Well, the trip starts with Tory the web-designer putting the camera right on me in the car. Somehow he feels comfortable with this and I feel about as awkward as a cook at his first stage post in a kitchen. I'm glad I got the practice because when we arrived at the Utility Research Garden I felt a lot more comfortable as we filmed and interviewed for about 2 hours. Tory gave a lot of good direction. We arrive at the garden and just as I expected the garden is just as eclectically laid out as the personality behind its gardener, David Cater. I met David at the Bayou City Market and took a liking to his unusual produce and his no room for B.S. straight to the point slightly sarcastic answers to the dumb questions. My mother-in-law buys his stuff religiously so I started to notice details about the products and his selections of what he grows. I knew this was the guy I would like to work with first. As we begin to explore I instantly got the feel that this farm is "working" meaning David was in the dirt along with his colleagues. He had not seen us yet but I was listening to his direct but almost lyrical speech and at the same time, observing how the garden in the entrance was not in straight rows but rather a crescent shape; in fact the other gardens were straight but seemed to be in different directions--all very well maintained. I thought to myself that is odd but much like food you choose, the style in which you want to present your food, really the whole concept of real food takes place in much the same way a gardener makes choices of what to plant and how to plant it. Tory and I caught up with David with the camera was rolling so I prompted questions right away. I thought it must feel a little weird for David as he had no prior warning much like me in the car but he just played right into his role. I kept staring at his Frank Zappa shirt thinking to myself this guy is deep and a little far out as we walked his farm talking about our views of growing, the farm, how his interests developed into this manifestation of farming and David just plainly enlightened us. We have a lot of the same views and I really felt comfortable and at ease on the property. The gardens are amazing and Tory and I sorted through the different things planted eating the bounty with smiles on our faces as though we were kids at play. My mind was spinning with ideas of how I wanted to approach each vegetable and what cooking technique would best suit the product. Then David asked "Why do all that with it? Why not let it be simple?" At that point I began to think differently and just danced to the music instead of focusing on the foot work. We ate everything raw even the blooming flowers from the vegetables and fruits growing. I can say I ate vegan and actually thoroughly enjoyed it. It is my opinion that if you are vegan, don't eat from a store, eat it out of the dirt directly. The flavors were amazing. We ate different varieties of okra including the flowers, Muscadine grapes that had a truly unique flavor and sweet potato tops that were amazing all completely raw and all yielding overwhelmingly strong and different flavors. No heat, no salt, nothing. I was full and without trying to sound like a spiritual hippie, it was as though you could feel the energy pass into you and you felt good not all greased down like some fried fast food. Raw okra is addicting. The dirt was even good on them which says a lot about David's philosophy.
Healthy dirt = healthy plants= healthy people = healthy dirt.
Tory, David, and I ate until the sun went down, shared a few beers and listened to David's stories about farming and the struggles of trying to get talented chefs to purchase regularly from the locals. Tory and I must have asked a hundred questions and all were answered almost poetically with passion for his work. Truly an amazing visit! I am fortunate to have the opportunity to experience things like this. Each experience with real food takes your cooking in a more heightened direction. These moments help define your choices of where you purchase product, what to cook, and how to cook it. Tory purchased a bag of goodies and we damn near finished the bag off by the time we reached the restaurant. I saved two different kinds of eggplant and enjoyed those with the harsh critique of my father the next day. My father did not know where the eggplant had come from but I could tell by the look on his face that he knew this eggplant was different. He just plainly told me. "You did not get those from a store." And that was all he had to say.
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