Eating in the time of epidemic

There are tons of stories about panic buying at the supermarket.

Most of us have probably seen various sections completely empty--definitely toilet paper, sanitizer, and water.  In one of our local markets (the one we can easily walk to), the rice and beans, pasta, and tuna fish sections are also empty.  Although I haven't been in a couple days, so I don't know where things are in terms of restocking.

I've been impressed that companies haven't raised their prices on items given the increase in demand.

Around here (Salt Lake City), stores have been forced to close fresh food counters (meat, seafood, deli), and that's probably the case in most places, as a matter of public health.

It happens, in working on a strategic plan for a public market, I have been thinking a lot about food and food distribution issues.

Public markets were created as a permanent place for farmers to sell their food, centuries before there were supermarkets or a developed retail sector.

In particular, I've been mulling over what does "public" mean or look like in the context of a public food market in the 21st century?

The fact is, because people have myriad supermarket options, online options, delivery options and restaurants--until the coronavirus, slightly more than half the money people spend on food is "out of the home" in restaurants, you could argue that there's no reason for a public market in today's world.

But answering that question provides a great many opportunities for differentiation from traditional supermarkets in terms of public and community, even though there are a number of for profit supermarket companies which recognize the experiential and community aspects of food and integrate that into their business model and "presentation" and performance.

Some communities like Boston, Milwaukee, and Grand Rapids, Michigan have opened new public markets in the last few years despite supermarket competition, because they see public markets as the answer to the question of how to we revitalize downtowns and attract customers to places they haven't been patronizing.

And usually, they offer more than merely vendor stands--cooking demonstrations, classes, event venues, meeting spaces, etc.

-- Grand Rapids Downtown Market, Rudy Bruner Award write up
-- "Milwaukee Public Market struggled, then flourished," Isthmus
-- "Everything you need to know about Boston Public Market," Boston Globe

Meal cost by type of preparation

Meal source	Cost per portion
Home cooked meal (supermarket purchased)	$4
Grab and go meal (supermarket purchased)	$8 - $10
Meal kit (online/delivery)	$10 and up
Restaurant meal	$15
Restaurant meal, delivered	$16.50 - $21

Although Harmon's Supermarket, a small specialty chain in Utah, normally offers a nightly dinner special, which varies by location, offering a package of two or four meals for as little as $4/portion--talk about competing with restaurants.

There is a good article from CNN, "How grocery stores restock shelves in the age of coronavirus," about how the food system mostly has the capacity to keep us well fed--providing we have the money we need to buy food.

I do wonder if some of the panic buying and out-of-stocks is a result of people buying more food to cook at home, since they have to replace meals that they had purchased at restaurants, for either on-premise or off-premise consumption ("Restaurant Exodus Has Food Giants Rushing to Stock Supermarkets," Bloomberg Businessweek).  Although many restaurants are staying open, for takeout.

(We did it Saturday night.  You have to call and they'll bring out the food to you.  But most restaurants don't have enough phone lines.  Many don't have online ordering systems.)

But it will require changing how the food supply is directed--restaurants and university campuses aren't going to be buying food, and over time those purchases can be redirected.  Although in the meantime, it creates great hardship for food distribution firms focusing on that segment of the market ("Restaurant Suppliers Are Stuck With Tons of Unsold Food," Bloomberg Businessweek).

Cooking.  Of course, if you don't cook, the pandemic and the closure of restaurants creates a big problem.  For years I didn't cook, even though my first DC job was for a nutrition/health advocacy group.

I hadn't learned when I was young, and my partner at the time wasn't too helpful and helping when it came to dealing with my mistakes in the kitchen ... even though I read newspaper food sections every week.

Probably, my choice to work in hospitality for many years was because shifts came with a meal.

Eventually, I started to cook because I had a new partner who was more forgiving of kitchen mistakes and because I was so often disappointed when going out to eat and paying a bunch of money for meals after which I felt dissatisfied.

Watching tv cooking shows on PBS and early forms of the Cooking Channel (Food Network is mostly competition shows and such, which aren't very good for teaching) gave me the confidence to try stuff out.

And as Ann Patchett says when people tell her they can't cook, "can't you read?" ("Collecting Strays at the Thanksgiving Table," New York Times).

All those years of reading food sections and cookbooks paid off, once I felt confident in some basic techniques.

And I took up baking because I like sweets and most of the time, eating cakes and sweets from supermarkets is very disappointing--all sugar and no flavor--and DC doesn't have very many specialty bakeries any more where you can get items that taste good as a matter of course.

CNN has a story on people cooking during the pandemic ("What to buy at the grocery store during a pandemic") although I was surprised that they didn't mention watching cooking shows on cable--they did mention youtube food videos, although I tend to find such quite tedious myself.

But for example, watching Aida Mollencamp make mussels one day (years ago) made me realize it wasn't that hard.  (Although I still haven't taken on the challenge of a lobster bake, which appeared to be reasonably "easy" according to an episode of Chuck Hughes' Day Off...)

The PBS Create channel, which is broadcast over the air on HDTV and on many cable systems across the country runs cooking shows every day.

Meals that aren't that hard to prepare.  I guess my cooking tends to be of dishes where I make large portions.  I've learned to increase the number of vegetables often, because it's an easy way to add bulk, and the amount of spices--maybe because my taste buds are diminishing as I get older, but often recipes can be kind of bland when it comes to spices.

I've always had good luck with recipes from the New York Times.  They have a website just for Cooking which is part of the digital subscription to the paper.

Items we've cooked for years include:

-- "Herbed White Bean and Sausage Stew," NYT (I double the vegetables and saute them for much longer so the vegetables are truly soft.)
-- "Pasta With Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula," NYT.  This is a chilled dish awesome during the hot summer. (I like spiciness so I put in more garlic, and usually double the amount of arugula, basil and parmesan cheese, and you can use regular tomatoes cut small.  If you have a porch, it's better to grow basil and arugula in pots on the porch so it gets sun and shade and doesn't bolt.)
-- "Corn and Avocado Salad," Ina Garten, Food Network.   Even my Hispanic friends have asked for this recipe! (I saw a mention of this kind of dish in the Miami Herald but they didn't have a recipe, at least online, and I found this one. Citrus juice means that the avocado doesn't brown if you have leftovers. I like to do this with grilled corn.  I usually double--at least--the amount of lime zest.)
-- Pasta with sausage and ratatouille (I don't really have a recipe for this. I saute eggplant, zucchini, onions, peppers, sometimes carrots or stuff that's been sitting around in the fridge, and garlic, add a 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes, preferably spicy turkey sausage, and Italian spices like basil and oregano and still use a jar of Barilla spaghetti sauce)
-- "Best Black Bean Soup Recipe," NYT.  (It says 1-2 hours. Every time I've cooked it takes 4-6 hours.  I double the vegetables and garlic, and sometimes I have separately sauteed and added bacon.)
-- "Chicken Stir Fry," Allrecipes  (I use this recipe for the marinade, not the vegetable directions.  I double the meat, and instead of going through all that work cutting up vegetables, I use three pounds of Safeway Select Asian Stir Fry Frozen Vegetables--every so often they go on sale, and when it's $1 or less per bag, I try to stock up.  So yes, that's 2 lbs. of chicken and 3 lbs. of vegetables.)
-- Asian style Salmon.  I don't have a recipe.  I mix olive oil, sesame oil, lots and lots of ginger and garlic and marinate it.  I buy salmon at Aldi or Sprouts ($8 or less per pound.)  Cook it at 400-425 for no more than 25 minutes.  At that level of heat the skin cooks well, so it can be eaten too.
-- Roast vegetables.  Of all kinds.  Toss them in olive oil, salt and pepper and cook at 400 degrees for an hour.  Vegetables you may not have liked such as Zucchini or Brussels Sprouts are awesome when roasted.
-- "Mexican Green Rice," Simply Recipes.  The only thing I liked when eating a meal at Taqueria el Barrio in Petworth was their green rice side dish.  This recipe is probably close.  I am still perfecting it.  But since I prefer the flavor of cilantro to parsley I just use cilantro.  Once I tried roasting the pepper and onions for added flavor but once all mixed together the cilantro over powered it.
-- "Macaroni and Cheese with Peas and Ham".  I still haven't found the best base recipe for the Mac and Cheese.  Cream cheese is good to use, along with a couple of other types.  I add at least one pound of ham diced small and two pounds of frozen peas.  Most recipes call for adding bread crumbs on top which I don't like, and baking it, which is unnecessary...
-- Quesadillas.  Not much to say.  We have found that adding "taco seasoning" makes a big difference.  And that bulk spice taco seasoning doesn't seem to be as piquant as the packaged version.  (We like the Kroger brand.)
-- Broccoli stems.  We compost and for years I've put the stems in compost.  But I accidentally missed one and cooked it.  It was fine tossed in salt, pepper and butter along with the stalks.  Just cut it up into small disks.  If some people in your household won't eat it, just cook it separately.
-- "Shrimp and Ham Jambalaya," Emeril Lagasse.  (We double it. because we buy 2 lb. bags of shrimp.  We prefer spicy sausage, no ham.  We use two 28 oz. cans of tomatoes and 2.5 cups of rice.  And increase the amount of vegetables.)
-- Couscous with marinated cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes.  Follow a marinade recipe for the vegetables, cook the couscous and mix.  It's great on hot nights.
-- Gazpacho.  Obviously a summer dish.  Mostly I try to buy seconds tomatoes at a farmers market and make it with them.

-- "Gluten Free Lemon Cake," a friend of ours is gluten intolerant.  This recipe is awesome.  You'd never know it's gluten free (except for the cost of the ingredients.  In the DC area, MOM's Grocery bulk spice section includes xanthan gum" so you don't have to buy a whole package.  I also include Lemon Curd between each layer.  I learned you have to watch the lemon curd so the eggs don't scramble!  As always, double the amount of zest.
-- Smoothies are a great way to use vegetable scraps, especially cilantro stems.  Beets though make the drink pretty red.  Juice/liquid, vanilla yogurt, ice, and mix ins like bananas, apples, cilantro or spinach stems, peaches, etc.  Great with very ripe fruit.  Sometimes honey.
-- It's not hard to make your own pie crusts, pizza dough, or foccaccia... Etc.  (I haven't graduated to more difficult bread recipes. And for a long time I wasn't motivated because there was one Giant supermarket location that sold day old bread for $1 loaf.)
-- Avocado toast.  You don't have to go to restaurant to mash up some avocado, toast some bread and top it with an egg you've cooked yourself.  And this way, it's less than $1 per portion, instead of $6, although it might not be as fancy.
-- "Mark Bittman's Banana Bread," NYT/How to Cook Everything Cookbook.  (There's no excuse to toss an overripe banana.  Keep them in the fridge until you're ready to bake.  This recipe I always double it.  But we just use all purpose flour, no wheat flour.  I've made it so many times I know it by heart.)

I sometimes experiment with new processed food items by buying dinged cans at a discount at the supermarket.  Mostly the items aren't that great, but that's the way I learned about Malher refried beans (and also Ducal), which you can find at Hispanic markets.  Once you try those brands, you'll never want to eat Rosarita, Old El Paso, or similar brands ever again.  I refer to then as "dog food."

Other points.  Yes, it's nice to have a blender and stand mixer and a slow cooker.  (Our stand mixer and slow cooker are packed away.)  AND SHARP KNIVES.  For years I used a bread knife for dicing.  How much time I wasted...

(I make a great pie crust.  Even though I still haven't mastered rolling out the dough...)