Portland Fridge - Tonight's Dinner Forecast, with KGW-TV Weatherman Matt Zaffino
Story and Photo by Jen Marlow
For Spring 2007
MATT ZAFFINO WATCHES the sky from Eagle’s Nest, his home office. The highest room in the house, it’s connected to the second floor by a dizzy climb up a wrought-iron twist of spiral stairs. From this carpeted perch, computers, microphones, even a weather cam hooked to the roof come as no surprise. But beckoning out the small, square row of windows above Zaffino’s desk is Sauvie Island. “This is why I moved here,” explains Zaffino, gesturing to the view. He points to where the Willamette drains into the Columbia River.
The view is simple and stunning. So is Zaffino’s kitchen, which is downstairs on the first floor. With Finnish alder cabinetry, earthy granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances, weather’s elemental shades are invited inside. A flat screen TV next to the fridge broadcasts CNN. A pyramid stack of oranges and bananas shows that Zaffino and his wife, Lisa, love to eat healthfully.
In summertime, Zaffino’s favorite fare—Italian food—takes a back seat to salads, peaches, strawberries, and blueberries. But in winter, when it’s cold outside, he says, “Bring on the pasta.” Today is that kind of day. It’s been snowing on and off all morning.
It’s perfect for Zaffino, an avid skier who is also a marathoner, hiker, and climber. His house—and his eating habits—match his lifestyle. “Some people live to eat. I eat to live,” he says. True, I think, for the most part. But wait until you hear what gourmet treats he brings back-packing. First let’s hear about what’s in his fridge:
CHEF ZAFFINO'S SAUCE
My wife Lisa loves to cook Italian food, but she can’t compete with my spaghetti sauce. My mother, who happened to be Irish, handed down the recipe. Marrying into an Italian family, she had to compete with my Italian grandmother so her sauce is extraordinary.
Growing up Italian, I was raised on great food. There is no better meal than a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs—my favorite comfort food.
HOMEMADE CHICKEN SOUP
Lisa made this chicken soup for me because I’m fighting a head cold. It’s her homemade recipe, and it’s the best chicken soup I’ve ever had. She made it with corn, chicken, mushrooms, and carrots. There are a lot of leftovers in the fridge, but I won’t be able to tell you all the ingredients. You should really be doing this interview with Lisa!
THAI TO GO
Oh man. These are the leftovers from Thai Orchid last night. Yum! I love Thai food. I eat it at least once a week.
TILLAMOOK YOGURT
Black cherry is my favorite. Wait. Suddenly I feel like I’m doing a ‘50s food commercial. Remember in The Truman Show, when Jim Carrey and Laura Linney would be talking and all of the sudden she would interrupt him and say, “Maybe you’d like a tasty cup of hot cocoa, from Nestlé?!” And Jim would say, “Why are you talking like that?”
FROZEN FOODS
Let’s see what’s in the freezer. Wild smoked salmon. Ohhh! Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. Jumbo shrimp from our fondue fest— Lisa loves to do fondue. Wild chanterelle mushroom ravioli—I’m going to eat that later.
STARBUCKS ITALIAN BLEND
Coffee is a bit of an issue for me right now. When I lived on Mt. Tabor, I used to buy the Italian organic roast from Hawthorne Coffee Merchant. That was my favorite, but since I don’t live on that side of town anymore, I don’t get over there as much. So now it’s Starbucks.
WILD MORELS
I pick wild mushrooms twice a year. In the fall, I go out to the Gorge and pick chanterelles. In the spring, I scavenge the east side of Mt. Hood for morels, which are my favorite. They’re hard to find—they’re widely scattered, and they look like pinecones—but I’ve got a few choice (secret) spots that I hit every year. I dry them and take them backpacking with me. I rehydrate the mushrooms in water, and then cook them with soup, noodles, or a rice dish on my camp stove.
These are morels from 2004. They hold up in Ziploc bags in the freezer really well. I started dating them because I’d pull one out and think, Hmm, I wonder when I picked these?
CHANTERELLES
This was not a good chanterelle year for me because I went out picking a little too late. During a good year, I come back with garbage bags full of them. Chanterelles are higher maintenance than morels; you really have to let them soak, or else they taste rubbery. They’ll last for two weeks in the fridge after you pick them. Especially when they’re fresh like that, I’ll sauté them with a tiny bit of garlic and onion. You just let their flavor take over.
GINGER CHEWS
I’ve run 15 marathons in 15 years. When I’m doing a training run, I always bring something to eat in caseI start to bonk. I got into Ginger Chews. They’re chewy, last a long time, and have a kick, and the ginger tends to settle your stomach.
PAPAYAS
We usually don’t buy papayas, but we just got back from Mexico so we had to have them. I could eat a slice of papaya drizzled with fresh-squeezed lime juice every day for breakfast for the rest of my life.
THE WINE COOLER
My taste in wine is opposite of my taste in food. I love spicy food. I hate spicy wine. I want my wine to be smooth. Just clean and smooth. I like Pinot Noir from Oregon, and I love a good Chianti. I don’t drink Shiraz that much, and I’m not big on Zinfandels. I hate Merlot; it’s gross, and I won’t order it. And if I’m drinking white wine, even though it is kind of passé, I like a good Chardonnay.
THE "OTHER" (AKA BEER) FRIDGE
I’m a beer guy, and a huge IPA fan. Right now, I dig Broken Halo by Widmer Brothers. Terminal Gravity is my other favorite. It’s super hoppy, and made by Terminal Gravity Brewing Company out of Enterprise, Oregon, a small town by the Wallowas. In this freezer, we have some Cornish game hens, bagels, wild salmon patties, green beans, and bacon, which is mostly for appetizers.
EMERGENCY SUPPLY
It’s not by design our natural disaster emergency food supply, but our pantry is stocked with things like reduced-fat Jif, which has a half-life of ten thousand years, and Nutella, which reminds me (yuck) of Vegemite. If the power goes out, we could always eat these dark sweet cherries. And Xena (the dog) could chow this 33-pound bag of Solid Gold’s Hund-n-Flocken high-end dog food; it should last her for a while. [Lifts the heavy bag.] It’s also good for lifting weights, working those pecs.
PEACHES
There is a peach tree at my old house on Mt. Tabor that blooms in March. Peaches are really particular about having good weather when they blossom. If we happen to get that two-week window this March when it’s 60 or 70 degrees, and the blossoms are out, then there will be big, fat peaches hanging off that tree this summer. I just might have to sneak over there.
