Chef Bruce Sherman chooses tomatoes at the Green City Market. Photos by Pieter Ombregt
August 2004
Slow Food for a Fast City
by JoAnn Milivojevic
In most things, being called slow is an insult — especially in these high-speed communication times. We speed up to keep up. We feel pressured to do things in nanoseconds: work, think, drive, read. We consume fast food fast: wolfing down lunch in two gulps while sitting in cars idling at red lights wishing the lights would hurry up and change so we can race back to work.
In just about everything we do, faster is considered better. Slowness is considered bad.
But slowness is no easy feat.
It takes, well, time; and, in the case of food, an international movement... and a book.
The Slow Food Guide to Chicago, (Chelsea Green Publishing, www.chelseagreen.com) is due to be released in September. It urges us once again to enjoy the “honest pleasures of the table” as well as promoting its other goal: diversity and sustainable practices in food production and products.
More than 60 volunteers from the Slow Food Chicago organization contributed to the guide that lists Chicago area restaurants, markets, and bars that strive to preserve local, regional and ethnic traditions. The book, which will cost about $20 lists items such the “Illinois Pork Chop,” offered at The Outpost at 3438 N. Clark Street in Wrigleyville.
“We want to raise awareness, and encourage people to support local,” said Chicagoan Portia Belloc Lowndes, one of the local Slow Food chapter founders. “Diversity keeps choice alive.”
Lowndes, 42, a mother of two, and Kelly Gibson, 43, a food marketing director, launched in 1998 the Chicago chapter, or convivia (a twist on the word convivial). The Chicago chapter is part of an international organization that was founded in Italy and is sustained around the globe primarily by volunteer members at local and regional levels.
“I was interested in the preservation aspect,” said Lowndes. “We seem to be losing so much quality.”
In addition to her volunteer role with the Chicago group, Lowndes is employed as a special events director for the national organization, Slow Food USA.
Gibson said she was attracted to the movement because she knows firsthand about the importance of preserving family farms. Her grandparents were Iowa farmers and she still remembers her childhood days of nibbling on strawberries straight from the patch, milking cows, and selling eggs with her grandmother.
“I have an adversity to fast food and the homogenization of taste,” said Gibson.
Variety in taste is lost through mass production of products that can be shipped, said Lowndes.
For example, apples, waxed and modified to withstand long travel, sometimes arrive in the store only a shadow of themselves. Ditto for peaches. But head to a farmers’ market and bite into an apple that was plucked a day or two ago and you’ll likely experience a more flavorful fruit.
Among the various Chicago area farmers’ markets that offer a variety of organic produce through November is the Green City Market at 1750 N. Clark St., just north of LaSalle Street in Lincoln Park. The Green City Market, open 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Wednesday, features more than 30 stands selling everything from specialty breads and cheeses to meats, vegetables and fruits, as well as edible flowers. Most of the products come from small family farms that grow their products using sustainable methods.
It’s a favorite shopping spot for some of Chicago’s top chefs, including Bruce Sherman, the co-owner and chef of North Pond restaurant at 2610 N. Cannon Dr. Sherman said he likes the Slow Food emphasis on using local and seasonal ingredients, and he can be seen at the Green City Market picking out his favorites from among the selection of heirloom tomatoes.
“Heirloom tomatoes have a more distinct flavor,” said Sherman, “They’re not bred for convenience or shipping; they are more fragile.”
Traditionally, heirloom vegetables are raised from seeds preceding 1950 (prior to massive agricultural industrialization and hybridization practices). Some seeds date back more than 100 years.
Sherman uses heirloom tomatoes for his easy-to-make, colorful zucchini and goat cheese tartlet.
Taste is not the only reason Slow Food advocates promote shopping at farmers’ markets. “By supporting a family farmer, you’re supporting an agricultural tradition that’s disappearing,” said Gibson.
Roots of the Movement
An attempt to preserve Italian food traditions was the impetus behind the 1986 creation of the Slow Food organization by Italian food writer Carlo Petrini who became outraged when McDonald’s chain opened a fast food restaurant in Rome. Petrini claimed the food chain posed a threat to regional farmers, traditional foods and flavor variety. He launched the Slow Food movement to help empower people to fight against the homogenization of food.
One Chicagoan, Dana Altman, a public relations specialist, witnessed the movement’s early beginnings when she stumbled upon a scene outside the newly opened McDonald’s near Rome’s Spanish Steps in the heart of the tourism district.
“There were people with long tables and bullhorns and lots of media celebrities,” said Altman. “Valentino the designer was there along with Sophia Loren and others who were passing out big bowls of free spaghetti to stop people from going into the McDonald’s.”
Since those early days, Slow Food has branched out so that it currently has more than 80,000 members in 100 countries. In the U.S, there are 150 chapters from Maine to California, and approximately 12,500 members. The Chicago convivia with 250 members is the largest and among the most active in the U.S., according to Slow Food USA. Non-members often attend Chicago events as well. The group’s “Feast of the Senses” June event sold out to a capacity of 1,200 people.
Besides promoting the concepts of sustainable food production practices, as well as preserving the natural nutrition and flavor of food, the Slow Food organization also advocates one more very important thing: slowing down in all aspects of food preparation and consumption.
Take time to get the freshest, best quality ingredients, cook and prepare them with care, and then take time to sit down and savor the meal with family and friends.
Slimming Down
Slowing down may also help you slim down.
That could be a good thing when just about every day we hear another report about how more Americans are getting fatter. Mindless eating can easily lead to overeating and the consumption of more highly processed foods. Although many of these foods are touted as being for dieters, they don’t seem to be making much of a dent in the fattening of America.
“In this day of Wow potato chips [made with olestra, an indigestible fat substitute] and low-carb craziness, it doesn’t appear that Americans are getting thinner,” said Tony Mantuano, Executive Chef of Spiaggia, 980 N. Michigan Avenue.
“When you slow down, savor and buy the best ingredients there is a satisfaction that you don’t get from a bag of chips,” said Mantuano. “Take the time to enjoy and you’ll be more satisfied.”
There is at least one upside to the current diet trends, Mantuano said: the re-popularization of dairy products, particularly artisan cheeses. Cheese-making is a long cherished tradition in Italy where it has been elevated to the status of an art that advocates using old world methods to produce small handmade batches.
Mantuano’s restaurant, Spiaggia, carries on the tradition through its “Cava di Stagionatura.” “Cava di Stagionatura” means cheese cave, even though the restaurant’s “cave” looks more like a cooler in the restaurant’s dining room. The seven-foot tall, three-foot deep and three-foot wide “cave” houses some 100 rare cheeses from Italy and the U.S., including some from just across the border in Wisconsin.
A full-time cheese steward helps patrons make their cheese choices by telling them how it’s finished, where it’s from, and maybe, according to Mantuano, even the name of the goat whose milk was used to produce the cheese.
Slowing Down At Home
The average tab for dinner at Spiaggia is $100 per person for dinner, and North Pond charges about $25 to $32 per entrée. But you don’t have to go to a fine restaurant to have a fine Slow Food experience. You can create memorable Slow Food experiences at home, too.
If you decide to do your own cheese platter, Mantuano suggested serving it at room temperature and featuring the same type of cheeses from a variety of different milks, such as feta from both goat and sheep. When buying cheese, he caution-ed against choosing any that has a scent of ammonia indicating that it’s too old.
You can also decide to do a complete traditional ethnic dinner. For instance, the traditional Italian dinner is comprised of several courses, starting with an antipasto followed by pasta, an entrée and desert.
Mantuano recommended a cheese and wine course as a segue to desert. “It is important to consider the character of a cheese and wine when pairing them together,” Mantuano said. Ubriaco Amarone is a popular semi-hard cheese with a particularly robust flavor. Its casing is soaked in Amarone wine, making it a natural compliment to Amarone desert wine. It boasts a fuller palate so it can stand up to the strong flavor of the cheese.
Mantuano also suggested Mount Pleasant, a domestic tawny port derived from a grape indigenous to Missouri. He prefers to serve it with Gorgonzola, which is similar to blue cheese.
If you decide to go slow in your eating habits Mantuano suggested that you “find your local farmers’ market, and plan your meals around what’s available,” then “turn off the TV, talk to everyone at the table, and try to make meals a bigger part of your social activities.”
Lowndes suggested throwing a party where people bring dishes made from traditional family recipes.
“Slow Food isn’t just sustainable and organic,” she said. “Make your kugel, if you don’t make your mom’s or grandmother’s recipes they will be gone.”
Adopting a Slow Food approach to eating doesn’t always mean creating elaborate dishes or dinners, either. Gibson said she likes to throw together an easy lunch made of local cured meats, artisan cheeses, fresh veggies, bread and wine. “Sit at a long communal table and put everything out at once,” she said. “People will stay and nosh for hours. It’s unhurried, free-flowing, and fun.”
Altman, who routinely throws potluck parties, advised keeping it small and simple: “I never invite more than 10 people and ask everyone to contribute. You learn about people based on what they bring.”
The most important thing is to take care from the beginning of the process by choosing the best quality ingredients, to the end when you place the food on an unhurried table. And remember every meal of every day offers you the opportunity to enjoy one of life’s best pleasures, if you take the proper time to savor your repast.
“No matter who you are, rich or poor, or where you come from,” said Altman. “The best times are eating and drinking with friends.”
JoAnn Milivojevic writes about food, fitness and travel.
Chef Bruce Sherman’s Warm Zucchini and Goat Cheese Tartlet
2 Tblsp olive or cooking oil
2 large yellow onions, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
salt and white pepper
1 10.5 oz log fresh goat cheese
1 bunch fresh basil; tops saved, leaves thinly cut
1 sheet puff pastry sheets, available in grocery freezer section
4 ea medium size plum tomatoes, heirloom if possible
1 ea fresh egg
2 ea medium size (1.5” diameter) green zucchini
2 ea medium size (1.5” diameter) golden zucchini
extra virgin olive oil
3/4 c cured black olives, pitted
6 ea anchovy filets, rinsed, dried
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 c capers, drained and dried
1/2 c canola oil
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
1 Tblsp cognac
Preparation
Preheat oven to 425. Thaw puff pastry.
Over medium flame, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in medium saucepot and add sliced onions. Salt and pepper, reduce flame to low and cook slowly for 20-30 minutes until mixture turns a rich golden brown color. Reserve*.
Place goat cheese in mixer with paddle attachment and soften on low speed. Add sliced basil, pinch of salt and pepper and a bit of olive oil. Turn to medium to homogenize. Form a 1.5-inch diameter log and Reserve*.
Place black olive paste ingredients in blender and puree. Reserve*.
Lay thawed pastry out on counter and roll evenly to thickness of 1/8-inch. Prick throughout with a fork, cut into 4- to 5-inch circles and place, holes down, on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Reserve*.
Slice gold and green zucchini in even 1/4-inch rounds.
Heat large non-stick skillet over high flame and add thin coating of olive oil. Carefully add enough sliced zucchini to just cover bottom of pan, salt and pepper and shake the pan to quickly “wilt” the vegetables without cooking them through. Turn them out to napkin-lined plate to cool, and if necessary, repeat with balance of squash.
Slice both tomatoes and goat cheese into even 1/8-inch rounds.
Assemble the tarts
Place pastry circles on (wet) piece of parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
Beat egg and add tablespoon of water to it. Brush outer third of pastry circles with egg mixture.
Leaving 1/8-inch border around circumference of pastry, carefully spoon thin layer of caramelized onion mixture in center of each circle.
Carefully alternate three full sets of yellow round-green round-goat cheese-tomato on top of onion mix. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and place in oven.
Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until pastry puffs and browns around perimeter of tarts.
Remove and serve on plates surrounded by thin band of black olive paste. Garnish with reserved basil top and, perhaps, small herb salad.
* Can be made 1-2 days beforehand.
Serves four.
![[Send]](http://consciouschoice.com/sendlink/send.gif){kind=small}
Recommend this page to a friend
Top Ten pages recommended to friends:
