Entertaining
Interview with Chef David Adjey
Entertaining
Interview with Chef David Adjey
As a consultant Chef to many top end restaurants and star of the Food Network's Restaurant Makeover, Torontonian David Adjey explains how creativity is his trademark and how his Grandmother will help him become the next Iron Chef.
CanadianLiving.com: Do the different food cultures that you are exposed to on your show influence your cooking at home?
David Adjey: Yes. I cook everyday and like to cook something different everyday. I make everything from Latin to Indian to Italian.
CL: Have you always wanted to be a chef?
DA: At age 5 I was trying to decide whether to be a chef or a florist, my parents leaned me towards being a chef.
CL: Did you cook at home with your parents?
DA: Yes. I cooked with my mom starting at a young age. It was that love for cooking which gave me a passion to be a chef today.
CL: What were some of your favourite childhood dishes?
DA: The ultimate childhood dish was fondue night with the parents. Nothing beats massive quantities of alcohol, hot fat and weapons on a Friday night.
CL: Do you have a cooking trademark?
DA: My trademark is at a point where people can look at my dishes and see that they are mine due to the creativity I put into everything I plate.
CL: What are some of your favourite cookware items that you couldn't be without in the kitchen?
DA: A food mill, a Japanese mandolin, and a silicone baking mat.
CL: Do you have any foodie pet peeves?
DA: When people look at making food as a chore. If you're not happy in the kitchen go out and make reservations.
CL: Would you ever do a show like Iron Chef?
DA: I'd saw off my grandmother's legs to get on Iron Chef, and she's been dead for 10 years. Does anybody have a shovel?
CL: What is your most memorable culinary experience?
DA: My first day going on campus at the Culinary Institute of America.
CL: What is your favourite dish to cook at home?
DA: It's a different dish everyday, but my last 3 were, duck breast with spiced fig preserve, grilled sardines with lemon and chillies and rabbit mole.
CL: Is there any chef that you would love to work with?
DA: David Burke in New York. He is one of my influences - a culinary kindred spirit.
CL: Are your kids picky eaters and any ideas on how to sneak in the vegetables for picky kids?
DA: No, my kids eat everything from smoked eel to snails. The best advice I can give is to take them to the market and make them a part of the cooking process from start to finish. Have them help you with washing, cutting and cooking the vegetables. If they still won't eat the vegetables after all of that, there's always torture.
Read more:
Gulity food pleasures of famous Canadians >>
Image courtesy Whitecap Books
CanadianLiving.com: Do the different food cultures that you are exposed to on your show influence your cooking at home?
David Adjey: Yes. I cook everyday and like to cook something different everyday. I make everything from Latin to Indian to Italian.
CL: Have you always wanted to be a chef?
DA: At age 5 I was trying to decide whether to be a chef or a florist, my parents leaned me towards being a chef.
CL: Did you cook at home with your parents?
DA: Yes. I cooked with my mom starting at a young age. It was that love for cooking which gave me a passion to be a chef today.
CL: What were some of your favourite childhood dishes?
DA: The ultimate childhood dish was fondue night with the parents. Nothing beats massive quantities of alcohol, hot fat and weapons on a Friday night.
CL: Do you have a cooking trademark?
DA: My trademark is at a point where people can look at my dishes and see that they are mine due to the creativity I put into everything I plate.
CL: What are some of your favourite cookware items that you couldn't be without in the kitchen?
DA: A food mill, a Japanese mandolin, and a silicone baking mat.
CL: Do you have any foodie pet peeves?
DA: When people look at making food as a chore. If you're not happy in the kitchen go out and make reservations.
CL: Would you ever do a show like Iron Chef?
DA: I'd saw off my grandmother's legs to get on Iron Chef, and she's been dead for 10 years. Does anybody have a shovel?
CL: What is your most memorable culinary experience?
DA: My first day going on campus at the Culinary Institute of America.
CL: What is your favourite dish to cook at home?
DA: It's a different dish everyday, but my last 3 were, duck breast with spiced fig preserve, grilled sardines with lemon and chillies and rabbit mole.
CL: Is there any chef that you would love to work with?
DA: David Burke in New York. He is one of my influences - a culinary kindred spirit.
CL: Are your kids picky eaters and any ideas on how to sneak in the vegetables for picky kids?
DA: No, my kids eat everything from smoked eel to snails. The best advice I can give is to take them to the market and make them a part of the cooking process from start to finish. Have them help you with washing, cutting and cooking the vegetables. If they still won't eat the vegetables after all of that, there's always torture.
Read more:
Gulity food pleasures of famous Canadians >>
Image courtesy Whitecap Books
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