Chefs Collaborative

A huge thank you to Chef Michael Scelfo of Russell House Tavern for hosting the Sunday night reception for our National Summit, and also for sharing his impressions with us.  Read on for a view of the conference through his eyes, and about how implementing small changes can make a big impact.

I had a great experience at the Chefs Collaborative summit earlier in October. I was a big fan of the seminars and demonstrations in particular. It’s exciting to hear the stories of passion from people who have dedicated their lives to the noble cause of promoting sustainable cuisine.

Overall it was a fascinating couple of days—although at times it seemed there were more questions than answers, more preaching than offers of real change. But that was part of the problem: after spending some time reflecting on it, I started to feel that something was missing – namely, chefs. There wasn’t a great showing in terms of numbers. As I considered that lack of presence, it dawned on me that maybe I should have been questioning my own presence at the Summit.

How sustainable am I? How local is my product? The more I asked myself those questions, the more it started to come together for me.

Sustainability, while great and undeniably needed, can seem unattainable to most professional chefs. The expense of product, ease of ordering, and seasonal availability is not great. The chefs in attendance represented what are largely occasion places for most:  higher ticket venues with entrees running up into the thirty-dollar-plus range. At Russell House Tavern in Cambridge, MA, where I am the executive chef, we keep the price point low so we can reach many people. It’s a high-volume spot, and believe me, to be fiscally responsible and sustainable while maintaining your given concept is difficult for anyone.

So in terms of not a lot of chefs being at the Summit, in some ways it was understandable. Given the pitfalls and challenges of maintaining your commitment to sustainability, one could see why a chef would stay away – from both the conference and from that commitment. But if a chef or manager were able to hear concrete examples from others who are making it work in their restaurants, that opinion might change.

So, how do we make sustainability accessible for all chefs, so we can best maintain our businesses in the long-term?

So far I’m not convinced that anyone has found the answer in total, but it starts by making small changes.  Every little bit helps and if chefs at least asked the question of how to make their restaurants more sustainable and environmentally friendly, and shared answers and ideas with each other, then true progress might be made.

I hope that more chefs will attend the National Summit in New Orleans next year so that we can better learn from one another about how to make changes in the way we source food. In the meantime, I will continue to make incremental changes along the way. I’m always rolling out new items and adding as many local products as I can. I recently added PT Farms from Vermont to my vendor list. I’ll be using their grass fed beef for my burgers at Russell House Tavern.  This is an added expense that I’m not passing on to my guests but small sacrifices like this are just the beginning of being as loyal to the sustainable movement as I can.

I’m proud of the state of my menu right now; it’s at its highest level of sustainability yet. I just wish more chefs from different concepts knew it could be done.

Michael Scelfo
Executive Chef, Russell House Tavern

To read more about Chef Scelfo and his thoughts surrounding sustainability and the restaurant world, follow him on Twitter or take a look at his blog.

Pumpkins have one main function here in the U.S.: to serve as Jack-O-Lanterns.  It just wouldn’t be October without the iconic carved pumpkin: a large, round, deep orange, ribbed cucurbit with a lopsided grin.  But, carving isn’t the only thing you can do with a pumpkin.  Pumpkins are delicious in bread, pie, soup, ravioli, cheesecake, you name it—there are literally hundreds of ways to cook a pumpkin.

Not all pumpkins are the same, though, when it comes to culinary qualities. Pumpkins bred to be jack-o-lanterns were created for carving, not cooking.  They have thinner walls and bland, watery flesh.  If you eat a jack-o-lantern, you are sure to be disappointed, concluding that pumpkins are not nearly as tasty as other types of winter squash.

Luckily, many delicious heirloom varieties of pumpkins survive from back when pumpkins were primarily food, not decoration.  They have sweet, dense, delicious flesh, perfect for culinary use.   Many are harder to find than the ubiquitous jack-o-lantern, but take a look at your local farmers’ market and you may be pleasantly surprised by what you find.  Note that a few of these tasty varieties are also grown for their decorative qualities.

A few highlights:

Long Pie Pumpkin: Also known as the Nantucket Pie Pumpkin, an oblong heirloom pumpkin that looks more like a giant overripe zucchini.  A delicious and versatile favorite.

Cinderella Pumpkin, aka Rouge Vif d’Etampes: A beautiful dark reddish-orange heirloom pumpkin with deep ribs, this pumpkin looks like a fairy-tale carriage.  Tasty, strong, sweet flavor, great used as a tureen for pumpkin soup.

Musque de Provence: Another “fairy tale style” heirloom pumpkin, greenish-orange with deep ribs and very large fruit. When sliced very thinly it can be eaten raw.

Jarrahdale Pumpkin: Don’t let the grey skin fool you, this heirloom pumpkin is orange on the inside!

Long Island Cheese Pumpkin: A large, tan, ribbed heirloom pumpkin, considered one of the best for pumpkin pie.

Sugar Pie Pumpkin: One of the easiest culinary pumpkins to find.  Looks like a small jack-o-lantern type pumpkin, 3-5 pounds, with a thick stem.

And this is just a start! There are dozens of other delicious heirloom varieties of culinary pumpkins.  Got any favorite varieties or recipes? Share them in the comments below!

Chefs Collaborative’s 2^nd Annual National Summit Draws Change Agents to Boston

Chefs Collaborative Honors Three with Inaugural Sustainability Awards

More than 300 chefs and members of the culinary community gathered at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, October 3-5, for Chefs Collaborative’s 2^nd Annual National Summit.  Attendees took part in timely conversations and practical workshops on topics ranging from what will become of our domestic seafood supply as a result of the gulf oil disaster to season extension and food preservation, heirloom varieties and breeds, green kitchen practices and how to butcher a half steer.

The centerpiece of the two-day conference was an inaugural Sustainable Awards dinner at Allandale Farm in Boston on Oct. 4, featuring Mistress of Ceremonies, Annie B. Copps of Yankee Magazine with a seasonal menu using local ingredients prepared by top chefs from New England. The awardees are:

Chef Peter Davis of Henrietta’s Table in Cambridge, MA, was honored with the Sustainer Award, which recognizes a chef who has been both a great mentor and is a model to the culinary community through his/her purchases of seasonal, sustainable ingredients and the transformation of these ingredients into delicious food.

Chef Chris Koetke of the Culinary Arts Programs at Laureate  International and Kendall College in Chicago, IL was honored with the Pathfinder Award, which recognizes a visionary working in the greater food community who has been a catalyst for positive change within the food system through efforts that go beyond the kitchen.

Allison Hooper and Bob Reese of Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery, Webstervile, VT were honored with the Foodshed Champion Award, which recognizes a food producer (farmer, fisher, artisanal producer) committed to working with chefs and who exemplifies these principles: Good food begins with unpolluted air, land, and water, environmentally sustainable farming and fishing, and humane animal husbandry and who has formed successful, lasting partnerships with chefs.

“We were thrilled to recognize people who have been doing outstanding work to impact the sustainable food landscape,” said Melissa Kogut, executive director of Chefs Collaborative.

Chefs Collaborative also established the Pioneers Table to recognize individuals who have made longstanding and exemplary efforts in transforming the sustainable food landscape.  The organization will add new honorees each year.  The inaugural members of The Pioneers Table, selected by the Chefs Collaborative Board, are true pioneers who broke with tradition early on to pave the way for legions of chefs and culinary professionals.  The honorees are:

·       Carrie Balkcom, Executive Director of the American Grassfed Association and past longtime board member of Chefs Collaborative.

·       Chef Rick Bayless of Frontera, Topolobampo, and XOCO restaurants in Chicago and former president of the Chefs Collaborative Board.

·       Chef Jesse Cool of Flea Street Café and Cool Café as well as a former member of the Chefs Collaborative board.

·       Chef Peter Hoffman of Savoy and Back Forty restaurants in NY and past longtime board member and former president of the Chefs Collaborative Board.

·       Chef Odessa Piper, a past successful restaurant owner, a champion of regional foods, and former board member.

·       Chef Susan Spicer of Bayona and Mondo in New Orleans, was a founding board member of Chefs Collaborative.

·       Chef Ann Cooper, known as our nation’s renegade lunch lady, was the first vice-chair of the Chefs Collaborative board.

·       Chef Michel Nischan of the Dressing Room in CT is founder of Wholesome Wave Foundation, and former board member of Chefs Collaborative.

·       Dun Gifford, President of Oldways, until his untimely death in May. Sara Baer-Sinnott accepted the award for Dun.

·       Joan Dye Gussow, professor emeritus and former head of the nutrition education department at Columbia and a past, longtime member of the Chefs Collaborative board.