Tomatoes

Details: Published on Sunday, 21 August 2011 17:36; Hits: 294

Appetizer: Hickory Smoked Corvina Tails (orange grape tomatoes, sage and Sherry vinaigrette)
Free Range Australian Rack of Lamb (plum tomato parmesan, rosemary and roasted garlic butter, garden vegetables)
Baked Corvina with Heirloom Tomato (sauce rossa)

Tomatoes, and more tomatoes! I walk through the garden on my way into thekitchen every morning and the basket pictured was my yield on Friday. Also tonight, you can view the first documented artichoke grown in D.W.G.!

I will have to say this is the easiest time of year to cook. I don't have to think all that much as the garden pretty much tells me what I need to do each day. Most of the time it says "Get out of the way asshole, here I come!." The tomato is the perfect example of nature producing something so perfect all that needs to be done is to wait for it to ripen, slice it, and let it speak for itself.

There is no improving on it , which begs the question why do we cook in the first place. I know we have discussed the question of torne before, but there are some similarities.

In cooking school in vegetable cookery class for the question "why do we cook vegetables?", the answer for an A was "to aid in digestion." Really? Why then are we the only ones on the planet that need our food cooked to aid in digestion? Could there be another reason? A parallel question might be "why do we have lingerie and perfume?." Would the answer to that be to aid in procreation?. I don't think so. I think the undeniable answer is simply pleasure.

As much as we like to fancy ourselves seekers of truth and wisdom, at our core we basically seek pleasure first, and if we learn a thing or two along the way, that's fine too. This is not a statement meant to depict people as bad or hedonistic, but simply as people. As a chef the main objective is to please your guest, and having a better understanding of human nature as well as knowing everything possible about food and how it can be prepared for pleasure, this will keep you gainfully employed for as long as you feel like working. I think its a little too late for me to dig into these perplexities any deeper tonight. I will leave with one thought, if physical health and body maintenance is your main concern, drink only water. If you want to explore the intrigue of the soil, and taste the handiwork of man, have a glass of wine now and then.

Caio tutti!