Markon member chef has answer for produce's dilemma

SALINAS, Calif. - On their way to research and development sessions with California shippers 4Earth Farms, Church Brothers Farms and Taylor Farms, Markon Chef Summit attendees took some inspiration from Gerry Ludwig, corporate consulting chef at Gordon Food Service.

It was Markon Cooperative's second annual event. Ludwig shared his enthusiasm for vegetable-centered foodservice Aug. 24 at Drummond Culinary Academy, which trains at-risk youth in fine dining skills at Rancho Cielo in Salinas.

The brainstorming and chef experiments that followed might lead to new products like Urban Blend, supplied by Church Brothers and marketed by Markon as a result of last year's sessions.

Ludwig tackled what he calls the Produce Monger's Dilemma: how to increase fresh produce consumption? Some of the hand wringing on that subject, as he sees it, can be dispensed with once the full impact of menu innovations is felt.

"I haven't been to a conference yet where there wasn't at least one speaker or a panel talking about how do we get people to eat more produce, to like vegetables and fruits more," Ludwig said. "I promise you the answer is not with meatless dining."

The original inspiration for Ludwig, who regularly tours Los Angeles, Chicago and New York restaurants, is Gjelina, Venice, Calif.

Gjelina began the vegetable-centered menu shift about seven years ago but few followed suit until two years ago, Ludwig said. Gjelina, whose chef is Travis Lett, serves vegetable based plates for $9 or so.

"The main difference with vegetable centricity is that chefs by and large are taking small amounts of meat and seafood based proteins and judiciously incorporating them into the dish," Ludwig said. "It exponentially expands the flavor arsenal. It might be a crumble of sausage or a shaving of country ham. Think of all the umami that comes out of things like fish roe and anchovies."

Another approach to putting vegetables at the plate's center is to pre-cook them in meat based broths. And light charring is common.

"There's nothing wrong with vegetarian or vegan cuisine, but we know from 30 years of statistics that no more than about 3.5% of the population is eating vegetarian or vegan," Ludwig said. "Vegetable centricity appeals to that other 96.5% of the dining population, who would eat more vegetable based dishes in restaurants if only they had the same level of craveability as meat based."

One New York restaurant serves a succotash – typically just lima beans and corn – with Russian kale, carrots, peas and bits of crispy pork belly sautéed and topped with a creamy lemon vinaigrette. "That's not a side dish, it's a sharing plate," Ludwig said.

He recommended a pair of cookbooks: Lett's "Gjelina" and "V is for Vegetables" by Michael Anthony.

Gordon Food Service is a member of Markon Cooperative.

Markon donated bicycles and anti-fatigue kitchen mats to the host academy.