The Food Writer’s Predicament

By Claudia Itzkowich

Ok, so I am working full time -the fullest time- for the Cancun-Riviera Maya Wine & Food Festival that is taking place next month in Cancun (crmfest.com).

I spend my time writing, translating and editing stories involving things like the spot prawns Montreal’s Normand Larpise gets delivered every Tuesday from British Columbia, the Green Mole that the grandmother of Arturo Fernández Montes de Oca, from Mexico City’s Raíz, makes for him every year on his birthday, the rice crust stuffed with shrimp and squid that José Miguel García is serving at La Barraca valenciana, in Coyoacan. All with overlapping deadlines, after-hours skype conferences, a couple of sleepless nights.

And mind you, I am not complaining. But I do get hungry -as we all do- but I also get greedy: how can I settle for fried eggs or canned tuna fish?

A whopper has been out of the question for years.

Sometimes I don’t have a choice. But others I manage to treat myself, say, with this pasta recipe I just discovered, made with lemon-ricotta and arugula.

Or this Quebec Trout with (leftover) pasta and asparagus and a yougurt-cucumber sauce.

And one of my favorite salads these days: fennel, cilantro and pistachios.

My next project: to recreate the cod I just found in The Family Meal, a book about the food that the staff at elBulli used to eat throughout the season. A jewel!

By the way, Ferran Adrià is one of the guests at the Festival, where he will speak about The Future of Cuisine after elBulli in a panel with Jacques Pépin, Enrique Olvera, Mara Salles and Normand Laprise. More details at: cancunwinefoodfest.com 

Did I say back to work now?