July 2007

Ari Interviews the Deli's Chef Rodger about Fresh Local Produce

What got you going originally on focusing on local produce?
Rodger: I guess it started a few years back when I had a lot of energy that wasn't being focused anywhere important: We were pretty unhappy with the quality of the produce we were getting from our wholesaler, so the quest for better produce and some good learning lead to a simple walk across the street to the farmer's market. That is when I was introduced to a whole new world of produce buying. Not that I didn't know what a farm was or what really good homegrown food tasted like. I grew up in rural Michigan where growing your own food was common. I just didn't know you could buy this stuff for restaurants. Silly I know, but I never made the connection. All my restaurant experiences and even culinary education here, we never shopped at a farmers' market, we always just ordered our produce off a piece of paper with as little communication about the actual food as possible. That first market day I met a very excited man from Tantre Farm, David Klinginberger... "Hey you want to buy some really good vegetables?" It sort of snowballed from there.

How do things seem different now than it was back when you first started really working on this years ago?
Rodger: Planning, prices, people and products. It is a little easier to plan on some things now that we have a few good seasons of experience at this, but as we all know the weather changes and insects have to eat. Prices have changed just like in any market, except I think more and more growers are (and should be) charging prices that reflect what it actually takes to produce great food and keep doing it. A lot more people are realizing this, "buy local" is not just a fad but also a way of life. Not just for restaurants and market shoppers, but universities, supermarkets, butchers and even schools. More growers and producers are popping up but not at the same rate as demand. We are running into some infrastructure problems in the food system. But that is another conversation. Products changed, there is a giant fertile basket of products to choose from here in Michigan that doesn't stop at produce. Meats, cheeses, nuts, beer, cured produce, grains etc. Food shopping in this area can be a lot of fun and it continues to grow.

How has it impacted the flavor of the food?
Rodger: Fresh, flavorful produce is the foundation of all cooking, from the potatoes in the salad to the herbs in a roast. It has a big impact on the flavor of all the food. I can't even imagine making a peach cobbler without August peaches or making a strawberry shortcake in December. Those things aren't even in my vocabulary anymore. Waiting and celebrating those fresh flavors at the right moment makes them taste that much better. The power of more flavor at our hands leads to even bigger impacts: Sales staff is trying food they've never previously cooked with, which is leading to better eating habits for them at home, and in effect sales even go up because they are excited about the food and know it better. "I never used to eat (insert vegetable) but that stuff you roasted was amazing." This happens all the time around the Deli. The more we sell, the more we can buy from the growers, and the more sustainable their work will be.

What were some of the most surprising flavors?
Rodger: Lettuce that is sweet and bitter at the same time, instead of being just crunchy water, lime basil that tastes like the Fruit Loops, apples that taste more like bananas, wintered spinach that has almost no acid in it with the sweetest part being the usually disposable stem. The surprising part is not all fruits and vegetables taste like the twelve to thirteen you find on standard supermarket shelves. There are twelve or thirteen kinds of apples any given September at market. Surprising flavors happen all the time.

What Deli dishes are you particularly excited about this summer?
Rodger: Soups. Our gazpacho is one that we don't like to make until ripe tomatoes are in. We get a lot of requests for it as soon as the weather turns warm so there is usually a month or so gap between the demand and our ability to supply it. It really is quite good. I know everyone has their own recipe, but here it is tough to go wrong with vine-ripe tomatoes, spicy sun-drenched basil, peppers and good sherry vinegar from Spain. Cold sour cherry soup with the Creamery's Fromage Franc is a favorite of mine too. In terms of salads, Panzanella is totally revitalized all summer with great arugula. We make a great summertime salad with ripe peaches, jalapeno peppers and Mexican vanilla. I think what I am most looking forward to are the things that we haven't made yet. Every summer one or two vegetables grow in more abundance than we have ever seen and turn into something special in the salad case.

How about main dishes?
Rodger: The Deli kitchen is working on some more supper type main-course-type dishes out of Earthshine Chickens, Hannewald Lambs, Apple Schram Pork Shoulder and Harnois Turkeys. Some fresh sausages are coming for our Piazza party, August 24-26.

Don't want to forget about dessert?
Rodger: For me, doesn't get much better than peach cobbler. One of the most exciting desserts this year is Paw Paw gelato. Last year I met someone who grows a large variety of Paw Paws and took my impression of them from this small wild-ish crop with limited yields to "how many do you want and what variety". Paw Paws are a great American fruit that hardly anyone knows about. The first time I had one it tasted just like sugar cookie dough; slightly dough/flour like with plenty of sugar and a little vanilla. We should be able to get the quantity and quality we are looking and produce some volume Paw Paw gelato, and of course Paw Paw Cream Pie.

What are some of the things you hope to see happen down the road?
Rodger: One of the things I would like to see us doing is more preservation of in season products, canning, drying, pickling etc. It's a simple way to increase our procurement of these local products so less go to waste from the grower and we can create some new products here. I would also like to see us develop a "forager" type position. I'm in the planning stages of figuring out what that would look like, but it have to been someone who can take all the great work and communication that we have now and grow on it. Someone that can communicate with the growers and businesses better. Someone that can go help harvest two rows of lettuce if need be, or organize a group of employees for a U-pick Raspberry day for Zing Jam. Maybe someone who would a produce newsletter? Someone who can take all the ideas in my head and grow them and make them better for the business, growers and the food. As for around the area, I would like to see more small to medium sized growers supplying not just restaurants, but enough to supply schools and hospitals, shelters and farmers markets all over the city. More season extension, a service oriented processing facility for the areas livestock would be two big ones.