Chefs Collaborative

This post comes from journalist Barry Estabrook who wrote last week on his site, politicsoftheplate.com,  about the most recent Gulf of Maine cod stock assessments, which don’t look good. Stock assessments are complex endeavors, as our director Melissa Kogut learned recently, and scientists and fishermen often have divergent opinions on the outcome, as this Times article noted yesterday. Whether the question is about one species or an entire ecosystem in need of rebuilding, we New Englanders wish the cod stocks a speedy recovery.

Are the embattled populations of Atlantic cod collapsing or making a comeback?

It depends on who you ask and when you ask it.

Fishermen and fisheries officials were taken aback earlier this month by an initial assessment of Gulf of Maine cod populations conducted by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Patricia Fiorelli, a spokeswoman for the New England Fishery Management Council, said in an interview after a preliminary draft of the assessment was issued. “There is a lot of speculation that cod populations are dramatically lower than anyone expected.”

The new findings fly directly in the face of a NOAA assessment conducted in 2008. That study presented an optimistic picture for New England cod, saying that the once-decimated population was no longer overfished and was rebuilding rapidly. The discrepancy may be explained by overfishing, or lower-than-projected reproductive rates. Fisheries scientists are currently reviewing the new assessment and will issue their final report early in 2012. “We won’t know for sure until then,” said Fiorelli.

Meanwhile, a group of Canadian researchers writing in a July issue of the journal Nature, reported that the populations of cod and other bottom-dwelling predators on the Scotian Shelf, a shallow area east of Nova Scotia, are finally rebounding. In 1992, the Canadian government put in place what was to be a two-year moratorium on cod fishing after a sudden, catastrophic collapse in the 500-year-old commercial fishery. For some reason, even with fishing banned, the populations did not begin to recover for more than a decade. No one could explain why.

The answer to that mystery may provide an important lesson for American fisheries managers. “This recovery is about an entire ecosystem reestablishing itself, not just about the recovery of cod,” said William Leggett, a biology professor at Queen’s University in Ontario and one of four authors of the Nature paper.

Leggett said that when overfishing dramatically reduced the population of cod, haddock, and other so-called groundfish, the smaller, minnow-like forage fish that they normally preyed on underwent an uncontrolled population explosion—900 percent over the ensuing decade. These small fish in turn ate the eggs and larvae of groundfish, consuming any young that the few surviving cod produced. Eventually, the population of smaller fish became so great that there wasn’t enough food to sustain them. Scarcity of food caused them to begin dying off, whereupon groundfish populations finally began to rebound. Today, Scotia cod have climbed back to 30 percent of their historical population levels. Haddock populations are even bigger than before the collaspse.

“Fisheries management has to be evolving toward having a broader, ecosystem-wide approach,” said Leggett, “not just focusing on individual species.”

The good news is that the job of rebuilding fish stocks may be easier in waters off the United States than those off Nova Scotia. Leggett noted that in New England, dogfish—which are scarce in Canada—are abundant and prey on smaller fish that would otherwise eat the juveniles of species like cod improving the odds that the population will bounce back and do so in less time.

For the Gulf of Maine’s iconic Atlantic cod, recovery can’t come soon enough.

—Barry Estabrook

by Jen Ede, Development & Marketing Associate, Chefs Collaborative

Chefs: at the end of your shift tonight, head into your walk-in and throw half the contents away. Producers: walk straight past your stall at the local farmer’s market and place a quarter of your vegetables directly into the dumpster. Eaters: when visiting a restaurant, tell the server not to bother bringing the second half of your entree. It’ll save time, embarrassment, and a nasty smell in the back of your fridge if it goes directly into the trash.

Photo property of myzerowaste.com

We wouldn’t dream of doing this, right? No, but the fact is, we do, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal. These scenarios fairly accurately illustrate how we as a society deal with excess food. From the fields to distribution centers, to supermarkets, restaurants and fast food chains, to your home and into your garbage – and then out to the landfill – the supply chain that brings us an abundance of food also lets huge amounts of food fall through the cracks. Namely, between 25 and 50% of it, depending on how conservative (or optimistic) you’d like to be with your guestimate.

The realities of food waste have been even more on my mind lately, given both my job at Chefs Collaborative and my own personal Depression-era sensibilities. At the Collaborative, we talk a lot about how to effectively build sustainable supply chains that benefit all stakeholders. Addressing what happens to food waste is as important to a sustainable food system as addressing the supply. This is an issue that many in our network are actively grappling with. What if we brought the issue of food waste to the forefront of our discourse when we talk about a sustainable food supply? What if, alongside “where do you source your meat and your produce?”, consumers learned to ask “how does your restaurant deal with food waste?”, and chefs asked farmers and distributors the same question?

I just finished reading “American Wasteland”, in which the author, Jonathon Bloom, argues that food waste is not as simple as teaching people to clean their plates. But, I believe that addressing food waste begins with the consumer and that businesses change their practices – for the worse or for the better – to give consumers what they want.

On the farm, produce that is irregularly shaped and not appealing to consumers or is too fragile to ship is left to rot. (See Barry Estabrook’s Tomatoland, for a prime example of how one highly-shippable, highly symmetrically-shaped vegetable nearly killed him as he drove along the interstate in Florida.)  Distribution results in another 10-15% loss of even the hardier produce, then still more is thrown out after hitting grocery store shelves.

On the other end of the food production spectrum are the “value-added” meals that consumers get when dining out from fast food joints, buffets, caterers, and restaurants. 4-10% gets thrown out by kitchens, 17% of meals are thrown out untouched by customers, and 55% of leftovers will stay on the table after the customer leaves.

Clearly the point to make is, there are opportunities to minimize waste – from the farm to the kitchen to the table.

Food waste needs to be a part of the conversation about sustainability, because after all, as much as we are what we eat, we are also, I’d argue, what we throw away. The above suggestions are just three ways you can minimize food waste. Please feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments section or by visiting us on Facebook and Twitter.

Sources:

http://www.americanwastelandbook.com/

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/from-farm-to-fridge-to-garbage-can/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703440004575548391291973152.html?

This month we put the spotlight on Cara Rosaen, Co-Founder & Director of Vegetable Outreach of Real Time Farms, Chefs Collaborative member & recent sponsor of the 2011 National Summit in New Orleans. Real Time Farms is a crowd-sourced online food guide based in Ann Arbor, Michigan that aims to connect and educate producers, chefs, and eaters alike on where exactly their food comes from. Their mission: to collectively document the entire food system. Sound a little intense? You just haven’t met Cara.

Let’s start with the basics: You co-founded Real Time Farms with your husband, Karl Rosaen, describing it as a “for-profit social venture” and “crowd-sourced online food guide.” What exactly does all that mean?

Our mission is a social one: collectively document the food system, so people can make informed decisions about what they eat.

How did you personally become involved in the world of sustainable food?

In that same vein, where did the inspiration for Real Time Farms come from? Was there a specific “lightbulb moment?”

I’d love to say there was a moment of revelation, but no. We were troubled about the current state of the food system. After a lot of research into our own local food system, we were delighted to find a set of great options for what to eat. Bad news, it took a lot of work to learn about where our food came from and how to find food we felt good about eating.

Many months of talking with farmers, vendors, and restaurant owners later, we got to the heart of what people really needed.

People really needed a single location, where they could intimately connect to the people, stories, and information about where their food comes from, so they could easily find food they feel good about eating.

Director of Vegetable Outreach sounds like a pretty cool job title. What is your favorite part of your job?

Working with people: chefs, farmers, students, and other community members who have a real passion to lift the veil on what we eat and empower people with the knowledge to make informed decisions.

What would you classify as a couple major accomplishments since Real Time Farms’s founding in 2010?

• Launching the first ever tools for diners to trace their food back to the farm. Working with 60+ of the top restaurants so far to change the way people know food.
• Our launch of the Food Warrior Program – an educational internship for students across the country to learn, document, and immerse themselves in their food system.
• Being asked to speak at TEDxManhattan Change The Way We Eat this January, after attending last year, in awe of presenters such as Josh Viertel, Britta Riley, and Curt Ellis.
• Capturing data on 4000K farms and food artisans, 6500+ farmers markets, and now 60+ restaurants.

How does the service Real Time Farms provides benefit to chefs?

We provide web tools to meaningfully communicate the depth of what they do – the stories of each of their ingredients and their purveyors. This builds consumer trust and appreciation for what they are eating, which will undoubtedly mean repeat customers.

By connecting their menu to an ever growing community guide of farms and food artisans, we are bringing that menu to life. Not only do diners get answers to questions before walking in the door such as ”how was beef raised?”, “the lettuce grown?”, but they are also learning the stories, and seeing the pictures of the people and places that the chef knows so well but doesn’t have the time to share.

For example, here’s a bird’s eye view of Chefs Collaborative member Seth Caswell’s emmer&rye.

Here is their farm-linked menu on Real Time Farms and on their own website.

Click on any ingredient, see the farm name. Click on the farm name, and you are brought to a rich profile with stories, images, and more on the farm or food artisan.

Now when they update their menu on Real Time Farms, it updates their menu on their own site automatically, with all of the sourcing information – saving the time and money that would need to go into telling the individual stories of each purveyor and artisan.

How can our members get involved in Real Time Farms’s mission?

If you are a chef, try our web tools to tell your menu’s story. (Free 2-week trial. $40/month after that.)

If you are a farmer, fisherman, rancher, or food artisan, add yourself to Real Time Farms. (Free.)

If you are an eater (that’s all of us), play around on the site, and share what you know. (Free.)

Why are you a member of Chefs Collaborative?

To get to know all the partners of the food web, so we can build useful tools to trace each part.

With the holidays coming up, everyone’s got menus on the brain – any favorite dishes/ingredients this time of year?

This is not gourmet of me at all, and maybe not politically correct, but I really like canned cranberries.

We don’t judge!

Feel free to contact Cara with any more questions at cara@realtimefarms.com or at 650-814-7796.

Anyone can register on RealTimeFarms.com for free; sign up and add your favorite local restaurants, farms, artisans and markets to their ever-growing database.

Reflections by Melissa Kogut, executive director, Chefs Collaborative

NOAA Ship R/V Henry B. Bigelow

Who should we be paying attention to when it comes to getting definitive information about the health of our domestic fish stocks?  Government scientists, ocean conservation groups and NGO’s (non-governmental organizations), fishermen…?  All the parties play important roles in contributing data and analysis.  The fact is that it’s complicated!  And, it’s no wonder there is a lot of tension about the topic – the state of our seafood supply and livelihood of fishermen are at stake.

So when I received an invitation to participate in the Marine Resource Education Program, a two-day course in fish population science, I jumped at the chance.  The program was developed to bridge the gap of understanding between New England’s fishing industry leaders and the fishery science community.  I set out to better understand why there are discrepancies in fish stock assessments and differences of opinion among the stakeholders.   It was also an opportunity to better understand the perceptions of commercial fishermen.

For organizations like Chefs Collaborative, that educate chefs about cooking with sustainable seafood, I believe we have a responsibility to see the big picture in all its complexity.

The training program, sponsored by NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and led by a team based at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, seeks to empower fishermen with information so that they can effectively participate in the management process and to facilitate trust and relationships among the various stakeholders.

I had plenty of opportunity to talk with commercial fishermen and got an earful.  Fishermen, who have had to roll with new policies and catch limits, bear a huge burden when they must adapt to ever-changing rules.  (For example, with the new sector rules for groundfishing in the northeast, permits are issued to participating fishing vessels based on their fish landings-history over a 10-year period.  One fisherman told me that he was forced to sell one of his fishing vessels for well below what he still owed the bank because it hadn’t targeted groundfish heavily during those 10 years and therefore didn’t qualify for an adequate quota.)

There is an overall perception in the fishing community that their opinions do not matter and that when they go to meetings and express their opinions nothing happens.   It was clear to me in listening to their questions and comments that fishermen know a lot about the habits of fish, where they are, and how to catch them.  There is often frustration expressed that fish stocks are assessed from faulty data – that scientists look for fish in the wrong places or use the wrong gear – or that conclusions are drawn about overfishing when there may be other explanations for the absence of fish (such as the fact that fish move around).  Fishermen have useful information to contribute  and scientists encourage them  to be actively a part of the assessment process.

One of the big questions from fishermen was, “why does it take so damn long between when data is collected and when it’s used in management?”  They complain that catch limits are often set using dated information.  We saw first hand one of the reasons it takes so long – there is such a volume of data to be gathered and analyzed.  Quality control is essential for accuracy in assessments – it can’t be rushed!  (Of course, once the data is released, the policy-making  takes a long time too.)

Taking out the otolith at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC)

Just as an example, we witnessed one tool scientists use to determine the age of a fish – removing and examining the otolith, a small hard structure found in a fish’s head (we have them in our heads as well – it’s what gives us balance).  Once removed, the otoliths are sliced and mounted in plastic, labeled for each fish, and then  are viewed under a microscope to count the rings (just like counting tree rings).  This information is compared with other information about each fish to give a complete picture.  50,000 to 100,000 otoliths are aged each year for dozens of fish species just to understand the current population structure!

NOAA maintains a warehouse with millions of biological samples (ear bones, stomach contents, etc.) and reams of data on catch and distribution, collected over decades!

After two days of seeing scientists at work – at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) in Woods Hole, MA, at the NOAA gear facility and Northeast Observer Program in Pocasset, MA, and on the R/V Henry B. Bigelow – NOAA’s research vessel – in Newport, RI, I was blown away by the commitment of the scientists to getting it right.  The fishermen in the program with me were as well.

What did I walk away with after seeing all this science and research in action and talking to fishermen?

• A renewed commitment to understanding the complexity of assessing our fish stocks and how to manage them.  It’s not as simple as looking at a red, green, yellow seafood watch list – though these lists provide some helpful basic information.
• Fishermen need to be actively part of the process when setting policy for managing our fish stocks.  At the end of the day, stewardship is about routine, daily decisions.
• NOAA needs adequate funding to do its important research.  The better and more thorough the data the more that policy will be set based on complete information.
• Chefs Collaborative does a pretty good job helping our member chefs understand that they have access to more information than the average consumer and what questions to ask.  A fisherman or trusted seafood purveyor can tell a chef about how and where the fish was caught and the state of the stock.
• Chefs can play an influential role in supporting fishing communities as well as in shaping policy.  Many of our members around the country can share stories about how they are doing that.

I returned home with feelings of respect for the fishermen and scientists who work hard and are good at what they do.  We need home-grown fishing businesses to thrive because these fishermen have great knowledge about sustainable fishing practices and if we lose them we lose that expertise and a way of life for good.  Quality research, participation of fishermen in accurate stock assessments and policy-making, and sound policy based on reliable data will go a long way in successful fish stock management.  But, overfishing is not the only consideration.  Addressing the causes of pollution and climate change are major factors as well.

Check out Green Chefs, Blue Ocean, the online sustainable seafood tutorial for chefs and culinary students developed by Chefs Collaborative and Blue Ocean Institute for more information.

Also, we welcome your thoughts about addressing issues around sustainable seafood.

New Orleans: Chefs Collaborative National Summit 2011

Something happened to me in New Orleans during the Chefs Collaborative National Summit. Problem is I don’t know what it is just yet. What I can tell you is that I fell in love with the city more than any other place I have ever been. Some might say that’s because of the “Bourbon Street Buzz” but although that was fun, its not the reason. The architecture and history remind me of walking through the streets of Logrono, Spain the capital city of Rioja. Every time the wind would change direction you would get a new aroma drifting by that you just want to follow as if you were in a cartoon looking for that apple pie in the window. I can close my eyes right now and smell the distinct aroma of the French Market, the coffee shops and even the smoke filled Jazz bars had a distinct aroma that fit the venue. The sounds of music, all types of music from every type of bar you can imagine filled the streets well into the nights.

The group of people from all over the country assembled for the 2011 Chefs Collaborative National Summit was amazing. Chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, ranchers, fisherman, conservation and sustainability experts all gathered to learn, share and have fun in a city with so much to offer the rest of the country. What was very humbling to me was the sense of pride that I sensed from every local chef that cooked for us during the 3 day non stop feast of some of the most unique and delicious food I have had in a long time. No foams, sous vide or multi-level presentations, just local chefs cooking the food they love to eat. It was if they each told a story about themselves with every bite of every meal. These chefs all want you to feel the pride they feel when they cook. When they speak they speak from the soul. They make you feel the passion they have for their culture, their food traditions and each other. It was such an emotional experience for me personally to hear every chef, and I mean every chef talk about the other chefs in the city and not themselves. No competition, no egos, just so real that I will forever strive to emulate these amazing people who cook because they just plain love to cook.

Another almost surreal experience was being able to walk up to some chefs that I have looked up to for years and just say thank you for their inspiration. Chefs like Michael Leviton and Sam Hayward, Susan Spicer and many more are so humble yet have a presence that will always inspire me when I put my chef jacket on.

The Chefs Collaborative team did such an amazing job putting this together, the discussions, demos and networking opportunities were all very informative and I feel much more prepared to work on some of the projects I have been wanting to start but haven’t had the proper knowledge to get the ball rolling.

The thing Ill remember most about this trip though…….the company I had with me. A small group of us that just thought alike to the point of being somewhat creepy. We had remarkable conversations about each others kitchens, projects and lives. The interest in every little conversation was too a little daunting but fascinating at the same time. A connection between people who understand each other’s labors in this profession and can work through solutions with each other all while having such a great experience.

When you first log onto the Chefs Collaborative web site the first thing you read is… Chefs Collaborative is a national chef network that’s changing the sustainable food landscape using the power of connections, education and responsible buying decisions. but in reality its so much more…By reading and thinking about each of the guiding principles (which you can read by clicking here) Chefs Collaborative is a way of life…a way of doing business…and most importantly its a family of people from around the country who are all working towards the same goals.

As I finish this up I guess I do know what happened to me in New Orleans, I became a better cook and a better chef and I hope that you will consider becoming a part of this great organization and share your experiences and best practices to achieve the vision.

Our vision: As a result of our work, sustainable practices will be second nature for every chef in the United States

Monkfish is a big, ugly fish. Nestled down into the ice among sea-robins, striped bass, oysters, and conch sits a whole monkfish, a less lucky prey hanging from its gaping, many teethed mouth, it kind of looks like a giant, killer tadpole or toad. This is dinner.

Thursday, October 13th Leigh, our Program Director, and I were fortunate enough to attend the “Nose to Tail Fin Dinner” Hosted by 606 Congress in the Boston Renaissance along with Chefs Collaborative, the Boston Chapter of Slow Food, and Bostonchefs.com. The whole monkfish, and all the other sea life, was there to let diners see just what whole-fresh fish looks like, as we passed into the private dining room for seven courses of perfectly prepared ocean bounty.

The sea-robin in the display surprised me. Growing up fishing in southern New England, sea-robin had always been a trash fish, a throw-away while trying to snag flounder.  But as the nights menu proved, changing long-standing traditions about the way we approach seafood consumption yield impressive, important, and delicious results.

As we progressed from “Live Green Sea Urchin” from New Brunswick, through Gloucester “Deep Fried Cod Tongue and Cheek” and onto, Rhode Island “Sous Vide Long Fin Squid.” Chef, and Chefs Collaborative Local leader for Boston, Rich Garcia paused to take the time to explain to us the intricacies not so much of the cooking techniques, as the ways in which these fish were caught and the relationship between the plate and the ocean, and chefs and fishermen.

Perhaps this relationship was best represented with the squid, which came complemented not just with pork belly and squash gnocchi, but a small business sized card bearing a QR barcode, a way to track where the fish was caught and by whom. The Trace and Trust technology spreading around the East Coast from Rhode Island, that we’ve often touted here.

But for me the dish that most nicely captures the evening was the “Monkfish Carpaccio.” Don’t let the fish’s appearance fool you; it is delectable. Here the fish was rolled, sliced paper thin, and served raw with its own crispy gills and skin, and a ponzu made from its liver, pushing the boundaries of what most people would think of for a seafood dinner.

It pushed the boundaries in other ways too. Monkfish is still a Red-Listed seafood by most accounts, including the venerable Monterey Bay Aquarium. As Rich pointed out, by working with the fisherman and taking the time to ask questions about his products, he knows that the particular fishery he works with has a sustainable population of monkfish. What’s more, these relationships give piece of mind that the techniques of the fisherman don’t produce the terrible seafloor damage and by-catch of large-scale, conventional fishermen.

What the monkfish and all of the dishes reflect is that while lists and guidelines make for great frameworks, we need to be more proactive. For years now, and in growing numbers, chefs have worked with farmers to source sustainable produce and, more and more, meat, practices, we need to promote and embrace in every facet of sourcing. Ask the questions; find out where your seafood is coming from and how it’s caught. Stop being a buyer and seller of food and start being a link in the complex relationship of community from start, in the ocean, field or pasture, to finish in the diner’s mouth.

“It all comes down to grain. Yes, because it’s delicious – a whole world of flavor that’s been ignored for the past 50 years – but also because it’s a critical missing link in any community’s ability to feed itself.” – Dan Barber

Whole grains for sale at Upingil Farm

On a recent visit to Upingil Farm I asked Clifford Hatch, owner and head grower, what motivated him to start growing grains. “Purely youthful rebellion,” he replied with a chuckle. His father had told him he wouldn’t be able to make any money growing grains, and Clifford set out to prove him wrong. He bought some used equipment on ebay, and slowly started integrating grains into his crop plan. Today he grows about 25 acres of organic grain on his farm in Gill, MA, selling both whole grains and his freshly milled flour to local bakeries, and occasionally using it as animal feed on his farm.

Clifford is one of several farmers rebuilding the infrastructure and knowledge base for growing grains, lost in New England after a variety of factors pushed grain production to the Midwest in the late 1800s. In the last few years, small-scale grain production has begun making a comeback.

Farm stand at Upingil Farm

While commercial grain operations grow grain for uniformity and strip most of its bran and germ during the milling process in order to extend shelf life of flour, small-scale grain production prioritizes taste and nutrition. During small batch milling, grains retain their bran and germ producing truly whole grain flour that is tastier and full of nutrition. According to Clifford, this is really one of the eureka moments for people sampling home-milled flour for the first time. It really contains the whole grain. And you can taste it.

Although there are a plethora of challenges to growing grain, as there are for growing any crop, growing grain also has an abundance of benefits for small, diversified farms. Winter wheat varieties are seeded in the fall, and can act as a cover crop over the winter, protecting the soil from harsh winds rain and snow, and then harvested the following summer. At Upingil, they often plant grain in fields that need a rest, rotating in a planting of grain between plantings of more high value crops. Hatch also mentioned “Sometimes land just needs the cleaning up.”

In addition to selling the whole grains and grinding them into flour for sale, Hatch harvests the wheat straw to use as mulch on his strawberries. He is also able to use the chaff that gets cleaned from the grains in his chicken coop. Thus, in addition to growing delicious grain, farmers see other benefits for their farm when they integrate grain into their farming system.

Flour mill at Wheatberry Bakery in Amherst, MA

From the farmer perspective, there are a many reasons to integrate grains into the farming system. For chefs, the draw to sourcing local grains should be their improved taste and nutrition. Just like you can taste the difference between a mass produced tomato and a fresh heirloom tomato just picked, you can tell the difference in taste of locally grown grain, milled in small batches.

Heritage varieties, specifically, have unique flavor and qualities that are becoming more and more desirable to bakers and chefs. These are ancient varieties of grain that have not been patented and thus growers are allowed to save the seed and re-grow them. Another key quality of heritage varieties is that over the years, they will adapt to the climate in which they are grown in. Many of these varieties are still on trial, and are not yet grown in enough quantity to be widely distributed. With enough willing farmers and gardeners to grow out these varieties, and enough willing bakers and chefs to source them, however, over the next few years we can hopefully bring back some of these ancient grains and start seeing them more regularly used in the kitchen.

Wheatberry Bakery

On my way home from Upingil, I stopped into Wheatberry Bakery in Amherst, MA. Wheatberry grows some portion of their own grains on their family farm nearby, and is doing a lot of work with heritage grain varieties. They also source some of their grain from Clifford Hatch . They bake with these in their bakery, and also run a local grain CSA, providing members with approximately 100lbs per year of ancient and heritage wheats, heirloom dry beans, milling corn, barley and rye.

I treated myself to a bran muffin to eat on my way home. I told the woman at the counter that I could just take it in a napkin. No need for a bag since I was excited to eat it as soon as possible. Pulling out of my parking spot as I bit into the muffin, I had to stop the car to fully appreciate how delicious it was. The flavor was deep and complex and I knew I was tasting the whole grain. As the bite melted away in my mouth, I couldn’t wait to take the next one. And the next. The muffin was gone before I knew it.

Whether you are a farmer, a chef, an eater, or some combination of the three, this is a call to get involved in local grains. Grains have an incredibly long history. They are the most ancient of our domesticated plants. Today, our growing, sourcing and eating of grains is history in the making. According to Sylvia Davatz of Solstice Seeds in Vermont, grain is a subject around which it is possible to feel a lot of hope. By supporting small-scale grain growers, we can relearn the delicious tastes of whole grain.

Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, blogs, or mobile apps, in the restaurant business the use of social media has become almost as instrumental as a culinary or hospitality degree.

Lynne Viera, founder of Rival Marketing and how2heroes, recently wrote about the importance of going beyond a website on Zester Daily. “The digital world offers restaurants a golden opportunity to build their brand and differentiate themselves,” she says. “They can make us feel like an integral part of the equation, instead of just another paying customer.”

These days, people expect to be able to “like” their favorite restaurant on Facebook or “check-in” during their lunch break. And what’s more—they want to do it all from their cellphones.

Marcus Samuelsson recently featured an article on his site, “How Social Media is Changing the Food World,” by Liz McCarthy. “I can take a snapshot of what I’m eating using my iPhone, upload it instantly using the Twitter app, and maybe add a hashtag (#tacos and #beer, anyone?) to guide the rest of Twitterverse to my Tweet,” she wrote.

And she isn’t the only one. Viera wrote, “Chef Brian Poe of Poe’s Kitchen at the Rattlesnake in Boston says Twitter followers helped him develop the restaurant’s signature Cinnamon Sugar Infused Vanilla Homemade Ice Cream.”

Chef Michael Leviton of Area Four takes full advantage of social media tools. He recently posted on Facebook about a “Shark Week” themed cocktail, adding a picture and an enticing description. Chef Leviton also posted the news on Twitter, reaching a second audience of followers. By using Twitter as another medium, he was able to contribute to the “Shark Week” trend. The cocktail’s pop culture relevance was a great way to advertise a hot menu item and reel in the customers.

Jumping feet first into Twitterverse can be overwhelming; but chefs now have so many options when it comes to reaching out to their clientele. Articles like Viera’s offer user-friendly tips, and self-proclaimed social media experts provide open forums for advice and information. Chris Tompkins, creator of The Social Media Chef, is a fantastic resource for chefs looking to improve (or initiate) their communication skills.

So why exactly should you jump on the media band wagon? It may be a new-age approach, but the goal is the same as it ever was: More exposure leads to more butts in seats, so use the tools at your disposal.

To get you started, here are some basic guidelines:

• To make the most out of social media, it’s important to use a combination of channels. Creating a Twitter account, linking your Facebook page to your restaurant’s website, and starting a blog are all ways to maximize the opportunities given by social media tools.
• Customers need to feel connected to your business, so capitalize on the free publicity as a way to build on that connection.
• Update regularly. It is essential to not only use these tools, but to update them on a consistent basis.
• Whether it’s a funny photo from the restaurant, a new recipe or product, or an invitation to join you for dinner, diners want remain “in the know.”
• Social media a good way to maintain a loyal customer base while catching the attention of first-timers.

To read more about the use of social media in our culinary world, check out these articles:

http://marcussamuelsson.com/news/how-social-media-is-changing-the-food-world?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MarcusSamuelsson+%28Marcus+Samuelsson%29

http://zesterdaily.com/zester-soapbox-articles/945-restaurant-marketing-social-media

Since Chefs Collaborative has been working on a cookbook project for our 20th anniversary in 2013, the staff has been giving a lot of thought to the way cookbooks and recipes are used. In the office, we’re all pretty avid cooks with varying backgrounds and styles. We also receive loads of promotional copies of cookbooks in the mail on a regular basis. We decided to each take a cookbook home to play with, choose a recipe, and share the results.

What we found:  four cooks each used their cookbooks and recipes in very different ways.

The Loyalist: Melissa Kogut, executive director.

Her book: Cooking in the Moment, Andrea Reusing.

Her recipe: Green beans with garlic bread crumbs and tomatoes.

Melissa followed her recipe to the letter. Read more…

I’ve been wanting to cook something from Andrea Reusing’s Cooking in the Moment ever since I got my hands on the book. Reusing, who was recently awarded the James Beard Award for Best Chef Southeast, is best known for the Asian-inflected, locally and seasonally sourced food at her Chapel Hill, NC restaurant, Lantern.This  is not a book of recipes from her restaurant, though. Instead, it’s a year of seasonal recipes ranging from weeknight to special occasion cooking.

I decided to make a recipe in the book I’ve been eying: “green beans with garlic bread crumbs and tomatoes.” I made it to go with redfish, and it was quick, easy and delicious—and a hit. The garlicky bread crumbs were a yummy compliment to the green beans and tomatoes.  After dinner, my friends and I sat around the living room reading the cookbook and exclaiming, “I want that!” I think I know what my next holiday present for them will be. Here’s the recipe:

Green beans with garlic crumbs and tomatoes
Serves 4

½ small loaf of country white bread
1 medium ripe tomato, cored and chopped into ½ inch cubes (I used some plump cherry
tomatoes, because the big ones aren’t quite ready here in Boston)
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound green beans, trimmed
Freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Remove crust from the bread, tear the bread into 2-3 inch chunks, and scatter them on a
baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes until outside is firm and crusty but not browned and
the inside is still soft. Let the bread cool.

Meanwhile, toss the chopped tomatoes with ¼ teaspoon of salt and one tablespoon of the
oil and set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Tear the cooled bread into ¼ – ½ inch pieces. Measure out one cup and reserve the rest
for another use. Put the bread crumbs in a small skillet and toast over medium-high heat
for 4-6 minutes, until golden. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Blanch the green beans in the boiling water for 3-5 minutes, until just tender,. Drain and
transfer to a warm serving dish. Add the tomatoes and toss, seasoning with a little salt
and pepper.

Heat the remaining one tablespoon of oil in the same small skillet over medium heat, and
add the garlic. Sauté just until it begins to turn golden and is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Quickly add the bread crumbs and toss to combine, sprinkle over the beans.

The Mechanic: Rob Booz, network coordinator.

His book: For Cod and Country, Barton Seaver.

His recipe: smoked bluefish pate.

Rob followed the recipe but decided to change it. Read more…

Here in the office, we’re pretty big fans of Barton Seaver. He’s an impressive chef and a National Geographic fellow, and he just seems like a pretty cool dude. I first heard Barton Seaver on WBUR’s On Point with Tom Ashcroft along with fellow CC member JJ Gonson. Our intern Mallory had the chance to talk with him in person and practically gushed over him.

Seaver’s cookbook, For Cod and Country, is equally impressive. The title is provocative—the suggestion that there should be something patriotic about the way we eat from the sea. The recipes are an inventive blend of gustatory delight and sustainable wherewithal. I was excited to bring the book down for a stay in Cape Cod with my girlfriend’s family. Where better to let the book stretch its legs?

Well, it turns out that my girlfriend’s family are slightly finicky eaters, which made choosing the right recipe tougher. But serendipity hadn’t quite turned its back on me yet. Down the street from where we were staying is the retail location Nantucket Wild Gourmet and Smokehouse in Chatham, MA. I had first met these guys at the Boston Local Food Festival last fall and knew that they had some wonderful line caught, artisanally prepared smoked fish. Smoked bluefish was what I was looking for.

Seaver’s recipe for “Smoked Bluefish Spread with Toasted Bread and Olive Oil” caught my eye. First of all, I’m a sucker for good bread and olive oil and we had just picked up a loaf from Pain D’Avignon. But the recipe was also demure enough to appeal to the whole family and their Scandinavian heritage.

The recipe is as follows:

8 ounces smoked bluefish

3 tablespoons sour cream

Salt

1 loaf of crusty baguette, thinly sliced

Extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon cut into wedges

It’s pretty much what you would expect. Flake the fish, fold in the sour cream, taste for salt, drizzle with olive oil, serve with toasted bread, garnish with lemon.

Okay so it was good. The very fresh smoked fish was unctuous and rather divine, even before I added the other ingredients. Mixed, it was only good, not great. Bluefish is a pretty soft-fleshed oily fish, so the sour cream made the whole mixture a bit greasy, especially when drizzled with olive oil, even with the mitigating lemons.

I’ve lost no love for Barton Seaver but here’s my suggestion: Use crème fraiche instead of sour cream. While a little less sour, creme fraiche can be whipped like cream, which is vital to adding some nice lightness and body to such a spread. Also olive oil is a bit boring unless you can find a particularly grassy, green variety. Try using a spicy chili oil or just some fresh cracked black pepper to add a little piquant note to the smoky richness. Recipes like this are just guidelines, really. Seaver has a good outline but with a little tweaking you can make your own exceptional version.

The Adapter: Leigh Belanger, program director.

Her book: Ancient Grains for Modern Meals, Maria Speck.

Her recipe: It’s complicated. Her ingredient: wheatberries.

Leigh followed directions, but not the recipe. Read more…

Before I had my son a year and a half ago, most free time was spent in the kitchen—making elaborate canapes for parties, baking my brains out for the holidays, or making dishes that took three days to complete. No longer. Free time has narrowed to a sliver and when I have it, I’d rather roll around on the floor with my boy than make chicken pot pie from scratch.

But I still like to eat well, and I still cringe at taking big shortcuts on the way to a tasty meal. Which means I need to do plenty of planning, and rely less on recipes than on ideas. And Maria Speck’s book is long on both. Last weekend, I came into a wealth of wheatberries, so that’s where I started. She only had one recipe featuring wheatberries, in a lamb stew with red wine sauce, which just didn’t scream (or even whisper) August to me. Instead, I focused on the book’s introduction, where Speck’s lucid voice and love for whole grains could inspire even the most cynical health-food skeptic. A reminiscence and recipe for koliva, a traditional wheatberry confection she ate on the day of her Greek grandfather’s funeral, showed the range and integral place of whole grains in Mediterranean and European cuisines.

Further, she gives clear instruction for integrating whole grains into your weekly menu plans and tips for buying, storing, and cooking grains of all kinds. With a mix of inspiration and practical information, I headed to the kitchen and followed Speck’s instructions for soaking, cooking, and storing wheatberries in the fridge until I was ready to use them. Subsequent dishes, like wheatberries with roasted eggplant, chard, and pomegranate molasses, were my own—but I owe their framework to Speck.

The Impressionist: Jen Ede, development and marketing associate.

Her book: Odd Bits:How to Cook the Rest of the Animal, Jennifer McKagan.

Her recipe: Barbequed pork tongue.

Jen…didn’t follow the recipe. Read more…

I have been known to boast – frequently – about my general inability to follow a recipe. I view recipes more as guidelines, and delight in swapping ingredients in and out, depending on what I have available and what’s in season at the time. Yes, I am an arrogant cook, who, most of the time, escapes disaster-by-laxity with sheer luck and high quality ingredients. Every so often, though, I realize that there is still so much about cooking that I don’t know.

The other night I decided to co-throw a dinner party, to get to know new friends better and to use up the copious amount of CSA vegetables which were starting to crowd my fridge. My plan was to grill fish and vegetables and to make a huge grain salad for the side. For the fish, I looked to a CSF – a new community supported fishery, which is bringing shares of local fish to a drop-off point in my neighborhood. I opted for whole fish from Cape Ann, thinking a) it can’t be that hard to filet a fish, and b) it’s so much cheaper to do it myself. So I had redfish from Gloucester, bulgur wheat, onions, kale, zucchini, tomatoes, and cucumbers. On top of that, I had a whole mess of herbs.

I figured since I was already grilling, it would be the perfect time to bust out my assignment for this post – a recipe for barbecued tongue from Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal. But I was already in the weeds with the fileting o’ fish. I had no filet knife, and was struggling to puncture the fish’s spine and separate it from the bones, much like one would when taking chicken breasts off of the backbone. I hacked those fish. In a most unpretty way. I was actually heartbroken to see the amount that I had wasted (the Depression-Era cook in me rolled over in her grave). After a very stressful half hour, the sad little filets went onto a platter with rosemary, lemons, salt, pepper, and oil.

I’d glanced briefly at the recipe for barbecued tongue and thought that I understood the instructions. I mean, barbecue. Tongue. Right? I whipped out the tongues I had in my freezer from a previous jaunt out to Pete and Jen’s Backyard Birds, dipped them in the marinade, and walked out to the grill. At first, I was totally enamored with the way the tongues were looking. They charred beautifully. I couldn’t wait to  boast (some more) of my kitchen prowess! Then I pulled them off the grill and took them into the house to assess them. I could already taste the tongue, with a little dab of horseradish, deli style.

My delusions of grandeur shattered after cutting into them. The meat was still bleeding on the inside, despite the sexy char on the outside. Nevermind the bleeding, though. This tongue was chewy. Inedibly so. I had skipped an important step for cooking tongue – you’re supposed to poach it ahead of time. And then peel off the membrane that encapsulates it. Had I taken the time to read the introduction to Odd Bits, I would have received many helpful hints from everyone from Thomas Keller to the author’s own mother, about how to best handle this particular piece of offal.

I’ve since actually begun reading Odd Bits and am finding it to be a great resource on how to use those lesser-known, more economical pieces of meat. I have also learned a valuable lesson – when the impulse strikes you to brag about your ability to cook anything without using a recipe, do yourself a favor – read the recipe and bite your tongue.

How do you use a cookbook? Do you read it for ideas and use it as a springboard? Do you follow recipes to the teaspoon? Do you tinker endlessly? Let us know in the comments.