My husband says that I need to make a video of cleaning out all the condiments that have totally filled my smallish apartment fridge! Hardly any room left for other items ...I'm a manager at Kalustyan's and the only one who would try/take home any samples( everyone else is pretty traditional Bangladeshi when it comes to eating). I also take home the torn/dented and many expired products ( when I started 9 years ago they just tossed everything- I set up a 1/2 price 'clearance' rack that is very popular shopping now!) Then there is the upstate fridge and cupboards.... also filled!
My mom made the same stew except she called it a "casserole". She would cook it in the oven in a Corning white and cornflower blue baking dish on the bottom rack for 8-12 hours at the setting just to the right of broil. It is done when it is black on top and crisp all the way through. Acrid smoke fills the air with hazy memories of Thanksgiving in late December. A (formerly) good steel knife should come out broken upon attempted insertion. Serve with a room temperature martini. No need for a martini olive because you saved a little piece of that shriveled broccoli for garnish. Waste not, want not and most importantly- happy New Year Ruth Reichl.
Oh Ruth, the story of your mother and her “taste blindness” I had read years ago. And I remember it each time I check one of my questionable containers of “maybe ok” leftovers or condiments. And I love condiments as much as you do. My pantry and refrigerator door are pretty crowded with an international assortment of savory items. Alas, one year ago my kidneys unexpectedly crashed, I’m much improved now, but limiting sodium means most of that collection isn’t used much these days. I’m hoping for more leeway in 2023!
I took the first two cooking courses offered at Ma Cuisine, the cooking school opened at Ma Maison, headed by the recently departed Judy Zeidler. Wolfgang Puck taught the cooking course, with his young line cook Mark Peel as his assistant, and Michel Richard taught pastry, with Michel Blanchet subbing for him on an infamous day when he mistook salt for sugar while making Tarte Tatin. (He was puzzled that the apples were not caramelizing, and the look on his face when he tasted it was unforgettable...) Each course was six or eight weekly classes IIRC, and my cooking and baking skills increased dramatically as a result. I still have the recipe sheets that were handed out at each class. Both men, Wolfgang and Michel, were wonderfully generous teachers, and charming and entertaining. This was long before both of them became celebrity chefs.
I'm so sorry to hear that Judy Zeidler is gone; what a wonderful woman she was. (And what a wonderful restaurant Citrus was; I'll have to see if I can find any menus.). I remember Jonathan Waxman teaching at Ma Cuisine, but didn't know that Michel had taught there. He was such a wonderfully inventive chef.
This was before Citrus, when Michel Richard had his pastry shop on Robertson. Sometime after he taught this class, he started doing guest chef gigs, starting at Robaire's IIRC. He was able to garner a following and backers based on these dinners, which enabled him to open Citrus. Before that he was known only as a pastry chef.
Reminded of a morning a few months ago at Borough Market in London with Alice Zaslavsky (Melbourne based author of In Praise of Veg). The most common question that morning being, “do you think I’d get this through customs?” as she picked up spices, pastes and the like. Australian customs and bio security being famously strict. A kindred spirit.
And I thought my Dad's attempt to make spaghetti with tomato soup and American Cheese was awful! Oh, and lest we let Mom off the hook too much? I was living with my longtime partner before I learned that spaghetti sauce wasn't the consistency of water. I'm not even going to get into those recipes that used Lime Jell-O, pimento olives, Miracle Whip and canned fried onions for a "refreshing summer potluck salad"!
How many of us learned to cook as an act of self-defense because of times like those?
This might be the time to say how much I love this newsletter. It's one of the few that I enjoy without reservation. (I also feel this way about condiments, but that's another story.)
Two condiment-related questions for the new year: 1. Why are capers packaged in long, thin bottles too narrow for any implement that might reasonably be used to remove the contents? 2. Why does tahini only come in narrow-necked bottles, which makes using the spatula to get out the last 1/4 cup nearly impossible?
Anyway, thank you for the newsletters. They're a true joy!
Ruth, I promise this wasn't my entire takeaway, but I have to admit that my first reaction to the fridge video was amazement that you refrigerate your Tabasco sauce. (But I refrigerate very few condiments unless the container has a lot of air or they're something with an obviously short life like mayo.) It also reminded me that I believe your newlestter is where I first heard about Lindera Farms! I have had at least one of their vinegars in the house at all times, since - the ramp remains my favorite.
Love the miso addiction. I have a chestnut miso I'm crazy about, and now that I've reminded myself of it I might actually put some in the black eyed pea gumbo that's currently on the stove.
Well, after watching your refrigerator, I did go to the Gustiamo Store and now have Italian capers, pine nuts and some bottarga on it's way. Also a new wok because I went to the Sun Noodle website and ordered 6 packages of noodles. I should not read La Briffe before I eat my lunch!
I have an obsession with chili crisp. I have to have 3 back up bottles in the pantry. Fry an egg in chili crisp and you will never go back to plain old butter or olive oil. My partner loves pickled okra, I buy it online by the 6 pack. Chops them into everything, eats them in bed like crackers. Happy New Year!
Thank you, Ruth!! I suffer from the same passion--my trouble is not using them up in time, before their expiration date:( Wish they would also package them in smaller sizes. When I went to the site for the Oyster sauce, this was the description about the product. I found that a bit unusual:
" About this item
Are concentrated. Full pure flavor of oyster sauce
A genuine flavor of oysters. The smell of smoke from a wood shell
Safety of bio-chemical Eniwetok City (BIOTOXIN)
With iodine, which helps promote the development of children
A few people have, correctly, pointed out that that the source I listed is crazy expensive. I buy my Megachef Oyster sauce from Ma La Market or Gotham Grove; Milk Street also sells it. Apologies everyone; I didn't realize that the Amazon source is only an 8 ounce bottle.
I love your meanderings about the memories and nostalgia of tastes. Mustard is my condiment that multiplies. One evening after a chiding by my daughter’s friends when I set out four mustards for our brat dinner, I challenged them with a taste test, seven mustards, four girls, four different favorites. They actually really enjoyed the test and had a new appreciation for our refrigerator door!
Grateful for your feast this morning. A feast of language & of ideas: suave, deep umami jolt of miso, mysterious flavor of aged artisanal soy sauce, golden glow of new-pressed sesame oil, adds pow and zest, terroir butter. Have you ever tried handcrafted Bluegrass Soy Sauce from Louisville, Kentucky?
Thanks so much Wayne. Bluegrass is among my 20 or so different kinds of soy sauces and I like it very much. But among American soys, I'm most partial to Moromi.
Whoops. I did a bit more research. The fruit that is pickled in this way is sometimes translated from Japanese as "apricot," an import from China, where it is translated as "plum." I have never heard "umeboshi" translated as "apricot," however (in the US). What we in the US call apricots are not native to Japan, and are simply called by the cognate, something like "apricotto."
I so loved the title of this post. You know exploring various refrigerators after cooking at many people's homes, I understand that "the current scenario of a refrigerator describes a lot about the person maintaining it". People having stale ingredients stuffed inside their refrigerators have a lot of unbalance in their lives. That is what I observed over a span of many years
My husband says that I need to make a video of cleaning out all the condiments that have totally filled my smallish apartment fridge! Hardly any room left for other items ...I'm a manager at Kalustyan's and the only one who would try/take home any samples( everyone else is pretty traditional Bangladeshi when it comes to eating). I also take home the torn/dented and many expired products ( when I started 9 years ago they just tossed everything- I set up a 1/2 price 'clearance' rack that is very popular shopping now!) Then there is the upstate fridge and cupboards.... also filled!
Thanks for the confession Ruth!
Lucky you! I love Kalustyan's and would be in SO much trouble if I worked there.
Hi Ruth! Please stop by one day- i can share some samples with you!!
My mom made the same stew except she called it a "casserole". She would cook it in the oven in a Corning white and cornflower blue baking dish on the bottom rack for 8-12 hours at the setting just to the right of broil. It is done when it is black on top and crisp all the way through. Acrid smoke fills the air with hazy memories of Thanksgiving in late December. A (formerly) good steel knife should come out broken upon attempted insertion. Serve with a room temperature martini. No need for a martini olive because you saved a little piece of that shriveled broccoli for garnish. Waste not, want not and most importantly- happy New Year Ruth Reichl.
Oh Ruth, the story of your mother and her “taste blindness” I had read years ago. And I remember it each time I check one of my questionable containers of “maybe ok” leftovers or condiments. And I love condiments as much as you do. My pantry and refrigerator door are pretty crowded with an international assortment of savory items. Alas, one year ago my kidneys unexpectedly crashed, I’m much improved now, but limiting sodium means most of that collection isn’t used much these days. I’m hoping for more leeway in 2023!
I took the first two cooking courses offered at Ma Cuisine, the cooking school opened at Ma Maison, headed by the recently departed Judy Zeidler. Wolfgang Puck taught the cooking course, with his young line cook Mark Peel as his assistant, and Michel Richard taught pastry, with Michel Blanchet subbing for him on an infamous day when he mistook salt for sugar while making Tarte Tatin. (He was puzzled that the apples were not caramelizing, and the look on his face when he tasted it was unforgettable...) Each course was six or eight weekly classes IIRC, and my cooking and baking skills increased dramatically as a result. I still have the recipe sheets that were handed out at each class. Both men, Wolfgang and Michel, were wonderfully generous teachers, and charming and entertaining. This was long before both of them became celebrity chefs.
I'm so sorry to hear that Judy Zeidler is gone; what a wonderful woman she was. (And what a wonderful restaurant Citrus was; I'll have to see if I can find any menus.). I remember Jonathan Waxman teaching at Ma Cuisine, but didn't know that Michel had taught there. He was such a wonderfully inventive chef.
This was before Citrus, when Michel Richard had his pastry shop on Robertson. Sometime after he taught this class, he started doing guest chef gigs, starting at Robaire's IIRC. He was able to garner a following and backers based on these dinners, which enabled him to open Citrus. Before that he was known only as a pastry chef.
I remember discovering his shop on Robertson, thinking I was one of a lucky few that knew about it. It was a gem.
Reminded of a morning a few months ago at Borough Market in London with Alice Zaslavsky (Melbourne based author of In Praise of Veg). The most common question that morning being, “do you think I’d get this through customs?” as she picked up spices, pastes and the like. Australian customs and bio security being famously strict. A kindred spirit.
And I thought my Dad's attempt to make spaghetti with tomato soup and American Cheese was awful! Oh, and lest we let Mom off the hook too much? I was living with my longtime partner before I learned that spaghetti sauce wasn't the consistency of water. I'm not even going to get into those recipes that used Lime Jell-O, pimento olives, Miracle Whip and canned fried onions for a "refreshing summer potluck salad"!
How many of us learned to cook as an act of self-defense because of times like those?
This might be the time to say how much I love this newsletter. It's one of the few that I enjoy without reservation. (I also feel this way about condiments, but that's another story.)
Two condiment-related questions for the new year: 1. Why are capers packaged in long, thin bottles too narrow for any implement that might reasonably be used to remove the contents? 2. Why does tahini only come in narrow-necked bottles, which makes using the spatula to get out the last 1/4 cup nearly impossible?
Anyway, thank you for the newsletters. They're a true joy!
I must recommend this related, fantastic piece on good olive oil https://eatwithyourears.substack.com/p/how-to-pick-good-olive-oil-pick-the
Ruth, I promise this wasn't my entire takeaway, but I have to admit that my first reaction to the fridge video was amazement that you refrigerate your Tabasco sauce. (But I refrigerate very few condiments unless the container has a lot of air or they're something with an obviously short life like mayo.) It also reminded me that I believe your newlestter is where I first heard about Lindera Farms! I have had at least one of their vinegars in the house at all times, since - the ramp remains my favorite.
Love the miso addiction. I have a chestnut miso I'm crazy about, and now that I've reminded myself of it I might actually put some in the black eyed pea gumbo that's currently on the stove.
Well, after watching your refrigerator, I did go to the Gustiamo Store and now have Italian capers, pine nuts and some bottarga on it's way. Also a new wok because I went to the Sun Noodle website and ordered 6 packages of noodles. I should not read La Briffe before I eat my lunch!
I have an obsession with chili crisp. I have to have 3 back up bottles in the pantry. Fry an egg in chili crisp and you will never go back to plain old butter or olive oil. My partner loves pickled okra, I buy it online by the 6 pack. Chops them into everything, eats them in bed like crackers. Happy New Year!
Thank you, Ruth!! I suffer from the same passion--my trouble is not using them up in time, before their expiration date:( Wish they would also package them in smaller sizes. When I went to the site for the Oyster sauce, this was the description about the product. I found that a bit unusual:
" About this item
Are concentrated. Full pure flavor of oyster sauce
A genuine flavor of oysters. The smell of smoke from a wood shell
Safety of bio-chemical Eniwetok City (BIOTOXIN)
With iodine, which helps promote the development of children
Safe every drop."
Happy New Year!!
A few people have, correctly, pointed out that that the source I listed is crazy expensive. I buy my Megachef Oyster sauce from Ma La Market or Gotham Grove; Milk Street also sells it. Apologies everyone; I didn't realize that the Amazon source is only an 8 ounce bottle.
I love your meanderings about the memories and nostalgia of tastes. Mustard is my condiment that multiplies. One evening after a chiding by my daughter’s friends when I set out four mustards for our brat dinner, I challenged them with a taste test, seven mustards, four girls, four different favorites. They actually really enjoyed the test and had a new appreciation for our refrigerator door!
Grateful for your feast this morning. A feast of language & of ideas: suave, deep umami jolt of miso, mysterious flavor of aged artisanal soy sauce, golden glow of new-pressed sesame oil, adds pow and zest, terroir butter. Have you ever tried handcrafted Bluegrass Soy Sauce from Louisville, Kentucky?
Thanks so much Wayne. Bluegrass is among my 20 or so different kinds of soy sauces and I like it very much. But among American soys, I'm most partial to Moromi.
"Umeboshi" is pickled plum. Pickled apricot sounds very nice, but it isn't "ume," which literally means "plum."
Whoops. I did a bit more research. The fruit that is pickled in this way is sometimes translated from Japanese as "apricot," an import from China, where it is translated as "plum." I have never heard "umeboshi" translated as "apricot," however (in the US). What we in the US call apricots are not native to Japan, and are simply called by the cognate, something like "apricotto."
I bought some fig vinegar in the summer in Provence’s fig capital Solliès-Pont. It’s delicious. I am also a condiment collector!
I so loved the title of this post. You know exploring various refrigerators after cooking at many people's homes, I understand that "the current scenario of a refrigerator describes a lot about the person maintaining it". People having stale ingredients stuffed inside their refrigerators have a lot of unbalance in their lives. That is what I observed over a span of many years