Innovation
April Ambles: Reflections of a Philosophical Forager — Day 17
The most important ingredients in the kitchen, as I see it, are innovation and improvisation. Innovation, the willingness to try new things, and improvisation, the ability to shift directions at a moment’s notice.
It’s like music. To be an extraordinary musician, you have to be willing to go out on a limb. To play beyond the comfort zone. To listen to the elements (band mates) surrounding you and adjust to the direction they are going. To blend and bend, to support, and then when it is your turn to shine, to go with confidence that what you want to say with your instrument or your voice is what the audience is waiting to hear.
Today I took what is outside my door and made a new pesto sauce, although technically we are still more than two months away from summer, when pesto is traditionally served.
I gathered nettles (with gloves, of course!), dug a handful of ramps, set the nettles on to wilt while I cleaned and chopped said ramps, threw the lot of greenery in the blender with some pine nuts and olive oil, a bit of Parmesan, some salt and pepper, and a wee bit of red pepper for extra bite (as if the ramps didn’t already provide enough).
The result was creamy, nutty, green, savory, more than enough to celebrate the creation of a new dish.
Many of my dishes are a result of laziness. I don’t want to go to the grocery (the closest one is 25 miles away); I don’t have time to wander the entire property in search of the mushroom in season; the fridge is empty but the pantry’s dry shelves are full of cans of beans, tomatoes, olives, artichokes. Enough to envision some kind of a Provençal dish. There is flour, chocolate, butter, eggs…What more could I ask? Truffles? (Yes, but that’s another story!)
No matter how little or how much you have in your pantry, you can always come up with a banquet. That is innovation!
For more amblings from the author, check out Child of the Woods: An Appalachian Odyssey.
