The slow and real cooking lifestyle
Food is the fuel for our bodies and in my Italian-American culture, the nourishment of soul.
Mealtime should be an act of community, of sharing time and the joy and beauty of a well-done meal with family and friends and the food producer. Yes, key to this outlook is the quality of what is put on the table. Recipes come and go, but the food must be fresh and of the finest quality—authentic, no chemicals, and delicious. Expanding your idea of community to include your food producer, (from local farmers and farm markets to the produce, meat and other category managers in your supermarket) will lead to better eating. You don’t have to always buy organic to get fresh food that is good for you. Just buy the freshest, most local, you can afford and the best fresh frozen goods. Read the labels on the canned goods to find the ones that have the fewest added ingredients.
On our recent trip to Italy, we made a trip to the home region of the Slow Food Movement and realized that passion for food is what counts. When you begin to see food as a passion as do the producers of the famous slow food denomination controlled Italian products do (Prosciutto di Parma ham, parmigiano reggiano cheese and balsamic vinegars, for example) then you will find that accepting only the best you can afford to put on the table is what counts. This means not simply the admittedly pricey specialty items referenced above, but also include products grown or sold by local farmers and producers, the produce and meat and fish sellers here on the Grand Strand who consistently try to bring you the best and cleanest (no antibiotics, no GMO as fresh as possible) so that you can feed your family well.
Slow and real is less about recipes than it is about how what you purchase to put into the recipe—each item should be the freshest, local, if possible. In fact, if you follow the slow and real principles (see sidebar), then the best recipes do as little as possible to the wonderful food being showcased and meals are a careful blend of fresh items that grow nearby, that complement one another. Think rice and shrimp. Carolina Gold rice is heritage rice and it has a superior flavor, but it costs three times what normal rice costs. Shrimp on the other hand are sometimes even less expensive when they are freshest—right off the boat (heads still on). When you go to the market, ask the produce man, the meat man what are the freshest products. When fresh is not available, go for flash frozen. Those will retain many of the vitamins and taste almost fresh when cooked.
Slow and real also means making sure that others can eat too. It means giving to the poor, helping start gardens in schools so children learn the value of real food, supporting local farm markets and farmers. The Slow Food movement has over 150,000 members and is active in more than 150 countries, including national associations in Italy, the U.S., Germany and Japan. There are more than 170 chapters and 2,000 food communities in the United States alone. Our own chapter, the Waccamaw chapter is just getting started. You can find out more about it, including how to join, by contacting waccamawsc@slowfoodusa.org or by checking out their page on Facebook, Waccamaw Slow Food.
Remember, the true secret to memorable meals, whether slow and real or not, is in the shopping and the enjoyment of the meal with those you love.
Recipes for Real Food
You don’t have to use exotic ingredients. Even a simple meat loaf can be slow food if you purchase the best ground chuck you can afford, 80-20 or 85-15, no leaner or it will dry out.
Look for grass fed beef or at the very least, try for a place that grinds the meat fresh. Although several local stores carry ground beef in trays and weigh it out for each customer, only Fresh Market displays a sign that advertises how recently the beef has gone from chunks into the grinder—usually only a few hours before it is weighted and wrapped in paper for you to take home. Budget? Buy it on the days they put it on special. I do use parmigiano reggiano or pecorino romano in the meat loaf. You can substitute another grated cheese if you wish, but only use the real parmigiano or pecorino.
Joan’s Meat Loaf
A simple recipe that will provide a main course for four
1 lb ground beef
3 T flat Italian parsley, chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic chopped
1 slices fresh or slightly stale, thickly sliced, white Italian bread
2 eggs
½ cup milk
¼ cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese (or pecorino romano)
Soak the bread in the milk
Mix all the other ingredients well.
Place in 9 by 5 loaf pan
Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees, longer if not well done enough.
Serves 4
Prosciutto and Peas on Orecchiette Pasta—for two
Buy three slices of the best real prosciutto you can find
1 cup of fresh or fresh frozen peas
3 T olive oil
1 T flat Italian parsley
1 T basil
Salt and black pepper to taste
8 ounces of high quality dried orecchiette pasta (DeCecco, for instance)
While water is heating, cut up the prosciutto into strips and sauté in the olive oil with the peas.
Cook the pasta until almost done, drain, reserving one cup of the pasta water.
Mix the pasta into the pan with peas and prosciutto
Add the parsley and basil and salt and pepper
Add water until the mixture is to your desire level of moistness.
Serve
Top with parmigiano reggiano
Slow Food Manifesto
The Slow Food, movement began when a journalist named Carlo Petrini declared, “Basta!” (enough!). Petrini, a native of the Piedmont region was living and working in Rome in 1986. He led the fight to prevent an American “ fast food restaurant” from opening amid Rome’s ancient splendors. Supporters chanted, “we don’t want fast food, we like slow food.”
Three years later, on December 10, 1989, the Slow Food movement was born.
Slow Food Manifesto states that Food should be:
Good — tasty, seasonal, local, fresh and wholesome.
Clean — should nourish a healthful lifestyle and be produced in ways that preserve biodiversity, sustain the environment and ensure animal welfare – without harming human health.
Fair — should be affordable by all, while respecting the dignity of labor from field to fork.
For All — accessible to all and celebrate the USA’s diverse cultures, traditions and nations
This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 6:50 AM with the headline "The slow and real cooking lifestyle."