Did you hear it? Around 5pm this evening? That scream, crash, scream was not a 3 year old girl, it was me doing a pretty good impression of a 3 year old girl. Settle down, and backtrack with me...
Good For You Market has been closed on Mondays for this entire year. Why? Nothing to do with poor sales. Partly to do with the difficulty of finding motivated staff in a beach area, and partly to do with store renovations. We have spent Mondays, and quite a few late nights/all nights/early mornings renovating the store, upgrading lighting, improving refrigeration, shelving and display units, opening a juice/coffee bar, a sandwich bar, and reorganizing the entire store. All while keeping the store open, and doing all the usual stuff that goes along with running a small business with an inventory that is mainly food: products which have notoriously low margins. Oh yeah, the economy's kinda sucked too.
So, today, being a Monday (and my one day off!), I was at the store finishing up staging the supplements, personal care, and cleaning/laundry departments. I've filled a position that I've kept open for quite some time: Department Manager (DM) for said departments. I promised DM that I would shortly work my away around to that area of the store now that the food areas are completed. So, swallowing the motivational ideology about a Manager being a good, "Multi-tasker,' I was multi-tasking away with only a Cher CD for company. I figured I could cut wood and paint chalkboards for the produce department, paint shelving for the supplements department, plan out the sandwich bar, and analyze the gluten free grocery department whose sales are not so healthy as the food. The assumption was that while the paint was drying I could be working all of the other tasks in rotation.
So, I race downstairs from my workshop painting area onto the sales floor to finish up with the supplements department. I put my hand on the shelf next to the stairs, and something black catches my eye.
Scream #1: a customer, presumably the 3-year old girl whose scream I emulated, had left a black rubber scorpion on the candle/room freshener shelves for me to find when alone in the store multi-tasking. The wierd thing about getting spooked is that while I was irrationally screaming like said 3-year old girl, my mind was also rationally considering that there are no scorpions in Delaware, especially in November. If my mind can multi-task like this, you'd think I'd be able to complete the optimistic schedule I set myself today.
Crash. Scream #2. Fast forward to metal shelving collapsed on the floor, having initiated a domino affect and knocked over the darn gluten free grocery shelving, making a big red puddle mixed with broken glass, on the floor, with me in the middle of it. I now smell like a tailgate party: sun dried tomato dressing, mixed with coconut vinegar, rice chips, and crackers. I actually consider sobbing (girly man!), but the smell of coconut vinegar (which most definitely does NOT smell like Pina Coladas, more like a Fish and Chip shop), motivated me to suck it up, and suck it up (the spill that is).
While I'm motivating myself to clean up the mess, my mind wanders on to wider issues of motivation. It's been a tough week this week, requiring 'on your feet' kind of thinking, that only a Hotel Manager would appreciate! A business relationship that was chugging along smoothly, has taken a trip down under, I had to lay off one of my juice bar associates, and it's review time! All Managers reading this will empathize. Review time is a time of anticipation of you're getting the review, but if you're the Manager who has to write and give the reviews, all while keeping your regular work lights on, well it's a relief when they're done! So while cleaning, I'm musing, or amusing myself. How do you motivate yourself to keep a big picture in mind when the details are well, kinda crappy! How do you motivate others? Business partners? Staff? I concluded you can't motivate others, just like I concluded multi-tasking is not possible. You can incentivise other, but motivation has to come from self. You can't phsyically work on more than one thing at a time. You can however, juggle multiple priorities, ensuring that deadlines are not missed.
I'm fairly new to this writing gig too. I write copy for our store ads, marketing and press releases, article for our newsletter, this blog, and also a weekly column, "Organic Living" in Coastal Sussex e-magazine: http://www.coastalsussex.com I sometimes feel like Sally Field when I get rare feedback from my writing, "You like me, you really do!" Most of the time there is no feedback, and you really have no idea who, if anyone is reading. The writing can be hard to get motivated to do. Instead, I incentivize myself. I remind myself how much I enjoy doing it, how it disciplines me to commit to deadlines, and makes me better at my job with all the research the articles and columns necessitate.
I'm tired, it's been a busy day off. I'm covered in black paint, sundried tomato dressing, coconut vinegar, and the parsley spray I used to clean up. I'm happy though, and for that I'm thankful. Home to the family and face the music for the doghouse I left this morning!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Old Age: Great For Cheese…
This entry brought to you by guest blogger, Artie Zan, Good For You Market's 'Cheese Wiz.'
Mary Chapin Carpenter sang, “Grow old with me, the best is yet to come.” I say, “Old age, great if you’re a cheese, else not so much.” Mrs Zan and I spent this past Sunday cleaning out the spare room. This detoured us down memory lane to the days when we used to await the mailman for our holiday snaps, not uploading onto our computer. You see we couldn’t resist that box – the 100lb one containing decades of fading photographs that always derails cleaning out the spare room. While Mrs Zan was getting misty-eyed over past vacations, me, myself, I, well, let’s just say I spent an hour becoming re-acquainted with another long-lost relative: my hair! This got me thinking about aging; how it’s good on cheeses but tough on us carbon-based life forms with joints and tendons, and hair. While I reach for the glucosamine, read on.
It’s always interesting to give a sample of the same cheese at different ages: youth, middle, and old age, persuading customers, or dinner guests that it’s the same cheese they’re enjoying.
We have to thank those brave companies who carry the cost of inventory while storing cheeses for aging, since it’s a case of, buy now, get paid later! Cheese is aged by storing under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity in a ‘cave’ (these days a room), giving a consistent quality of flavor and texture. The process, part-science, part-art, is known as, “Affinage,” overseen by a skilled artisan, the, “Affineur.” His/her job is to ensure strict, traditional standards are applied, so that each cheese earns the classification assuring us of the quality and experience typical to that style of cheese.
What changes in the taste, texture, appearance, and aroma does the Affineur monitor? Aging in cheese is interchangeable with the stages of ‘ripening.’ Ripening starts at the point that the cheese begins to ‘age?’ Huh? Things that make you go, “Yum!” Cheese begins to age as soon as the milk is heated and the starter culture introduced. The resulting curds are then cut, drained of fermented whey, salted, and placed into molds that are pressed to extract more whey. No whey! Yes whey! Then the cheeses are ready to begin the formal ‘affinage’ process of aging/ripening.
When it comes to cheese aging, it really is a case of, "What goes around becomes a rind!" The outside egde of the cheese (the rind) develops with age. Rinds can be natural, bloomy, or washed. Natural means no stimulus (mold, wash, or Federal!) applied to precipitate a rind. Most semi-firm/ hard cheeses such as Cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, or Pecorino-Romano have natural rinds. Bloomy rinds develop by spraying the cheese’s exterior with spores of Penicillium candidum (a harmless mold), prior to ripening. This also affects flavor. Examples of Bloomy-rind cheeses are Brie, Camembert, and some Chevres. Washed rind means the outside of the cheese is washed with brine, oil, brandy, red wine (for example, Drunken Goat), or even pear cider (for example, Stinking Bishop). Washing ensures a moist rind, encouraging the growth of harmless bacteria. This bacteria are scraped off and discarded, turned back into the cheese, or left on the cheese to further define the rind. Taleggio (Italy’s answer to Brie) is a good example of a washed rind cheese. In Taleggio’s case, the bath is in brine. Mrs Zan prefers lavender oil!
The longer the cheese is stored in the cave, then the more the rind changes, the cheese dries (controlled by the room’s humidity), lactic acids in the cheese crystallize (forming the white crunchy spots in harder cheeses), and the cheese thus ‘ripens.’ Cheese wheels are stored on wooden racks, being turned regularly to ensure even ripening. The cooler the cave, then the slower the aging, producing greater flavor complexity. The wheels may be wrapped in leaves, laid on beds of straw or rye, bound by spruce, or even rolled in oak wood ash, such as the great Chevres of France’s Loire Valley.
Some cheeses are ripened as little as a few days. Brillat-Savarin, for example, is ripe after just a week, Mild Cheddar as little as 3 months. Younger cheeses are soft and creamy, with subtle taste and aroma. For example, Ricotta, Mozzarella, some Chevres, or Quest Blanco. Aged cheeses can have soft rinds with spicy pastes as deep as the center (for example, Mountain Gorgonzola), through semi-firm and somewhat moist, such as three year aged Old Quebec Cheddar, up to hard, flaky and dry such as Five Year Vintage Gouda. Asiago is aged up to two years, Parmigiano-Reggiano four years, and Gouda up to five years. Younger cheeses need the right technique, beer or wine pairing to tease out their presence. More ‘mature’ cheeses just need to sit at room temperature for an hour and you know they’re there! Incidentally, a good cheesemonger lights up with enthusiasm, letting you taste before you buy. If they don’t, trust your gut and move on!
Later, dudes, Artie Zan, G4U Market’s ‘Cheese Wiz’ over and out to lunch.
Thank you Artie for whetting our appetites to learn more about cheese aging. I think you've also taught us to cherish youth, evaluate middle age, and respect old age! For those readers who say, “Andy, you’re still a baby!” Let me tell you my experience this week interviewing prospective staff who:
Mary Chapin Carpenter sang, “Grow old with me, the best is yet to come.” I say, “Old age, great if you’re a cheese, else not so much.” Mrs Zan and I spent this past Sunday cleaning out the spare room. This detoured us down memory lane to the days when we used to await the mailman for our holiday snaps, not uploading onto our computer. You see we couldn’t resist that box – the 100lb one containing decades of fading photographs that always derails cleaning out the spare room. While Mrs Zan was getting misty-eyed over past vacations, me, myself, I, well, let’s just say I spent an hour becoming re-acquainted with another long-lost relative: my hair! This got me thinking about aging; how it’s good on cheeses but tough on us carbon-based life forms with joints and tendons, and hair. While I reach for the glucosamine, read on.
It’s always interesting to give a sample of the same cheese at different ages: youth, middle, and old age, persuading customers, or dinner guests that it’s the same cheese they’re enjoying.
We have to thank those brave companies who carry the cost of inventory while storing cheeses for aging, since it’s a case of, buy now, get paid later! Cheese is aged by storing under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity in a ‘cave’ (these days a room), giving a consistent quality of flavor and texture. The process, part-science, part-art, is known as, “Affinage,” overseen by a skilled artisan, the, “Affineur.” His/her job is to ensure strict, traditional standards are applied, so that each cheese earns the classification assuring us of the quality and experience typical to that style of cheese.
What changes in the taste, texture, appearance, and aroma does the Affineur monitor? Aging in cheese is interchangeable with the stages of ‘ripening.’ Ripening starts at the point that the cheese begins to ‘age?’ Huh? Things that make you go, “Yum!” Cheese begins to age as soon as the milk is heated and the starter culture introduced. The resulting curds are then cut, drained of fermented whey, salted, and placed into molds that are pressed to extract more whey. No whey! Yes whey! Then the cheeses are ready to begin the formal ‘affinage’ process of aging/ripening.
When it comes to cheese aging, it really is a case of, "What goes around becomes a rind!" The outside egde of the cheese (the rind) develops with age. Rinds can be natural, bloomy, or washed. Natural means no stimulus (mold, wash, or Federal!) applied to precipitate a rind. Most semi-firm/ hard cheeses such as Cheddar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, or Pecorino-Romano have natural rinds. Bloomy rinds develop by spraying the cheese’s exterior with spores of Penicillium candidum (a harmless mold), prior to ripening. This also affects flavor. Examples of Bloomy-rind cheeses are Brie, Camembert, and some Chevres. Washed rind means the outside of the cheese is washed with brine, oil, brandy, red wine (for example, Drunken Goat), or even pear cider (for example, Stinking Bishop). Washing ensures a moist rind, encouraging the growth of harmless bacteria. This bacteria are scraped off and discarded, turned back into the cheese, or left on the cheese to further define the rind. Taleggio (Italy’s answer to Brie) is a good example of a washed rind cheese. In Taleggio’s case, the bath is in brine. Mrs Zan prefers lavender oil!
The longer the cheese is stored in the cave, then the more the rind changes, the cheese dries (controlled by the room’s humidity), lactic acids in the cheese crystallize (forming the white crunchy spots in harder cheeses), and the cheese thus ‘ripens.’ Cheese wheels are stored on wooden racks, being turned regularly to ensure even ripening. The cooler the cave, then the slower the aging, producing greater flavor complexity. The wheels may be wrapped in leaves, laid on beds of straw or rye, bound by spruce, or even rolled in oak wood ash, such as the great Chevres of France’s Loire Valley.
Some cheeses are ripened as little as a few days. Brillat-Savarin, for example, is ripe after just a week, Mild Cheddar as little as 3 months. Younger cheeses are soft and creamy, with subtle taste and aroma. For example, Ricotta, Mozzarella, some Chevres, or Quest Blanco. Aged cheeses can have soft rinds with spicy pastes as deep as the center (for example, Mountain Gorgonzola), through semi-firm and somewhat moist, such as three year aged Old Quebec Cheddar, up to hard, flaky and dry such as Five Year Vintage Gouda. Asiago is aged up to two years, Parmigiano-Reggiano four years, and Gouda up to five years. Younger cheeses need the right technique, beer or wine pairing to tease out their presence. More ‘mature’ cheeses just need to sit at room temperature for an hour and you know they’re there! Incidentally, a good cheesemonger lights up with enthusiasm, letting you taste before you buy. If they don’t, trust your gut and move on!
Later, dudes, Artie Zan, G4U Market’s ‘Cheese Wiz’ over and out to lunch.
Thank you Artie for whetting our appetites to learn more about cheese aging. I think you've also taught us to cherish youth, evaluate middle age, and respect old age! For those readers who say, “Andy, you’re still a baby!” Let me tell you my experience this week interviewing prospective staff who:
- Looked at my head and not me the entire interview, their expression betraying their thoughts that you always had so much skin on your head (and that they will always have so much hair on theirs).
- Asked if we always play, “Vintage Madonna” in the store!
- Were born in the 1990s, when you I was already pulling all-nighters at work, telling Faithful Spouse I wanted to re-tile the master bathroom for my birthday, instead of that weekend in South Beach.
- Don’t have a dodgy knee that makes climbing to the stock room touch and go, or more accurately, touch and no-go.
- Their parents aren’t telling them how wonderful retirement is.
Cheers: I raise my glass of 1998 Cote du Rhone, savor aged Gouda, and ice my dodgy knee, while listening to “Vintage Madonna.”
Andy and Artie, for Good For You Market.
Parmesan Reggiano
This entry is brought to you by guest blogger: Artie Zan, Good For You Market's 'Cheese Wiz.'
Step aside Provolone, for Parmesan-Reggiano is arguably the world’s most famous, and oldest cheese with production stretching back over 800 years. Reggie, as I call him, is packed with sweet, nutty, complex flavor. In cooking, Parmesan-Reggiano is suitable for many recipes, from soups, sauces, filling for stuffed pastas, roast meats, baking, desserts (try it with strawberries if you don’t believe me!), grating over cooked dishes, and even as finger food for snacking. Forget that powdery shredded stuff in sealed plastic tubs, that’s as close to Parmesan-Reggiano as I am to the Zan family living in Australia, whom I recently found on Facebook.
Parmigiano-Reggiano is produced in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northwest Italy, specifically the Po Valley (Emilia), and the mountains stretching east to the Adriatic sea (Romagna). True Parmesan-Reggiano is crafted only in this region, thus preserving authenticity. Why the ’Parma’ in Parmesan? The city of Parma is the center of this region; an area rich with beautiful lakes, lush mountains and green pastures.
Emilia-Romagna has developed its specific culinary style and at its center is Parmesan-Reggiano. Each of the main cities in Emilia has a presence in this cuisine. Parma is proud of its prosciutto, with the pigs being fed on the whey left over from Parmesan-Reggiano production. Bologna tantalizes us with mortadella and the meat-based ragù. Piacenza give us its spectacular tortellini; and Ferrara its sausage. Fresh pasta (pasta fresca), and dried hard durum wheat pasta (pasta secca) is found everywhere. Romagna is none too shabby with its aromatic herbs, gamey meats, fresh fish and the Piadina peasant breads from the Adriatic coast. For those who’ve vacationed in Rimini, you have to have experienced these peasant breads. Gosh, how could I mention this region without a nod of the head to Balsamic Vinegar: produced exclusively in Modena province? Look for that on any label of Balsamic Vinegar, else use it to kill the weeds in your driveway.
Italy is so rich in food culture and dear to my heart (being a vanguard of chemical-free farming, almost by default) that my focus always wanders off when I think of Italian foods. Back to Parmesan-Reggiano, the Granddaddy of all cheeses, and head of the “Grana” family: cheeses characterized by their ‘granular’ texture. To best appreciate this texture, best to pull Parmesan-Reggiano apart roughly; grate it if you will, but never slice!
Parmesan-Reggiano production is done by hand using the same traditional techniques handed down for centuries, overseen by a very strict consortium! Parmesan-Reggiano is made from un-pasteurized cows milk from the region’s dairy herds, ensuring a rich bacterial flora. On a daily basis, from April – November, fresh whole morning milk is mixed with partially skimmed milk from the prior evening’s milking, plus fermented whey from the previous day’s production. This mix is performed in copper vats, the whey helping to initiate fermentation. No way. Yes, whey! Natural rennet coagulates the milk, forming the curds that are the beginning of the cheese. Besides the salt bath that the cheese wheels are immersed in for firming, there are no other additives allowed. Each copper vat makes just two wheels of cheese. However, these wheels are monster truck huge – weighing around 88 pounds. Have you ever seen the forearms on a Cheese Wiz? The wheels are recognized externally by their straw-like color. Internally the color varies with age, from soft yellow, to the same straw-like color of the outside. Minimum required aging is 14 months, with most wheels aged to two years. A wonderful thing about aging of this cheese is the evolving flavor profile. Younger wheels are nutty and sweet, older wheels more complex with caramel, butterscotch and tropical fruit flavors.
So, what’s that fuzzy writing you can see on the outside of the Parmesan-Reggiano wheel? That is the certification mark ensuring expert inspection for quality and appearance. There is also the assurance of identity that runs the entire circumference of the wheel’s outside edge. This means that the wheel is still recognizable as Parmesan-Reggiano, even if it has been cut into smaller pieces. You can also identify which province the cheese was made in, at what time of year, and which specific producer made it. Ask the G4U Cheese Wiz to show you, test us!
Oh man, am I hungry!
Later, dudes, Artie Zan, G4U Market’s ‘Cheese Wiz’ over and out to lunch.
Step aside Provolone, for Parmesan-Reggiano is arguably the world’s most famous, and oldest cheese with production stretching back over 800 years. Reggie, as I call him, is packed with sweet, nutty, complex flavor. In cooking, Parmesan-Reggiano is suitable for many recipes, from soups, sauces, filling for stuffed pastas, roast meats, baking, desserts (try it with strawberries if you don’t believe me!), grating over cooked dishes, and even as finger food for snacking. Forget that powdery shredded stuff in sealed plastic tubs, that’s as close to Parmesan-Reggiano as I am to the Zan family living in Australia, whom I recently found on Facebook.
Parmigiano-Reggiano is produced in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northwest Italy, specifically the Po Valley (Emilia), and the mountains stretching east to the Adriatic sea (Romagna). True Parmesan-Reggiano is crafted only in this region, thus preserving authenticity. Why the ’Parma’ in Parmesan? The city of Parma is the center of this region; an area rich with beautiful lakes, lush mountains and green pastures.
Emilia-Romagna has developed its specific culinary style and at its center is Parmesan-Reggiano. Each of the main cities in Emilia has a presence in this cuisine. Parma is proud of its prosciutto, with the pigs being fed on the whey left over from Parmesan-Reggiano production. Bologna tantalizes us with mortadella and the meat-based ragù. Piacenza give us its spectacular tortellini; and Ferrara its sausage. Fresh pasta (pasta fresca), and dried hard durum wheat pasta (pasta secca) is found everywhere. Romagna is none too shabby with its aromatic herbs, gamey meats, fresh fish and the Piadina peasant breads from the Adriatic coast. For those who’ve vacationed in Rimini, you have to have experienced these peasant breads. Gosh, how could I mention this region without a nod of the head to Balsamic Vinegar: produced exclusively in Modena province? Look for that on any label of Balsamic Vinegar, else use it to kill the weeds in your driveway.
Italy is so rich in food culture and dear to my heart (being a vanguard of chemical-free farming, almost by default) that my focus always wanders off when I think of Italian foods. Back to Parmesan-Reggiano, the Granddaddy of all cheeses, and head of the “Grana” family: cheeses characterized by their ‘granular’ texture. To best appreciate this texture, best to pull Parmesan-Reggiano apart roughly; grate it if you will, but never slice!
Parmesan-Reggiano production is done by hand using the same traditional techniques handed down for centuries, overseen by a very strict consortium! Parmesan-Reggiano is made from un-pasteurized cows milk from the region’s dairy herds, ensuring a rich bacterial flora. On a daily basis, from April – November, fresh whole morning milk is mixed with partially skimmed milk from the prior evening’s milking, plus fermented whey from the previous day’s production. This mix is performed in copper vats, the whey helping to initiate fermentation. No way. Yes, whey! Natural rennet coagulates the milk, forming the curds that are the beginning of the cheese. Besides the salt bath that the cheese wheels are immersed in for firming, there are no other additives allowed. Each copper vat makes just two wheels of cheese. However, these wheels are monster truck huge – weighing around 88 pounds. Have you ever seen the forearms on a Cheese Wiz? The wheels are recognized externally by their straw-like color. Internally the color varies with age, from soft yellow, to the same straw-like color of the outside. Minimum required aging is 14 months, with most wheels aged to two years. A wonderful thing about aging of this cheese is the evolving flavor profile. Younger wheels are nutty and sweet, older wheels more complex with caramel, butterscotch and tropical fruit flavors.
So, what’s that fuzzy writing you can see on the outside of the Parmesan-Reggiano wheel? That is the certification mark ensuring expert inspection for quality and appearance. There is also the assurance of identity that runs the entire circumference of the wheel’s outside edge. This means that the wheel is still recognizable as Parmesan-Reggiano, even if it has been cut into smaller pieces. You can also identify which province the cheese was made in, at what time of year, and which specific producer made it. Ask the G4U Cheese Wiz to show you, test us!
Oh man, am I hungry!
Later, dudes, Artie Zan, G4U Market’s ‘Cheese Wiz’ over and out to lunch.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
I have a dream...
If you’re fortunate, you wake rested, the kids aren’t bouncing on your bed (your kids, your bed, not the neighbor’s), the dog hasn’t peed/thrown up on the comforter, and faithful spouse did not give up and go in the spare room leaving you alone snoring! You lay there, drifting in and out of that nice dream, not the scary one about high school, tests, and nakedness at speech day! I had a peaceful awakening this morning. I could hear the birds twittering outside: real birds twittering for real, in the real world.
I drifted in and out of a dream about our beach cities ‘encouraging’ the replacement of all plastic bags, plastic and Styrofoam takeout containers with recyclable, biodegradable, and compostable options. Imagine the environmental shift, the support of many small businesses developing alternatives to plastics, the jobs, the reduction of oil usage, and the taxes? Hmm, press snooze and dream on!
I don’t know why I had this dream last night: part deadlines; part faithful spouse’s comment that change seemed to be in the air. You’ve heard the quote, “There is nothing permanent except change.” Heraclitus. Isn’t it how we plan for, and accept change that determines how well we function in the present? We get overwhelmed with the present reality and the sheer volume of what needs to change. The true visionaries (and faithful) amongst us attune to the subtle breezes of change in the way a dog or cat lifts its nose to seemingly undetectable aromas on the breeze. Visionaries respond to that change with innovation, the true American entrepreneurial spirit. Then they continue to be motivated and function, despite naysayers.
Let’s point our collective olfactory equipment (noses) skyward, and sense the change wafting along the breezes. Flying into Dublin, Ireland, in 2003, I read an in-flight magazine article about the introduction of a countrywide (Federal) tax on plastic bags in January 2002. For every plastic bag the consumer used at checkout, a 33 cents (Federal) tax was levied. The monies collected went into a ‘green’ Federal fund for environmentally sustainable initiatives.
Let’s leave the politics of Federal (or and/or a state/local) taxes to the Tea Parties, and instead, look at the collective, public benefit. Within weeks of Ireland’s new tax, there was a 94% reduction in the use of plastic bags. By August 2002, a staggering 3.5 Million Euros (2.37 Million dollars) was collected and redirected into green initiatives. Source: BBC. A citizen commented, “Banning the bag was painless… The streets went from being littered with plastic bags to clean virtually overnight.” Source: http://www.thedailygreen.com/. Note this was a tax on plastic bags, not a ban on use.
While in the UK recently, I noticed at checkout that there was a new 33 cents ‘price’ on plastic bags. As a tourist, I had no option but to ‘buy’ the bag: enough of a sting, that I pondered the issue. I think the banning of plastic bags and replacement with reusable, and biodegradable options is next. Government has interceded, enforcing change to jumpstart public adoption. In the Environmental Stake races, the entrepreneurial horse is already out of the gate, the public adoption horse lagging, the convenience and mass availability horses are in the lead, and the future gain horse is barely in the picture.
Other countries are following Ireland: Chinese and Australian schemes have yet to meet with success and even local efforts have foundered on strong opposition. A puzzling reaction to change. China estimates a saving of 37 million barrels of oil by banning plastic bags. Source: The Daily Mail. Uganda, Bangladesh, Taiwan, and Singapore have banned or discouraged use (Source: BBC). In March, 2002, Bangladesh banned polythene bags after it was found that they were blocking drainage systems and had been a major culprit during the 1988 and 1998 floods that submerged two-thirds of the country (Source: BBC). Every continent has seen efforts to ban plastic bags for the environmental load is huge. Globally we use 42 billion plastic bags a month (Source: http://www.reusablebags.com). That’s billions and billions of barrels of oil (massive energy use), clogged waterways, and air/soil pollution.
Plastic bags are just a large tip of an equally large iceberg. I believe we’ll see mandatory replacement of plastics and Styrofoam food service containers with biodegradable, compostable alternatives soon. Also watch the plastic water bottle industry. Let’s hope we see some exciting innovation there before a ban is imposed.
How does this all apply to us in the USA? Look West young man (and lady). Some cities in California have already instituted bans on plastic grocery bags (Berkeley, San Francisco, Oakland in 2007). The City of Los Angeles is considering the banning of Styrofoam takeout containers. The New York City council aimed for a bag ban, but settled for a requirement that companies that hand them out must also take them back.
Let’s not wait for our government to step in and slap our wrists with a tax, and decide for us. Aren’t our wrists already sore enough from the plastic bag handles and from picking the darn things up around town? Let’s show our leaders we’re responsible enough to institute change bottom up. Let’s form community groups using all the free tools and skills we have in our own communities to encourage the early adoption of this change that is on the breeze. There’s Facebook, Twitter, local private business owners full of entrepreneurial spirit, business and technical skills. Let’s work with our local, state, and yes, Federal governments to implement a grass roots adoption of biodegradable compostable packaging, food service, grocery and restaurant takeout, before the environmental load of this makes the cost even higher.
Incidentally, quietly, without fuss or customer backlash, Good For You Market was the first grocery business in Delaware to self-impose a ban on plastic grocery bags in January of 2003. It’s no coincidence we’d just gotten back from Dublin, having seen the results first hand.
I’ll close with a few of my favorite quotes on change.
“People are very open-minded about new things - as long as they're exactly like the old ones.” Charles Kettering.
“Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay.” Simone De Beauvoir
“Cut the "im" out of impossible, leaving that dynamic word standing out free and clear-possible.” Norman Vincent Peale.
Finally, my favorite, “Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.” Unknown.
Have a safe day, full of exciting possibilities. Stay warm; those fall breezes are bringing changes.
I drifted in and out of a dream about our beach cities ‘encouraging’ the replacement of all plastic bags, plastic and Styrofoam takeout containers with recyclable, biodegradable, and compostable options. Imagine the environmental shift, the support of many small businesses developing alternatives to plastics, the jobs, the reduction of oil usage, and the taxes? Hmm, press snooze and dream on!
I don’t know why I had this dream last night: part deadlines; part faithful spouse’s comment that change seemed to be in the air. You’ve heard the quote, “There is nothing permanent except change.” Heraclitus. Isn’t it how we plan for, and accept change that determines how well we function in the present? We get overwhelmed with the present reality and the sheer volume of what needs to change. The true visionaries (and faithful) amongst us attune to the subtle breezes of change in the way a dog or cat lifts its nose to seemingly undetectable aromas on the breeze. Visionaries respond to that change with innovation, the true American entrepreneurial spirit. Then they continue to be motivated and function, despite naysayers.
Let’s point our collective olfactory equipment (noses) skyward, and sense the change wafting along the breezes. Flying into Dublin, Ireland, in 2003, I read an in-flight magazine article about the introduction of a countrywide (Federal) tax on plastic bags in January 2002. For every plastic bag the consumer used at checkout, a 33 cents (Federal) tax was levied. The monies collected went into a ‘green’ Federal fund for environmentally sustainable initiatives.
Let’s leave the politics of Federal (or and/or a state/local) taxes to the Tea Parties, and instead, look at the collective, public benefit. Within weeks of Ireland’s new tax, there was a 94% reduction in the use of plastic bags. By August 2002, a staggering 3.5 Million Euros (2.37 Million dollars) was collected and redirected into green initiatives. Source: BBC. A citizen commented, “Banning the bag was painless… The streets went from being littered with plastic bags to clean virtually overnight.” Source: http://www.thedailygreen.com/. Note this was a tax on plastic bags, not a ban on use.
While in the UK recently, I noticed at checkout that there was a new 33 cents ‘price’ on plastic bags. As a tourist, I had no option but to ‘buy’ the bag: enough of a sting, that I pondered the issue. I think the banning of plastic bags and replacement with reusable, and biodegradable options is next. Government has interceded, enforcing change to jumpstart public adoption. In the Environmental Stake races, the entrepreneurial horse is already out of the gate, the public adoption horse lagging, the convenience and mass availability horses are in the lead, and the future gain horse is barely in the picture.
Other countries are following Ireland: Chinese and Australian schemes have yet to meet with success and even local efforts have foundered on strong opposition. A puzzling reaction to change. China estimates a saving of 37 million barrels of oil by banning plastic bags. Source: The Daily Mail. Uganda, Bangladesh, Taiwan, and Singapore have banned or discouraged use (Source: BBC). In March, 2002, Bangladesh banned polythene bags after it was found that they were blocking drainage systems and had been a major culprit during the 1988 and 1998 floods that submerged two-thirds of the country (Source: BBC). Every continent has seen efforts to ban plastic bags for the environmental load is huge. Globally we use 42 billion plastic bags a month (Source: http://www.reusablebags.com). That’s billions and billions of barrels of oil (massive energy use), clogged waterways, and air/soil pollution.
Plastic bags are just a large tip of an equally large iceberg. I believe we’ll see mandatory replacement of plastics and Styrofoam food service containers with biodegradable, compostable alternatives soon. Also watch the plastic water bottle industry. Let’s hope we see some exciting innovation there before a ban is imposed.
How does this all apply to us in the USA? Look West young man (and lady). Some cities in California have already instituted bans on plastic grocery bags (Berkeley, San Francisco, Oakland in 2007). The City of Los Angeles is considering the banning of Styrofoam takeout containers. The New York City council aimed for a bag ban, but settled for a requirement that companies that hand them out must also take them back.
Let’s not wait for our government to step in and slap our wrists with a tax, and decide for us. Aren’t our wrists already sore enough from the plastic bag handles and from picking the darn things up around town? Let’s show our leaders we’re responsible enough to institute change bottom up. Let’s form community groups using all the free tools and skills we have in our own communities to encourage the early adoption of this change that is on the breeze. There’s Facebook, Twitter, local private business owners full of entrepreneurial spirit, business and technical skills. Let’s work with our local, state, and yes, Federal governments to implement a grass roots adoption of biodegradable compostable packaging, food service, grocery and restaurant takeout, before the environmental load of this makes the cost even higher.
Incidentally, quietly, without fuss or customer backlash, Good For You Market was the first grocery business in Delaware to self-impose a ban on plastic grocery bags in January of 2003. It’s no coincidence we’d just gotten back from Dublin, having seen the results first hand.
I’ll close with a few of my favorite quotes on change.
“People are very open-minded about new things - as long as they're exactly like the old ones.” Charles Kettering.
“Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay.” Simone De Beauvoir
“Cut the "im" out of impossible, leaving that dynamic word standing out free and clear-possible.” Norman Vincent Peale.
Finally, my favorite, “Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.” Unknown.
Have a safe day, full of exciting possibilities. Stay warm; those fall breezes are bringing changes.
Separating The Wheat From The Chaff…
Last posting, I introduced an ongoing culinary series exploring the origins of much of the food we take for granted, but rarely experience in its true artisan form. I mentioned pasta and threatened semolina. In the pattern of beginnings, I’ll be focusing on semolina this post, for it is the starting point of one of the world’s favorite foods: Pasta.
The thought of semolina makes me shudder. You see when I was a bachgen (little boy) in Wales, our school lunch program would inflict semolina on us in the worst possible way: a lukewarm slimy off-white pudding, with a dollop of strawberry jam in the middle. What culinary genius came up with this dish for us I know not? I do know I was too scared to say no to the, “Dinner Lady.” Now there were many little boys who delighted in mixing the jam into the semolina and making a ‘bloody’ mess (literally). This little boy would eat the jam, carefully avoiding any contact with the semolina pudding. Both scenarios had the same result: waste of money, poor nutrition, and an appalling lifelong association for semolina with inedible foods.
Many decades and thousands of miles distant, I was delighted to discover a much better purpose for semolina, and here our journey stops at a more edible destination: Pasta.
To understand semolina is to understand the process from which wheat is turned into flour since semolina is really a stage in the process called, “Milling.” Semolina is a milled, coarse mix made from hard winter durum wheat. The mix is ground to make flour from which pasta is made. Semolina is also used to make couscous, bread, and, unfortunately for many schoolchildren in Wales in the 1960s and 1970s, puddings! Now if we’d only followed the Greeks and made their delicious Galaktoboureko semolina dessert, I would have been one happier (and rounder) bachgen!
So, how is semolina produced? These days, wheat is milled into flour using grooved steel rollers. The grains of wheat are slightly wider than the spaces between the rollers. As a result, the rollers slough off the bran and the germ from the wheat kernel. The wheat bran is the hard outer layer of the wheat grain. Wheat germ is the reproductive part of the grain that germinates to grow into a plant. The bran and the germ are integral parts of whole grains, and is a by-product in the milling of refined grains. Removing the wheat and the bran for a lower nutritional profile since the bran in particular is rich in dietary fiber, omegas, starch, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Bran is present in any grain and can be milled for example, from rice, corn, maize, oats, barley, and millet, in addition to wheat. Bran has a high oil content, which turns rancid easily. For this reason I keep bran in the freezer. Remember the saying, “Separating the wheat from the chaff?” Wheat bran is not chaff, for the chaff is the coarser scaly material surrounding the grain, but not part of the grain.
Once the bran and germ have been removed from the wheat, the remaining part of the grain is the starchy endosperm, which is cracked in the process. This coarse, cracked endosperm is semolina.
The semolina is then ground into flour, from which pasta is made. The same process is used for any type of flour. The endosperm can be broken into different grades, since the inner part breaks into smaller pieces than the outer. This difference allows for differing grades of flour to be produced.
Semolina has an interesting lingual origin, deriving from the Italian word, Semola – a derivative of the Ancient Latin Simila, which means flour. It does not end here. The Latin is actually from the Semitic root Smd, meaning to grind into groats. Semolina is only ever made from durum wheat and should be a dull yellow color. When flour comes from softer wheat, it is white and is not semolina. Huh? Herein lies the confusion with semolina! Is it flour, or a grain? Actually, as we’ve seen above, it is neither, since technically, Semolina is a stage in the milling process, turning whole grain wheat into flour.
So recap, why would we eat pasta if it not whole grain wheat in origin? Ah, for that you’ll just have to tune in for a future posting. Got to go, I’m hungry!
The thought of semolina makes me shudder. You see when I was a bachgen (little boy) in Wales, our school lunch program would inflict semolina on us in the worst possible way: a lukewarm slimy off-white pudding, with a dollop of strawberry jam in the middle. What culinary genius came up with this dish for us I know not? I do know I was too scared to say no to the, “Dinner Lady.” Now there were many little boys who delighted in mixing the jam into the semolina and making a ‘bloody’ mess (literally). This little boy would eat the jam, carefully avoiding any contact with the semolina pudding. Both scenarios had the same result: waste of money, poor nutrition, and an appalling lifelong association for semolina with inedible foods.
Many decades and thousands of miles distant, I was delighted to discover a much better purpose for semolina, and here our journey stops at a more edible destination: Pasta.
To understand semolina is to understand the process from which wheat is turned into flour since semolina is really a stage in the process called, “Milling.” Semolina is a milled, coarse mix made from hard winter durum wheat. The mix is ground to make flour from which pasta is made. Semolina is also used to make couscous, bread, and, unfortunately for many schoolchildren in Wales in the 1960s and 1970s, puddings! Now if we’d only followed the Greeks and made their delicious Galaktoboureko semolina dessert, I would have been one happier (and rounder) bachgen!
So, how is semolina produced? These days, wheat is milled into flour using grooved steel rollers. The grains of wheat are slightly wider than the spaces between the rollers. As a result, the rollers slough off the bran and the germ from the wheat kernel. The wheat bran is the hard outer layer of the wheat grain. Wheat germ is the reproductive part of the grain that germinates to grow into a plant. The bran and the germ are integral parts of whole grains, and is a by-product in the milling of refined grains. Removing the wheat and the bran for a lower nutritional profile since the bran in particular is rich in dietary fiber, omegas, starch, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Bran is present in any grain and can be milled for example, from rice, corn, maize, oats, barley, and millet, in addition to wheat. Bran has a high oil content, which turns rancid easily. For this reason I keep bran in the freezer. Remember the saying, “Separating the wheat from the chaff?” Wheat bran is not chaff, for the chaff is the coarser scaly material surrounding the grain, but not part of the grain.
Once the bran and germ have been removed from the wheat, the remaining part of the grain is the starchy endosperm, which is cracked in the process. This coarse, cracked endosperm is semolina.
The semolina is then ground into flour, from which pasta is made. The same process is used for any type of flour. The endosperm can be broken into different grades, since the inner part breaks into smaller pieces than the outer. This difference allows for differing grades of flour to be produced.
Semolina has an interesting lingual origin, deriving from the Italian word, Semola – a derivative of the Ancient Latin Simila, which means flour. It does not end here. The Latin is actually from the Semitic root Smd, meaning to grind into groats. Semolina is only ever made from durum wheat and should be a dull yellow color. When flour comes from softer wheat, it is white and is not semolina. Huh? Herein lies the confusion with semolina! Is it flour, or a grain? Actually, as we’ve seen above, it is neither, since technically, Semolina is a stage in the milling process, turning whole grain wheat into flour.
So recap, why would we eat pasta if it not whole grain wheat in origin? Ah, for that you’ll just have to tune in for a future posting. Got to go, I’m hungry!
Grazie Cari Italiani
We have lots to thank the Italians for, especially from a culinary perspective. I also thank the Italians for their perspective on life: family, food, the sensual appreciation of life itself, but also hard work. Pleasure does not come without hard work. To combine hard work with 6 weeks annual (paid) vacation, that’s living! Enough of the wishing, back to the working.
This week I introduce an ongoing culinary series that will appear here periodically. I’ll be exploring the origins of much of the food we take for granted, but rarely experience in its true artisan form.
I’ve been working hard at sourcing pasta for G4U Market: starting with dried and expanding into the texture variations offered by fresh. It seems that, just like cheese, there’s a lot of OK pasta out there, but few great pasta reproduced in the true artisan style. So much of our culture is a ‘dumbing down’ seemingly for mass appeal, when in actuality, it’s not mass ‘appeal’, but mass ‘availability.’ I prefer quality over quantity since for me more is less. What does this mean? Buying something that is a pale, poorly done imitation of the real thing, is no experience at all. Think about how much supermarket cheese you’ve bought and what did it taste like? Put bluntly: a waste of money. How is this, ‘mass appeal?’ I’d go for less of more any day. Less cheese, higher price maybe, but more taste, better nutrition and infinitely closer to the real thing. True value for money any day of the week. Notice I said, “Value for money.” I did not mention cost, which is relative, as in relatively different from store to store, from business to business. We should understand what we’re buying, and why. Only then can we evaluate cost fairly.
I’m often asked why is ‘organic’ more expensive? The answer is, it’s not always, and not everything at G4U market is organic. It’s relative, and for me somewhat irrelevant. Gasp; did the world just fold in on itself? Did the giant agro-chemical companies rub their hands in collective glee? Has G4U Market gone over to the dark side of our agrarian and culinary underbelly? Can there be no metaphor that I leave unmixed?
A common question we get at our Artisan cheese counter is, “Are these cheeses organic?” Mostly, no. Why? Because it’s irrelevant. Irrelevant, Organic? Irrelevant in the sense that the concept of organic and all that goes along with it, is taken as a given, since what I look for from my vendors is a complete disclosure of practice. How is your product made? Where are the raw materials sourced from, and so on? Only then can I evaluate the quality and cost of what I’m buying for my food market, decide if we carry it, and come up with a fair price.
True artisans faithfully replicating great food often include or exceed organic practices, since so much of our food culture pre-dates mass availability of agro-chemicals. A popular cultural issue currently is the wider availability of food versus local. For me this is not an either/or: a big business versus a small argument; it’s a sourcing issue - understanding where the food came from. Is it a system of small farms in the Italian countryside from which a bigger company is faithfully reproducing true Umbrian regional ingredients and dishes, such as Bartolini? Or is it that lovely neighborhood couple that have sunk their life savings into a bakery, restaurant, or cheese monger, reproducing an authentic experience for a local community?
G4U Market has back-ordered Montebello Organic Pasta. Montebello is true artisan pasta made by the Alce Nero Cooperative, close to Urbino, in the Marche region of Italy. The cooperative, based in the former Montebello Monastery, uses Old World techniques to create distinctive flavor and texture in their pasta. Instead of flash drying in ovens, Montebello dry their pasta slowly in traditional drying rooms. This produces a delicious hand crafted pasta with a unique porous texture that cooks evenly and holds sauces beautifully. The durum wheat semolina that Montebello uses for their pasta is organically grown on small family farms in the rolling hills overlooking the Adriatic Sea. The semolina is then carefully ground and combined with pure mountain spring water to produce a fine dough, which is extruded through hand-made bronze dies to create a rough texture. I ordered this pasta from a large US food distributor, but it is sourced from Montebello’s small-scale operation in Italy. We have to wait until the end of October for distribution since Montebello handcrafts the pasta.
A huge benefit of G4U Market carrying this pasta, outside of the culinary experience, is that the Alce Nero Cooperative has revitalized a rural area outside Urbino. This has provided jobs and hope for rural youth reversing the exodus of youth from the community, not to mention at this point, 30 years of farming without the use of synthetic chemicals. In a larger sense, this is what I mean by, “It’s not an either/or.” It’s not an anti-big business either/or. It’s not a 100% local versus widely distributed either/or. Instead it’s a bit of both and part of my evaluation of cost and fair pricing.
To clarify, I’m not justifying the cost of organic pricing, or G4U Market pricing. If you’ve stopped into the store in the past couple of weeks and noticed our new shelf labels, you’ll see true value for money, for G4U is blowing the lid off of concepts about the pricing of authentic food and organic food. What I am justifying here is the experience of food. If I’m going to spend my carbs on pasta, or allot my fat allowance to a cheese, the food had better be sensually appealing, authentic to the artisan who originated it, free of toxic chemicals, and darn good value for my hard earned money.
Up next, the starter for pasta: Semolina.
Salute! Andy Meddick for G4U Market.
This week I introduce an ongoing culinary series that will appear here periodically. I’ll be exploring the origins of much of the food we take for granted, but rarely experience in its true artisan form.
I’ve been working hard at sourcing pasta for G4U Market: starting with dried and expanding into the texture variations offered by fresh. It seems that, just like cheese, there’s a lot of OK pasta out there, but few great pasta reproduced in the true artisan style. So much of our culture is a ‘dumbing down’ seemingly for mass appeal, when in actuality, it’s not mass ‘appeal’, but mass ‘availability.’ I prefer quality over quantity since for me more is less. What does this mean? Buying something that is a pale, poorly done imitation of the real thing, is no experience at all. Think about how much supermarket cheese you’ve bought and what did it taste like? Put bluntly: a waste of money. How is this, ‘mass appeal?’ I’d go for less of more any day. Less cheese, higher price maybe, but more taste, better nutrition and infinitely closer to the real thing. True value for money any day of the week. Notice I said, “Value for money.” I did not mention cost, which is relative, as in relatively different from store to store, from business to business. We should understand what we’re buying, and why. Only then can we evaluate cost fairly.
I’m often asked why is ‘organic’ more expensive? The answer is, it’s not always, and not everything at G4U market is organic. It’s relative, and for me somewhat irrelevant. Gasp; did the world just fold in on itself? Did the giant agro-chemical companies rub their hands in collective glee? Has G4U Market gone over to the dark side of our agrarian and culinary underbelly? Can there be no metaphor that I leave unmixed?
A common question we get at our Artisan cheese counter is, “Are these cheeses organic?” Mostly, no. Why? Because it’s irrelevant. Irrelevant, Organic? Irrelevant in the sense that the concept of organic and all that goes along with it, is taken as a given, since what I look for from my vendors is a complete disclosure of practice. How is your product made? Where are the raw materials sourced from, and so on? Only then can I evaluate the quality and cost of what I’m buying for my food market, decide if we carry it, and come up with a fair price.
True artisans faithfully replicating great food often include or exceed organic practices, since so much of our food culture pre-dates mass availability of agro-chemicals. A popular cultural issue currently is the wider availability of food versus local. For me this is not an either/or: a big business versus a small argument; it’s a sourcing issue - understanding where the food came from. Is it a system of small farms in the Italian countryside from which a bigger company is faithfully reproducing true Umbrian regional ingredients and dishes, such as Bartolini? Or is it that lovely neighborhood couple that have sunk their life savings into a bakery, restaurant, or cheese monger, reproducing an authentic experience for a local community?
G4U Market has back-ordered Montebello Organic Pasta. Montebello is true artisan pasta made by the Alce Nero Cooperative, close to Urbino, in the Marche region of Italy. The cooperative, based in the former Montebello Monastery, uses Old World techniques to create distinctive flavor and texture in their pasta. Instead of flash drying in ovens, Montebello dry their pasta slowly in traditional drying rooms. This produces a delicious hand crafted pasta with a unique porous texture that cooks evenly and holds sauces beautifully. The durum wheat semolina that Montebello uses for their pasta is organically grown on small family farms in the rolling hills overlooking the Adriatic Sea. The semolina is then carefully ground and combined with pure mountain spring water to produce a fine dough, which is extruded through hand-made bronze dies to create a rough texture. I ordered this pasta from a large US food distributor, but it is sourced from Montebello’s small-scale operation in Italy. We have to wait until the end of October for distribution since Montebello handcrafts the pasta.
A huge benefit of G4U Market carrying this pasta, outside of the culinary experience, is that the Alce Nero Cooperative has revitalized a rural area outside Urbino. This has provided jobs and hope for rural youth reversing the exodus of youth from the community, not to mention at this point, 30 years of farming without the use of synthetic chemicals. In a larger sense, this is what I mean by, “It’s not an either/or.” It’s not an anti-big business either/or. It’s not a 100% local versus widely distributed either/or. Instead it’s a bit of both and part of my evaluation of cost and fair pricing.
To clarify, I’m not justifying the cost of organic pricing, or G4U Market pricing. If you’ve stopped into the store in the past couple of weeks and noticed our new shelf labels, you’ll see true value for money, for G4U is blowing the lid off of concepts about the pricing of authentic food and organic food. What I am justifying here is the experience of food. If I’m going to spend my carbs on pasta, or allot my fat allowance to a cheese, the food had better be sensually appealing, authentic to the artisan who originated it, free of toxic chemicals, and darn good value for my hard earned money.
Up next, the starter for pasta: Semolina.
Salute! Andy Meddick for G4U Market.
Monday, August 31, 2009
You had me at, "Bon Appetit!"
G4U Market goes to the movies!
From the minute the lights dimmed, we were pulled into "Julie & Julia." Meryl Streep coos her way through a stunning, earthy performance as Julia Child, channeling the gourmande in a study of statuesque, gawky, elemental elegance. Amy Adams is wonderful in the role of Julie - a good counter balance of imperfect human preventing us from veering over into hero(ine) worship.
Julie and Julia are passionate about food and both a validation to those who persist when all they hear is, "No you can't!" Those who shudder with pure sensuality in a public setting at the taste of a dish are bound to be intertesting characters! Being so closely connected with one's senses makes for one feisty individual. Like them, or leave them, you can't ignore them!
If you don't leave the screening hungry, or wanting to take cooking classes, then you must have been in the wrong room at the multiplex. Go see this movie with lots of friends. You'll see their experience on their faces. We all connect over food. We all route for a plucky trailblazer. It's hard to pick favorite scenes in such a delightful, charming movie. I particularly enjoyed scenes of cooking demos gone awry. When you have an audience willing to listen and then soldier on despite slapstick mistakes; I found this touching and uncomfortably funny. Any Chefs or in-store demo folks out there had the same experience? I sense a few red faces! And who does not state the famous quote when screwing up in your kitchen, "When you're alone in your kitchen, no-one knows but you!"
The final scene juxtaposed between Julia Child's Cambridge kitchen, now silenty displayed at the Smithsonian Museum, and the same kitchen in-situ at Julia and Paul Childs's Cambridge home, struck a poignant resonance for me. Life's too short to eat inauthentic, bland food. Life's too short not to share that with others. Never, ever give up. Be insatiably curious and live life out loud. Include others. That's what I take away from this movie. What's your takeout?
Good job Nora Ephron and cast.
Andy for Good For You Market.
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