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The Soulcraft of French & Italian Foodways
Cooks are surely conduits for the experience and culinary ballast of those who have come before. The flat-out pleasure of re-reading Judy Rodgers’ introduction to her heralded cookbook, The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, reinforced my commitment to deep flavors and velveteen textures.
As a 14-year old exchange student, Judy’s early years in France were hosted by the Troisgros family whose 1930-founded cafe in Roanne evolved into one of France’s 3-star restaurants. Troisgros’ cooking philosophy was anchored in using only the best of what was available that day, and tasting every ingredient every time they used it. Though Judy didn’t cook in the restaurant kitchen, she learned to taste constantly, watch closely and smell and touch the ingredients while documenting everything she ate there. Ingredients and recipes were steeped in tradition.
The hinge upon which fate swung was Judy’s trip to Florence, Italy. Her food journey continued in the same style: write down everything she ate, then make lists of everything the markets offered ~ and inquire into why…. why was she given green tomatoes for a salad; why was salt sold with stamps and tobacco at the local bar; what were all those edible weeds?
Judy Rodgers pickled and preserved every fruit and vegetable in season. There is no better way to feel, taste or sense a regional foodway than through ingredient immersion.
Let the Ingredients Guide Your Flavor Decisions
Fall brings faint breezes caressing the firs and cedars, filtered sunlight politely suspended over pale green ferns. Our environment quiets. The gauzy fall environment teases me into sweet-savory flavors.
Chef Pascal, a French restaurateur-mentor, befriended me as a trattoria pastry chef. He helped me understand how to balance savory components and taste through the individual flavors. Taste at every step.
After his last trip to Paris, he admitted his unending search for the perfect risotto ~ a tall order for a dish with such simple ingredients and technique. He hadn’t found it. I feel this compulsion, having truly had only one perfect [mushroom] risotto. Through galactic convergences and dumb luck, I made the perfect risotto at home one evening some years ago, and the memory of porcini, rich white stock and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese lingers long. Shitake Mushroom Risotto has its simple roots in another inverted pyramid. Here’s where we talked about the pyramid most recently.
Remember that chefs build flavor through layering. The simplicity of ingredients in mushroom risotto reinforces the need to use the best quality ingredients your budget will allow. Build the layers:
Arborio or Carnaroli rice is the bland layer ~ the textural canvas;
Rich aromatics ~ onion. celery, carrots, black pepper, cloves, parsley, bay leaf ~ are the invisible flavor foundation in a good quality vegetable or white (chicken) stock;
A separate sauté of fresh Shitake mushrooms in clarified butter, and rehydration of optional dried Porcini mushroom pieces form the savory backbone;
The salmon in this pyramid was selected as a garnish ~ a complement to the star which is the risotto itself;
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese: restraint and richness in balance ~ only a small amount is needed to ground the dish in earthy elegance;
Sultry tarragon at the last moment: grassiness and sweet anise!
Fresh lemon zest - for lift, right?!
Shitake Mushroom Risotto
Headnotes
Dried Porcini mushrooms are optional because they’re expensive; however, their intense flavor, particularly after having been dehydrated, offers a glorious bang. Porcini powder, the same. A small amount ground of dehydrated Porcini in a spice grinder to equal 1 T is an optional gift to the dish.
Both Arborio and Carnaroli rice make lovely risotto. Professional cooks often prefer Carnaroli for its denser texture and elongated grain. Available at most specialty stores.
Salmon, roasted or smoked, is a full-flavored companion as the mushrooms, stock and cheese are large flavors. Other garnishes? Cooked crabmeat, grilled shrimp, seared scallops or crispy sauteed pancetta.
Make incremental tasting habitual.
Savory Roasted Apple Tart
Headnotes
This recipe is very simple in technique and ingredients. Substitutions aren’t recommended, though the black pepper essential oil is optional. It’s lovely either warm or at room temperature with lightly sweetened vanilla bean mascarpone cream.
Take great care when using a mandoline to slice the apples. Use either the spiked plastic slide that comes with the mandoline or a steel glove.
You see the throughline. Chef Judy Rodgers, Chef Troisgros, Chef Pascal: taste at every step.
