Cabbage’s Last Stand

(Music plays) And here's another cabbage opening.

Seriously, we're doing another cabbage episode.

Cabbages.

(Theme Music plays- The Avett Brothers "Will You Return") I'm Vivian and I'm a chef.

My husband, Ben and I were working for some of the best chefs in New York City when my parents offered to hep us open our own restaurant.

Of course, there was a catch.

We had to open this restaurant in Eastern North Carolina, where I grew up and said I would never return.

(Theme Music plays) (Theme Music plays) So this is my life.

Raising twins, living in the house I grew up in, and exploring the south, one ingredient at a time.

(Music plays) Previously on A Chef's Life.

I'm going to Feast Portland so I decided I would do cabbage and kind of make the whole package taste like the experience of eating here.

I'm going to have pig ears that are fried with cornmeal.

I'm gonna have the barbecued cabbage that's cooked in a stock made with pork bones.

And then something like a slaw dressing.

I usually have time to flesh out the ideas, but in this case I'm cooking the cabbage and I'm going to grill it at the event in Portland.

What I have had is a whole day to think about how I probably should have just smoked a piece of meat.

My Dad loves to take me to the airport and because he gets up at 4:15 everyday to exercise, a 5 am departure is not a big deal.

Did you already exercise this morning?

Already been.

45 minutes.

So, Eric's gonna be there and he's gonna bring the food?

He better.

Are you going to snooze on the way to Portland.

I'm gonna snooze on the way to Atlanta at least.

Hopefully I'm gonna work on the way to Portland.

(Music plays) My manuscript is due in two weeks so I really don't have time to go galavanting in Portland, but I was thinking that I woud use that long plane ride to get a lot of work done.

So, we're in Portland or right outside of Portland and it is beautiful.

I've never been here before.

I'm kind of taken with the whole place.

It's very green and the air is crisp and it's almost like a different world.

So, we're going to meet this woman by the name of Kelly Co. She has a web series on PBS called Original Fare.

She's gonna interview me and I'm gonna meet a cabbage farmer and we're going to do a show within a show within a show within a show.

Or whatever.

I don't even know!

That's why I got this coffee called Double Torture so I can be ready for anything.

-Hey.

-Hi!

How are you?

I'm good.

I want to introduce you to Julia.

Hey.

I'm Vivian.

Hi.

Welcome to Oregon.

We are ummm...I'm not really sure what we're doing.

This is from Original Fare.

This gentleman right here and we're gonna be on both.

And are you from here?

I'm actually not.

I moved out here from Colorado about, almost two years ago.

After leaving the corporate world I got introduced to the food world through Oregon.

Umm totally fell in love and I started the company, "LET um EAT" is the name of it.

You're, and I mean this in the best possible way, you're like the distillation of the stereotype.

Absolutely.

Okay, good.

Absolutely.

I was hoping to meet you.

(Music plays) Can you explain to me your team and what they do?

"LET um EAT" is a team of six or so farmers, chefs that brings together seeders, feeders, and eaters.

Wait.

Seeders, feeders, and eaters?

Yep.

This is the "LET um EAT" brand and three points for seeders, feeders, and eaters.

So yeah, that's kind of our goal.

We do that in a few ways.

We're building a mobile app to actually really help people connect and easily find farms in their area.

They have a great board over there.

You can see their produce list and then the restaurants in the city.

-Oh cool!

-Kind of who's getting what.

It's kind of like a community.

It's definitely a community.

Creating community.

Actually just making sure farmers make a wage.

Yeah it's a big problem, farmers and them making a living.

We're very accustomed to buying cheap food in this country.

Yep.

Should we show you around?

Yeah, please.

Okay, so how often are you harvesting cabbage in North Carolina, Vivian?

They just started harvesting for the fall.

Cabbage is something that people eat there all year long but.. Mmm hmm.

In the summer it gets really really bitter.

And this is a really nice time to have cabbage because it's sweeter, not so bitter, and I would say fall and early spring are our seasons.

Okay.

Oh yeah, those are huge heads.

Yeah.

Holy moly!

Yeah and they are pretty much giving it to these guys who make sauerkraut.

Well, I think cabbage is kind of magical because I love to go ahead and cook cabbage some and then char it.

I'm a charred vegetable evangelist and charred cabbage really brings out the sweetness.

Yeah.

And cabbage is actually quite sweet.

This guy's like... -That's gigantic.

-It's huge!

I'm just glad it's not me.

(Laughter) See that?

It's like ten pounds at least.

We can taste some of the outer leaves.

So this is not bitter at all even an outside leaf.

Wanna bite?

Definitely.

Thank you.

How would your collective handle this cabbage?

Well, I mean it's interesting you bring up size because we'd probably have to talk to someone who would be willing to make it into kraut or something.

Our goal is to help build a community of farmers in our region and so I always just say I'll take whatever you have.

Yeah.

And then we figure out what to do.

What to do.

Exactly.

So, we're gonna take this one, right?

Test it out tomorrow on the smoke.

Sure, that sounds great.

You want to go around Night Market tonight?

I don't know.

Do I?

I think you do.

What is it like?

Camera: The thing you'll notice quickly about Portland is everybody is so polite and nice.

Oh good.

There's no shoving.

They wait in lines.

They are nice.

Yeah.

Alright guys we better get to Feast.

(Music plays) Usually when I go to food festivals I am cooking every single night of the festival.

So, it's really a luxury to be able to go to this Night Markt and be able to participate like a regular festivalgoer.

This is a great little strip right here.

And so many of these restaurants I've heard of and read about and I'll probably never get to go and eat in any of them, so the opportunity to try a little snippet of their food is a great educational experience for me.

I often wonder if I would be a person who would actually buy a ticket to a food festival having always been on the other side of it and after tonight I think I actually might buy a ticket to Feast Portland.

(Laughter) It got weird very quickly.

Yeah.

It happened.

It happened.

So, we're gonna go in the walk-in here on the left hand side.

Yesterday was the fun day and today is the work day.

I'm one of these people if I have 30 minutes of work or 3 hours of work I want to do it first and get it out of the way so it's not clogging up my already muddled mind.

This is our slaw juice.

(Laughter) So, it's juiced cabbage with this kind of homemade mayonnaise that I made to emulate the salad dressing that Sam was using.

I just hope that it's a flavor that Oregonians enjoy.

And this is a vinegar based barbecue sauce that I incorporated bacon fat.

So, that's what this creamy stuff that's rise to the top is.

But we'll make sure it's warm and incorporated when we marinate the cabbage in it.

What are you guys making?

We're doing some pig ear fritters.

What's that?

Did you say pig ear fritters?

Yeah.

Pig ear puppies.

Puppies.

Sorry.

Like hushpuppies?

Yeah.

(Laughter) He's trying to pretend that we're not from the South.

(Laughter) (Music plays) So, put the cabbage in here.

Smells so cabbagey.

Oh yeah.

Smells like feet.

Smells like it.

Yeah.

(Laughter) The idea Eric is that when we get there, you and Jason will start caramelizing the cabbage.

And all of these hinges on the cabbage being awesome.

The cabbage.

Some of these I was counting on these large leaves being two servings.

Okay.

We can see in the beginning if we feel like we feel like we need to do that.

I just don't think 1200 people are going to come up for barbecued cabbage.

Yeah.

(Laughter) I just heard you talk and you've got a very distinct voice.

Welcome to Portland.

Thank you, thank you.

Love it here.

She said she recognized your voice?

Uh huh.

It's how I usually get noticed.

It's funny.

I used to be so ashamed of my accent that I tried to alter it, thinking I was sounding like a yankee.

Uh huh.

But people would ask me if I was from Australia.

(Laughter) I completely lost my accent when I moved to North Carolina.

I was in ESL classes up until 4th or 5th grade.

Do you speak Spanish in your home with your Mom?

Ummm a little bit.

Mainly with my Grandmother I definitely still do.

Eric is originally... - Cuban.

- Cuban.

You grew up in Miami?

Yep.

And then moved to Charlotte.

Have you ever been to Cuba?

I haven't.

Ummm I really wanna go.

I've seen a lot of my Grandmother's pictures and it looks awesome.

Ummm so I'm gonna leave...

Okay.

Eric here to core cabbage and I've got some interviews because when you live in Eastern North Carolina and someone asks you to do an interview when you're somewhere else you say yes.

(Laughter) (Music plays) Alright, you guys ready to roll?

Yes.

Alright, I'm Adam Rappaport.

Welcome to the Bon Appetit Food Cast.

We're coming to you live from the Ace Hotel in downtown Portland where we are here for the Feast Portland Food Festival.

We're joined now by Vivian Howard from North Carolina.

You worked at WD-50 for a short time in New York City and you worked... At Jean Georges Spice Market and then moved home.

So, was that like, I don't want this lifestyle anymore that you had in New York and wanting to go home?

New York is like a struggle, you know, particularly in the restaurant business.

You get paid like nothing.

Yeah.

You've brought a lot of attention to the area and it's helped financially kind of support a community, which restaurants have that power these days.

Yeah, absolutely.

We're an economic catalyst for our community.

You know, restaurants have opened around us.

A brewery opened up two blocks from us.

Do you have a Starbucks yet?

Uh, no!

(Laughter) What about in terms of the menu and the type of food you do at Chef & the Farmer, how would you describe it?

How much has it evolved over the years?

Well when we first opened I had no idea what I was doing, really.

(Laughter) I was making bad versions of the food I cooked at places in New York.

But then over the years we started doing our own take on the region's classics and we continue to do that but we have more, I'd say global influence and my rule when I develop new dishes now is every plate just needs to have one or two things that are of this place.

Before you go we're going to o our lightning round questions.

Oh God!

Yeah!

You gotta pick one.

Not easy.

Grits or country ham?

Grits.

Wow!

Really?

I'm a sausage girl.

Collards or kale?

Pssh!

Collards.

(Laughter) Final question.

As a southern gal I think I know this answer, butter or olive oil?

-Butter?

-Yeah.

Ding, ding, ding.

Correct answer!

How about butter, bacon fat, or olive oil?

Lard.

Alright, well thank you so much for listening and that was our special guest, Vivian Howard.

Thanks for stopping by.

Thank you.

(Music plays) As a chef everytime I travel, every meal I eat needs to matter.

It needs to be a learning experience.

I don't always gravitate toward the most high end restaurants or the ones with the most hype.

I often like to eat in restaurants that do just a few things and do them very very well so I can observe specific techniques.

Pollo Norte is known for the way they cook their chicken on a rotisserie and the chicken juices fall down into cabbage and it slowly cooks and caramelizes.

I've never seen that before and it sounds delicious.

Hey.

Hi.

How are you?

Good, how are you?

Good.

So, what do we get here?

So, it's Mexico City style rotisserie chicken.

You can make your own tacos.

Handmade tortillas, roasted cabbage, and salsa.

So we'll do the whole chicken and you pick the sides.

We definitely want the cabbage.

Is putting cabbage underneath the rotisserie chicken, is that something that they do in Mexico City?

Yeah.

They usually will roast vegetables under there.

Sometimes they'll cut up like hot dogs and stuff too and put them in there.

Oh.

So, like how many heads do you put under there at one time?

So between 6 and 10 heads of cabbage, depending on the size.

How long do the chickens cook?

The chickens cook for between 2 and a half to 3 hours and then the cabbage is under there roasting usually for about half the process, for about a hour and a half.

And after that we take it and we braise it down additionally with some of the chicken drippings.

That's awesome.

Thank you.

I can't wait.

(Music plays) Because we're serving over a thousand people at this Smoked event I feel like I needed more help than just me and Eric so I asked my friend Jason Vincent to come out to Portland and be our sidekick.

He has a restaurant that's about to open called Giant and so he's currently underemployed.

Vivian!

Oh yeah.

Awesome.

(Music plays) I really like the cabbage underneath there a lot.

These tortillas are really good too.

At the end of lunch I'm feeling like we maybe lollygagged a little too long.

I'm generally one of these people who is the first person at an event because I am terrified of unknowns and this afternoon it's looking like I could be one of the last people to arrive at Smoked.

I was hoping it was going to be bigger.

What's up?

Oh!

How's that?

(Laughter) Who thinks you can fry something for 1200 people in this?

Maybe it's like a gremlin and you get it wet and it gets bigger.

(Laughter) When you do an event like this you submit a request for equipment and I requested a fryer and assumed it would be like a fryer I would use in the restaurant and fry a whole lot of stuff at one time because we're serving over a thousand people at this event, but what I got was an itty bitty teenie weenie little home fryer.

A great fryer.

Probably the best one on the market but nonetheless a tiny one.

Is there by any chance another one of these?

There can be.

Yeah, I mean it's just really small for a lot of people.

Maybe if I could have like two more of these of or like a regular...

I don't know?

I just... Yeah.

We'll get that for you.

Thank you.

Sorry.

And then I would need more oil too.

Okay.

This is the last one of these.

(Laughter) I know I say that every time.

These events are way better when they're not yours.

(Music plays) I'm not gonna lie to you guys.

I stole these.

So this is all we're getting.

I'm just putting some cornmeal on them and then I was going to mix the batter.

This looks like grits.

Delicious grits.

They have to be coated for the batter to stick.

Yeah.

So, I just don't know if I'll be able to make a hushpuppy batter with this.

It's so funny.

I have the same problems everywhere I go.

Fryers and cornmeal.

Cornmeal is not the same on the West Coast as it is in North Carolina.

Come on, Vivian!

This is not your first rodeo.

Maybe it is.

The lesson is when you travel and I do something with cornmeal, I need to take my cornmeal with me.

This happened in Charleston too.

Alright, well there is nothing we can do at this point.

Okay.

The fire is being lit.

What time is it?

4:15.

Okay, so we have an hour and 45 minutes.

Thank God I invited Jason to come help because I'm looking around at all the other restaurants and they have way more people than we do and I'm feeling behind.

Way behind.

I mean we can't even get our fire lit.

Have you guys worked with this stuff before?

I haven't.

You kind of set it up so that it's all jumbled.

There's a lot of oxygen going through it so it burns a lot quicker.

Understood.

Okay.

How long do you think that's going to take?

A while?

A little while.

Like an hour?

45 minutes.

Just to light those few?

I'll speed it up.

The best way since it's got the hole in the middle is to stack it up like this because if you do what you think you should do with like kindling or like you know when you build a little fire then it burns too fast and you lose it.

We got our grill lit but it is not hot and the guys next to us, Pok Pok, the people who made the charcoal briquets we're trying to light, they've got so much fire and flame and heat coming from their station.

It's hotter coming from their station than if I actually touched our grill with my hand.

(Music plays) Why do we come to events like this?

I'm wrestling with it to be honest.

I think part of it's like ego that we don't want to admit that we have.

I don't know about you but I usually walk away from them feeling very unsatisfied.

So not worth it.

The feeling that I have right now is...is a lot of pain.

Because I'm not in control of my success I feel like.

It's a bummer kind of.

Okay.

But don't worry it's gonna be delicious.

Woo!

(Laughter) (Music plays) Sweet!

Winner!

(Laughter) Now we're talking.

We finally lit our fire.

We got a bigger fryer and I've acquired some flour to mix with my grits to make my hushpuppies.

This is gonna be okay.

It's not like what I would make generally but it's okay.

Okay.

Fire's hot.

Jesus!

(Laughter) See Eric, people think when I go on these trips that it's like a...

Vacation?

Vacation.

And you can vouch that it's not.

Oh yeah, these event are not always fun.

-Hello.

-Hey.

Is there anything you need?

At the moment no but we will love your help.

To serve?

When it's time to plate, yeah.

Okay.

There we go.

I think my zipper got hot.

(Laughter) (Music plays) So, when can we put our cabbage on?

We can do it now.

You want to take this down, the grill?

Yeah I think we may.

I don't understand.

What time is it right now?

Five.

My cabbage isn't charring and it is definitely not smoking.

I'm trying to not completely freak out.

I realize that does not help.

Those flood gates are going to open and I've got like 3 orders here, so.

Is it too hot?

You want to lift it back up or no?

No, I think this is good.

It's gonna have to be.

Is that about the char you're looking for?

I mean, I'd like it to be a little more but I'm trying to see what is possible.

We're getting some action here.

Kelly said people in Portland are willing to wait in line so... My Dad took me camping every year for like the first 13 years of my life and right now he's at home watching going, ahh you idiot!

(Laughter) But I'm feeling better than I was ten minutes ago when I put that piece of cabbage up there and it just like weeped and didn't brown or anything.

Like, okay.

You want to do a couple hushpuppies to try the whole thing together?

Sure.

(Music plays) Okay, we're gonna be okay.

Yeah.

Eventually things did come together but we did have to enlist everybody around us to help.

Jason's wife, Kelly, we all served throughout the entire event.

We can only do what we can do.

Hey.

This is a take on Eastern North Carolina style barbecue, but the cabbage is the barbeque.

And Kelly was right.

Oregonians will wait in line with smiles on their faces and drinks in their hand.

We enjoyed this.

Things worked out.

The dish tasted good.

I wish that I had planned better because stress like that I think takes years off your life but it wasn't a total wash. (Music plays) I'm taking a selfie of myself so I remember this moment the next time somebody asks me to do a food festival.

(Music plays) For more information on A Chef's Life visit pbs.org/food "A Chef's life is available on DVD.

To order, visit shopPBS.org or call us at 1-800-PLAY-PBS."