Food Oasis on a Saturday Night:
7-Years in the Making (Part 2)
The
second meal I prepared on that Saturday last fall as growing season was coming to a close was as special as the first—and
it was also a long time in the making.
Earlier
in the summer, I had spied some homemade lamb sausage at a meat purveyor at Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. Though not quite an obsession, I thought about those links for a couple of months. I had them pegged for some of my own marinara over fresh pasta. On
that Friday, I finally bought them while running some errands during a long walk across the Hill. This would be, at long last, the night.
This
would be the culmination of a long process; a seduction really. The payoff for
late evenings alone preparing the summer’s bounty of tomatoes. I had waited
until September. Repeatedly delaying taking home 20 tomatoes here, a dozen there. I would blanch them, peel them and feverishly toss them in to simmer with a mess of
sautéed onions, sweet pepper, garlic and jalapenos. I know they’re not
traditional but I had already made hot sauce and there was a bumper crop.
This
year I decided to freeze my tomato sauce in small batches. I didn’t have
the time to can this year. On this Saturday night, as I dropped the tagliatelle into the boiling water the anticipation was
almost more than I could bear; the pleasure heightened by the fact that I had denied myself for so long.
It may
not have been the best spaghetti I have ever had, but great nonetheless. I didn’t
go all out and make the pasta myself. I could’ve cheated by adding some
butter before mixing in the sauce—but don’t get me wrong there was plenty of parmesan in there. And, on some of the sauce stashed away over the summer I had used tomato paste (gasp!) rather than throw
away half a can that costs less than a dollar. I used that on some pizza later. You know, you can make your own tomato paste…well, that’s another post.
To me,
all of this hard work is not about being a foodie. After all food is just fuel
for our bodies and it doesn’t really matter what it tastes like. For me
it’s all about protecting the environment by using locally-sourced foods, preserving fresh summer vegetables, and living
a simpler lifestyle. I don’t have to be wired or entertained by media all
the time, and I have some quiet time to fill.
I know
where the tomatoes came from because I grew them organically, or helped tend to them and water them over many hot months. The peppers, basil, and jalapenos all came from my own plot. The dish was all the more delicious because the thyme and oregano I used, although not grown with organic
seeds, came from an herb garden I planted using no pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
I’m
doing my small part to combat climate change and show others that you can grow some of your own food and eat it well into
the winter like our ancestors.
Next
year I hope to get back to my canning. Jams, jellies, chutneys, pickles, and
of course the tomato sauce. Until then, the frozen is just fine.
