Sam Hayward is chef/partner of Fore Street, an award-winning restaurant in Portland, Maine. Long before the restaurant opened in 1996, Sam had begun to work directly with local farmers, foragers and fishermen. In 2008 he was named the first recipient of the Maine Culinary Award for lifelong contributions to the state’s food community.  Sam talks here about Maine’s amazing food resources and what this place means to him.

How did your work with local food producers begin?

In 1981 I had a small restaurant in Brunswick. A farmer showed up with leftovers from his organic garden—a basketful of leeks, tomatoes, greens. It was nothing like what I was able to source from the Boston wholesale market. That was a revelation.
It changed the way I thought about food and cooking, and their connections to community and landscape.

Lobster and blueberries are foods closely associated with Maine. What else is fabulous?

In season, our tomatoes are exceptional. Potatoes are important, and beans too. Among the heirloom varieties are Marafax, Jacob’s Cattle, Pike’s Yellow Eye, cranberry and sulphur—the last one also grows in Tuscany, where it is known as zolfini. We also have dozens of kinds of field beans that, in July and August, just need to be shelled and boiled for a few minutes in salted water.

Wild vegetables are plentiful, including ramps, fiddleheads, asparagus and a kind of sedum known as frog bellies. In season, we have all of the wild mushrooms.

I’ve speculated for a long time that one of the reasons for the intense flavors of Maine produce is that the plants have to struggle with a very brief, explosive growing season. They have just one chance to make it. Also, in a climate like this, people are very selective about the varieties they plant—they must be locally adaptive.

What dishes on your menu are you excited about right now?

Uncooked seafood, for one.  Beyond oysters and clams, we’re offering customers an assortment of pristine finfish served raw, embellished with little else besides extra virgin olive oil. Certain fish, such as striped bass, we’re curing in sea salt. Fresh sardines go in our wood-burning oven.

Charcuterie is another new thing for us. We’ve had to teach ourselves how to do cured sausages, terrines and pâtés. The idea is nose-to-tail use of livestock and I have three guys in the kitchen knocking each other down to get at this stuff. We get boar from a Russian farmer, and people are really taking to it, even the trotters and the organ meats.

You’re not a native but you’ve taken to Maine, despite the harsh climate.

I’m always amazed by the natural beauty I wake up to every day.  I have a deep-seated feeling of gratitude for having found a place that is my heart’s home--many people never get that chance.