My passion for food and travel has taken me down a path that takes me out of the country for many months at a time: I teach cooking classes and give culinary tours around the globe. I try my best to “be here now” and fully appreciate where I am and what the season is. The Europeans do it so well. Be it tradition, patriotism, or simply the knowledge that local/seasonal/regional just tastes better, the markets I have visited from Copenhagen to Casablanca are always about what was recently pulled from the ground, trees, ocean, or handmade in small batches. They celebrate the arrival of ingredients with festivals and the many local city and town open-air markets are teeming with that which is freshest.
A glimpse into what Annie samples and prepares on her travels when teaching cooking classes and leading culinary tours abroad.
In Riga, Latvia (talk about a short growing season) the Central Market (opened in 1930 to be the best market in Europe) is a marvel—four former German zeppelin hangars are filled stem to stern with fish, meat, produce, and dairy respectively. Outside the market, local farmers simply set up stands under awnings. May to August (with an intense summer solstice) and it’s done, then there’s a long, cold winter. What they grow, grows fast and in big numbers, but then that’s it. The chanterelle mushrooms, herbs, cucumbers, berries, melons, and all manner of produce from the soil pile up in heaps and the Latvians eat as much as they can, then they dry, pickle, or preserve what they can’t.
At the markets in Nice, they have coeur de boeuf ̶ beef “heart” not beef “steak” ̶ tomatoes and I buy as many as would make sense (plus some more) and they are delicious, just sliced with some verdant Provençal olive oil, sea salt, and thyme. In Oslo and Helsinki, it’s cloudberries ̶ egg-yolk-yellow cousins of raspberries, which seem to glow in the bright Nordic sun. I eat them by the handful and feel sorry for myself that I can’t make jars and jars of jam.
Coeur de boeuf "beef heart" tomatoes at a local market in Nice, France.
In late winter, it's sea urchin or ricci season in Sardinia, a perfectly al dente bowl of spaghetti with a bit of dried chile flakes, a hint of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, and those briny, oceany gifts from Neptune are an ethereal experience.
But for all the traveling I get to do, I often miss getting my hands in the dirt of my tiny backyard garden in Somerville. The squirrels and rabbits get most of the bounty (one nasty guy takes just one bite out of each eggplant), so I feel pretty psyched when I get a few dozen tomatoes from the four or five vines we have. I relish those tomatoes and I can be pretty insufferable about insisting on eating them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If I’m away and I can’t get plants in the ground in time, or if I’m not home when they ripen, I get legitimately homesick and will talk to anyone who will listen to me about why New England tomatoes are so important and so good. I’m here this year and if this one mean squirrel doesn’t get them before I do, I’m already thinking about that first BLT on toasted wheat bread with Duke’s mayonnaise.
But for all the traveling I get to do, I often miss getting my hands in the dirt of my tiny backyard garden in Somerville. The squirrels and rabbits get most of the bounty (one nasty guy takes just one bite out of each eggplant), so I feel pretty psyched when I get a few dozen tomatoes from the four or five vines we have. I relish those tomatoes and I can be pretty insufferable about insisting on eating them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If I’m away and I can’t get plants in the ground in time, or if I’m not home when they ripen, I get legitimately homesick and will talk to anyone who will listen to me about why New England tomatoes are so important and so good. I’m here this year and if this one mean squirrel doesn’t get them before I do, I’m already thinking about that first BLT on toasted wheat bread with Duke’s mayonnaise.
Annie Copps is the former senior food editor of Yankee Magazine, overseeing the magazine's food coverage both as an editor and as a contributor of feature stories and columns. Prior to joining Yankee, she served as Food Editor of Boston Magazine and Feature Editor of Concierge, and was also widely known for her work as the host of WBZ radio's Connoisseurs' Corner and WTKK's Table Talk with Annie Copps. Annie also contributed to WGBH's food blog, The Daily Dish.
As a television producer, she made her mark with two popular public broadcasting series, Cooking with Todd English and Julia Child's Kitchen, where she was an assistant to the legendary grande dame of French cuisine. She has appeared frequently as a guest on NBC's Today Show and other TV and radio shows. She is a veteran of some of the area's most prestigious kitchens, including Olive's and Jasper's.
Most recently, she has been sailing around the world creating and leading interactive cooking classes and culinary discovery tours at a number of international food venues in addition to managing the Culinary Center aboard luxury cruise ships for Bon Appétit.
As a television producer, she made her mark with two popular public broadcasting series, Cooking with Todd English and Julia Child's Kitchen, where she was an assistant to the legendary grande dame of French cuisine. She has appeared frequently as a guest on NBC's Today Show and other TV and radio shows. She is a veteran of some of the area's most prestigious kitchens, including Olive's and Jasper's.
Most recently, she has been sailing around the world creating and leading interactive cooking classes and culinary discovery tours at a number of international food venues in addition to managing the Culinary Center aboard luxury cruise ships for Bon Appétit.
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