Broccoli Rising and the Gastronomical We

We hugged, we laughed, we talked, we teared up, we did it all over again at Les Dames d’Escoffier's first-ever M.F.K. Fisher Symposium.

I went with an acute case of Imposter Syndrome, because even with Miami Vegan coming out next month, who am I next to Joan Nathan, Toni Tipton-Martin and Ruth Reichl? But when I got there, none of that mattered. Whether esteemed, established or emerging, close to 200 of us food writers, editors, artisans and chefs all came together with one purpose — to pay tribute to Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher and to carry her food writing legacy forward.

When restrained recipes and mannered writing was the order of the day, Fisher brought intimacy, gusto and joy to the act of eating. In her 35 books, like the 1943 essay collection The Gastronomical Me, she wanted to “blast... safe, tidy little lives with a tureen of hot borscht and some garlic toast and salad.” She was unabashedly sensual, vibrant, passionate…and practical too. The wisdom she shares in How to Cook a Wolf, written in 1942 at the height of wartime shortages, matters now more than ever. There’s no wolf involved, just ways to live and eat on the cheap without sacrificing pleasure. “You can have all the hot oatmeal you want...not the pale pabulum made of emasculated wheat, but some brown nutty savorous porridge.” Fisher created recipes, but more than that, she created abundance. That’s how she lived.

To earn its name, the symposium had to honor and reflect that big-hearted spirit. It delivered, offering Dame to Dame wisdom and warmth, sisterhood and support, everything Les Dames d’Escoffier was made for. One workshop I attended revealed something you probably already know — my social media feed needs love. Case in point, I don’t have a ton — or any — images from the weekend. I was in the moment, okay? Mary Francis would get that. But the good part about being bad is there’s room for improvement, and thanks to workshop leaders and social media mavens Virginia Willis and Cynthia Graubart, it’s only up from here.

If I went in starstruck — and not a little intimidated — about being with women whose writing and recipes I’ve loved, I left starry-eyed about the connections and friendships that bloomed in an instant. And once again, under the spell of the woman who brought us all together. If the documentary of M.F.K. Fisher comes your way, don’t miss it.

Serve It Forth Salad

There are a few ingredients in this salad, which takes its name from the title of Fisher’s first book, published in 1937. Make everything count by using the freshest produce. The flavor profile takes its cues from paximadia, the classic Greek salad (that’s vegan feta there, folks — something Fisher never dreamed of) and Fisher’s own suggestion for making more with less, “a beautiful platter of sliced herb-be-sprinkled ripe tomatoes.” As simple as it is, tasters attacked it with an exuberance to do Fisher proud.

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