Edible LA | No 13

Issue No. 13

edibleLA

Sharing the Story of Local Food, Season by Season

the

celebration & travel issue

+

our annual holiday gift guide ALL THINGS CRANBERRY | OUTSTANDING IN THE FIELD | CHARMED BY COPENHAGEN | POST-COVID KITCHEN CULTURE Member of Edible Communities

Fall 2021

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IN THIS ISSUE

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40 EDITOR’S LETTER p. 4

features 18

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COOKING WITH CHRISTMAS TREES

Learn a few ways to reuse and recycle your holiday tree, with a few new recipes to boot.

WILD IRELAND

A road trip up the west of Ireland promises opulent luxury and rugged culinary adventure.

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CONTRIBUTORS p. 6

in every issue 8

PRODUCE & SHOPPING GUIDE

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WHAT’S IN SEASON NOW

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THIS SEASON’S MOST DELICIOUS READS

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THE LAST BITE

Fanny Singer shares her gorgeous Autumn Squash Gratin recipe

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A DISPATCH FROM THE KITCHEN

Stella Totino writes on her experience in restaurant kitchens during the pandemic.

departments 22

LOCAL HEROES

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EDIBLE EXPLORER

How Outstanding in the Field became a radical restaurant on wheels.

Savoring the moment at Copenhagen’s loveliest hotel, in a city where old-world and modern live happily enmeshed.

recipes 8 8 8 9 9 19 20 20 40 48 48 51

CRANBERRY MULLED WINE PERA E MIRTILLO EASY CRANBERRY GRILLED CHEESE CRANBERRY CRUMBLE AKASHA’S CRANBERRY ALMOND COFFEE CAKE CHRISTMAS-CURED FISH CHRISTMAS TREE & BEETROOT PICKLED EGGS CHRISTMAS TREE & GINGER ICE CREAM CHOCOLATE & CANDIED PECAN S’MORE POTS BRAZILIAN CHEESE ROLLS CUSTARD TART WITH SARDINE GARUM CARAMEL SAVORY MORNING BUNS

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FAT NOODLES W/ PAN-ROASTED MUSHROOMS & CRUSHED HERB SAUCE

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OMMA’S EGG ROLLS FANNY SINGER’S AUTUMN SQUASH GRATIN

editor's note

NO. 13

FALL 2021

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I am truly loving our new Edible Explorer columns—it’s a way for us to bring a piece of the globe to our readers during such an uncertain time when many of us are not traveling much. It’s been eyeopening to see firsthand how other parts of the world are handling the pandemic, how they’re reopening, and how travel can start to become part of our lives again.

We’re also including our annual holiday gift guide in this issue, filled with mostly local treasures we’ve discovered and love ourselves.

While so many local businesses have struggled during these past couple of years, I urge you to remember to buy from small, local businesses when you can. I know it’s not always possible, affordable, or easy to do so, but any effort we can make to help our local food producers is a big help to many people who need it.

We’re looking forward to continuing to connect with new readers, invite you all to spectacular farm dinners next spring, release our podcast, and fill you in on all the cool collaborations we’ve been cooking up. Stay tuned.

Be sure to keep up with us on Instagram @ediblelamag, where we’ll be giving away a few of our favorite cookbooks of the season. Trust me, you won’t want to miss them!

Enjoy the season,

Shauna

Reach out to me: edit@ediblela.com

Edible Communities James Beard Foundation 2011 Publication of the Year

PUBLISHER & EDITOR IN CHIEF Shauna Burke ASSOCIATE EDITOR Lisa Alexander DESIGNER Shauna Burke ART & PHOTOGRAPHY Saam Gabbay Brigitte Lacombe Lizzie Mayon ADVERTISING ads@ediblela.com SOCIAL MEDIA Sara Cardenas CONTRIBUTORS Lisa Alexander Shauna Burke Ken Concepcion Fanny Singer Stella Totino Edible LA© is published quarterly and distributed

Shauna Burke Editor in Chief

Instagram: @iamshaunaburke

throughout Los Angeles County. Subscription rate is $28 annually. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used without written permission from the publisher. Publisher expressly disclaims all liability for any occurence that may arise as a consequence of the use of any information or recipes. Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings, and omissions. If, however, an error comes to your attention, please accept our sincere apologies and notify us. Thank you.

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Experience all a world-class winery has to offer. Taste our award-winning wine, sample straight from our barrels, tour our estate vineyards and indulge in our seasonally curated food and wine pairing menu. It’s all within reach, just 3 miles from downtown Paso Robles.

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY. ©2021 ROBERT HALL WINERY, PASO ROBLES, CA

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our contributors

Shauna Burke @iamshaunaburke

Ken Concepcion @djgnocchi

A Malibu native, our editor-inchief ditched the corporate office to become a classically trained chef and Certified Sommelier. This morphed into recipe development and consulting for cookbooks, restaurants, brands, and writing for numerous publications, authoring plant-based cookbooks, and traveling as much as possible to find food inspiration.

Ken is co-owner of Now Serving, a cookbook and culinary shop in Chinatown. Before becoming a bookseller with his wife and partner Michelle Mungcal, he worked as a chef in the restaurant industry for nearly 20 years. Not able to afford to culinary school, he learned on the job, working his way up and devouring as much food writing as possible before opening Now Serving in 2017.

Stella Totino @__conejita___ Stella Totino has worked in some of the most well known culinary hotspots is West L.A. She now works telling untold stores and capturing internal points of view from the interior of Los Angeles’s robust restaurant scene. She fuses her knowledge of food and restaurant culture with her love of writing to better explore better understand our relationship with what, and how, we consume.

Lisa Alexander @lalexande Now one of our editors, Lisa has written feature pieces in numerous publications. Her fiction has won several awards, been published in literary journals, and staged

by LA’s longest running spokenword series. What she loves best is messing around in the kitchen, interviewing tiger-striped tomatoes, and delving deep into the culinary underground of LA.

Sara Cardenas @thefoodthatweshare An LA native, Sara is a photographer and self-taught home cook with an academic background in the social sciences. Her love of wholesome cooking with local ingredients prompted her to establish her Instagram during the height of the pandemic, which has led to multiple opportunities including managing our Instagram, contributing to the print magazine, and developing recipes and original content for local brands. @EdibleLAMag

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edibleLA’s

autumn shopping guide

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AUTUMN PRODUCE

YEAR-ROUND PRODUCE

AUTUMN SEAFOOD

Apples Avocados Beets Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celery Chard Cherimoyas Chiles Collard greens Eggplant Grapefruit Grapes Green beans Guava Kale Kiwi Kohlrabi Lima beans Mandarins Oregano Pears Persimmons Pomegranates Rosemary Rutabagas Sweet potatoes Thyme Valencia oranges Winter squash Yams

Almonds Apples Arugula Bananas Beets Bell peppers Black-eyed peas Bok choy Broccoli Broccolini Carrots Cauliflower Chard Coconut Dandelion greens Edible flowers Garlic Kale Leeks Lemons Lettuce Mushrooms Onions Oranges Parsnips Pistachios Potatoes Radishes Snow peas Soft herbs Spinach Sprouts Walnuts Winter squash Yams

Halibut Rock fish King salmon Sardines Spot prawns Swordfish Albacore tuna White seabass Yellowtail

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YEAR-ROUND SEAFOOD Abalone Black cod Clams Oysters Rock crab Sanddabs Urchin

YEAR-ROUND GOODS Eggs Coffee Dairy Honey Olive oil Meats Potted herbs Preserves Pickles Grains

what’s in season

All Things Cranberry From cocktail to crumble, enjoy these tart crimson berries all season long.

By Shauna Burke

C

Svetlana Kolpakova - stock.adobe.com

ranberries appear every year on the Thanksgiving or holiday table in one form or another— I hate to say I am partial to the canned, jellied variety that plops out in the shape of said can—and I’m usually searching for some new ways to make use of this striking, deeply-hued fruit. I love buying bags of fresh cranberries from the market, because it makes me feel fancy, but I admit I often struggle to find a fun way to use them up.

The following recipes, some my own and some from local chefs and bartenders, are sure to keep me buying cranberries—and using them—all season long.

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Cranberry Mulled Wine Mulled wine is one of those holiday season things that I love to make just for the feeling and the aroma I get from the process. It makes the house smell amazing for hours and there’s a cozy-at-home vibe that can’t be beat. Plus, it takes very little effort. serves 6 Ingredients 1 750ml bottle dry, fruity red wine (like Merlot or Grenache) 8 oz cranberry juice 4 oz maple syrup or granulated sugar 4 oz brandy 1 orange, sliced into thick rounds 1 cup fresh cranberries 6 whole cloves 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, cut into large chunks 2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half 2 star anise Instructions Place all ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and allow to very gently simmer for about 30 minutes.

Strain through a sieve and serve warm in heatproof mugs, garnished with orange slices, cranberries, and a cinnamon stick in each.

Pera e Mirtillo This creation by Darryl Jenkins, bar manager of Palma at the Santa Monica Proper Hotel, includes equal parts freshness and fall spirit and is easy enough to make at home for any holiday gathering. makes one cocktail Ingredients 1 1/2 oz Mulholland Vodka 1/2 oz St. George Pear Liqueur 1/2 oz simple syrup 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice 1/2 oz cranberry juice Luxardo cherry, for garnish Instructions Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice, shake, and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a Luxardo cherry.

Easy Cranberry Grilled Cheese Sea Wave - stock.adobe.com

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This is one of my favorite Thanksgiving leftover dishes—all I have to do is assemble some prepared ingredients, pop it into my panini press, and suddenly there’s a simple lunch, easy enough to make for a small group. They’re easy to customize,

what’s in season too, with some sliced turkey, pickled peppers, fresh greens like arugula or kale, or a sweet-hot mustard. makes 1 sandwich Ingredients 1/3 to 1/2 cup grated sharp white cheddar cheese 3 to 4 tbsp cranberry sauce unsalted butter, softened 2 slices thick sourdough or Pullman loaf Instructions Spread both sides of each bread slice with butter, then spread each slice inside with half the cranberry sauce and place the grated cheese on top of one slice. Close the sandwich and place it into a preheated sandwich press or, alternatively, into a preheated dry skillet over medium heat, until cheese is melted and outside is golden brown. Cut in half and serve hot.

Cranberry Crumble A slam-dunk seasonal dessert that’s a little different than the standards at the holiday table. For some variety, you could mix the cranberries with chopped apples or pears and make it your own! serves 6-8 Ingredients for the filling 4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 1 tbsp fresh lemon or orange juice 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch 2 tsp vanilla extract for the crumble topping 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup rolled oats 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup pecans, chopped 1/2 tsp kosher salt 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp fresh nutmeg 6 tbsp unsalted better, melted unsalted butter, softened, for greasing pan Instructions Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a 9x9-inch pan and set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir all filling ingredients together and dump into prepared dish.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, oats, sugar, pecans, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well combined. Pour in the melted butter and mix until all dry ingredients are moistened, then crumble the mixture on top of the cranberries.

annapustynnikova - stock.adobe.com

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 30 minutes before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

AKASHA’s Cranberry-Almond Coffee Cake Akasha Richmond, chef/owner of AKASHA in Culver City, shares this beautiful coffee cake recipe for breakfast or any time of day!

Ingredients 1 cup gluten-free 1:1 flour (we use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour) ½ cup coconut flour ¼ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon sea salt ¼ cup olive oil 2 oz softened unsalted butter 1 1/3 cups organic sugar 1 teaspoon lemon zest 1 teaspoon orange zest 3 eggs 1 container AYO vanilla yogurt (5.3 oz) 1 ½ cups fresh cranberries 1/3 cup chopped almonds (for topping) 1 tablespoon sugar (for topping) (recipe continued on ediblela.com) • @EdibleLAMag

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M A R K E T PL ACE

Communities

To advertise in Edible Communities' Marketplace contact: tracey@ediblecommunities.com

THE FOOD LOVER’S

HOLIDAY gift guide 2021

Photo by Jill Heyer

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Frog Hollow Farm Their seasonal fruit preserves can’t be beat and make the perfect gift for any foodie this holiday season.

The Harvest Trio gift box features their three bestselling organic conserve flavors*—Organic Peach Conserve, Organic Apricot Conserve, and Organic Nectarine Plum Conserve—available in a single set. *Based on seasonality and availability, items may be substituted. $29.99

froghollow.com

The Art of Tea This brand-new Candle, Matches, & Earl Grey Crème Retail Tin Gift Box Set comes beautifully packaged in a stunning wood gift box.

Their new custom Earl Grey Crème candle is made with a unique coconut wax offering the cleanest burn on the market. It’s paraben-free, non-toxic, nonGMO, and never animal tested.

This set is perfect if you are an Earl Grey Crème lover. $47.00

artoftea.com

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holiday gift guide

Breadblok Breadblok is a gluten-free bakery using only the finest, purest ingredients to make artisan breads and pastries without sacrificing taste. Everything they make is gluten-free, but you wouldn’t know it!

The best part is, they deliver both locally and ship nationally!

Their Chestnut Sourdough has a deep, nutty flavor with a dark, hearty crust and the perfect touch of chestnutty sweetness, pairs beautifully with their refined sugar-free jams. $18.00

breadblok.com

Takeaway LA A food and drink book series focused on keeping our venues alive and our creatives busy. “Takeaway LA celebrates a few of the unique voices that make up the rich, diverse and sprawling culinary landscape of Los Angeles... And the best part is that these books not only help to preserve their legacy but also serve to contribute to them financially during a time when restaurants need our support the most.” -Ken Concepcion, Now Serving $20.00 each

somekindpress.us/collections/takeaway-la or order locally at nowservingla.com

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Twrl Milk Tea Twrl M!lk Tea is a better-for-you milk tea (aka tea latte) that’s ready to enjoy anywhere you are. Using ethically-sourced organic teas, plant-based milk and low-glycemic sugars, their obsession is creating your favorite milk tea without the guilt!

Gift this 12-pack Sampler to your favorite tea lover, which includes Original Black Milk Tea, Supreme Jasmine Milk Tea, and Hojicha Roasted Green Milk Tea. $39.95

twrlmilktea.com

Bushwick Kitchen x Angry Orchard Angry Orchard and Bushwick Kitchen just launched three new Angry Orchard inspired hot sauces that will create a flavor explosion in your mouth: Crisp Apple Jalapeno, Peach Mango Scotch Bonnet and Strawberry Jalapeno. $13.99 each

bushwickkitchen.com

Hangar 1 Vodka One year after the devastating Glass Fire in Northern California, Hangar 1 has partnered with Crimson Wine Group on this limited-edition bottling.

Hangar 1 Smoke Point Vodka is the first vodka made from smoke-tinged grapes. It is an experiment in terroir and sustainability, made from smoketinged California Malbec and Merlot grapes distilled at the Hangar in Alameda, CA. This new innovation has an unexpected taste with subtle notes of fruit, licorice and allspice. All proceeds from Smoke Point are going to the California Fire Foundation.

hangarone.com

holiday gift guide

Tea Forté This Warming Joy Gift Set Box includes a café cup, tea tray to hold your pyramid infuser after steeping, and a Mini Petite Presentation Box of 10 infusers.

Sweet baking spices, bright fruit and, of course, the finest tea leaves make these blends a beloved part of your annual holiday tradition—from the simple gesture of welcoming guests in from the cold to relaxing and enjoying a quiet moment. $55.00

teaforte.com

Semolina Pasta x Primary Beans and Diaspora Co. An amazing gift for a foodie who loves to cook with local ingredients—the Semolina Pasta e Fagioli Kit w/ Primary Beans and Diaspora Co. includes a box each of Semolina Pasta’s Organic Ditalini and Organic Conchiglie Pastina, a bag each Primary Beans Cannellini Beans and Cranberry Beans, and a jar of Diaspora’s Aranya Pepper Corns, plus a printed recipe card. $40.00

semolinapasta.com

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Eating a Christmas Tree Julia Georgallis’ How to Eat Your Christmas Tree: Delicious, Innovative Recipes for Cooking with Trees can teach all of us to have a more sustainable holiday.

by Shauna Burke Photographs by Lizzie Mayon

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es, you read that correctly. I stumbled upon Julia Georgallis’ book, How to Eat Your Christmas Tree: Delicious, Innovative Recipes for Cooking with Trees, and have been fascinated by the way she explores food waste and how we can be more resourceful with items many of us take for granted and toss out at the end of every holiday season.

The recipes I’m sharing from her book include ChristmasCured Fish, Christmas Tree and Beetroot Pickled Eggs, and Christmas Tree and Ginger Ice Cream, but she shares recipes using other trees too. The beginning of her book includes important warnings—stick to responsibly grown pine, fir, or spruce trees— avoiding poisonous trees, and tips on how we can all have a more sustainable holiday season.

Christmas-Cured Fish Cured fish is wonderful for starters (appetisers), breakfast, or in a very decadent sandwich. Trout is a great option for curing or use other sustainable fish, such as monkfish, halibut, or something recommended by your local fishmonger. Use the freshest fish you can find, making sure it hasn’t been frozen before buying.

Makes 2 kg (4 lb 8 oz) of fish Ingredients 2 kg (4 lb 8 oz) filleted fish of your choice 350 g (12 oz) fir or spruce needles or 700 g (1 lb 9 oz) pine needles (or a combination) 770 g (1 lb 11 oz/ 3 1⁄3 cups) demerara sugar 500 g (1 lb 2 oz/ 1 1⁄2 cups) table salt 2 small beetroots (beets), grated grated zest of 3 lemons

Instructions Before you cure, it is good practice to freeze the fish as this kills any bacteria that might be present. You can ‘flash freeze’ for 24 hours, but I like to freeze the fish for about a week. Defrost it in the refrigerator a few hours before you start curing.

Prepare the needles (see below).

To make the cure, mix the sugar, salt, grated beetroot, lemon zest and needles together.

Lay out some cling film (plastic wrap) on a flat surface and sprinkle a generous layer of the curing mixture over it, making sure it is roughly the length and width of the fillet.

You might need an extra pair of hands for this next step: lay the fish over the first layer of cure, then pack the top and sides of the fillet with the rest of the cure and wrap tightly in cling film, making sure it is totally covered in the cure mixture.

Place the fish on a baking tray (sheet pan) underneath something heavy, and refrigerate between 24 and 36 hours. Halfway through the curing process, turn the fish over, remembering to place it under something heavy again.

When it is ready to eat, wash off the cure and make sure there are no needles left on the fish. Slice thinly. This keeps in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

How to prepare your tree needles Spruce, fir and pine needles can be very sharp, so care must be taken @EdibleLAMag

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not to hurt your fingers while preparing them for cooking. You will need a pair of large, sharp scissors and a big bowl. Snip some larger branches from your tree. Wash the branches under cold, running water, making sure that you get rid of all possible bits of mud and dirt. You may notice that there are balls of sap, but this is safe to eat, as are the dried buds which might be at the end of some of the branches. Turn the branch upside down over a bowl so that the needles make a chevron shape.

Using scissors, cut upwards so that the needles fall directly into the bowl. I usually then wash the snipped needles once more before using them.

Christmas Tree & Beetroot Pickled Eggs Pickled eggs are vastly under-appreciated, under- eaten and under-represented and I only wish that people would start to enjoy them more. Great for canapés, picnics and showing off in general, especially as the beetroot gives the eggs such a beautiful, vibrant colour!

Makes 8 pickled eggs Ingredients a handful of spruce or fir needles (or 2 handfuls if using apple cider vinegar) 8 large organic free-range eggs 600 ml (20 fl oz/ 2 1⁄2 cups) Christmas Tree Vinegar or apple cider vinegar 75 g (2 1⁄2 oz/1/4 cup) sea salt flakes 100 g (3 1⁄2 oz/1⁄2 cup) demerara sugar 1 small beetroot (beet), peeled and roughly chopped Instructions Sterilise the jar and prepare the needles (see above).

Boil the eggs for 7 minutes exactly then immerse quickly in cold water. Once cooled, peel the shells from the eggs.

In a small saucepan, heat up the vinegar, salt and sugar until just boiling.

Arrange the beetroot, needles and eggs in the jar and pour over the hot pickling liquid.

Tightly seal the jar. Once cooled, place the jar in the refrigerator and leave for at least 24 hours (or 36 hours if using apple cider vinegar) before eating. I don’t recommend curing for longer than 3 days as the eggs become tough. Once opened they are best eaten within 2 days.

Christmas Tree & Ginger Ice Cream This is hands down my favourite recipe from the supper club, and I have shared it generously over the years with anyone who will listen. I like to use blue spruce, as I think it is the champion of conifers (it tastes a little like vanilla), but, as with all these recipes, you can interchange the type of Christmas tree you use depending on what you have access to. each hour until the ice cream is completely frozen. This will take about 4 hours. (recipe continued on ediblela.com) • 20

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Feasting in a Field of Flowers How Outstanding in the Field Became a Radical Restaurant-on-Wheels WORDS BY LISA ALEXANDER PHOTOS BY SAAM GABBAY

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local heroes

J

im Denevan, artist, surfer, and visionary, grew up in a Northern California family of eleven that included two siblings diagnosed with schizophrenia. It was often challenging, but there was also the shared glory of a nightly coming together around a long table meticulously crafted by his dad. After dinner, Jim used to go to the beach where he’d draw huge triangles, circles and Fiobonacci spirals. According to Man in the Field: the Life and Art of Jim Denevan, a new documentary set to come out September 2021, Jim liked the temporality of it and how the sea came in and dissolved his work. It felt elemental and solitary, and gave him a new sense of engagement with the land. He thought, This is what I want to do with my life. This, and traveling the country, connecting with farmers, and engaging beautiful strangers with the people who grow their food. That last part was born out of a similar Zen he felt cooking in kitchens, and seeded his next venture in the late 90s, a restaurant on wheels called Outstanding in the Field.

In the beginning, it was just Jim in a 1953 red school

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local heroes

bus, travelling around, stopping and talking to farmers, and asking them if he could cook a dinner for them and their friends. Now Outstanding in the Field is doing a hundred events this year alone, with 1800 more under their belt and collaborations with 150 chefs so far. They’ve gone to fifty U.S. states and sixteen all over the world, taking their farmdinner-circus to cliffs and fields and mountains and valleys.

They’ve set up on main street in the small town of Geneva in upstate New York, at a micro goat dairy in Vermont, at a teaching farm outside of Houston, at a botanical garden in Africa, in a nautilus swirl on Stinson Beach, at an organic farm on Oahu, and in the clouds on a clifftop in Big Sur. In each place they partner with farmers, fishermen, cheesemakers, vintners, brewers and often a well-known chef as well.

People come together at these events to drink delicious wines and beer, eat gorgeous food and discover what many have been missing these days: fellowship, adventure and the wild.

On a recent night in Malibu, Outstanding in the Field set up at Thorne Family Farms. The dusky field was full of dahlias and zinnias, their bright heads nodding in a slight breeze. Chef John Cleveland manned the open fire, and Crowns and Hops passed out frothy glasses of craft beer while Kita Wines poured.

Farmer Larry Thorne is a dreamer and adventurer himself, once envisioning these acres of farmland 24

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connecting his neighbors and rich with sunflowers, dahlias, zinnias, tomatoes, blackberries, enormous zucchini, melons, green beans, and more. His own father had been born and raised in a tiny town in the Smoky Mountains before coming to work at Walter Lowe’s Culver City farm in 1938, where he sold berries and vegetables to people like Howard Hughes.

Farming became Larry’s dream and now, on Saturdays, his farmstand is mobbed in this pocket of hidden Malibu, the kind of place that’s shielded from the tourists at Cross Creek shopping center, and from the bling and commoditization of a once-wild neighborhood of surfers and Angelenos who chose to live close to the land. Helena Henderson of Malibu Farm restaurant is a loyal customer of Thorne Family Farms, and Santa Monica’s own Farmshop as well.

“Growing food is truly a partnership with Mother Earth,” Larry says. “It’s about finding that connection to the land, soil and climate. It’s not only about taking what we need, but by giving back in sustainable ways so that we can preserve the land for the longevity of our future generations.”

The Outstanding in the Field dinner that night was not only about the farm, but also about the home-grown LA vendors who brought their beer, wine, and food. In a tent on the grounds, Teo Hunter was talking up his new brewery with fellow founder, Beny Ashford.

“With Crowns and Hops, we wanted to create

Outstanding in the Field’s August 2021 dinner at Thorne Family Farm in Malibu

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Crowns and Hops pouring their innovative brews at Outstanding in the Field at Thorne Family Farms

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local heroes a brew pub in an area that has been starving for public space, in an area that has food deserts as well. We wanted a nucleus for breeding that love of fresh premium products that come from inside the community.”

Teo and Beny just signed their lease in the heart of Inglewood and also have put up an equity crowdfunder so that people can buy into something created for and in an underserved community. Their beers are wildly imaginative, like the The Blue Peach, brewed with peach puree, blueberry puree, graham cracker, vanilla, black lava sea salt, cinnamon and coriander in collaboration with Barrel & Flow (Pittsburgh, PA) with Black Calder Brewing Co (Grand Rapids, MI) and brewed in honor of Stacey Abrams. Other IPAs are inspired by jazz, rock n roll and hip hop, and even Key Lime pie.

“Our goal,” Teo says, “is to create something in craft beer that’s signature. Our pilsner is a clean lager, crisp and specifically representative of our neighborhood.”

Kita Wines has a similar out-of-the box creation story. Tara Gomez, chief winemaker, studied Enology with the help of a scholarship from her tribe, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, and then gained experience at Fess Parker and J Lohr wineries, before making the obligatory pilgrimage to Europe. Back in California, her tribe purchased Camp 4 vineyards in 2010, and she came onboard. Now her bright wines have native Chumash names like T’aya, which means abalone shell.

It’s getting dark and people head for the table, wearing their best flowing dresses and linen suits paired with sneakers and cowboy boots. In the crowd is Sherry Mandel of the Tehachapi Heritage Grain Project, who’ll tell us about the rare corn on the menu. Chef Cleveland of Post and Beam LA has brought family and friends as he whips up his distinctive brand of South LA soul food honed with Chef Govind Armstrong and then spiffed up on his own. A menu card names dish after dish as they are placed on the table, family style, all of it spicy and delicious and paired with the delectable beer and wines.

There’s an undeniable synergy here. It’s hard to explain. Put simply, this whole is more than the sum of its parts. Whatever Jim Denevan has created, it has something to do with the power of sitting down to one long white table, that childhood thrill of eating outside, the joy of the bounty of talented chefs, and the pleasure of getting to know people and sharing an experience that feels new, essential and just what we need right now.

Man in the Field: the Life and Art of Jim Denevan will be released this Fall. Crowns and Hops’ crowdfund to support the only black-owned brewery in Inglewood can be found at startengine.com/crownsandhops. A list of upcoming Outstanding in the Field events is at outstandinginthefield.com. And if you’re hankering for a taste of Chef Cleveland’s South LA soul, there’s always his legendary Sunday brunch at postandbeamla.com. •

Think of Huntington Meats for Your Holiday Feast!

Located at the Original Farmers Market 6333 W. 3rd Street | Stall #350 | Los Angeles (323) 938-5383 www.HuntingtonMeats.com

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edible explorer

CHARMED IN COPENHAGEN Savoring the moment at Copenhagen’s loveliest hotel, in a city where old-world and modern exist happily enmeshed.

BY SHAUNA BURKE

C

openhagen—a city long known to foodies as the home of René Redzepi and the famed Noma, its happy residents, cycling culture, and sustainability—wowed me as a culinary gem from the get-go. A late summer sojourn meant long, light nights, parks and outdoor spaces bursting with good energy, and dry enough weather to rely on bicycles (which were easily rented at the hotel) as the ideal method of transportation. From an amazing, central location, walking the city—with an umbrella for safety—was very doable.

Hotel d’Angleterre—dating back to the 1700s—was reborn in 2013 after an extensive renovation and has long been considered one of Copenhagen’s finest addresses.

Situated in about as perfect a spot as I could hope for, right on the touristy and iconic Kongens Nytorv Square—a thirtysecond walk from the metro station, it’s also just around the 28

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corner from exquisite shopping (don’t miss Illum, the city’s oldest department store, or Torvehallerne, a one-of-a-kind public market brimming with Danish delicacies)—and is steps away from many of the sights and museums on my hit-list. The hotel’s Amazing Space spa was a tranquil haven with an indoor pool where I enjoyed a lovely massage, but the standout of an already spectacular visit is most certainly the hotel’s Michelin-starred Restaurant Marchal.

Chef Jakob de Neergaard, a tall, calm, sublimely personable veteran chef brings his fine French expertise to the table, including his years of experience at iconic spots like Paris’ Ritz Hotel, the three-star Alain Ducasse, and the three-star Restaurant Bruneau in Brussels. I wondered how fine French cuisine would fare in a city so dedicated to modern Nordic cooking, hyperlocal ingredients, and sustainability, but the goal of Marchal is to marry the two

Tortellini with langoustine, peas, salted lemon, and light bisque at Hotel d’Angleterre’s Restaurant Marchal in Copenhagen.

All photos provided by Hotel d’Angleterre

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Copenhagen’s lovely Hotel d’Angleterre

cooking philosophies in the most innovative and elevated way possible—and they surely succeed.

To start the evening, our server poured chilled, bubbly Fortnum & Mason Copenhagen sparkling tea into our Champagne flutes—a thoughtful gesture not overlooked by a very pregnant diner and one of many fine dining experiences in the city where non-alcoholic beverage pairings were as well thought out as the expensive wine offerings—alongside a smattering of canapés including gougères with truffle cream and comté, caviar with king crab and Jerusalem artichokes, a variety of oysters, and Jamón Iberico de Bellota on toast with cep mushroom and Gruyére. When it came time to order entrées, we asked our notably hospitable server what he thought couldn’t be missed—naturally, we ended up with a whole black lobster stuffed with a crispy salad and

topped with 30 grams of caviar, served with brioche, grilled lemon, and a wonderful cocktail sauce. The presentation was nothing short of extraordinary and this dish was the highlight on a trip already filled with amazing food. When the chef later tells me about someone who’d flown from London just for this lobster, I whole-heartedly believe him.

The hotel put us up in a comfortable, thoughtfully decorated suite which had a balcony overlooking the square and felt like a true respite from the busy world below. There was no more perfect a spot to rest my feet after a long day or enjoy a beautiful, sunny morning with a lavish breakfast spread.

Marchal certainly goes big at breakfast too—signature dishes include an omelet with lobster and black truffle, or perhaps you’d prefer caviar—and less fussy offerings like the croque madame with herbed ham and truffle béchamel or even

“When the chef later tells me about someone who’d flown from London just for this lobster, I whole-heartedly believe him.”

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Top left: chilled oysters before the meal at Marchal; Top right: gougères with truffle cream and comté; Below: whole black lobster stuffed with a crispy salad and topped with 30 grams of caviar, served with brioche, grilled lemon, and cocktail sauce.

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A gorgeous room with balcony. Below: A spectacular breakfast spread on the balcony at Hotel d’Angleterre

Upper Deck treehouse at Kanopi House, Jamaica

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Smørrebrød at Selma Restaurant in Copenhagen; Photo by Shauna Burke.

eggs Florentine are just as impressive and flavorful.

The bright side of being right in the center of the city is the ability to explore all the other amazing food nearby. It’s a quick walk to some of the country’s most celebrated makers—midmorning coffee and pastries from Hart’s Brød + Bar, for one, which took me right by the iconic and Instagrammable colorful houses on Nyhavn Harbor and over the bridge through an array of spectacular street food vendors. Or try POPL Burger, a burger joint by Noma that focuses on organic Danish beef burgers and pretty memorable veggie patties that are crafted in a two-day process at Noma’s fermentation lab. POPL sits right by the water in Christianshavn and is a great location to sit and relax with friends. Then head over to Copenhagen Distillery for a tasting and don’t miss their unique bay leaf or oak gin.

The level of Scandinavian cuisine has never been higher, with chefs scrambling after the finest local ingredients, aiming to make every restaurant more sustainable than the last and elevating even the simplest meals. Take smørrebrød—an iconic and popular openfaced sandwich served on a thin layer of dark rye bread, topped with any number of local ingredients and found all over the city. At Selma, the only smørrebrød restaurant in Copenhagen awarded a Bib Gourmand in the Nordic Guide Michelin, traditional dishes like creamy shrimp salad, pickled herring, or even the simple tomato with herbs, are all crafted and presented thoughtfully and with local, season-driven produce and innovative flavors in mind.

After being cooped up in Los Angeles far too long, I find myself not wanting to leave this outdoorsy, culinary haven. My list of must-try restaurants is not even close to being checked off and I’m finding the overall energy here to be completely invigorating—the vaccination rate is high and pandemic-related restrictions have nearly ended—a much different picture from what I see at home. It’s a return to normality that feels foreign at first. If nothing else, it gives me hope that we’ll have this for ourselves soon enough and yet I can’t wait to return to this most charming city. •

travel beyond your dreams...

Contact Emily Lutz to plan a memorable trip to one of the world’s most extraordinary locations, just like the ones in this issue.

emilylutz@beyondtravelcompany.com

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WILD IRELAND An unforgettable road trip weaving through Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, where opulent luxury and rugged culinary adventure abound.

BY SHAUNA BURKE

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he thought of traveling internationally during Covid times—even for a seasoned adventurer— seemed daunting or, at best, unnecessarily complicated but my journey to Ireland actually proved to be wildly rewarding, mellow, and had me feeling like the world was my literal oyster. Our road trip up the west of Ireland included exploring castles, foraging, hiking, and eating extraordinary food with three iconic hotels as a base for exploration, all with the freedom to make our own schedule.

Hayfield Manor, County Cork It all started in Cork, with an airport car rental (pro tip: get a small car for the narrow roads—we didn’t and have regrets) and a short drive to Hayfield Manor—located right in the center of the city beside University College Cork. It’s a humble old estate with beautifully appointed rooms, lovely gardens and food, and is a great base to explore. Enjoy tea in the garden and don’t miss the seasonally-driven menu at Perrotts Garden Bistro where we sampled Irish beef, Skeaghanore Farm’s duck, Kenmare scallops,

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Castletownbere crab, and lots of local produce.

A short walk into the city center led us to the centuriesold and not-to-be-missed English Market—a sprawling site where we found local eggs, preserves, cheeses, pantry goods, and readymade snacks and meals to take with us on the road to Kinsale, a colorful and historic fishing town founded in the 12th century. Take the Lighthouse Loop Walk on Sheep’s Head Peninsula to the sea cliffs where a 17th-century lighthouse awaits and work up an appetite to enjoy some seafood at the Michelin-starred Bastion back in town. Finns’ Farmcut and Max’s are two other more casual spots not to be missed.

Explore west to Kenmare in County Kerry, a lively small town worth a stop and a meal at the picturesque, chic Sheen Falls Lodge—not far from Killarney National Park which provided some of the most beautiful walks on the trip.

Dromoland Castle, County Clare We continued north to stay at Dromoland Castle, located near Newmarket-on-Fergus, which has been welcoming guests since

Photo: Dromoland Castle

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Kenmare scallops at Hayfield Manor; below: seafood chowder at Dromoland Castle. Both recipes at ediblela.com

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top left: afternoon tea at Dromoland Castle; top right: foraging for Turkey Tail mushrooms; below: flake fishing with a castle view

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Aerial view of the magnificent Ashford Castle; photo by Aervisions.

the 16th century and is one of the finest castles in Ireland.

The estate itself is lovely—known for its world-class golf course—and provides endless opportunity for walking and exploration. We wandered into the woods to find the Hermit’s Cave, then over to the walled gardens where we found the chef ’s greenhouse bursting with tomatoes and beautiful summer squashes, pears, grapes, herbs, and more lining the paths.

If weather permits, go on a guided foraging walk to a secluded beach and sustainably harvest and learn about twelve types of seaweed or learn to identify local wild plants, flowers, and fruits—all followed by a lovely picnic. Or stay on the estate for clay pigeon shooting, archery, fishing, horse riding, stand up paddle boarding, or golf.

We settled into our magnificent Queen Anne suite before diving into a wonderful afternoon tea downstairs. The interiors here are unmatched—it still feels like I’m entering a different century, but everything manages to be comfortable, quiet, and not at all stuffy.

From the castle, we drove to check out the famed Cliffs of Moher—a tremendous sight you may recognize from a number of blockbuster movies and also happens to offer a beautiful midday hike. If you’re lucky, you’ll catch a sight of some Puffins, basking sharks, or dolphins.

Onto Galway, we were sure to stop at Sheridans Cheesemongers on the lovely St. Nicholas’s Church square in the city center for one of Ireland’s best selections of local farmhouse cheeses, which you can taste and pair with wines 38

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in their shop and bar upstairs.

Ashford Castle, County Mayo Ashford Castle was best saved for last—a truly magnificent sight awaited us as we made our way down the drive and crossed over the stone bridge. This 13th-century castle first opened as a hotel in 1936 and recently underwent a multimillion dollar renovation, modernizing the castle with touches like air-conditioning and heated floors, but retaining the old-world charm that continues to bring guests back for generations.

There are seemingly endless activities on the castle grounds and beyond—fly-fishing for wild brown trout on Lough Corrib or Atlantic Salmon on Cong River, falconry, clay shooting, archery, kayaking, zip-lining, and so much more for any adventurous spirit. There was enough to do that we didn’t actually feel the need to leave the castle grounds, ever. The castle feels like a sprawling, magical playground and I certainly roamed the halls at night admiring all the nooks and crannies, pretending I was a lady of another time.

Afternoon Tea in the Connaught Room is a must, with incomparable service and views, but the real culinary gem here is the upscale—jackets required for men—George V, where chef Barry Lynch offers an innovative approach to fine hotel dining and hopes to be running a fully selfsustaining culinary program on the property within the next five years. He met me for a stroll through the culinary garden,

boasting just enough seasonal produce like Swiss chard, soft herbs, and crab apples to make do, but it’s not nearly enough for the entire property’s needs.

In a remote place like Ashford Castle, last-minute produce orders from even the most local of vendors prove to be a challenge. If an order is missing a crucial ingredient for the night’s menu, it could be days before there’s a fix. Chef Barry and I walked out to the edges of the estate where he showed me their expansion plans—pretty impressive but also daunting. The idea that he could send someone out to fetch a pound of tomatoes in the middle of service, though, sounds pretty amazing and worth all the effort.

After strolling the property, we met Tommy, our guide at Ireland’s School of Falconry—the oldest established falconry school in Ireland—and each flew our own Harris hawk around the spectacular forests of the castle for about an hour and a half. It’s hard to describe the experience except to say that it was quite extraordinary, memorable, and I’ve told every single person I know about how much I loved it.

Oneness with nature and all.

The folks at Ashford Castle can craft amazing itineraries, which all include seeing so much local goodness, from visiting the local blacksmith, ceramicist, or stone carver to foraging for seafood, visiting an Irish cheese-making family’s farm, or experiencing the art of beekeeping. There is no shortage of adventure from the steps of the castle.

If you have time, head west to Connemara National Park and enjoy the majestic mountains, endless greenery, expansive bogs, and spectacular hiking. Or ride legendary Connemara ponies along sandy beaches at Errislannan Manor Riding Centre near Clifden. •

Cycling at Ashford Castle; below: afternoon tea in the Connaught Room. Photos provided by The Red Carnation Hotel Collection

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Ashford Castle’s Chocolate, Candied Pecan & Cinnamon S’more Pot from Executive Resort Pastry Chef Paula Stakelum

10g pasteurised egg whites

Thanksgiving always reminds me of the time a few years ago when our friends invited us for our first ever Thanksgiving dinner. I was shocked that we had sweet potato with marshmallow – a surprisingly delightful combination and tradition. However, I’ve stuck to chocolate with marshmallow on this occasion! I always make extra of the candied pecan nuts, they are a delicious snack.

INSTRUCTIONS Whisk the egg whites until foamy. Pour over the nuts and combine well.

Add the sugar and spice mixture and mix together,

makes 8 jars

Allow to cool and store airtight.

Chocolate Cremeux

Marshmallow

INGREDIENTS 120g pasteurised egg yolks 75g caster sugar 250g whole milk 250g heavy cream 2 1/2 sheets gelatine 450g Legend 55% milk chocolate 55% or 520g 35% milk chocolate

INGREDIENTS 60g egg whites 15g powdered gelatine 200g caster sugar 150g glucose syrup 160g cold water ½ cinnamon stick

INSTRUCTIONS To prepare the custard base, soak the gelatine in cold water.

Dusting powder: 50g corn flour / 100g icing sugar (sieve both together)

Place the milk and cream into a saucepan and heat gently.

INSTRUCTIONS

In a bowl, combine the egg yolks and sugar. Pour the hot milk andcream mixture over the egg yolk and sugar mixture and whisk to combine. Pour back into a clean saucepan. Cook over a slow heat until the mixture reaches 82°C, (the mixture will continue to cook to 85°C off the heat).

Place your cinnamon stick into the oven and roast for 10 minutes at 180°. This will bring out the aroma of the cinnamon,

Squeeze the excess water from the gelatine and add to the custard mixture.

Meanwhile place the sugar, cinnamon stick, remaining water and glucose into a saucepan and slowly bring to the boil. Cook to 118°C.

Blend with a hand blender until smooth and creamy. Add the milk chocolate. Blend with a hand blender until smooth and creamy. Chill overnight in a bowl.

Place the egg whites into a mixer and begin to whisk slowly. Once a slight foam begins to form, slowly pour your egg whites over the mixture. (remove the cinnamon stick). Allow whisking for 5 minutes.

The next day, whisk mixture in a bowl to a smooth consistency, then place into a piping bag and pipe into prepared glass or Jar.

Place the gelatine into the microwave for 20 seconds to melt, it may need longer depending on your wattage. Add to the marshmallow and continue to whisk until luke warm or 170°. Spread onto a tray lined with parchment and dusted with dusting powder. Once spread, lightly dust of your dusting powder on top.

Candied Pecan Nuts INGREDIENTS 200g pecan nuts 40g caster sugar 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground ginger ¼ tsp ground corriander seeds 40

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Place on a tray lined with parchment paper, spread evenly. Bake at 120°C for 40 minutes.

Place ½ the water into a bowl and sprinkle the gelatine over. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.

To assemble dessert: Pipe your cremeux into a glass or jar. Cut the marshmallow into cubes and blow torch to toast. (If you don’t have a blow torch you can use your grill. Place om top of cremeux and sprinkle pecan nuts over. Enjoy! •

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kitchen culture

The Changing Landscape, the New Normal, and Hope A dispatch from the kitchen front lines.

BY STELLA TOTINO

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ike all other places of worship, the kitchen has four walls. And just the same as any faith, those four walls house a belief; a purpose; an understanding; most of, all an acknowledgement that we are all connected in this life.

Food is universal. Whether scarce, abundant, embellished, unornamented, prepared, or pre-packaged, it is essential. In many ways, the preparation and consumption of food is the only undisputed universal faith; yet, one that increasingly fewer and fewer of us actively practice. Practicing the faith means acting against the outsourcing of food preparation. My personal experience has shown that the most direct way of doing this is working in a restaurant kitchen.

The kitchen has its own iteration of hymn, chant, and prayer–pan searing, cooks cursing, blenders whirring, the constant ticking of the ticket machine (a noise that still frequents my dreams), the sound of cutting boards and low boys slamming.

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The kitchen is a whole world, upheld by belief in the food itself. We, the cooks and chefs and bakers and dishwashers and expeditors, are pious in our devotion. We give of our bodies, our minds, will-power, strength, and energy. And it can be an allconsuming way of life. Just like many relationships, it can be hard to see where we stand if we don’t step away, give our burns some days to heal, allow our feet to reacquaint themselves with life outside of clogs…though, for many of us, our immigration status denies us work elsewhere, our resume lacks adequate breadth of experience, or we just don’t have enough formal education to work somewhere else.

If food eating and making is universal, so is this pandemic. I remember a time when “go out to eat” was a common response to the question: what is the first thing you will do postquarantine? The desire to head back to the restaurant was not just about the drinks or main courses, it was about the experience of

Photo by lasse bergqvist

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being taken care of. After all, with our first memories of being fed and of family meals or holidays, how can food preparation not be seen as an act of love? Sitting down to eat at a restaurant means being close enough to the holiness that resides within the four kitchen walls, to feel the energetic ripple of that magic found within all the kitchen’s chaos. To partake in that atmosphere, was the metaphorical spring many would find after the long trek through the desert of quarantine.

While the patrons desperately waited for the re-opening of restaurants, many of us finally took a breath. For even amidst the fear and uncertainty, the circles from beneath our eyes vanished. A lack of pain illuminated that we had been previously living under a great amount of it. For the first time in years we spent Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Valentine’s Day at home. We no longer arrived after everyone was sleeping and left before they woke. We learned the dates of our very best friends’ birthdays. We saw the first steps of our children and read them books in their beds. We enjoyed making meals with family, throwing technique out the window. We got unemployment, lost unemployment, and were unable to ever reach anyone on the other end of unemployment. We lost family. We lost jobs. We lost partners.

We lost restaurants. Through it all, a web remained. The we, the hidden force behind the kitchen wall, remained, a collective held together by its beliefs, and a collective united in vulnerability.

Working in restaurants, to this day, means being especially exposed to the virus. Angel Martinez, a man I met when he was a teenager who dominated the pizza production at Gjusta in Venice, is now part of a new venture called Ghisallo.

He worked up until the night before the lockdown and began again the first day after restrictions were lifted. With experience in countless well-known Westside establishments, he spent the pandemic reading, gathering ideas, and building his flavoridentity. I remember touching base in January when he reminded me how hellish it can be in front of a bread oven all day, then asked me to imagine wearing a mask while doing it. I inquired about those first days back in the kitchen.

“It’s crazy how much people are not used to cleaning their hands,” he says. “I was honestly really scared. A lot of people were getting sick. Not everyone was okay, you know?”

Too often what arrives at your table doesn’t have to, and usually does not, carry its origin story. Who picked those vegetables or washed and cleaned and cut them? Who stood beside the pizza oven until they were blistered to consistent perfection? I wondered if that origin story was being considered now, now that everyone had experienced the effect of interrupted supply chains, now that home cooks have realized how difficult it is to roast shishito peppers to heavenly umami.

“A lot of people are starting to appreciate what we do and starting to pay more,” Martinez says. “A lot of people are being more kind now, thinking about front and back of house. Finally, everyone is more thankful for what we do.”

I take some solace in this, especially when he explained that this long overdue gratitude was coming from in-house administration as well. Knowing how historically thankless the profession is though, somehow these new moments of appreciation just don’t seem like enough.

The pandemic left us naked, down to bare boneessentials. And, by the time we tentatively re-emerged into a world of service, the very conception of the structure of restaurants had 44

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been reframed. The performance of a meal was no longer played out with the same frivolity: the kitchen now had two sets of walls between itself and the patron, one of drywall and the other of contagious variants. The artfully plated food was now inside one box stacked atop another, or else delivered to an outdoor table by a server in mask and shield. My friend and former boss at Atrium in Los Feliz, Hunter Prichett (truly the best kind of chef one could ask to work for), exposed the negatives of Covid-19-pressured restaurant evolution.

“So that’s the way it evolves” he said. “To a lesser standard, less ethics, less sustainability. You know there’s no way to sustainably do to-go food. It [has always been] an unsustainable model. I think a lot of the reason why people get into [the restaurant business] is passion and to be artistic, which is ego. But if the world, literally, is working against you, you can’t fight it, or what’s the cost of continuing to fight it?”

If this new kind of Code Red doesn’t give way to hope for a more intentional and responsible hospitality industry, what will?

Sasha Piligian, owner and operator of May MicroBakery (yes, you should check out her pastry boxes and cakes), deconstructed the question with me. Having received her foundation working in some of the greatest spots in L.A., including (perhaps her most well-known stint) Sqirl, the pandemic called on her to curate moments of joy. Throughout the lockdown, the demand for cakes and pastries didn’t wane. People were looking to find ways to celebrate the small things in the face of a looming and harsh reality. Piligian’s microbakery came alive under these conditions, almost by surprise.

“Some days it does just feel like a hustle,” she said. “But then people come to me saying, ‘I trust you. We love your flavor combinations..’or they come to me because they’ve had my stuff before and they love it. Those things are very fulfilling.”

The ultimate goal for most of us in the kitchen is to have our own venture, to liberate our own voice from the confines of someone else’s restaurant and allow it to radiate explicitly unique. I asked Piligian if she wants a brick and mortar of her own, but her response was conflicted.

“Your ego says, ‘I want this for myself,’ she said. “Isn’t that what everyone’s building towards? Otherwise, what are we doing it for? But to me, I just wouldn’t want to, unless I could actually pay people a living wage, and have a good working environment.”

I am no stranger to the restaurant world but, I wondered, why does paying employees a livable wage and keeping them safe from the chaos of a pan-throwing, cook-fighting, or chef-cursing environment make opening a space impossible?

I have often chosen to think of the pandemic as a wiping-of-the-slate. I had hoped there might be an opportunity to make the impossible possible before we returned to normal; a hope of squeezing in some monumental reform of how workers are paid, what benefits they receive, how the money is distributed before this new normal dawned upon us. The most fundamental thing I had hoped, and continue to hope for, is room for selfcare. India Bushnell, gifted artist and bread maker who is now at Damian in DTLA, shared that the lockdown gave her some space for reflection: “It is so valuable to not only give yourself a break,” she said. “But to take care of your body and mind. Sometimes it’s so easy to forget about that when you’re so exhausted.”

Bushnell describes working in a kitchen almost as a love affair. The colors, the smells, the sensory nature of a vegetable–

Photo by Jason Leung

it is an extremely tangible experience that she contains with a philosophy.

“I view my experience working in kitchens as my culinary education,” she said. “And the day I eventually get it together to make my own business, I’ll know it was all worth it.”

I see a common theme in these hopes and dreams. It seems as if the necessity for a traditional hierarchy in the kitchen is gone. Abolishing the hierarchy means redefining what a restaurant is, and perhaps the pandemic is opening avenues toward that future.

Martinez, with his team, is already actualizing this to a certain extent; the hope for Ghisallo that he expressed to me is one of community, especially as almost the entire staff will have been working together for at least five years, if not longer. This new venture together is founded with mutual respect and love.

“You’ve seen me, I’ve been all over the place,” he says.

“You just don’t find that vibe, or that family love that you get [working at Ghisallo].”

Bushnell, too, shared: “my ultimate dream one day is to have a market of my own. All the delicious, beautiful things that one would like to eat plus wine and flowers. It would still expose me to all the things that I love and want to be surrounded by, but without that hyper-hyper pace intensity of a restaurant.”

It’s a rhetoric that had been snaking its way through all of these conversations.

“For the longest time it was romantic for me,” she said. “I felt ‘I’m young. I’m invincible,’ but I think that my time working Gramophone cocktail at Death & Co. in kitchens is coming to a close. Now, it’s top priority to figure out a way to get that same satisfaction from a different outlet.” For Piligian, she imagines “a space that could house maybe four or five people’s work, but everyone has different passions, experiences, and skill sets. Somebody offers pastries and somebody has daytime food and someone else sells drinks...a co-operative, something that seems more fair.”

Over the last few decades, many small restaurants, led by chefs and their teams, have pioneered frameworks for understanding our relationship to where our food comes from and why we must make conscious decisions in our consumption.

Over the past few years, the misogynism that used to be a touchstone of kitchen culture is not only being revealed, but (just beginning to be) eradicated. Some chef ’s are finally becoming exposed in their exploitation and theft of their employees’ time, earnings, and creativity. Every day we learn of how we can drip our droplet into the bucket of change; every day we become more aware of misconduct, mispractice, mistreatment–methods of exploitation we can finally claim are not only outdated, but flat-out wrong. As our collective culture evolves, these changes have been championed. More recently, the universal nature of the pandemic has illuminated that entire systemic structures, not just of restaurants, truly do not serve us. Thus the dawn of the new normal is not only applicable to the world of restaurants. It is increasingly evident that this normal yearned for by all of us, is not only up to us to create, but also essential.

I cannot claim to have any solutions for the assemblage of a new normal. I can only speak to the world that I know.

Restaurants have long been upheld by the communities that keep them running, not the systems under which they operate.

Communities are the driving force behind a sense of belonging, passion, betterment, and most of all, change. From each of us, every

citizen, a chain of interconnectivity is constructed. The pandemic has demonstrated that recognizing this interconnectivity is required in order to instigate change, from the patrons to the landlords to the growers to the front and back of the house.

Perhaps some seeds of hope can begin here with Martinez’s venture founded on collaborative equality, Bushnell’s little market comprised of soul-filling elements, or Piligian’s collective kitchen.

In Piligian’s words: “Together it seems like [we] could make a pretty cool future.” •

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reading corner

SOME OF THIS SEASON'S

MOST DELICIOUS READS curated by Ken Concepcion, co-owner of

The fall release season for cookbooks is typically a deluge of titles, a bombardment of culinary riches, an exciting time to survey what the publishing world has held under wraps all year to leave us swooning into the holiday buying thrall. Which of these hundreds of books should be bound for your kitchen counters, pored over, soon to be stained and dog-eared? Here’s a handful that we are really excited about at the shop.

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ontinuing the lineage of Phaidon’s acclaimed “...The Cookbook” series which centers on a country, meal, or region complete with stunning photography and a clean, modern ethos, The Latin American Cookbook is another revelation. Authored by award-winning Peruvian chef Virgilo Martinez - of Central fame - this impressive tome spans all nations from Central to South America with 600 recipes that showcase a myriad of indigenous ingredients, methods, and global influences. In the Breads And Baked Goods chapter, the nationally adored pao de queijo (recipe on page 14) of Brazil would be a wonderful introduction to the book, a simple yet elegant cheese bread made with tapioca flour that can be made during any day of the week, to accompany any meal.

Take One Fish, the second book from Sydney-based Josh Niland is the follow-up to the stunning and celebrated The Whole Fish Cookbook. Upending conventional wisdom regarding the freshness and storing of fish, Niland has pushed the envelope of fish cookery with masterful techniques and ingenious combinations to leave even the most seasoned

chef ’s brow raised. Here he continues his treatise on sustainability and “scale-to-fin cooking and eating” by selecting 15 types of fish, extolling their virtues and unlocking their secrets. Early on, in the X Small chapter, Niland offers up a remarkable custard tart inspired by his childhood but now finished with a nearly mystical umami oomph of sardine garum caramel (recipe on page 14). Those last three words are sure to turn heads and maybe some of them away, but Niland’s legion of fans aren’t here to be safe but look forward to challenging the very ideas of what cooking from the seas really means.

Cheryl Day’s Back In the Day Bakery in Savannah, Georgia is considered a beloved institution built on biscuits, cookies, pies, and much more. With her highly anticipated and most ambitious fifth book, Cheryl Day’s Treasury of Southern Baking, the award-winning chef swings for the fences and connects. Day’s central achievement is to showcase that southern baking aren’t set in amber or lay as artifacts as if in some museum, instead she breathes them to roaring life, constantly challenging herself and her craft into modern @EdibleLAMag

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reading corner day history full of relevance, stories, respect, and tradition.

With plenty of recipes to choose from for any level of home baker, we look to The Little Layer Chocolate Cake (recipe on ediblela.com), a feat of architecture and a testament to a certain southern charm with not a minor nod to glamour to boot.

Grains For Every Season is the new book from perennial favorite Six Seasons author and Portland-based chef, Joshua McFadden. Turning his full attention to a wide variety of grains: rye, barley, corn, rice, wheat, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, and oats, McFadden’s modern and accessible approach to cooking brings a kinetic excitement to your kitchen. From quick weekday meals and breakfasts to more complex projects, the recipes ring clear with encouragement and allow for variety and spontaneity. Using spelt, McFadden implores us to try feeding our friends and loved ones his Savory Morning Buns with Sausage, Fontina, and Broccoli Rabe (recipe on page 17) and it’s hard to say no. Sometimes as a cook you are urged to make a recipe just to know what it will smell like let alone how it will go over with the family.

Feeding family and friends, with the comfort that brings is a central tenet to That Sounds So Good, the affable and compelling second book from author / recipe developer Carla Lalli Music. Besides potentially being the best hang, Music’s greatest accomplishment here is building fundamental

techniques and instincts that will allow you to bob and weave skillfully from recipe to recipe with nary a scratch to show.

Insisting that good meals can happen anytime and anywhere, Music’s book is built to champion confidence in the kitchen while still managing to surprise with flavors and textures that are hard to resist. Her Fat Noodles with Pan-Roasted Mushrooms and Crushed Herb Sauce (recipe on page 18) may seem perfunctory, but know that each ingredient here serves a simple purpose to minimize margin of error while maximizing satisfaction.

Joanne Lee Molinaro’s dedicated followers on Tiktok and Instagram can’t wait for her new book, The Korean Vegan, to be released. Her feed is not just about food but the concentric circles of culture, race, and class that color her posts and her cooking as well. It’s remarkable to see Molinaro adhere to the plant-based structure for honoring her native cuisine, with the incorrect consensus that Korean food is lacking without the presence of meat. There are traditional tentpole dishes such as galbi jim and japchae along with her own Korean-influenced recipes such as her Bulgogi Wasabi Melt or her KBBQ Black Bean Burger that will surely make you become a believer. We can’t wait to try making Molinaro rendition of her Omma’s Egg Rolls (recipe on page 20), a family favorite!

Cooking the Books

Head to the kitchen with a few of our favorite recipes mentioned above. You can find more at ediblela.com.

Brazilian Cheese Rolls Pão de queijo Brazil An unleavened, naturally gluten-free cheese roll with a thin shell and elastic center that is ubiquitous in snack bars and bakeries, pão de queijo has become one of Brazil’s most common national recipes only in the last half a century. Its exact origins are murky, though it is believed that slaves in the state of Minas Gerais made a simple bread from leftover yuca starch, or tapioca, on farms where wheat didn’t grow well. Later, probably in the late nineteenth century when the dairy industry in Minas began to develop, milk and cheese were added. Around the 1950s, the recipe voyaged beyond Minas and bakeries such as Casa do Pão de Queijo, which began in 1967 as a single location and now counts hundreds of locations, brought it to every corner of the country. In the 1990s, Minas Gerais-born president Itamar Franco insisted that pão de queijo be served at government meetings, earning his administration the name “república do pão de queijo.”

Queijo mineiro, or Minas cheese, is a salty, semi-soft cow’s milk cheese that can be frescal (fresh), meia-cura (half-matured), and curado (matured), which is most common for pão de queijo. Polvilho azedo, or fermented tapioca flour, is generally preferred and gives the bread a slight tang, though polvilho doce, sweet tapioca flour, can also be used.

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makes 12 1 egg 11/2 cups/6 oz (175 g) tapioca flour 1/3 cup/21/2 fl oz (80 ml) olive oil 2/3 cup/5 fl oz (160 ml) milk 1/4 cup/21/4 oz (65 g) Minas cheese, or any semi-soft aged cheese, shredded Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C/Gas Mark 6.

Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a mixer, or knead them by hand until you have smooth dough.

Divide the dough into 12 equal-sized balls. Place them on an oven tray lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 15–20 minutes, until golden brown.

Reprinted from The Latin American Cookbook by Virgilio Martínez. © 2021 Phaidon Press

Custard Tart with Sardine Garum Caramel This recipe is very close to my heart. Growing up, I would eat warm custard tarts with my mum on trips to do the groceries (while sitting in our local coffee shop, spooning all the chocolate powder off her cappuccino). With its wobbly custard filling and thin

Brazilian Cheese Rolls from The Latin American Cookbook @EdibleLAMag

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Custard Tart with Sardine Garum Caramel from Take One Fish.

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reading corner shortcrust pastry, this tart is my attempt to replicate those moments of childhood bliss. I have been reluctant to share this recipe before because of the constant development and improvements we have made to it over the years, but it’s time something this good is enjoyed by all!

You might think it is ridiculous to put fish sauce anywhere near a custard tart (and you can certainly omit the garum caramel and finish the tart with freshly grated nutmeg instead if you prefer), but maybe try it once? The idea came from the flavours of Thai cuisine – sweetness from palm sugar, salt from fish sauce and sourness from lime juice. It may be a stretch for many, but, for those who dare try it, thank you for thinking outside the box. serves 12 softly whipped cream, to serve (optional) Pastry 250 g (9 oz/12/3 cups) plain (all- purpose) flour, frozen 200 g (7 oz) unsalted butter, chilled and diced 1⁄2 teaspoon fine salt 55 ml (13/4 fl oz) chilled water 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten Garum caramel 300 g (10 1⁄2 oz) caster (superfine) sugar 150 ml (5 fl oz) water Garum or fish sauce, to taste juice of 2 limes pinch of sea salt flakes Custard filling 360 g (12 1⁄2 oz) caster (superfine) sugar 3 vanilla beans, split and seeds scraped 4 egg yolks 7 whole eggs 1.125 litres (38 fl oz/4 1⁄2 cups) full-cream (whole) milk 375 ml (12 1⁄2 fl oz/1 1⁄2 cups) pouring (single/light) cream To make the pastry, pulse the flour and butter in a food processor to create very fine crumbs. Dissolve the salt in the water and add to the crumb, pulsing briefly to combine, then turn out the dough onto a chilled surface and work it with the palm of your hands for 3–4 minutes to form a very firm dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for a minimum of 3–4 hours or overnight.

For the caramel, combine the sugar and water in a very clean saucepan and cook over a medium heat until the sugar becomes a caramel colour. Do not stir the sugar while it boils as it will crystallise, but once it becomes golden in colour it’s fine to stir to ensure it browns evenly. In this case we want it quite dark to balance out the sweetness of the tart. When the caramel is a dark golden but not smoking you need to stop the cooking by carefully adding the water – watch out as it will spit and create steam. Take the pan off the heat and whisk the water into the caramel to combine. Allow to cool, then stir in the garum or fish sauce, lime juice and salt. Adjust the seasoning to achieve a balance of sweet, sour, bitter and salt.

Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).

Roll out the pastry to a 2 mm (1/16 in) thickness, then line a 28 cm (11 in) tart tin. Line the pastry with baking paper and fill with baking beads or dried beans. Blind-bake for 30 minutes, then remove the paper and weights and cook for a further 10 minutes until cooked

through, golden brown and dry.

Brush the tart shell with beaten egg yolk to seal the pastry while still warm, then return to the oven for 1 minute to cook the egg.

While the pastry is baking, make the custard filling. To do this, you can either use a Thermomix or food processor and bain marie. Blend the sugar and vanilla seeds in a Thermomix. Add the remaining ingredients, then reduce to speed 3 so that no air is incorporated into the filling. Set the timer to full and temperature to 60°C (140°F) and cook the custard until a probe thermometer reaches 63°C (145°F).

If you are using a food processor, blend the sugar and vanilla seeds together, then tip into a large heatproof bowl. Add the egg yolks and eggs to the bowl and whisk for 3 minutes or until pale. Combine the milk and cream in a saucepan over a medium heat and heat to just under boiling point. Slowly pour into the egg mixture and whisk until silky and well incorporated. Half-fill a large saucepan with water and bring to the boil over a medium heat (this will be your bain marie).

Reduce to a very gentle simmer, then place the bowl over the pan and, using a rubber spatula, stir constantly until the custard reaches a temperature of 65°C (149°F). Remove from the heat and pass the custard through a fine sieve.

The idea is to have the custard ready at the same time as the egg-washed pastry shell. For the best results, they both need to be warm.

Reduce the oven temperature to 130°C (265°F).

Carefully pour the custard into the warm tart shell and bake for 45 minutes or until the centre just reaches 83°C (180°F) for a wobbly set.

Allow the tart to stand at room temperature for at least an hour before serving (don’t refrigerate it or you will lose the wobble).

To serve, pour a little garum caramel over the top and, using a very hot, very sharp knife, carefully portion the tart. Serve with a generous dollop of softly whipped cream, if you like.

Recipe excerpted with permission Take One Fish by Josh Niland published by Hardie Grant Books, August 2021.

Savory Morning Buns with Sausage, Fontina, and Broccoli Rabe Call your friends now and invite them over for next Sunday morning, because you’ve just met the perfect brunch dish. The coiled presentation looks lovely on a spread, and the hearty filling means this plays the role of both main dish and pastry. The dough (essentially the same as for the Cast-Iron Skillet Spelt Cinnamon Rolls on page 221) requires advance planning—an overnight rest and a couple of hours of rising before baking—so be sure to read through everything to plan accordingly.

While it’s dreamy fresh from the oven, you can bake the morning bun a day ahead, refrigerate it, and then reheat in a 375°F (190°C) oven for 15 to 30 minutes, covered in foil at first, then uncovered to crisp up the edges.

Serves 6 to 8 Dough ½ cup (120 ml) whole milk 1 cup (120 g) spelt flour 1½ teaspoons (5 g) active dry yeast ¼ cup (60 ml) barely warm water @EdibleLAMag

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reading corner 1 cup (120 g) unbleached all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 large egg 4 tablespoons (60 g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature Filling Kosher salt 8 ounces (225 g) broccoli rabe, tough ends trimmed off Extra-virgin olive oil 3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled 8 ounces (225 g) breakfast sausage, bulk or casings removed, shaped into 3 or 4 patties 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup 2 cups (240 g) grated Fontina cheese ½ teaspoon dried chile flakes Freshly ground black pepper For baking 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 large egg, beaten ¼ cup (40 g) sesame seeds Make the dough: Whisk together the milk and 2 tablespoons of the spelt flour in a small saucepan. Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until it boils. Whisking constantly, boil the flour paste until it’s thick and starts to pull away from the bottom of the pan, about 30 seconds. Transfer the paste to a bowl, cover directly with plastic wrap, and let cool to room temperature.

When the flour paste has cooled, put the yeast and water in a small bowl and let sit for about 5 minutes to rehydrate the yeast. In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the paste, yeast mixture, remaining spelt flour, the all-purpose flour, salt, egg, and butter.

Knead on low speed for a few minutes until all of the ingredients are combined (you may need to scrape down the bowl once or twice).

Switch to medium speed and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and springy, about 8 minutes. Remove the dough from the mixer and shape into a ball. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic or a damp towel. Let rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 1½ hours, and then pop into the refrigerator for an overnight rest.

A couple of hours before you want to serve the morning rolls, take the dough from the refrigerator and make the filling.

Pour off any excess grease from the skillet and add the chopped broccoli rabe. Cook, stirring, for a minute to integrate the broccoli rabe and flavor it with the sausage grease. Stir in the maple syrup.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl, let cool completely, then add the Fontina and chile flakes and season with lots of black pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Refrigerate while you roll out the dough.

BAKE THE ROLL: Coat a 9-inch (23 cm) cast-iron skillet or cake pan with 1 tablespoon butter.

Lightly flour your work surface and roll the dough into an 18 × 12inch (46 × 30 cm) rectangle. Distribute the filling in an even layer over the whole surface of the dough.

Beginning with a long side, roll the dough into a tight cylinder (it will be soft, just work gently and do your best) and coil the cylinder into a loose spiral. Gently lift the spiral and place into the buttered pan; you may need to pat things back into place, but that’s fine. Cover loosely with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until the dough is puffy and the coil is swollen, 1½ to 2 hours.

About 20 minutes before the dough is fully risen (just guesstimate!), heat the oven to 375°F (190°C).

Brush the morning roll with the beaten egg and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Bake until medium brown and dry-looking on the top, with no “raw dough” look in the folds, 20 to 25 minutes.

Let cool for a few minutes so the filling can set, then cut into slices and serve.

Excerpted from Grains for Every Season by Joshua McFadden (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2021.

Fat Noodles with Pan-Roasted Mushrooms and Crushed Herb Sauce This method of cooking mushrooms—by pan-roasting them, then finishing with browned butter—is incredibly effective, whether you’re adding them to pasta or not. In the second step, the butter and aromatics wash a ton of flavor over the mushrooms, glossing them up.

4 to 6 servings

Heat a nice glug of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the smashed garlic and cook slowly over medium heat until the garlic is very soft, fragrant, and nicely golden brown—but not burnt—about 5 minutes.

Kosher salt; freshly ground pepper 6 garlic cloves, divided 1 lemon ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided 1 teaspoon mild chile flakes, such as Aleppo pepper 1 shallot 1 pound maitake mushrooms Chunk of Parmigiano, for grating and serving 2 cups lightly packed herbs (leaves and tender stems), such as parsley, mint, and/or arugula 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 pound wide pasta noodles, such as lasagnette or pappardelle

Add the sausage patties and cook, flipping occasionally, until browned on the surface and just cooked on the inside. Break into bite-size chunks with a spoon and cook until no longer pink. (You can leave the garlic in the pan as you cook the sausage, if it’s not getting too dark. If it is, scoop it out and add back when you add the broccoli rabe. In either case, smash it further into small bits.)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season it very aggressively with salt (figure ¼ cup salt per 6 quarts water). Pick out the smallest garlic clove and finely grate it into a small bowl. Grate in the zest of the lemon, then stir in 2 tablespoons olive oil and the chile flakes.

Season oil mixture with salt and pepper and set aside.

Thinly slice the remaining 5 garlic cloves and the shallot. Trim the

Make the filling: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add enough salt that it tastes like the ocean. Add the broccoli rabe and boil until the stems are quite tender when you cut (or bite) them, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain well, let cool, then chop roughly, making sure there are no long pieces of stem, which can be fibrous even when fully cooked. Set aside.

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Savory Morning Buns from Grains For Every Season. Photograph by AJ Meeker

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mushrooms; tear into bite-size pieces. Juice the zested lemon into a small bowl. Grate enough Parm to yield ¼ cup (save what’s left for passing at the table). Set all aside.

Add the herbs to the boiling water and cook until very softened, 2 minutes. (Cooking the herbs both mellows and deepens their flavor; they will have less fresh brightness but take on a richer, more vegetal flavor.) Use a mesh spider or tongs to remove the herbs and hold them under cold running water until cool enough to handle, about 10 seconds. Squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible. Thinly slice the herbs and stir them into the oil mixture. Taste and adjust with more salt and chile flakes, if desired. Set the herb sauce aside.

Lower heat under the boiling water to maintain a simmer—you want to get your mushrooms going before starting the pasta. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high for 1 minute, then add 3 tablespoons olive oil and half the mushrooms. Cook, tossing, until the mushrooms are coated with oil, then cook, undisturbed, until browned on the underside, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and toss, then cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are browned all over and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes more. Transfer mushrooms to a large plate and repeat with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil and mushrooms, then add these mushrooms to the first batch. Bring the water back to a boil.

Melt the butter in the Dutch oven over medium heat until it foams, 15 to 30 seconds. Add the sliced garlic and shallot and cook until the garlic and butter are golden brown and the shallot is translucent, about 2 minutes. Return the mushrooms to the pot, along with any accumulated juices, and cook, tossing, until well combined. Lower the heat to keep warm.

Meanwhile, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, until very al dente, 2 to 3 minutes less than the time indicated on the package. Use a mesh spider to transfer pasta to the pot with the mushrooms, then add 1 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Increase the heat to medium and cook, tossing energetically, until a sauce forms that coats the pasta, 2 minutes. Add the ¼ cup grated cheese, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and another big splash of pasta water and cook, tossing, until cheese is melted and the sauce is clinging to the noodles, 1 to 2 minutes more. Add a few spoonfuls of herb sauce to the pasta and stir to combine. Serve with remaining herb sauce and more cheese at the table.

Reprinted from That Sounds So Good by Carla Lalli Music. Copyright © 2021 by Carla Lalli Music. Photographs copyright © 2021 by Andrea Gentl and Martin Hyers. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

Omma’s Egg Rolls makes 30 to 40 egg rolls (depending on how much stuffing you use for each one) I will never forget how my father waited patiently on the living room sofa as my mother frantically fried dozens and dozens of egg rolls for his work holiday party. It was around midnight, because my dad worked the night shift. It was the one time of the year that my father, who was probably the most introverted and socially awkward employee at the Uni ted States Postal Service, became the most popular man at the office. The holiday party wasn’t complete without my mom’s egg rolls. I’ve used my mother’s egg rolls to win over grumpy teachers and colleagues alike, and even my own mother-inlaw declared them to be worthy of attempted bribery.

1 (16-ounce) block extra-firm tofu 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed 54

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1 tablespoon sesame oil 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped ¼ red onion, roughly chopped 1 scallion, roughly chopped 1 portobello mushroom, roughly chopped 1 cup Baechu Kimchi (page 000) 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 carrot, roughly chopped 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped 1 Yukon Gold potato, roughly chopped 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 cup roughly chopped cabbage 2½ ounces (70g) sweet potato vermicelli (about 1 handful), cooked according to package directions 1 (16-ounce) package egg roll wrappers About 4 cups vegetable oil, for frying Sweet and sour sauce, for serving 1. Press the tofu for about 10 minutes to remove excess liquid 2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and sesame oil over mediumhigh heat. Add the garlic, onion, kimchi, scallion, and mushroom.

Season with salt and pepper and cook until the onions turn translucent, 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Add the soy sauce to deglaze the pan and stir the vegetables so they are evenly coated with sauce. Remove the onion/mushroom mixture from the pan and place in a large bowl.

4. Add a little more olive oil to the pan and then add the carrots, celery, and potatoes. Season with the salt and pepper and cook until the carrots soften, about 3 minutes. Transfer the carrots to the large bowl with the onion/ mushroom mixture.

5. Add a little more olive oil to the pan and cook the cabbage until it begins to soften, about 2 minutes. Transfer the cabbage to the bowl of vegetables.

6. In a large food processor (or in batches if necessary), combine all the sautéed vegetables and the cooked vermicelli. Pulse 7 to 10 times, until the vegetables are chopped (but not ground into a paste). Return the vegetables to the large bowl.

7. Pat dry the pressed tofu and crumble it into the large bowl of vegetables, using a fork. Place the bowl in the refrigerator until you are ready to wrap the egg rolls.

8. Place an egg roll wrapper on a work surface so that it is positioned as a diamond (not a square) with a point facing you. Using the back of a small spoon or your fingers, wet the edges with a little water. Spoon 2 healthy spoonfuls of filling onto the wrapper. Lift the bottom corner up and over the filling and press down to seal.

Then, bring both the left and right corners in to the center and while holding them in place, roll upward until the top is sealed, just like an envelope. Repeat to make more rolls until the filling is used up.

9. Pour 4 inches of vegetable oil into a deep-fryer or large cast-iron pan. Heat the oil to about 350°F (use a thermometer or test by throwing a little bit of leftover filling into the oil—if it immediately sizzles, you are ready to fry). Line a plate with paper towels and have nearby.

10. Working in batches of two to three at a time (do not crowd the pan), add the egg rolls to the hot oil and cook both sides until they are a deep golden brown, about 3 minutes on each side. Drain them on the paper towel–lined plate.

11. When all egg rolls have been fried, fry them again for about 30 seconds on each side. This time, you don’t need to worry about overcrowding.

12. Serve plain or with sweet and sour sauce.

From The Korean Vegan Cookbook: Reflections and Recipes from Omma’s Kitchen by Joanne Lee Molinaro, to be published on 10/12/2021 by Avery, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2021 Joanne Lee Molinaro

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Fat Noodles with Pan-Roasted Mushrooms and Crushed Herb Sauce from That Sounds So Good

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the last bite

Fanny Singer’s Autumn Squash Gratin WORDS BY FANNY SINGER PHOTOGRAPHS BY BRIGITTE LACOMBE

I

make some version of this gratin every year for Thanksgiving. It’s a beautiful thing to serve directly from the pan at the table, and it’s very simple to make. Use a large cast iron pan if you have one (though a casserole dish works just as well).

Many types of squash are good for this recipe, but you want one that’s big enough so that when you slice it, it’ll yield sizable pieces to nicely layer in the pan. My favorite is a variety called Crown Prince, a big, flavorful round squash with burnished, ghostly gray-blue skin and bright orange flesh. It’s nice to see the variation of color in the pan; the green of the skin and orange flesh make a beautiful combination. Still, Butternut or Honeynut squash are also good options and easy to find in most farmers’ markets (resist smaller varieties like Kuri or Delicata; they’ll be a pain to cut up and arrange). You can just leave the skin on with most squash varieties when you roast it. I wouldn’t do this if I was cubing it, but if you’re thinly slicing the squash, there’s so little skin on each piece that it becomes more of a pleasing texture than a tough rind. That said, if––once you bisect your squash––you notice the skin is particularly thick, use a peeler to remove the toughest outer layer.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Start by chopping a large onion into a medium dice. Add this to a heavy-bottomed pan, add a big glug of olive oil and cook on medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until softened and caramelized. Turn off the heat and allow the onion to come to room temperature. Meanwhile, peel and sliver the cloves of a half a head of garlic and set aside. Halve your squash, use a spoon to scrape any seeds and fiber from the cavity, and, placing the squash cut face

down, use a large sharp knife to slice 1/16 inch-thick vaguely crescent moon-shaped pieces. Cut as uniformly as you can, as this will help the gratin cook evenly. You can use a mandoline instead if you have one to hand and it fits your squash easily. If using a round cast iron, arrange your squash slices overlapping radially in a rosette. If using a square or rectangular dish, lay them out, slightly overlapping, like the scales of a fish. Oil your pan lightly and lay down a bottom layer of squash. Spread a bit of your caramelized onion around over top, a scattering of garlic slivers, a few knobs of butter, a dusting of fresh thyme leaves, a healthy grating of Parmesan cheese, a drizzle of heavy cream, and ample salt and black pepper between (you’ll repeat this with each layer, as if making a lasagna). When you get to the top of the pan, pour about a cup of chicken stock and another glug of cream over the whole thing––this will keep it hydrated while baking. Sprinkle some more Parmesan over top, as well as a few thyme leaves, some black pepper and salt. Place in the middle of the oven to cook for about 45 minutes, or until a small paring knife easily pierces through to the bottom of the pan. If, at any point, the top is looking too brown, cover loosely with a sheet of parchment paper or tin foil. When done, allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting it into portions.

Adapted from Always Home: A Daughter’s Recipes & Stories by Fanny Singer.

Copyright © 2021 Fanny Singer. Published by Appetite by Random House ®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Author. All rights reserved. Photography credit: Photos by Brigitte Lacombe. Copyright © 2021 Fanny Singer @EdibleLAMag

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