Kerry Altiero - Adventures in comfort food : incredible, delicious and new recipes from a unique, small-town restaurant

ADVENTURES INCOMFORT FOODINCREDIBLE, DELICIOUS AND NEW RECIPES FROM A UNIQUE, SMALL-TOWN RESTAURANTKERRY ALTIERO
CHEF/OWNER OF CAFE MIRANDA IN ROCKLAND, MAINE
WITH KATHERINE GAUDETPHOTOGRAPHS BY STACEY CRAMP The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the authors copyright, please notify the publisher at: http://us.macmillanusa.com/piracy. I met Kerry Altiero over fifteen years ago. I started visiting the midcoast area sometime in the 1990s, back when Rockland was full of empty storefronts.

One night my uncle, a boat captain who lived in Camden at the time, asked me to join him for dinner at Cafe Miranda. What a surprise to stumble upon this gem of a caf tucked on a little side street off the main drag. I still remember that I had local mussels, which were fabulous, great wood-fired bread and vegetables. To me, Cafe Miranda is what a restaurant should be: a warm, comfortable atmosphere, good food, a welcoming host and a place where you can hang out like you are at your aunts kitchen table. Part of the allure is the tiny open kitchen with a beautiful brick oven, tons of ingredients and an octopus-like chef wielding pans, plates and bowls, as happy as a kid in a candy shop. The menu is huge and very eclectic, including cuisine from around the world.

There always seems to be something for everyone. It is sometimes daunting, but never disappointing. My favorites have always been Kerrys Italian dishes, the food he grew up with: handmade pasta, good pecorino, sausage and greens! Simple and delicious. There is also a good amount of silliness at Cafe Miranda, from the Elvis-inspired bathrooms to the menu descriptions, keeping it all fun and lighthearted. When I decided to move to Rockland and open a restaurant, Kerry was one of the most welcoming people I met. He generously shared farmer information, codes, local scoop.

A friendship was born. We have since cooked together for many local charities, culinary events and our local soup kitchen. We have become neighbors and comrades. It has been a wonderful thing to watch Kerry grow and continue to push the limits with his ever-growing menus. And the community has come together to support Kerry in the face of adversity. I saw this after a terrible fire at the restaurant in 2007.

Cafe Miranda came back stronger than ever. Kerry has been a supporter of the local farming community and local businesses, and a role model to many of the local kids who pass through his kitchen or dining room, or who benefit from a cooking class he teaches. Hes fun, hes approachable and very real. Down to earth. I have learned a tremendous amount from watching him, listening to him. He has passion, fire that you do not come across every day, and he inspires not only his staff but his guests as well.

This book lets him share all of his stories and passion with us all. When Kerry asked me to write the foreword for his book, I was flattered. I have looked up to him as the pioneer chef of Maine. He took many chances and pushed boundaries that no one else was willing to do. He taught the locals about a different kind of dining scene and he won over their trust, paving the way for chefs like myself and many others who now have turned the midcoast into a food destination. Maine has always been a bounty of great ingredientswild food, hippie foragers, small farmers, struggling dairy farms, fabulous seafood.

It is a culinary oasis that was tapped by Kerry. Maine is a very rich and a very poor state: rich with a bounty of amazing ingredients to work with, rich with people from all walks of life comingling together, farmers, fishermen, lobstermen, scallop divers, foragers all mixed in with summer folks, camp kids, artists, writers. However, it is not an easy place in which to make a living. The business is extremely seasonal; its sometimes hard to find help. The winters can be brutal. When the summer is the only time you can do well, you dont get to relax and enjoy it.

Its a place that calls for ingenuity. You can see some of that find-a-way spirit in these recipes, where ingredients and techniques are combined in unexpected ways to create new and wonderful tastes. Kerry has always inspired me through his perseverance, his passion, his talentbut mostly by his genuinely giant heart. While sipping tea with him at Rock City Coffee in the middle of a blizzard one day, I saw each person who came in tap him on the back and give him a warm smile or an embrace. He is well loved in this community because he has been the mortar to hold it together through good times and bad. He pushes the limits, tries new ventures and continues to reinvent to please his guests.

And he is still cooking. Happily cooking. As I took a peek into this wonderful book, I knew it would become one of those books that does not collect dust, but becomes tattered and splashed with olive oil, tomato sauce and love. To read the history of how each dish got put on the menu and why some have never come off of it is just as much fun as the recipes. It is a lifes work, not an easy life, but a life dedicated to cooking for others. Kerry aptly named the book Adventures in Comfort Food. Comfort is what I feel when I sit at his table: warm, welcome and satiated.

Kerry is rock and roll. Hes one of those badass cooks you want on your side when youre in the weeds. He loves what he does and this permeates every cell in his body, and every page of this book. I invite you to sink into this delicious treasure and let your inner rock and roll come out. Cook with gusto like Kerry and I am sure you will have happy bellies and lots of laughs! Melissa Kelly Melissa Kelly is the chef and owner of Primo restaurant in Rockland, Maine. In 2013 Melissa became the first two-time winner of the James Beard Best Chef: Northeast award.

Two decades ago I started Cafe Miranda in a Maine fishing village.

We offer a huge menu that mixes traditional American fare with Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Thai, vegan whatever strikes our fancy. Our motto is Because We Can. We serve wonderful, surprising, innovative food that defies expectations and wins over all kinds of eaters. This cookbook will help you do the same at home, whether you are cooking for world-weary sophisticates or picky toddlers. Your kitchen may never be the same. Ive always had what you might call a contrary streak.

In our little town of 7,000 residents, restaurants were traditionally built around deep fryers. We built ours around a wood-fire oven instead. Its great for bread and pizza, of course, but almost everything else goes in there, too: vegetables, casseroles and soupsalmost everything benefits from a dose of high heat. Your home oven, cranked up, can create the same effect, while leaving your stovetop and your hands free for other things. I admit to having some punkish tendencies. I like to do things my own way; I like speed; I like gears and metal.