Freedom's Choice
I mailed my mom a present not long ago. For one weekend, the legendary Ukrainian mainstay Veselka was donating 100% of the proceeds of all their mail orders to Chef José Andrés' Ukraine relief efforts in Ukraine. My mom is a fan of a) food treats in the mail b) donating to Ukraine-related causes and c) Chef Jose himself, who is quite charming and gregarious on cable news interviews. A win-win gift.
Last week I made a quick visit to Western Mass. to see my mom, and she defrosted some Veselka veal goulash for us to share. (Very meaty, this! Was expecting potatoes or carrots or anything to offset a straight quart of pink cutlets in gravy.) I dutifully posted a picture of the goulash on Instagram.
Friend of the pod/surplus grocer superfan Ashley assumed it was another Haul find and DMed "Salvage Veselka??" I responded, "Sometimes I buy food on purpose," which it appeared she hadn't considered!
The numbers ebb and flow but I clock the surplus grocer at providing 60-70% of our foodstuffs. This has helped create a very specific way of cooking and eating—one that Abby has even considered pitching an essay on. We never shop with a list. Besides a handful items they almost always have (butter, beans, hot dogs, SELTZER), we bear few expectations.
We simply arrive and let taste be our guide.
This approach fills our fridge and freezer and pantry, such that menu planning never starts with "I'm in the mood for beef bourguignon, let's go pick up all the ingredients." Rather, we peer into our reserves and figure out what to create with the raw materials on hand. I believe pretentious folks refer to this as "ingredient-driven cuisine."
I'm going to explore those rhythms a bit more next week, and share where most of our fresh vegetables come from. In the meantime, expect a Special Midweek Post (!) to drop on Tuesday or Wednesday.
xo,
Jesse
Featured Items
Never heard of the Freedom's Choice line? That's because it's a brand sold exclusively on military bases, produced by the Defense Commissary Agency. Military mustard, yo! Abby teased me because we could have bought Heinz mustard for the same price but I was too enamored with the novelty.
Elmhurst Dairy, for the uninitiated, is an old-school dairy in Queens that went 100% plant-based in 2017. It's a chic little prestige brand now, beloved among vegans and the veg-curious alike. But folks? This latte wasn't good. Chalky and over-sweet, 4/10.
I bought this because "Hans Kissle" was written in fancy font and I thought it might be from some storied German restaurant I'd never heard of. Oops no, it's just a wholesale foodservice company out that focuses on how their food won't make you sick. To be fair, this gloopy potato salad was a perfectly acceptable addition to a midweek picnic. But it sure weren't fancy.
One other thing: There was bacon in it. I know that's a common ingredient in German potato salad but it seems weird not to advertise there are chunks of meat in your product! You had to squint pretty hard to see it on the ingredient list.
What a score! As I mentioned we've been trying our hand at different Israeli street foods, and these imported Jerusalem pickles are allegedly the GOAT (<check out the hilarious URL on that link). Not sure what to do with our extra 20%.
I cannot recommend this cornmeal fried fish mixture enough. It's got some decent New Orleans spicing, but mostly I appreciate its ease. Typically for frying fish or chicken, I'm used to the classically messy egg/flour/crumbs assembly line. But with this stuff, all you have to do is brush a little veg oil on the filet, give it a quick dredging and you're good to go! Fried fish in 10 minutes.
Oh but if you were under the impression this was produced by the beloved New Orleans mainstay Zatarain's, sorry to spoil that little fantasy.