Back in my pie-eyed days of State College, I looked for cooking inspiration anywhere I could find it. Around then I picked up a cooking magazine with a picture of a big pan of paella on its cover–lucky issue #13, dated July/August 1996. At the time I was working at a restaurant that made paella. This may not seem so strange in a big city, but in the Central Illinois home of my college, it was a pretty unique coincidence.
Long story short, this magazine represented pretty much everything that attracted me to food: diversity of cultures, authentic food and recipes, the real thing. I’ve stuck with Saveur through the years, and every now and then Chelsea and I either duplicate or adapt one of its recipes in our own kitchen, as I did with the latest issue, August/September, #131, “The Greece Issue.”
My first issue
- I’ve been pulling three items in abundance from the garden lately: cherry tomatoes (black and red), cucumbers (slicing and Japanese), and eggplant (also Japanese). Ever since the Greece issue of Saveur arrived a couple weeks ago, I have been ogling its recipes, especially one for the decadently creamy and savory, stuffed and baked eggplant called papoutsakia. What a great way to use my eggplant! I followed the recipe mostly to a T. (Exceptions were that I sliced my eggplant in half length-wise, roasted them, and spooned out the pulp, which I then reincorporated into the filling. That was just a personal preference, as it created a creamier texture and I didn’t have to fry the eggplant. I also used ground lamb instead of ground beef.)
- The Greek salad in the same issue, horiatiki, was also calling to me, so you can guess where the cukes and tomatoes ended up. A red torpedo onion, local sheep’s milk feta, and last year’s dried basil in lieu of oregano were my own minor alterations to the recipe. I admit that I never order Greek salads at restaurants, and after eating this rendition I will probably stick to my pattern. Unless I go to Greece.
- My own cooking has come a long way since I discovered my first issue of Saveur. My dreams of owning a paella shop may have come and gone, but I get a little closer to realizing my dreams of visiting far-off places by preparing inspiring recipes from the magazine. Time and again, the writers and photographers capture and keep alive the essence of the recipes and their creators. One of the only things missing from the pages of Saveur is the tantalizing aromas and flavors of the food, but those are the rewards for recreating its recipes.
It is so difficult to find a food and cooking magazine that one likes and sticks to for such a long time!