The Beautiful Majesty of the Wild!

Thank you Mike Guillen @rocklandforager @joshualeed and @nypost for the great article. There’s food surrounding us that we might have forgotten about. Some people might consider them weeds but I don’t. I believe that the natural/wild world holds delicious flavors, nutrition and medicine for us all. Please check this great article written by Mike Guillen for the NY Post. Shinrin-Yoku. #wildfood #wildmushrooms #morel #cheflopinto

https://nypost.com/2021/05/14/what-its-really-like-hunting-for-morel-mushrooms-in-the-wild/

Blood, Sweat and Tongs!

What a great time I had chatting with Adam Heard on Blood, Sweat and Tongs! We chatted about food, biodynamics, wild food foraging, the CIA(Culinary Institute of America), growing food, wild harvesting and more.

Please give it a listen. Also, check out his other pod casts. He interviews lots of cutting edge and highly qualified professionals in the food industry.

Cheers everyone!

Blood, Sweat & Tongs

http://www.cheflopinto.com/2021/05/blood-sweat-and-tongs/(opens in a new tab)

Falafel (noun) fa-la-fel – Krispiness + Herbaciousness= Deliciousness!

Ooo yes! It’s falafel time. On this episode of Building Culinary Confidence we’re going to dive into the delicious world of falafels. Together we’ll be putting together this legendary chick pea based food. I want to show everyone how diverse this base recipe truly is.

Now, you probably have lots of questions to ask and I’m the chef that wants to answer them for you. First, yes, it can be vegan and it’s already vegetarian. Second, yes it can be gluten free. Third, yes, falafel can be such an exciting, textural experience that your family, friends and guests will talk about it for generations to come! Lol.

Then I want to show everyone a quick cooking method for fish that has a kool mediterranean vibe to it.

So join me for a falafel adventure on March 7, 2021. Grab your favorite beverage, I’d recommend a Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurtraminer or a Voigner for our white wine fans. For our red wine aficionados I’d recommend a Syrah, Petite Syrah, Malbec, Zinfandel or a Grenache! All of these wines will match the unique flavor profile of the mighty Falafel! Don’t like wine you say? That’s okay. Pour yourself a big glass of cold seltzer water and squeeze a wedge of lemon, lime, orange and a slice of cucumber. If you really want to go wild then throw in some fresh basil or mint or both!

I look forward to seeing you on the show.

P.S. Since I’m a 70’s child I like to spell kool with a k not a c. Lol.4 of 30Copy event URLAdd to calendarManage event

Time to Grind! Chorizo that is.

Deliciousness is coming to Building Culinary Confidence! Chorizo is in the house. Literally.

On this episode we’re going to be seasoning, grinding and stuffing chorizo. We’ll be speaking about the basic techniques of making sausage so that you’ll be able to make your own fresh sausage. Once you taste a fresh sausage that you’ve made, you’ll never want to eat supermarket sausage again.

Yes there will be glorious Spanish cheese to eat and several elegant Spanish wines to taste.

So please join me for a fun filled afternoon of stuffing your own Chorizo sausage.

Building Culinary Confidence!

This is a calling to everyone who enjoys cooking and the desire to sharpen their culinary prowess. I have put together a program to teach and reinforce your cooking skills and knowledge.

Our next show will be focusing on Pizza. You’ll see three different styles of dough and other sauces besides tomato. Did you ask about cheese? I thought so. Well let me tell you that we’re going to show and discuss one of humanities greatest creations and that is Cheese! Imported, domestic or homemade cheese is glorious.

Yes. I HEARD!

HEARD Chef Spotlight

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Chef Anthony LoPinto

Born to a Hopi mother and an Italian father, Anthony Lo Pinto was  immediately immersed in food. Anthony learned to respect the planet’s  cycle and the spirit that food holds. After experiencing how food, and  gathering around the table can create lasting memories, Chef Lo Pinto  started his lifelong journey in cuisine. 

Chef Lo Pinto  received classical training at the Culinary Institute of America, the  nation’s preeminent culinary school. After graduation, he traveled to  New York City and worked for several N.Y. Times and Michelin starred  chefs. After working with high quality products, he knew he wanted to  develop a deeper connection to food. Chef Lo Pinto knew he needed to  learn and truly understand how to grow food. Biodynamic agriculture was  his answer. Chef Lo Pinto was one of the founding members of the NJ CSA,  “Asbury Village Natural Farm.” After just one growing season he was  able to see the soil change. He saw how these methods created a  healthier, more bio-diverse growing system. Learning these growing  methods inspired Chef Lo Pinto to focus his cooking on seasonality. His  cuisine is globally inspired, but always grounded in an ethos of what is  freshest and in season.   

In order to create a  memorable experience to his cuisine, Chef Lo Pinto embarked on a journey  of wine education. He is a certified Sommelier. Chef uses his love and  deep knowledge of wine to create dishes, menus and experiences for  guests that evoke a sense of time and place.  

Chef Lo  Pinto has received multiple 3 star reviews in New Jersey media outlets,  including Best New Restaurant for Restaurant Earth from New Jersey  Monthly magazine. Currently, Chef Lo Pinto is the Executive Chef and  Sommelier for Mercato Roman Pizzeria. At Mercato, he and his team are  bringing authentic Roman style “ Pinsa” to Tappan, New York and  surrounding communities.  

Anthony remains an avid  biodynamic gardener, mushroom forager, wine lover and music fan. He is  married to his wife Jeanette and resides in the Hudson Valley in New  York State with his children Isabella and Alexander. 

Visit www.cheflopinto.com to read more about Anthony’s incredible story and celebration of food and wine.

Feeding the soil to grow healthy food that we eat to become healthy.

By having healthy soil to grow plants in we get healthy plants that thrive with no need for chemical or synthetic fertilizers. By planting cover crops such as clover, legumes or oats we are essentially feeding the soil. These plants help build healthy hummus content. When we eat the plants grown in these soils we get many healthy benefits from the plants.

The Symbolism of Food.

The Symbolism of Food

Chef Lo Pinto’s culinary creations reminds us that all food is beautiful in it’s own very special way. The concept of these photos is designed to make us wonder about how we feel after eating mindfully paired and prepared foods.

I spoke with Anthony Lo Pinto, the executive chef at Third and Vine Restaurant in Jersey City, NJ, and the creator of this project. His goal: to bring a wider sense of awareness to the importance of properly paired and prepared food in our lives. In these photos, Chef LoPinto uses carefully selected food pairings to demonstrate the symbiotic and symbolic relationship between different foods and the very inner workings of our own bodies. Using food paired with specific parts of the body shines a whole new light onto food and its importance to our whole being. He poses a potent question through the photos featured here: Have we forgotten about our relationship to food and how it affects us? Food can be our instant medicine or it can be a slow form of poison. Every meal we eat is an opportunity to heal ourselves, heal others and heal the planet.

Eye

You eat with your eyes first! The first dish Chef LoPinto showed me was a carrot salad. Orange, purple and white carrots. Just one of the many cooking principles of macrobiotics is to try to include every aspect of the food being prepared to eat. In this photo, the carrot root is steamed, the stem is pickled and the carrot fronds are fried. When using every aspect of the vegetables our bodies are able to absorb the full nutritional force that the plant holds. Chef Lo Pinto considers the carrot a fruit of the earth. Carrots are ripened in the soil, hence a fruit of the earth.

Carrots are known for containing high levels of beta carotene, which is healthy for our eyes. 

The carrot and eye hold an image of the earth and sky within: the pupil being the earth and the iris the sky. To balance the three different styles of cooked carrot in this photo, golden plums are included.

The golden plum is a sky fruit. The plum starts as a flower, then after it’s pollinated, it turns into a fruit that’s ripened on a branch in the open air.

The plum complements the carrot both in color and sweetness. Chef Lo Pinto cuts the golden plums to resemble diamonds. In this way he honors the four directions of our planet.

Balance is essential to making good food. Chef LoPinto explains “when ingredients are carefully selected, prepared and cooked with care and attention that dish becomes a nurturing and flavorful experience.”

Stomach 1

In the next photo, Chef Lo Pinto reveals a salad made of golden and red beets, cut in rings to symbolize the links of a chain. When eating or even growing the foods together they form a strong link to help support each other. Thus the presentation of the links of beets. The earthy sweetness of the beets and onions is matched by the sweetness of the peach. Once food has been consumed, it starts a long chain of events as it travels through our digestive system. The calendula flower petals catch the sun and hold it to create vibrancy in the food pairing… when you eat flower petals you’re eating sunlight. Mint is not only delicious but holds numerous benefits to our body. Eating mint opens up our taste buds and nasal passages so we get the full flavor profile of our foods. The vegetables of this dish were carefully selected to provide an example of the importance of companion planting. Certain plants help each other in the garden. When planting a garden Chef Lo Pinto gets the best results when the garden beds are diversified. Every vegetable bed has different flowers and herbs planted within them. If you have healthy soil that’s filled with life you will have healthy plants. Healthy plants produce healthy foods that, when eaten, create a healthy life for us.

Ear

The biggest communication problem is we sometimes do not listen to understand. We listen to reply!

The palmier cookie. A French pastry cookie shaped like an ear. One of the first classically trained Chef’s that Chef Lo Pinto worked for said, “this cookie was made for significant events such as meetings, matters of state, and other important conversations which required the attentive ear of the person who ate it. The many-layered pastry cookie allowed attentive listeners to pick up every layer of the conversation.”

Chef Lo Pinto is not saying that this cookie is good for your hearing.

Chef Lo Pinto stated that food holds just as an important role symbolically as it does physically. He believes that if you listen hard enough, the food will tell you how to cook it. If you’re not listening for the fresh, crisp snap of a vegetable being prepared, you may be missing what the food is telling you.

Although a palmier can range in taste from sweet to savory, Chef LoPinto’s palmier cookie is savory, made with delicately layered puff pastry dough, Prosciutto de Parma and black pepper.

Hand

The next photo focuses on one of the most important parts of the body, our hands. This dish features wax beans, haricots vert, cucumbers, tarragon, red onions and nasturtium flowers. The long and slightly crooked shape of each of the string beans embodies the natural curve of our fingers; the cucumber’s long shape likens that to our limbs. Each of the vegetables included here is high in fiber, benefiting our digestion for comfort and nutrition. The string bean family contains calcium, a crucial mineral for the hands and fingers. Cucumbers help produce insulin, important for individuals with diabetes, and tarragon has been known to contain a great amount of antioxidants and aid with cancer prevention. Nasturtium, a peppery flower, provides a vibrant flair to the dish both in flavor and in color. The nasturtium flower helps attract beneficial insects which help ward off other garden pests thus providing a healthy growing environment for the plants. These ingredients when grown or eaten together help each other.

Stomach 2

LoPinto’s fourth picture shows a salad of raw beets, raspberry, and red dandelion, garnished with tarragon, dill, and yogurt placed on the stomach. The earthy sweetness of the beet, matched with the floral raspberry, bitter dandelion, herbaceous tarragon and dill with creamy yogurt, together provide a balanced flavor. The picture provides a beautiful array of colors and scents, satisfying the senses of sight and smell. As Chef LoPinto was plating this dish, he said the combined scents of the raw beet, raspberries and herbs in this salad was incredible. The benefit of raw vegetable fiber combined with the probiotics from yogurt provides us with the nutritional tools to propel us through our day.

Using these images of different foods juxtaposed with related parts of the human body, Chef Lo Pinto provides us an opportunity to gaze at food in a new light. In our lives, we can work toward reminding ourselves that it is possible to improve ourselves, our families and maybe even the world with each bite of food. Our universe is in every bite of food. Every meal is an opportunity to heal others, heal ourselves and heal our planet.

Author: Armand M.Herndon- email: a@yellahouse.com

Photos: Fernando Lopez- lopezkiilphotography.com

Model: Isabella Grace Lo Pinto

Food: Anthony Victor Lo Pinto- chef@cheflopinto.com www.cheflopinto.com

Let’s Drink Our Way Through France!

 

We will be celebrating the summer bounties of New Jersey. Come and taste what the farms, oceans and forests gift us.

A sparkling, several reds, and a dessert wine will be matched with the food.

5 courses with 5 wines.

Third and Vine Restaurant in Jersey City is the spot! Call or stop by the restaurant to make a reservation today. Space is limited.