My Favorite Online Gift Sources

At Home at Reading Terminal Market
Reminder: I will be signing books this Saturday, December 11th at Reading Terminal Market from 11 AM to 4 PM. Look for me in Center Court. Bring your old copy of The Frog Commissary Cookbook and purchase a second copy of At Home at half price.

1. korin.com Knife Porn!!!

In the early 1980’s I spent several weeks in Japan. Since that time I have had a deep appreciation of the Japanese aesthetic based upon the Tea Ceremony. What I so admire about this Japanese aesthetic is that it is based on on an exquisite harmony with nature. It is a very small step from that aesthetic to my summer’s worth of visits to farm stands and farmers’ markets and commitment to cooking seasonally. Among the great meals of my life was at Kitcho, just outside Kyoto. Kitcho is kaiseki restaurant — the highest form of Japanese cuisine that is modeled on the Tea Ceremony — but with lots more food. See my little story about this memorable meal on Page 182 of At Home. While in Kyoto I visited a knife shop with a legacy of samurai sword-making that continues to make knives as they have for hundreds of years. I purchased several fine Japanese knives that still serve me well.

Korin features fine Japanese Tableware and Chef Knives. They have a small jewel of a shop in Tribeca, but you can spend lots of time with your nose pressed against the window by visiting their website. They have both Western and Japanese style knives. For most of the cooking we do, a Western style knife is best. I generally use Shun knives that are available at fine kitchenware store like Kitchen Kapers or Fante’s. But Korin is a whole other thing with some hand-crafted knives costing over a thousand dollars. The selection of knives is overwhelming, but decide on a price your willing to pay — there are many fine knives for vastly less than a thousand dollars! — the style of knife you want and take a leap. You can certainly give them a call and they would be happy to guide your choice. A fine knife taken care of will last a lifetime and makes for an extravagant gift to someone who loves to cook…including to yourself. For the sushi-lover who has everything, you can buy them a “sushi-robot.” At the other end of the Korin spectrum is a little scrubber that I will talk about in an upcoming “Stocking Stuffers” post. It’s fun to just visit their site and fantasize.

2. bridgekitchenware.com Professional

As a young and aspiring cook, even before I opened my first restaurant in 1973, I made a pilgrimage to Bridge Kitchenware on East 52nd Street in New York. It was a slightly forbidding retail store stacked from floor to ceiling with all manner of copper pots and “professional” kitchenware. It felt like entering a rarefied world of chefs and I was not clear I was allowed. In recent years Bridge “family” made the decision to withdraw from the New York hustle and bustle. Today they have a store in Roseland, New Jersey, but you can shop where professional chefs shop by visiting online. Need a fish poacher, Bridge has a variety to select from. Want a pro’s tool to finish the top of your creme brulee, no problem. Their website is not easy to navigate — nor was the 52nd Street store, but they have the goods.

3. snakeriverfarms.com Premium Pork

Several years ago I ordered a ham from Snake River Farms made from Kurobuta pork — a pork breed also known as Berkshire. It was the best ham I ever ate. Pork generally available today in supermarkets has had much of its character breed out in favor of its “other white meat” status. Snake River supplies restaurants, but anyone can order their heritage pork or Wagyu Beef from their online store. You can now sometimes find Berkshire pork and grass-fed beef from local farms and at farmers markets, but its hard to find locally this time of year. You go to so much effort to make a special holiday meal — why not go the extra step and serve something very memorable.

4. latienda.com Spanish Specialties

La Tienda specializes in Spanish food-stuffs including paella pans and paella kits. These “gift kits” include the pan and paella makings. Paella is a wonderful special occasion “one-dish” entree — think New Year’s Eve. You can make paella in any large, flat flame-proof pan — in a pinch I use a cast iron skillet, but a paella pan is made for this dish — wide with low slopping side. One of my favorite cooking activities is making paella over a round Weber kettle grill. Once you get the hang of making paella — it’s not difficult — there are lots of different paellas you can make. At Home features a recipe for Seafood Paella on Page 236. Don’t be put off by the long list on ingredients — it’s just shopping and part of what makes it special. And it’s not like you’re going to make this weekly. La Tienda also sells smoked paprika, used in At Home’s Little Lamb Meatballs with Smoked Paprika Cream on Page 97. These small gems were inspired by a Madrid trip that occurred when I was developing recipes for At Home.

5. artisinalcheese.com Say Cheese

If I had to pick a single food to eat the rest of my life, it would probably be sushi. Reasonably healthy. The other is cheese. I am always amazed at the complex world of fine cheese flavors. Unfortunately, cheese is not so healthy so I try to limit my cheese consumption. So when I have cheese, I like it to be something special. Among the recent changes in the local food scene is the development locally produced world class cheese from cheese-makers like Princeton’s Cherry Grove Farm and Elverson’s Amazing Acres. Great local cheeses can be found at local cheese shops and at the Fair Food Farmstand at Reading Terminal. For the Cheese Lover on your gift list, I suggest you consider Artisinal Cheese’s Cheese of the Month Club. It’s like Harry & David’s Fruit of the Month — but more special and delicious.

6. chefshop.com Wild Italian Fennel Pollen and Other Hard to Find Ingredients

It’s so hard to figure out what to give as a gift. Closets are filled with gifts slated for re-gifting. Maybe Pixar will do a follow-up to Toy Story 3 about the fate of such gifts. Do you want your gift to suffer this fate? Well, the gift of food is not likely to have such a fate. Which brings me to Wild Italian Fennel Pollen. OK, not everyone loves the taste of fennel. But I do. The White Bean & Caramelized Fennel Dip on Page 78 of At Home has been my book-signing lure and give-away this year. The ultimate fennel is Wild Italian Fennel Pollen. Just saying it is transportative. Before conforming to the reality of available ingredients, the Fennel-scented Strips Bass on Page 260 was made with fennel pollen. Go to Chef Shop for special ingredients that you need for a special meal or a to give as a gift unlikely to be slated for re-gifting.

7.recchiuti.com Chocolate Heaven

Michael Recchiuti is Chocolate Royalty. A former Philadelphian – who spent some time in The Commissary’s Bakery in the early 80’s — Michael is based in San Francisco. The two table chocolates Christina and I served at our wedding were Michael’s and Marcolini’s from Brussels. Michael makes simply extraordinary chocolates and other confections. His Key Lime Pears are a personal favorite and a perfect house gift to bring to a holiday party.

Previn – Philadelphia’s Own Professional Kitchenware Source

While you can’t buy online, Philadelphia’s own Previn has a website that offers an array of unusual and sophisticated kitchenware. You browse their online catalog and call to discuss price and place your order.

Purchase At Home Online
If you live within a few hundred miles of Philadelphia, it typically takes two days to deliver At Home to your door using standard shipping. However, to make sure you have At Home by Christmas, ideally order by Monday, December 20th. After that date, consider expedited shipping.

Ardmore Farmers’ Market on Thursday Thursday, December 16th
I will be at the Ardmore Farmers’ Market on Thursday, December 16th from 11 AM to 4 PM.

Other Places to Purchase At Home
Green Aisle Grocery
The pioneering Green Aisle is located at 1618 E. Passyunk Avenue, between Tasker and Morris. It is also a wonderful place for locally sourced foodstuffs for home and holiday giving.

Coopermarket
Coopermarket’s proprietor is Beth Cooper, a long-time friend. In addition to purchasing At Home, it’s a great place to bring home delicious prepared foods for the holidays. Coopermarket is located at 302 Levering Mill Road in Bala Cynwyd.

Joseph Fox Bookshop
For many years while I operated The Commissary on the 1700 block of Sansom Street, the Joseph Fox Bookshop was a neighbor. It is Center City’s great independent bookshop and the only bookshop carrying At Home. A book makes a perfect holiday gift because your selection of a particular book for someone you love is an indication that you know and understand who they are. You can count on the books at Joseph Fox to be lovingly curated by the Fox family. The Joseph Fox Bookshop is located at 1724 Sansom Street in Philadelphia.

Thank you for visiting.

Steve
Your Home Entertaining Coach

On the Road: Farm Stands of Lancaster County, PA

An on-going theme of my On the Road posts is to share the wonder and beauty of our countryside — with a culinary focus. I am struck by how we travel to countries far and wide to seek out back road experiences but we hardly ever experience the wonderful back roads close to home.

Lancaster County is often stunningly beautiful.  Located in south-central Pennsylvania, it borders Maryland to the south and, on the east, Chester County. To the west is the Susquehanna River and York and Dauphin Counties. To the north are Lebanon and Berks counties. The city of Lancaster is about 80 miles west of Philadelphia and 40 miles southeast of Harrisburg.

It’s farm country. According to Wikipedea, Lancaster County is home to 5,293 farms. Though at 984 square miles it occupies only about 2% of Pennsylvania’s land, it is responsible for one-fifth of Pennsylvania’s agricultural production. Agricultural output is $800 million — with $710 million of that coming, in one form or another, from livestock. That includes dairy, poultry, eggs, cattle and pigs. Most of the corn you see growing in Lancaster is feed for the livestock.

Lancaster County is known as Pennsylvania Dutch country and markets itself as such. Of course, in this case “Dutch” does not mean people in wooden shoes, rather the transposition of “deutsche” — or German-speaking. The “Dutch”  traces its origins to Lancaster being home to a large community of Anabaptists seeking religious toleration, who settled there in the early 18th Century. Anabaptists are Christians who rejected conventional Christian practices including infant baptism. Rather, Anabaptists believe that baptism should be the choice of an adult. Within the Anabaptist community, a division occurred that lead to the development of separate Mennonite and Amish branches — both of whom populate Lancaster County. The Amish believe in living very simple, or “plain,” and in tight communities largely separate from the larger society. Amish do not adopt modern technologies such as electric and cars. Though they speak English, they also maintain their distinct language. Amish worship in homes. Mennonites are more fully integrated into modern society and worship in churches. Mennonite service to God is substantially manifest in the world-wide humanitarian relief missions they undertake. You can bet there are Mennonites in Pakistan helping flood victims. Of course, there are more and more subtle differences between Amish and Mennonites, but this is a blog about farm stands. This is just some Lancaster County background.

Six percent of Lancaster’s residents speak German at home. This gives you a sense of the number of Amish in Lancaster.

Note: As a postscript following this post I reflect on my experience in Lancaster County and the recent piece by New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. The piece is about the tension between constitutional rights and cultural assimilation. It’s not about farm stands and not what I generally write about and therefore removed from the body of the farm stand post. Of course, just skip it if political discourse from me is not your cup of tea. But it does have to do with building community which is my ultimate objective.

Agricultural commerce exists throughout Lancaster at vastly different scales. Some very small small and home and backyard based.

Lancaster is filled with very large farms and other large scale operations reflecting the industrialization of agriculture.

It has a long agricultural tradition…

and history dating back into the 18th Century.

Unlike other areas I have visited, tobacco has played a large though diminishing role in its agricultural economy. Here is a field of tobacco.

This is tobacco drying as it has for more than 200 years in Lancaster.

Alfalfa is another important Lancaster County crop. It is a crop that is seen throughout the Philadelphia-Delaware Valley region. Alfalfa is ideal forage for cattle — primarily dairy cattle. It has the highest feeding value of all common hay crops. Alfalfa is often rotated with corn as a means to maintain the nutritional value of Lancaster’s rich soil.

Most have us have experienced Lancaster County as we drive east-west along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. What you see as you speed by is but a tiny sliver of what is available to behold on a slow drive along Lancaster’s back roads. Though Lancaster County is home to about 500,000 people with a population density of about 500 per square mile, it feels far less dense than that on its many miles of back roads.

Shades and textures of green and white fences actually made more lovely as a result of an unusually overcast day.

Old barns frame carefully tended farms.

Soaring fields of corn and silos awaiting the harvest. Though Lancaster produces loads of sweet corn, overwhelmingly Lancaster’s corn is meant for Lancaster’s livestock and not for people. Lancaster is home to 45 million roaster chickens, 10 million laying hens, 95,000 dairy cows, 250,000 beef cattle and 350,000 hogs annually.

Some Lancaster livestock is frighteningly large.

Others not quite so large.

There are livestock couples.

And livestock small families.

Everyone has to have a home. Some live in fairly nice homes.

Here cows head home at the end of a long day out to pasture.

Homes come in different styles including split level…

…and ranch style. Here a home to free-range chickens.

Among Lancaster’s many attractions are its outlet stores. They even have one for peaches and apples.

There is nothing like tree-ripened fruit. Not just “yellow” peaches and “white” peaches, but peaches with names like Bellaire and Belle of Georgia and September Sun. Cherry Hill Orchards grows 40 Varieties of Apples, 25 Varieties of Sweet and Tart Cherries, 25 Varieties of Peaches, as well as Nectarines, Plums, Apricots, Sweet Corn And Pumpkins.

Apples begin their harvest in summer and continue late into fall.

Some local “fruit” is forbidden.

Our very first sighting was a classic roadside farm stand.

Some stands specialize. Here watermelons with a few potatoes thrown in.

Here flowers and a few tomatoes.

For some stands you need to want lots of potatoes.

Not everything for sale on the roadside is food.

Some food is fully prepared and ready to go as with Dude with the Food. Ribs, pulled pork and beer-can chicken.

Dessert included. Stickey Business stands next door to Dude with the Food.

Having never seen a sticky bun truck, who would have thought we would see two! This one sits in a Harley-Davidson dealer’s parking lot.

A problem sometimes encountered looking for farm stands is that in the land of farms, it isn’t always easy to find farm stands. Why?  Because it is not easy to sell vegetables to other farmers. But there were some stunning stands happy to sell to us non-farmers.

One thing that was very enlightening was that “heirloom” tomatoes had names. So often heirloom tomatoes are simply sold as heirloom tomatoes. But different varieties of tomatoes have distinctly different flavors and characteristics. The Mortgage Lifter to the right was developed by an inexperienced West Virginia radiator repairman named “Radiator Charlie” in the 1930’s. People drove hundreds of miles to buy Charlie’s seedlings for $1 each. By selling his seedlings, Charlies was able to pay off his $6000 mortgage in six years.

Among may favorite “hard to find” items is lemon verbena. A sign of the farm table listed herbs including lemon verbena, but there was none to be found. I asked the farmer who returned to his barn-located farm stand from his across the road home (above) if he had any? He said herbs were his wife’s domain and she proudly cuts her lemon verbena to order. And off he went to find his wife. In short order she returned with gloriously fresh branches that perfumed the car for hours. Lemon verbena figured prominently in my On the Table Lancaster farm stand dinner to be featured tomorrow. My farm stand recipe will be for Lemon Verbena sorbet. I also used my lemon verbena to make iced tea and to infuse vodka.

The variety of signs and stands is part of the roadside visual feast.

This stand’s essence is expressed in its name.

Corn is king.

Here is the king and queen.

The Corn Wagon’s business model was pretty simple.

The corn was in the wagon.

Other markets are much more substantial offering the full variety of summer’s local harvest.

Watermelons also have names beyond red and yellow and seeded and seedless. Here are Sangria melons. Sangrias set the sweet eating bar for “Allsweet” watermelons.

The Tomato Barn in Washington Boro will end up on this summer’s all-star farm stand team. While it offered the usual variety of summer produce — all grown on their farm, this was the place for tomatoes.

Among their tomatoes are the sweet and juicy Jet Star and the hardier and more meaty Sunbright.

Sometimes a name is mostly hype.  This is a tomato barn worthy of its name.

These are the sweet Jet Stars — take-out ready.

The Myers Farm Produce stand offered four varieties of sweet corn.

The Myers Farm cat was not for sale.

Another wonderful and unique farm stand was Lime Valley Mill Produce, housed in an old stone barn.

These are hollow gourds with a patina that matched in character the mottled white-washed barn walls. Add a bird-sized hole and these gourds make excellent bird houses.

Lime Valley Mill is a self-service, honor-system farm stand with a clever security system.

As the day wanes and the sky darkens, the shades of green deepen.

It was a very good day in Lancaster County. Wish you were there. I hope this little tour whets your appetite to share Lancaster’s farm stands with friends and family.

I think this photo speaks for itself.

From left to right: Assorted heirloom tomatoes (with names), eggplant, Glick’s home-made root beer, Reading Draft Black Cherry “Premium Reserve Soda,” cherry cider, basil and mint, golden raspberries, honeydew, apples, Red Star tomatoes, beets, yellow globe cucumbers, cantaloupe, Shiloh maple syrup, yellow beans, plums, nectarines, Landis peanut butter. And hovering above, corn and lemon verbena.

Tomorrow — On the Table: Farm Stands of Lancaster County

Thank you for visiting.

Steve
Your Home Entertaining Coach

Postscript: Reflections from Lancaster County on Ross Douthat’s New York Times opinion piece from August 15 — Islam and the Two Americas

Recently New York Times columnist Ross Douthat wrote about the controversy surrounding the intention of a Muslim community to build a mosque and community center at a site a few blocks from 9/11’s “Ground Zero” – site of the World Trade Center attacks. In it he notes the tension between religious liberty, which he supports and the imperative of cultural assimilation, which he also supports. Referring to the need for cultural assimilation, Douthat writes: “But there’s another America as well, one that understands itself as a distinctive culture, rather than just a set of political propositions. This America speaks English, not Spanish or Chinese or Arabic. It looks back to a particular religious heritage: Protestantism originally, and then a Judeo-Christian consensus that accommodated Jews and Catholics as well. It draws its social norms from the mores of the Anglo-Saxon diaspora — and it expects new arrivals to assimilate themselves to these norms, and quickly.”

As I read Douthat’s piece, I could not help but reflect on my recent drive across Lancaster County. I wondered how the Amish might feel about Douthat’s prescription for quick assimilation. I understand the need of individual cultures and communities that, taken as a whole add up to a country, to share some set of common values. It is these common values that pull us together — that form the basis of the larger community. What made me painfully uncomfortable was that Douthat’s common values reflect specific social norms based upon the mores of the Anglo-Saxon diaspora. Aren’t we a little beyond this? It seems to me that the very separateness of the Amish — their decision not to assimilate — actually adds immeasurably to the vibrancy of Lancaster County. The Amish came to the United States for the right not to assimilate. They left a place where being different was dangerous. They are different — not us — and that is wonderful. For a time, being black in America was dangerous. In many places in America being black still comes with risks. Today, being Muslim in America can be dangerous.

And who are the Muslim Americans who are the object of his lecture? Douthat notes: “But the second America is right to press for something more from Muslim Americans — particularly from figures like Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam behind the mosque — than simple protestations of good faith.” I am not clear what the context of Douthat’s quotes of Rauf. Clearly there are some Muslim Americans whose words and behavior, though legal, are distasteful — or even abhorrent. But what standard does Douthat hold “American Muslims” to and what Muslim Americans? Every American Muslim?  It is interesting that among Amish rights to difference is their refusal to fight in American wars. The Amish have bad things to say about all wars. All well and good. That’s what they came here for. On the other hand, many American Muslims have died wearing an American uniform. How’s that for assimilation?

America was founded not just on the legal right to be different, but also freedom from cultural coercion. Difference is the spice that characterizes America’s recipe for greatness and not bland assimilation. Lancaster’s Amish are an enduring reflection of that right — they are the spice. I assume Douthat would argue that he is not prescribing “total assimilation” but I do not know how to differentiate between “assimilation” and “total assimilation.” It’s a slippery slope. It seemed to me Douthat’s piece was a highbrow defense of cultural imperialism and intellectual fear-mongering. It was religious liberty is OK, as long as you otherwise conform to “our social norms.”

America will continue to thrive to the degree that we continue to welcome, embrace and sustain differences. Ideally, our opinion makers would lead by helping the fearful embrace differences. Who is it that we are afraid of? The Amish?