Chefs Collaborative

Like most Tuesdays, I was working from home yesterday.  At lunchtime I took my two dogs out for a quick stroll around the three wooded acres where we live.   When we approached my tiny patch of sunlit garden nestled among the trees, I was surprised to see something that definitely hadn’t been there the day before: Five little Marfax bean seedlings had broken through their covering of compost, still bean-capped, leafless and bent over, they were nevertheless making their way towards the sun.  I’ve been gardening for years, and I love it, but I surprised even myself with the childish glee with which I observed the seedlings.  There is a reason there are so many cliché sayings about planting seeds.  I could suddenly see my whole bean-filled summer garden unfolding before my eyes, and I had equally vivid images of my bean-filled belly come harvest-time this fall!

All over New England, this little bean miracle is playing out on a much larger scale than in my tiny garden.  Marfax beans are one of the sixteen varieties of heirloom vegetables we’ve asked twenty-eight farmers in the Providence, Portsmouth, and Boston areas to grow for the RAFT (Renewing America’s Food Traditions) Grow-Out project Chefs Collaborative is piloting this year.  When their much larger fields of Marfax beans are mature, we have thirty-five chefs lined up, eager to buy, feature and promote them on their menus.  At Chefs Collaborative, we hope that the community building we’re promoting during the Grow-Out establishes connections between farmers and chefs that grow beyond the bounds of the project.  But community building will not be the only source of interesting connections to come out of this project; growing Marfax beans establishes a significant connection between all the participants and the rich agricultural history of New England.

The origins of the Marfax bean are mostly lost, but we know they have been grown in New England for over a century.  Some sources suggest they were a favorite among the logging camp cooks in Maine, who floated their bean rafts (think food truck on a raft) down Maine’s rivers, feeding loggers their four times-daily meals of beans.  The camp cooks were not only unique in their distribution of baked beans, they also cooked them in an interesting way.  In a method most likely learned from Native Americans, camp cooks cooked their beans in a “bean hole:” a rock-lined fire pit in the ground where the pot of beans was buried to slowly cook from residual heat held by the stones.  Many Mainers continue the bean hole tradition at outdoor fairs and festivals, and at MOFGA’s (Maine Organic Farming and Gardening Association) annual Common Ground Fair, the Marfax bean is one of the favorite beans for the bean hole!

The beans are medium-small, roundish, and golden-tan colored.  They have a rich flavor and are great for baked beans.  I know I’ll be torn when it comes to using my small crop of Marfax beans – should I dig a bean hole for a historic taste of Marfax beans, recreate a dish made by a Grow-Out chef, or come up with my own use?  Should I eat all my beans, or save a few to plant again next year?  No matter what I do, I’ll be thinking about the farmers and chefs participating in our project, and the rich history of Marfax beans throughout New England.  In future blog posts, I’ll be writing about Grow-Out farms and restaurants, not my own garden… but yesterday, those five little seedlings really brought this project home for me.

- Anne Obelnicki, RAFT Grow-Out Project Coordinator

As the Chefs Collaborative “Yes We Can” campaign came to a close on Earth Day with the mailing of our letter to President and Mrs. Obama, restaurants around the country celebrated by serving “Yes We Can” cocktails.  Over 360 chefs and members of the culinary community signed our congratulatory letter to the Obamas, thanking them for the steps they have taken so far to change the way Americans think about food, while offering our support and expertise.

The “Yes We Can” signature cocktail was developed by Bar Chef Adam Seger of Nacional 27 of Chicago, and Culinary Consultant Robin Schempp of Right Stuff Enterprises of Waterbury, Vermont.

We encourage you to serve this cocktail at your restaurant to celebrate the progress being made towards a more sustainable food system.

Yes We Can Cocktail
This refreshing ginger-mint springtime cocktail is terrific with or without the rhubarb compote. Befitting of the Yes We Can Campaign, it is best served in a canning jar.

6 mint leaves
3/4 oz. ginger-infused, mint-infused or simple cane syrup*
3/4 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp. rhubarb compote (optional)**
3/4 oz. ginger liqueur or ginger brandy
1 1/2 oz. artisan bourbon
Garnish: 1 mint sprig and additional fruit as desired
Glass: canning jar (e.g., Ball or Mason jar)

Muddle the mint leaves, cane syrup and lemon juice in a mixing glass. Add rhubarb compote (if using), ginger liqueur and bourbon. Stir or shake, then strain into canning jar filled with crushed or shaved ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint additional fruit if desired.

*For Syrup: 1:1 ratio of cane sugar to water, steeped for at least one hour with ginger and/or mint, if desired.

**For Rhubarb Compote: 2 pounds rhubarb, rinsed, ends trimmed, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces, combined with 1 1/2 cups sugar and simmered until broken down but still rosy colored (makes about 1 qt.).

Today marks the 39th anniversary of Earth Day, which was founded by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin in 1969.  During that time  there was growing concern about the threats of overpopulation and the effect on the environment.  Senator Nelson believed that  environmental issues should play an integral part of the national agenda.

In the past thirty-nine years Earth Day has been observed in a variety of ways:  tree plantings, beautification campaigns,  and the implementation of recycling and conservation programs across the country.  And, in the past few decades, there has been growing interest and understanding around the impact of our food purchasing decisions on our environment.

For the past five years, Chefs Collaborative has partnered with Organic Valley on their Earth Dinner initiative by recruiting member restaurants to host meals in their restaurants around Earth Day.  Earth Dinners are a celebration of our connection to our food, the earth, and one another and provide chefs with a great opportunity to share their passion for local, sustainable, and organic food with the dining public.

This year, we have 17 members hosting Earth Dinners around the country.  Check out the list of participating Chefs Collaborative member restaurants below, or click here to learn how you can host your own Earth Dinner.  Happy Earth Day, and happy eating!

Please call restaurants directly for reservations and information.

American Flatbread
Burlington, VT
802-861-2999

Basta Trattoria
New Haven, CT
203-772-1715

Border Grill
Santa Monica, CA
310-451-1655

Channel Cafe
Boston, MA
617-426-0695

Ciudad
Los Angeles, CA
213-486-5171

Claire’s Corner Copia
New Haven, CT
203-562-3888-

Delegates Dining Room at the United Nations
New York, NY
212-963-7626
*This is a lunch event

Diane’s Market Kitchen
Seattle, WA
206-624-6114

The Dogwood Restaurant
Baltimore, MD
410-889-0952

Elephants Delicatessen
Portland, OR
503-224-3955

Flea Street Cafe
Menlo Park, CA
650-854-1226

Illium Cafe
Troy, NY
518-272-3013

Main Market Co-op at the Glover Mansion
Spokane, WA
509-209-2395

Sola Restaurant
Chicago, IL
773-327-3868

Something’s Fishy Catering
Bethel, CT
203-722-2444

Taste at the Seattle Art Museum
Seattle, WA
206-903-5291

Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro
Foxboro, MA
508-203-9463

Tosca
Troy, NY
518-272-3013

This past weekend Cochon 555, a traveling competition between five chefs that celebrates and promotes heritage breeds of pigs, came to the Liberty Hotel in Boston.  Hundreds of people came out to sample the culinary preparations of chefs Jamie Bissonette, Toro; Joseph Margate, Clink; Matt Jennings, Farmstead; Tony Maws, Craigie on Main; and Jason Bond, Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro and taste a variety of heritage breeds.

I was excited to be one of twenty judges that deliberated over the presentation, utilization, and taste of the chefs preparations.  The judging took over three hours, and in the end we were won over by chef Matt Jennings’ preparation of a Red Wattle hog.

Chef Jennings’ menu included delicious charcuterie prepared from the jowl, cheek, tongue, and snout of the hog; a simple and flavorful tortilla filled with carnitas, Rhode Island queso fresco, pickled onion and cilantro; and the memorable boudin noir torte with chili & chocolate and pig brain whip (which is made by boiling down the brain with heavy cream, and oddly enough tastes like CoolWhip).

Cochon 555 is just one of many efforts going on across the country to raise awareness about heritage breeds of livestock by celebrating their unique flavors.  As part of the Renewing America’s Food Traditions alliance, Chefs Collaborative is working with Slow Food USA and the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy to restore agricultural biodiversity and celebrate heirloom varieties of produce, heritage breeds of livestock, and traditional preparation methods.  More and more chefs and home cooks are interested in these breeds.  In fact, the latest issue of Bon Appetit features a whole section on heritage breeds of pigs with accompanying recipes.  For more information on how to work with whole animals and heritage breeds of livestock, download our Pork Report.

Events and programs like these will help to ensure many memorable and delicious meals to come!

“Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms,” by Nicolette Hahn Niman, should be on the must-read list of anyone who cares about a sustainable food supply.

This well-written memoir tells the personal story of the author’s own initiation to the disturbing practices of hog factory farms as an attorney working with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. ; her introduction to “traditional” farmers and ranchers using environmentally sound practices; and about her own transition from lawyer to environmental activist and to the life she lives with husband Bill Niman on their ranch in Bolinas, California.

I could not put this book down.  Just when a question was forming in my mind, Nicolette answered it clearly and plainly.  Unfortunately, most of this country’s meat, poultry and dairy products come from an industrial system that fails with respect to the environment, public health, animal welfare, and flavor.  We all have a responsibility to make informed food purchasing decisions and this book goes a long way to provide both the background on our food system and practical alternatives.

Perhaps the most useful section of this fantastic book is on how to find sustainably produced foods.  Nicolette shares a framework for making her own purchasing decisions, how she gets information about where her food comes from and how it was raised or produced, where to find foods, and how to make decisions when dining out.

I am privileged to know Nicolette Hahn Niman because she serves on the Board of Chefs Collaborative.  She is tremendously knowledgeable about the animal confinement industry and alternatives.

I encourage anyone intersted in fostering a more sustainable food supply, how their food tastes, a healthy environment, and humane treatment of animals to read this book!

Read on for further commentary:

“Finally, a book that can help everyday Americans understand what’s at stake as a result of our factory animal systems.  A great, common sense and steady read.”
–Michel Nischan, chef, Dressing Room; president, Wholesome Wave Foundation

“A searing, and utterly convincing, indictment of modern meat production.  But the book brims with hope, too, and charts a practical (and even beautiful) path out of the jungle.”
–Michael Pollan, author, Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food

–Melissa Kogut, Executive Director, Chefs Collaborative

Over the past week, Chefs Collaborative hosted kick-off events for 27 farms and 30 restaurants participating in the 2009 Renewing America’s Food Traditions New England Grow-Out in Providence, RI; Portsmouth, NH; and Cambridge, MA.

We were lucky enough to have great hosts: Matt & Kate Jennings of Farmstead & La Laiterie Bistro in Providence, Evan and Denise Mallet of Black Trumpet Bistro in Portsmouth, and Tony Maws of Craigie on Main in Cambridge.  Through the Grow-Out we’re facilitating partnerships between farmers who have agreed to grow heirloom varieties of New England produce during the 2009 growing season and chefs who are committed to cooking with these varieties and promoting them on their restaurant menus.

We distributed a variety of heirloom seeds to the that will yield traditional New England favorites like the Trophy Tomato, Early Blood Rooted Turnip Beets, Boston Marrow Squash, and Boothby Blond  Cucumbers — and the farmers weren’t the only ones excited by the varieties.  At each of the meetings, participant chefs commented on how honored they felt to work with these varieties and to play a role in supporting agricultural biodiversity.

In these last (let’s hope) days of New England winter, the sweet, earthy smell of Gilfeather Turnip seeds was a kind reminder of spring and all the great flavors that are sure to come.

The Renewing America’s Food Traditions project is an alliance between Slow Food USA, Chefs Collaborative, Gary Nabhan, Ph.D, and the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.  Click here to learn more!

by Robin Schempp

As the whirl of Thanksgiving comes to a close I am ever more grateful to the farmers and food producers who have taken seriously the messages of “real bounty” from early Thanksgivings. These are the folks creating a food supply we can be proud of.

A handful of farms, ranches, and programs like the Renewing America’s Food Traditions collaboration and Slow Food’s Ark of Taste work hard at preserving biodiversity and rescuing, restoring, and promoting rare and heritage produce and livestock so that we no longer have to consider them (or that way of eating) endangered.

Sadly, the battle for a more diverse food supply just got harder for Arie McFarlen, a member of the Slow Food Ark of Taste and a friend to the RAFT coalition. News that Maveric Ranch suffered a completely devastating barn fire the week before Thanksgiving hits not only our friend hard but also the rare breeds themselves. You can read below for more details on Arie’s farm and her loss, but first: Maveric Ranch needs your help.

We share Arie’s love for rare breeds and her mission for a better food supply. Please consider doing something a little extra this holiday season for the sake of the ranch and the breeds. Hold an event, pass the hat, send a percentage of the proceeds–or just make a direct donation.

Send a check to:

Endangered Hog Foundation

Maveric Heritage Ranch Co.

47869-242nd St.

Dell Rapids, South Dakota 57022

In addition to personal and beloved family animals and the 100-year-old barn itself, McFarlen lost several rare Mulefoot hog sows and their litter of piglets, an important breeding Guinea hog boar, and an even more rare Wessex Saddleback boar (one of 11 in the U.S.) Attempts to rescue the animals were unsuccessful given the electrical fire, which burned at 2,000 degrees, was so intense it melted the metal farm implements.

They were able to release the pigs from the pens around the barn to escape the heat, however, many were burned and have suffered smoke inhalation. Although they are still nursing the injured animals day and night, the McFarlens continue to lose animals daily.

Although the newer barn was saved, the McFarlens lost power to the entire farm, including the ability to pump water. All the winter feed (approximately 1,000 bales of alfalfa, tools, watering troughs and feeders, buckets, piglet pens,  power cords, winter heaters, saddles and other horse gear, fencing supplies and construction materials were completely destroyed.

A note from Arie reads:

“We cannot replace our rare breed pigs. They simply do not exist. Our work for nearly ten years has been to preserve and save the breeds of these pigs. We cannot begin to express our sense of loss over these animals, not just from our lives, but from all future generations.

This tragedy has made it even more clear to us that rare breeds are in a very precarious situation. At any moment, a disaster, accident, or disease could take another species from this planet.

Our friends have already begun to rally around us and offer support. We have recieved many calls and emails from the folks at Slow Food USA, Animal Welfare Institute, American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, and Dakota Rural Action. With all of this encouragement, we feel compelled to persevere and ensure that future generations are able to raise and enjoy these breeds, and that the biodiversity of pigs is preserved.

The Endangered Hog Foundation has been established to help us rebuild and continue work with endangered pig breeds. We intend to carry on with our DNA research, breeding program, establishing new breeders and promoting endangered pigs.

We’ve already begun the clean-up process and will begin construction of a facility to continue working with our pigs as soon as spring arrives in South Dakota. Temporary measures to provide for the pigs during the upcoming winter are underway.

We need your help. Our immediate needs are for physical labor to help with clean-up and building temporary shelter to winter the pigs. We also need to find a source of alfalfa hay square bales, to obtain portable shelter for the pigs due to farrow in early 2009, hog equipment, and hand tools.

Donations can be sent to the “Endangered Hog Foundation” in care of Maveric Heritage Ranch Co. at the address below, or visit our web page at www.maveric9.com.

Thank you to everyone who has offered support. I cannot describe how it feels to stand in a place of profound grief and intense gratitude at the same time. We will carry on through the support and love of our friends.” –Arie McFarlen, PhD, Maveric Heritage Ranch Co.

If 2008 had proof of a summer,  it was Bruce Sherman’s anise-hyssop sorbet. Served after the James Beard Foundation Awards, the sorbet shared the table with the potted herb that gave it its flavor and its name.

Visit Sherman’s Chicago restaurant North Pond in the winter, and dessert will perfectly suit that time, too. A self-defined “seasonal cook,” Sherman links his dishes–both savory and sweet–with the year’s cycle, and that dedication shows throughout his menus.

Sometimes, working seasonally means looking in a different field. “For me, talking about farm to menu, it doesn’t mean exclusively local,” Sherman says. “In the wintertime, we use citrus, and we use a farm in California. That’s not local at all, but it’s seasonal; that’s what we do.”

“I think there’s a misunderstanding about what people who support local are about. I’m a seasonal cook first and a local cook second. Local is not the be-all-and-end-all for me. Seasonal is. In the late spring and summer and early fall, it’s great because the two work together.”

Sherman balances imagination with practicality. His aim is “to work seasonally and offer a creative, diverse menu that satisfies the diner, the cook, and the cash register.” It’s a balancing act. There’s always something chocolate on the menu–but the seasons have their say.

Sometimes, that’s about planning ahead. In cold months, Sherman works with fresh fruit from California, Florida, or Texas, but he also makes use  of stored things, such as dried fruits and preserves. Listening to him describe a cool weather dessert (a nougat glace on pain d’ epice sponge served with house-made cherry jam), it’s easy to long for winter.

Sherman revels in the changing challenges of the year. “Each season has its own pleasures in that it’s new again every year. My analogy is snow, because we live in Chicago. People look forward to the first snowfall of the year, and it’s always a magical thing. It last a couple of months, until it becomes a burden to shovel and navigate around. By the end of the season, people are glad it’s not going to snow again and bitter about how much precipitation there is.”

“And it’s no different with–plug in a fruit or plug in a vegetable: leeks, apricots–people may be tired of using them or eating them by the end of their season, but when they become available again, people really look forward to them. For me, it’s a real shortcoming of living in a place where there are no seasons, when things are available all year. Some of the magic is gone.”

As this year cools and darkens, Sherman is working with squash and Jerusalem artichokes and chestnuts. “We just started getting these awesome apples,” he says, his tone of voice sounding as if autumn fruits were the definition of luxury.

A little something stored, a little something from the farm, and a whole lot of inspiration from the season…Bruce Sheman is making sustainability sweet indeed.

–Seanan Forbes, www.creativedichotomies.com

It’s been a month since I spent 36 hours on a shrimp boat on Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans, sorting  twitching white shrimp by size, fighting with crabs, and trying to toss baby croaker back overboard before they died. I went right before Chefs Collaborative presented a panel on the shrimp industry for the Women Chefs and Restaurateurs conference.

Why has it taken me so long to write about this trip? Well, in part, fall is a busy time of year here at Chefs Collaborative–we’re stacked with fundraising events, harvest festivals, speaking engagements, and piles of regular old desk work.

That’s my excuse. But the real reason might be that the trip was humbling. We got caught in a big storm–seasickness ensued–and I spent two nights in a tiny bunk under a scratchy blanket without my toothbrush. I peed in a bucket.

When Ray Brandhurst, the boat captain, called me into the wheelhouse to tell me he didn’t intend to bring me out on the boat to do actual work,  I told him it was fine-fun, even-because I didn’t have to do it again tomorrow.

But he did. He’s still out there, pulling 16, 22, 36-hour stints on the water, trying to haul in as much shrimp as he can before it gets too cold and the shimp migrate offshore. Sometimes his deckhands disappear, so Ray works alone, driving the boat, searching for shrimp, hauling nets, sorting the stuff, cleaning up, and starting over.

If he sells his shrimp to processors, he can barely get $2 per pound for it. Operating this way causes shrimpers like Ray to lose money. Meanwhile, fixed costs for commercial fishermen keep rising, as does everyone’s cost of living, and we continue to import over 90% of our shrimp supply from shrimp farms in developing countries like Thailand, India, and China–flooding the market and driving down domestic prices.

Between the low prices at the dock, the rising operating costs, and the competition from cheap farm-raised imports, the odds are stacked against someone trying to make a living this way.

That’s why Ray and his wife Kay have taken on a second job–marketing, sales, promotion and shipping of their shrimp. They target restaurants and chefs in markets that are less saturated with fresh head-on shell-on shrimp than their own. Places like San Francisco, Boston, and New York are prime markets for this great domestic product, and when you can get it delivered to your door less than 48 hours out of the water, you can’t argue with the quality. By going directly to the end user, the Brandhursts get a better return on their investment of equipment, time, and labor.

And the benefit goes both ways. Chefs pay a little less than they would for a premium product that goes through traditional supply channels, and diners get an experience: the sweet-briny taste of the shrimp and the story behind it.

Until the FDA steps up their efforts to ban shrimp imports of questionable quality, domestic shrimpers will continue to get obscenely low prices at the dock. It’s an unfair situation with at least one relatively straightforward solution.

Whether they’re buying direct from a shrimper like Ray, or going through their purveyors to get spot prawns, Maine pinks, and other shrimp harvested in a sustainable manner, chefs and consumers can choose to support this domestic industry. It’s one way we can help change the game.

I already had a soft spot for Tom Stearns, president of High Mowing Seeds, a participant in the Renewing America’s Food Traditions project–he has infectious energy and great ideas for revitalizing local agriculture. And sometimes, Pete’s Greens show up in a market here in Boston–grower Pete Johnson’s season-extending skills mean we can have Vermont greens in Boston in December. Oh, and Bayley Hazen blue cheese from nearby  Jasper Hill Farm…in terms of building functional, thriving local food systems, Vermont’s got it going on.

And, as reported by the New York Times, they’re organized, too!