the fine art of canning, also known as preserving. Paul just released his first book, The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making and Cooking with Pickles, Preserves, and Aigre-doux, co-authored with award-winning food writer Kate Leahy, bringing homemade preserves back to life again.
Prior to opening his Michelin-Starred restaurant Vie in 2004, Paul earned a degree in nutrition from Wesleyan College and went on to graduate from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America. From there, he worked in some of the nation’s most renowned restaurants, including March in New York and Charlie Trotter’s, Ambria, Everest, and Blackbird in Chicago.
With Paul’s permission, we share some excerpts from The Preservation Kitchen to best chronicle Paul’s short journey from preserving a few simple locally grown fruits and vegetables to becoming a national authority on canning.
When my family and I opened Vie in the fall of 2004, I knew I was going to serve local produce year-round. This idea doesn’t sound that radical now. But even just a few years ago, there were far fewer local family farms supplying Chicago restaurants than there are today. Among those, only a handful managed to extend the Great Lakes’ all-too-short growing season beyond summer.
Meanwhile, Paul had started making his own pickles and sauerkraut, learning all he could about preserving. I started preserving a few summer staples to extend the seasons. But that was well before I realized how many flavors I could capture in a jar.
But it was when he took the famed Alsatian jam maker Christine Ferber’s preserving class at Chicago’s French Pastry School that Paul became hooked on preserving. He began experimenting with his staff at Vie, canning everything from locally grown San Marzano tomatoes to fermenting Brussels sprouts and pureeing black walnuts with maple syrup.
For about two years, our kitchen went through what I call our “experimental preserving extravaganza period.” It became clear that this habit had evolved into an obsession, just as much about flavor as about principle. I had become a so-called jarring chef.
Paul begins the book with an introduction, “Capturing the Year in a Jar,” with his own account of his foray into preservation followed by a succinct primer on the “Principles of Safe Preserving”—six pages that cover everything you need to know—a brief history of canning, the role of pH, necessary supplies and tools, options for sterilization, and how to measure ingredients, including the all-important salt and vinegar integral
to canning.
If this seems intimidating, don’t let it. Paul actually says that he wrote the book with three populations in mind—professional cooks interested in buying locally and extending the seasons; the avid, solid home cook interested in taking their cooking to the next level; and even novices who are just getting into food and cooking. He even offers a quick pickling style for those who want to start slowly.
In “Part One: In the Jar,” Paul teaches readers how to preserve everything from pickles and relishes; jams, marmalades, and butters; bittersweet preserves known as aigre-doux (sweet and sour) of which he is a great fan; and fermenting and curing sauerkraut,cured meat, and salted produce such as lemons.
Since the whole point of preserving local produce is to make it available year-round, the next step was to figure out how to incorporate preserves into meals. That’s where the second half of The Preservation Kitchen comes in: “Part Two: At the Table” offers recipes and menus that will make your mouth water with good reason.
Paul begins the book with an introduction, “Capturing the Year in a Jar,” with his own account of his foray into preservation followed by a succinct primer on the “Principles of Safe Preserving”—six pages that cover everything you need to know—a brief history of canning, the role of pH, necessary supplies and tools, options for sterilization, and how to measure ingredients, including the all-important salt and vinegar integral
to canning.
If this seems intimidating, don’t let it. Paul actually says that he wrote the book with three populations in mind—professional cooks interested in buying locally and extending the seasons; the avid, solid home cook interested in taking their cooking to the next level; and even novices who are just getting into food and cooking. He even offers a quick pickling style for those who want to start slowly.
In “Part One: In the Jar,” Paul teaches readers how to preserve everything from pickles and relishes; jams, marmalades, and butters; bittersweet preserves known as aigre-doux (sweet and sour) of which he is a great fan; and fermenting and curing sauerkraut,cured meat, and salted produce such as lemons.
Since the whole point of preserving local produce is to make it available year-round, the next step was to figure out how to incorporate preserves into meals. That’s where the second half of The Preservation Kitchen comes in: “Part Two: At the Table” offers recipes and menus that will make your mouth water with good reason.
At Paul’s special book release dinners at Vie and Perennial Virant in early April, he demonstrated just how he “unlocks the culinary potential” with a five-course menu that featured recipes right out of The Preservation Kitchen and preserves from Vie’s bounty of colorful bell jars filled with ramps, cherry bomb tomatoes, sauerkraut, and more. The menu below best depicts a sampling of recipes from the book:
To start
Fried cheese curds with pickled pepper vinaigrette.
1st course
Whitefish poached in duck fat with dill
pickle vinaigrette and braised sauerkraut.
2nd course
Waldorf salad with apples, candied
walnuts, and grape aigre-doux dressing.
3rd course
Rainbow trout with creamed ramps and morels.
4th course
Pork belly with garlic conserva and glazed pickled summer beans.
5th course
Cheese tart with apricot preserves, almond
brittle, and Muscat macerated cherries.
But really, the only way to truly understand how the preserves complement the food is to experience it for yourself at Vie, or Perennial Virant, or your very own kitchen with the help of The Preservation Kitchen.
Paul sums it up best with what he calls his one simple adage: “I eat what I can, and what I can’t, I can.”
For more information on Paul Virant and Vie, call 708-246-2082, or visit vierestaurant.com. The Preservation Kitchen is available at Barnes & Noble in Oakbrook Center and amazon.com.
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