Food

When the first gas ranges were introduced in France about the middle of the 19th century, they were greatly distrusted. Meat baked in an oven was despised by Alexandre Dumas, who decreed that all food in his household be prepared on wood or charcoal fires. Grill cooks (rotisseurs) feared to lose their livelihood.

"Garlic's taste is briefest pleasure—
Eat in haste, repent at leisure.
Garlic's like the poor, like sorrow—
Here today and here tomorrow."
-Justin Richardson, from an anthology by William Cole, "...And Be Merry"

Dried black mushrooms from Japan and spicy, pungent French chanterelles make this a meatloaf for royals. As well it might, since the imported dried mushrooms cost a king’s ransom.

“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance.” — “Hamlet,” W. Shakespeare. It’s also for pork and lamb, and according to medieval herbalists, a surefire complexion aid when infused in white wine.

Luscious, ripe strawberries may herald summer but, somehow, they can’t match the raspberries that follow for sybaritic luxury. This dessert is a heavenly confection that will transport dinner guests to a state of utterly dazed wonderment.

Eaten plain or with yogurt for breakfast or lunch and involved in more elaborate desserts for dinner, strawberries are hardly tiring, even on a daily basis. The season is too short for that. Here is a strawberry shortcake that can be prepared in a trice.

As soon as the weather warms (and the rains cease — a dove with a sprig of impatiens landed on my windowsill, indicating the waters are about to subside), thoughts turn to the pleasures of outdoor dining The barbecue season, perfuming the air with the aroma of charbroil and keeping the heat out of the kitchen, has arrived.

Pizza may be a year-round staple, but in the summer season it can take on a special bright freshness. Now is the time. Herbs, fresh tomatoes or even a little ratatouille discovered while rummaging in the refrigerator are wonderful additions, providing you make the pizza yourself, an activity that allows for creative innovations and saves on gasoline. 

Mussels, readily available now that the weather and water are beginning to warm, are yet to find as popular a place on menus here as clams. Perhaps if the Indians had started the colonists off with a mussels bake, the history of seafood consumption would have been totally different.

Although at least 100 chocolate cake recipes have passed through my ovens in 18 years of marriage to a chocoholic, I know I have scarcely scratched the surface of possibilities in this enchanting subject. While many of these have become favorites, I’m just as ready to try something new.

Whole wheat has finally become upper crust. Dark, earthy loaves of bread formerly shunned by everyone except peasants, nutritionists, and other dangerous types, have been welcomed at the tables of quality. The about-face is made complete by the fact that whole grain breads now cost more than once fancy white.

Summer is a hard act to follow. Fortunately, autumn does bring the scallop season.

Is there a better East End summer dish than chilled fish or seafood? And think of the possibilities! With a big advance from your publisher or the profit from that lot you sold in Sagaponack you could buy a few shrimp.

Now that The Season is upon us what we need most is summer food. On second thought, we need continued summer weather most—summer food is next in importance.

The time of year for lighter food is rapidly approaching. Quick sautés because you don't want to spend hours in the kitchen, lemony flavors to entice warm weather appetites, and bright green garnishes for visual allure are what dinner need most. Food like this offers an attractive alternative to the inevitable barbecue grill or platter of cold poached fish.

There is no better fish to exemplify maritime territoriality than the cod, sought after and fought over by fleets of many nations. Sacred cod.

I believe my earliest contact with sesame seeds was in the crunchy honey and sesame seed candy that I am still partial to. Or halvah.

Although every self-respecting supermarket stocks zucchini at this time of year, now is really root vegetable season, coming to the "six weeks' want" of bygone eras when the root cellar was empty and the first wild greens of springtime had not yet pushed through the thawing soil. Potatoes, onions, parsnips, turnips, carrots. Carrots!

Homemade pasta is both a challenge and a glory. There are machines to help you cut it but mixing the dough requires a “feel,” that sense of knowing when it is right. Otherwise your result may be permanently al dente to an unpleasant degree.

As has been my habit in the Thanksgiving issue of the Star, I am again offering a suggestion for the remains of the big bird. Chances are, by the time you read this, much of the white meat, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin, mince, or apple pies will have been consumed and you will be contemplating some sort of tetrazzini or a la king.

This is still pumpkin time, so it’s not too late to call your attention to a recipe recommended by Howard and Isot Weissberg of East Hampton.

What does pumpkin taste like? The flavor commonly associated with the flesh of autumn’s orange globe is actually that of the spices traditionally used with it. Ginger is the most noticeable, with heavy helpings of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. Pumpkin alone is quite bland. Moreover, it can be cast in various other directions.

Fluke are flatfish, a species of Atlantic flounder, also called “summer flounder.” They can weigh in at a pound or so or be heaved aboard in seven to ten-pound sizes. For some reason, fluke were scarce for a few years but that has changed. Fluke fillets may be cooked like sole or flounder. The flesh is moist and sweet. From the larger fish, crosswise slices or steaks, much like halibut, lend themselves to various broilings, bakings and sauteings.

We are not devotees of strawberry ice cream—except when it is freshly made from freshly gathered strawberries. Several years ago I bought one of those small Salton ice cream makers. The idea of not having to fuss with rock salt and ice, of being able to tuck it into the freezer to do its work, appealed to me. A roast or two has to be removed to make room for it but that is not a problem—we're talking about two hours at the most. 

Salads are for globetrotters. Start with the dressings—"French,” “Italian," "Russian,” “Thousand Islands,” even "Roquefort.” The salads themselves are a Baedeker, not a menu. “Nicoise,” fragrant, herbed, to be enjoyed in the summer sunshine.

Artichokes, ancient, wild, Mediterranean thistles, tamed and cultivated, require a commitment on the part of the diner. You may leave your peas or string beans on the plate but you cannot ignore the stunning presence of an artichoke.

Hors d'oeuvres demand attention.

There are two ways in which a pound and a half of boneless beef stew can be made to serve eight. If the meat is really terrible, it might feed even more than eight (unless the diners are too hungry to care). On the other hand, excellent boneless beef, cut into small cubes and simmered in a rich, spicy "Gulyassuppe" will satisfy eight. Simply provide bread, salad, and dessert to round out the meal.

Herewith a casserole of extreme simplicity but terrific flavor, suitable for entertaining the hungry on Saturday or Sunday after Thanksgiving (by which time one has presumably regained one's appetite). Not only will it make use of every last scrap of meat still clinging to the bones, but the very bones themselves can be simmered to make stock for the dish. A final advantage is that it does not come across as poultry particularly, but rather, something hearty and good.

Although very little of what happens in the Hamptons escapes being news, the dunes and bluffs and potato fields manage to hold a few secrets. One of the best kept of these involves the formula for the stuff Frank Tillotson slathered on his ducks as they turned on their spits.