i'm high on cooking - tomfarmery for all!!!

November 10, 2010 carrello d’carne

look. i’m from jersey, and i know diners.

as i’ve traveled most of the good ol’ usa in my time, and a healthy amount of foreign soils, i have always been convinced that jersey was the one and only true home of the diner. in fact, the jersey diner, should be referred to as such—the jersey diner—so as to differentiate it from all the other greasy spoons, box cars, and drive-ins guy fieri might shovel down his gullet.

and then, we went to italy, drove into reggio emilia just as sunday service was letting out, and walked into trattoria canossa. on the recommendation of a local, we were in for some “typical reggiani fare”. a half hour from modena, birthplace of true balsamic, and a half hour from parma, home of the globally famous aged cheese, and a half hour from bologna, stomach of italia, traditional fare sounded pretty righteous. we walked into the restaurant, i looked at her with my big goofy smile, and said the first thought that came to mind: “it’s a diner!” the smells, the uniforms, and hum of the staff and the diners—i was instantly transported to a jersey diner circa two thousand ‘one, cutting school, and high as a kite. perfection.

mere seconds after “non parlano italiano” stumbled out of my mouth to the fast talking waiter who approached us, and a steaming slab of lasagna with a half bottle of the house red wine was slid in front of us. literally, seconds. when it comes to food, language matters not. with a view of the italian grandma cooking in the open kitchen, and with the first bites of seriously home cooked lasagna touching my tongue, i knew the jersey diner’s supremacy was instantly up for contention. and once my plate went from saucy red, to bread swept white, two sweet sweet words put the nail in jersey’s coffin: corello d’carne? that’s right—meat cart.

compartmentalized tubs of boiling meats pushed on a cart by a jolly knife wielding server. submerged in liquid, and raised up with a lever for slicing tableside. little of this. oh, some of that. yes, please the rabbit, too. tongue? sure. some of that bloody tube there, please. pig leg….mm hmm. this is no diner i’ve known.

the cart of meat would have made the crew back at farm255 proud. all sorts of odds, ends, and insides. the types of cuts butchers in brooklyn are becoming famous for serving, presented in the most regular and common setting these people know. totally normal. just life.

it should be no surprise, i suppose, that the birthplace of so many other things, has been crushing the jersey diner scene for millennia. hats off.

p.s. when farm’s sous farmer chef francois and i saw this little beauty at the salone del gusto, we were excited. when we sat it at torino’s eataly, we twirled its wheel and marveled at its craftsmanship like giddy school girls. and now, after seeing it in almost a dozen trattorias, hosterias, and macellerias across italy—i’ve become convinced that this stunning meat slicer is in the five year plan. love me some berkel.

Comments

October 14, 2010 terra madre & italia

like a magnetic beacon at the end of an impossibly long tunnel, terra madre is actually approaching. thoughts, which have remained in the stratosphere for the last four months—as animals died, as the summer never stopped, and the piglets were born—thoughts which seemed surreal are now here. we leave for italy in five days.

let me back up.

slow food international: a most excellent global presence supporting local sustainable solutions, fairly and cleanly produced food, and healthful food access in all the most important places. it’s a global organization made up of increasingly more specific chapters by which to describe its members. individuals form communities, communities form regions, regions form countries, and so on.

example the me: jared, a (young) farmer living in athens, georgia (not far from atlanta), raises pasture livestock in the georgia piedmont, in the southeast united states, has many different ways of identifying with the international slow food community.

terra madre: every two years this community comes together in torino, italy, to debate, educate, share, and teach one another about the world’s many invaluable food cultures. almost half a year ago people from all around the world applied to become terra madre delegates and represent their homelands at this epic gathering.

it fills me with overwhelming joy to tell you that i will be attending terra madre as a usa delegate. besides myself, farm255’s head chef/four courseman matty, managing partner olivia, and my partner in tomfarmery sous farmer/chef francois, were also selected to represent. delegates gather from around the world, from hundreds of countries, each offering their own local perspective. the focus for ‘oh ten will be “cultural and linguistic diversities - in recognition of the need to defend minority ethnic groups and indigenous languages, and with an appreciation of the value of oral traditions and memory.” to learn more details about the conference please refer to the official description.

i leave wednesday night. and to turn this dream into an even larger fantasy, she’s meeting me on the tail end for a two week tour of italy. we’re hitting rome, florence, and venice* on our way through a handful of (magical sounding) tuscan farms and inns.

i can feel the momentum of terra madre building and sucking me in. it’s tentacles are billowing out of torino—expanding far and wide—and pulling it’s children in with its’ warm embrace. i see the salumi, and the pasta, and the vino della casa. i can taste it. i can see the fish mongers, the bakers, the scavengers, the musicians, the farmers, the pastry chefs, the students, and the butchers all around the world—i see them cracking that same smile i am, as they too are plucked away to italy…

to find your local slow food chapter in the usa: press there

to learn about terra madre press here

and to learn about the salone del gusto (the tasting room) which is the edible half of terra madre, read here.

and for athens folk who don’t know: the four coursemen are delicious

________________________________________________________

*comment below for any restaurant recommendations in the three cities