To market, to market with Ted Allen
I got a chance to chat with Ted Allen on Monday.
You know, he was the guy who taught the dull boys how to cook to impress on “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.”
After filming 100-some episodes, the Emmy-winning Fab Five ended their reign on Bravo, but Allen is still calling the shots on Bravo - and the Food Network - as a judge on “Top Chef” and “Iron Chef America.”
He has also agreed to cook for the winner of Alltel’s new contest, “My Circle Reunion.”
This week even offered me some advice on shopping at our City Market.
“I look at that as such an opportunity,” he said. “My favorite thing about food is the diversity and the range and trying new things all the time.”
But I’m not fond of kale!
“When you go to the farmer’s market, the reason they have kale, as opposed to tomatoes, is that it is not time for tomatoes,” he explained. “Kale is relatively inexpensive. It’s very versatile and very pretty. There is a lot you can do with it. So why not buy what’s good?”
OK. So, go for the seasonal, even if it’s kale.
“Food that is in season is less expensive,” Allen said. “Food that is in season is fresh and ripe, ready to go, and it just makes sense ... rather than trying to import your grapes from Peru and hope they are still going to be good when they land in your supermarket.”
But how do you make kale taste good?
“If you see something you are not familiar with, ask the farmer,” he said.
I did that once with lima beans.
“The other thing I always have to remind myself of when I’m in a farmer’s market is to try to walk through the whole thing before you buy anything. Often I get seduced by a gorgeous heirloom tomato when I first walk in. I buy it, and then I go four stalls down and they have better ones for less money.
“You kind of have to get the lay of the land.”
YOU shop at farmers markets?
“Oh, yes,” he said. “I live in Brooklyn, and there is a farmer’s market the next neighborhood over in Fort Greene. I go there every Saturday.
“We are beginning to get some arugula, and a baker comes in ... but I’m holding out for the tomatoes. That’s my favorite thing.”
I think I will, too.
Posted by Mary Alice Blackwell at 12:16 PM. Filed under: Entertainment •
Mary Alice Blackwell was a sportswriter for 11 years before turning in her scorebook to cover cops and courts. The Virginia Tech Hokie joined the staff of The Daily Progress in 1987 and has spent the past dozen or so years writing about actors, musicians, artists, authors and, occasionally, her running buddies. 
