Hot Food

Not only have we begun a new year, but a new decade as well, and media sources everywhere are telling us What’s Hot and What’s Not for all imaginable arenas of interest. Naturally, commentators on the culinary world have had a lot to say about it – I’ve read that while 2009 was the year of bacon, duck fat will be much more important in the coming year. My experience with duck fat does not qualify me to weigh in on this statement, but I am always searching for new and entertaining ways to stock my cupboards and refrigerator. So I’ve come up with five things that have impressed me recently, that I think will be key figures in 2010. Here they are, in no particular order.

1. Herring. While at home for Christmas, my cupboard excavations turned up a number of tins of this stuff, and their slim pocket-size and eternal shelf life made them a smart addition to our supplies for a weekend at Stinson Beach. I’ve made a lot of excellent meals with anchovies and sardines, but I discovered that these kippered fillets don’t need much accompaniment at all to constitute a satisfying dish. People who eschew canned fish citing cat food comparisons need to get over themselves. A piece of crispbread topped with herring chucks is a beautiful thing.

2. Roasted chestnuts. The kind that come in colorful air-tight packages sold at Asian convenience stores are nothing new, but personally roasting them in their shell over an open fire (like a fireplace – that counts, right?) is new for me. And lots of fun. Cutting slits in them gives you something to do as the fire gets started, and engineering a roasting receptacle out of two pie tins and a wire hanger produces a rustic and resourceful feeling that really compliments the fire. Actually, I'd recommend any kind of cooking over a fire – the chestnuts were done after about 50 minutes of sitting under the grate that held the fire, and we moved on to marshmallows and hot dogs and a number of creatively constructed heating devices. Burning chestnut shells and course catalogs also provided a lot of entertainment. I predict fires will be very hot in 2010.

3. Grapefruit. My mother always served us grapefruit halves sprinkled with brown sugar and heated in the microwave for a few seconds until the juices started to seep out and form a syrup on top. Until recently I thought grapefruit was inedible without this coating of sweetness, but I learned better when my sister encouraged me to peel the whole thing and eat the segments plain, like an orange. Of course, my orange-eating technique produces an incredible mess, as I like to peel off most of the membrane around each piece to reveal the juicy jewels of pulp inside, but my grapefruit addiction has gotten to the point that I’m willing to undergo the humiliation of performing this process at work.

4. Hazelnuts. From Sahadi’s, whole, roasted, and unsalted. These were discovered in late 2009 but aren’t going anywhere. It may be an illusion due to my considerable nutella consumption over the last two decades, but I swear these things taste strangely like chocolate.

5. Roasted cacao beans. I got a box of these a few months ago, but only just realized their potential for adding unexpected flavor to both sweet and savory dishes. I had been snacking on them occasionally, but if eaten plain their bitterness builds up and coats the mouth with a unique, but not entirely pleasant, flavor of soot. On the basis of an Alice Medrich recipe I happened to see, I added a few crushed cacao beans to some haricots verts with feta and balsamic vinaigrette. The sweetness of the balsamic and the creaminess of the feta dampened their intensity and allowed the nuttiness to come through, creating a sort of smoky green beans almandine. I plan to try them out in some dinosaur cookies soon, possibly combined with coconut and an earthy sweetener like maple syrup.

Closer runners-up were cauliflower, tomato jam, and Hot Toddies. And an honorable mention goes out to the block of quince paste that my mom made over a year ago. It started as a sticky mess and was abandoned in the fridge for 15 months, and during that time matured into an aromatic and toothsome slab that's much easier to slice and pairs perfectly with hard cheeses. 2010 is sure to be its year. As for What’s Not Hot, frozen pizza from Trader Joe’s could probably use a rest; I’d like to see their 99-cent raw pizza dough make a comeback in my kitchen. Also, 2009 saw a few too many carrots – sure, they’re undeniably tasty and ridiculously cheap, but if you want some vegetables to use as vehicles for dip, endive leaves and fennel slices are a nice change. Lastly, apples are out (of season). It’s a tragedy, but I’ve had too many disappointing apple experiences recently to risk many more. In the meantime, I’m sticking to pears, and citrus of all kinds.