gazpacho saga

The gazpacho was on the menu this week, and I had a ton. I even brought some home to compare the batch I made using the recipe the chef had given me. I emailed the chef to tell him I had done a side-by-side tasting, and that my version was somehow lacking in comparison, and he said that it was probably partly due to specific ingredients (my olive oil probably isn't of the same quality, for example), but also because every time they make it in the cafe, they fine tune everything to match the exact flavors of the actual produce, which you can't capture in a recipe.

That made me a little bit sad. I am not a chef, and when I cook, things can turn out well, but I just don't have the level of knowledge and understanding and artistry that it takes to deviate from a recipe and perfect a dish.

The chef then suggested that I go to the cafe sometime to make the gazpacho with the staff, so I could try to get the knack. Really? Really. He even offered to give a free cooking lesson to a group if I wanted to set one up. Really? Really.

Then I had an inspiration. Some friends and I get together pretty regularly for themed potluck dinners, and the next one happens to be themed around heirloom tomatoes. I suggested that he come to that, do a demo for us, and stay for dinner. That would be such a coup, if we could get a chef to start coming to our dinner parties, although it wouldn't be much of a coup for him, since none of us can cook at the same level.

So let's review. Just by asking questions along the way, I went from wanting a gazpacho recipe, to getting the recipe, to having it served at the cafe, to getting an offer to participate in making it, to getting an offer of a free cooking lesson, to perhaps adding a chef to our dinner party.