Will Walk Drive Fly Sail for Restaurant Recipes
As a young man, Illinois poet Nicholas Vachel Lindsay dreamed of and actually made several attempts to travel across America with only a few belongings, his notebook and pen. To get money for food and the few necessities such a traveler would require, he planned to write and recite verse or, if need be, hire himself out as a day laborer, sleeping at night in the fields, underneath a friendly tree, or (with permission of the owner) in a barn or on a porch. In each place he stopped, he intended to compose a poem, one of a collection of Rhymes to Be Traded for Bread.
Many gourmet cooks and wannabe gourmet cooks share something of Lindsay’s desire to attempt a purposeful odyssey across country (or countries), but would make the collection of as yet undiscovered restaurant recipes the objects of their journey.
Thoughts of obtaining the ingredients list and directions for making the quintessential lemon meringue pie keep would-be recipe wanderers up at night. Certain they will be able to find the pie on the chalkboard-scribbled menu of a small lunch counter in the South, they imagine persuading the owner and creator of the recipe to obligingly make them a copy. Prior to their mythical journey, they gaze longingly at black and white photographs of 1920′s Georgia, while calculating the price of a plane ticket versus Amtrak. Set free to travel on their own, they would “food sleuth” their way across the nation and probably not find much. Reigned in by the itinerary of a pre-arranged tour or cooking experience, they are likely to go home with a tried-and-true selection of recipes from the finest restaurants of a particular region.
If you are one of these potential recipe chasers, you have probably already taken or are considering a cooking vacation. If this is the kind of trip for you, check the advertisements in magazines devoted to fine cuisine, do some Internet browsing, place a telephone call to culinary arts schools for information. Opportunities for culinary classes and touring can show up where you least expect them. A few years ago, Romantic Times, a magazine primarily for readers and writers of romance novels sponsored a culinary tour to Calabria, Italy.
Wherever and however you decide to seek your cooking experience, be aware that timing is critical. Do you favor the lighter flavors of summer? Or do you like dishes made from autumn-harvested produce? Are robust winter chowders that bring the blood to the cheeks of appreciative diners your thing? Pick your season, then plan or pay someone else to plan your trip accordingly. Many recipe hunters choose to visit towns associated with their ancestors. Oh, the joy of being able to purchase on site a small, locally printed recipe book from a caf? or bistro, where your great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers came to talk and have a glass of wine. As for the metrics, you can figure them out later.
If spending a week or two measuring and stirring is an impossibility for you, how about a long weekend restaurant tour? These are short jaunts that usually target two cities at the most. Several meals at restaurants of significant reputation are included. Copies of the restaurant’s cookbooks can usually be bought while you are on the tour and sometimes the chef/restaurateur author is available to autograph them.
Do you prefer sailing to overland travel? Cruise lines build their reputations on their ability to entertain, wine and dine the travelers who patronize them. In a sense, they are floating restaurants with on-deck shuffleboard courts. Bells chime and food appears in staggering variety and quantity. Like restaurants on terra firma, popular cruise lines hire master chefs to create their signature cuisine and occasionally make their recipes available in cookbook form.
If you can’t get away at all, don’t be afraid to do a little local legwork. Inquire about the possibility of obtaining a much-loved recipe from a local restaurant or drive in. Occasionally the owners of these establishments release one of their signature recipes for use in a church or club cookbook. Anything for a good
Source: http://www.positivearticles.com/blog