The Gospel, according to Alice: Culinary icon Alice Waters advocates eating 'real food grown by people who are taking care of the land' The Gospel, according to Alice: Culinary icon Alice Waters advocates eating 'real food grown by people who are taking care of the land' (January 01, 2003)

By Jane Knoerle

Almanac Lifestyles Editor

Alice Waters, the queen of organic cuisine, is on a mission. She delivered her message before a flock of the faithful December 7 at Draeger's Culinary Center in San Mateo.

Her message: Eat food that is locally grown, eat it in season, and eat it with your family.

Back in 1971, when Ms. Waters opened her Berkeley restaurant, Chez Panisse, the idea of using only local seasonal ingredients was almost revolutionary. Restaurants and home cooks alike were heavily into frozen foods that could be zapped in minutes in the latest innovation, the microwave oven.

At Chez Panisse, Ms. Waters hoped to create the wonderful dining experiences she had as a college student in France. Today, except for Julia Child, Ms. Waters is the best-known female chef in the United States. And Chez Panisse was named the best restaurant in the country in 2001 by Gourmet magazine.

At Ms. Waters' demonstration class at Draeger's, she presented a slide show, talked about her food philosophy, and discussed seasonal bounty and how to shop for products. Despite the $150-per-person fee, the class sold out immediately.

"This is the fastest-selling class we have ever had," said Pamela Keith, Draeger's culinary director. "We had 70 people on the waiting list. When there were a few last-minute cancellations, we had some very happy people".

Chez Panisse chef Kelsie Kerr accompanied Ms. Waters. A Draeger's staff of six bustled about toasting walnuts, arranging baby carrots, slicing and dicing. Before class Ms. Waters fussed over a beautiful still life of the fruits and veggies she bought that morning at the San Francisco farmers' market.

True to her "organic only" philosophy, she was delighted find a snail nestling in a head of butter lettuce.

For the class, Ms. Waters, a petite and pretty women in her 50s, left off her trademark cloche and was dressed in chef's whites.

Her message was direct. "Cooking is about ingredients. As (French chef) Alain Ducasse says, '85 percent of cooking is shopping.'"

She urged her audience to "eat real food grown by people who are taking care of the land." That food should be organically grown and eaten only in season. She recalled driving down from Berkeley to Webb Ranch here in Menlo Park to find fresh-grown produce when her restaurant first opened.

Chez Panisse's menu continues to emphasize local and seasonal products. "When fava beans are in season, we eat them every day. The same with tomatoes. And when they're gone, they're gone. You then look forward to next year." Eating out-of-season food dulls your palate she says.

This philosophy also applies to fish. While salmon is available all year round, Chez Panisse serves it only from May to November. Then, when the season begins, crab is featured. Ms. Waters also suggested using alternatives such as fresh sardines and anchovies.

Picking up a stalk of cardoon, which looks like shaggy celery and tastes like an artichoke, she said it's delicious prepared with anchovies. Peering into the cardoon stalks she happily remarked, "There's all kinds of bugs inside."

Her favorite "coming home" dish is pasta prepared with garlic, olive oil and anchovies. "I always have salted anchovies in the refrigerator, along with a jar of preserved lemons," she said.

Trattoria Buon Gusto in Menlo Park features a similar delicious dish, Sicilian in origin, "Spaghetti alla Nonna," made with anchovies, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, pasta and bread crumbs.

In "Chez Panisse Fruit," Ms. Waters features a sardine pasta made with fennel and raisins.

Picking up a clementine, she said, "We use citrus peel in desserts as (much as) we use gremolata in main dishes. Nothing is ever thrown out in our kitchen. We put all the scraps into compost."

A clementine is a citrus fruit from the mandarin family. Gremolata is a mixture of chopped parsley, garlic and lemon zest frequently used in Mediterranean dishes.

Brandishing a stalk of green or spring garlic, Ms. Waters said, "This is very special. We have a garlic festival at Chez Panisse every year. We've stewed it with figs, made garlic wine, even garlic ice cream." Now the restaurant restricts garlic-themed desserts to garlic-shaped meringues.

The class included a tasting menu of endive, persimmon and walnut salad and hooked in-line cod brandade. Chef Kelsie Kerr did the cooking. "I haven't cooked at Chez Panisse for 20 years," says Ms. Waters. She also no longer writes the menus, but does meet with the staff every day to confer.

The salad used Fuya persimmons, which are not astringent like the Hachiya persimmon. When eaten soon after being picked, the Fuya persimmon is as firm and crisp as an apple. Hachiya persimmons must be allowed to ripen and soften before being eaten and are used in cooked desserts, such as persimmon pudding.

Holding up a stalk of endive, Ms. Waters said she used to bring it in from Belgium, but now can find organic endive in California. She advised using new crop walnuts in the salad. "You can taste the difference."

She also is a fan of sherry vinegar, which was used in the salad dressing. She cautioned, "The biggest mistake is to use too much dressing on a salad."

Chef Kerr mixed the salad with her hands, pausing to taste a leaf. "Good cooks are constantly tasting," said Ms. Waters.

Chef Kerr also prepared brandade, a current "hottie" on the cuisine scene, which is made with fresh salted cod, potatoes, milk, onion and garlic blended together. The taste is delicate, not at all fishy.

Although brandade is said to be French, the same dish, made with baccala (dried cod) is the signature dish of Portugal.

Bonny Doon Big House White 2001 and Bonny Doon Big House Red 2002 were served with the tasting menu.

Panforte, dates stuffed with marzipan, and clementines were passed for dessert. A recipe for panforte, a dense Italian fruit confection that dates back centuries, is included in the "Chez Panisse Fruit" cookbook.

The cooking class concluded with a slide show of Ms. Waters' current pet project: developing an edible garden and kitchen classroom at Berkeley's Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School. The project, known as the Edible Schoolyard, involves children directly in planting, gardening, harvesting, cooking and eating.

She helped transform blacktop into a garden where students tend and harvest their own crops before heading to the kitchen to cook them. The students recently rated the gardening class as their favorite subject after field trips and gym, she says.

After the class ended Ms. Water signed copies of "Chez Panisse Fruit."

Waiting in line for her book to be signed, Lisa Kersgard, "a huge fan of Chez Panisse," said she had taken many cooking classes at Draeger's in Menlo Park. Alice Waters' class drew her to the San Mateo Culinary Center for the first time.

Andrew Urushima, one of the few men in the class, said he loves to cook and he loves to eat. He enjoyed the educational part of the class the most; however, since he had a bag of persimmons at home, he was going to try making the salad.

Persimmon salad with endive and walnuts

6 Belgian endives

4 ripe Fuyu persimmons

1/3 cup walnuts

1-1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

Salt and pepper

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 375. Trim bottom end of the endives, discard any blemished outer leaves and separate into leaves. Cut the persimmons into quarters and peel. Remove any seeds and cut the quarters into thin wedges. Toast walnuts in the oven for eight minutes. While they are still warm, rub walnuts in a clean dishtowel to remove some of the skins, then coarsely crumble them.

Make a vinaigrette by whisking the vinegar with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Whisk in the olive oil, taste for acid and salt, and adjust as needed. Put endives, persimmons and walnuts in a large salad bowl and toss with the vinaigrette. Serves 6.