Real food.  Michael Pollan is known for talking about it.  Alice Waters, Frank Stitt, Thomas Keller and others are known for cooking it.  And lord knows I certainly hope to be known for eating it.

Every single day each of us eats something but for many of us the question is – is it real?  And what does that even mean? First of all, I’m definitely not Michael Pollan and will not for a moment pretend to be. And I am no chef. But I do love food.  I mean … I really, really love it.  And since I have to eat it, it sure as hell better taste awesome.

So, by my definition, real food means food that tastes good.  But then, before buying or cooking something, how does one know for certain that food is good, that it is real?

Michael Pollan has it broken down into some fairly simple rules that can be easily summed up by:

• Don’t buy it if your great-grandmother wouldn’t have recognized it, if you can’t read the ingredients or if it has more than five ingredients
• Stay away from the middle aisles when grocery shopping
• Don’t eat it if it won’t eventually rot
• Eat with people you love

I might add two more rules: find it locally and eat it seasonally. Very simple.  Pretty straightforward.  But more importantly, it’s realistic and applicable.

So many amazing chefs have followed such rules for years and years.  But what about the rest of us? How do we get started on this path of purely awesome (and healthy) food? Try starting with these:

• The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters – Ms. Waters beautifully helps a novice cook along in eating seasonally and keeping meals simple.
• Buy food from the Nebraska Food Co-Op and farmers markets.
• Know your farmer – farmers, such as the Chisholms, would be happy to give you a tour.

There is so much out there that we can chew on, swallow and fill our bellies with – why not make it the best thing you’ve ever tasted every time you sit down to eat?

It is because I absolutely love good food that I follow these rules.  It is because so many chefs have taught me to take different real food ingredients and turn them into magic that I want to be a chef groupie.  And it is because I want to pass that magic onto others that I have partnered with Daphne to start Del Marie Creamery.

- annemarie

Part 1 of The Why Series