Ina Garten’s memoir, “Be Ready When Fortune Happens,” was published this week, and reading it made me realize…
I first met Ina when I was in my mid-twenties and was just trying to figure out how to use the kitchen. I used her seminal first cookbook, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, so often that many of its recipes, including coconut cupcakes, turkey meatloaf, roasted carrots, and outrageous brownies, were shared by members of my family. It feels like. This recipe is so well known that there is no need to explain it in detail. I think everyone can imagine it. I also distinctly remember how different this book was from Martha Stewart or Gourmet magazines or other famous food names of the time. Ina’s food was insanely authentic without sacrificing quality.
But Ina’s path to Barefoot Contessa superstardom was not a straight line. As many fans know, her life changed when she met her husband Jeffrey, whom she is famously in love with. She was just 16 years old and visiting her brother at Dartmouth College when Geoffrey, also a student there, spotted her on the college green and was “instantly shocked.” The two married young, moved from military base to military base (Jeffrey was in ROTC), spent formative summer camps across Europe, and supported each other as their careers soared to keep things going. They often lived apart, in different cities or even continents. . One of the book’s most notable revelations comes shortly after Ina purchases the Barefoot Contessa specialty store in the Hamptons and struggles to redefine their roles as equal partners in their marriage. They were said to have lived separately for a short period of time. There were other surprising bits of information – she can fly planes (!) – but for me, the most compelling thing about this memoir was her discussion of her philosophy on food.
Good food is simple food.
Ina apparently fell in love with a diet that emphasized high-quality ingredients while camping across Europe with Jeffrey in 1972 (above). Here’s how she describes the perfect sandwich: “In America, a sandwich was just two slices of bread cut out of a plastic bag. Instead, the French put one piece of crusty baguette and maybe a little thin slice of good ham or prosciutto. Add some cheese, butter or Dijon mustard and voila! The best sandwich I’ve ever had…everything about it is perfect.”
3 main flavors, maximum
I haven’t been able to get this rule out of my head ever since I read it. “I don’t think any recipe should have more than three distinct flavors,” Ina writes. “My brain can’t process much more without becoming overloaded.”
But it really brings out those flavors.
The goal is to make each ingredient taste like the best version of itself. “How can we make chicken more ‘chicken-y’ and chocolate more ‘chocolate-y’?” she asks. This is something most cooks inherently know, but it helps to hear it again. Savory things tend to need sourness, and sweet things tend to need bitterness to add depth to their flavor. ”
There are strategic ways to have fun.
The first time she and Jeffrey tried to throw an “adult” party, they invited 20 people to brunch, but no one knew each other. It was a “bad idea”. Everyone sat in a large circle in the living room and said little. “To make matters worse,” she writes, “I had decided to make an omelet for each person, and since I had to prepare it one at a time, I was constantly cooking for the entire party. I was stuck in the kitchen… Meanwhile, Jeffrey was in the living room,” Room says, trying desperately to keep the conversation interesting. It’s a total disaster! ”
Brightness is important for both taste and visuals.
“Why is[chicken salad]always so beige?” she asked herself as she was developing recipes for the Hamptons location. “We started with grilled lemon chicken and added raw sugar snap peas, julienned red and yellow peppers, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and good California olive oil.The color was bright, the ingredients were fresh, and the lemon The juices gave everything an “edge” and made everything taste even better. ” (How good does that sound now?)
When it comes to quality, there is no mercy.
Ina is particular about using high-quality ingredients in her cooking, which is a theme in every piece she puts out into the world. When choosing which recipes to feature, she asks herself: “Will the customer get out of bed, get dressed, get in the car, drive into town, find a parking space, and walk to the store to buy this food?” It was a difficult test, so I wanted to include only that recipe in stores and books. ”
be yourself.
One of the funniest stories in the book is that her friend, the famous photographer Richard Avedon, told her that her first cookbook design was “the worst he’d ever seen.” That’s when I told you. In a way, it made sense. His style was strict and minimalist, the complete opposite of Ina’s happy, casual, rich style. She listened to his criticism – who wouldn’t? It was Richard Avedon! — eventually realized that the reason for her success was because she wasn’t trying to be anyone else. She just wanted to be Ina.
Thanks for the inspiration, Ina. We love your cookbooks and memoirs.
PS About the dinner I got home for and the embarrassing food mistakes I made along the way.
(Photo provided by Ina Garten)
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