What follows is a fond farewell.
I began contributing a weekly essay to this magazine, usually accompanied by a recipe or two, on Sept. 14, 1986. The subject that day was my favorite food. The choice then was roast chicken, and it remains so today.
“How can that be?” I hear someone, or a great many someones, ask. “So much has happened in the so-called food world over the past 17 years, so many new tastes and smells have entered your consciousness.”
That’s true. Food and wine has been a wonderfully exciting and delicious beat during that time–and for 15 years before that as executive food editor of the Washington Post and editor-in-chief of Food & Wine magazine.
I have interviewed chefs and winemakers–some famous, others precocious–from near and far, prepared their food and tasted their wine. I’ve shared ideas with restaurant owners, cooking teachers and home cooks. I’ve followed the rise and disappearance of nouvelle cuisine and cuisine personnelle, witnessed the crowning of celebrity authors and television personalities.
I’ve listened as “pasta” became an American word. And, returning to my roast chicken, I’ve marveled as dowdy “comfort food” has become a trend in home kitchens as well as casual neighborhood restaurants. Best of all, I’ve been on hand as America’s chefs and winemakers have earned recognition as being among the best in the world.
Still, a question that has plagued debates on the definition, proper role and future of good food during my time here is, “Who cares?”
I believe Americans do care about what they eat and, increasingly, recognize the linkage between diet and health. In 1986, for instance, very few consumers would have been bold enough to question the ingredients in a restaurant dish or ask where and how a product on display in the market was raised or formulated.
Nonetheless, consumer activism does not prevent indifference in regard to eating or derail those who put speed and convenience ahead of flavor, freshness and a varied diet. A family that is together at dinner for 10 minutes won’t further the cause of allowing the dinner table to regain its place as a center of ideas and family conversation.
But let’s get back to that chicken in need of roasting. For those who don’t have that 1986 issue close at hand, I am repeating the recipe here.
It’s a better recipe than the one I printed years ago. That’s not because of the cooking instructions; the words are virtually the same. But technology offers us improved versions of basic tools, among them the roasting pan, rack, thermometer, hot pads and carving knife. Also, I have an option to cook the chicken by convection heat, which will give me meat that is moister and skin that is crisper. Furthermore, some farmers and marketers have been listening to home cooks and now sell herbs that are fresh and chickens that have been allowed to develop texture and flavor.
In sum, my roast chicken tastes better in 2003 because it is better.
I know this all translates into higher cost, but a sufficient number of us are willing to pay that cost in the interest of quality, pleasure and good health. It’s not for everyone. It never will be. But our numbers are enough to give us the opportunity to buy superior food and equipment. That wasn’t the case in 1986.
A generous percentage of those who populate the American “food scene” are young, including cooks, servers and entrepreneurs. From them, I borrow a final thought: Making food should be fun and so should consuming it.
As I turn off my computer and turn to my very favorite activity, dining, I want to thank the numerous colleagues, friends and interview subjects who have enlightened me and made my work so delightful.
SIMPLE ROAST CHICKEN
Two to four servings
1 chicken, free-range preferred, about 2 3/4 pounds
1/2 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground pepper
Dijon-style mustard
1. Heat a conventional oven or outdoor grill to 400 degrees (or a convection oven to 375 degrees). Remove giblets package from cavity and reserve for stock or other uses. Wash the chicken and pat it dry.
2. Season the cavity with salt and pepper. Rub mustard all over the chicken’s exterior and season liberally with salt and pepper.
3. Position the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan, breast side up. Place in the oven. Cook for 55 minutes. Remove from oven and test fleshy part of leg with an instant-read thermometer. If it reads 150 degrees or higher, transfer to a cutting board and cover loosely with a tent of foil wrap and let rest for 10 minutes. (If the temperature is less than 150, return chicken to the oven for an additional 10 minutes.)
4. Cut 2 wing pieces (with some breast meat attached) from the bird. Cut away legs and divide into thighs and drumsticks. Remove backbone and the two “oysters.” Carve white meat from breast bone or cut the breast pieces away and slice into pieces on the cutting board.
5. Serve with crisp-tender green beans or Brussels sprouts, some form of potato and a lightly chilled Beaujolais wine.
Elaborations:
Flavor the bird: Place a sprig or two of fresh tarragon, rosemary or thyme in the cavity. Alternatively, use a cut lemon or 3 or 4 lightly crushed cloves of garlic.
Truss the bird: The easiest method is to tuck the wing tips under the body, wrap string around the wing joints like reins for a horse and use the ends of the string to wrap and tie the legs close to the body.
An alternate method for cooking the bird: Start the chicken breast down; after 15 minutes, turn it on its left side; after 30, on its right; after 45, breast up.
