In a different section are assorted jars of jams that Erickson
makes herself: huckle-berry, Cara Cara orange, and Meyer lemon.
One of her restaurants, the Boat Street Cafe, sells jams around the
country (her mother manages that business), but these jams are
from Erickson’s own personal collection.
In a bowl on her kitchen table is an exotic “hand of Buddha,” a
citrus fruit that looks like Medusa’s head. “It makes the house
smell so good this time of year,” she explains.
It’s one thing to buy a bunch of nice stuff to cook with and it’s
another thing to know how to use what you buy. Erickson
illustrates the latter by preparing the simplest appetizer you’re
likely to ever encounter: dates sautéed in olive oil with salt.
The key, of course, is using the best ingredients. The dates are
Medjool and they’re unpitted because, Erickson asserts, “they’re
better. Dates get smashed when they’re pitted.” The olive oil is
the freshest she has and the salt is Maldon sea salt.
When she brings these things together using a pan, high heat,
and a few flips and tilts, the result is magic: sizzling, salty, and
sweet. And to think that it’s as much about shopping as it is about
cooking.
This is not to diminish Erickson’s skill. What she has that most
of us don’t is an exceptional palate: when we prepare the mussels
with cider and cream, she creates a perfectly balanced mussel
cooking liquid by tasting and adjusting according to her sense of
what tastes right. And the same is true for the liquid we use to
poach the halibut and to make the pistachio pesto that goes on