ON THE FARM
Take a Seat
Nourishment comes in multiple forms in farming communities
By Sara Schwartz
O
N THE FARM, YOUR closest
neighbors can be miles away, so when there’s time to break away and break bread, it’s made all the more special with dishes made to share. Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell found this out quickly. After the two lost their jobs in the 2008 recession, they left New York City and decamped to the small farming area of Sharon Springs, N.Y., moving permanently into the Beekman
mansion, a historic estate and farm they had purchased as a weekend respite the previous year. Ridge, who worked as a physician at Mount Sinai Hospital and later as vice president of healthy living at Martha Stewart Omnimedia, and now-husband Kilmer-Purcell, an author and advertising exec, quickly found success as goat farmers and cookbook authors. Their Beekman 1802 brand now includes an arsenal of artisanal products, including apparel, beauty products and home goods.
All along the way, the couple found the swap from urban to country life was made easier with the help of their new neighbors. One in particular, Rose Marie Trapani, shared meals and memories of growing up in Sicily, where she learned how to cook from the women in her family. Ridge and Kilmer-Purcell often found themselves sharing a meal with Trapani and her husband. Her generosity of spirit inspired them to work with her on their fourth cookbook: Beekman 1802: A Seat at the Table: Recipes to Nourish Your Family, Friends, and Community
ON THE FARM
COMPANY’S COMING
Find inspiration in these farm-inspired cookbooks: The Farm Cooking School: Techniques and Recipes That Celebrate the Seasons by Ian Knauer and Shelley Wiseman In 2014, chef and former Gourmet magazine food editor Ian Knauer founded The Farm Cooking School in Titusville, N.J. Cookbook author and former Gourmet editor Shelley Wiseman joined him later. The duo has created a formidable community of teachers and their cookbook embraces that same sense of community and creativity. u$35, quartoknows.com
Heartland: Farm-Forward Dishes from the Great Midwest by Lenny Russo Relentless locavore and chef Lenny Russo’s book tips a hat to a region rich in agricultural might. His St. Paul, Minn., restaurant, Heartland, was a farm-to-table pioneer and that idealism continued into his cookbook. Although Heartland closed in 2016, Russo took the reins of The Commodore Bar & Restaurant in St. Paul in 2017 and continues to ensure that local and sustainable ingredients are centric. u$28, quartoknows.com
Family Table: Farm Cooking from the Elliott Homestead by Shaye Elliott Shaye Elliott spends her days wrangling her four children, gardening, tending to farm animals and writing on her family’s farm in Washington state. Time-stretched cooks will appreciate Family Table’s focus on easy, traditional food prep that relies heavily on sustainable farming and stewardship. Elliott has also written Welcome to the Farm and From Scratch and blogs at theelliotthomestead.com. u$24.95, rowman.com
CHRISTIAN WATSON/BEEKMAN 1802
($30, hmhco.com). The book includes more than 100 recipes that honor their neighbors and embraces the spirit of sharing. “Every recipe, every story and every page is flavored with the seasoning and spice that only a diverse community can bring,” Ridge said. A Seat at the Table is the most personal book yet, he added. Organized by seasons, it bursts with a conversational tone that beckons, “Come on in, sit for a while and have something to eat.” And in a nod to their charitable neighbors, the
book includes profiles of the people who make Sharon Springs so special. “In a time of digitally imposed isolation and unprecedented fractures in our national view of the American dream, what we need now more than ever is to find ways to lift everyone up — to find opportunities for everyone to succeed,” Ridge said. “We want to help pass the bread and not the buck. In this spirit, we want to invite everyone to have a seat at the table and encourage communities to come together and make amazing things happen.”
Full Moon Suppers at Salt Water Farm: Recipes From Land and Sea by Annemarie Ahearn Annemarie Ahearn left New York City with one dream: to open a cooking school at her family’s farm in Maine, nestled between the mountains and the sea. Years later, she opened the Salt Water Farm cooking school in 2009, and started hosting “full moon” suppers that provide native and seasonal fare that highlighted the might of Maine’s hearty provisions. Full Moon features 12 menus from those meals. u$35, roostbooks.com
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