Trust Your Product

In The real credit isn't ours, Chef Eric Patterson redirects the praise for the foods they serve at the Cooks' House right back to Michigan farmers and producers.

"One cannot over emphasize the importance of great quality products with which to work," he writes.

As an example, he cites their asparagus soup, where he trusts the asparagus to shine through rather than relying on cream or any other addition.

You see, when we make the soup for our menu it's just asparagus, water, and salt that goes into it, and our guests do back flips over it. We use the freshest asparagus lovingly grown by the people at Ware Farm. They are the ones who get the credit for such an amazing soup. All we do is cook it and puree. Very simple. The difference between our soup and others soup is we trust the asparagus to have an amazing flavor on its own.

I want to challenge you. The farmer's markets are getting into full swing. Sometime in the couple weeks take a trip to your local market and pick out some produce or anything else that strikes your fancy, whether it be eggs, bacon, honey, asparagus, spinach, or whatever. Take it home and make something out of it, with the challenge being to trust your product. Don't fall into the trap of thinking more is better. Remember, a great cook knows when not to add something. Now go out and cook!

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