It’s a scant six days until Christmas, and the pantry is filling up, and the refrigerator is, too, and the freezer is chock-full. But are we ready? Are you ready?
The ducks arrive on the twenty-third. Rohan ducks, that’s right, and I think that will be a very nice way to spend the Eve. In previous years, we’d dabbled here in The Feast of Seven Fishes, but seven is six too many, don’t you think? Unless it’s a big, pre-war, southern Italian family, one will do.
On XMAS itself? I’ve got a waygu beef tenderloin, courtesy of Snake River Farms, that I’ll pan sear for a crust and then roast at low temps for a brief period. Mashed potatoes, Robuchon style, which means baby Yukons boiled, then peeled, then put through a ricer, and then back on the stove in a pot with a little warm milk, salt, and butter.
Organic, GMO, local, sustainable? Puh-leeze. Sometimes I look around a bar or restaurant and wonder: What would the cooks and servers be doing if food had not become such a big deal? Sales. It’s all about marketing and for that to take place, you need a brand. And to have a brand, you need to highlight or invent characteristics that may or may not mean anything.
I’d rather stick to words like: Duck, waygu beef tenderloin, and XMAS.