'Tis the Season

Day 35

Season, season, season!

As a chef, one of the most important elements of cooking a great meal (and one of the easiest mistakes to avoid) is properly seasoning your food. There's nothing worse than a bland dish; it's wasted calories and dollars in my opinion.

But the word "season" means more than just adding salt and pepper, especially nowadays in the U.S. where more and more consumers are thinking about the affects of how their food is sourced (once again, thank you Michael Pollan). Shopping and eating according to what's in season is a great way to help the food industry get where it needs to be.

One way to do this at home is shop at farmers' markets. Obviously, the vendors are selling what they're growing now. Plus, the food comes from a small mileage radius, which helps minimize fuel usage. I think that's one of the things consumers don't think about: That garlic you've tossed in your shopping cart may have traveled thousands of miles by ship. Why not choose the bulb from Farmer Joe a couple towns over?

Our nation is all about immediate gratification.

I know not everyone has access to a great farmers' market, if any. Fortunately, I have one right down the street and another a few avenues away. (Click here for a list of markets in the five boroughs.) If accessibility is a problem, pay more attention to the "place of origin" label on a product and then make the right decision.

Another common complaint I hear about organic and/or locally sourced food relates to its cost. Sure, the items are usually more expensive. So forgo one of the weekly dinner plans. Moreover, it's all about the rule of supply and demand in economics: The more demand, the more farmers are likely to participate, and thus the greater chance prices will decrease.

To engrain the importance of seasonality in cooking, our class made two dishes today that used ingredients currently available: pan-seared tuna with gazpacho vinaigrette and black olive couscous as well as charred shrimp and squid with white beans, citrus and herbs.

Speaking of seasons, the Cleveland Browns' regular season kicks off this weekend. Time to brainstorm Sunday game-time recipes and stock up on beer. (Too bad I'm not in town to buy brews from Great Lakes Brewing Co. I could totally go for a Burning River Pale Ale—or maybe one of the seasonal selections... )

Here we go Brownies, here we go! Woof! Woof!