WELCOME TO OUR KITCHEN: Tessa Kiros, Author of NOW AND THEN
We've got a packed show with travel, memoir, recipes, food tips, the whole works.
We're veteran cookbook authors Bruce Weinstein & Mark Scarbrough. We've got three dozen published titles under our (ever widening) belts. We've sold nearly one and a half million books in our career. And we're still ready to talk more about food.
On this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK, we've got a one minute cooking tip about complimenting the cook. Bruce interviews Terra Kiros, the author of NOW AND THEN, a food and travel memoir with recipes, based on her extraordinary career. And we'll tell you what's making us happy in food this week: pastrami and a vegan Bakewell tart.
Here are the segments for this episode of COOKING WITH BRUCE & MARK:
[00:51] Our one-minute cooking tip: compliment the person who has cooked for you.
[03:56] Bruce's interview with Tessa Kiros, legendary author about her new memoir and travelogue with recipes, NOW AND THEN.
[24:46] What’s making us happy in food this week: pastrami and a vegan Bakewell tart, thanks to Philip Khoury.
Transcript
Hey, I'm Bruce Weinstein and this is the podcast cooking with Bruce and Mark.
Speaker:And I'm Mark Scarborough and together with Bruce we have written three
Speaker:dozen cookbooks, are writing the 37th, we have sold almost a million
Speaker:and a half copies of cookbooks.
Speaker:books over here at one eight New York publishers.
Speaker:It sounds like bragging, but it's just kind of astounding to both of us.
Speaker:Neither of us ever thought this career would go in the direction it did.
Speaker:We hoped that we would publish a few cookbooks, never imagining we
Speaker:would publish this many, but this is our podcast about food and cooking.
Speaker:It includes a one minute cooking tip.
Speaker:Bruce has got an interview with Tessa Kuros.
Speaker:She's the author of the new book now and then, and we'll let you know.
Speaker:What's making us happy in food this week.
Speaker:So let's get started.
Speaker:Our one minute cooking tip today is not so much about cooking as it is
Speaker:about eating and it's about eating with people and it's about being nice.
Speaker:Isn't that the reason you cook is to eat?
Speaker:Maybe not.
Speaker:So here's the tip.
Speaker:compliment the cook.
Speaker:Oh, it doesn't matter if you don't.
Speaker:That's with an eye, right?
Speaker:And never say nice things.
Speaker:Not stand next to like compliment within the cook.
Speaker:Like be a part of the cook's world.
Speaker:Say nice things.
Speaker:Nice things.
Speaker:It doesn't even matter if you don't like the food.
Speaker:Someone took time from their day to plan, shop and put together a meal for you.
Speaker:to enjoy.
Speaker:I'm going to say about this, that Bruce has most of the cooking in our
Speaker:house and I make sure that I thank him for dinner every night sometime.
Speaker:I, I, do I do it every single night?
Speaker:No, I probably forget.
Speaker:I probably get lost in some stupid TV streaming series and I get lost in it or
Speaker:I get lost lately in, I don't know, crazy things like salt burn and I maybe forget,
Speaker:but mostly I try to thank him every night for dinner sometime during the night.
Speaker:Even if he doesn't like it.
Speaker:When do I not like it?
Speaker:I'm just saying,
Speaker:the point is, even if you don't like it, You have a when
Speaker:do I not
Speaker:like it?
Speaker:You say thank you, always.
Speaker:I mean, yes, there are a few things that you like that I don't.
Speaker:And this is a long standing thing.
Speaker:And now here comes the confession on our part.
Speaker:podcast.
Speaker:It's going to make the time go much longer for this woman to cooking dip.
Speaker:But I don't like, Oh gosh, ground beef or what we called loose meat.
Speaker:When I was a child, I do not really like much ground beef.
Speaker:I like hamburgers, but they're dead raw.
Speaker:I, in other words, what I'm telling you is I don't like meatloaf.
Speaker:So, um, Bruce does like meatloaf a lot, and I'm happy when he cooks it.
Speaker:Once a year, I make meatloaf.
Speaker:Oh, it's more than once a year, but it's fine.
Speaker:It's absolutely fine.
Speaker:Ah, will it kill me to eat it?
Speaker:Absolutely not.
Speaker:He still says thank you.
Speaker:I do.
Speaker:I still say thank you, even for meatloaf.
Speaker:I prefer meat.
Speaker:balls.
Speaker:But that's a whole different matter entirely, but mostly
Speaker:ground meat and I are not friends except dead raw and hamburgers.
Speaker:So there you go.
Speaker:That's our one minute cooking tip, which got into personal narrative and I don't
Speaker:know crap about our relationship, but tons of stuff anyway, let's pass on
Speaker:to Bruce's interview with Tessa Kuros.
Speaker:But before we do.
Speaker:Let's just say that it would be great if you could rate this podcast.
Speaker:If you could write a review of it, even great podcast or nice banter or
Speaker:whatever, something easy like that does an amazing thing for the analytics.
Speaker:We are unsupported in this podcast.
Speaker:We do it.
Speaker:On our own and on our own effort.
Speaker:We have chosen to keep it that way.
Speaker:So we would love for your help in supporting the podcast.
Speaker:And that is the primary way you can do it.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Up next Bruce's interview with Tessa Kuros.
Speaker:She's the author of the new travelogue memoir recipe book.
Speaker:Now and then
Speaker:I'm speaking with Tessa Kiros.
Speaker:She's a food writer originally from London.
Speaker:Now she lives in Tuscany with her family.
Speaker:She has worked in restaurants around the world and Tessa has written 11
Speaker:books about the foods from Italy and Greece and she has a beautiful
Speaker:new book out called Now and Then, a collection of recipes for always.
Speaker:Welcome Tessa.
Speaker:Thank you for having me.
Speaker:I love that you write in your book right up front, you talk about
Speaker:your kitchen and you say there is no method here, just familiarity.
Speaker:What do you mean by that?
Speaker:You know, when you're sometimes invited to cook in another kitchen or something
Speaker:and you don't know where the knives are and the sense of your own kitchen at
Speaker:home without having to ask anybody where anything is, it's just incredible to me.
Speaker:So, I mean, if I'm looking for the cumin in my spice box, I know
Speaker:exactly which corner it is in, even if I've turned the basket around.
Speaker:And I can, I can, I can do it blindfolded.
Speaker:I can take out all the spices I need to make.
Speaker:a dish.
Speaker:And that sense of familiarity is incredible.
Speaker:But it takes a certain, you know, it takes a little bit of time to
Speaker:create your kitchen like that.
Speaker:And especially when you make something many times and you use five or six
Speaker:different herbs or spices for a dish, you, you put them back sort of in the same way
Speaker:so that the next time you make the dish.
Speaker:You know, where to reach for your, for those spices, you know, where you're
Speaker:measuring spoons are, your wooden spoon, and things that actually make
Speaker:the task so much easier in cooking.
Speaker:Your book is full of delicious recipes, but it's also full of surprises.
Speaker:I mean, many cookbooks start off with breakfast, but you chose to start off
Speaker:First recipe in the book, beautifully crisped oven roasted lamb chops.
Speaker:Why start the book off there?
Speaker:You know, sometimes I put things in the book which are not necessarily obvious to
Speaker:others, but it's a special detail for me.
Speaker:So my first chapter in the book is called Things That Stay, and the ones that
Speaker:have stayed with me and that I carry with me, and I love to make them always.
Speaker:I will always love to make them.
Speaker:So, the first recipe is my mother's sippy, her lamb chops
Speaker:that she made when I was young.
Speaker:And I thought how wonderful it is to start off a book with my mother, who
Speaker:gave me life, and to finish the book off in the roses chapter with a recipe from
Speaker:my father, George's Feel Good Rose Tea.
Speaker:So, for me, it was a question of.
Speaker:Encasing the alpha and the omega, the, the, the beginning of everything and
Speaker:encasing it all in, in between that embracing everything in between that,
Speaker:that was a little gift to myself and to my mom, if she noticed and, and
Speaker:to my dad, I don't know if they have no, that no one has mentioned it.
Speaker:You're the first person that has mentioned it.
Speaker:Well, you write in the headnote of that recipe that this often
Speaker:at your mom's was breakfast.
Speaker:That's also a bit of a surprise.
Speaker:Yes, it is.
Speaker:And that was, uh, something that a few of my friends remembered that
Speaker:I think I wrote somewhere in the book that they would arrive at my
Speaker:house having had their breakfast.
Speaker:And my mom would be there saying, hurry up and finish your breakfast, which would be.
Speaker:It would be anything, sometimes some oatmeal, or other times it
Speaker:would be leftovers from the night before, which I think is great fun.
Speaker:And I actually found her one day with my, with my daughters when they were small.
Speaker:And I came home and I said, Oh, Cassiel Yasmin must be hungry.
Speaker:And it was like six or seven o'clock in the evening.
Speaker:I said, no, they're not hungry because I've just given them porridge.
Speaker:So there you go.
Speaker:She doesn't have a strict schedule.
Speaker:And it actually is a wonderful thing to do.
Speaker:You know, sometimes now when I don't know what to have for dinner, a bowl of oats.
Speaker:With maple syrup
Speaker:is a beauty.
Speaker:I love breakfast for dinner.
Speaker:And dinner for breakfast.
Speaker:In some places, even in Thailand.
Speaker:If you go to Thailand, you can have anything for breakfast.
Speaker:So I like the idea of not being set in my ways.
Speaker:And as long as, you know, you're eating good food and enjoying
Speaker:yourself, I think everything is great.
Speaker:Tessa, there's a welcoming feeling behind so many of the recipes in your book.
Speaker:Even if we don't know exactly what something is, it still feels familiar,
Speaker:like your warm Malva pudding cake.
Speaker:It looks like something we know, but so many American cooks have
Speaker:probably never heard of this.
Speaker:So what is it and why do you find it so comforting?
Speaker:I
Speaker:like that particular pudding because I think it reminds us all
Speaker:of, you know, like a hug in a bowl, something that is warm and sweet.
Speaker:that'll just make you feel good.
Speaker:So that recipe for me reminds me of a time sitting outside in South Africa
Speaker:with a fire going, sometimes lucky enough to be on a safari or watching out
Speaker:for wild animals early on in the day.
Speaker:So I have a memory of that.
Speaker:I try to share the feeling and the context.
Speaker:Can you describe what is a Malva pudding?
Speaker:It's a, it's a cake actually.
Speaker:So something similar to, let's say, a sticky toffee pudding or a
Speaker:mixture between a pudding and a cake.
Speaker:So it has some unusual ingredients.
Speaker:It has vinegar and also a little bit of apricot jam.
Speaker:Now, I love the randomness of that.
Speaker:It makes me think that probably somebody was making it and they just had a couple
Speaker:of these things around and you don't necessarily taste any of those things.
Speaker:So I have said, in fact, you know, use Apricot jam or any other jam
Speaker:that you like, because I don't like to restrict people too much
Speaker:unless it's absolutely necessary.
Speaker:The one thing that I am strict about over there is the size of the dish
Speaker:because If you use a bigger dish, it's going to become a lot flatter.
Speaker:So if anything, use a smaller dish, although I don't think
Speaker:you can get much smaller than my dish that I use over there.
Speaker:Now, while the cake is baking, you make a warm caramel toffee sauce
Speaker:that I put a couple of tablespoons of whiskey in and cream is added to that.
Speaker:And when the cake comes warm out of the oven, poke holes with a skewer all over
Speaker:it and then immediately pour this hot sauce over it, which you think this is
Speaker:never going to absorb all of the sauce.
Speaker:But it does.
Speaker:You can even hold back a little of it and serve it on the plate.
Speaker:It's lovely warm, but even not that completely cooled down, I must say.
Speaker:That sounds like an amazing breakfast.
Speaker:It does.
Speaker:I think I'll try it for breakfast.
Speaker:It comes out a really cute, small cake with this welcoming,
Speaker:as you say, qualities about it.
Speaker:And I think, you know, you can have a tiny piece or you can have a bigger piece.
Speaker:Go back for seconds.
Speaker:Tessa, your book is filled with gorgeous salads and fresh vegetable dishes.
Speaker:How important are vegetables to your daily cooking?
Speaker:I love any kind of vegetable or salad, and I feel to me sometimes
Speaker:that a meal is almost incomplete without a salad or a vegetable.
Speaker:I feel like I cannot get enough of them.
Speaker:So this book of mine actually is about the way that I'm eating these days.
Speaker:So I'm not a vegetarian.
Speaker:But as you will see that chapter two, nowadays.
Speaker:This is taking everybody's changing dietary needs into account, you
Speaker:know, like people that have got a bit more of a gluten intolerance or
Speaker:trying to cut down on a bit of dairy.
Speaker:So I think at least let's mix in these things.
Speaker:Let's filter them slowly into our lives and have this as the
Speaker:bulk of what we are eating.
Speaker:In that chapter, you have a recipe for grilled asparagus and artichokes
Speaker:with goat cheese and lemon.
Speaker:That is a dish I think I could eat every day.
Speaker:Yeah, me too.
Speaker:Is there another vegetable dish that you could eat every day?
Speaker:I can eat all of them every day.
Speaker:Those salads, for example, the summer salad, even in winter.
Speaker:And there is the green plate, which I absolutely love,
Speaker:which is just a collection of boiled or steamed vegetables.
Speaker:And of course everybody can use whatever they like.
Speaker:And I just love the play on color.
Speaker:It's just all green.
Speaker:So I have it garnished with fresh mint and basil.
Speaker:And it has a dressing of avocado, tahini, and it's just beautiful.
Speaker:I can, I can put that on anything and I use any vegetables over there.
Speaker:So if you don't have seasonal things that I've mentioned in there, use anything.
Speaker:Do it with just one vegetable or even over just a green salad.
Speaker:But for me, I cannot get enough for me.
Speaker:A plate like that is a dream bowl, a dream platter mixture of vegetables
Speaker:with avocado, lemon tahini.
Speaker:And I think that many people would agree that.
Speaker:It's difficult to, to top that.
Speaker:You have two daughters who are grown now, but they grew up in Europe.
Speaker:And I want to ask, were they picky eaters?
Speaker:And do you have advice for parents who face that dilemma?
Speaker:Yes, they were picky eaters, I must say.
Speaker:My, my eldest daughter, Yasmin, the 25 year old, at the age of five, decided that
Speaker:she was shocked about the food chain when she got home from nursery school one day.
Speaker:And she decided to give up eating meat completely.
Speaker:So at the age of five, I was thrown into trying to get proper nourishment and, and,
Speaker:and not knowing the way to go about it.
Speaker:So at that time, that was quite tricky.
Speaker:And she, she still loved the taste and the smell of meat of certain kinds of meat.
Speaker:But she was, it was an ethical reason.
Speaker:So she was, she's not a vegetarian any longer, but she's still very picky.
Speaker:About things like that.
Speaker:So I respected that and I went along with her on everything and I tried
Speaker:with whatever I could to make sure that she was getting the best nourishment
Speaker:and that she was enjoying her food.
Speaker:And my younger daughter, Cassia has never liked when she was small.
Speaker:Texture in food.
Speaker:So if we were having a soup, like an astronomy, she would
Speaker:always want hers pureed.
Speaker:So I did, I always encourage to go along with.
Speaker:With the different tastes of people, because we all have different tastes.
Speaker:Some people might grow out of them.
Speaker:Children might grow up to them.
Speaker:Some might not, I would say, don't worry about it.
Speaker:And the other thing I used to always tell them was listen to your stomach and listen
Speaker:to yourself about what you want to eat.
Speaker:One day Yasmin put her ear close to her stomach and she said to me, Hey mom.
Speaker:My tummy is telling me, oh, I think it needs some chocolate.
Speaker:And I thought that was really, really special.
Speaker:But I think that we do need to listen to ourselves because we're so far
Speaker:pushed often out of tune to things like finish everything that's on your plate.
Speaker:I never did.
Speaker:I never did that.
Speaker:I never do that.
Speaker:Because I think even if there is a little bit left, you can repurpose it.
Speaker:Somebody else might still be hungry in your family that
Speaker:might want a scoop of that.
Speaker:Um, I just think that we should listen to our bodies.
Speaker:carefully and listen to the other people to what they're telling you,
Speaker:which is exactly what I was referring to before about the nowadays chatter.
Speaker:Somebody comes along and says, I'm less tolerant these days, or I want to leave
Speaker:out some milk for now, or some gluten.
Speaker:What can we do?
Speaker:We need to be armed with picks and things.
Speaker:So when my children were small, I would also, you know, put food in colors
Speaker:on their plate and they responded well to that, or they like to see
Speaker:the initials in, in, in something.
Speaker:So where I could make a pie and, and make a little flower or an initial, their
Speaker:initials on it, they like to be included in as far as they're interested to go.
Speaker:And so the other thing that I always do is I often put food on the table that
Speaker:everybody can build their own, whether it be a souvlaki or a taco or a sandwich or.
Speaker:Anything that people can take from the middle and add as much as they want.
Speaker:And then they feel like they have contributed.
Speaker:Tessa, there's a thread of East Indian flavors that run through
Speaker:your book, from chapati to mango pickle, uh, to chickpea chole, a
Speaker:thick tomato gravy with chickpeas.
Speaker:Where does your love of exotic flavors come from?
Speaker:Well, I think it comes from having a mixed background, first of all,
Speaker:which is, you know, we always had a totally mixed background.
Speaker:So I was born in London.
Speaker:My mom is from Finland.
Speaker:My dad is Greek Cypriot.
Speaker:Uh, I grew up in South Africa and I live in, in Tuscany now.
Speaker:So my love of travel and of different cultures is, I
Speaker:think, comes a lot from that.
Speaker:And what, the one thing that I always knew while I was at school, I didn't
Speaker:have a very clear idea of what I would be studying, but I knew, the one thing
Speaker:that I knew is that I wanted to travel.
Speaker:So as soon as I finished school in South Africa, I left and I, I
Speaker:settled to travel at the same time doing a correspondence degree.
Speaker:And the subjects that I chose were anthropology, sociology, some science
Speaker:of religion, so Buddhism, Hinduism.
Speaker:So these were the things that interested me.
Speaker:At the same time, I was working in a kitchen in London, first
Speaker:in London, and then in Greece.
Speaker:And then I spent some time in New Orleans, as you'll see that chapter of
Speaker:New Orleans in my book, which I was just.
Speaker:Passing by and realized that the jazz festival was on, so I decided
Speaker:to stay there and stop and learn.
Speaker:So in the same way, my interest in Asian, Asian cuisine, so I have
Speaker:a chapter on Thailand in there, India, I'm particularly fascinated.
Speaker:I think it is one cuisine that literally can sustain the spices
Speaker:and the abundance of spices, and particularly how the vegetarian dishes.
Speaker:are addressed in India and the joy of color and the spices.
Speaker:So for me, that is something that I always follow.
Speaker:And it's such a, a mixture of, of, of things.
Speaker:And at the same time, it's balancing and grounding.
Speaker:And I find it incredible.
Speaker:I'm very, very drawn to those flavors.
Speaker:Your global view of food, as you say, took you to New Orleans, Thailand, Mexico.
Speaker:Is there a common thread throughout these different cuisines that attracts you?
Speaker:Is there a flavor thread or an approach to food that you find
Speaker:similar throughout the world?
Speaker:I don't think that there is one culture that I find less interesting than another.
Speaker:I'm interested in the way that people from a place cook.
Speaker:So, for me, my greatest joy It's to be in a country with somebody from the
Speaker:place cooking the way that they do, because I think that there is so much
Speaker:in that and it's the way that they choose what they're going to make.
Speaker:It's the way, you know, when, when I'm in Italy, I watch my mother in law making
Speaker:her tomato or her, her ragu or something.
Speaker:And they have a certain method in the way they do it, whether it is the
Speaker:generous use of olive oil in Italy.
Speaker:Whereas in another country, like in Finland, that doesn't, that's not an
Speaker:inherent given that all of all will be so readily available everywhere.
Speaker:So the way that people use the things that they have been brought
Speaker:up with and what is so readily available to them and the things that
Speaker:they know, the familiarity of it.
Speaker:I find is what inspires me tremendously.
Speaker:And that takes us back to where we started talking about the
Speaker:familiarity of your own kitchen.
Speaker:There's something about being able to produce beautiful food
Speaker:when you're familiar with the ingredients, with your environment.
Speaker:I also talked about the surprises in your book.
Speaker:There's a dish that surprised me.
Speaker:And it's in the part of the book where you say what you would love most or
Speaker:miss most if you were to leave Italy.
Speaker:And you offered up a recipe, something I've never experienced, red wine risotto.
Speaker:Tell me about the dish.
Speaker:The only place I've ever really tasted it, I think, is from my father in law, who
Speaker:Was a, an incredible chef and a sommelier.
Speaker:So he came round one day to our house and he said he was making the
Speaker:red wine risotto and he bought his particular wine that he wanted to use.
Speaker:And I do say in there, make sure that, you know, it's a good rounded bordering on
Speaker:sweet kind of wine, not a dry, you know, use something that you love the taste of.
Speaker:And it's important also to let wine.
Speaker:to add it slowly and let it absorb completely.
Speaker:So it's not just going to be like a boiled wine dish.
Speaker:You know, it needs to absorb each little bit that you put in it, let it go slowly.
Speaker:So there's very few ingredients in the dish, onions, risotto,
Speaker:rice, salsiccia, and the red wine.
Speaker:So those ingredients have to be amazing.
Speaker:And then of course, afterwards it's the butter and the Parmesan
Speaker:that is added at the end, the slow process of making the risotto.
Speaker:It's something that I was surprised by myself, and I thought, wow,
Speaker:what is this simplicity over here?
Speaker:But the Italians are masters at that, taking something, making
Speaker:it so beautiful, uncomplicated.
Speaker:And, you know, the way they spread out their food as well,
Speaker:so they would maybe serve that.
Speaker:That sounds like a lovely sort of wintery dish to me.
Speaker:And then maybe they would have a meat as a second course.
Speaker:rather than putting everything all together in one dish.
Speaker:You know, they have a lovely way of, of that.
Speaker:And I was surprised about that dish too.
Speaker:And, and we all love it.
Speaker:My daughters have loved it.
Speaker:It's, you know, it's not just a dish that you need to acquire.
Speaker:You end your book with a few things you're obsessed with.
Speaker:And Mark and I end the podcast with.
Speaker:Things that make us happy in food this week.
Speaker:So tell me what are you obsessed with?
Speaker:That's making you happy in food this week.
Speaker:Well as I happen to be in greece It's the it's the greek flavors at
Speaker:the moment that i'm obsessed with so there's like there's the little sugar
Speaker:dusted biscuits Which i'm going to go out and look on the road over here.
Speaker:They sell corn on the grill There is souvlaki, which I always love and always
Speaker:look for the beautiful lemons in greece the pistachio nuts sour cherry preserves.
Speaker:Sour cherries is a big obsession of mine.
Speaker:You can find it everywhere in Greece.
Speaker:This is a little sour cherry preserves and they have, they like
Speaker:to serve those to a guest, even one on a plate with a glass of water.
Speaker:I love noticing the little details the way that people actually serve.
Speaker:Greece is very open and sharing and wonderful and
Speaker:also always full of surprise.
Speaker:Tessa Kiros, your love of food and love of life and travel comes
Speaker:through in every recipe of your book.
Speaker:Your new book is out and called Now and Then, a collection of recipes for always.
Speaker:Great.
Speaker:Good luck with the book and thank you for sharing some of your thoughts
Speaker:about food and travel with me today.
Speaker:Thank you for this wonderful conversation.
Speaker:I think I want to have lived her life.
Speaker:She has kind of a charmed life.
Speaker:She grew up all over the world.
Speaker:She's gotten to do everything she's wanted with food.
Speaker:She got to be creative.
Speaker:Her kids have grown up in an environment that, man, so many
Speaker:kids would want to grow up in.
Speaker:I
Speaker:know.
Speaker:It's crazy.
Speaker:We, uh, Bruce and I, uh, got to go to Madrid earlier in the, well, late in
Speaker:2023, but earlier in this time span.
Speaker:So a couple months ago.
Speaker:We got to go to Madrid and we walked around Madrid thinking,
Speaker:Oh my gosh, we should live here.
Speaker:We do this everywhere.
Speaker:We go to Amsterdam and think, Oh gosh, we could, we should live here.
Speaker:Anyway, apparently she did it.
Speaker:She had to go anywhere she wanted and said, Oh, I got to live there.
Speaker:And she creates beautiful food.
Speaker:I mean, a lot of books come out about people's travels and their life with food,
Speaker:but there's something about her recipes that are so genuine and her, the way she.
Speaker:Just treats eating is so wonderful that I, I had to speak with her because I
Speaker:just am impressed with the way she cooks
Speaker:before we get to the last segment of this podcast.
Speaker:What's making is happening in food this week.
Speaker:I just want to remind you that Bruce is also a knitter.
Speaker:He sells patterns on Ravelry.
Speaker:If you're a knitter, you know what that is.
Speaker:He sells them on his Transcribed by https: otter.
Speaker:ai own website, which you can find there.
Speaker:And he's got a couple of books out, one including Knits Men Want, a way that
Speaker:you can actually make sweaters that people will wear or that the men in
Speaker:your life, I should say, would wear.
Speaker:I have a ton of sweaters from that book.
Speaker:You're wearing one right now.
Speaker:I'm wearing one right at this second as we're recording this podcast.
Speaker:So you might want to check out.
Speaker:Bruce's knitting work, which is his side hustle alongside all of
Speaker:this cookbook and food career.
Speaker:Let's go on to what's making us happy in food this week.
Speaker:It is pastrami, and I have always, I have always loved pastrami.
Speaker:I mean, when I was a kid, we would go to deli masters in Flushing
Speaker:on Horace Harding Boulevard, and it was always the same thing.
Speaker:I would get a pastrami sandwich on rye.
Speaker:Grossed everyone out because I didn't use mustard.
Speaker:I dipped ketchup.
Speaker:No!
Speaker:Each bite was dippin ketchup.
Speaker:Oh my god, you Have we talked about this on this podcast?
Speaker:My mother, uh, when I was a kid, if you put ketchup on a hamburger,
Speaker:my mother's response was, I raised you better than that.
Speaker:Well, I didn't like mustard as a kid, but here's the thing.
Speaker:So, it's recently been New Year's Eve.
Speaker:If you've, if you're listening to this when this first goes
Speaker:up, it's just a week ago.
Speaker:If you're listening later, well, it was more than that.
Speaker:And I decided to make a big Jewish buffet food extravaganza for
Speaker:friends, which included a pastrami.
Speaker:Now, I used to have a shortcut trick for pastrami.
Speaker:I would buy a corned beef in the supermarket, and I would coat it
Speaker:in pastrami slices, I would coat it in pastrami spices and smoke it.
Speaker:This time I got a fresh brisket from a local farm, I put it in a
Speaker:brine for seven days to make my own pickled brisket or corned beef, then
Speaker:I coated it in mustard and coriander and pepper, then I smoked it, then
Speaker:I steamed it, and boy, was it good.
Speaker:Wow, it was amazing.
Speaker:And we did eat it with mustard.
Speaker:I even ate it with mustard, until the leftovers, and then I went to ketchup.
Speaker:Oh, no, no, no.
Speaker:I grew up in Dallas, and we always went for pastrami sandwiches to But I have to
Speaker:say that, uh, we never called it pastrami.
Speaker:We always called it hot pastrami.
Speaker:Like it was one word, hot pastrami, hot pastrami sandwiches.
Speaker:And I didn't, I didn't even know the procedure thing is called pastrami because
Speaker:we ordered hot pastrami sandwiches.
Speaker:Anyway, it was some kind of exotic variety of pastrami, hot pastrami.
Speaker:But okay.
Speaker:What's making me happy in food this week is also something
Speaker:that happened at New Year's.
Speaker:Dinner and that was a vegan Bake well tart from Philip
Speaker:Cory's book, A New Way to Bake.
Speaker:If you are a listener to this podcast, you have heard Philip Cory on this podcast.
Speaker:He's the head pastry chef for Herod's in London.
Speaker:He has a book out called A New Way to Bake, and just to say, this book
Speaker:includes a QR code for every single recipe in it in which you can launch
Speaker:out to a video, and he is then making that recipe in the video.
Speaker:Based on that QR code for each one.
Speaker:Well, anyway, this is a vegan Bakewell tart.
Speaker:It had an olive oil cookie crust and raspberry jam,
Speaker:and then a vegan frangipane.
Speaker:Cream.
Speaker:It was really amazing.
Speaker:I ate my whole piece even after pastrami.
Speaker:It was delicious.
Speaker:I loved it.
Speaker:Even after your hot pastrami.
Speaker:Even after my hot pastrami.
Speaker:I even asked Bruce to make it again.
Speaker:It was a really amazing vegan dessert.
Speaker:I know vegan after all that knish and tong and pastrami and chopped liver.
Speaker:All that stuff we had.
Speaker:Gosh, uh, gout is running high in our family this week.
Speaker:So that's our podcast about what's making us happy in food this week.
Speaker:We are thrilled that you're along for the ride.
Speaker:Thanks for being with us.
Speaker:We hope that you'll subscribe to this podcast, that you'll rate
Speaker:it, like it, do all those things that help support this podcast.
Speaker:And otherwise, we're always happy to have you back here.
Speaker:And don't forget to go to our Facebook group, Cooking with Bruce
Speaker:and Mark, where we post videos and sometimes some questions and
Speaker:sometimes giveaways of our books.
Speaker:So go to Cooking with Bruce and Mark on Facebook and like us there.
Speaker:And we'll see you here for another episode of Cooking with Bruce and Mark.
