In praise of the anti-Deen

These days I would not cross the street for the most famous chef on the planet, whichever one of dozens he might be. But nearly 20 years ago my consort and I heard Edna Lewis was cooking in Brooklyn and headed straight to Gage & Tollner on Fulton Mall, certain the reward would be a meal for the memory books.

It was a different time, but Edna Lewis was a very different celebrity chef. Regional American cooking had only recently been codified, and she was to Southern cooking what Alice Waters was to Californian, what Paul Prudhomme was to Cajun. Continue reading →

German chocolate — more than just a cake

Los Angeles Times/February 2008

GERMAN chocolate cake looks pretty good for 50 — the combination of tangy-sweet layers and nutty custard is as irresistible as it was when the recipe was first published in a Texas newspaper back in the Eisenhower era. If it were a Reese’s cup or an Oreo, German chocolate cake would be into its 10th reincarnation by now.

But this is one venerable dessert that needs an homage more than a makeover. If you take the same concept, with essentially the same ingredients, you can produce any number of variations with just as much extravagant flavor and texture but with 2.0 attitude.

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First with the pan roast

Los Angeles Times/December 2007

EXCEPT when it comes to caviar, effortless extravagance sounds like a contradiction in terms. But there is no better description of a seafood pan roast.

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