It's June in Andes and the fraises des bois are ripening. I am 10 again crouching with basket in hand on the side of my god-mother's chalet in Switzerland, picking wild strawberries. There in that moment, I was wholeheartedly happy. In Bergman's film of the same name professor Borg says "If I have been feeling worried or sad during the day, I have a habit of recalling scenes from childhood to calm me. So it was this evening." Plucking these delicate berries on the side our house in Andes, NY, I remembered what I loved. This. The wetness of the grass, being with the world and celebrating what it was giving me. With this thought, I came to fully appreciate what some of the chef's on Netflix's excellent series "The Chefs Table" have been so passionately working on. If we can completely speak from our heart, from the ingredients that hark us back to our earliest memories, there, we can create something so purely original and uniquely us.
That evening after my stroll I dined on my own foraged plants and creations:
On the menu
1. Homemade ricotta with honey, sea salt and fraises des bois with rain
2. Farm baby carrots, spring dandelion, capers and fresh mozzarella
