In Issue #33

HOOSIER THOUGHTS
 

Thrive is a word that you can use throughout many aspects of life. To us, it feels like the proper word to describe Indiana summers and this particular issue.

To thrive is to grow or develop well, a phenomenon that comes through clearly in the words and photography of our contributors.

We all do it every summer. We cram every moment with outside activities, from growing a garden to grilling out with loved ones to taking a moment to reflect in the torrid sun and summery breeze with local food, drinks and live music at the Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center. (It will forever live as Deer Creek to us.) It’s the time to wander through farm markets throughout the region, to procure and relish the bounty of farms that share Edible Indy’s mission of supporting local food from the root up.

This issue allows us to venture outside of our comfort zone and bring a bit of the world to our readers, perhaps stretching traditional perceptions of farming and food in Indiana. We thrive as a community and we offer you the resources to grow, develop and explore our backyard and yours. Won’t you join us?

Hoosier Hugs,
Jennifer & Jeff Rubenstein

FROM THE EDITOR
 

Where food and family meet is where I want to be, as that old-fashioned thing called conversation flavors the air and laughter proves inevitable.

So when Mahammad Abashaar of Al-Rayan in the International Marketplace shares that their restaurant is built around their tradition to “sit down to have a meal” out of a respect for the food and your family, I feel a kinship with their Yemeni traditions. The ritual of food and family is as old as time and crosses all borders. Mealtime is sustenance for the human heart.

The cooks, growers, farmers and restaurant owners featured in this issue all share this common bond of belief in the magic of mealtime. From the longest-standing steakhouse in Indianapolis, St. Elmo’s, and its unique partnership with Linz Heritage Angus, to Jason Michael Thomas’ flair for firepit cooking with local walleye, to bar chef and experience curator D.L. Sivley and his cocktail panache, each story reveals how local traditions and innovations are setting the stage for phenomenal summer flavors.

Yet for all the Indy-grown goodness in this issue we cannot ignore the fact that the world is becoming a global village. Our summer story about the ways people eat travels from Ethiopian injera to Chinese chopsticks and our new contributor, Jennifer Reidy, shares her Syrian roots while going gluten-free in a delicious recipe for tomatillos.

As the late Anthony Bourdain once put it, “As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life—and travel—leaves marks on you.” As we step into summer, nearly a year from when Bourdain left us, may our summer stories leave a mark on you in the most familial of ways. And as you travel throughout Indiana and into this global village, may the world welcome you to its table.

Eat Well, Love Well, Live Well,
Colleen