By John Seick
When our lives took a left turn last year with the start of the quarantine, one of the biggest things that affected us was a change in how we eat.
Restaurants closed or switched to take-out only, grocery stores encouraged delivery or pick-up, and we all started to cook at home more often. Some of us even planted gardens.
The future is still cloudy for restaurants as they continue to navigate the pandemic, but cooking at home is becoming more enjoyable in this new way of life. We’re starting to look to the past to give us inspiration for what’s next in food.
Adapting
Baking used to be a skill that only a few enjoyed; even most professional chefs are intimidated by baking. Baking became such a huge hobby last year that it caused a shortage of yeast and flour. Shelves were so bare, it was reminiscent of a town preparing for a hurricane, but in this case, it was nationwide. The flour industry has since adapted to the demand and home bakers continue to dabble with making from-scratch muffins, pies, cakes, cookies, pizza dough and more.
Gardening is another hobby that many of us took up during quarantine. This boom in gardening hasn’t been seen since the Victory Gardens of the post-World War II era in the 1940s. Last year, vegetable gardens presented a steep learning curve for many of us, and we stuck to basics like tomatoes and zucchini with a few fresh herbs thrown in.
Now our gardens are getting bigger and more ambitious; we are growing more fun things like melons, hot peppers and cucumbers. Hopefully, you’re composting garden waste; it only helps your garden become more abundant in a very natural way. You can easily compost in a corner of your garden by throwing pruned leaves into a pile, keeping the compost moist and mixing it up every week or so. Compost tumblers are available, but they’re expensive. A budget-friendly version is to use an inexpensive dark garbage can and drill holes in it for oxygen and water drainage to create a self- contained compost pile. Toss the contents every now and then; in about three months you’ll have a natural soil additive that will help your garden thrive.
Another “what was old is new again” hobby that’s back is the art of pickling, fermenting and canning. This is, in part, because so many of us have become pretty good at gardening and we don’t know what to do with all those cucumbers. As much as I enjoy fermenting vegetables, I usually do a “quick pickle” for cucumbers with a ratio of equal parts of sugar and vinegar and then enough water to match the volume of the sugar and vinegar. Add your favorite spices (look on the internet for ideas) and you’ve got a pickled cucumber that is ready the next day. These are also known as refrigerator pickles because they need to be stored in the refrigerator, unlike their counterpart, fermented pickles, that can be stored (unopened) on the shelf.
My garden is full of hot peppers. I like spicy food and my daughter gives them to her grandpa as a present since he likes his food to have a kick, as well. I chargrill the banana peppers, remove the skins and seeds and chop them coarsely with a knife. I mix in chopped garlic, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil, then finish with toasted almonds and Romano cheese for a rustic and spicy pesto. You can use sweet peppers for a mild version.
If there’s a silver lining to this ongoing pandemic, it’s our return to the wonders of the home kitchen, sourced by the home garden. Enjoy!
