Cookin' in the 'Cuse

Everyone needs a Spiritual Advisor if it makes the Food this Good

Put this in the "I didn't see it coming" department.

To begin, I first heard about John Shields and his restaurant, Gertrude's, several years ago when one of my best friends moved to Baltimore.  It was eerie--Mary knew I was all into delicious, sustainable food and her brother happened to get John Shields' business card after giving him a taxi ride.  Four years later, we finally get to Gertrude's when I swooped in on a business trip and there's John near the host stand. 

So I knew I was going to love the food--more on that later--but I totally have a chef-crush on John Shields.  It's not just that he honed his cooking skills in Berkeley--in the gourmet ghetto where I spent five blissful years.  There he fell in love with New American cooking style that has so influenced this country's restaurant scene.  And it isn't just that he writes for Edible Chesapeake (Edible Finger Lakes' sister publication).  What I love is that he learned to cook from his grandmother and named his restaurant after her.  And it is at Gertrude's that he reinterprets the New American style for the distinctive cuisine of the Chesapeake Bay. 

But wait, there's more!  John's business card listed his title as Spiritual Advisor.  Now, as a spiritual advisor myself, I was intrigued to say the least.  What he means is that he thinks of his kitchen as a kind of Benedictine monastery and he's like the abbot--or spiritual adivsor to those who are working so hard to turn out great food from his kitchen.  I'm a Benedictine--meaning that I seek to balance prayer, work, study, and rest/play into my life as a spiritual discipline.  The Episcopal monasteries of Holy Cross and the Society of St. John the Evangelist shape my spirituality greatly.  I'm not sure how John run's his kitchen (restaurant kitchens are not known for being quiet, meditative places).  But I can imagine that if he's infusing any sense of balance in the way things work behind the scenes then it's got to be good.  Plus, it isn't every day that I hear words like "food and faith connection" coming from the mouth of a chef.  Having contributed to a book about food and faith, that pretty much sealed the deal on the chef-crush.

I've only been to Baltimore about a dozen times but have never been offered information on the provenance of the crab without asking.  What I learned was that most crab served up in the Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere actually comes from Thailand.  It's a familiar story--it is cheaper to fly it in from Thailand where it is more plentiful than to source is from the Chesapeake.  But Gertrude's does carry local crab on its menu so I had to have it.

 

A simple lunch of a crab cake and spinach salad turned out to be far more scintillating than you would imagine.  I ordered the Clayton's Cambridge Crab Cake which was the crab cake du jour--made of jumbo and lump MARYLAND crabmeat.  I've eaten a lot of crab cakes in my life but this one was a CRAB cake.  Tender, rich and flavorful (you know, not all crab tastes like much) this has to be the best crab cake I've ever eaten. The texture was of a "melt in your mouth" goodness.

My friend Mary had a perfectly grilled piece of salmon with a spinach salad and her husband Mark and I indulged in an extraordinary cheese cake made with locally sourced goat cheese.  We finished the meal with a stroll through the museum's outdoor scupture garden--visible from our restaurant table.

I can't wait to get back to Baltimore (to see Mary, of course) but to check out dinner at Gertrude's.  And maybe I'll even make it into one of the exhibits in the museum.

Twitter...Really?

I wasn't going to do it.  I mean, I hate doing something just because everyone else is doing it.  But it happened like this--I joined Twitter to follow the tweets of my favorite messenger bag company, Rickshaw Bag Works.  But to follow, you have to join up (I'm sure there's a sermon in there somewhere).  Anyway, I signed up and forgot about it.  This was a couple of months ago--long before senators were tweeting Obama's joint house address but far after most of my blogging friends began doing it.

Lo and behold, little messages began popping up letting me know that people were "following me".  I ignored it for awhile because really, with a blog and Facebook, how much more of the often boring details of my life could I put out there.  Those who were following me were going to be very disappointed.

But then today, I wanted to post about Jen Ward's food photos from our trip to Israel but it was a sentence long post--too short for a blog--but wait!--perfect for Twitter.  So I've given in.  You can follow me on Twitter if you'd like--think of it as "Snackin' in the 'Cuse"--some tidbits to tide you over when my blogging becomes sporadic.  See you there!

Meanwhile...back in Syracuse

While I love the example that Michelle Obama is setting by planting an organic vegetable garden at the White House, I'm even more excited by some of the things happening right here in Central New York. Check out these two events that are helping to move along the conversation and the action here in our region.

American Farmland Trust Regional Conference, Wednesday, March 25, Holiday Inn, Liverpool

More than 150 farmers, local officials, environmental groups, economic development agencies, local food advocates and others from across Central New York will gather for a conference to highlight ways that public and private partners at the local level can bolster Central New York’s agricultural economy and protect the land upon which farmers depend. 

The conference titled Planning for Farms, Food and Energy in Central New York will be held on March 25th at the Holiday Inn on Electronics Parkway in Syracuse from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. Conference session topics include: Tools for Planning for Agriculture; Protecting Water and Agriculture; Revitalizing Local Food Systems; Farm Friendly Zoning; Agriculture’s Impact on Local Economies and Budgets; and Energy Opportunities and Agriculture.

Alethea Harper, of Food First will visit the campus of SUNY-ESF on April 1--Time and Location TBD

Alethea is Coordinator of the Oakland Food Policy Council (OFPC), a new organization being incubated at Food First. Before starting at the OFPC in 2008, Alethea was the AgParks and Food Systems Project Manager at SAGE, where she coauthored the San Francisco Foodshed Assessment: Think Globally - Eat Locally. Alethea holds a Master's degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. Her award-winning Master's thesis was entitled Repairing the Local Food System: Long Range Planning for People's Grocery.  

Feasting with Eyes and Heart

Me on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem

One of the hardest things about being home from Jerusalem (aside from the jet lag) is the visual depravation.  There is something about Middle Eastern and Mediterranean culture that understands the seductive nature of food.  As we traveled around Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the bazaars of the Old City, I couldn't help but notice the small markets tucked into every nook and cranny or the fruit and vegetable sellers plying their wares outside the city walls.  In East Jerusalem hot bagels could be purchased along with the daily paper from news stands dotting crowded corners.

Each of these was a visual feast.  As I took my fill of religious sites and holy places I also took my fill of the beauty that is Israeli and Arab food.  I'm not even speaking of the wonderful cafes everywhere or the incredible gelato to be had on Ben Yehuda street in West Jerusalem.  I'm talking about barrels of olives, bags of spices and teas, freshly roasted and still warm nuts, dried fruits, and pastries--oh the pastries--rugelah, eclairs, baklava.  More than just a show, these stalls and markets are how people do their weekly and daily food shopping. It is actually the kind of shopping that I tend to do here--visiting a variety of markets to stock my larder, the difference is, in Jerusalem, this is how everyone shops.

Ah well, a visit to Samir's will have to hold me over until our own farmers' markets open again and place the bounty of our region back in full view.  (click on photo to enlarge.)

    

    

    

Eating my way through the Holy Land

 

What an incredible place!  There are many words that come to mind--holy, multi-cultural, multi-lingual, pilgrims, confusing, smells of honeysuckle, beautiful...I could go on and hope to say more when I have more internet access.  And of course, the food is amazing.  This photo is one of my first meals here--about 20 minutes outside of Tel Aviv.  Here is another photo of the area we stayed upon our arrival.  More soon, I hope.

Cookin' in....Jerusalem?

I know, I know.  I've not been here much and now I'm leaving the country.  I have a bunch of half-written posts about cocktails and spirits in the Finger Lakes, meals and recipes I'd like to share, and reminders about signing up for 2009 CSA shares (do it now!).  But in a few hours I'll be boarding a bus to JFK Airport with students and other Syracuse University chaplains to lead an interfaith trip to the Holy Land.

This trip represents nothing less than a lifetime goal to journey to this part of the world and visit the lands that are so sacred to so many. While it seems that I've lost my really nice camera in our move I still plan to pack a small camera and my iPhone and I hope-really hope--to be able to blog about the sights, foods and people of this special place.  You'll be able to find food posts here at Cookin' in the 'Cuse and a group blog here.  Our itinerary will be on that site as well.  One of the other travelers on this trip will be Jen from Fresh Cracked Pepper, so between the two of us there should be some good food blogging.

I suspect that many of my posts will be just a couple of photos and some brief text.  We'll fly to Tel Aviv by way of Frankfurt.  I'll try to be back here with a report on breakfast in Germany.  Thanks for hanging in!