Life Is Meals_ A Food Lover's Book of Days - James Salter [41]
An early advocate of organic food, she developed a network of more than sixty farmers and ranchers who supply ingredients to Chez Panisse. She has even created a special position at the restaurant, the forager, whose job it is to make the rounds of suppliers and to seek out new ones. Rather than deciding on what will be served and then shopping for the food, the menu is determined each day based on the best ingredients that have been found.
She believes people need to renew a lost connection to the land. In line with this idea was the Garden Project: inmates at the San Francisco County Jail growing organic greens. Alice was a huge supporter and bought the produce for Chez Panisse. She herself started the Edible Schoolyard, where kids grow, harvest, cook, and eat their own food. She believes in starting early to teach children not only the wisdom but also the pleasure of eating healthful food. A close friend of hers always pauses guiltily before entering a fast-food restaurant. “Don’t tell Alice,” she says.
JFK AND JEFFERSON
1962. The Nobel Prize winners were honored on this day at a White House dinner hosted by President John F. Kennedy, who addressed the distinguished group by saying, “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”
ETIQUETTE
Manners and etiquette change over time. For something more than a casual meal, there are some basics that, at present, are worth knowing:
• Never arrive early for lunch or dinner, but try not to be more than fifteen minutes late.
• The hostess takes her seat first and rises first when the meal is over.
• If you are giving the party, most of the effort should have been expended beforehand.
• Serve from the left, pour and remove from the right.
• When to start eating: In the United States, one usually waits until everyone is served. In Europe, no waiting.
• Clear plates only when everyone is finished.
• The ultimate courtesy is to make a guest feel comfortable in whatever they are doing.
• There are occasions when etiquette is pitched overboard. Then it is every man for himself.
SACHERTORTE AND BRIE
Sachertorte, literally Sacher’s cake, a rich chocolate sponge cake glazed with apricot jam and covered with bittersweet chocolate, was created by Count Metternich’s pastry chef at the Congress of Vienna in 1814. Metternich, the skilled Austrian diplomat whose name is often given to the period 1815-48—the Age of Metternich—had this favorite cake pronounced King of Cakes at the Congress, which had been convened to restore order in Europe after the great upheavals of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.
Talleyrand, a master diplomat himself, was the representative of a defeated France but cleverly managed to achieve an equal voice in the negotiations that were remaking the map. His response to the crowning of the Sachertorte was having a French cheese, Brie, proclaimed King of Cheeses, thus reestablishing a balance of power.
Aided in no small way by the excellence of his table, which for a long time had been one of the finest in Europe, Talleyrand preserved his wealth and position through both revolution and restoration. He was a lover of good food who disdained lunch and focused instead on splendid dinners of a traditional six courses, including two kinds of roasts, which he carved at the table himself.
Before leaving for Vienna, he had told Louis XVIII, “Sire, I have more need of saucepans than instructions.”
CHÂTEAU D’YQUEM · SOLITARY DINNERS
BURAN · JAMES BEARD · MUSTARD · SPOONS
VICTORY IN EUROPE · SUN KING · RUM
VEGETARIANISM · GOSKY PATTIES
STRANGE KITCHENS · CHEESE · SALMON
BOSWELL MEETS JOHNSON · SALAD
CIGARS · NELLIE MELBA · BALZAC · CHEF UNIFORMS
SECOND WINES · SWANS · MICHELIN GUIDE
PEPYS · MONTAIGNE · ROMAN GOURMETS
FIGS · RESTAURANT SEATING
DUMAS’ FAVORITE