{"id":32441,"date":"2015-09-09T18:16:16","date_gmt":"2015-09-09T22:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wanderlust.com\/?p=32441"},"modified":"2015-09-23T18:50:55","modified_gmt":"2015-09-23T22:50:55","slug":"seamus-mullen-remembers-his-first-really-bad-tomato","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/pt-pt\/journal\/seamus-mullen-remembers-his-first-really-bad-tomato\/","title":{"rendered":"Seamus Mullen Remembers His First Bad Tomato"},"content":{"rendered":"

This recipe is part of a\u00a0new series,\u00a0From the Wanderlust Kitchen<\/a><\/strong>, celebrating real, good food. Receive a digital cookbook of this season’s recipes by\u00a0signing up here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

Food has always been an important part of Seamus Mullen\u2019s life. Before he became executive chef of Wanderlust Hollywood<\/a>\u2014plus the chef\/owner of three others in New York and the culinary director of another in London\u2014he spent his days on his family\u2019s organic farm in Vermont, where picking fresh produce, tending to animals, and mucking stalls were an integral part of his childhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe produced the vast majority of what we ate, so I had a really intimate relationship with food from a young age,\u201d Seamus says.<\/p>\n

And more than just establishing his relationship with food, farm life instilled in Seamus an appreciation for using quality, seasonal ingredients. He can pinpoint the moment when he knew this relationship with food wasn\u2019t universal. It was the first time he had a really bad tomato.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were just crispy, crunchy, apple-texture tomatoes that had come out of a refrigerator,\u201d he remembers. \u201cI couldn\u2019t even recognize them.\u201d In other words, they were a far cry from the lush, sweet, juicy tomatoes he had grown up eating.<\/p>\n

This moment was the first in paving his path toward his life calling as a chef, especially as one whose food philosophy emphasizes quality ingredients above all else.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe in a simple way of cooking,\u201d he says, \u201cwhich is to cook as close to the way we cooked 100 years ago. Use natural saturated fats, use lots of vegetables depending on the season of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

To see this food philosophy in action, don\u2019t miss Seamus\u2019s recipe for Heirloom Tomato and Watermelon Salad<\/a> from Wanderlust Hollywood<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n

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Sign up for seasonal recipes, digital cookbooks, and inspiring interviews.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\r\n