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SAN FRANCISCO - Wouldn't the sunny, sparkling flavors of the Mediterranean revive spirits anticipating spring?
Be encouraged: The bold, zesty dishes evocative of sun-drenched Mediterranean summers can be replicated in your kitchen. Exploring Mediterranean cuisine was the goal of the Culinary Institute of America's Sixth Annual International Worlds of Flavor Conference and Festival, which drew an audience of 500 chefs and other food professionals late last year to Greystone, the CIA's continuing education facility, at St. Helena, in California's Napa Valley.
More than 50 food specialists, representing all the countries that border the Mediterranean Sea, led seminars and discussions and gave demonstrations. They included native experts, as well as well-traveled American food authorities and Mediterranean chefs who live and work in the United States.
The conference focused on introducing the depth and breadth of regional cultures and cuisines - not just the ones that are more obvious to Americans, such as Greece or Italy, but the countries of North Africa and the Middle East that also are integral to the Mediterranean basin.
Here are some observations and conclusions from the program:
TASTE FOR AUTHENTICITY: Americans have come a long way toward embracing global food flavors, according to Greg Drescher, director of education-international studies at the CIA-Greystone.
"We used to be told that many of these cuisines were either too boldly flavored, too rustic or too weird to gain a foothold in this country," he explained.
"Now we know better, and today's chefs are increasingly plunging into an extended exploration of the authentic flavors of a host of cultures all over the world."
The conference held sessions on ethnic street food, clay-pot cooking, Turkish spice markets, ancient Persia and the Silk Road, cutting-edge cooking techniques from today's trendsetting Spanish chefs, politics of the Mediterranean - and more.
Mediterranean peoples have taken such basic ingredients as olive oil, garlic, wine, anchovies, pomegranates and chickpeas and turned them into distinctive dishes, unique to each region and culture.
FOOD AND CULTURE: Getting a recipe and using it are not enough, cautioned Nancy Harmon Jenkins, food writer, cookbook author and Mediterranean expert.
Chefs who choose to serve Mediterranean dishes should do it not for novelty to revive a tired menu, not just because it's the latest trend, she said.
They need to understand the underlying history, tradition and culture of each country's cuisine and to respect the land that defines these ancient civilizations, the roots of today's Mediterranean cuisine.
THE MEDITERRANEAN WAY: At its most basic, conferees were reminded, eating the Mediterranean way is about eating foods of your region, in season.
When exploring Mediterranean cuisines, be open to the entire Mediterranean region. War or the political climate has kept Americans from vacationing in countries like Lebanon or Syria and unaware of their remarkable cuisines.
If you can't visit, be an armchair traveler, reading about the food and culture. Dine at local restaurants that serve these cuisines.
Ethnic markets are springing up everywhere in the United States. Visit Mediterranean markets and learn about the ingredients from the grocers.
If you have a garden, introduce yourself to some new vegetables with your spring planting.
Learn about cheeses. "Cheese is the new wine," said Terrance Brennan, chef-proprietor of three New York restaurants, including Picholine, featuring French-Mediterranean cuisine, and Artisanal, spotlighting cheese.
"Cheese is where wine was 30 years ago; it's a great time to be in the artisanal cheese industry."
Experiment with cooking vessels of the Mediterranean. Paula Wolfert, food writer and cookbook author and one of the foremost experts on Mediterranean cooking, extolled virtues of clay-pot cooking.
"Food tastes pure when cooked in clay," she said. "Slow cooking produces wonderful texture, wonderful aroma. The food tastes better the more times you cook in it."
Some quick Mediterranean cooking tips:
* To retain the color of red vegetables, add acid such as wine or vinegar.
* Since fat loses its flavor during the cooking process, drizzle a little extra olive oil at the end of cooking to heighten flavor.
* To seed a persimmon, quarter the fruit, turn inside out, then tap with a metal spoon to enable the seeds to drop out.
Chicken and Chickpeas with Yogurt Topping
7 ounces (1 cup) dried chickpeas, soaked in plenty of cold water overnight with 1 teaspoon baking soda
1 medium-size chicken
3 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt
1 large pita bread, opened, toasted
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 handful fresh mint leaves, crushed with the garlic (optional)
2 pounds (32 ounces) yogurt
Rinse the chickpeas under cold water, put them in a saucepan, cover with plenty of fresh water and place over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Skim the white foam, then lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour or until the chickpeas are tender.
Put the chicken in a saucepan, add 5 cups of water and place over medium heat. As the water is about to boil, skim the surface clean. Add the cinnamon sticks and salt, cover the pan and boil gently for 45 minutes or until the meat is very tender.
Toast the pita in a hot oven or under the grill until golden and let cool.
Melt the butter in a frying pan and saute the pine nuts, stirring constantly, until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and arrange on a double layer of paper towels. Let the excess butter drain.
Mix the crushed garlic (and mint if you choose to use it) into the yogurt and add salt to taste. Set aside.
To serve: Break the toasted bread into bite-sized pieces and spread over the bottom of a deep serving dish. Remove the chicken, then skin, bone and cut into bite-size pieces. Spread over the bread. Remove the chickpeas with a slotted spoon and spread over the meat, sprinkle with 4 tablespoons stock and cover with the seasoned yogurt. Garnish with the sauteed pine nuts and serve immediately.
Makes 4 servings.
- Recipe courtesy of Anissa Helou, as presented for the 2003 Worlds of Flavor International Conference and Festival.