Culinary Connection

Somewhere nestled in the rolling There, a group of food experts and students experience a unique brand of homespun culinary education wit One of the areas that's really growing, there's a really increased awareness in sustainable agriculture and organics and knowing where your food comes from, knowing how the farmers that raise your food. As an educator, I feel And one of the t So exposure is certainly somet We've connected with one of the head chefs for a company who is really focused on sustainable agriculture and buying produce direct from the farmer and we're going to be one of their vendors and I'm very grateful for that. That'somet So I've heard some from students who graduate out of this program and it's so amazing to watch these kids go back to Seattle or Portland or Spokane and see the impact it has on their own habits, on how they t It's phenomenal. The writings of Alice Waters from Shea Paneese Restaurant has greatly influenced the food industry. She polished the idea of using locally grown organic foods and in so doing helped promote the relations Chefs from coast to coast have picked up the trend and created a demand for locally grown products. The result is a new vitality for small acreage farms growing produce for the restaurant market as well as increasing market share among cons Farmers markets have gained popularity in many neighborhoods. National organizations such as Chefs Collaborative and Slow Foods are educating chefs, farmers and cons I take responsibility by educating myself, by asking questions of my purveyors, by seeking out my farmer, by being a member of organizations I'm sitting on the WSDA Small Farmer Advisory Board learning what issues the farmer has getting the food to my door and how can I make that work. The book Bitter Harvest written by Chef Anne Cooper tells of the environmental impact of the kitchen and the food choices chefs are making, stepping up the importance for trained professionals to have a better understanding of environmental and farming terminology. Aware of they started the Quilas Asket Farm School of the Domestic Arts with a hands-on training program called Farm Culinary 101, the Sustainable Kitchen. The Quilas Asket Farm offers food professionals and culinary students a unique opportunity to experience the farm-to-table connection first hand. Rick and Laura Lee-Mysterly moved to this 36 acre property in the s In those early years they built a home, developed the gardens, and started the farm-stead orchard of fruit and nut trees. Livestock has always been a part of the farm plan and shortly after purchasing the property, Rick and Laura Lee bought a milking alpine doe named Taffy. By the spring of 1987, the farm was well enough established that the Mysterly's applied for and received a license from the Was Quilas Asket Cheese Company was ready for business. Around t Chefs were looking for somet Quilas Asket Farm-stead Cheese became a popular menu addition that helped define a regional feel to any restaurant. During week-long retreats, participants milk goats, make cheese, help care for farm animals, transplant vegetables, and harvest produce from the gardens. Presentations about honeybees, grass-finished meats, composting, organic labeling standards, genetically modified foods, and globalization, plus visits to neighboring farms are all part of the experience as students gain an understanding of the implications of buying locally and seasonally. We teach them hopefully to cook wit We're looking for creative solutions if we don't have somet We look for a way to either mock a flavor or just change it enough that it makes it quila saskets, So getting them to learn to be creative in that regard. When tomatoes are ripe off the vine to what that tastes They need to realize that their fates, their profession is tied to it. If they don'take responsibility for their role in it, they won't have access to 3,000 varieties of tomatoes, and they won't have access to flavor. So what we'really trying to do is get away from the idea that food comes in a package. We want people to be able to taste the realities of food and make connections between the food they eat and how it's grown. Mornings start off bright and early at 5. 30 a. m. with milking and morning chores followed by breakfast and a morning meeting about the upcoming day's activities. Each day, students will work with a chef to prepare lunch and dinner using only ingredients from the garden and products from local farms. Dinner is a culmination of the day's work, time to feast on the bounty of the farm, reflect on the experiences of the day, and build community around the table. A focal point for the week is discovering ways to incorporate local and seasonal foods into the menu. Developing the menu is a welcome challenge. The garden is a supermarket of inspiration, offering fresh flavors for the meals. You just don't run out to the grocery store. That you use what is running around and what's growing in the garden. Also developing a real sense of value for food. There's not I didn't know how to do that before I went to the farm. I there's a distinct quality factor here. They're looking for And it is our belief that Quality is a determining factor for ingredient selection. It's not just chefs that understand the bakers are also taking an active role in monitoring the quality of their ingredients by building relations There's a lot of bakers that are talking with the farmers about the flour that they're producing and we're wanting t I feel as a baker, the quality of the organic flour is really excellent and the result, the flavor of the bread and the response for its fermentation is very Since the Kulis Asket Farm believes cheese is one of the most delightful of ingredients, one of the Everyone arrives curious about the mystery of how cheese is made. The students spend one morning in the cheese kitchen learning how to make four different types of cheese. Mozzarella, ricotta, soft cream cheese and a firm aged farmhouse cheese. During the week, the cheese will be incorporated into recipes and menus. Some examples are European style cheesecakes, ricotta noce or pizza baked in the wood-fired ovens. The retreat really helped simplify t Cheese making for example, an obvious one but L'Orealie made it really simple and gave us great instruction. The whole science and the freshness and everyt Each day ends as a social event, good company, good food and good conversation. The participants of the program often discuss the concepts they've learned at the farm. For instance, a key concept to the Farm to Table education program is sustainability. Sustainability is looking at the bigger picture of how h Cooking with fresh produce generates a lot of kitchen waste and composting is a way to complete the cycle and close the farm to table lube by turning the unused bits into fertilizer. Not only does composting provide a method for reducing the amount of waste for disposal, it also converts into nutrients useful for gardens or landscape plants. When you talk about a food system You know as a cons Water conservation is vital in farm maintenance. Participants learn techniques to conserve water usage from drip irrigation and mulches in the garden to reducing wasteful water cons We want them to live with a sense of just the interconnectedness of everyt Conserving food is also a sustainable practice. A way to increase the availability of local products for off season usage is making preserves by canning, freezing, pickling and dehydration. I want to involve my staff with even more preserving. I'm talking to my pastry chef right now, Betsy Buford and the, for example, the local, the produce that we're getting from Cliffside Orc Currently we're kind of, she makes jams and we end up freezing and we end up using them next week, but she wants to get involved with actually jarring t Livestock management is an important function on the farm, supplying milk for cheese, fertility for the soil and meat for the table. Students learn about different livestock management practices and how it relates to their work in the kitchen. I make a presentation to each of the sessions on grass fed and grass finished meats and poultry. I have lunch with them and we talk about their backgrounds and where they're from and then after lunch I make a presentation about alternative production systems for animals and poultry in particular and systems different than the standard concentrated confinement approach to agriculture. So t In fact, students participate in the entire procedure of livestock processing, including butchering. The chefs in the industry today don't often have the opportunity to fabricate a whole animal. Yet, working with local livestock producers may necessitate utilizing whole carcasses and learning about preparing lesser cuts of meat. A long, long time ago I read about the Kula Sasket Farm School and t It wasn't just a wimp school or that it would be about real farming and I was just anxious to be a part of that. And oddly enough I t It made the connection so real to stand there and An eye-opening in many ways from Obviously, the school emphasizes the importance of the small farm and the role it plays in acquiring Participants are encouraged to purchase locally grown organic produce as their first choice, locally raised as their second selection and certified organic as the t Upon returning home they begin taking basic steps As informed cons I buy my produce at farmers markets especially in the s It's just a nice way to share with my clients the tastiest food. I t I came back overwhelmingly inspired about I have a commitment to the local farmer in eastern Was By supporting local farms cons I vowed to just extend myself as much as I possibly can and buying local from farmers. In fact on the farm retreat while I was at Cliffside Orchard so I started a relationship with him and started purchasing right away and they are just incredible when I put them out on our display at Bon Appetit people are just So I would I'd like to see our local citizens have healthy diets nutritional diets and this way we'll improve the economies of our farm system our family farms and have the connections between our cons So what we are really trying to do for the cons Part of the education for the student involves meeting with and talking to farmers in the rural community. They learn of some of the struggles that producers encounter and the challenge of bringing fresh produce to the marketplace. The students often comment on how farmers know so much about so many things I t Meeting local neighbors who are just as enthusiastic about what they do and passionate about what they do, it's always nice to see that and see that people are doing well and enjoying what they are doing in life. What I love about the students coming is that it's an educational experience in that they get to see what we go through and what we do and how we do it and where we live and they can pass that information on to other people. The Kulisaskit Farm School of Domestic Arts is impacting the culinary industry by influencing future chefs. Apparently, sharing t Modern extension faculty and other agricultural professionals seek a better understanding of the day-to-day issues facing small farms as they incorporate sustainable farming methods w Admittedly, they learned a lot at the Kulisaskit Farm. I work for a sustainable agriculture center at WSU but being at Kulisaskit Farm was being the closest to sustainable that I've ever seen in my life. It was an example of really understanding the inputs, what's coming onto the farm and the outputs. Because we had compressed that distance between the farm and the table, it was easier for us to see what's coming into t And we also covered gratitude and how much we need to be thankful to our farmers for the work that they do. I t So hopefully we'll be able to support the small family farmer that way. Again, I t And that the food that's produced is prepared in the fabulous, fabulous and just in the best of the world. It really helped me develop an appreciation for the many challenges that farmers face, whether it's whether or crops or pests or changing markets and changing cons And I came to see that farmers had to be really creative and innovative and flexible in order to make the best use of their land in order to make ends meet. So that was really cool. Well, I t W I t And also I t Chefs are in the cooking business because they have a lot of love for creating delicious meals but the hectic daily restaurant routine can put a damper on their enthusiasm. Time on the farm helps them reconnect with their passions. They really reconnect them with their love of food I t Oftentimes in the restaurant it's frenetic taste, there's a different Today is searc People are looking for more environmentally friendly lifestyles and how individuals can make a difference. One of the most important that I can just relax and just buy great food and t It certainly grounded my knowledge level and also really allowed me to develop that peer group and personal connections to continue my own education and extend that to the people both public and professional that I am fortunate to have an impact on with food choices. I talk about the farm and I try to use the farm as a lot of inspirational experiences to illustrate to my students what can be done out there and how a few people can change the world and how you have to work at the local level and you have to work at the personal level because there's not that much I can do on the global level but I can affect what happens around me and hopefully my talking about what's important to me and what the farm does, hopefully that inspires my students and there's a ripple effect that goes out. As culinaryians they are excited to find solutions through the preparation and purchasing practices of their kitchens. In the culinary field I t I mean At home they build connections by joining organizations such as the Chef's Collaborative. Well I got a members Now we don't have a Chef's Collaborative chapter here in Eastern Was Culinary instructors are bringing the practice of sustainability into the classroom. I was about 50% organic before the farm and now I'm about 95% organic using organic flour. I feel that's important because of the things I learned out at the farm and just with genetically modified foods and sustainability and After leaving the farm, the farm retreat, I decided that some of these things that seemed so overwhelming were really easy to bring back to my curricul Where the industry is going and what I'm seeing out there right now is there's t I guess I want them to leave feeling that they have power. They have power to make change and that Everyone leaves the farm feeling hopeful that they can make changes. Slowly, step by step, they are making a positive impact through their own work.