Ask the A2K cooks!

@farmerman,

The only food network chef I pay any attention to is Giada. She's really interesting in terms of the effort she went to, to learn to cook cook cook. She knows the background/history for the techniques she's applying.

She and Emeril are two of the only classically trained "popular" chefs.

Emeril's shtick really is that, shtick.

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

Giada is a real cook? I have to admit that she is cute, Embarrassed

2 Replies

@farmerman,

is that the di laurentis person? I still roll my eyes re Lorenza de Medici (good vineyard, though).

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

There are three questions there. Are you asking me hether I know Giadas last name? My answer is NO. Im just an afternoon TV lech.

1 Reply

@farmerman,

I didn't know either, til I was home sick and saw a feature on her on Biography.

She wanted to learn how to cook pastries, so she learned French, went to Paris, studied at Le Cordon Bleu etc etc came back to U.S., worked as an apprentice cook, worked her way up through the ranks

Quote:

2. Why did you decide to become a chef?
I grew up in the kitchen, mostly with my grandfather, my mother and my aunt Raffy. My grandfather’s family used to own a pasta factory in Naples and they would go door-to-door selling their pasta. So his love of food came from his parents, which was then passed down to my mother and then again to me. Some of my best memories growing up are being in the kitchen with my family cooking. I also spent time at my grandfather Dino’s gourmet store, DDL Foodshow, where he brought in chefs from Naples to cook. I thought of them as rock stars. I loved being there, and that made me decide to become a chef.

3. Who are your inspirations?
Definitely my grandfather, my mom and my aunt Raffy. They’ve all taught me something about Italian cooking: tradition, simplicity and creativity, respectively.

4. Where did you go to culinary school?
Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

5. What pantry items do you consider essential to Italian cooking?
There aren’t a lot but having these will definitely help make a variety of dishes and ensure they’re delicious. They are: extra-virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, red pepper flakes, assorted dry pasta in various shapes, canned cannelloni beans, canned Italian tuna packed in olive oil, marinara sauce (if you choose not to make your own – but make sure the first ingredient is tomatoes and not sugar!), dried herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme and herbes de Provence), vinegars (balsamic, red and white), onions (red, Spanish, Vidalia), and capers.

http://www.giadadelaurentiis.com/about/faq/

(you can also learn about her favourite nail polish Very Happy

here)

0 Replies

@farmerman,

Damn, I'm gonna hafta google. I think it is dino di laurentis' daughter, or relative.
I don't dismiss her. What do I know what she knows, relative to anyone else on tv?

2 Replies

@ossobuco,

Grand-daughter.

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@ossobuco,

I wonder what italian cooks/chefs think of her.
I'm not dismissing, just that I don't think tv is some kind of star system within that or any other country.

On Emeril and the Beard award, I'll read up on that.

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A well-written recipe with good explanation of preparation and technique, along with good use and combination of ingredients, is a treasure for a cook no matter the pedigree of the author. That some require a pedigree for them to consider a recipe is their loss.

It does not preclude others from asking for recipe suggestions or for giving them.

1 Reply

@Butrflynet,

Who said preclusion happens? Do you not like to be disagreed with, ever? I know you are very helpful. And ehBeth is multiply helpful.

I mock Emeril (who?) once and get a bunch of flack.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

Who said preclusion happens?

You did. Where? Right here:

ossobuco wrote:

If I want to check out lamb, I won't look at emeril, whatever his name is.

Please, some of us have cookbooks from distant lands, not from a tv studio.

I appreciate your efforts, butryflynet - but food has history.

The push back you are getting from me isn't due to your dislike of Emeril. He isn't my favorite either. The push back is because of the snooty airs you filled your post with.

Also, it isn't about disagreement with me. I'd have the same reaction to the snobbery if it had been aimed at someone else.

1 Reply

@Butrflynet,

Oh, well. I am who I am. I am learning, and I also know stuff. Take it or leave it.
Surely you don't expect me to say I suddenly like Emeril, the tomato man.

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I have an obsessive, almost addiction-like appetite for parseley. Sometimes, having bought a bunch at the grocery store, I will just rinse it with water and eat it as it is. Now I'm looking for a somewhat more refined variant of this: Can you suggest any dishes where parseley is the star and not just a spice? Salads? Soups? Maybe even full entrees? Anything? I would greatly appreciate it.

5 Replies

@Thomas,

on potatoes?

1 Reply

@Thomas,

I make some enchiladas with parseley in a primary role, with cheese and sour cream.

might hafta dig to do a real recipe...

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@Thomas,

My first thought was tabouli.

1 Reply

@dyslexia,

dyslexia wrote:

on potatoes?

You're thinking small. I was wondering about dishes that have, like, a pound of parsley in them.

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@Thomas,

Sure - that is, if you like walnuts. I make a parsley walnut garlic olive oil pesto instead of the usual basil pine nut garlic olive oil, both having parmigiano (or whatever) added.

This one adds basil too, while I don't usually:
http://www.recipeview.com/recipe/227761
One can put a lot of pesto on a relatively small amount of pasta..

Pesto freezes well, but I don't add the parmigiano (or pecorino romano or asiago..) until actually using the pesto. The first time I ordered pesto was not in italy but in Sonoma, and I was amazed how green the dish was. It was a huge dish for a luckily hungry person - I ate the whole thing. At this point I don't usually look up a recipe, just add some of this and some of that.

There are sage pestos, cilantro pestos, and probably others out there.

I like it on pasta, but if you are pasta avoiding, I suppose it could be a good dip (green beans? battered veggie fry?).. or... bloom into a soup of some sort. Thinking, veggie broth, potato chunks..

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