It was supposed to be a small but mighty jazz club—a tiny door in the back corner of a mall in the middle of Little Tokyo. But the music, a trio of percussion, piano, and cello, was transcendent. It was the kind of jazz I could disappear inside of, music I could actually live in, not knowing when one riff would turn into the next, not caring when one song ended and another began.
It was the kind of music that changed me as I listened, wrapping itself cleanly around the contours of my heart. But the music also transformed something fundamental about the way I breathed, the way I thought. And the way I would make my next move in the kitchen.
If, in cooking and in living, we can achieve even a few moments of the kind of freedom those musicians played, we will have accomplished something great. And so, of course, the music reminded me to take new freedoms in the kitchen. With this in mind, I decided to riff on an old Strawberry Rhubarb Compote recipe to make these yogurt parfaits.
The jazz in this parfait is the splash of red wine, the brightness of lemon zest, and the earthy richness of pistachio. Swirling the compote into whole milk yogurt makes for an incredible treat, perfect for breakfast, snacking, or desserting.
But the jazz is also in recognizing the flavors of the season, and drawing upon them to elicit your own creativity in the kitchen. I grew up playing piano (I miss it; I can’t wait to have a piano in my home someday), and the very last thing I learned in my formal lessons was how to improvise. It was, by far, the most valuable parting gift my teacher could have given me.
We owe the very same kind of attention in improvising to our kitchen endeavors. Some would say you must master the scales, the basics, before you improvise. This may be unwaveringly true for music, but with food, I think it’s possible to play freely based on our own knowledge of what we like, and the ingredients each new season presents us.
Each of us has a completely unique and distinct palate. Discover the jazz of your own favorite flavors. Play. Let each ingredient sound its note, and find where melodies and harmonies emerge to create palatal transcendence.
This parfait is my own kind of jazz. You could eat the compote with anything creamy, or even on toast, biscuits, or scones.
Promise me you’ll mix it up—try different toppings and bases. Compotes are deeply forgiving, so find your own rhythm and let the ingredients sing through you.
Ingredients
makes about 48 oz.
- 3 cups roughly chopped strawberries
- ½ pound fresh rhubarb sliced into ½-inch pieces
- zest of ½ Meyer lemon regular lemon is fine
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup Malbec wine or other sweet/table red wine
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tbsp . corn starch
- ¼ tsp . vanilla extract or 1/8 tsp. ground vanilla bean
- 2 tsp . coconut oil
- ½ tsp . sea salt
for the parfaits
- cup plain whole milk yogurt 1 per serving
- ¼ cup chopped pistachio nuts
- lemon zest to taste
Instructions
- Combine cut rhubarb and strawberries in a large pot with water and sugar, bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat just so that the fruit is at a simmer.
- In a small bowl, whisk the corn starch into the wine until thoroughly combined—no lumps. Pour the mixture into the simmering fruit, and stir gently to combine. Add vanilla, coconut oil, and sea salt, again stirring gently just to incorporate.
- Cook another 5-10 minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken and the rhubarb is tender and starting to fall apart.
- Remove from heat, and pour into glass jars (I reuse old nut butter and jam jars, or a trusty Mason or Weck jar). Let cool before sealing.
- For the parfaits, add yogurt to small bowls, and spoon in as much compote as you’d like. Sprinkle the top with chopped pistachios and lemon zest. Dive in.
- Feel the jazz in your belly. Let it change you.
