Serv Safe?

Yesterday I attended an all day course called Serv Safe. From 8 am to 5:30 pm I was required by NYS Dept. of Health to receive training in how to minimize the threat that my cooking can cause to you, the public. When we got into the class, the instructor asked us to open our packets, and find a small blue index card. We were asked to fold the card in half to create a table tent. On the front, facing the instructor, we were instructed to write our name, so that she could identify us. On the back, facing ourselves, we were asked to write the reason we were here, so that when it got tedious and boring, we could read our written response to this question, to motivate us to stay alert (or at least awake). I chose not to write anything. I knew why I was there, and the reason if written on the card, would by no means motivate me to wake up. As it turns out, I had no problem staying awake, as the class was very informative, and after all I was paying good money for the education. Since I hate to waste my time or money, the instructor had my attention. Most of the class involves good and indisputable information about viruses, bacteria, cross contamination and sanitation.
 However, I feel compelled to question one point that was driven in to us over and over again. That being the procurement of product that is considered safe to sell in my restaurant. I was told that it is considered unsafe, and in most cases illegal to sell product that has been procured anywhere but from the major food service distributors. The FDA labels these distributors as safe and reliable, and smaller independent producers as unsafe and unreliable. Who is lobbying the government to make this determination? Are we still beholden to the old farm bill that has been proven unsustainable, by funneling the procurement of my purchases to mega farms, and factories? The course even instructs me to purchase pre- prepared ready to eat foods, to minimize my exposure to potential risk, from critical control points of danger caused by doing anything to the food but heating it and serving it. I was further disheartened to learn that among the most dangerous foods that I could prepare, local wild mushrooms, wild game (say free range), and house cured meats were of greatest concern to the Feds. As a dedicated lover of local and hand made ingredients, this premise is at odds with my very core values. It is dangerous for folks to put all of their eggs in one basket (don't tell 'em where I get my eggs!) and I am very concerned that the factory farms and multi national conglomerates put our food supply at much greater risk for potential danger than a diversified and locally managed one could ever do. As I sat in that mandatory class, I feared that my days are numbered in this profession, because the general acceptance by the population of government control over our safety and health will eventually drive me underground. My own neighbors, thinking they are doing their patriotic duty, might turn me in for cooking a hamburger that didn't come from big brothers factory farm. Sad state of affairs indeed.

A spring time song for you.

This song is a springtime gift for you..... This goes with my previous post. 
Listen while you read!

Watching the prosciutto cure.....

Winter in the 'Dacks is a long slow process. A lot like watching my house cured prosciutto age to perfection. After the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival is long gone, the cold snowy winter presses on....and on. But there is a glimmer of springtime activity nipping at our heels. Sugaring season is right around the corner, and maple trees will soon yield their sweet sap for producers to slowly cook down to the mountain gold known as maple syrup. The sugary bliss seems to lift peoples moods out of their wintery blues and cure their cabin fever, as the morning air is perfumed with the smell of pancakes and French toast, bacon and coffee. Folks become more active, and begin the spring cleanup that puts our town in shape for the coming summer high season. Daffodils will start to bloom throughout Saranac Lake, as the snow recedes, and kids will soon be seen readying their soap box cars for the Daffest Derby.
I look forward to the spring, as my larder shelves empty of canned tomatoes, dry beans and root vegetables. Soon there will be fresh herbs and greens coming in the door from Ken Campbell, who assures me that he has been planting baby lettuce and readying soil beds for cool weather crops like fennel and spinach. He will dig up parsnips that have grown sweet over winter. Michelle at Harmony Hills Farmstead is welcoming piglets to their new spring pastures. My mind wanders to thoughts of pork belly with wild leeks and morels. Scottish Highland cattle that have grown fat over the winter at Atlas Hoofed It Farm in Vermontville, will soon be on the menu as grilled ribeyes and porterhouse steaks. Fishermen and women will soon take to the local waters with their fly rods and creels. They have been busy all winter re stocking their fly boxes with hand tied flies, toiled over in their winter dens. Joe Hackett will show up at my door with a couple of huge brookies that seem to have been waiting just for him. I will cook them his favorite way - lightly curried with a bit of ginger and a few side dishes to round out the meal. My son will hopefully put down his video game controller, and pick up his fly rod when he sees those glistening trout. He will suggest that I take a day off, to drive him over to the Ausable for some spring fishing. Our good friend Micky will arrive shortly thereafter, to relieve me of this duty, and take Nate out for some early Pike on Oseetah Lake. He will once again ask me if this is the year that I follow him up to Canada, to his secret Musky river. I will of course be too busy, readying the restaurant for the summer rush, and dreaming of daily menus that can attract our cosmopolitan visitors. But for now, I guess that I can enjoy the last of the Adirondack winter, catch some last ice fishing on Jone's Pond, and dream of the day when that prosciutto will be perfect......