9 April 08 re: food gifts

mb:

Our friend Suzette gives the best food gifts -- we love to invite her to supper in the hope that she may shower us with yet another alluring offering. So we thought we'd ask her about her food-gift secrets.

m-c:

OK, let's start with basic principles. What makes a good food gift?

Suzette:

The kind of food gifts I like to get are things that I wouldn't ordinarily take the time to do, or are from ingredients that I might not have like herb or flower flavored oils and vinegars; jam from home grown fruit or from something I don't have in my garden. But it can't be so exotic that I would never open it.

When I give a food gift, I try to take into consideration what I know about the receiver's taste. Some people don't care about sweets, others aren't very adventurous, although I do try to push them a little.

mb:

Do you think a food gift should have some kind of a shelf-life, or is it OK for it to be totally perishable?

Suzette:

I think there should be some shelf-life to it, at least 1-2 weeks. I always feel just awful when someone brings me something, like homemade bread or fresh things from their garden, and for some reason I can't use it immediately. I end up eating at least a few bites before it goes to the compost, but it seems sooo wasteful. If I can, I'll put it in the freezer.

I don't think gifts should carry any obligations. The same is true if the person never, ever mentions what I gave them. I gave it, it's theirs, end of story.

m-c:

Wow, that's a real insight into your generosity. I think I would want people to gush.

Where do you get your ideas for food gifts?

Suzette:

I don't generally make things with the idea that they are a gift. I make things that I want, or have an interesting technique that I want to try and then think, "Oh, maybe other people might like this, too. I'll make extras."

So I get my ideas from all the sources everyone who is interested in food and eating gets ideas: books, magazines, conversations, restaurants. If it is just an idea I sometimes jot down a few notes and stick it in a file folder in my kitchen.

Last summer our neighbor had an over-abundance of quince(!) that she wanted help getting rid of. I thought about that one for an afternoon and decided that the expensive quince paste I had gotten at the store ought to be replicable. After an online search I came up with a combination of recipes that seemed good and enlisted a visiting son for help.

When I realized that our pot-o-paste was going to yield more than I was going to use before it dried up, I began thinking "gift." As he stirred, I rounded up some inexpensive Japanese tea cups, little jars, etc. and by the end of the day I had 6 little gifts in addition to my own stash and plenty for my son to take home.

m-c:

I was one of the lucky recipients, and -- talk about lack of generosity -- I managed never to let Mark have even a lick; I managed to make him forget about its existence altogether.

mb:

Your gifts are always so beautifully presented -- tell about where you get ideas for packaging and wrapping.

Suzette:

Well, as you know, sometimes things arrive in plain tin cans or canning jars. Actually I think a glass canning jar is really a classy container. Otherwise, I squirrel away possible containers, like small jars or odd boxes. Add a twist of raffia or satin ribbon and it's a done deal.

I have always loved the way the Japanese wrap things and keep thinking I should look more closely at their techniques.

m-c:

We should mention that the photographs for this smalltalk are not Suzette's spare and elegant japanesque gifts but some stuff we put together to do a goofy riff on the concept of food gifts.

Suzette:

Good, I'm glad I don't have to disown them.

m-c:

Do people ever ask you for more? (The dulce de leche was so simple I just turned around and made it for myself, but I've been angling for another jar of that antipasto for years.)

Suzette:

People only hint that they want more. I have never been asked outright, but I'll take your hint seriously.

m-c:

Thank you!

mb:

Do you share the recipes you use? Or are they your little secret (because then you always give the best gifts)?

Suzette:

I share ALL my recipes and ideas, even for the antipasta recipe. I make food to share either at the table or as a gift and that includes the recipe.

m-c:

We know it's more satisfying, but is it actually cheaper to give a home-made gift than it is to give something you buy?

Suzette:

Sometimes cheaper, sometimes not. The quince paste was super cheap since the quince was free. Because cooking is an avocation, I don't often dwell on the cost. Besides, if one took flowers or a nice bottle of wine to a friend it would be $12-15 or more, and I'm sure none of my little gifts runs that much.

I rarely make something as just a one-time gift to a single person. I'm definitely a batch processor.

mb:

Are you bummed when people just bring a bottle of wine to your house instead of something home-made?

Suzette:

Although I have never been one to turn down a nice bottle of wine, I would love to get more home-made food gifts. I'm not "bummed," though. I love being invited for dinner and that is a food gift in and of itself.

mb:

What the best home-made gift you ever got?

Suzette:

The antipasta that I make started as a food gift from someone else. It may be the all-time winner.

I should point out that the person who gave it to me refused to share the recipe. A friend and I finally found what is, for all intents and purposes, the recipe and are happy to share it with anyone.

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