Coming to My Senses

Our latest Cook the Books Club selection, Coming to My Senses, by Alice Waters, which I am hosting this round.

And, I kept hoping that she would!  In the end.  As far as her personal life went at least. Rather radical as far as politics and morals, (what she termed "serial monogamy") though an accurate glimpse into that particular time and place.

 For the restaurant concept, as Alice remarks in her Afterword, "I knew very well that I was running a counterculture restaurant, and that Chez Panisse would never have happened without that movement.  I couldn't have done it in the real world; the idea of having only one menu was preposterous by mainstream standards, and I never could have borrowed money from the banks.  But everybody in the counterculture felt that if you did something really well, however unorthodox, if you stayed true to human principles, you could succeed.... Our place didn't look like other places.  We bought used furniture and put mismatched vintage glassware on the table.  We hired women as cooks and waitstaff in a fine-dining establishment, which was practically unheard of at the time.  The women and men we hired didn't have long cooking resumes but were smart and talented and believed in the vision."

From the Publishers: 

"The long-awaited memoir from cultural icon and culinary standard bearer Alice Waters recalls the circuitous road and tumultuous times leading to the opening of what is arguably America's most influential restaurant.

When Alice Waters opened the doors of her "little French restaurant" in Berkeley, California, in 1971 at the age of 27, no one ever anticipated the indelible mark it would leave on the culinary landscape - Alice least of all. Fueled in equal parts by naiveté and a relentless pursuit of beauty and pure flavor, she turned her passion project into an iconic institution that redefined American cuisine for generations of chefs and food lovers."

I had a few laugh out loud moments, for instance when, a decade after the restaurant had been opened she "filmed an episode with Julia Child for one of her shows ... I was pitting olives with my fingers, and she said in that fluting voice of hers, "Oh! Is that how you pit an olive, Alice?  How fascinating"  And the recollections of how she picked her staff and collaborators, "I looked for another person who could cook - I was way too afraid to shoulder all of the cooking myself.... and Tom, ever the great connector, said "Oh I'll find somebody for you ... and he found Paul Aratow, an aspiring filmmaker who was the cameraman for Agnes Varda's documentary on the Black Panthers.  Paul was a really good Italian cook, and he did help me.  I believed in his instincts."

There was just so much food inspiration, but I was especially taken with her love of salads, Alice even went so far as bringing one as her special dish to New York for a big fete featuring the "twenty-five best restaurants in the country.  (We were number seven!)." P.103.  She brought a composed salad, on a special plate donated by James Beard.

As I do love salads,  that was my inspiration and featured dish for this post!  Some of the story involves a long diatribe on the subject of Sacha Inchi, a plant I'm growing, also known as the Peruvian Peanut, which I will save for another time.  However, I just can't resist -  this nut is actually a complete protein!  You notice the small brown object on my fork in the picture?  That's one, and I will do a post on the plant soon.  As it's one of those tropical plants and probably not of general interest, still I find it fascinating!  Just look at the shape of it!

You harvest them when they turn brown, then dry, roast and crack them open, a whole process to get at the nut inside.  Similar in some ways to the process of chocolate or coffee. But worth it in the end.  They are good, and a nice replacement for where you might use peanuts.

Anyway, back to the salad.  Not a totally "composed" recipe, but more as I tend to do, throw things together!  With an oil and vinegar dressing, also thrown together, I usually add some shoyu, sesame oil and a bit of Balsamic vinegar.  Hoping it all works out well.  This one did!

As far as I recall, it had shredded cabbage, slices of small sweet pepper, cherry tomatoes, ramen noodles, shredded carrot, some fresh greens, basil and of course, the toasted Sacha Inchi nuts.  

The deadline for posting your contributions is September 30th.  Be sure to add your link in the comments at Cook the Books Club.  I'll be including this post at Heather's Foodies Read Challenge, and Weekend Cooking, hosted by Marge, the Intrepid Reader and Baker.