THE COOKBOOK TEST #0008: WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN COOKBOOK BY JOSÉ ANDRÉS
INSTALLMENT #0008 (PAID) / FOOD AS COMFORT, COMFORT AS LIFE / BISCUIT-FESTOONED CHICKEN POT PIE / PORK AL PASTOR
Dear Subscribers,
This week’s cookbook is special even by the ground rules of this newsletter (all special cookbooks, all the time, each more special than the last.) There aren’t many truly heroic people walking around the Earth at any given moment, but I think José Andrés - a great chef who has turned himself into a globally relevant bringer of hope, food, and comfort to people stricken by war and natural disasters through his World Central Kitchen organization - certainly qualifies. [1] As I write these words (mid-October), Andrés just pledged $1 million to assist with the relief effort in Israel and Gaza. In a war-torn, globally warming, dangerous world, the guy doesn’t miss a beat.
That makes this book timely and big-hearted at the very least. Whether the recipes work when tested is another question entirely…
At your service,
James
THE WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN COOKBOOK
BY JOSÉ ANDRÉS
Clarkson Potter / 304 pages / 2023 / $35
THE WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN COOKBOOK is a collection of recipes and stories, in roughly equal proportions, that tell the history of the organization as it travels to destinations as varied as Haiti, Ukraine, Caracas, and more to bring food and hope to people reeling from catastrophe. The book is arranged thematically: broad ideas are paired with classes of dishes, such as Empathy (Braises and Other Long Cooks), Urgency (Sandwiches, Arepas, and Food on the Go), and Hope (Stews, Soups, and Warming Meals.) The recipes balance comfort with scalability with local connections to create dishes that are able to feed a crowd with spirit as well as calories.
With all the goodwill that this group has generated and all the chefs connected to its organization, this would be an easy cookbook to kind of phone in - but the truth is that it’s written with a great deal of passion and precision, and I found myself crying (not ugly crying, but legitimately tears running down my face) while reading this at a bench on a playground while watching my son’s soccer game. That, by any measure, is a sign of a successful book.
BISCUIT-FESTOONED CHICKEN POT PIE
It would take a lot to sway me from my tried-and-true creamy leeks-based chicken pot pie recipe, and the José Andrés Chicken Pot Pie That Helped D.C. Feel Better During the Pandemic recipe didn’t quite have the mojo to get it done. Please don’t misunderstand me - the biscuit-adorned chicken pot pie from the World Central Kitchen Cookbook is quite good. The carrots and peas take on the delicious chicken-y richness of the creamy sauce, and the biscuits make a real visual statement as they ride their carpet of chicken-blasted-intensity to infinity and beyond.
Ultimately, I’m too much of a sucker for creamy leeks and the consistency of “one bite of pot pie = one bite of flakey, substantial, delicious crust.” The biscuits in this recipe take more active piloting, if only to break them up into crust-like sections to accompany the pie.
It may be that I’ve made my creamy leek pie so many times that it’s second nature, but the Andrés pie feels both very similar and quite obvious. Poach some chicken on the bone, pull about 4 cups of the meat, and then mix it with a creamy gravy with carrots (pre cooked to soften a bit) and frozen peas. (I like to do it in chicken stock and make an impromptu chicken noodle soup at the end of the process with leftover odds and sods)
The recipe also calls for celery, which I ignored, because I generally feel like most occurrences of celery in recipes are errors based on force of habit rather than serious recommendations. Your mileage may vary.
Biscuit dough is cut into rounds and stacked on top of your filling and chicken, and then the whole assemblage is baked for about 20 minutes until the biscuits are cooked through. Following the recipe, I got a tasty, hearty, satisfying dish of comfort food that even my picky children were excited to eat. “I like the vegetables!” exclaimed my daughter, one of the least likely things she has ever said.
PORK AL PASTOR
Tacos al pastor at Taqueria La Hacienda were one of the first - of many - tacos that I’ve fallen in love with on East Lake Street in Minneapolis. (See also: lengua at La Alborada, birria at Cuatro Milpas, carnitas at La Poblanita, etc. etc. - it is truly a wondrous street for first generation Mexican food.)
As found in the wild, the tastiest tacos al pastor have a meat that is pebbly, deeply spiced, not overly sweet (or pineapple-forward), and a bit dry, leaning on the salsa, onions, and cilantro to balance the dish. The World Central Kitchen cookbook version of al pastor is much closer to what I know as carnitas - a tender, moist, pulled pork shoulder-based dish. As such, when I edited my home cookbook to include this recipe, it was my existing good (but not great) carnitas recipe that I bumped out of the way.
The WCK al pastor recipe is terrific - a little sweet, warmed by cloves and cinnamon, reliant on pineapple but not over-the-top with it. The resulting meat is exactly what is called for under stressful (or even disaster) conditions: a big, bold, warm, comforting hug of a dish that you can scale up easily and use to feed a hungry crowd.
I’ve made several successful recipes over the course of THE COOKBOOK TEST so far, but this goes right to the top of my list. It would work for a celebratory meal with a big crowd, a Sunday night project to feed the family for the week, or (as I experienced it) a hospitable way to welcome an old friend who was visiting from out-of-town.
3 Tbsp paprika (sweet if you got it, but either works)
2 Tbsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp black pepper
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder (we use berbere)
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
4 pounds pork shoulder / butt
1 20 oz. can juice-packed pineapple chunks, juice reserved OR
1 cup 3/4 inch chunks fresh pineapple plus 1 cup of pineapple juice
5 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
Chopped onion and cilantro to serve (guac and/or sour cream also nice)
Tortillas
Combine all your spices.
Dry your pork shoulder with a paper towel, and put it in a baking dish. Make 15-20 incisions into it and insert chunks of pineapple. Massage it with the spice blend, and then rub it with the garlic and onion. Refrigerate uncovered for 4-16 hours.
Preheat your oven to 450 F. Remove the dish from the fridge, add vinegar, 1 cup pineapple juice, and 1 cup water. Cover and seal the pan with lid or foil. Place pork in oven and reduce heat to 300 F. Cook until meat starts to shred with a fork, about 3 hours. Baste every 30-45 minutes (optional, I dunno if basting even really does anything in this scenario, I think I basically do it at this point because I’m superstitious.)
Remove lid or foil, raise temperature to 450 F, and roast pork until its golden brown on top, 15-25 minutes.
Remove pork from oven and let it rest for 30 minutes. Pull pork in a bowl with forks, then pour some juices from the pan over the shredded meat. Serve with chopped cilantro and onion on fresh or warmed tortillas.
THE VERDICT ON THE WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN COOKBOOK
(***BUY IT*** / BORROW IT / SKIP IT / BURN IT)
Even if the recipes were garbage, I’d probably recommend this book as a collection of stories about chefs and volunteers out in the most devastated parts of the world, struggling valiantly to do good. But the recipes are great - clearly written, comforting, tasty, accessible and diverse. Just a lovely cookbook laden with delicious food and good works. If you’re looking for holiday gifts, this is a fine place to start.
A CALL FOR RECIPES OF COMFORT
If you have a dish that you fall back upon in times of crisis and use to feed a crowd when the going gets tough, I’d love to hear the story and/or read the recipe. (For possible publication in a later newsletter with your permission, or not if you’d rather not.)
FOOTNOTE
[1] Dear friends of mine, active in the world of Washington, D.C. community organizing, reminded me that José Andrés and his company actively campaigned against better wages for restaurant workers. I am still voting “yes” on canonizing him as a secular saint, but it’s a blotch on an otherwise good record.