Design Feast Series: Quotes

“Memory is where my passion for baking comes from, it is the core value of why I bake. I remember my Grandmother’s corn starch pudding, my Mom’s apple pie, a doughnut that I had when I was little. I think about those memories and try to recreate and idealize them. If you went back in time, that doughnut probably wouldn’t taste as good, so the idea is to match or surpass the memory.” Whether drawing on family recipes, recalling a croissant eaten in Paris, or conversations about food on a recent trip to Ireland, Craig has honed his ability to evoke past experiences through taste. ‘I wouldn’t make anything that I didn’t love. When I develop something that stays with me, I can go back to it consistently. I’m also honoring my Mom and Grandmother.’

His own memories have translated into new traditions for his patrons, many of them making ritual visits to his booth at the Pakatakan Farmers’ Market. A customer recently commented ‘I had your pie last week and it was so delicious, but what I loved most was that it was perfectly imperfect.’

‘There’s so much value in making it honest. If it’s honest and has imperfection or irregularity, there’s so much beauty in that.’ He laments the importance placed on superficial-prettiness and the uniformity of food found in supermarkets, as it’s lead to a wave unconscious eating. Connecting through food means understanding where it comes from, thinking about what the farmer has gone through to grow it, and appreciating the scars that show it was grown naturally. ‘When things are made with beautiful product, you slow down and you savor. When you cook with beautiful fresh things, people wake up when they taste it.’”

Baker Craig Thompson, Owner of Shandaken Bake in New York