This is about the fourth time I’ve offered lunch for the bottling line crew. They work hard and fast, bottling and labeling close to 2000 cases of wine a day, with our son, Jon’s, mobile bottling line. Mostly Hispanic, the crew supporting the mechanics of the bottling line are big guys who eat a lot, and I think they are rather particular about what they eat. The first time I cooked, several were not present…..and I took on a quiet challenge. I’ve felt a need to “prove myself” to them. Would there be enough food seemed to be a first unspoken question. Would it be any good, clearly a second unspoken question. Would we all have to sit together and be nice, a third unspoken question. And, I think most importantly perhaps, would this continue, or was it a flash in the frying pan, so to speak. Would I continue to cook? Was it going to be a tradition to have lunch together? To care how they felt about what they were eating? To learn to tease them, and have fun?
So what to feed eight big guys who give very few indicators of how they are “feeling”, plus six or more family members who are either part of the crew, or have an uncanny sense of when lunch is on, just bursting with feeling.
On the hottest day of the summer, (and I knew that, so WHAT was I thinking?) I decided to start a day ahead and make minestrone. I can’t really say why, except that lots of the things I love to put in minestrone are perfectly in season: sweet onions, zucchini by the bushel, fresh tomatoes, fresh broad beans, peas, garlic, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary……you get the picture. At least it is cool in the bowels of the winery, where we ate. And no one seemed critical of having hot soup on the hottest day of the summer yet. So, O.K., maybe number two criterion was met by the soup. Trust me, there was a crush pan load of food, so I felt number one criterion was A-0K.
I bought a panini press two years ago (toys for cooks who own a winery are so much fun)…….and made panini sandwiches of provolone cheese, organic chicken, avacado, grilled mushrooms, fresh tomato, sweet onions roasted with basil, and good country bread. They disappeared pretty fast. (Add that to number two criterion).
A Hermiston watermelon rounded it out.
What happened was, for me, really nice. The guys got enough to eat (criterion 1); I think they liked it (though parmesan cheese for the soup seemed to be a mystery for a few—criterion 2) and we don’t force the seating arrangement. It’s a big, family table, and people sit where they sit. (Criterion three). But as the guys got up to leave (we haven’t convinced a one of them to enjoy a small glass of wine with lunch…..but who knows?) I received very direct thank yous, and offers to take dishes to the kitchen (where is the family on THAT one?), and best of all, wonderful smiles.
A good hot, summer day in Oregon at the kitchen table.
Inside the bottling truck – a smooth operation in a very compact space.
By tomorrow the big silver truck will be out of our driveway, and Casteel Custom Bottling will be off down the road to the next winery.
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