Annie Mahle
“First off I love that you're using that word, craft because it has to do with both the art and creativity, but also the intention and the precision behind it as well. So kudos to you for using that word. So I am a chef cook and I alternate back and forth between those two. But sometimes say I'm a cook that just makes good food. I'm also a writer and I write cookbooks. I also write my blog and I used to write a column for the Portland Press Herald for a long time,” said Annie Mahle.
As you all know Kristan start’s off each of her episodes with the question, “what is your craft and what inspired you to start it?”. Annie’s answer was a bit of a surprise as Kristan only knew about her amazing cooking on the J. & E. Riggin but Annie brings a lot more than just cooking, she elevates the mealtime experience. Mealtime in any environment she is in whether it be on a schooner or at home creates memories with friends and family and that’s what mealtime is all about. While it may seem the process of going into a beautiful mealtime experience is fun and rewarding, there are many challenges along the way.
“My style and way of serving people grew and a couple of things shifted with how I make food connected to the boat. When we first bought the J. & E. Riggin, farmer’s markets were not that big. I was searching to buy meat like a whole animal from someone and I couldn't find someone who was doing milk. Cheeses, fresh cheeses there were one maybe two purveyors of cheese. No one was growing oysters and harvesting oysters. So as we owned the J. & E. Riggin we got to a point where we started this huge garden here so that we could have all the organic produce on the boat. Five years in was the tipping point where we said, okay, either we're going to need to start raising our own animals here and really investing in the garden more now. So during this point there was just barely enough people that I think I can find a pig and I think I could find a cow and I can find some chickens, so that shifted. Once you do that, then that changes how you cook. Once we started getting CSA produce and meats that dramatically changed how I cook,” said Annie.
Annie not only dealt with the challenges of sourcing local ingredients for her dishes on board the schooner. Working out of a tiny kitchen also had its challenges and she learned a lot from it. Hence the reason why she wrote a cookbook about cooking out of tiny spaces.
“So cooking, you know, can be challenging and when you add that to a vessel, your kitchen is moving constantly. So it's moving, and it's also tipping pretty consistently. But it's also doable, in that you just must be organized, you must have processes and ways of kind of protecting your foods, so it doesn't slide off the counter. Also to be really creative about what it is that you're serving so that you make sure that whatever it is that you're serving is successful. I might choose on the rough days something completely different than on the calm days,” said Annie.
Annie informed Kristan that made pizza on board the schooner for her guests and it was a huge hit! Over time the guests on her ship were so in awe of Annie’s cooking that they wanted to try cooking her dishes at home.
“People wanted this recipe and they wanted that recipe and mix, but I don't actually do it like that. I do it like, this is the recipe but I change it here. And for this trip, I changed it like this and I don't have a recipe for that soup. But I can tell you how I did it. Then one day, a woman who'd sail with us, probably six, seven times. She was tiny and she's a marketing person. She'd been telling me for a couple of years that I need to write a cookbook. But I'm not a writer. I can't write I don't know how to make recipes. And so excuse after excuse, right? And the only way you learn how to do something is by doing it right. So she took me by the shoulders, this little woman who is a dynamo and she pulled me down to her and she said, Listen, if you write a cookbook, people will buy it,” said Annie.
Annie has shifted her career as she is no longer the owner of the J. & E. Riggin and now focuses on her writing, traveling to fun places with her family, and horseback riding. Tune in to learn more about Annie and her career as a maker of all sorts. Also, stay until the end of the episode to hear a new song by Becca Biggs who is a fabulous musician located in Belfast, Maine.