Saucy Secrets
Over the years I have had the opportunity to work alongside some talented chefs who were always full of tips, techniques and advice (or shall I say ego?). Nonetheless, as a young apprentice it always kept things in the kitchen interesting. One of the best suggestions (all egos aside now) came to me during my first “stagiaire” (the French term for an unpaid internship) – bring a notebook into the kitchen to record recipes and methods. It was twofold – one: by writing the recipes down I would have a record of them which would enhance the learning and two: if asked to make a recipe at any given time I wouldn’t have the fear of God in me in having to pester the chef about the “how to”.
Chef William Miles who I worked alongside in New York passed along one of his tips way back when which I thankfully recorded at the time and now use in my barbecue sauce. The secret: Gumbo Filé (or Filé powder). It’s a key ingredient in Cajun/Creole cooking and essentially is the powdered leaves of the sassafras tree. It not only adds an interesting flavour (one of those ones that you just can’t put your finger on) but also helps thicken the sauce. Now, I recognize that this is not necessarily an item that many of us would just happen to have in our pantry. In fact, I didn’t have any when I went to make the sauce! I then checked the spice rack at the test kitchen at work and struck out again. Next, onto my colleagues to see if any of them had any or knew where I could get some and quite frankly I just was met with a lot of blank stares. No one knew what the heck I was talking about. This clearly was not a common ingredient in the UK. An impending trip to NYC was going to solve the problem, as I knew I could pick it up there. Now, I don’t want you to fret about making this sauce without the Gumbo Filé as it can be done (you may just need to cook the sauce a bit longer) as I mentioned without this secret ingredient. I just wanted to share this secret ingredient with you!
The ink is starting to fade on the pages my recipe notebook (rightly so I guess after 16 years and a lot of handling) but it continues to inspire me. I still cook from it, still refer to it and still treat it like a bible. The sense of panic that came over me once when I thought I lost it was similar to losing your wallet. You may be thinking this unbelievable but these recipes are part of my cooking history, and therefore a part of my personal history. In essence, to me they are irreplaceable. Perhaps it’s time to think about transferring them digitally so I can still read them in another 16 years time.
Andrea Stewart
It’s not surprising that three of Andrea Stewart’s favourite foods are bread, butter and champagne, since her approach to all things culinary has always been pure and simple. This experienced, creative and enterprising chef and editor approaches cooking and eating with a solid appreciation for fresh, local and seasonal ingredients. Andrea’s journey with food began while living in France, working as an au pair for Grace Jones. While feeding the young offspring of the famous singer, she was tempted on a daily basis by the busy, colourful French food markets. Later on, she spent a summer at Ecole de Gastronomie Francaise Ritz-Escoffier and fell in love all over again with everything France had to offer. Upon returning to Canada, she was accepted at the acclaimed Stratford Chefs School and after completing her first year she headed to New York to further sharpen her skills, working alongside some of the finest (including Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto) and catering Martha Stewart’s executive meetings. Andrea returned to Toronto in 1996, and further immersed herself in her career, working at some of the city’s top food fixtures, including Mildred Pierce and Ace Bakery. She eventually took a side-step out of the kitchen and into the halls of magazine publishing, landing a position as Food Editor of Wish Magazine in 2004. While inspiring busy Canadian wonder-women to cook from scratch, she published her first cookbook, Wish, Market to Table. From street food to fine dining to unfamiliar grocery stores, food still motivates Andrea at every turn. She recently sold everything but a prized collection of cookbooks and moved to the U.K., where her culinary library spans the two floors of her London flat. She won’t rest until she has cooked from every one of them!