Gastroanthropology

British Spring

Yup. The picture above pretty much sums it up. Cold, wet and gloomy. But spring in Britain is more than just crap weather.

Spring in Britain means the baby lambs are in need of shepherding after a day of grazing...

Some need a little special attention...

When you live in a country where you can't expect the sun, you've just got to do what you gotta do and move on. Protect your plants with little mini-greenhouses...

And reap the rewards of the British Spring - asparagus, peas, rhubarb...

And ramsons (a.k.a. wild garlic shoots)...

Ramsons are absolutely delicious and like the sun in Britain, go as quickly as they come. They have a smooth, mellow garlic flavor and pair nicely with all the British spring populars - like asparagus and peas. Perfect for this year's Springtime Frittata.

RAMSONS, ASPARAGUS, SPRING PEA + MASCARPONE FRITTATA

• 1 Tbs butter
• 6 c loosely packed, chopped ramsons (could substitute ramps)
• 1 c fresh shelled peas
• 12 -15 tender asparagus stalks, cut into 1-inch pieces
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 6 whole eggs
• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 c mascarpone cheese

METHOD

Preheat broiler in oven to medium. Whisk eggs and egg whites together with salt and pepper, set aside. Melt butter in a large non-stick, oven-safe pan. Add ramsons and saute over medium-high heat. Once wilted, drain any excess liquid. Add peas and asparagus pieces. Cook for 1 minute and reduce heat. Make sure that everything is spread evenly about the pan. Pour egg mixture over top. Leave on low heat till the bottom and sides set. As this is happening, add small dollops of mascarpone to the eggs. Once the sides are set, place in the oven under the broiler till the top sets and browns gently. Remove from oven. Let sit for a few minutes and then remove from pan and serve. Can be refrigerated and served cold, but I prefer it warm. 

With a great, non-stick pan (my eight-year-old All Clad non-stick, which has traveled thousands of miles and lived in many countries still does the trick). You can loosen the frittata with a flexible rubber spatula and slip it out of the pan. Or you could flip it out, but I like to see the bits of mascarpone. You could also use a mild cheddar, but I wouldn't use a stronger cheese as it will over power the delicate flavors of the springtime greens. 

And, on those cold rainy spring days, sometimes you need a treat with a little zest that puts a zing in your step. Like lemon poppy seed cake...

LEMON POPPY SEED CAKE

• 6 oz unsalted butter, room temp
• 2/3 c sugar, divided equally into two parts
• 4 eggs separated
• 2/3 c yogurt (full-fat) plain or lemon flavored 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 c AP flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/3 c poppy seeds
• zest of 3 lemons

METHOD

Zest three lemons and juice one to get 2 Tbs lemon juice. Sift together drys and add poppy seeds and lemon zest - set aside. Separate eggs and leave whites aside. Combine the yolks in a different bowl with the yogurt, vanilla extract, and lemon juice - set aside. Beat or paddle the butter with half (1/3 c) of the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat on low and alternate adding the yolk mixture and the drys mixture. Once combined, do not over beat - set aside. Clean your beaters or change to a whisk attachment on your KitchenAid (this is when having an extra bowl makes life so much easier!). Beat egg whites to medium peaks, sprinkling in the remaining sugar once the eggs get really frothy. Sacrifice some of the whipped whites into the yolk/drys mixture to lighten it. Then fold in the rest. Bake at 350F till cooked through and dark golden brown. I made 2 small rounds in paper molds (25-30min), but this will make one 9-inch cake (40-45min).

This cake must sit for a day. Once its cooled wrap it up in plastic and set aside in the fridge. Don't look at it or attempt to eat it for 24 hours. Not sure what it is but a good cake out of the oven turns into something amazing if you wait. You can have it plain or with a little bit of vanilla buttercream. I just beat room temp butter till its pale and then sprinkle powdered sugar (to taste) and a bit of vanilla bean and splash of vanilla extract. To frost - trim any dome off the top. Cut the top half off the cake. Frost the middle, put the top half back on, and frost the top and sides. 

Mudchute, A City Farm in London

Just 10 minutes from Canary Wharf (London's second financial district and home of the UK's three tallest buildings) on the Isle of Dogs, is a wonderful city farm - Mudchute Farm. On 32 acres of fertile land (nutrient-rich as it is just next to the Thames) lives 200 animals, mostly rare breeds. Mudchute Farm is also home to 70 community allotments, a farm kitchen and restaurant, horse stables, and smokehouse. Wood from the farm is used in the smokehouse where butter, geese, and cheese are often smoked.

The two most interesting animals I saw were of the avian kind. This is a beautiful, male Golden Pheasant. Originally from central China this guy was pretty happy in a large pen with multiple light brown, less-striking, female Golden Pheasants. 

As their name suggests, these are Transylvanian Naked Necks. They hail from Hungary and were introduced to the British as Churkeys because, like Turkeys, their exposed skin turns red when exposed to sunlight. Despite their appearance these birds are calm and love warm weather. They are quite popular in warmer Eastern European countries as they can withstand higher temperatures. What are they doing in London?!

Since it is a city farm these goats have to fight for their dinner with the local pigeons who have gotten tired of begging for sandwich scraps from the business-types in their blue shirts and black suits. 

This male (can you tell?) Tamworth was finishing the last of some lettuce scraps. The Tamworth is recognized as the purest British pig breed as it is a direct descendant of the European Wild Boar. 

The farm's kitchen uses as much product as possible that is produced on the farm. For meat, Mudchute practices nose to tail cooking, using the entire carcass. It's hard to ignore the importance of animal welfare when you see the animal and its habitat before you are about to eat it.

 

Mudchute Farm and Kitchen hosted an important event yesterday afternoon - London Food Link's bi-annual networking meeting. London Food Link is a group I have been working with since last October and is a group that aims to make London's food system more sustainable. The networking event is a chance for members to share and coordinate their projects. 

One of their newest projects is Capital Growth. Funded by the London Development Agency, Capital Growth aims to create 2,012 new community food growing spaces in London by 2012. Capital Growth provides grant money and food growing advice to people in the community who start new growing spaces.

Another project is Good Food Training, which I have been directly involved with. This project aims to encourage sustainable procurement and training for the public sector (schools, hospitals, prisons). The project hosts events all over London that show public sector chefs how to use less popular cuts of meat and sustainable fish sources. The project also trains service providers about sustainability, customer service, and nutrition. One of the latest projects includes teaching prisoners how to garden and cook - skills that they can use when reintroduced to society.

Another project that I have been involved with is the Good Food for Camden strategy. This strategy aims to help lower income and disadvantaged people living in Camden (a London borough). Specifically, the Camden strategy includes consultations and toolkits so the people of Camden can learn sustainable ways to buy, eat, and dispose of food that improves their health, well-being and the environment.

There are so many other great projects that are involved in London Food Link that I haven't mentioned. These include everything city beekeeping to reclaiming food. 

If you are in London I would recommend a visit to Mudchute and to have a meal at the farm kitchen. Last night I had a bit of lemon-gingerade, crudite, and hearty bread with nettle spread. Nearly all of the ingredients were grown on the farm or on one of the community allotments. The nettles were foraged from the farm. 

This sheep's wool will be used as insulation in some of the farm buildings...

Love Apple Farm + Tomatoes

I find that tomatoes are one of the best vegetables to plant in a home garden. They are relatively easy to grow and have so many uses. At our home garden in the South Bay of the San Francisco area the tomatoes grow like weeds and all summer long they produce. First, we start by eating them fresh, just plain like an apple. Then, we chop them up and add them to salads, sandwiches, and quick pasta sauces. After a few months of tomatoes they still seem to keep coming, so they get burred up as an addition to homemade fruit + veg juices. Lastly, they are chopped and frozen, canned, or made into tomato sauce. There are always so many, but never too many. I'm not sure I can say the same for the zucchini that seems to grow in overabundance as well...

At my recent visit to Love Apple Farm I was totally wowed by the selection of baby tomato plants for sale. I wanted to buy one of each, but there seemed to be nearly a hundred varieties. 

It can get cool in the Santa Cruz mountains so these little plants are protected by the greenhouse.

Cynthia Sandberg, owner of Love Apple Farm, is famous for her delicious tomatoes and her growing methods are no secret! 

You can check this link for more detailed tomato growing instructions, but here is an illustrated version...

So I bet your wondering what I picked... I got some of my favorite Brandywines and some that were new to me. I got a Gary O'Sena tomato, which is a cross between a Cherokee Purple and Brandywine. It will grow to be a round, black tomato. I know bigger isn't always better, but I found a Chyornyi Tarasenko that I had to have. It hails from Belarus and is rumored to be one of the biggest tomatoes around. I also found a Boar's Hoof tomato plant, a rare find and will be a deep brown tomato. Lastly, the one I'm most looking forward too - German Red Strawberry. I was told it would grow to be baseball size and look like a giant oxheart strawberry. Say goodbye to those tasteless, boring, red tomatoes your find at the grocers all year long! 

My mother will be tending to these for the next few months. I probably won't get to enjoy these off the vine as I will be returning to London later this week and don't have plans to return till after the summer. But, that's the great thing about tomatoes... they can be canned, frozen, or sauced... and I know I'll be enjoying them in some form.

Love Apple Farm + Biodynamics

I'm sure by now you've heard of Chef David Kinch of Manresa in Los Gatos. If your still living under a foodie rock he was recently on Iron Chef and won with the secret ingredient: cabbage. Manresa is in my hometown so I have a particular interest in the restaurant, not to mention he has a super cool blogging girlfriend named Chez Pim.

These days my excitement for farming and sustainable food procurement outweigh my restaurant interests so I decided to make a trip to Love Apple Farm. The farm is in the Santa Cruz mountains in a town called Ben Lomond, and is the exclusive kitchen garden to Manresa. The original hippy, organic farmers still exist here and the Silicon Valley just a miles east seems like it could be lifetimes away. 

At the farm, tomato plants (post on Love Apple's tomatoes here) and delicious jams are for sale to the public. I went a bit picture crazy and these are about a fifth of what I took. 

I was particularly excited to visit Love Apple Farm because they practice biodynamics - essentially treating the entire farm as a whole organism, using all outputs and minimizing inputs. Check out my biodynamic page for more general information on biodynamics. Love Apple Farm has wonderful descriptions of the preparations used in biodynamic farming, including how these cow horns are used.

When we first arrived, Dali (the Vietnamese Pot-Bellied Pig, named after Salvador Dali) was hiding under a wooden crate. He couldn't be coaxed out or bothered with the squawking hens.

Then, the chickens were fed some soaked bread and the feeding frenzy began...

Dali gave them a few seconds of a head start and then started to get up and waddle towards the bread.

This is one pig that is so ugly, its almost kind of cute. In an effort not to annoy him too much we moved on to further explore the farm.

I'm looking forward to the heat these habaneros will provide in a few months time. Most plants at the farm were in the baby stages and ready for spring planting. However, in the greenhouse, lettuce was growing magnificently.

The red lettuce looked so delicious and healthy I want to pull off some leaves and enjoy them immediately.

Just outside the greenhouse full of lettuce was this interesting plant...

I was told it was called frizzle. Has anyone used or eaten this plant? I tried a little and it was delicious. A peppery, light arugula taste, and absolutely no bitterness. Not to mention a gorgeous purply color. I've got to get my hands on more of this stuff. 

Of course, no organic farm is complete without the compost... the natural fuel for the soil in the making.

As we were walking out to leave I saw a crate full of these freshly pulled radishes...

I'm sure someone enjoyed them at Manresa for their dinner last night. 

The staff at Love Apple Farm are friendly and informative. As I've said before if they can't stop talking about what they are producing, its a really good sign. It means they are farming a wonderful product and they can't help but share the goodness.

With places like these in California its hard to stop gushing about what an awesome place it is.

I 

Farm.