What is Seasonal?

A local [Portland, Ore.] reviewer–in a condescending, “I don’t understand, but allow me to tell you how smart I am” way—recently wrote of Terroir, “I was suspicious of what the menu said he was evoking: A Taste of the Pacific Northwest. Hasn’t it already been done? What more could Stein do with it?”

Hasn’t it already been done? Basically, the reviewer was asking why we need another restaurant, caring about preserving local tastes, flavors, communities and artisans. Why? Because it needs to be done. If not us, then who? If not now, then when?

That being said, others have asked, now that summer’s glory has passed giving way to winter’s chill, what can be done about sourcing locally. I just returned from a foodservice conference where I conducted a seminar titled “How To Make Sustainability Happen.” One of the tenets of sustainability I spoke about is buying in season and locally from purveyors who take care of the resources in a sustainable manner.

The proper way to think about the passing of the seasons is to think like a composer. Not just any composer but like one composer in particular: Antonio Vivaldi. When he was a teacher in Venice, his task was similar to that of a chef at the market. He could concoct his musical “stew” only with the materials at hand. If his star students played flute, oboe and bassoon, he would write a piece for that combination of instruments. A chef should work the same way: Start with the best of what is available regionally and then call on your intuition and taste memories to figure out what might be done with those ingredients.

Tuesdays and Fridays are the days that I tend to receive the bulk of my farmer/artisan products. On this past Friday, my mushroom forager showed up with baskets of lobster, hedgehog, golden and white chanterelle and a few choice porcini mushrooms. Two of my local farmers brought in baby lettuce, leeks, broccoli, several types of winter squash, regular and bay root vegetables, Jerusalem artichokes, carrots, shallots and garlic. They showered me with cabbages, braising greens, fennel and hardy savory herbs.

Talk about a bounty of ingredients at their peak virtually screaming to be braised, sautéed, caramelized, roasted or sweated! This mélange of flavors eventually became menu offerings such as these:

• Porcini Mushroom Broth with Roasted Porcini and Gnocchi

• Roasted Cinderella Pumpkin and Garlic Flan with Fennel-Squash Salad

• Dairy-Free Celery Root and Potato Soup with Thyme and Thyme Oil

• Crisp Lamb Sweetbreads with Candied Turnips and Beet Vinaigrette

• Mushroom-Dusted Wild Sturgeon with Broccoli, Cannellini Beans, Kale and Wild Mushroom Cream

This is food that is sustainable because it comes from local purveyors. Sustainable because these purveyors take care of their resources. Sustainable because they are foodstuffs at the peek of their flavor. Sustainable because we are taking the care to preserve biodiversity and tastes. I’ll let you judge if I answered the question of what more could one do with it.

And the journey continues.

Cheers!

Stu

Comments or questions? E-mail Chef Stu at StuStein@rimag.com.