My career in food started as a child in my grandmother's kitchen, in the heart of the Loire Valley of France. The routine of our family was based around cooking for the sheer joy of "eating only the freshest product of the season." In our small country town, our food market was either in our garden, our neighbors' gardens and barns, or the local street market right outside our front door! Nothing ever touched refrigeration... fresh Atlantic seafood, vegetables and herbs hand picked only minutes before, and things like goat cheese made fresh to order from the goat's milk that morning. This is what we lived for!!
My grandmother could cook anything with such skill and gentleness... these visions are what inspire me today. Every Friday I had great anticipation for our meals. Why? Because this was the fresh fish market day! We reserved this day for no meat, only the seafood of the season — fines claires oysters, bigorneau ocean snails, petites grises soft shell shrimp, moules marinieres, coquille st. jacques, the list goes on, and the world's most elegant fish in texture and flavor, Dover sole. She loved to cook this fish so perfectly and simply with a brown butter sauce. But can I mention my favorite? It is her Langoustine á l'Americaine, the only spicy dish in France at that time — it is truly to die for! (I begged her to resurrect her recipe after 25 years on one of my recent visits.)
