00 flour, fresh mozzarella, locally made pepperoni, San Marzano tomatoes, and most important, a brick oven. Whether it is heated with wood, coal, gas or oil fire. The idea is to get it freaking hot and let the pies fly. There are places that only make 3-4 styles, that's it, and when the dough is gone that's it no more pizza tonight. You do not need a pizza that has been over thought with cheese in the crust, or all the distractions. Get, or better yet make some thing that has some love in it. You will taste the difference, and when you get right down to it, it takes no longer than ordering it from the local dominos.
And speaking of time...
This notion of you don't have time to cook is bullshit. Yes we have kids and yes they need to be fed, but you do have time to prepare a decent meal. So what if you won't get home until 7, make a snack and move on with it. Making a meal is, and for most of us a joy to make. It is our end of day calm down from the rush. A time to reflect on the events of the day, to resolve issues and to plan for the next day. Sure there are times when we want to go out, to celebrate accomplishments holidays, birthdays, anniversaries and the like. They have there place, no doubt, but to use the excuse that you have no time to cook is to fool yourself, and those around you. To some of us however we are not being fooled at all.
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