An Interview with Chef Tony Adams
In honor of National Farmers Market Week, and in anticipation of AIM’s Market-to-Kitchen Cooking Experience, we had a chat with Chef Tony Adams about his passion for the markets, and what he’ll be teaching us on Aug 15-16.
How would you describe your "Fill in the Food" method of cooking?
It’s grounded in the idea that if you know that basics of a handful of the cornerstone cooking techniques, you can cook almost anything. Understanding why we choose these techniques - and highlighting a few key concepts within each - are a real focus for me, and ramp into what seems complex at first, but after repetition, become very basic. It allows for you to buy what’s local and seasonal, or cook from what you have already at home (or at a friend’s house!). Rather than simply memorizing thousands of recipes, chefs cook from this base knowledge of a handful of methods, and that’s how we develop ideas and cook from what we have.
As a chef, what inspires you most about the summer season?
The pure variety! The sweetness of everything, and the labor the farmers have put into everything really shines! The warmth of the sun and the culmination of months of work and toil… all coming together with the sweetest tomato, or crunchiest cucumber…. It’s incredible. Today, there were about 9 different types of peppers available at the market, how incredible is that?! Variety baby! It’s like giving an artist more colors to paint with!
What does it mean to you to shop at the Farmers Market?
It means building relationships in my community and tying me to the people who know this land more than I ever will. It means supporting people who believe in the same things I believe in (being good stewards of the earth, eating good tasting and nutritious food, exploring exciting varieties of different fruits and vegetables). It means putting a face (and accountability to an extent) to the food I’m eating, and serving to my friends, family, and guests. And it’s about economic stabilization. When you hand $1 directly to a farmer at a market, more than $.80 of that dollar stay in the local community, compared to only about $.14 when you buy from a big box store.
What do you love about the ingredients we’ll be using for our cooking class?
Oh man, so many things! But here’s the thing… the recipes are so flexible, people are really going to be able to insert the things THEY want to have in there! On our salmon night, our “mushroom fried rice” can easily be a “scallion” fried rice if you don’t like mushrooms! Want to throw corn in your panzanella salad on Steak night? Go ahead! The recipes we’ve chosen have such a wide range for personal interpretation, and fit with the “Fill in the Food” mantra, that I’m going to teach you the base, and allow for the participants to add what they like. And that’s what I love seeing, people doing and learning something they’ll use for a long time to come...
Thanks for reading! Let us know if something here struck a chord with you, by emailing us and sign up for Market-to-Kitchen before registration closes!