Recycling, upcycling and the concept of no waste have always been something close to my heart. On a daily basis, I strive to apply that in my daily life, my art, my household, my decorating as well as my cooking.
Today I watched an old program of chef Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" where he visits Napoli, Italy. He tries to trace 'the red sauce' introduced to him by many Italian eateries in New Jersey, USA, growing up during the '70's. The one scene is quite special where he joins a family in Napoli for typical Sunday lunch, Ragu. The grandmother cooks the assortment of meat in a tomato sauce for hours, then ladles the meat sauce over pasta like big macaroni or rigatoni and then the meat with green leafy veg is served as the main. Slowly she cooks the meal - no fuss, no story. It is clear that La Mama is the fierce ruler of her kitchen and that will be the case until it is time to take a boat ride to the other side of life! This is the way she has been doing it forever, with dangling cigarette and all!
Then the program cuts back to New York where Bourdain interviews two young chefs from Italian descent. They apply the waste-not principles of their Italian forefathers by using local ingredients and adapting their dishes to the local influences.
Then the lucidum intervallum moment occurred. The challenge is to fuel my lust for Italian cooking with some fresh ideas from my local market. Instead of trying to mimic the Italian recipe in front of me it needs to be adapted to what is available here and now. This takes me back to a sour response from a cousin when I told her about my dream to live in Venice for a while and document my cooking experience. She naively asked why it cannot be done here in South Africa in Johannesburg. Because it is defeating the purpose, duh! But in retrospect, I am here now and cooking now, so yes, I can apply those lovely principles and don't need to search our shops for authentic Italian - not taking any glamor away from the dream! Adapt or die.
The other idea that is occupying my mind is the private restaurant, pop-up dining, or underground dinner club - call it what you like. Many people started like this with great success. I know it is not as simple as laying a table and opening the front door. But all big ideas start small. This has been something I have been toying with for years. Time to start acting on this now. I don't want to compare myself to Rachel Khoo, but it can be done.
Maybe it is also time to start acting on that chef's course! It is definitely time to go check on the tomatoes drying in the oven and start cooking my own Ragu for dinner with the spinach from my small garden.
Let me know how you apply sustainable cooking principles.
Happy cooking!