Preserving the Seasons: Canning, Pickling & Seasonal Cooking | Paul Virant

This is a Vintage episode from 2012.Why This Episode MattersChef Paul Virant explains how preservation can extend truly seasonal cooking well beyond the growing season.Canning and pickling can deepen a restaurant's relationship with local farmers while creating new possibilities in the kitchen and behind the bar.Preserving peak-season ingredients isn't necessarily cheaper. The value comes from flavor, identity and having something uniquely your own.From pickled vegetables and aigre-doux to cocktail ingredients, preserves can become ingredients rather than simply condiments.BanterMark Pascal and Francis Schott visit DeBragga & Spitler and get a hands-on look at dry-aged beef at different stages of the aging process. They talk about why properly aged meat costs more, what actually happens to a piece of beef as it ages, and why tasting and comparing things side by side is one of the best ways to learn.The ConversationChef Paul Virant joins Mark and Francis to talk about The Preservation Kitchen and the preservation program that became a signature of his acclaimed restaurant Vie.For Paul, preserving wasn't simply about opening a jar of pickles alongside a dish. Brines, pickled vegetables, preserved fruits and sweet-and-sour preparations became building blocks in his cooking adding acidity, contrast and unexpected flavor to everything from roasted meats to cocktails.The conversation explores the practical side of cooking seasonally in places like Chicago and New Jersey, where the growing season doesn't last all year. Paul and the Guys discuss buying directly from farmers, preserving crops when they're at their peak, reducing waste and creating a restaurant pantry that reflects the local harvest long after summer is over.They also get into the economics. Preserving food takes ingredients, jars, storage and substantial labor, and it often costs more than simply buying a commercial product. The payoff is something different: exceptional ingredients captured at their best, stronger relationships with farmers and food that belongs uniquely to your restaurant.Also: home winemaking gone wrong, preserving fruit with spirits, using every drop of a pickling brine, and Paul's beer-jam Manhattan made with Goose Island Bourbon County Stout.Guest BioPaul Virant is an acclaimed Chicago-area chef known for his focus on seasonal Midwestern ingredients, preservation and relationships with local farmers. His restaurant Vie earned a Michelin star and operated in Western Springs, Illinois, for 19 years before closing in 2023. Virant currently operates Petite Vie in Western Springs, Vistro Prime in Hinsdale and Gaijin in Chicago.He is the author, with Kate Leahy, of The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making and Cooking with Pickles, Preserves, and Aigre-doux, originally published in 2012.Timestamps00:00 Dry-aged beef and why artisan food costs more 05:45 Paul Virant on preserving the seasons 11:30 How preserves become part of the cooking 15:30 Working with farmers and preserving the harvest 17:45 Beer-jam Manhattans and unexpected uses for preserves 25:45 Why preserving isn’t cheaper, yet it’s still worth doingInfoPaul’s bookThe Preservation KitchenPaul Virant with Kate LeahyPaul’s Places (all in Illinois)Petite Vie Vistro Prime GaijinWe're bringing our kitchen to the farm!Join us at Dreyer Farms in Cranford, NJ for a Table-to-Farm Dinner.Sunday, September 13 @ 5:30https://www.stageleft.com/event/91326-table-to-farm-dinner/ Subscribe: Restaurant Guys' Regularhttps://restaurantguysregulars.buzzsprout.com/Magyar Bankhttps://www.magbank.com/Stage Left Wine Shophttps://www.stageleftwineshop.com/Our PlacesStage Left Steakhttps://www.stageleft.com/Catherine Lombardi Restauranthttps://www.catherinelombardi.com/Stage Left Wineshophttps://www.stageleftwineshop.com/Reach Out to The [email protected]