Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/599676
f a l l / w i n t e r 2 0 1 5 | 2 5 Merrill Shindler: Could this dish have existed, say, ten years ago? Diana Stavaridis: Probably not. I guess credit goes to heirloom tomatoes. There are so many, and more pop up all the time. The same thing is happening with other vegetables like radishes— but especially with carrots. There are thumbelinas, there are rocket reds, there are short fat carrots and long thin carrots. Carrots were the first seed we planted in the garden down the street, and the first to come up. So, I challenged myself to see how many ways I could prepare one vegetable. MS: Did you have trouble coming up with 11 different forms of carrot? DS: Actually, the hardest part is slowing down, and not doing too many. Once you start imagining things to do with a vegetable, the possibilities just keep growing. In fact, I've got more I may add– like carrot vinegar, edible carrot soil, and maybe a carrot top Martini. MS: So, what's on the plate? It's so complex, it needs a road map to figure it all out. DS: There's raw carrots, roasted baby carrots, carrot hummus, carrot oil, carrot top oil, carrot vinaigrette, carrot caramel, pickled ginger-carrot juice, organic yellow carrots, organic orange carrots, sous-vide carrots, microgreens, roasted lemon purée, seed bread and pistachio dukkah (an Egyptian blend of nuts, seeds and spices). It was 1.0 until we added the carrot caramel, pickled carrot juice and carrot top oil, which made it a new dish. MS: How have people responded to it? DS: It's the one dish on the menu I was the most nervous about. I didn't think it would go over well. But it's been such a big success. Everyone loves carrots. We all grew up with carrots. And I've never run into anyone with a carrot allergy—at least not so far. We encounter all sorts of strange allergies—but not carrots. There are too many allergy issues for me to ever do Peanutology. MS: And there are so many parts and pieces on the dish! DS: This is a tough dish on a busy Saturday night. There's so much going on. The buckwheat on the side is tossed to order. The seed crackers have to be properly crispy. There's a lot of seasoning and shining things up and creat- ing a masterpiece. MS: So, what's next? Artichokeology? Avocadology? DS: I'm working on Tomatology right now—making tomato water, tomato gelée with agar, tomato Jell-O cubes, drying tomatoes, smoking tomatoes, dehydrating tomatoes. Like I said, once you start it's hard to stop. But it's how we eat by the beach—clean eating, healthy eating, lots of vegetables. This is the right food for here. MS: And you've got plenty coming up in the garden. DS: We've got about 400 seed- lings—eggplant, shelling beans, heirloom tomatoes, breakfast radishes, Chioggia beets, lemon verbena, chervil, thyme, red and yellow bell peppers, and arugula. It keeps me thinking. It's what makes cheffing fun. Chef Diana Stavaridis makes carrot magic happen at Manhattan House in Manhattan Beach, CA. ■cr