This must not be a new idea, but somehow I’ve gotten it into my head that the great culinary traditions of the world can probably be traced back to how that particular culture or region chose to deal with surplus. Wouldn’t this make a great book? (Maybe one already exists?)

When you think about a world pre-refrigeration, surplus and seasonal go hand in hand. Nature dictates the seasons, which results in cyclical surplus of several crops at a time. It was these co-occurring fruits, vegetables, grains, meats, nuts, and mushrooms that effectively constrained what people could prepare with what. Come to think of it, wouldn’t this make a great cookbook concept?

What are some examples of foods that might have had their root in a natural surplus? Here are a few off the top of my head:

• fruits and berries => jam preserves
• milk => cheese, yogurt, butter
• summer vegetables => ratatouille

I have to admit that these are only concepts that have occurred to me over the course of getting a box of fruits and vegetables delivered every other week for the past two years. The seasonal veggie box idea is such a brilliant concept, I have to wonder sometimes why it’s limited to CSAs. Why doesn’t Whole Foods offer a subscription veggie box? Or Safeway?

It’s definitely crossed my mind that in some future life I might lead a more agrarian lifestyle, but saying I’d like to be a farmer reeks of a kind of wannabe Pollanian hipsterism. Instead, if I look at it from the perspective of surplus, both in creating it (too many sheep, too much wool, too much milk, too many vegetables, etc) and dealing with it (lamb, yarn, cheese, canning, etc), the agrarian ideal, for me at least, becomes much more real, and potentially enjoyable. Like problem solving on a seasonal scale.