Amit Mitra ’85, MBA’87
co-owner of OliveNation in Charlestown, Mass.
A pistachio ice-cream cone from the Dairy Freeze down the road in Quincy on a hot summer night. There’s something very nice about standing in line with everyone else and then sitting in the car and eating the cone before it melts and drips all over.
G. Shankar
associate professor of information technology management
My favorite summertime food is lassi, a drink made using buttermilk, which is liquified yogurt. Classic lassi in southern India is made by mixing buttermilk with a light pinch of salt, a tiny bit of the herb asafoetida, and garnished with minced curry leaves. The combination of buttermilk and asafoetida promotes digestive health. Of course, modern variations of lassi use sugar instead of salt, and rarely do we see asafoetida in it. Kids love lassi that includes fruit pulp, especially mango. I love this drink. It hydrates you, tastes wonderful, cools you down after your activities in the heat and humidity, and improves your appetite so that you can look forward to the next big meal.
Gail Simmons
entrepreneur in residence and judge on Top Chef
My favorite summer treat is hard to choose as summer is the absolute best time for so many foods I love, from popsicles and soft-serve ice cream to fresh seafood and burgers on the grill. But I would say my favorite of all is the simple indulgence of biting into a fresh ripe peach, at the height of the season, from my local farmers market. Juicy and sweet, peaches encapsulate summer for me, and they’re at their peak for such a short time that I can’t help but eat as many as I can every day, while they last.
Andre Terrail ’03
owner of La Tour d’Argent in Paris
I’ll give you two. The first one I would enjoy in Paris, at Drouant, a restaurant with a charming terrace by the Palais Garnier opera house. Surmullet fish cooked to perfection and pan-fried chanterelle mushrooms served with a butter sauce. And because in France no great food comes without its wine pairing, I would have a chilled glass of white Sancerre, probably from Henri Bourgeois.
The second one I would enjoy in Finland at my country house in front of the lake Hiidenvesi. Sausages cooked in the sauna served with baby potatoes and a peppery dill and sweet mustard sauce.—John Crawford