In this day and age, we hear a lot about "sustainable" cooking. But in the middle of a harsh Connecticut winter, when absolutely nothing appears to be growing locally, what can that possibly mean?
We checked in with two Connecticut chefs, both proponents of sustainable cuisine, to find out what they are doing and how they are doing it.
"Obviously, it's New England; we're totally limited," says Sean Farrell, executive chef at Firebox in Hartford. But only by imagination, he suggests.
Even with 10-foot snow banks outside the restaurant and the small garden in the rear under several feet of snow, the commitment to cooking with local ingredients remains. Sustainability "definitely means cooking locally what's in season, using as many products that are as close to us as possible," he says. "We work a lot with Urban Oaks [organic farm in New Britain], and we use things that are cellared, a lot of root vegetables — parsnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rutabagas. We're not going to have tomatoes in February."
To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Hartford Courant (Hartford, CT).
