Yesterday, I was driving back to New Jersey from Cape Cod. As I was getting off Rt 25 and onto Rt 195, I got to thinking about politics. Don’t worry, I am not going to bring politics into my blog! I just got to thinking about how we are really all so much the same – all across the world—- we need to eat, we need companionship and some degree of organization, and we yearn for a satisfying vocation. For the purposes of this post, I will stick to the former and the latter. Yes, we need to eat and we all share the urge to create something that sustains us and is palatable. Is that not the case? Of course, dedication to the development of the palatable has a hugely wide range of approach, skill and creative art! But, all of us who love to cook are dedicated to the art of “working” the palatable, as in recipe development, trial and error and the drive toward the perfect recipe. Sometimes I like to image the world from an aerial view – as in observing the ant colony. If we could do this of our entire planet, we’d see millions of moms, caretakers, purveyors and artisans, doing the work of the “colony”, prepping, cooking, and serving. I find that interesting in the anthropological sense. When I watch Steven Raichlen, and he opens his program by discussing the world’s oldest cooking method – grilling meat over an open fire, I find this a fascinating illustration of how little we have changed over the ages. So, as we say we have refined and supposedly evolved, well, maybe we haven’t, not so much anyway! Well, I like to imagine all the cooks and bakers on the planet as a connected network, as in a social network – all in pursuit of a common goal! (Ok, so it would be nice to see such a commonality in the political sphere! Oh well…….)
Today, I believe Three Tarts will announce the winner of the Ice Cream Sandwich Contest – I am looking forward to seeing the recipe they pick!
On Sunday night George and I scored a last minute reservation at Fin Restaurant in Dennis, Ma. Having scoured the article in Edible Cape Cod’s Spring issue, written by Tom Dott, who knows his stuff as the former owner of a 4 star Relais and Chateaux Inn in the Hudson Valley, I was curious enough to see just what was up there. To be sure, the Oyster Chowder was the best I’d ever had. I could scoff this down every day till I die – no brainer. This was earthy, satisfying and flavorful, with those little gems of oysters – just sooo good! So this is the 2nd soup recipe I will covet of the Summer up here, the other being the great Gazpacho from Straight Wharf Restaurant on Nantucket.
I had the duck breast, George had the Swordfish special. This is very high quality food for Cape Cod and I will definitely return to sample more dishes! I am sad that the economy on the Cape is so soft. As is true in so many venues, this causes restaurant offerings to be threatened by the need to back off their drive to spotlight the amazing in order to save money. It is interesting to see, in this micro-economy, the changes in the characteristics of the population of year-rounders and summer visitors and how they drive the offerings. Let’s just hope things get stabilized soon so the chefs can continue to showcase the array of fresh seafood and persevere in their pursuits.
This is my own Heirloom Yellow Brandywine, coming along; also have some Cherokee Purples on a beautiful robust potted plant!
Just beautiful!
Continuing on my obsession with Mascarpone – I am thinking of putting a dollop and some fresh chives in my scrambled eggs this morning. Off to do that now Have a lovely day!
White peaches are still great……..don’t forget!!!!!!!