For the past several days I’ve been laughing to myself about something that happened last week. And it feels sooooo good to giggle like that—especially with all the dark-side news these days. What was this cheerful chuckle all about? Take a guess. AI!
Last week I followed my usual routine: I uploaded my column to ChatGPT and asked it to copyedit my work. The column was about my top five favorite ingredients. I sent it off and waited for the AI to generate a polished version.
But this time Chat took a detour. In a bubbly burst of enthusiasm, it announced that it loved to cook (oh, do you now?) and promptly volunteered its own top-five ingredients list. In all that excitement, Chat completely forgot to edit my column. Charming Chat informed me that its five favorite ingredients are sherry vinegar, anchovies, preserved lemons, tahini and fish sauce. That sounds like a Mediterranean diet to me.
This jogged my memory about the time my friend Bill gave me a high-end bottle of authentic sherry vinegar—Vinagre de Jerez Gran Reserva—made in Spain, aged ten years, and purchased on his travels. That elixir was a real treat. I quickly discovered that a little splash here and a little splash there—on vegetables, soups, even in a curry—added a surprising sparkle. One memorable salad dressing I made with walnut oil, sherry vinegar, shallots, Dijon, and a pinch of sugar was simply out of this world. Another bottle of the real-deal sherry vinegar is definitely going on my wish list.
The first time I ate an anchovy was not too long ago at Wendell’s house. He was making puttanesca sauce, and I ate the few that were leftover in the can. For years I had been afraid of anchovies, though I’m not sure why. I was surprised by how much I liked them. I’m glad Chat likes them too.
I’ve made preserved lemons several times; they’re easy to prepare and a fun ingredient to keep around. Add a few and a dish suddenly becomes fancy. I use tahini—sesame seed butter—mostly for hummus and sometimes in salad dressings. I also mix it with honey for a delicious snack eaten just plain.
I don’t yet have fish sauce in my kitchen, but I recently read about it. It’s one of those low/high ingredients: buy the best version you can, because quality matters. Fish sauce adds that deep umami, savory flavor to foods, much the way anchovies do.
So it turns out that Chat and I have something in common. One of the only two cookbooks I own is titled The Essential Mediterranean Cookbook. Perhaps Chat and I could cook together sometime.