Cook and eat simple food.
Richard Olney said it best: “If food is not good, it is not simple.”
Simple food shines on its own, stripped of pretension, with nothing superfluous on the plate. It also means that the cook accepts the importance of passion and connection to the ingredient and realizes it is all in the details of transforming it into something good to eat.
Eating is enjoyable, even sensuous.
Even before fast food and today’s hectic lifestyle, we Americans have had a tough time giving in to the pleasure of eating. Maybe it’s our puritan roots, but we often think of food only as fuel to get us back to work. Taking the time to have a leisurely meal with family or friends in a convivial atmosphere promotes healthy eating.
If it grows together, it goes together.
Let nature guide you on this. In the middle of summer, look out in your garden or go to the local farmers market and you will see peppers, tomatoes, beans and zucchini, all of which complement each other on a plate. It is hard to go wrong pairing foods of the season or the region.
Eat local, seasonal and
organic if possible.
Supermarkets have their place, but the closer to the farm, the better and easier for the cook. If I buy my produce from a local farm stand, it will taste better than produce from the store, so I won’t have to work as hard to make it taste good. Organic means being in harmony with nature, which promotes harmony in us. The frugal cook shops by the season, and as a result, eats better and spends less.
More whole and natural foods.
We humans are designed to eat a wide variety of foods, but a steady diet of highly refined foods will take its toll sooner or later. Food in its whole and natural state tastes better and is what our bodies are designed to eat.
Shop first.
See what’s available in the market before deciding the menu. Sure, in the middle of summer you know generally what’s available, but not having a notion before you buy, allows you to see the possibility of creating something new. Most of us tend to stay in our comfort zone with ingredients and go to the same well over and over again. Don’t pass up those interesting fruits and vegetables just because you’ve never used them before.
Eat less and enjoy more.
You need less food if it has robust flavor. We tend to overeat when the food is bland or lacking in nutrients because our palates are desperately trying to get satisfied. Two ounces of a full-fat beautiful cheese will satisfy in a way that a pound of “light cheese” won’t. I believe smaller portions of high fat food are preferable to huge portions of low fat food.
Stocks.
When I began my career at the California Culinary Academy, I was fortunate to have many wonderful teachers. One morning a small group of students were invited to the home of the great Chinese chef and teacher, Ken Hom. He told us he was going to teach us the most important secret of cooking, and proceeded to demonstrate how to make a chicken stock – simple yet utterly essential as the basis of all cooking. The lesson was to be totally connected to the process of cooking food and to give respect to the simplest of preparations, the stock. This is the secret of the world’s great chefs. It all begins with the basics.
