What essentials cooks pack for their trips
Last Updated: July 3, 2008: 3:57 PM CST
When cooks vacation, they pack their essentials
Salt? Pepper? Swimsuit? Circulator? We asked chefs and authors what they pack -- or don't pack -- to go on vacation.Mario Batali (Mozza, Los Angeles): "When I head out to my Lake Michigan house for the summer, I always stop at Zingerman's in Ann Arbor [Mich.] to pick up essentials for entertaining: Crespone salami, Greek feta, balsamic vinegar, Pedro Jimenez vinegar, eight to 10 kinds of cheeses . . ., killer dried sweet corn to rehydrate for salads, fleur de sel, capers from Pantelleria, [Italy], saffron from La Mancha [Spain] and Bomba [a Spanish short-grain] rice for campfire paella, a few Italian olive oils, Spanish boquerones [anchovies] . . . a box of fire starter cubes for the pizza oven and a new grill brush.
Paul Bertolli (Fra' Mani Handcrafted Salumi, Berkeley): "I always take anchovies, olive oil, a sharp knife, coffee, a couple of dry salame, and a case of wine per week."
Anthony Bourdain ("No Reservations"): "I don't take anything with me but a good attitude. And my feeling on vacation is to either have others cook (as, presumably, they know how to make the local food far better than I do), or make do with what's there."
Michael Cimarusti(Providence, Los Angeles): Two years ago when I vacationed with my family in Hawaii we shipped two cases of assorted wines, foie gras, lobsters and some knives. On past trips, mainly to Kentucky when my father-in-law was still alive, we shipped everything from foie gras to stone crabs to Maine lobsters."
Josiah Citrin (Mélisse, Santa Monica): "When I go to Mammoth, I take my circulator [a temperature control device] and all my meat."
Naomi Duguid ("Beyond the Great Wall" with Jeffrey Alford ): "We love working with whatever we find. In southern Thailand once we rented a small house by a deserted beach. We bought a gas cylinder thing for cooking on, and bought a wok from a person in the market, the one she was using, so it was old-style and heavy, and very well seasoned."
Paula Wolfert ("The Cooking of Southwest France"): "I bring gifts . . . bringing a gift and a kiss seems to put the women at ease, then I'm part of the family. I brought garlic peelers to Tunisia and someone wanted to go into business distributing them . . . As for Turkey, I carry those serrated swivel peelers . . . by the dozen."
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