Puerto Rico Rebounds

Puerto Rico has always been known for its' locally farmed ingredients. Two violent hurricanes changed all that two years ago, leaving the island to rely on canned and frozen goods from the US mainland. Thankfully , that's all changing and fresh produce and spices are coming back to centuries old recipes.

Julia Moskin wrote about this brave island endurance in today's New York Times Food section. Hurricanes Irma and Maria destroyed the farmland and the local food movement on Puerto Rico. Everything was wiped out from restaurants to greenhouses. fish farms to food trucks.The mega storms surprisingly stirred up patriotism  of young chefs who had left the island for success
. Mario Juan is  one of them.He was trained at the CIA and worked at the famed Momofuku Noodle Bar and Blanca. Yet he felt the storms were a portent of a career on his native island. Now he is proudly making pernil sandwiches in a permanently parked Airstream trailer. Thirty year old university trained botanist Gabriel Meja Lugo had his farm destroyed thanks to Hurricane Maria. He had to retreat to his extended family in Brooklyn where he sometimes worked , helping farmers at the Union Square Greenmarket. He is back in Puerto Rico. dedicated to his farm. Older farmers aren't that loyal, just taking their insurance checks and retiring. Before the destruction, farms had a lot of restrictions thanks to the Jones Act which gave islanders all the rights of US citizens along with privileges and limitations.Only American shipping companies can legally transport goods from one  US port to another.That meant chefs sometimes had to go to Costco for their ingredients.

Some of that changed with Hurricane Maria. Food supply chains were snapped in the urgency of feeding people. Mobile kitchens were pressed into service to make sandwiches and sancocho, the island's comfort food, a stew like soup made with chicken and ham.A huge help came from Chef Jose Andres who mobilized an army of cooks, farmers and volunteers days after the storm. His top "lieutenant " Erin Shrode from World Central Kitchen has not left the island. She coordinated the relief effort long after the news crews had left, moving food, cooks and trucks as sections were cleared and power resumed. Two months after the hurricanes, she began alloting grand money from World Central Kitchen to help replant farmland, rebuild bakeries and reopen restaurants. The grant program, Plow To Plate has now garnered almost $600,000 to farmers and other food producers. The farms now are all geared to the side effects of climate change .Greenhouses can be quickly dismantled before a storm and crops saved.This means also bringing back indigenous plants that are the backbone of Puerto Rican cooking.It's sparked an interest from a new generation interested in using heirloom recipes and practicing veganism. The last is thriving on the island, thanks to the news farms and produce.

The hurricanes may have destroyed Puerto Rico but they didn't decimate its' spirit. It is thriving, especially in the  culinary arts. The food culture has come back with a vengeance that even nature can't obliterate.

Chefs To The Rescue

Food heals no matter what the problem. It comforts. It nourishes. It gives strength in hard times. No one knows this better than chefs. No one can stop them - not even a hurricane named Maria.

Kim Severson wrote about this amazing cadre of cooks in yesterday's New York Times Food section. Maria devastated the entire island of Puerto Rico and unfortunately that devastation is still there. Many not only lost power but also their homes and that means kitchens too.Even the hotels couldn;t help out. They too were in the path of the hurricane,. Thankfully Chef Jose Andre, a Spanish born chef and giant in the culinary world. stepped in and created  chains of pop up kitchens everywhere, from big cities to mountain villages. He came right after the storm and hasn't left. He was so devoted that he over worked himself and suffered dehydration. Thanks to him , food,  - warm meals and sandwiches were given out to the population,This was more than even the Red Cross and Salvation Army did. He went to food distributors and bought up everything they had. He bought every aluminum pan he could get his hands on. He and his crew started out with the classic Puerto Rican stew sancocho. It fed everyone, from tireless medical workers to those just waiting on line for gas. Even the salvation Army came up to him and asked for 120 meals.

Chef Andre is not new to giving or natural disasters. Back in 2011, he went to help out in Haiti after their earthquake. A year later he was in Houston, wanting to know how to expand the scope of World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit organization dedicated to aiding those who need food relief. He worked with the organization;'s executive director, Brian MacNair. to add emergency food relief to an agenda that includes building school kitchens and organizing culinary training.  This worked when Hurricane Irma hit FLorida. A manual was quickly written up showing chefs in Miami what to do to sixteen days before Irma hit. It was like a mis en place for disaster. Kitchens and chefs aiding those in need is nothing new. After 9/11. many restaurants near the World Trade Towers devoted their time and effort as well as food to the emergency workers. Competitive chef , Cat Cora started Chefs For humanity after the Sumatra earthquake and there was a contingent of barbecue chefs that headed to help out in Joplin, Missouri,after the 2010 tornadoes.

Chefs , like Chef. Andre set the tone for cuisine. Yet they also help in feeding those who  need it.They are more than just cooks, they're the healers and nourishers  - the hero s who feed and also lead too.

Come Food Or High Water

A hurricane is a devastating event for anyone A super hurricane like Harvey or Irma that left five to six feet of water is catastrophic - especially to a home chef passionate about cooking. Yet many Houston residents made do and persevered. They were inventive and resilient,  still creating tasty dishes despite hardship.

 Kim Severson, a Southerner herself visited several Houston homes and interviewed residents, including the mayor's wife who had suffered the wrath of Hurricane Harvey. Kitchens were completely torn apart, soaked to ruin by flood waters. Some were even visited by alligators! One famed local cook, Al Marcus, managed to wipe down surfaces with a bleached rag and cook up a brisket for the All Hands Volunteers who ripped out the sheetrock from his home and countless others.He is known for his big Thanksgiving meals and will not disappoint. He plans on hosting this year, even if it means eating in a hollowed shell of a dining room. Francine Spiering, a food writer and recipe developer lost everything. Her favorite knives are gone along with forty cookbooks, plates and platters. Her home office was also  located in the kitchen.She is salvaging as best she could - but restoring the kitchen could take up to six months.There is hope , though. A Dallas woman has raised enough money to send dozens of Instant Pots, slow cookers, that will be used as ovens.Others who understand what it's like to go through disaster have donated, food, cutlery, and coolers.

Some home chefs are ingenious. Dana Karni, a lawyer, who loves to cook transformed her kids' playroom into a makeshift kitchen. She and her sixteen year old son carried a small chest freezer up to the  second floor. The contents were precious - the salmon she had caught with her dad on a trip to Alaska.Also upstairs her set of good Japanese knives which would have had another use had the waters risen more. She had planned on using them to cut a hole in the roof so she and her children could escape. Their linen closet is now the pantry and there is an espresso maker on master bath vanity.A few Houstonites like Aimee Ally Taylor and her family bounced around to four different homes before finding a nearby house with a working kitchen. Many have lost a lot, from beef that was eaten by gators to casks of homemade vinegar and vanilla.  All of them have dreams of what their new kitchens will look like.The mayor's wife , Andrea White,wants a cookstove against the wall, and not on a kitchen island as it previously was.Perla Moncivais, thinks about an open concept with a table , big and roomy enough for her four children .It will take a while as witnessed with Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Houston will survive, So will the home chefs who cook phenomenal meals. A hurricane won't stop these dynamos - not when it comes to cooking.

Your Hurricane Help Kit

We are in the most horrific hurricane season in recent history. First Harvey, now Irma and on her heels, Jose. Preparations have to be made and that includes a hurricane help kit stocked with the essentials to survive. These will help if you're staying in a shelter or even in your car.

One of the most important ingredients in any hurricane help kit is water.Get it before it becomes scarce, There are price gougers throughout Florida that are charging seventy dollars a bottle (and there is a special hell for these monsters). Get both large size and the nip size . The first can be also be used for mixing powdered ingredients like formula and soups. The nips can be used for the kids and animal companions. Remember to save some for brushing teeth and washing if you have to.Luckily milk can also be brought along in the form of boxes and drink boxes. Take along some chocolate flavored ones for the little ones as a treat.Most shelters do have coffee and tea however if you can't make it to one, then pack a jar or two of instant  coffee as well as your favorite teabags. Keep plastic bowls for the animals as well as for soup along with paper cups for hot beverages only. Soda and juice can be drunk out of bottles and cans.

Pack  up food essential too. Make sure that your cats and dogs also have their foods as well as medications packed. Dry food would be the easiest to stow. The bags are usually waterproof and it's easier to dispense than wet.Bring either a big sack or two smaller sacks. If you can fit it into your trunk , add a few cans of wet food. Some shelters will have both , however they may not have the ones your animal companion likes. As for the humans, protein bars are a good choice.They're easy to pack and easy to eat. They can be used as breakfast in a pinch or as a snack. Canned fruit is another must. It too can be used either for a quick nosh, dessert or even breakfast.Pack a small hibachi or camping grill if you can. Use twigs or broken branches if you can't bring along charcoal, and make sure you have plenty of matches.Another must have are metal plates to heat up food and with this it means canned chili or chicken a la king. Meat might be iffy to cook along with being scarce. Think grilled tomatoes with olive oil or even peppers and zucchini, If you do crave meat , think tuna in a can or preserved meat such as ham.

Be safe but also be hydrated and fed during this crazy season of monster hurricanes. Have enough water and packable food to survive for days and weeks to come. Be a force of nature to deal with these vile and destructable forces of nature.