The way we cook on the West Coast has been influenced by any number of other traditions and cultures. The people who settled this area came from other regions of North America and from other parts of the world. I recently had an opportunity to see first hand one of the countries that has had a profound impact on the West Coast. 

Last March, as a guest of JETRO, the Japanese External trade Organization, I had an opportunity to travel to Japan with six other food journalists to explore farms, food manufacturing sites and restaurants. We attended a food trade show called Foodex, the largest trade show of its kind in Asia. We visited breweries and distilleries, met artisan producers who make sake, miso and pickles. We stayed in Ryokans, the country inns with natural mineral baths where dinners are elaborate multi-course affairs that last for hours and the rooms are tranquil sanctuaries with tatami mats on the floor and futons for beds. Best of all, we had the opportunity to visit a number of small farms where dedicated individuals are combining centuries-old farming techniques with state-of-the-art technology to produce some of the most amazing foods I have ever encountered.

As I contemplate exactly how Japanese taste and culture have influenced our own, and strive to make sense of it, it helps to review what I saw and tasted when I was there. 

I recently spoke about three of the farms I visited with Megan Sukys on KUOW Presents. Here are my notes on those farms:

Nishida Dekopon Orchard

Kelp Poultry Farm

Angelo Pellegrini was born in Tuscany in 1904 and came with his family to live in McCleary, Washington in 1913. He eventually became a professor of English Literature at the University of Washington. (There, my own mother-in-law, Patty Latourette Lucas served as his secretary and worked on the manuscript for his first book The Unprejudiced Palate, 1948. Since she was secretary to the entire English department, she also typed the poems of Theodore Roethke.) The The Unprejudiced Palate was re-published in 2005 with an introduction by Mario Batali as part of the Modern Library Food Series, edited by Ruth Reichl. 

Pellegrini grew his own vegetables and herbs, built a wood-burning oven in the backyard and pioneered many of the notions that helped shape the New American food movement including the idea that we should eat local food in its own season.

Pellegrini is credited with the first recipe for pesto in the United States which was published in Sunset magazine in 1946. The magazine's website reports: " ...we tip our hats to Angelo Pellegrini, the Tuscan-born English professor and Renaissance man whose writings on food, gardening, and living well (including his best-known book, The Unprejudiced Palate, first published in 1948 and still in print) made him one of the West's most beloved food authorities. Sunset had a long relationship with Pellegrini, who lived in Seattle until his death in 1991, and it's his pesto recipe that first graced our pages. "

Today, Angelo Pellegrini's name is attached to the Pellegrini Award which is presented annually by the Pellegrini family in association with The Seattle Weekly to honor individuals whose life and work celebrates the good life and empowers others to do the same. I was the third recipient of the award in 2009 after Armandino Batali and Jon Rowley. This year the award was given to Chris Curtis who directs the Seattle Neighborhood Farmers Markets. 

In honor of the twentieth century man who was so prescient about the "New American Food" trend we enjoy in the twenty-first century, here are couple of recipes inspired by him.

Bright Green Basil Pesto
Farinata After Pellegrini

Spring has its charms to be sure. But with summer fruits still beyond the horizon and winter fruits all but gone, selecting an appropriate fruit dessert for the season can be tricky.

Sometimes, I cheat and do what I can with early season strawberries hauled in from points south. They are not the same as summer strawberries, but with a splash of balsamic vinegar and some sugar, they can be quite good. One might opt for stalks of rhubarb, a member of the buckwheat family with a red pigment and a substantial dose of oxalic acid to stand in for fruit. And citrus fruits, their season having peaked a few months ago, are still around. Another option is to present something chocolate; chocolate may be wintery but in truth, it knows no season.

This week, I’m posting a trio of spring dessert recipes:
Orange and Rhubarb Tart
Orange Sunshine Tart, and
Elegant Chocolate Tart

All three recipes come from West Coast Cooking, which contains more than 400 recipes for everyday cooking with family and friends.

Savoir faire is a French phrase that might best be translated as “know how.”  In the kitchen, it refers to the ability to complete all the tasks necessary to make a dish.

If a chef or a recipe instructs the cook to sauté something, then the cook with savoir faire needs no further instruction. It’s understood that the pan will be hot, a small amount of fat will be used, and the product will be finished by de-glazing the pan with some liquid to pick up the “fond,” which refers to the browned bits of meat or vegetable stuck to the bottom of the pan.

More than knowledge of specific cooking techniques, savoir faire refers to a broader understanding of how several different cooking techniques can be applied to a several different foods to have them all ready at the same time in order to be served on the same plate. So if a fillet of fish is to be sautéed and served with a savory flan and a green vegetable that’s blanched in boiling water, a good cook will have the flan ready and the water boiling for the vegetables before the sauté is performed. This way, the vegetables garnishes are hot and at their peak of readiness when the pièce de la résistance is ready to plate.

Home cooks can use this way of looking at a meal to achieve mastery. It is unreasonable to expect that great cuisine will be simple, or that a novice cook can make even simple dishes perfectly on the first try. However, it is perfectly reasonable to assume that with a little practice, anyone can produce great dishes if they apply themselves and pay attention.

This month, we’ll look at two main dishes that incorporate several recipes.

First, consider Sole Meunière et Flan de Carotte, sautéed fillet of sole with a carrot flan and blanched pea vines.

Next, we’ll prepare Suprême de Volaille aux Duxelles, a breast of chicken with mushroom filling served with a gratin of potatoes and simple, buttered haricot vertes.