Local Cooking

We are trying to eat as locally as we can. In the week and a half since reading “Plenty” at my daughter Holly’s suggestion I have been searching for local produce, meats, dairy, even salt. Walter and I have been frequenting farmers’ markets on the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario where we spend our summers, and our ancestors have for generations. We live on a wooded sand dine on the south shore of Lake Erie in Ontario during the summer and in Western New York on the east side of the Niagara River during the winter with forays to warmer climes. This gives us access to wonderful vegetables and fruits grown on the Niagara Frontier. We can also pick up some special items indigenous to the places we visit.

We are quickly finding more and more sources for local foods. I have every hope that we will find virtually everything we really need within 150 miles. I did not think that was the case a week ago. We will also have to agree to give up some foods or to compromise a bit. Coffee and tea are two foods that are not grown on the Niagara Peninsula or in Western New York. Nutmeg and cinnamon and some other spices are also not exactly local. I have yet to decide how I want to handle these issues. I might cut myself some slack on some items as long as I buy things that are ecologically grown and traded freely like spices and coffee.

I know we can buy milk in glass bottles (a good thing) at the Lexington Co-op in Buffalo. It comes from the Byrne dairy near Syracuse, NY, about 150 miles away. It is the most local we have found so far and it is worth getting it in glass rather than plastic or waxed cartons. I have discovered that the Byrne Dairy also makes butter, so we are set for that. We are also making yogurt.

Salt might be an issue, however. We do have salt mines in New York State and I know that there are salt mines in Warsaw, NY. I emailed the Morton Salt Company asking about the salt mines in Warsaw and explained that we are trying to eat locally. The response that I got said that all table salt products are processed in Ohio. It did not suggest that I might take my hammer into the salt mine to knock a chunk of salt off the wall for our use. I will still work on that one.

We have been blanching and freezing peas, at least those that were not eaten during the shelling process, yellow and green beans, small roasted beets. We have also spread strawberries and raspberries from the farmers’ market and from the Fehrhaven Farm in Port Colborne, Ontario on cookie sheets and freezing them; then putting them into freezer bags. The local cherries are being eaten and none have made it into the freezer yet. I also might dry some.

The arugula has grown well and will be reseeded this week. The tomatoes in my garden are little and bright green the promise of greater size and a shift to bright red. The basil plants are prolific and will allow me to make lots more pesto and lots of zucchini bisque. Once again I have the issue of some ingredients not being local. My zucchini bisque, and indeed any zucchini that I sauté, ‘requires’ nutmeg. That is also not indigenous to the Niagara Frontier or environs. I have some and will use it sparingly.

I have begun to harvest my own herbs. I am drying rosemary and lovage by the heat from the oven light. That should be enough to keep them dry and a little warm without cooking them. There will be plenty more as the summer goes by. I have a great crop of vulgar thyme and lemon thyme, both of which I use lots in cooking. I will continue to harvest throughout the season. Lovage is not in everyone’s larder, I realize. It is not always easy to come by, but grows very well and is a perennial. I strongly recommend watching for it at nurseries in the spring or splitting some off from a friend who has a plant. Holly took a shovel to my big lovage plant in Elma and cut off enough to transplant in her city garden. It is thriving and mine filled out right away. My best description of lovage is that it is more like celery than celery is. I use it in stocks and soups.

Another thing that we are looking for is locally-grown stone-ground flour. I know I can get it in Savannah, NY near Syracuse from Community Mill and Bean. I would like to find it closer, but can rationalize making a trip for enough to take us and others in the family through the winter. I will continue to look on the Canadian side of the border, as well.

We can buy local free-range chicken and eggs on both sides of the border. We are also buying local honey with the thought of curtailing our use of sugar, which is not exactly or not at all, local. We have ordered part of a cow and part of a pig for the fall. It is hard to know how much we will need.

I am feeling really good about putting food away for the non-growing times. I am not happy, however, that I need to rely upon electricity for my freezer. I can’t can everything and really don’t want to, actually. Canning chicken is a little scary to me. I prefer to freeze it. At least I can trust my freezing ability.

I will keep chronicling my discoveries and my disappointments as time goes by.