Stocking Like A Chef

Cooking and shopping these days are vastly different than what they were. Now home chefs have to think like the pros. That includes food shopping like a restaurant owner. It may not be what we're used to but it's actually the best way.

Pete Wells and Jennifer Steinhauser , both New York Times Food section veterans wrote about this new aspect of home cooking in yesterday's Food section. As home chefs have to plan for two weeks of cooking they have to shop for that amount too. It makes sense in a way to then shop at a restaurant supplier. Not only can you get large quantities of produce and meat but also items you wouldn't see in your local grocery store.Jessica Kramer found this out when she ordered from the poultry supplier D'Artagnan in her native Newport, Rhode Island. Her kitchen was filled with freshly slaughtered Rohan duck breasts squabs and baby poussins or chicks.  She has made notes for other purveyors that visit her house, much like that of a chef.Many other families are going to suppliers and buying such foodstuffs as wild morels, trays of sea urchins, along with bunches of foraged ramps. Restaurants are also cashing in on this. Several are also selling their most popular dishes like Shouk, an Israeli fast food place in Washington. Customers can buy the much loved hummus along with falafel kits. The owner, Ran Nussbacher, says that making falafel, especially grinding the chickpeas are hard. It needs to be down with an industrial one to get the right silky texture.

Farms are also following suit. Nat and Alison Bjerke-Harvey usually sell their microgreens and garden veggies to their Manhattan, Kansas to restaurants and farmers' markets. The Corona virus shut that down and now the couple sell directly to homes. Their Piccalilli Farms are now making up to two hundred deliveries with their sunflower and pea shoots being the most ordered. They have also delivered their French breakfast radishes, beets and green onions. On Tuesday mornings they watch their veggies sell out.Some restaurants are joining in as Dan Barber , chef at both Blue Hill and Blue Hills at Pocantico Hills, New York. To keep cash circulating to farmers, foragers and fishing crews, Mr. barber began to sell boxes of fish, meat and seasonal vegetables for curbside pickup. Customers get a grab bag of ingredients that are both well known as greenhouse cucumbers and lesser such as Purple sword celtuce stalks. Tucked into the boxes are recipes and backgrounds of the crops include beetle bitten brassicas, veggies that are loved by flea beetles. This expands home chefs knowledge and introduces them to new ingredients and recipes.

This may be the way to go if you're bored with what's in your grocery store.  It's a neat way to excite the home kitchen. It's also a great way to get fresh meats and veggies .