The High Life

I've mentioned before that The Economist and I don't use organic produce. Briefly, we prefer to support developing world agriculture; organic is not as environment-friendly as it is perceived to be; and we have never noticed a significant difference in taste that cannot be accounted for by more gentle handling of less produce. I don't think this is going to start any fireworks, because so few people read this blog.

What I do want to talk about is this: when does paying more for a more chichi product pay off? There are a lot of people who will tell you that this particular product is better than others and don't even bother using the cheaper, more common one because it's foul. I'm not trying to say one should not be discerning when deciding what to eat. For example, I do think it's best to eat things in season because that's when they taste the best. The most illustrative example is strawberries--flavorless but expensive in winter; juicy, fragrant and reasonably priced (I don't say cheap) in summer. And location is important--some things just don't travel well.

Then there are the things you can't do anything about. For example, Darina Allen in the Ballymaloe Cookery Course cookbook breaks my heart once in a while. It's one of my favorite cookbooks ever but sometimes it is just really, really discouraging. Darina gives a recipe for a good-looking hot salad with bacon--but, she says, don't bother making this unless you have the finest bacon available to humanity (do you know what movie that's from?). If you use regular grocery-bought bacon, the salad will be vile and so will you. At another point she gives a recipe for shepherd's pie, which is one of my favorite homemade dishes. Her recipe uses leftover roast lamb from a whole leg, which I suppose they make regularly at Ballymaloe House. I would never, ever try to roast a whole lamb leg except perhaps for a very special occasion, so I know my only option is going to be ground lamb, which Darina dismisses as 'nothing like so delicious' as her leftover roast lamb. It's so disappointing when you get excited to try a great new recipe, and are then told you do not have the means to make it properly (and by means, I mean financial means and access), so you shouldn't bother trying. And to this day I have never tried either Darina Allen recipe.

Then there are the preferences I don't understand or think are merely foodie pretentions. For some reason, Mark Bittman of the NYTs has something against iodized salt. Don't really know what that's about. Isn't salt iodized because people don't get enough iodine in their diets? I like my sea salt too, but I don't think it's necessarily better than regular iodized table salt and I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with iodized table salt.

When is it worth it to seek out and pay more for a certain product over another? When is the difference negligible? I have been testing a few comparative products the last few weeks since we got back from Paris.

For example, when we went to Paris we came back with fleur de sel, which is highly prized among foodies. I've been using it for some time, alongside my usual coarse sea salt and table salt. The conclusions I've drawn are these: I can tell the difference between table and sea salt when it comes to texture but not flavor. Unfortunately I can't discern any difference between sea salt and fleur de sel except that fleur de sel has smaller crystals. Fleur de sel is supposed to taste faintly minerally, like the sea marshes from which it's gathered. I don't taste it. This probably says more about my palate than the salt but quite frankly, if you're on my level, you won't notice the difference in flavor either so don't bother spending the extra money unless you're interested in the finer texture.

Another item we brought from Paris was Valrhona Chocolate. Everyone claims Valrhona chocolate is the best. And, yes, they are correct. Valrhona chocolate is worth paying more for because you really can tell-it is a cut above the rest. I won't stop eating cheaper chocolate, but now I know--Valrhona is a special treat to be eaten plain and simple.

UPDATE: I just told The Economist I was writing about Valrhona chocolate and he, the real chocolate fiend and connoisseur in this house, started researching where in London we could find more. He's demanding that we buy some more TOMORROW.

I can also come down firmly on the side of good quality vanilla extract. Imitation vanilla extract is just bad--don't do it! It doesn't taste good and you always have to use a ton of it, which makes things go liquidy and also colors it all a dingy brown. I prefer to use real vanilla extract because you use so little of it at a time that it isn't that expensive in the end, and it's so good; it's also really important to use a good vanilla extract when it's the predominant flavoring as with creme brulee, or panna cotta (which is a recipe I will be making and posting soon!). Come to think of it, it's also good to use a good vanilla extract when it's not a predominant flavor, like in chocolate things (chocolate is nothing without vanilla).

I had read that shallots are the Rolls-Royce of onions. I've been using them for several weeks and let me tell you, they're great. They're small, which means it's easier to dice them really, really small, if that's what you want. They are also sweeter and more flavorful than regular yellow onions, especially when you slice them very thinly and caramelise them in a pan until they're slightly crispy. I wouldn't use them if I was making something really highly flavored like a curry, but when you want the flavor of caramelized onions, they're delicious.

Baguettes are better than sliced bagged bread. Sorry, it's the truth. I've been spoiled by living in a place where I have ready access to them. When I move back to the States, I'll think about becoming a more serious home baker.

There was an article in the NYTs a few years ago about cooking with wine. They reached the same conclusion I have reached: it isn't worth it to cook with an expensive wine because you can't tell the difference in the end. Drinking, that's another story. But then I don't drink very expensive wine.

I don't see any difference in taste between organic eggs and non-organic eggs. I do buy free-range because they have become readily available, are not that much more expensive, and I like to think of the hens running around in the sunshine.

Anything else?