Notes Before You Start

INGREDIENTS

DAIRY AND EGGS

All dairy and eggs are organic.

All butter is unsalted.

Cultured butter (butter made with fermented cream) is unsalted and seasoned with Maldon sea salt as it is served.

All eggs are large and free range.

All milk is always whole milk.

All cream is heavy cream, which is sometimes labeled whipping cream.

If you can’t find crème fraîche, make it (here).

OLIVE OIL

Plentiful extra-virgin olive oil is essential. I use it as much at breakfast and brunch on eggs and toast as I do at lunch and dinner. Richard Olney once said, “Olive oil is the best sauce,” and I think that is really true.

MEATS, POULTRY, GAME, SHELLFISH, AND FISH

All should be as high quality as possible, whether that means grass-fed beef, antibiotic-free poultry, or wild, fresh fish.

PRODUCE

Produce is seasonal, local, organic, and ready to eat. This means ripeness is important. If we are serving a plate of persimmons with cheese, or adding figs and prosciutto to schiacciata, or planning to lunch on tomatoes, ripeness will trump any tricks a chef might have.

Produce must be thoroughly washed and dried. To wash produce properly, start with tepid water, and finish washing it with cold water to freshen it.

FRESHNESS

How can it be described as fresh if it has a cap on it and is refrigerated? It boggles my mind to see how often the word fresh is abused. Fresh is unaltered, never processed. For example, if a recipe calls for “freshly squeezed lemon juice,” I will squeeze the lemon immediately before adding it to whatever dish I am creating, not in advance.

WATER

While a good chicken broth is both a marvel to master and enjoy, I often prefer to use water instead of stocks. Water is an overlooked and underused ingredient. Water is purifying and doesn’t distract or muddle flavors. It requires the best ingredients because they have nothing to hide behind. Water will elongate flavors as well as balance them, as in the case of pickling.

PANTRY AND BAKING

All spices are freshly ground, either in a spice mill or by hand in a mortar and pestle.

When coarse salt is called for it is at minimum kosher salt and at best a good sea salt such as Maldon or sel gris de Guérande.

All flour is unbleached all-purpose white flour unless otherwise specified (i.e., buckwheat or whole wheat flour).

All yeast is active dry yeast, also sometimes labeled “rapid rise.”

All sugar is granulated white sugar unless otherwise specified (e.g., superfine or powdered sugar).

SOURCES

There are no processed ingredients in any of my recipes. At Buvette, I don’t even offer artificial sweeteners or decaf coffee. This is not just because I don’t have space for them but also because I like the idea of having the real thing or nothing—and not anything in between.

Italian ingredients such as good olive oil, rice for risotto, and sun-dried tomatoes can be found in specialty shops or at buonitalia.com or eataly.com.

Special French meats, and ingredients like duck confit and duck fat, can be found at dartagnan.com, and other specialty French ingredients can usually be found at deananddeluca.com.

All my cheese comes from Anne Saxelby, who has a shop, Saxelby Cheesemongers, in the Essex Street Market in New York. Find the best cheese shop near you, then become friends and ask questions. The same goes for your fish store, bakery, wine shop, and produce stand.

Honey and maple syrups come from Catskill Provisions (catskillprovisions.com).

TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

WITH A SPOON AND FORK…

I have a collection of vintage rolling pins, spring whisks, measuring cups, and hand juicers. I also have the de rigueur batterie de cuisine (all the essential equipment and tools) for a chef. This trove is functional and inspiring, but I prefer to use just a few things: my Japanese chef’s knife, a tablespoon, and a fork. I will grate a block of pecorino Romano cheese over a salad with the tines of a fork before I find my grater, and I prefer to fillet a fish just out of the oven with the back of my spoon rather than reach for a spatula. I’m a bit of an old soul, more at home with turn-of-the-century technique and kitchen sense. Sometimes when I am coaching my cooks, I will ask them, “How would your grandmother make this dish?”