California 101
January 27, 2011
Do the left coast, right.
The Cuts:
Varied, fresh locally-farmed products. Beef, chicken, lamb, even duck. And all the Pacific Ocean brings, including salmon, abalone, shrimp, Dungeness Crab, striped bass, and oysters, which are great, barbecued. Plus, as the original home of McDonald’s and In-N-Out Burger, there’s a fierce devotion to burgers.
The Method:
High-fire, low and slow, rubs, mops, planks. Anything to coax maximum flavor from the highest quality ingredients.
The Sauce:
Wide in range, featuring the freshest of seasonal ingredients. Plenty of herbs from the garden including basil, oregano, sage, parsley and cilantro, to name a few.
The Sides:
Avocado (often in a guacamole), asparagus, artichokes, figs, Portobello mushrooms, corn (both on the cob and shaved into salsas and relishes), heirloom tomatoes. Often acquired at farmer’s markets with an emphasis on the shortest distance from soil to table.
The Backstory:
While “fusion” is kind of a loaded word now, what you’ll see in California are influences from Mexico and Central America, as well as all the countries around the Pacific Rim.
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Glad lo and slo was mentioned For some reason we get a bad rap when it comes to slo cooking in California. You bet we grill but we do lots more smoking that the other states think we do. Not only do we grill and smoke we also have tri-tip year round!!
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