Sara Moulton

I usually try to eat the local fare. Like when I was in San Antonio I ate at several taquerias (sp?) and boy were they good. When I was in Kansas city I had bbq. Sometimes there is a more high end restaurant I must try like 40 Sardines, also in Kansas, or Boulevard in San Francisco. I try to support women chefs by visiting their restaurants. I love Annie Quatranno's restaurants in Atlanta. I also try to visit all my chef friends who were guests on my show, like Kent Rathbun at Rathbun's in Atlanta. Sometimes it is very hard to choose when faced with a town like say, Chicago - so many great restaurants, so little time...

That is absolutely fascinating to me! I thought that there was always a culture at CIA involving constant tasting, you know, with the little spoons in the front pocket to discourage finger-slurping. Can you say more? Of course, another way to ask this question would be: "Wha?!? The CIA didn't teach you about taste?!" ← It is totally different now than it was then. They always emphasized proper seasoning with salt and pepper (although you want to know something astonishing? back then the only salt we used was plain old iodized table salt) - but they didn't teach us about ingredients the way I know they do now. It was technique, technique, technique.

My sous chef, Jenn Webb does most of the hard work. She plans the menus based on recipes from Gourmet (occasionally we step out and do one of my recipes or some other outside chef's) and then she and Ewa Kryspin, our prep cook and dish washer do most of the prep. We order the groceries from many sources - a local boutique grocery store (where James Beard use to buy his meat) and fish store almost every day, but sometimes we work with Chef's Garden in Ohio which grows the most extraordinary designer vegetables and also with Brown Trading Fish company out of Maine. We also try to visit the farmer's market in Union Square whenever we can. And occasionally we go down to Chinatown or to stores in Little India on Lexington Avenue in the 20's. We taste everything, over and over. There is no point spending all that time working on something if you forget to add salt and pepper (or whatever else it needs like an acid pick me up such as lemon juice) The meals are tailored to the client. We find out what their dietary restrictions are and also what their level of sophistication is. We wouldn't want to serve skate wings to young media planners or a plain old steak to a foodie client.

Dean, Isn't it nice to know that Ad-Rock started watching food shows on his own -- including mine on the Food Network -- apart from the fact that my husband was the Beasties's publicist during their "Licensed To Ill" days? I wasn't aware of Ad-Rock's culinary interests until my husband and I attended Cey Adams's 40th birthday party a few years ago. Cey, an old friend of the Beasties, was head of creative services at Def Jam between 1984 and 1995. so naturally the Beasties were on hand. Bill (the husband) pointed out Ad Rock, but I didn't think too much of it except to note that he was rawther good looking. Then before I knew it, he came over to tell me that he watched my show and had a bunch of questions. We talked for nearly an hour as Bill twiddled his thumbs by my side. Afterwards I told Ad-Rock that he could call me anytime. The next thing I knew he shouted out "Sara's Secrets" in the liner notes to "To the 5 Boroughs," the Beasties 2004 album. He also rapped a funny rhyme about "Baked Alaskan" in a song called "Rhyme the Rhyme Well" -- which inspired me to put a recipe for same in "Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals." (See p.328.) When the Beasties were on tour last year we got great tickets to their show at Madison Square Garden. I have to admit that I had not been to a rock show since college. Short as I am, I can't see much and start to worry about getting trampled. (When I was younger this didn't bother me so much. I saw Jimi Hendrix at the Fillmore East when I was sixteen -- and somehow lived to tell about it.) But anyway the Beasties show was incredible. Bill tells me they'll have a new concert film out soon that includes footage shot at MSG. I'm sure it's great.

Fifi, It is so sticking, My daughter is just a freshman at college but when she came home at winter break, even though she was extremely busy seeing her friends in the city, the one thing she did was show up every night for dinner. The first thing my son asks when he checks in at the end of the school day is "Whats for dinner?" By the way, for the past two birthdays (14 and 15) what my son has asked for is a dinner party! With his friends!!! I get all excited because I think he means one of those civilized affairs with members of both sexes, but no, he means his boy friends, his pimply/gawky awkward teenage friends who do not really know about fine dining. They all show up like deer in the headlights when they see the table set with a table cloth and napkins, candles and flowers (when asked about setting the table, Sam said, "knock yourself out mom" and then he went and bought the flowers) The first year they sat at the table and actually conversed for over an hour. This year Sam made them all put their napkins in their laps and one kid take his hat off. They were really into the food this year and apparently they boasted about it to their friends and parents.

Chris, Even before my gig at the food network was up a producer friend of mine, Julia Harrison, who had produced many great shows at the food network, contacted me for a show concept she had come up with and already gotten approval for from WGBH in Boston, the station I started at with Julia C. in the late 70's. Julia Harrison is currently the producer for Ming's and Lydia's show. Anyway, public television takes a long time to make happen so we are in the middle of it. We have come up with a show that is very educational and not esoteric but I cannot tell you yet what the concept is because we don't want anyone to steal it. It is very hard to copyright a concept. There will be 26 episodes and we have already figured out the topics for all of them We will have a few guests and perhaps a few field trips. We will make a companion book to go along with it. I hope we are taping by the end of spring but I understand the best time to launch a pbs show is in September so that will probably be the date. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to weigh in on what they would like to be covered, please let me know. I have a second pbs show that I am working on with chefs I am sure you know and like, Jacques Pepin, Martin Yan and Mary Ann Esposito. Again I cannot tell you what the concept is but I think this might happen even sooner than the other show. I will post the info on my website, saramoulton.com and certainly send an announcement as well to egullet.

When Julia Child died I got alot of phone calls from the media because people were aware that I had worked with her and they wanted to know what I thought her legacy was. Among other things I said that at a time when people were cooking mostly with canned and frozen items, she was on tv telling people to cook from scratch and go to the supermarket and "Tell that produce man that he needs to find good fresh ingredients such as leeks and shallots!" Then a few days later it dawned on me, we are back there again. One of the best selling cookbooks ever was Ann Byrne's Cake Doctor Cookbook where she took a bunch of boxed cake mixes and doctored them up. The most popular shows on the food network are those kind of shows. I really don't know why. I guess people imagine they want to "cook" but they don't think they have the time to do it. I, like you, find cooking very theraputic. I enjoy the process almost more than the end result. I cook dinner at home 5 nights a week, no kidding. We set the table and sit down to dinner and talk. It is the most important time of the day for the whole family because we reconnect. I think kids (=teenagers) would get into less trouble if they had dinner with their parents every night.

Melissa, My grandmother Ruth Moulton (my dad's mom) with whom we all spent alot of time growing up was a fabulous cook. She had gone to one of the cooking schools in Boston and made classic New England dishes like roast beef and yorkshire pudding, johnny cakes, fish chowder, indian pudding etc. She gave me my first cookbook when I was five: "Mud Pies and Other Recipes" We made pies and cookies together and bread dough which we let rise in the attic. It was great fun and I still own some of her old cooking utensils. It was my mom however, who dragged me out of the hot dog/french fry/ice cream diet which was my preference in those early days. She was cooking with all sorts of exotic ingredients considering that we are talking about the tv dinner, frozen vegetable and canned mushroom soup as sauce 50's and 60's. She knew about endive and fresh fennel and shad roe and mushrooms. She was a pretty good cook to begin with but then she started traveling. When she came back from a trip she made a point of finding a place in the city (New York where I grew up) to get the ingredients and then recreate the meal. I started joining her. Our bible was the New York Times Cookbook. We began to throw dinner parties on a regular basis and got better and better with our techniques. In the summer we would go up to our farmhouse which we shared with my aunt and uncle and my aunt was an incredible cook too. As the family grew we all became more obsessed with food at the farm. (My cousin Josh also became a chef) We would all run around and exercise every day so that we could prepare and eat a huge meal every night. So I have been happily surrounded by good cooks all my life.

I worked at Peter Kump's (now called the Institute for Culinary Education)in the mid eighties. I was hired by Peter himself who at the time had no actual cooking facility, just a few rental apartments where he and other teachers would conduct classes. I taught the avocational classes about twice a week. The only difference between them and the professional was that they were held once a week, not five days a week. Other than that the curriculum was the same. And the curriculum was amazing. I had graduated from the CIA in 1977 and really thought I had gotten the best education but I realized when I started at Kump's that there was one important lesson I had missed: taste. Back then they didn't teach us how to taste at the CIA. The first night of techniques 1 we started by showing the students how to use a knife (always a perilous undertaking). Then we had each one of them make the same vinaigrette, 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. The oil was all the same but the vinegar (acid) was different for every student. Wow, what an eye opener! As many egullet readers already know, balsamic is not very acidic, nor is rice vinegar, whereas lemon juice is extremetly acidic. So some of the vinaigrettes seemed perfectly balanced and some were too acidic or too oily. Up until then I just went with the 3 to 1 ratio and never really tasted or thought about what I was doing. We also tasted flat leaf vs curly parsley, fresh vs processed cream cheese, etc. I loved teaching. The excitement of the students, learning how to cook for the first time, was contagious. For me, a little jaded after 7 years in the industry, it was like falling in love again. I discovered I was good at it too. I had always meant to be an elementary school teacher and this wasn't much different. That knowledge helped me when I was getting media trained. The trainer said in great frustration after 2 days, "Come on tell me why you should be on tv, there has got to be some compelling reason that will help you to relax and forget the cameras," and suddenly I realized what it was - I was a great teacher. I was very impressed with Peter. He was a protege of Simone Back and learned a great deal from her. I do not think he was properly appreciated then or now. The curriculum at the school has been changed completely. It is still a good school, don't get me wrong, but I wish they had kept some of the old curriculum.

I just noticed that you said to add "hot stock." Mais non, mon cher! If the roux is hot, the stock must be cool, as in room temperature, or you will have a heck of a time. ← She and I have been back and forth on this now for months, and we're still a bit confused. We've consulted McGee and resident food scientists; we've also started a thread on oil separation (click) because we suspect that the addition of stock to roux is the key to that particular problem in gumbos. Care to dip your toe into this river of molten foodie lava? What's your opinion? Does the temperature of stock added to roux matter? If you think it does, it's because it should be simmering, right? Right? ← Alright, this whole thing IS controversial. I have always added a hot liquid to a hot roux. I get the smoothest sauce this way. I have several colleagues however, who add cold to hot or room temp to hot. I think the reason the oil separates out of a sauce when using a roux is because there is not enough actual water in the sauce (much of it gets evaporated in the reducing). I have had success simply whisking some water into a split sauce. What does Shirely Corriher say? And Harold?

I have saved this question until I had more time to answer. Julia Child taught me so many things - about cooking, tv and about life. The one thing that most people don't really know about her was how funny she was in person. Of course she was funny on tv but in sort of a hammy way. But she was a no nonsense, speak her mind kind of gal and it was amazing what came out of her mouth. I remember being at a IACP conference (Iternational Association of Cooking Professionals) at the height of the food police era and after a key note speaker had given a lecture to about 2000 of us over lunch about the evils of saturated fat and all fat in general, Julia raised her hand and said, "What is so bad about butter??" I think it is wonderful!! Her point was always, everything in moderation, and perhaps that is why she lived to the ripe old age of almost 92 (2 days short of her birthday) When I arrived on the set the first day we started working together at GBH in Boston on the series "Julia Child and More Company" I figured I would sit at the foot of a master and just learn. But noo, that was not Julia's way. We all had to contribute. She would come up with an idea, say a gateau of crepes and we would all have to brainstorm. So we made it once and then again and again and again (we made one dish 13 times!) until it was perfect. We only worked 3 days a week (and I was there only for two of them since I was the chef of a restaurant at the time and could only take 2 days off) but they were packed. In typical Julia fashion we all sat down to lunch in the middle of the day. We started with a little aperatif, dry white vermouth of course, then a full lunch (usually a sampling of the dishes we were working on) with wine. The table was set with real forks, glasses, plates (no paper for us please!) and the conversation was lively. There must have been about 15 or so of us. Anyway, things moved much more slowly in the afternoon. I heard that in later years they dispensed with wine at lunch. Julia decided after a few weeks of taping that I was a serious cook and therefore should pursue even more training (I had already been through the 2 year program at CIA and I thought that was enough). One day an old chef from Chartres France comes to visit the set and Julia negotiated a "stage" (apprenticeship) for me with him. I sort of couldn't say no so when we were done with the taping I went off to France for 3 months to work at his restaurant. Well, not only did he not let me work the line (remember I was a chef and ran a kitchen in the US) but he also tried to get me alone in the wine cellar whenever he could. I had nobody to confide in while I was there because I was surrounded by his family - his wife, 2 daughters, etc and I thought they would be horrified if I told on him. Although I was terribly insulted by the whole thing I stuck it out because I was learning so much. It took me six months after I got back to tell Julia. I thought she would feel terrible that she had put me in such a situation. When I finally got up the courage she said (with slight impatience), "Oh dearie, what did you expect? They are all like that. Get over it!!" I guess I could go on forever here. What else did I learn from Julia? You never stop learning You should always have more than one job (thanks Julia, I am still working my buns off) You must strive for excellence No matter how famous you are you are still just another human being It is ok to make mistakes on tv. You must smile when you are on tv (not easy) She was my mentor and sort of like another Mom. I know I have tons of company.

I checked out the hot sauce thread and can see that you all are far more discerning than me. People tend to give me hot sauces when they travel and then I just try them out. I do not like sweet hot sauce, I do not like ball park mustard in my hot sauce. I prefer habanero and scotch bonnet based hot sauce. I like Cholula for that reason. I have mostly used your favorite, schriacha, in cooking but now I will have to try it straight up. I add Tabasco to my tuna fish.

Wow, I can't believe you worked at the Del. Have you been back lately? I doubt it's changed much. Quite a leap from there to cooking w/Julia (or even John Malik )! ← Sadly, it closed about a year ago. The community management idea wasn't working anymore. I have an updated version of the "Det" burger in my book, "Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals." You may remember the original was a quarter pounder topped with the "Det" mixuture (freeze dried green peppers, canned mushrooms, canned California olives) grilled onions, a slice of American cheese and then it was "Steamed in Beer!!!!" which now that I think about it makes complete sense since alcohol is a conductor of flavor. My version has green chiles, cremini mushrooms, kalamata olives, onions and cheddar cheese. I really loved working there, I still keep in touch with some of the people I met.

Barbara Kafka came out with a great book about 10 years ago called, "Roasting," and she addressed the high heat recipe for every size and kind of meat. I remember Barbara cooking a 12 pound turkey on good morning america during the course of the show in 1 1/2 hours. The recipe I had in my book was for a 3 1/2 pound chicken which you cook in a 450 F. oven for 45 minutes and then let rest for 15 before carving. A larger roast would take longer. You would have to refer to her book. I remember when we did that roast on GMA, Julia Child happened to watch and called me up afterwards to express her incredulity. When she tried it her kitchen smoked up (= stove not impeccably clean) and she did not approve.

Ok, Here are some general guidelines: Start with the title of the recipe (make it tempting without too many words) Put the yield underneath the title or at the end of the recipe, serves 4, etc. List the ingredients in the order in which they will appear in the recipe. Think about what you are looking for when you read a recipe - the weight, the cup, tablespoon amount, the size (large plum tomato) Was it chopped, minced, grated, washed and spun dry, etc? Then in the procedure just put the actions in the order in which you would do them Include the size of the pan, the temperature on the stove, how you would add the ingredients (in one layer, etc) Finally make sure you tell the reader how to serve it. Give them brief food styling instructions. It is also nice to let them know if they can make it ahead or even freeze it.

John, You were a great guest. I didn't really know you were so nervous!! I bet you aren't anymore when you are on tv. That was a wild and crazy 8 months, "Cooking Live Primetime," and it some ways it is a blur. We had on 3 guests a night, made 3 to 4 recipes, in the early days we were supposed to be drinking and having fun, in the later days we were supposed to be stone cold sober but have drinks under the counter to keep us relaxed. I had many great chefs on but it was so rushed I couldn't really focus on everything they were doing, not to mention I was still taking live calls and my producer was often talking in my ear while we were doing the show. One cool moment I remember - when Tom Colicchio from Gramercy Tavern made corn soup and he used no thickener. The corn (duh, corn starch) thickened the soup. It was beautifully thickened with no flour.

Ultimately anyone who can get people into the kitchen and cooking is a hero. Celebrity chefs have raised the status of the profession for sure but I just worry that sometimes some of the less well trained celebrity chefs are giving out misinformation.

Wow, I am sort of speechless. I am not saying we don't all need to know these kind to things but is this a recipe? I have never seen anything like this on Epicurious before and believe me I go there all the time..

I went to a very rigorous girl's high school in New York City and essentially had no adolescence. I just studied my buns off 24/7. By the time I applied to college I wanted a break. The University of Michigan is certainly no joke academically but my boy friend at the time (I don't know how I had time for a boyfriend) went to the residential college at u of m which was a small experimental college and when I visited him I found out that the school had no grades just evaluations and they offered "alternative" subjects. So I applied and got in and pursued important topics like "Astrophysics" and "Comparative Revolutions of Russia and China" and what we lovingly referred to as "Boys and Girls in Books," which obviously had a more important real title - something like "The Gender Issue in Modern American Literature." The one requirement of my major was to write a thesis. I especially loved "To the Lighthouse" by Virginia Woolf and so I opted to write my thesis on that book. I still have not answered your question - history of ideas to a career in food? Really there was no connection. I had pursued everything else in college as a career - becoming a doctor (too sad- have to give out bad news), a lawyer (too male dominated), biological medical illustrator (too bloody - we were supposed to illustrate operations among other things) and teacher. I have no idea why I didn't follow this one. That is what I always thought I wanted to do. I am fascinated by how children learn, why they fail, how you can help them. I tutored in the new york public school system all the way through high school and always thought I would do this as a profession. But I always had a restaurant related job while I was at college - first as a waitress, then as a personal chef to a family and finally at a bar, the Del Rio (a wonderful jazz bar in Ann arbor) as a short order cook. My Mom is the one who nudged me and made me apply to the CIA. When I got in I had to go and it was the best thing I ever did, thanks to mom.

good question! We all have secrets. I guess mine would be triscuits. (Julia was an unabashed fan of goldfish) peppermint chocolate bark from christmas 20 bottles of hot sauce What is your crazy pantry item?

I cannot verify this but I feel pretty sure Julia's counters were designed for her. At least I remember having to compensate (get on tippy toe) when I was on the set of her show on GBH and at her home on Irving street. Actually, now I remember, her tables at GBH were put on blocks (each leg had a booster under it) to make it work better for her.

Susan, I am 5 feet even, at least for now. They keep saying if you do pilates you can get a little taller (stretch your spine?) but who knows... Anyway, for the first 2 1/2 years of my show I had to stand on a riser that was 6 inches high. I spent the whole show every night worrying whether I would fall off. I never did but it sure was a distraction. When I finally got my own set we built it to my size. My counter was lower than the standard counter. I think that is why the first comment most people make when they meet me is, "Wow, I had no idea you were so little!" I of course reinterpret that to mean "skinny" but I know they mean short. My husband is 6'2 and he is constantly making short jokes. I don't mind, I have been this short since I was 13 and captain of the basketball team (I used to pass between people's legs)

Did you attach a recipe? I didn't see it (of course I am sort of slow at all this internet stuff...)

The Gentleman, Pinky Martin, who started making pepper mills for my show in 1996 has just turned 86. I guess it was in 1998 that we did a "best of" about my cooking live show and since people had been bugging us so much about the peppermills we got Pinky's permission to put up his p.o. box. Well he got flooded with requests and now, 700 peppermils later, has a 2 year waiting list. In 2000 or so I gave one of my peppermills away on Oprah, to a women who just wanted one and didn't want to wait two years. It was sort of fun because before I came on and suprised the gal with the goods they showed clips from the show with a narration about her growing desire for this item. Every time they showed a clip, they would put a yellow light behind the pepper mill sort of like a halo, as if it was a sacred object. Anyway, at that point we put a moratorium on new orders (although I have a feeling Pinky might have put Oprah on the list) Many people think that Pinky has gotten wealthy doing this which couldn't be farther from the truth. It is labor intensive and the ingredients are expensive. He has done this for love of the craft and it shows. He came to one of the last tapings of the show with his son, also a classy man. Of course I will take the ones he has made me to the new show.

Actually, I was sort of relieved that I got off as easily as I did in that article. He was pretty harsh on the Food Network. I think he had his thesis firmly in place - the food porn one- before he talked to me. Certainly I agree that the new young pretty talent has brought younger men to the food network, which makes the network very happy and it is a growing trend, the sexy cook, in food tv that started with Nigella. Again and call this silly, I was expecting much worse so I didn't get upset with how he characterized me.