Red Meat: Nathan Hatfield
Posted by Warren Rojas / Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011
EatGoodFood Group‘s Nathan Hatfield can’t wait to help everyone get their hands dirty:
The Armstrongs’ go-to baker is excited about sharing his pastry knowledge with fellow cooking devotees at Society Fair, the bakery/gourmet grocery/epicurean playground/eatery–which, we have been assured, will feature a dedicated larder menu–slated to open later this fall.
WR: Butter. Sugar. What other culinary elements could you not live without?
NH: Flour–an ingredient that is so simple and unassuming [yet] has so much potential for flavor. With a little manipulation of time and temperature you can coax out sweet, nutty and floral notes that just aren’t there on a normal basis.
WR: What’s the very first dish you ever mastered? How long did it take? Do you still make it today?
NH: The first thing I ever mastered had to be my biscuits. It took me at least 40-50 attempts to get to the recipe that is forever burned into my brain. As a boy from the south, I kept trying to use lard as the fat in the recipe, but the taste was flat. Realized butter as they say, makes it better. And if you’re using Kerrygold it is even harder to fail. You have to use buttermilk and you have to be nice to the dough. I still make them at least twice a week, best right out of the oven.
WR: What seasonal ingredient(s) get your creative juices flowing?
NH: Corn and strawberries have to be the most exciting ingredients for me. When the corn starts coming I think cornbread, pancakes and puddings. As for strawberries, those little dark red strawberries that Bob (farmer) brings Restaurant Eve. They are so sweet and wonderful. Make jam, spread it on a warm biscuit, you just melt, it’s that good.
WR: My latest cookbook obsession is …
NH: Tartine Bread. This book is beautiful. The breads that they are producing are some of the best out there. It is very informative and great for the professional as well as the aspiring home baker. I’m also just a little jealous that he goes surfing in the morning before heading to the bakery!
WR: What’s the most challenging dish you’ve ever attempted? Would you make it again?
NH: Phyllo dough is the hardest thing I have ever attempted. You start with this piece of dough that is two inches thick and four inches square and then you have to proceed to stretch and coerce this dough into a sheet that is thin enough to read through. I try about once a month and have yet to be successful but I’ll keep trying.
WR: If I could the spend the day working alongside any local chef, I’d love to collaborate with …
NH: Besides my chef, Cathal Armstrong, who I really enjoy cooking with I would have to say, Frank Ruta. His food has always been inspiring to me. It is just clean, focused, well executed food. The fact that he likes making bread is just a bonus.
WR: What’s the easiest/quickest–but still wholly satisfying–meal you make for yourself?
NH: The easiest thing I make is a tomato sandwich. Just toast, tomato (bursting with ripeness), mayo, salt, and pepper, there’s nothing else to it. It would be my last meal. Thanks to my grandfather in North Carolina who showed me this very simple pleasure.
WR: In the next six months you won’t want to miss my …
NH: The newest creation from the EatGoodFood Group, Society Fair. A bakery, butcher shop, wine bar and studio kitchen all under one roof. The concept is similar to Eataly (but on a mom and pop scale) in NYC. Coming later this year.
WR: It’s quitting time. I’m pouring myself …
NH: Most likely it is bourbon, neat or with a bit of ice. Anything by Pappy Vanwinkle or Black Maple Hill.
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Homemade cornbread and fresh strawberry jam sound like a little slice of heaven, chef.
Come back next Tuesday for another helping of Red Meat.
–Warren
Tags: Alexandria, baking, cooking, Eat Good Food Group, food, Frank Ruta, Gut Check, hospitality industry, Nathan Hatfield, Northern Virginia Magazine, NoVA, Palena, Red Meat, Restaurant Eve, restuarants, Society Fair, Tartine Bread, Warren Rojas