Omni Daily Crush: "The Cook and the Gardener"
Sometimes it takes the strength of only one recipe for a cookbook to win you over. Some even rarer times, it's a recipe you love immediately without even having made it yet ("yet" being the operative word, because any recipe that can't convince you it's worth making is probably not). Of all the recipes in Amanda Hesser's The Cook and the Gardener that could have easily persuaded me (Spiced Brussels Sprouts with Apples... Warm Potato Leek Salad with Pistou... Sauteed Figs with Honey Cream) , it's her recipe for Autumn Stock that got under my skin. She begins each seasonal section of the book thoughtfully with a stock recipe appropriate for the foods available at that time of year. Autumn's surprised me by being a duck stock. I always think of duck as being this rich (maybe questionably so) indulgence: stock seemed far too democratic a thing to make with it. But what the author has to say about this particular stock (and the authority with which she says it) stopped me in my tracks for a minute.
I am not a fan of bastard stocks, in which the cook uses the stockpot like a compost heap, because stock is the base for flavoring in many dishes, and I don't like to think of my base as tasting like a compost heap. A bastard stock is a lazy outlet.
And so she continues with frank advice on how to build the stock (onion skins "add an earthy sienna tinge") and what bones to use (duck only). I love this recipe because it reached out and shook me by the shoulder to remind me that cooking is purposeful, but it's not all-purpose. A duck stock must be precisely that. Nothing more, nothing less. --Anne
Recommended for fans of The Gastronomical Me and Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking (Even though Amanda Hesser writes about Burgundy in The Cook and the Gardener, she and Marcella Hazan seem like kindred spirits.)
Amanda Hesser on November 17, 2009 at 07:06 PM
Anne, thank you for your kind words! It's a huge treat to have my book written about so many years after it was published. Glad to know it lives on in your kitchen.
christmas presents on November 20, 2009 at 02:39 AM
This is a wonderful insight into the relationship between a cook and a gardener. The nostalgic references to gardening in a time gone by give a wonderful view of the life of a 'Big house' gardener and the 'house' cook. It is wonderful to see the grumpy Frenchman warmt to the young female cook. The collection of both recipes and gardening techniques makes for a fascinating read, and a very pleasureable one too. I loved the techical information for growing fruit and vegetables and can't wait to try many of the recipes, discovering new ingredients not often found in modern cookbooks. This is a must for any cook/gardener...