Emeril: Beyond the Bam!
The chef says his Portuguese heritage is a big influence on his cooking, which he brings to town this weekend. When Emeril Lagasse arrives in Honolulu this week, he won’t be heading for the beach. Instead, America’s favorite chef has other plans. “I’ll be making a beeline for hot malasadas,” says Emeril. “As far as I know, you can only find fresh malasadas in Hawaii and in my hometown, Fall River (Mass.).”
By .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
E-mail this story | Print this page | Archive | RSS |
Del.icio.us
|
see what’s happening with chefs like Alan Wong.”
It’s so easy to slip into talking about food with Emeril that you forget he’s one of the most in-demand celebrities in America. With television shows on three networks watched by more than 75 million viewers daily, Emeril is arguably the best-known chef in the world. But still he gives the impression that he’s got all day to chat about the life he loves.
“I think when you feel that you get up in the morning that you’re not going to work, then you have passion,” he says, as we talk about his unprecedented success.
“I think I’m blessed, really, because of my love for food and for people,” he says. “I’m blessed because I can reach people through my craft, which is food.”
One of the ways he most enjoys connecting with people is through writing. Emeril at the grill, his ninth cookbook, has just been released, and when we talked he was in the middle of an exhaustive book tour around the country - all of it a labor of love.
“I hadn’t written a new book in almost four years,” he says, “so this one is near and dear to my heart. I love writing and I love sharing, and I enjoyed everything about working on this.”
With recipes for both indoor and outdoor grilling, it has dozens of recipes perfectly suited to Hawaii’s year-round tropical climate.
“The photographs and the dishes in the new book are incredible,” he enthuses. “Lately when I write, I’m really trying to consider the average person out there. I think that’s maybe why the books appeal.”
But while his restaurants are remarkable in their diversity (there are 11 restaurants serving everything from Cajun classics at Emeril’s New Orleans, to Asian/Pacific Rim-influenced Tchoup Chop in Orlando), and his cookbooks cover everything from grilling to gourmet Cajun food, it’s the Portuguese home cooking of his childhood that holds a special place in his heart.
“My mom Hilda and I still have a lot of fun in the kitchen together,” says Lagasse. “Her caldo verde and her favish are some of my favorite dishes.”
When asked about his mom’s skill in the kitchen, he jokes, “I like to tease her that I’m starting to get a little better at those dishes than she is.”
It’s that self-deprecating humor and his love for what he does that helps to get him through some fairly hectic days. With a multimedia train that is constantly in motion, it’s perhaps no surprise that the one of the places Emeril finds most relaxing is his kitchen at home.
“I do have a lot going on,” he says, “but when I get home, I absolutely love to cook. It’s very special for me to cook at home. It’s so different from the rush of the restaurant business.”
It’s also where he’s inspired by the seasons, and where his family, wife Alden Lovelace and their two children E.J. (6) and Meril (4), come into the kitchen to help out.
And, yes, his wife can cook.
“She’s actually a very good cook,” Emeril says, then adds “but as she herself always says,‘Why would I?’”
Why, indeed?
Sam Choy agrees with Alden. “Emeril Lagasse can really cook. He’s not a TV chef, he’s not a celebrity, he’s a chef. He cooks first - without ego, without any kind of fuss, without taking any negative stuff along the road with him, he focuses on the positive, on cooking with passion and on making people feel good.”
You could call it the Southern version of the aloha spirit.
For more information on the Kahala Food & Wine Classic or to reserve your space at The Big Easy, visit www.kahalaresort.com or call the Kahala Hotel & Resort toll-free at (800) 367-2525.
Page 2 of 2 pages for this story < 1 2
E-mail this story | Print this page | Comments (0) | Archive | RSS
Most Recent Comment(s):
