Promised Land CSA farmer Ben Olds and Marble + Rye chef Michael Dimmer
I'm an 80's baby. So my childhood was the golden age of video games like NES, SNES, and Sega Master System. We spent days trying to win the most challenging game ever. We all had that one friend whose cool uncle in Las Vegas bought him his Game Genie, his brand-name cheat cartridge, and the ultimate hack for defeating invincibility. At the time, Game Genie changed the way I viewed and approached video games. No more spending all day solving nearly unsolvable puzzles or struggling endlessly only to be defeated by that impossible final boss.
We were 10 year old gods.
Thirty years later, I hardly have time to think about video games. I'm too busy running a restaurant and taking care of my 3-year-old daughter. However, I will never forget the relief I felt when I could just flip a switch and my stress was relieved. As chefs and restaurant owners, we're always looking to improve, but we're also looking for efficiencies and hacks to make things easier. I find parallels in cooking that are like cheat codes for feeding a family. It's seasonal.
Since diving into the restaurant industry nearly 20 years ago, my motivation has been rooted in locality and seasonality. I love living in a part of the country that experiences four seasons. Yet, when I look inward, it's clear that it has had a huge impact on me as a chef and on my trajectory for the better. Simply put, if it's not in season, it's not for me.
The “if you don't have it, you can't use it” mentality is a classic hack in a world of excess. Contrary to appearances, the lack of (often inferior) options makes it much easier to create new dishes. Due to the limited supply available, the variables are narrowed down from infinity to something calculable. Indeed, like most restaurants, we use large suppliers and offer our guests dishes made with ingredients shipped in from all over the world, ensuring we have tomatoes in February and strawberries in March. You can also. But who would want to eat tasty, bland tomatoes in February when sweet, cold-weather-tolerant carrots are available?
Buffalo, with its wonderful soil and distinct seasons, brings us great blessings.Perfectly ripe local short season anything It's the best meal you can find. Sure, there's a stink when each fruit and vegetable season ends, but I look at it like I'm just making room for something new.
That's where great farmers like Ben Ores of Ores Family Farm's Promised Land CSA come in. “Seasonality is important in agriculture,” says Ores. “Both farmers and the soil in which their crops grow need rest. Repetitive motions are taxing on both the body and the soil. We never think of the earth we cultivate as living. Well, it's definitely alive.”
Farmers do their best to lengthen each season through natural interventions, such as starting plants in greenhouses when the air is still cold. However, this also has its limits.
“The biggest expansion we utilize is our high-rise tunnel greenhouse, which allows us to grow crops like spinach and lettuce all winter long. Adding heaters to extend the season We can make up for it further, but lack of sunlight is still a problem,” explains Ores. “It's always a little sad to see tomato season end, but from a seed management perspective, tomato season starts when you sow your tomatoes in April, and when you pull them out in October. finish.”
It's human nature to overcomplicate almost everything, but when it comes to food, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Decades of factory farming and a desire for convenience have left our food system behind. Opening seasonally provides easy, healthy guidelines that chart both what's on the menu and what's not. At the end of the day, less is more. There are many reasons to buy local and cook seasonally, but best of all, it makes your decisions easier and your dinner tastes better.
