Peter Glatz

The onset of spring brings with it a shift in what we do in restaurant kitchens. The season marks our departure from the heavy root vegetables of winter to fresh, vibrant produce. Following months of quiet dormancy, the emergence of foraged treasures like morel mushrooms and ramps, followed by locally grown asparagus, changes our menu […]

Now in my third year at Champaign’s Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery, I stay busy working at Caprae, our farm-to-table restaurant, and teaching culinary classes in our new education facility. Recently, I have also begun spending my Saturday mornings assisting at the Salt Fork Food Works Food Hub back home in Springfield. A few weeks […]

One of the most rewarding aspects of travel is discovering local culinary traditions – those storied techniques and heritage dishes that I would love to weave into my own kitchen repertoire. Every trip is a research and development project. This past autumn, a winning bid at a school fundraiser bought us a week in a […]

Confit and rillettes are two traditional methods of food preservation. Dating back to ancient civilizations, these methods originated as a preservation practice before the advent of refrigeration. They both involve slowly cooking meat in its own rendered fat. By submerging the food under a layer of fat, an anaerobic environment was created, effectively preventing spoilage […]

Freezers shouldn’t be packed more than 75-80% full to allow optimal airflow. Mine’s about 95-98% full, mostly with one-cup containers of various stocks. Stocks are a cornerstone of my cooking, and I am obsessive about maintaining an adequate supply. I find the rich, savory flavor of chicken stock indispensable. I routinely use it as the […]

Preserving food was vital for survival before modern refrigeration, especially for milk, which was plentiful in the summer but scarce in winter. About 8,000 years ago, a method was devised to ensure milk could be stored for the cold season: it was curdled using either acid or rennet, and the resulting curds were then preserved […]

Two decades ago, I attended an outstanding performance by the Derek Trucks Band at Tipitina’s in Uptown New Orleans. The evening’s most enduring memory, however, wasn’t the music – it was a late-night culinary discovery. Stepping outside for air, I was drawn by an irresistible aroma to a man selling noodle soup out of the […]

The period spanning the early 2010s to the early 2020s saw a significant shift in the restaurant industry, driven by growing consumer interest in ethical and sustainable food, which in turn boosted demand for more plant-based menu options.  Dan Barber’s The Third Plate, published in 2014, envisioned a future in which vegetables moved to the […]

As I emerged from my late adolescence into early adulthood, I harbored dreams of traveling the world. But like the derailed plans of George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, my hippie-inspired dream of backpacking through Europe had to be put on hold. Marriage, children and the practical demands of paying off student loan debt […]

I am a staunch supporter of family farms and sustainable agriculture, and I prefer shopping at small, local businesses over large corporations. This deeply held belief is why the sight of an Amazon package on my porch inevitably triggers a sense of guilt. The Amazon box symbolizes my struggle to uphold my values in a […]

Growing up in a middle-class Chicago suburb during the 1950s and 60s, my family’s life was comfortable, though not lavish. My father, an art school graduate, became a commission-based salesman when he realized he couldn’t support his young family as an artist. Consequently, vacations were beyond our means, and except for our weekly Saturday outing […]