Cooking with David Rosengarten
By:Faith Bahadurian
I blame David Rosengarten for my addiction to watching the Television Food Network.
I was idly channel surfing one night back in 1995, and happily discovered the bearded professorial-looking man hosting a show called "Taste."
He delved into his subject in great analytical depth, obsessively evaluating ingredients and different techniques, and showing good and bad versions of the dish in question.
Then he sat down and ate his creation, discussing which wines or beer would best complement it, encouraging us to "slow down and smell the rosés."
He was not above dressing outlandishly to get you in the mood, even donning wildly outlandish punk clothes and a Cockney accent for a show on fish and chips.
In the following weeks, I learned that the subject could be a challenging classic dish from the French repertoire, or deceivingly simple comfort food. Some shows focused on a single ingredient. Goat cheese was one of my favorites, and the salt show was a revelation – I now have several kinds in my kitchen. (Flaky Maldon sea salt from England is my favorite.)
Dr. Rosengarten will present a cooking demonstration at Wegmans market in Nassau Park Saturday, as part of the market’s Famous Cookbook Authors Series.
Dr. Rosengarten? Yes, he holds a doctorate in dramatic literature from Cornell University and started his career in the halls of academe and as a theater director.
How did an assistant professor at Skidmore College become a cooking celebrity?
During a telephone conversation, he answered, "I come from a food-crazy family, and would have considered a career as a restaurateur except for the example of my father’s ill-fated stint as a restaurant owner when I was a teen."
He found teaching drama in the early 80s a discouraging task, since at that time his students were pressured to study more lucrative subjects such as finance and law.
So one day Mr. Rosengarten (which he prefers to Dr.) wandered into a cooking store in Saratoga Springs and offered to do a free cooking demonstration. "The owners reluctantly agreed, figuring they’d better not charge for the class in case I wasn’t any good." The class was a success – he cooked the Szechuan Shrimp recipe below – and Mr. Rosengarten discovered he could make a career out of communicating about food.
On the way to becoming a celebrity TV chef, David Rosengarten served as the New York restaurant critic for Gourmet magazine from 1995-1999, where he is now a contributing editor. He was also the weekly wine columnist for Newsday from 1988 to 1993, and his articles and original recipes have appeared in The New York Times, Food & Wine, Bon Appétit and Wine Spectator, among others.
The self-trained journalist, author, restaurant critic and teacher has published three cookbooks. "Red Wine with Fish" (no longer in print) came first, in 1989. Shortly after he reached TV stardom with "Taste," the "Dean & DeLuca Cookbook" (Random House, $24 paperback) was released, a huge compendium more like a sophisticated "Joy of Cooking" for the new millennium.
In 1998, "Taste: One Palate’s Journey Through the World’s Greatest Dishes" was released (Random House, $29.95 paperback), and was awarded the Julia Child Best International Cookbook Award of 1999.
Of "Taste," the show, The New York Times noted, "Mr. Rosengarten has reconceived the idea of what a cooking show can be." Alas, after 600 shows, no new "Taste" shows are planned. However, he is also co-host, with Donna Hanover, of "In Food Today," a magazine show with guest chefs, and he is working on developing new shows for the network.
His approach bespeaks his passionate love of his subject; whether he is waxing poetic about the virtues of true barbecue or the perfect onion soup. Asked to comment on current trends in cooking, he remarks, "Too much creativity! When a chef has great ingredients, as so many do now, why must they throw in so many other elements that diminish that great ingredient?"
He added that it’s hard to get good roast chicken, for instance, in a restaurant anymore, because chefs have forgotten the basics.
And is there anything that’s been put in front of him that he just could not bring himself to eat? In spite of having done his dissertation on Henrik Ibsen and thinking he would love all things Scandinavian, there was a very, very aged (as in buried in the ground for a long while) cheese in northern Norway. "It was sort of black and it was dead."
In "Taste," the book, the language is refreshingly informal and down to earth. You are encouraged to hold your own opinions, especially regarding beloved dishes from your youth. After all, as Mr. Rosengarten says, "Life is a matter of taste."?
SZECHUAN SHRIMP WITH CHILI AND?
GARLIC SAUCEŽ
(From "Taste: One Palate’s Journey Through the World’s Greatest Dishes")Ž
1 pound medium shrimp
4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons chili sauce
2 teaspoons shao hsing (or dry sherry)
1 teaspoon thin soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon chili paste with garlic
½ teaspoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon hot chili oil
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon MSG (optional)
4 cups peanut oil
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh gingerroot
3 tablespoons finely minced garlic
½ cup minced scallion (about 4 fat scallions, white and green parts)
3 dried red chilies
Cilantro leaves for garnish (if desired.)
1. Peel, devein and butterfly the shrimp. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the salt, and allow to stand for ½ hour.
2. During this time, prepare the sauce: mix together the hoisin sauce, chili sauce, shao hsing, soy sauce, fish sauce, chili paste, sesame oil, hot chili oil, sugar and MSG (if desired). Reserve.
3. When you are ready to cook, bring the peanut oil to 375 degrees in a wok.
4. Thoroughly wash the salt off the shrimp with running cold water. Add another teaspoon of salt to the shrimp, mix, let stand for 30 seconds, and wash off the salt. Repeat this procedure twice more. The final time, drain well but do not dry – let some water cling to the shrimp.
5. Immerse ½ of the shrimp in the hot oil, and cook until just past translucent (20 seconds or so). Remove the shrimp to paper towels. Add the remaining shrimp. The oil will not be as hot, so this portion of shrimp may need 30 seconds to finish cooking. Remove them to paper towels.
6. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of the oil from the wok. Over high heat, stir-fry the ginger, garlic, scallions, and dried chilies for 1 minute. Add the reserved shrimp, and toss well to blend. Add the reserved sauce, and stir to coat the shrimp. Turn the dish out onto a platter, garnish with cilantro leaves, if desired, and serve immediately.?
Serves 4 as part of a Chinese dinner?
David Rosengarten will appear at Wegmans Market in Nassau Park Saturday, 2 – 4 p.m. Tickets are $50, which includes a signed copy of "Taste," and seating is limited. Five hundred dollars will be donated to Mercer Street Friends Food Cooperative. For information call (609) 919-9300.