To Eat At Someone Else's Table: Emma's Tamarind Glazed Pork and Stone Fruit Salad
My last ever guest of To Eat at Someone Else’s Table is Emma Spraque, aka @cookandsnap. Emma and I have been Instagram friends for a few years now and what drew me to her feed were her delicious recipes and her colorful and thoughtful plating. Over the years, Emma and I have realized we have a lot in common beyond our love of cooking, like the fact that we both are from the Northshore of Massachusetts, and for that, both love a good lobster roll! Emma has shared with us her recipe for tamarind pork with a bright and juicy stone fruit salad. I’m telling you, this hit the spot the other day after a long, hot and humid DC summer day. Learn more about Emma and her connection to food in her interview below.
Interview with Emma
Tell us about yourself!
“I’m Emma! As a foodie, you’ll find me on Instagram at @cookandsnap. After 10 years in Washington, DC I’ve recently returned to my home state of Massachusetts. I’m living in Gloucester - America’s oldest seaport! - the home of amazing seafood and a place that Jordan and I both hold dear. Professionally, I run my own business, Upswing Strategies, where we coach good people with good ideas to be outstanding communicators, to deliver their message with confidence and impact. I am also a trustee at my beloved Bates College, a painter, an amateur tomato-grower, and someone who has trouble saying no, especially to catering projects, cold water swims, and just about any creative undertaking!”
Tell us about this dish. What is it & where do its origins lay?
“I truly think this delicious tamarind glazed pork with a stone fruit and herb salad comes from one of those lovely Sunday summer afternoons in DC, when you’ve been by the Dupont Circle Farmer’s Market and are ripe with fruit and herbs that you want to put to use right away. It’s hot and you want something really bright and healthy but seriously flavorful, and because it’s Sunday, you’ve got the time for some intricacy! The beauty of this dish is its balance - it hits all the tastes and there’s some art to making sure they all sing. So play with it, try different stone fruits, amp up the heat or sweetness.”
Do you have a special memory associated with this dish? Why is this dish special to you?
“It reminds me of my last and perhaps best apartment in DC, on Euclid St. in Adams Morgan. I made this dish once for good friends and another time for my DC Bates alumni group. In each case, everyone sat on pillows on the floor around my oversized coffee table (originally a dining room table that I hired a task rabbit to evenly cut the legs down on so it could serve both purposes in my little space). I think I’ll always envision that scene when I make it. Though you are *not* required to sit on the floor when eating it.”
What inspires you to cook and/or bake?
“Cooking is my creative outlet. In college, I was an art major, I painted or did printmaking every single day. As a brand spanking new adult in the world with full work days, I felt suffocated without a designated space to create. I’d always loved cooking and my kitchen was my new best-possible studio. With those same art roots, one thing that makes cooking so fun for me is composition and color - plating something that jumps out to you visually. I am also inspired by the balance our generation is so good at - taking healthy, vibrant, whole ingredients and making them so f*cking delicious and playful. And the other through-line across generations - food bringing people together.”
What’s your favorite spice to cook with and why?
“I have become an ambassador for garlic powder. I overlooked it for so long. But especially as we welcome the grilling season, damn, it’s a must. Olive oil, salt and garlic powder will be tossed on every asparagus, green bean, broccolini, you name it green veg that I throw on the Weber.”
Do you have anyone you look up to in the culinary world and why?
“Alice Waters. Gabriella Hamilton. Nancy Silverton. Padma Lakshmi. My hometown girls Barbara Lynch and Kristen Kish. Women who have made their mark on the culinary world by being themselves make my heart sing. And a shout out to Rachel Ray - outside the artful cooks among my family and friends, Rachel and her 30 Minute Meals show, which I’d watch while doing homework in high school, were my original introduction to cooking, where I learned the building blocks that would allow me be expressive and trust my instincts.”
Why are you passionate about cooking?
“Because of the peacefulness, health, artfulness and community it brings to my life.”
Emma’s Tamarind Glazed Pork and Stone Fruit Salad
Recipe
Prep Time: 1 hour & 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour & 35 minutes
Servings: 2-3 people
For the Pork
1 pork tenderloin, usually 1-1 & 1/2 lbs
2 tbsp tamarind glaze [bought that way or made from fresh tamarind or tamarind paste]
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sriracha or your favorite hot sauce
1 tbsp honey
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 inch of fresh ginger, grated
For the Salad
¼ cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey
A dash of fish sauce
A generous pinch of salt
Few cracks of pepper
½ english cucumber or a few little ones, sliced ~¼ inch thick [peel and remove seed if you like]
1-2 nectarines, peaches, plums, mango or a combination, pits removed and sliced in similar scale to cucumber
¼ red onion, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, thinly sliced [use with or without seeds based on heat preference]
Big handful of whole basil leaves
Big handful of whole mint leaves
Big handful of whole cilantro leaves
For the Curry Mayo
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup red Thai curry paste
Directions
First up, make your marinade! Mix together tamarind glaze, soy sauce, sriracha, honey, garlic and ginger. Taste and adjust for balance and your preferred level of heat, salt, sweetness.
Cover your pork tenderloin in the marinade and let sit for at least an hour.
Next, salad and sauce prep! Make your vinaigrette by mixing rice vinegar, oil, honey, fish sauce, salt and pepper. It’s nice to do this in a jar that you can shake, shake, shake to mix.
The other sauce is a super simple combo of two parts mayonnaise to one part red Thai chili paste. My measurements above may make too much, but trust me, you’ll put the extra sauce to use!
Prep your salad ingredients by washing, drying and taking herbs off stems; slice cucumber, stone fruit, red onion and chilies. These ingredients can be tossed together beforehand or assembled on the plate.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Decide if you want to use a cast iron pan [ideal] or another oven safe pan for cooking. Put that pan in the oven as it preheats.
When the oven hits temp, carefully take out the pan and swirl some olive oil in it. Add the pork, bending to fit if needed. Put the pork back in the oven and cook for 20 minutes, flipping over half way through cooking. If you want to be precise or your tenderloin is smaller or larger than 1-1½ lbs, you want the internal temp of the thickest part to read 145°F.
Remove pork from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
To plate, begin with a generous spoonful or two of the red curry mayo spread out with the back of your spoon where you’ll place the sliced pork, and then top with sliced pork. Heap your salad next to your pork and drizzle with a light amount of your vinaigrette. Enjoy!