St. Johns November 2019 Newsletter P2_STM81677 November Newsletter | Page 10

LETTER FROM THE CHEF Seasonal, farm to table, local; what does it all really mean? As the cool morning air begins to greet us and we start talking about the fall season, holidays, football and sweatshirts, the conversation begins to shift regarding dining preferences. Growing up in Virginia we had 4 distinct seasons. Dining preferences would change based on true seasonal shifts in products very much revolving around those 4 seasons. Florida is a bit different as we begin in November with 8 months of our primary growing season, the remaining 4 months being somewhat of transitional months, all having to do with our climate. Seasonal, farm to table and local have all become buzzwords in the professional cooking business. Sometimes this is a legitimate approach to menu development but many times it is just thrown out there as a marketing ploy. For example, there are area restaurants that claim to have local shrimp but they actually come from lands far far away. Why do they say “local” shrimp? Because our St. Johns river and Mayport shrimp are delicious and communicate a sense of community support so saying “local” gives diners a sense of this. However, the cost and energy to process these beautiful shrimp reduces the already slim margins many restaurants operate under: it is cheaper and more convenient to buy them from Indonesia. St Mary’s is known treasure for fresh rock shrimp and if you can get it you will be very pleased but the frozen far away variety pales in comparison. So, what does seasonal, farm to table and local really mean; does it matter? If the best taste possible is important then it matters. If supporting a small community of hardworking independent farmers is important vs a conglomerate then it matters. Not to say you can’t get good tasting stuff at Publix but the difference can be remarkable. Have you ever had fresh lettuce snipped from the ground an hour or 2 before eating, herbs snipped at the last minute, a vegetable harvested the day you are cooking it or a piece of fish eaten the day it was caught? Have you ever planned your meals around what was available from farmers in your area code? My wife and I had the great privilege of working in France with small family owned restaurateurs and it was there we experienced and understood that this culture that was the genesis for a similar way of food life in the US. We went to snail farms where 10