LIVING
Fresh Food
Chain
A world of discovery at the farmers market STORY BY CARRIE SCOZZARO PHOTOS BY YOUNG KWAK
A
s anyone who’s shared a memorable meal with interesting companions knows, food is a great connector. But what if instead of just connecting people at mealtimes, food becomes a catalyst for sustaining a whole community, enhancing the local economy and bringing better health and sense of belonging along with it? And what better time to explore our regional food network than when the crops are coming in? To help us out, we recruited chef Jeremy Hansen of Spokane’s Santé Restaurant and Charcuterie. “Chefs have a moral responsibility to ensure their guests eat real food,” says Hansen. To him, that means chefs do best when they source ingredients “ethically, and cook with earth and human health in mind.” Hansen’s story is typical of the industry: He fell into the business as a teenager, discovered he loved it, realized he needed to know more, and set about learning everything he could. During his formal education at Le Cordon Bleu Portland, he interned around every six weeks — Greek, Spanish, French, Italian restaurants — sharpening his skills
and defining his food philosophy of farm-to-table cooking. It’s the centerpiece of his restaurant, earning him an invite to cook for the prestigious James Beard House in Chef Jeremy Hansen August. For our challenge, we armed Hansen with $100 to shop the market, invent a menu based on what was available, and then prepare a multicourse meal on-site, to be shared by representatives of our local food chain. Picking a location was sort of like throwing a dart at a day of the week. Farmers markets abound across Eastern Washington and North Idaho; they are so plentiful, in fact, that you can shop at one somewhere almost every day of the week. Spokane’s South Perry Thursday Market fit our needs exactly, and manager Karyna Hamilton helped out on the big day — even hauling locally made serving pieces from Trackside Studio’s Mark Moore for our outdoor table. ...continued on next page AUGUST-SEPTEMBER, 2013
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