About me:
Interview with
Cathy @ SHOWFOOD
1) What is your first memory of a dining experience that had an effect on you?
* I grew up in North Carolina, buckle of the Bible Belt, home of tobacco and a Southern Baptist Church on every corner. Every year the church my family attended held it’s Homecoming celebration. It’s sort of the birthday party for the church. Every one brought a “covered dish” to the lunch. It would take five minutes to walk from one end of the lined up tables to the other end. There was every kind of food, from the proverbial buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken to the homemade thirty six-hours Barbecued Whole Hog. There were vegetables so fresh you knew they were pulled from the earth only hours ago, to Apple-Raisin pies that were still whistling steam. The variety of dishes, styles of preparation, and range of efforts symbolized the differences of the church families; economics, ages, and backgrounds. Yet, for that meal, everyone was like a family in an enormous outside kitchen. I’ll never forget the visual of those colors, the smells under that hot July tent, and the sounds of plates clanking under the laughter.
2) When did you create your first dish in the kitchen? What was it?
* I grew up next to my grandparent’s survival farm. Even at 8-years-old, I was given a small allowance by my Gramma for every cake or pie I created. It kept her freezer stocked and me out of her way. My brother and I used to concoct mixtures we called “scientist food”. We combined things together, baked it, and then frosted it no matter how it turned out. As a semi-adult, in college, I cooked for all of us “funds strapped” suite mates, creating originals out of left over dregs. Of course, I’d like to think that my culinary art is more sophisticated now, but I hope to never forget that the challenges encouraged a certain freedom to explore. A few of my current signature dishes: Beer and Brown Sugar Short Ribs, Oxtail Ragu with Curry Pici Pasta, Persimmon Bread Pudding, Chicken Mousse Mornay in Shell Pasta, NC Pulled Pork with Vinaigrette BBQ Sauce, Tea-Smoked Chicken Breasts with Plum Chutney, Turkey Cornmeal Pops, Strawberry Parmesan Tart, Homemade Pomegranate Tortilla and Goat Cheese Quesadilla, and a delicious timesaving brunch dish: Tomato, Bacon and Cheesy Bread Pudding.
3) Are there any chefs (professional or not) that inspire you?
* SO MANY. Hazan, Mark Bitman, Bourdain, Ferria, Dufresne, Richard, Keller, Nancy Silverton, Ducasse, Alice Waters, Clotilde Dusoulier, several Food Network folks; Alton Brown, the list is endless…
4) In your career as a chef, what is your passion?
* I love Italian food, especially handmade pasta, and breads. I can’t escape my Southern American roots; braising and potatoes, coleslaws and buffet/covered dish dinners. I adore learning a new recipe or technique from any region and then sub-inventing other ways it can be used or expressed. I’m inspired by food science and fascinated at how easy it is to effect our emotions by how we serve and plate the simplest foods.
5) Where were you trained? Any apprentice-ships?
* I graduated with honors from California State Culinary Arts, a Cordon Bleu School. I did my externship at a fine dining restaurant under the award winning Swiss Chef Peter Roeland at The Wine Bistro in Studio City, California.
6) Any advanced degrees or certifications we should know about?
* I am ServSafe Certified, have a BA in Psychology and Radio/Television. I have taught, performed, and directed Comedy Improvisation at the famous GROUNDLING THEATRE on Melrose for over 15 years, been an Acting Coach for almost every Television Network and many businesses. I’m a member of the Screen Actors Guild, AFTRA, and I am a voluntary teacher/docent in the LA South Bay schools for both Art and Nutrition.
7) What is your favorite cuisine to prepare?
* Toscana, Italia. I have taken Italian for 2 years and visited almost every region of Italy. I have absolutely no Italian heritage that I know of, but for some reason fell in love with the whole culture, the people, the history, the smells, la bella linqua!
I also love creating small plates; tastings and appetizers, nibbles and ways for folks to expand their palate without committing to a whole serving. I am a great student of fresh Farmer’s Market ingredients and an active member of the SLOWFOOD Movement; inspired by the Italian, Carlos Petrini and encouraged by the famous Chef Alice Waters. I love to take a species such as the Blenheim Apricot (endangered because small farmers can’t afford to grow lesser known products and compete with the mass gross production houses) and learn how to savor it; bread puddings, jams, oven-dried, etc. I am fascinated at how EASY it is to prepare handmade pasta, and how many different dishes we can prepare in a moment with just a dash of this, a shake of that, a bud from these, a handful or those, or a dribble of something in the refrigerator that we never thought of adding. In the kitchen of fine dining restaurants very expensive “specials of the night” are created by whatever they need to use up from the walk-in. The dishes are delicious, because the cooks and chefs are so creative.
I consider myself a great teacher for the HOME (Why Should I) COOK. :D
8) What is your favorite cuisine to eat?
* This is the hardest question for me to answer, but I guess it would have to be from my Southern childhood; Turkey (with dressing, cranberry sauce and gravy), Brunswick stew (tomatoes, corn, and okra), and casseroles of egg dishes, meat and potatoes, or veggies and herbs.
9) What is your craziest and favorite “binge food” that no chef should admit to eating?
* OK, pinky promise to never tell? My other Grandma used to make my cousins and I plates of round, flat cut fried-in-bacon-grease potatoes for breakfast. Each potato was it’s very own ketchup scooper. I still love those…well, that and just about anything dipped in chocolate!
10) What do you aspire to do professionally in the next 5 years?
* I would love to have my own cooking show. Also, there are a few products that I’m developing that I’d love to have picked up by boutique food shops, etc…
11) Who would you most like to work with?
* People of all ages who have a sense of fun, exploration, whimsy, and tolerance.
12) Have you ever “taught” a cooking class before?
* I have taught cooking classes to kids; pasta making and breakfast items, and fun with nutrition types of things. I also wrote (in English for translation) 24 episodes of an award winning Spanish children’s show that included a cooking/kitchen segment in each one (Mi Casita). I’ve also taught adults at food parties; gnocchi, pasta, knife skills, pastries, cake decorating, etc. I’ve also created a few cooking mobile/video segments that I hope to submit to production outlets.
13) Would you rate that experience as a successful venture?
* Absolutely, and I define success as sharing a passion, and having people leaving a place feeling positive, accomplished and cared for.
14) Have you ever taught or worked with children?
* I’ve taught children in several areas. I have three of my own (2 older and one pre-teen, and have lived to tell about it), and I’ve taught improvisation, theatre, cooking, sewing, crafts, art and nutrition to kids ages
6 – 16.
15) Where are your best skills with regard to “teaching”?
* My first effort in any kind of teaching is to create an atmosphere of safety, fun and pride for anyone trying something new and different. I think one of my best skills is identifying a positive aspect in each individual and bringing that into focus and appreciation. I believe that any time I’m teaching, it’s also my opportunity to learn more.
16) What are your weaknesses?
* My weakness would be the need to answer any question about my weaknesses with a quip like this: Sometimes I care too much.
17) Are you shy in front of a camera?
* Although I always feel a sense of nervous excitement, you’d never call me shy on camera. I’ve been an actress for both scripted and non-scripted shows for years and live and love for that next time. I am rarely at a loss for words on camera or on stage. Sometimes the words make more sense than other times, but I’m definitely not shy.
18) What are your hobbies outside of the kitchen?
* I love improvisation, comedy, travel, crafts of all kinds and mediums, writing, art, photography, I volunteer with Lollipop Networks (bringing current films to the Children’s Hospitals and Burn Centers), recipe development, gardening, camping, Italian anything, reading, movies, computers, editing, tennis, dance, science, and taking a nap in that strip of afternoon sunshine that streams through the window.
19) Where are you using your Chef skills currently?
* I am currently writing a story cookbook, doing Personal Chef work for parties and fundraisers, and I created a stage show called SCRATCHIT, that runs at the Groundling’s Theatre several times a year.
Many well-known actors, writers and producers read their personal non-fiction writing on stage. In the lobby, I serve market fresh and handmade baked goods; Real Food, Real Stories.
20) Anything else we should know?
Always…..so, KEEP WATCHING.
Who I'd like to meet: I GOT TO MEET CHEF TOM COLLICHIO AT THE EMMYS!
At a SLOWFOOD DINNER/Booksigning: Kathy (sells seafood@SantaMonica Farmer's Mkt), Amanda Saltzman author of The Santa Monica Farmer's Mkt CookBook, and me!
Chef Cathy, thanks for finding me! Rad page. Beautiful food. I'm sure we'll see you on the Food Network soon! ...that and I'll bump into you sometime in Hollywood. :) Kisses & Cupcakes from the sweets chick, Michelle
