Whenever possible we try to hunt, gather or grow our own ingredients so that we know that we have the best quality ingredients, harvested at their peak. The French seem to never lost sight of this important rule, but as Americans we are only now coming back to these roots with the whole “From Farm to Table” concepts, which is the latest buzz word in the restaurant industry. We have been doing what I call from field to table since the beginnings of my cooking, in fact, it formed the basis for my learning to cook, as I had these great ingredients, but didn’t always know how to use them to their best advantage.
The most important factor to elevate your cooking to create quality restaurant level food is very simple? Obtain the same quality ingredients as the famous chefs get in their special orders and first pickings through the delivery trucks. Such ingredients yield better results than buying a new gadget such as the immersion circulator that Mario Batali uses. Instead buy the same tiny waxy golden potatoes or the rainbow shard, the real farm fresh eggs, the exact baby arugula carried by hand and cook them at their peak.
