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Sep 04, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose
in Announcements
A dear old friend and esteemed colleague, Jim Fobel (author of 9 cookbooks!), called recently to offer me some of his lively 250 year old starter he had purchased from King Arthur. He couldn’t bear to throw out the required half so he has been feeding two starters but doesn’t have use for all that starter (does this sound familiar?)!
Jim lives in Manhattan around 14th Street so we decided to offer it to anyone who is willing to pick it up from him.
Save the starter by calling Jim: 212-414-1902
Sep 06, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose
in Special Stories
After having spent a week addressing all the copy editor’s newest queries in the second round of copy editing Woody arrived from MN to spend 8 days proofing the transition of copy edited manuscript to galleys. Galleys are essentially the actual design of the book pages but without the photos or the exact placement of sidebars, but we got to see the charts and fonts in color for the first time. How beautiful the 444 pages looked compared to the heavily copy edited manuscript which was close to 800 pages. It’s akin to witnessing an embryo becoming a fetus! (Many an author has compared this process of creation--writing a book--to childbirth.)
The Heavily Copy Edited Manuscript
Woody Pouring over the Galleys
It was 8 of the most intense days of my life because it took incredible focus over an incredible amount of time. We averaged 12 hours of work a day, starting at 8 in the morning, stopping for a quick lunch, breaking for an hour of tennis with Elliott at 6 and then dinner, and returning to the proofing until around 1 in the morning.
Woody and Me Proofing
Continue reading "Book Production Phase 11 Proofing the Galleys" »
Sep 13, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose
in Special Stories
Some years ago I visited London for the first time and was staying in a rather depressing dumpy but affordable hotel, but not for long. Old family friends, the Streeters, who had retired to Harrogate—land of James Herriot (All Creatures Great and Small), invited me to visit. It was like coming home—a beautiful apartment in the countryside, my own room with comfy bed and down pillow. I never did have to return to that dumpy hotel as my next stop was friends in Paris.
Staying with the Streeters was a most wonderful and sentimental visit as I had grown up with their sons and we hadn’t seen each other for years. Ted took me to see the newly unearthed (literally) Viking Village in York. Rosalind, a terrific cook, fed me well, but what was most memorable was breakfast. Rosalind served me a fried egg that was still sitting in the little copper bottomed stainless steel Revereware skillet in which it had been fried. She silently set it before me, having announced the night before that she didn’t like conversations first thing in the morning, and left me blissfully to enjoy the fabulous country egg.
When later I told her what a perfect way it was to serve an egg, keeping it warm but not continuing to cook it she told me that she had been looking for years for more of those little frying pans so she could serve more than one person at a time.
Continue reading "Cast Iron Eggs" »
Sep 14, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose
in Special Stories
Last week I brought the corrected galleys in to my publisher Wiley, in Hoboken. NJ and Ava (the production editor) and I went to lunch at my friend Maricel Priscilla’s wonderful Cuban restaurant Zaffra
.
Ava is the best production editor I have ever encountered in fact she is just plain incomparable: clear, organized, concerned, calm, gently but firm, loving, intelligent, and just plain charming and adorable. This is not to say that we always see eye to eye. If you read the article about Marcella Hazan in this week’s New York Times, you will have had a glimpse of the possible/inevitable battles that often take place between the author’s point of view and that of the publisher’s. They can be quite acrimonious so I am all the more grateful that Ava comes from the approach of appreciating team work and wanting what is best for the book.
Our major point of contention was the subcomponent recipes. About 8 of my buttercream recipes have two or more components. Most publishers like to put these components before the title of the recipe in which they are used. Most bakers and cooks passionately prefer them in the order in which they will be needed when baking/cooking.
Most of these incidences appear in the wedding cake chapter—for obvious reasons the most complicated chapter in the book. Together we found a way to have the sequence as I envisioned it but with far greater clarity than it was originally. This meant my reconfiguring many things from the pdf galley files—hard to see—hard to copy into word documents—and how I spent the entire weekend.
Changes like these are fraught with potential for mistakes but thankfully Lisa Story, the typesetter, is a meticulous genius so I am only a little concerned. Ava will review my reconfigurations and then send them to Lisa so we can see how they will look before making them final. I should say semi-final because after Lisa completes the process of inputting over 1000 changes from Woody and my review of the galleys, the book will then go into design and first pass pages. This will begin happening while I am in Switzerland on a culinary press trip the first 10 days of October. The week of my return we will take the final group of cake and process photos and it will not be until the first week of January that I get to review the first pass pages with all the photos in place—I think.
Judging from the past phases, no doubt there will be more happening in the interim. Stay tuned!
Sep 17, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose
in Photos
The photo of this impressive cake with most unusual decoration was sent to me by Audra Comer. I want to share it with all of you along with this gracious note:
Dear Rose,
I just wanted to send you a quick picture of my brother's groom's cake which I made for his wedding on the 31st of August. It had to travel across our state of NC and didn't arrive in quite the shape I wanted, but I was still proud as a novice cake baker. You taught me how to do this! Thank You!
Sep 20, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose
in Special Stories
Those rare times when we discover a restaurant we love before it has been “written up,” we live in fear that once the write-up comes the lines will grow along with the sound level. So if you live in NY or are coming to visit, hopefully you will get there before this happens to Thor, in the Hotel Rivington in NY’s East Village. Thor is not a new restaurant but it does have a wonderful new chef!
First the location: Do you remember the movie “Crossing Delancey Street” and Gus’s pickles? Well this is virtually around the corner in what is the new and arguably most trendy neighborhood in Manhattan.
If you arrive early, have a drink in the bar area—the design is both compelling and comfortable and the mixed drinks excellent. But it is the small and very modern dining room that makes you catch your breath. Highly modern but perfectly cozy and intimate, look up and see the sky through the glassed in roof, along with myriad fire-escapes that make you half expect to hear Marlon Brando yelling: “STELLLAAAA.”(yes I know that took place in the south but still…this is southern Manhattan…)
Executive chef Jesi Solomon, knows how to cook to satisfy the senses. His skill is reinforced by his passion for his profession and his warmth of spirit. His cooking is classically based but not overly refined or overly rich. When you’ve finished eating you feel utterly replete without feeling stuffed. We soon discovered that the very knowledgeable and equally dedicated sommelier Daniel is his brother.
Continue reading "Word Hasn’t Gotten out Yet but Hurry!" »
Sep 24, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose
in Special Stories
I’m very proud of my association with Food Arts Magazine. I have been a contributing editor for many years now and have written some of my best pieces for the publication. So of course I was longing to be part of the 20th anniversary celebration held this week in the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel. Unfortunately for those of us who longed to be there, the invitation list included only the winners of the Silver Spoon Award for sterling performance in the food industry and about 250 were expected.
It wasn’t the food or wine (which I knew would be wonderful) that I longed for. It was seeing and congratulating the many people of whom I’ve grown so fond over the years. But I was resigned to miss it. Such is the miracle of our industry—the support and affection of our colleagues—that somehow I got to go in the best way possible—as a participant of sorts.
The afternoon of the event I happened to be walking in the west village and passed Pichet Ong’s restaurant P*ONG and dessert store Batch. Pichet is an amazingly talented chef both sweet and savory, known for combining both elements in his creations. He is also the author of a terrific cookbook appropriately called The Sweet Spot. Assuming that he was surely busy preparing the dessert for the event I hesitated to disturb him but he was totally in control of the preparations and asked if I would be at the event. When I explained why I couldn’t be there he didn’t hesitate to insist that I come as his assistant! We went back and forth several times with great conviction, me saying no and he saying yes and then I just couldn’t resist. So I ran home to change into my best white pique chef jacket with red piping and red patent leather special occasion chef clogs and then ran back to accompany Pichet to the Plaza.
Continue reading "The Food Party of the Decade" »
Sep 26, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose
in Special Stories
I know that many of you are really dying to see what Hector has been describing for many months so here are the three photos he has sent plus a description of the process:
My cousin Elaine wanted a wedding cake from me, and I gave her all I can
bake! Here are the cakes at her 7-cake wedding.
First the wedding cake, an 8-tier 9-inch Golden Genoise cylinder with 5-inch
and 3-inch accents, filled with pistachio green Silk Meringue Buttercream,
frosted with green and white Mousseline Buttercream. Every cake component
was infused with pistasha liquor I made with La Cuisine excellent French
pistachio essence. Except for the roses attached vertically, cake was made
fresh, chilled for 2 days, then transported fully assembled from Downtown
Hilo to Volcano National Park: a grueling 2 hour 20mph ride thru country
road. My brother was the only person that dared to be my driver since all
my friends gave up on me knowing I turn into evil when doing so. I had a
long stake on one hand ready to poke thru the center of the cake shall it
tipped during the ride. It really helped that this was done at 5 am, and
the outside temperature was 55oF!
The second cake, is Rose's Blueberry Swan Lake. The meringue swan recipe
yields more than 5 pairs of swans. I managed to make 4 pairs plus several
dozen extra parts. Swans were made in my kitchen in Honolulu, then packed
in 4 airtight boxes and sent via 2 of my helpers as carry on luggage. Only
ONE pair arrived safely! This is the one cake out of the 7 that people came
back for seconds.
The following 5 cakes are miniature 3 tier versions of Copper Topper
Mountain Cascade, Killer Kahlua Chiffon Mocha Glaze, Ethereal longan-lychee
Charlotte, Triple Chocolate Cake, and Carrot Ring Cake. These cakes took me
4 months to complete.
The above is literally my ultimate effort and for what a great cousin I
have. Never have I heard from a bride allowing me to turn the reception
into a cake party. At the same time this effort is melancholic, there won't
be cakes from me for a while, since I disassembled my yellow kitchen, and
moved to a location nearby where not even the plumbing is in place. The
good news is that the hired photographer and videographer for Elaine's
wedding were covering my work from 3 days prior and all day long on the
wedding day, so I shall have lots of footage to keep my senses happy!
Aloha to you all. Hector
And good luck to you Hector in your new career and with your new flower shot/bakery!
Sep 27, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose
in Special Stories
Wild Roses
it was back in early July that I saw the preliminary design for the book pages and fell in love with the theme of wild roses on the chapter opener pages. They were both beautiful and appropriate given my name but it turned out that the sales force at the publisher was concerned with the possibility that it would be perceived as too feminine for the male audience. After my wonderful editor Pam Chirls and I ran out of arguments as to why we should have those roses I came up with an inspiration: to bring the design of the book pages to the Oracle: Nach Waxman Kitchen Arts and Letters.(A visit to New York is not complete without a long stop at the store which specializes in cookbooks from all over the world.)
I have known Nach for well over 20 years. His store is right next to the 92nd St YMCA where my mother swam every week. More often than not she would stop at this store to remind Nach that her daughter was writing a book. Eventually she introduced us over lunch in a nearby restaurant. Over the years, whenever I had a book published, I would go and sign a bunch of them at Kitchen Arts and Letters. For the Cake Bible I brought the dotted Swiss wedding cake on loan for the store window. And whenever I had a question about publishing, such as a book title, the first person I would go to for advice was Nach. So now, even though I wanted those roses at all cost, I trusted Nach’s wisdom enough to put the decision in his hands.
Pam invited us both to Sfoglia, a charming Italian restaurant one block away from Nach’s store. (She will be publishing Sfoglia’s book the same year as mine.) Just before lunch arrived, Nach looked at the book pages and after several minutes of serious deliberation (while I silently prayed) and then announced that he loved the pages with the wild roses in the background. Pam and I were practically speechless with delight as we hadn't yet told him that it was the main concern. When we did, he said something along the lines of: “Rose is not hard-edged or new wave; she is graceful and the book should reflect that.”(Did I not say he was a wise oracle?!)
I went home on wings of song. I get to keep my roses with Nach’s blessing.
Sep 29, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose
in Announcements
I'll be in Switzerland on a culinary press tour until October 10th and at photography for the book week of 12. Of course there will be the usual Saturday postings but I won't be able to answer most postings until after the 19th of October. Please continue to help each other and happy baking!
Love,
Rose
Sep 30, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose
in Announcements
I leave shortly for the airport for Switzerland but before my departure I want to share with all of you who knew him or knew of him the obituary I wrote as a tribute to Albert Uster who died just a few weeks ago at the age of 75 in a glider plane accident in the alps. I love Switzerland and am thrilled to be part of the upcoming culinary press trip about which you will be hearing more in the near future. But I leave with sadness as well as this will be the first of many times I have been in Switzerland knowing that Albert is no longer with us.
Some of you will have noticed that Albert was one of the very first people to post on this blog--congratulating me in his exceptionally modest manner, saying he hoped I could consider him a friend. And he was a very dear friend indeed as well as a larger than life person. For more about his life and significant contributions to America and the pastry world I encourage you to click on this link: http://www.auiswiss.com/aboutUs_uster.cfm. But the following was a little story I wrote for the Washington Post. They only had room for two short lines so here is the rest:
Albert Uster
There are so many stories I have to tell about Albert as we have been friends for over 25 years. Flashing through my mind are images of Albert yodeling at the slightest provocation; hosting me and a group of pastry chefs on a trip to Switzerland and asking only one thing at the end of the trip: To suggest a charitable use for his money; Albert returning late to his weekend guests in his beautiful home in Potomac and inviting me by phone to chose any wine in his wine cellar—then only getting mildly annoyed when I opened a very old Burgundy that was there just for show and undrinkable; going for a brisk morning walk with him, his daughter Jennifer, and the youngest of his sons Adam who fondly called him Poppy, the kids lovingly insisting he exercise more; me helping him chose a tux at Saks in D.C. (for a special event honoring him) which he pronounced with an exaggerated Swiss accent as ‘Sex’ causing the sales girls to giggle and him to repeat it several times; bringing me back dried black pears and schnapps from Switzerland for a Swiss pear bread I wanted to make; inviting me to Gaithersburg for the inauguration of the World War II Swiss bakery truck he had purchased; watching him make rosti potatoes at my friend Angelica’s house in Long Beach, L.I., while she made lasagna for our collaborative dinner the three of us had planned for years; but here’s my very favorite memory of all. The day we were visiting Angelica the sidewalks were iced over and slick as a frozen lake. The three of us decided to go for a walk on the nearby boardwalk. As I tentatively advanced one foot from the porch steps onto the ice, already beginning to slip and slide, Albert grasped me masterfully under one elbow and strode out with me onto the ice saying: “The way to walk on ice is with complete confidence.” I felt then that as long as Albert was holding my elbow I would never fall, which is why it breaks my heart to think that Albert had no Albert supporting him in that airplane. But if he had to go so too soon, I think this would have been his way—Albert was not a man to go quietly into that dark night—he died as he lived with verve, energy, passion, flying free and, I’m certain, with the same confidence with which he walked on ice.
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