Chez Panisse chef and cookbook author David Tanis' new book Heart of the Artichoke and Other Kitchen Journeys opens with an interesting section called Kitchen Rituals. The fourteen small, two-page chapters share with us short recipes, kitchen tips and a few of the simple things he does to keep himself and his friends well-fed Read on for a some of my favorites from Mr. Tanis and a couple of my own kitchen rituals. What about you?
Kitchen rituals: little things you always do that stock your pantry or certain methods you have of preparing your food or the ways that you take care of your kitchen. Nigel Slater talks about his nightly ritual of making a pot of yogurt for the next day. For me, doing the evening washing up is a ritual: I select my podcast or music, light a candle for company and treat myself to a nice smelling dish soap like Caldrea. Also, making my bone stock which is simply a long day's simmering of chicken backs, feet, heads and a left over carcass along with a lemon. So easy and so satisfying to stock my freezer with the results.
For David Tanis, peeling an apple in a long strip or eating oatmeal in a special counterclockwise way are a few things he puts in his ritual category. One of my favorites from his book is making a small-batch pot of jam from two cups of fruit and two cups of sugar and storing it in the fridge for a weekly treat.
I also appreciated chapter seven's Hurray for Ziplock Bags in which he recommends putting whole, ripe, good-tasting tomatoes in ziplock bags, flattening them a little and popping them into the freezer. He claims the skins will come off easily when defrosted and the flavor is better than canned tomatoes. Worth a try!
What are your kitchen rituals?
Related: Weekend Meditation: Rituals and Repetition
(Images: Dana Velden)
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I make a poached egg on a slice of crispy (some might say "burnt") Ezekiel bread every single morning. I know what setting the burner is at, when to toss in the salt and vinegar, when to plop in the egg and when to gently lift it from the pot with the slotted spoon.
And I have even more neuroses-- I separate the white from the yolk with my fingers (burning them a bit every time), then place just the yolk on the toast, breaking it and spreading it over the bread as if it were butter. Then I layer the white over the top. Salt. Pepper. Grated parmesan. Eaten at the counter or the coffee table while I read the blogs and check e-mail.
Ain't a proper morning without it.
I always drink coffee from the same mug, from my favorite restaurant in Portland, my favorite city.
Every weekend, I cook special breakfast, like scones or muffins or biscuits or bacon and eggs. When I was a kid, my parents always made nice weekend breakfasts and it's a tradition I like to keep.
When I was little, my parents listened to All Things Considered on NPR while cooking dinner and for years, whenever I heard the theme, I smelled dinner.
My most common ritual is tea making.
About to start cooking? Make tea.
Big chore to do? Make tea.
Time to relax? (You guessed it) Make tea.
When it comes to cooking, I always do things in the mise-en-place style. I have a multitude of little colored bowls and jars that have to be filled with ingredients before I can start cooking. It's utterly ridiculous how many dishes I dirty doing this. But it is the way I cook.
My odd rituals (things that guests have commented on) include: keeping all my vegetable scraps and freezing them (to make stock). Having bread in the freezer (to make bread crumbs). Combining weird leftovers from different days for lunches (couscous with black beans and chili is my most recent pairing).
Cleaning my kitchen before I cook. I'm not talking spotless but I like a clean countertop (fill the dishwasher, put cereal boxes etc. back in the cupboards, wipe down stove and countertops). I know I will make a mess when I cook *shrug* but there's something about starting with a blank canvas that makes the experience more enjoyable.
I agree with the initial clean-up before you start ... It's a little like taking a fresh, cleansing breath. Then, select the music - for me, opera usually, but sometimes the soundtrack from the Big Night. And, if it's before a dinner party or any entertaining ... start with an empty dishwasher.