For the Iron Chef competition, coming on October 13th to Plaza Nikki Habibe, in Oranjestad, I have been talking to Santa Rosa, director Nathalie Maduro, about local products we could incorporate into the chefs’ pantry.
The way it works is the following, and you watch TV, you know, organizers prepare a panty stocked with everything from soup to nuts, and also present the chefs some mystery items, products they did not know would be included, with the instruction to use them, in any of the dishes, appetizer, main course or dessert.
Mystery items are there to challenge the chefs, not complicate their lives, see how their head works, and what interesting flavor combinations they can concoct for an umami effect.
Umami is one of the five basic tastes along with sweet, salty, sour, and bitter; it is savory in flavor, and describes dishes that are very satisfying and palate-pleasing.
In my quest I came across a hobby-scale local farm, they have no logo, no website, no FB, and no desire for publicity, they are true backyard farmers, and they are raising Quail for meat, and also produce a limited quantity of eggs.
Quail is a collective name for several mid-size birds. The larger species are farm raised for the table.
The scholars among you would know that when the children of Israel, got tired of eating manna in the desert, having left Egypt and slavery behind, God then gave them quail!
And now a backyard farm does just that.
Quail is delicate and delicious. You can roast it, or stuff and roast it, with mushrooms or sausage, or both, with fresh herbs; grill it, all it takes is a few minutes for each side, marinate a bit longer. You may pan fry or sauté in butter, with a without wine in the sauce, braise it in wine, with veggies.
Most importantly, call me to join you for dinner.
Quail meat tastes rich, and more flavorful than chicken. It goes with all starches and loves to be served with a bit of sweet fruit, or honey, fresh spices & herbs.
I will post a few pictures, so you know what it looks like!!
If any chef reads this column and would like to add quail to his menu, message me and I will give you the information.
When posting about the competition, I got mail from Living Soil Aruba:
Super excited to see how many local ingredients will be used. Especially the ones growing everywhere/ easy to grow on our beautiful island, but being undervalued, put away as “food for the poor”.
I’m thinking Bembe, Calaloo, Beherein, Comcomber Chickito, Maishi Rabo, Boonchi Largo, Sorghum, Okra, Pinda, Batata Dushi and so many more vegetables that grow here so easily. If those chefs could make these veggies “sexy” again, so consumers will start looking for these in our supermarkets instead of the tomatoes, sweet peppers and what not that’s not from here. Our future farmers would actually have a chance to make some money and build up an Agriculture sector that’s sustainable to all. My hopes are that more than “include,” would be possible, I’m envisioning them to be the center of a true Authentic dish.
We all know Aruba needs to change. We need to get more economical pillars, besides tourism. The agriculture sector could become another pilar. But only when we change our diet. We cannot expect our future farmers to start a business offering veggies that bring huge financial risks with them, but we can start supporting our local farmers by buying the veggies that grow easily here, that are authentic to our climate, our quality of soil, etc.
By doing so we give the farmer the financial stability and support to keep growing and start to adventure in more exotic veggies.
And all this starts with competitions like this, with top end chefs making those ingredients “sexy”, giving them back their place in our kitchen, in the local culture.
Whenever I hear people say “Callaloo is food for the poor” (and believe me, this stigma is still very much alive on the island) it breaks my heart that no chef can prove you can make a “million dollar” meal out of it!
So there you go… that would be my bonus challenge for this competition, feel free to steal my idea.
Mushrooms: Farmacure Fungi @FarmaCureFungi
Micro Greens: Petite Greens @petitegreensaruba.com
Quail: Hobby-scale farm, call me for info
Honey: Eco Living @ecolivingaruba.com
