Cook This Now! Turmeric leaf wrapped local fluke with ají dulce kosho

Autumn preparations on a biodynamic farm differ from general gearing up for winter tasks. While most of us are in the throes of covering outdoor furniture, emptying terra cotta pots to prevent cracking and planting spring bulbs, KK’s the Farm fall focus is on next spring’s soil and the life within it.

At a recent multi-course, whole-plant dinner with North Fork local chef Cheo Avila and Brooklyn and Tokyo-based catering chef Ai Ito, guests witnessed and partook in the biodynamic preparations that make the farm’s renowned vegetables so delicious and nutrient-dense.

It’s a group effort to coax and coexist with the land, implemented by KK’s owner Ira Haspel, Sonomi Obinata (who worked very closely with Haspel’s late wife and farmer, Kathy Keller) and partner Gordon Cox. “We aim to deliver to our wholesale customers, our CSA members and farmers markets the best possible product unlike anything they’ve ever had in their life,” Cox explained to guests at the event held on the grounds of the Southold-based farm.

With soil health being the number one priority, KK’s autumn preparations include the yearly ritual of burying harvested native plants, milled quartz, and manure-filled cow horns (healthy horns, Cox says, are a conduit of sorts) in the pasture over winter.

“This is the only farming practice where you can heal the environment and soil, working with nature to stimulate and strengthen it,” said Obinata while covering the horns in compost. Come spring; the finished product is excavated, revealing a rich, dark, colloidal form composed of minerals and trace elements essential for the metabolic processes of living organisms, with the help of “subtle forces,” as Ira explained while shoveling.

“The excavated product is extremely high in microbial life,” he offered, “a couple of tablespoons of this mixed with 3 gallons of water biodynamically will fertilize one acre.”

Following the fascinating lesson in chemical-free farming techniques (with Macari’s sparkling cab franc “Horses” in hand — the Macaris, too, try to honor biodynamic practices), guests meandered upstairs to the rustic loft of the market barn for a seven-course journey of tastes and textures celebrating the whole plant: root, leaf, flower and fruit.

Keeping in mind the desire to showcase and complement the produce procured at KK’s, Avila and Ito sourced local fluke and clams for the menu, implementing unusual preparations of their own, which were none more effective than in the third course: turmeric papillote.

Described by Avila as a “nice and bright” dish, it was prepared with just-caught fluke topped with a homemade ají dulce kosho using sweet chili peppers grown at KK’s and wrapped and steamed in a large turmeric leaf grown in the greenhouses of KK’s. This amazingly aromatic “pocket of happiness” (another of Avila’s clever descriptions) was presented closed at the table, where guests were encouraged to place their face over the dish to get the full aromatic effect of the fish and ají dolce kosho steam when unwrapping the turmeric leaf.

It might sound fanciful, but Avila encourages trying this technique if preparing the dish at home. “Not only will your guests experience the delicate flavors of your creation,” he insists, “but also the soul of what our seafood and terroir provide.” 

For as much as this dish was a delight for the fragrant senses, its visual appeal was also noteworthy, as were all the dishes, including a leaf chip topped with fall field flowers, picked by Ito just moments before guests arrived. An inspiring meal, to say the least, and with turmeric leaves showing up at KK’s recent indoor farmers market, it is a perfect excuse to try out their collaborative recipe at home.

“We recommend serving it with a rice pilaf finished with a good organic butter,” say Avila and Ito, “and a spicy mixed greens salad with lettuces from KK’s dressed with a simple lemon and olive oil vinaigrette.” 

Don’t forget the wine! Macari Vineyards 2023 Lifeforce sauvignon blanc pairs nicely, and knowing that aspects of biodynamics are employed there, too, make it a match made in holistic heaven.