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Published February 12th, 2014
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Words That Change Our World
Local chef and the book that inspires his creativity in the kitchen
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| By Lou Fancher |
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| Adam Carpenter Photo courtesy Lafayette Park Hotel |
Adam Carpenter is fast becoming Lamorinda's carnivore troubadour. The 33-year-old executive chef at Bistro, the Lafayette Park Hotel's redesigned restaurant, is a culinary wizard whose poetry with pork increasingly finds its place on the establishment's plates and platters. With deep roots in Contra Costa County kitchens - Taxi's in Walnut Creek, an Alamo Baskin Robbins, Danville's Blackhawk Grill - and caché from San Francisco's now-closed Ponzu and the roaringly popular Jaspers, Carpenter has cracked open more than one cookbook.
What better man might there be, to name a life-changing foodie book?
But, in fact, he's a hard to pin down, when it comes to single selection. "Sure!" is his first response to an invitation to name The Book. Reality quickly follows: Carpenter has an extensive library, including all of Thomas Keller's books. He admits, his devotion shifts according to current interests or the season. And he's fond of non-cookbook, food-related books, like Steve Dublancia's "Waiter Rant," Bill Buford's "Heat" ... and more.
Even so, when cornered by a one-book diet, he selects "Charcuterie," food writer Michael Ruhlman's and chef Brian Polcyn's 320-page narrative on the splendors of all things salted, smoked and cured. Writing ahead of a tidal wave of interest that became a trend, then a food movement by 2005, the writer/chef duo offer not just recipes for meat, but a story. Like all good tales, there's a back story and characters/ingredients following a plot/methodology. Rendered in a casserole of reverent and jubilant tones and graced with Yevgeniy Solovyev's sensitive illustrations, their book even has a clear beginning: duck confit.
"A powerful mania descended on me a decade ago when I first tasted duck confit," Ruhlman writes, in an opening chapter. (Confit, one learns, involves rubbing a food with spices, submerging it in oil or sugared water for often lengthy cooking, and storing the tender, luscious result in its own fat in a cool, dark place.) From Ruhlman's recollection of his original inspiration on, "Charcuterie" is a delicious waltz of recipes and creation; from salt and smoke to sausage and Cinderella Meat Loaf. Resource listings for meat suppliers and "not optional" sauces and condiments round out the complete literary package.
"I remember reading and testing recipes for hours and weeks; learning and developing recipes to fit a high volume of food for a busy French restaurant," Carpenter recalled. After following the books lengthier processes - some requiring weeks to complete - he got creative. "You start branching off to new ideas and new menu creations," he said.
At Bistro, Carpenter brings his "huge butchery background" together with locally-provided meat and produce from his frequent farmer's market sprees. "I have a passion for local and home-grown vegetables," he confided. He also bears a passion for pigs; evidenced by the pig-cut tattoo he bears on one forearm. "The pig happens to be my favorite animal and the one used more and more in every kitchen across the world. We can all relate to that animal," he said.
Bistro has house-made sausages and cured meats "all over the menu," according to Carpenter. Chef's bites, sprightly named "Amuse," are delivered at the beginning of meals. "Often, this will be a sausage, or an air-cured meat, or a tuna cooked confit for hours. Fun items are explored here," he said.
Offering advice, or simply a description of the cookbooks he values, Carpenter said he looks beyond recipes to workable techniques. "Then you can trust them for years to come," he said. Obtainable ingredients - nothing overly exotic - and cookbooks emphasizing the use of locally sourced produce, meat, dairy and grains, also fit his criteria. "When a book has good ideas and amazing pictures, that goes a long way for me," he added, unable to curb his enthusiasm to just three top features.
But perhaps there are certain things - chef's imaginations, family meals, generosity, and especially, a list of favorite books - that should never be put on a diet.
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Lou Fancher is a journalist who, over the course of her career interviewing a wide variety of people, has been struck by how often written or spoken words influenced the local life and purpose of her articles' subjects. If you have a book, a play, a famous quote or a film that has been important in your life and are willing to share your story with Lou - it requires only a 15-minute phone interview - please email storydesk@lamorindaweekly and include "Words" in the subject line.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA