Archive for the ‘local’ Category
Eating In Season
When I was a kid, my mother would send me to the greengrocers for fruit and vegetables. It was almost all seasonal.
Except for bananas and oranges, just about everything came from the local farms, or at least within the county. and without celebration or fanfare either. No ‘locally grown’ or ‘organic’ labels back then.
This had a number of advantages. Produce was generally fresher. Everything was loose in any case, so you could pick out for yourself what you wanted.
It meant that you got fruit and vegetables at the peak of their ripeness, and probably at their most nutritious, save for picking them from your own garden.
It also mean that you got to look forward to certain items at certain times of the year.
I would look forward to new potatoes, to fresh peas, runner beans. I always looked forward to summer fruits. They were always a little more expensive than regular apples and oranges, but one certainly didn’t hand over a fistful of notes for a small carton of berries as one usually does in the supermarket these days.
Tomatoes, and other salad items were a summer treat too. We simply didn’t have salad in the winter, as their were no perfectly red round and totally tasteless hothouse tomatoes back then.
Actually my parents had a small back yard, and my father would grow runner beans, and tomatoes, for which he would sent me to the local fields with a bucket to get manure. Still, that’s another story for another time…
3rd Annual Chef’s Potluck, Charleston, SC
SUNDAY May 2nd, 2010
At Middleton Place 4-7 p.m.
4300 Ashley River Road, Charleston, SC
Will you be here for our Celebration of Local Food? Don’t miss out tickets are limited and moving quickly!
Here is a sampling of some of our great silent auction items for this year!
*4 Tickets to the First Flush Festival, with a picnic basket from the Glass Onion and a bottle of wine from Crushed Fine Wines!!
*Weekend at Folly Beach!
*Chef Consultation with Ken Immer (learn to eat for your health) valued at $300
The evening will feature food from some of Charleston’s top chefs preparing dishes using local ingredients from area farmers, and fishermen. Live music from Elise Testone and Friends, beer from COAST and Palmetto breweries, wine, ice cream , handmade chocolates, coffee, as well as a silent auction and new this year a farmer’s market tent!
Local Food Being Cooked Up By These Great Restaurants!
- Alluette’s Cafe
- Blossom
- BBQ Joint
- Clammer Dave’s Sustainable Seafood
- Closed for Business
- Coast Bar and Grill
- Cru Café
- Cypress
- Duvall Event and Catering
- Fish
- Glass Onion
- Maverick Southern Kitchens
- Middleton Place
- Taco Boy
Tickets for the event are $45 for LLF Members and $50 for non-members and include admission to Middleton grounds, all food, drink and entertainment. All proceeds support Lowcountry Local First’s Sustainable Agriculture Initiative and the Growing New Farmers Incubator Program. LLF strives to create a greater connection between those who grow and produce our food and the community they sustain.
Tickets available at Charleston Cooks! and the Glass Onion, and the Farmer’s Market (LLF tent)
or PURCHASE TICKETS NOW!!
READ about our Growing New Farmer’s Incubator Program in the Post and Courier and Charleston City Paper!
Thank you to our wonderful sponsors who make this event possible!
Processed Food
We at TGFC shy away from much processed food.
However, not all processed food is bad by any means.
After all, when we cook food at home, we’re processing it. When we make our own sauces, gravies, and dips we’re processing food.
What we mean at TGFC, of course, is food that is highly processed, usually on an industrial scale. This kind of processed food often contains extra sodium to make it taste better; added colors to make it look better, and chemical preservatives to make it last longer.
While we don’t want everything to go bad in five minutes, if we prepare food as we need it, that’s not going to happen in any case. Of course, we can also prepare dishes in advance and refrigerate or freeze them. That way, we don’t need to add extra preservatives anyway!
Some good examples of home produced processed food:
- Ketchup
- Sausage
- Salad Dressings
- Pickles
- Jams
- Bread
Much can be made from locally sourced fresh produce too, often organic. Food that’s in season is often less expensive, and tastes better. You’re also helping the environment by not buying something that has been transported half way around the world, and you’re helping your own local economy at the same time!
