Magnificent scenic/nature writing, Will! 👏 You should send some of these to the New Yorker and offer to write a periodic series. The motif of A Private Chef will appeal to their core demographic. They reject almost everything, but you should do it anyway. Too bad Gourmet Magazine went kaput. I've seen a few folks on Substack get cook book deals. You should ask them to intro you to their agents/publishers. We gotta get that book (with updated content) into print!
I'm imagining a seasonal structure for a book (and/or magazine series) describing your various culinary tasks (bees, garden, pickling, charcoal making etc) and nature essays/photos accompanied by your elegant recipes/photos aligning with time of year. I can see it! I shoulda been a book editor. Would be fun.
Beautifully written, as always, Will. I save your posts to read in the quiet calm of a morning or, if the weather cooperates, a soft breezy afternoon with all the doors and windows open. Thank you.
Thank you for letting us tag along on your evening walk. My nose was fairly tingling as it imagined all the scents…and I was reminded of a summer spent in Tirol, in a hidden valley between Kufstein and the German border. Our family of four (plus, for a while, my cousin) lived in the attic of an ancient farmhouse. Our “kitchen kit” comprised an electric frying pan and a coffee machine. Ma and I would get up at dawn (4am at midsummer, as I recall ) to harvest wild strawberries. We picked enough to make three small pots of jam, labelling it “magic potion”. It was carefully carried home to Australia (customs and quarantine permitted!) where we made it last for years, ceremonially consuming a tiny teaspoon each when our spirits needed lifting…(I think you may just have inspired me to write a post of my own about those exquisite fruits!)
As to the pickled walnuts…I know what I’d be doing with the juice!!
This is fantastic. I hope that you write it down. I will admit I ate a handful of the tiny berries today as the patch has expanded this year. They were absolutely fantastic. Complex, sweet and fruity.
I have walnut trees, but they're enormous—such that I can't reach the green nuts. Sigh. Tonnato is perfect on tomatoes, and so many other non-veal things.
I have this evening located a walnut tree that I didn’t know was there as I don’t often head that way. It is enormous, though if I shinned up it I don’t think I’ll be able to collect any of its nuts as they’re dangling all along the branches and knowing my luck I’ll fall out.
I stumbled across a recipe on Substack that seems very authentic, so will use the rest of the nuts to brew up a batch. That’ll see me through the colder months. Medicinal purposes you understand.
Magnificent scenic/nature writing, Will! 👏 You should send some of these to the New Yorker and offer to write a periodic series. The motif of A Private Chef will appeal to their core demographic. They reject almost everything, but you should do it anyway. Too bad Gourmet Magazine went kaput. I've seen a few folks on Substack get cook book deals. You should ask them to intro you to their agents/publishers. We gotta get that book (with updated content) into print!
That is all. 🌱
I think you may be onto something. Thank you for the info.
I'm imagining a seasonal structure for a book (and/or magazine series) describing your various culinary tasks (bees, garden, pickling, charcoal making etc) and nature essays/photos accompanied by your elegant recipes/photos aligning with time of year. I can see it! I shoulda been a book editor. Would be fun.
Sadly they don’t accept non fiction submissions, only fiction and poetry which is a shame.
The New Yorker isn't what it used to be. But then, what is?
I thought I might look for an agent, but even that seems completely prohibitive.
Why?
Beautifully written, as always, Will. I save your posts to read in the quiet calm of a morning or, if the weather cooperates, a soft breezy afternoon with all the doors and windows open. Thank you.
Thank you for reading. I m so glad that you enjoy the words.
The quote atop this piece is a beautifully apt description of your essays, William...
Thank you for you kind words.
Thank you for letting us tag along on your evening walk. My nose was fairly tingling as it imagined all the scents…and I was reminded of a summer spent in Tirol, in a hidden valley between Kufstein and the German border. Our family of four (plus, for a while, my cousin) lived in the attic of an ancient farmhouse. Our “kitchen kit” comprised an electric frying pan and a coffee machine. Ma and I would get up at dawn (4am at midsummer, as I recall ) to harvest wild strawberries. We picked enough to make three small pots of jam, labelling it “magic potion”. It was carefully carried home to Australia (customs and quarantine permitted!) where we made it last for years, ceremonially consuming a tiny teaspoon each when our spirits needed lifting…(I think you may just have inspired me to write a post of my own about those exquisite fruits!)
As to the pickled walnuts…I know what I’d be doing with the juice!!
This is fantastic. I hope that you write it down. I will admit I ate a handful of the tiny berries today as the patch has expanded this year. They were absolutely fantastic. Complex, sweet and fruity.
I have walnut trees, but they're enormous—such that I can't reach the green nuts. Sigh. Tonnato is perfect on tomatoes, and so many other non-veal things.
I have this evening located a walnut tree that I didn’t know was there as I don’t often head that way. It is enormous, though if I shinned up it I don’t think I’ll be able to collect any of its nuts as they’re dangling all along the branches and knowing my luck I’ll fall out.
Just perfectly lyrical . Actually made Ed Smith’s Tomato Tonnato two weeks ago for a lunch party . Absolute belter of a dish
I expect that the plates were wiped clean.
Ah green walnuts. The only ingredient that I wear gloves for. Although, I haven't made Nocino for a few years.
I stumbled across a recipe on Substack that seems very authentic, so will use the rest of the nuts to brew up a batch. That’ll see me through the colder months. Medicinal purposes you understand.
Here’s the one that I use: https://en.julskitchen.com/drink/nocino-a-walnut-tuscan-liqueur
Thank you. I shall use this. Which alcohol do you use out of interest?
I use a 60% that I, err, just happen to have at hand.
Aha…