I had the pleasure to demo at two local farmers markets in the area these past few weeks. Kinda odd how I got roped into doing that, but was really fun. One of them was a neighborhood farmers market right smack dab in the middle of an eclectic artsy district in downtown Charlotte. I met some of the nicest and down-to-earth people Ive had the pleasure to meet.
I was setup under a small tent in front of the vendors. It was a wicked hot summer day, about 98F and the humidity was close to that as well, yuk! :) With my thick Egyptian cotton chef coat and black pants, I wasn't very comfortable, to say the least, lol. But, when you love what you do, what's a little sweat, ah?
After gathering some generous samples from a few vendors, my demo started. Armed with my wares of a propane burner, salad spinner and cutting board, I did grilled ostrich loin simply seasoned with salt and pepper and local herb infused olive oil, yum, on top of a simple garden salad tossed in a white wine vinaigrette. The entire thing was quick, easy and light almost in a refreshing way. A few visitors gathered around to try the samples and learn a few tricks. I'm such a ham, lol.
The other market was on the other side of the planet, seemingly, in Concord. It's located in a small park in the middle of a tiny rural area in the middle of nowhere. There are some incredible salt of the earth farmers and producers that just rock. They were glad to give me a few samples to cook with, such nice people.
Most vendors at farmers markets are just awesome to be around. They're mostly always happy and love to talk about what they grow or produce. From the health benefits of buying them to where the seeds come from, the breeds, to what soil they use to tons of preparation suggestions. And, when they find out you're a chef, they become almost GIDDY! We both click and realize that their produce, meats or cheeses are going to get a great final resting place.
At the second market, I took my tonnage of samples and, armed with my tiny Weber charcoal grill, hard woods and my favorite boos cutting board, began the creation process. I grilled a marinated skirt steak, sliced it thin, slapped it into a grilled fresh corn tortilla (yes, I made those too, lol) and topped it with their choice of two types of salsas; one made with local peaches, grilled and tossed with sweet onions and hot peppers, the other was a 4-chili and heirloom tomato salsa. Yeah, the 30+ samples went very fast, to say the least.
One vendor gave me like 3 pounds of really fresh okra that I had no idea what to do with. Having grown up in New Hampshire where I've never even HEARD of the stuff, let alone ate it, and, having only ate it in stews and fried in cornmeal after I moved here to North Carolina, I really hated the stuff, to be honest. Its slimy and tastes like it feels, lol. BUT, I had all this left over charcoal heat that was a shame to waste and just tossed some of the okra straight on the grill grate hoping for the best. Wow! It was charred and crisp with no slime! It tasted like the hard woods it was cooked over with a slightly grassy sweet taste, yum! After the cautious okra lovers looked at me like I had 3 heads, I made a few believers out of them. Wow, a healthy way to eat that stuff!? It was a proud moment :)
Cooking, in my opinion, is so much more than just applying heat to food and putting it in your mouth. It's about the creation and thought processes, the gathering of ingredients and information, the teaching and mentoring and the gratification you get from doing all those things. That's what cooking is, its like an all-in-one rush that you cant get from any other profession. Just seeing the look on someones face when they love your food or the excitement they get when they learned how to make something from nothing is what its all about.
I signed up to do a few cooking demos at a local William Sanoma these next 2 months. I'll keep you posted and I'm looking forward to these demos as well!
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