At the end of a national book tour, Alice Waters was a bit tired but elated, the kind of feeling that follows pulling off a huge accomplishment.

 

CRISSY PASCUAL / Union-Tribune Alice Waters signed copies of her latest book, "The Art of Simple Food," at The Books Works in Del Mar.

In this case, it was signing 700 copies of her latest book, “The Art of Simple Food” (Clarkson Potter, $35), during one afternoon at The Book Works in Del Mar.  

“It was the most books I've ever sold at one time,” Waters said with a slight smile. “This is the last day, and at the last moment of it, it is great to be here with my extended family, as intense and gratifying as it is.

“Everyone who comes here shops at the Chino Farm,” she added, referring to the renowned Rancho Santa Fe produce grower that she has long championed.

Not bad for a county that still gets shrugged off as amateurish when it comes to serious food culture. Asked why they were here, people milling around the store sipping little glasses of Touriga Nacional spoke as if they were quoting a press release on Waters.

“I've been an admirer of her work for so many years,” said Mary Rodriguez, an artist from Rancho Santa Fe. “She revolutionized eating in our country in restaurants, and she brought it into the lives of children.”

Waters, dressed in a mauve and blue Anthropologie-chic outfit, a tiny gold peace-sign necklace and Repetto ballet flats, quietly sipped some Stone Brewing Co. ale. It was one of the gifts bestowed by fans, along with a jar of honey and some olive oil from Temecula. All across the country, Waters said she met so many people who “get” her vision of what food should be about.

“We're talking to a different set of people with a different set of values,” she said. “It's not 'Fast Food Nation'; it's Slow Food nation.”

Ever since she came back from Europe in the late 1960s armed with ideas about cooking simply and working with local farmers to grow heirloom produce in season, Waters has been quietly changing the way people think about food.

When she started a school garden at Berkeley's Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, earth-to-table school gardens began popping up all over. And when she replaced bottled water with filtered tap water at Chez Panisse, her influential Berkeley restaurant, for environmental reasons, other restaurateurs nationwide followed suit.

Waters, though, says she can't take credit for starting any of these things; she has just been early to act on what others were already contemplating.

“They're not my ideas,” Waters insists. “They're ideas that have been around since the beginning of time.”

People may know that it's a good idea to buy organic produce from the farmers market, to cook from scratch instead of using convenience foods, and to take the time to sit down and eat dinner with family and friends, she said. But they need a little push in the right direction, an example to follow.

“It's a tipping point,” Waters said. “People want to do something for a long time, and then someone says, 'Do it.' ”

Waters believes people can solve pressing issues such as obesity, global warming and the growth of a mindless fast-food culture by choosing to eat sustainably raised organic foods. But first, they need to shore up their cooking skills.

“Most people don't know how to cook, and it's a real impediment to this delicious revolution,” she said.

“The Art of Simple Food”, which focuses on basic cooking lessons and building a culinary repertoire, could almost be a prequel to Waters' other works, which have demystified the cuisine of Chez Panisse.

The techniques discussed in sections on simmering meats or making pie crusts are driven home with recipes such as Bolito Misto or Chocolate Tartlets. The salad chapter is a cornucopia of basic and satisfying creations such as Grapefruit and Avocado Salad, Salad Niçoise and Moroccan Carrot and Ginger Salad.

Notes in the margin, like whispered asides, reveal that it's OK to make a little cut in your fish to see if it's done inside or explain that egg whites whip up better in a copper bowl because of a chemical reaction.

Waters would like to see people get back to the simple ways of cooking before microwaves and so many unnecessary gadgets. Her ideal kitchen would have nothing but a mortar and pestle, a fireplace, a cast-iron pan, a sharp knife and a table to work on.

She recalled being a young woman in England, going to markets and making wonderfully memorable meals by improvising in her meagerly equipped kitchen.

Waters hopes her book will help more people discover or rediscover the sense of satisfaction that comes from cooking a meal from scratch and sharing it with friends and family.

“We've been sold a bill of goods that cooking is drudgery,” she said. “We've been indoctrinated by the taste of cheap and easy, as if that's going to satisfy us.”

 

Winter Fruit Compote

8 servings

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/4 cup Zante currants

1/4 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup dried apricots, diced

1/2 cup dried apples, diced

13/4 cups fresh orange juice

3 strips orange zest

1/4 cup brown sugar

1-inch section vanilla bean, slit lengthwise

1 star anise

In a saucepan, combine the raisins, currants, cherries, apricots, apples, orange juice, orange zest and brown sugar. Use a sharp knife to scrape the seeds out of the vanilla bean directly into the pan. Add the bean pod and the star anise.

Cook over medium heat until fruits have plumped and juice has slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool slightly, then discard vanilla bean, orange zest and star anise. Serve alone or with cake or crème frache.

If you like, add sliced poached pears or quince to the cooled fruit.

(From “The Art of Simple Food” by Alice Waters, Clarkson Potter.)