The season finale of
Top Chef Masters asked the chefs to prepare three dishes based on three questions. I asked the same questions of some friends and family (and of myself), and here is what they (and I) had to say....
What is your earliest food memory?
Calvin: "A dish my mom used to make of braised chicken wings in a sweet soy sauce. It was super easy to make and probably accounts for my love of the wings even today."
Erin: "My Grandma's corn bread & black-eyed peas & okra."
Jess: "My first strong memory associated with a food would have to be the smell of stale popcorn. My uncle took me to a 'Sesame Street on Ice' or something and the concessions included old popcorn. I don't remember anything about the ice-capade show, but I know that I had fun, and to this day I enjoy stale popcorn in addition to fresh popcorn."
Jim: "Old fashioned homemade macaroni and cheese; Eggs fried over easy in bacon grease - yum; still love 'em both!!"
Julia: "One is of eating raspberries straight from the bush in my grandparents' garden. Another is of cheese ravioli with butter and cheese. As a young child we were always given butter and cheese with our pasta and then when we were older we graduated to tomato sauce. My grandmother's tomato sauce was amazingly delicious. She browned beef and pork cuts in olive oil and garlic. Since my grandparents' owned a butcher store there were always good cuts of meat available. Then, she added tomatoes and simmered it for hours. It was amazingly tasty."
Kas: "Boiled turnips. I wish I was kidding. That was, continues to be, and shall in the future be my 'furst food memory'."
Kha: "eating sticky rice and chinese sausage when i was maybe 3 or 4 years old. next distinct memory-my dad showing me how to make scrambled eggs when i was maybe 7 or 8. interesting time lapse . . . ."
Maggi: "Eating a worm while in a playpen in a yard when I was maybe 1-2. Don’t know if this is an actual memory or one that was reinforced over the years by Mom talking about it!!!! Other than that, eggs and Campbell soup play highly in my memory. Also memories of Mom cooking many Christmas cookies which I’m sure influenced me to continue the tradition of making many millions of Christmas cookies every year to give away – cookies can be the food of love ya know – especially during the holidays!"
Jason: My first "taste memory" is of the punch in Kiddy-Garten, but I don't know why, just remember it strongly and not unfondly. My first real memory of food I appreciated was when my Dad made pancakes on (most) Sunday mornings. He'd often drop some batter in the shape of a smiley face, then pour a pancake on top of that. When flipped, there would be a smiley in the pancake. This probably accounts on some level for my appreciation of food presentation.
What made you want to cook/be a chef?
Erin: "Cooking is like doing something creative & then you can eat the results. You gotta eat, right? It might as well be good!"
Jess: "Some combination of being able to make a product of which I was proud (through the flavor and presentation of a dish), make a product that gave the purchaser enjoyment (and the praise that came with it), and working with my hands (rather than push papers)."
Jim: "Learned to like cooking as an early teen when I often fixed my own dinner because of scheduling issues. Began to really enjoy fixing different things and learning cooking techniques. Some foods I really loved and I wanted to be able to make them - i.e. crab cakes, comfort foods like pot roast, macaroni and cheese, etc. Still love to read food magazines, tear out recipes that I want to try, and only make a tenth of what I tear out."
Julia: "I think what made me want to cook (bake) was the apple strudel that my grandmother used to make. I remember helping her pull the dough as a young child. The strudel that she baked was amazing. Flaky dough with a warm apple middle. (She also made cheese strudel and carrot strudel. While carrot strudel may not sound tasty it really was wonderful.)"
Kas: "Me hungee. Also, I do the same thing for a living, but with really nasty chemicals."
Kha: "i like food!"
Maggi: "I didn’t develop a real appreciation for food or cooking until I was in my 20s. Food in Mom’s house was mostly plain, no nonsense food until Mom was in her 40s’s or 50’s when her passion for food began to shine thru in her cooking. I think I wanted to be a cook once I found out that if I make it myself it would be really good!"
Jason: My Dad often did the cooking, and I always enjoyed it, so I'm sure that contributed. I had a recipe book around age 7, some kind of "cooking for kids" book, and I fondly recall forming meatballs around a piece of cheese, from the book. As I recall, it was well received, and I think this made a mark. It also demonstrated how combining things in non-typical ways could be interesting and gratifying. Also, from family holiday dinners throughout my youth, I have very fond memories of most of the meals, and whether true or not, I attribute most of that to Gus Askins, my Mom's Mom. I have very fond memories of her gravy, and while her recipe was lost with her, I have strived to recreate it at every Thanksgiving I've ever cooked. Basically, I find cooking to be one of my creative outlets, and I enjoy making stuff other people dig.
What defines your cooking?
Calvin: "Growing up in an Irish-Italian neighborhood, my culinary leanings are towards the Italian side, but i do make the occasional corned beef and cabbage. If I had to characterize myself as a chef/cook, I'd go with American experimental fusion. I tend to make classic dishes, but with flavors and methods borrowed from other cultures. I don't use recipes as I rarely have the exact same ingredients on hand, plus I tend to go by instinct for how much to use. One of my new favorites (tying it all together), is braised chicken wings in a soy sauce base with brown sugar, maple syrup, five spice, crushed red peppers and Sríracha. After braising, I broil them in the oven for 10 minutes or until the skin has crisped up. It comes out crispy, but tender, lower in fat than deep frying and with a sweet, hot, savory flavor. Buon appetito!"
Erin: "I'm more of an Italian/Mexican food type cooker than standard American stuff like pot roast & such."
Jess: "Perhaps the color palette of my meals, though I wouldn't want to be known for it. I haven't yet mastered the aspects of cooking that are important to me. I would much rather be defined by:
a) turning out plates with punches of flavor that remain well balanced -- e.g. a stew where the main flavor is chicken and garlic, but that the garlic is well-married to cumin, coriander, and caramelized onion with hints of orange and pepper in the background;
b) cooking food that is not oversalted;
c) composing meals where all of the components are linked and uphold a flavor theme, but where each still retains its identity and doesn't disappear into an identical flavor palette as another part of the meal -- e.g. to go with the aforementioned chicken stew: a side of chick peas that might also feature cumin, garlic, and onion, but utilizes a bit of fresh coriander (cilantro) and parsley to bring out a fresher aspect and maybe even a whisper of cayenne so they don't get left by the wayside; and
d) achieving great food textures -- e.g. to round out this theoretical meal, a cucumber yogurt salad (with parsley and spring onion) would introduce crisp and smooth textures, and the use of a bit of vinegar in the salad would heighten the orange flavor due to the taste association of acid AND would texturally influence the flavor associations because of the astringent prickle vinegar can exert on the mouth -- this textural awakening would not be quite so evident if one relied on the acid in the yogurt alone."
Jim: "Simple recipes and meals with a fresh taste and appearance."
Julia: "I am definitely more of a baker than a cook."
Kas: "Meat+garlic+fire"
Maggi: "I want to say that comfort food (which can be both plain and fancy) is what defines me as a cook. And the most comfortable food of all is SOUP!!!!!!!!! So maybe soup is what really defines me. But casseroles are also a very definitive comfort food that also comes into play when I think of what defines me. But a seared Diver Scallops on a delicious risotto sounds like a VERY comforting dish to me as well!!! Yum Yum! While seafood RULES, I have to say 'GO SOUP'!!!!!!!!!!!"
Jason: Four specific things jump to mind: grilling, Thanksgiving, unexpected flavor combinations, presentation. While
grilling was never a part of my childhood, when I discovered it in college, I fell in love. I particularly enjoy the additional complex flavors that grilling, especially over charcoal, brings to the table. As for
Thanksgiving, I have helped prepare Thanksgiving dinner for and with friends for years (especially Kha and his wife Daranee). This goes back to the down-home cooking my parents (and their parents) always appreciated. Also, there's the joy of preparing something others enjoy, plus I consider the gravy a bit of a family legacy (Gravy Master, red wine and MSG!). From the meatballs-around-cheese days, through age 9's dipping Cheetos in chocolate pudding, to preparing bacon brittle a few years ago,
unexpected flavor combinations have always been an important part of my cooking. I'm never afraid to try something new, even if it doesn't sound good. There once was a point when nobody even considered chocolate and peanut butter together! Finally,
presentation has always been important to me. As the old saying goes, you eat with your eyes before you eat with your stomach, and it's amazing how little effort it takes to make something look good. There's a reason professional chefs wipe the edges of the plate before service.
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