IT’S ALMOST SUMMER: SIMPLE, FAST, DELICIOUS

Sacramento’s fabulous Corti Brothers Gourmet grocery store posted this photo yesterday to announce “The First of the Season heirloom tomatoes are here!”

Reminding me of the powerful pleasure of simplicity. 

And of Escoffier’s maxim to always keep in mind, when cooking, to “faites simple.”  Keep it simple.

Defined for me one very hot afternoon in midsummer Marrakesh I had wandered around trying to decide where to have lunch. No restaurant looked suitable. Too crowded, too expensive, too empty, too everything. By two-thirty, no one would serve me anyway since the afternoon siesta time was fast approaching. I walked back to my hotel in the European district outside the center of town. By the time I reached the hotel, the only noises were the barking of dogs, the hum of flies, and the slight tinkling of a plastic fountain in the hotel garden. I called for the owner who graciously explained that at after three o’clock there is no food. I asked if I could use the kitchen, a request that so hor…