Think global, eat local

It’s so important to get some perspective away from metropolitan life. I mean that in all senses, and in terms of food too.

‘Local’ has become such a buzzword in restaurants and food stores in NY. This past week, I have been in France and Italy, and the only thing I could have bought that wasn’t locally produced were grapefruits (from the US).
Yes, it’s summer, and it’s Provence, and pretty much everything is in abundance, but it’s just so great to have fresh, seasonal produce and other foods without even really stopping to think too much about it. How we get back to that in a truly sustainable way I don’t know..

Anyway, some things to share from my trip to Liguria and the Genoa region:

-They love their basil and pesto here – I loved it in soup and simple pastas.
– Mushrooms are everywhere and I had porcini on everything, even pizza.
– There is a universal love for this apricot-peach jam – it was homemade in our hotel, unexpectedly discovered in croissants and most pastries, and often incorporated into desserts. I brought some back with me :).
– I was so spoiled by good mozzarella and this isn’t even a big cheese region.
– It is however a big salumi region with factories and meat shops all around.

Still, we drove around a lot and I didn’t see any cows!!

Leaving all the hazelnut groves, fig and apple trees is going to be difficult.