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048: Brooke Conroy Bass: An Introduction to Cajun Cooking and Food

June 12, 2015 by Gabriel Leave a Comment

Brooke Conroy Bass of Chocolate and Marrow on The Dinner Special podcast talking about starting her blog and her interest in cooking.
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Brooke Conroy Bass of Chocolate and Marrow on The Dinner Special podcast talking about Cajun food and cooking

Chocolate and Marrow

Today we’re celebrating rich, decadent and indulgent food. On Chocolate and Marrow, Brooke uses local and seasonal ingredients to create dishes inspired by growing up in New Orleans and from her current life in Portland in the Pacific Northwest.

I’m so happy to have Brooke Conroy Bass of Chocolate and Marrow joining me on the show.

UPDATE! Since our chat, Brooke became a finalist in the 2015 Saveur Blog Awards for Best New Voice for Chocolate and Marrow.

On Starting Her Blog:

Brooke Conroy Bass of Chocolate and Marrow on The Dinner Special podcast talking about starting her blog and her interest in cooking.

I was doing a lot of research and a lot of scientific analysis for my dissertation and it got a little bit too much. I just felt like there was this imbalance in my life. While I’m thinking about all of that, I went to Italy with my grandmother who loves to cook. And we did this amazing cooking, culinary experience. I just found myself being so happy. I’m just really in my element, and that’s really how I realized I need to incorporate food in a more creative way throughout my life, more than just cooking in the home.

That’s when I decided, you know what, I’m going to start a blog.

Finding the time for it is a totally different matter. It’s more of a weekend thing. I just spend my Saturdays always cooking and photographing and at night I’ll do the recipe development and research and things like that.

On Her Interest in Food:

I’ve loved cooking ever since I can remember.

I was probably five years old and I don’t even know how I could write at the time. But I remember standing by my grandmother’s side and she was saying, she’s cooking catfish, frying catfish. And I remember saying to her, “I really want to learn how to do that so I can go home and cook for my family.” I don’t know what I was thinking at the age of five, they probably wouldn’t let me turn on a burner at that age. And so she got me a crayon and a piece of loose leaf paper and was like, “Well, here, write down the recipe as I cook and that way you can have it for yourself.” So I did and we actually still have that piece of paper that I wrote it on, which is really fun to pull out and look at sometimes.

She is one of my food heroes for certain. I have a number of them but she’s certainly the one that I think piques my interest in cooking.

She worked on a television show in the 80s and 90s called Great Chefs and so she’s always loved food. Even today, when she’s in town visiting for Thanksgiving and we sat and chatted in my kitchen for about eight hours after Thanksgiving while I whipped up some gumbo and some French bread. It’s just one of those things that’s really, really fun to do together.

On the Food Culture in New Orleans:

The food culture in New Orleans is really synonymous with the party culture. We cook food that can feed 30 people and be a big part of a celebration and that’s how we do things down there.

It’s like you can’t have a party without tons of food and you can’t have tons of food without a party.

There’s also some pieces of New Orleans cuisine that are kind of staples in ways of cooking and ingredients that we always use. So yeah, that’s definitely how I think of it at least.

On Cajun Food:

Brooke Conroy Bass of Chocolate and Marrow on The Dinner Special podcast talking about Cajun food.

Cajun food, I think like anywhere else around the world, we work with the ingredients that we have available to us and that’s when in forms, different cuisines. With Cajun cuisine, it’s really working with what’s available on the land which is there’s a lot of rice. We see a lot of rice and beans and things like that.

But also there’s this abundance of seafood, so things like oysters and crawfish and shrimp and catfish. That puts itself into a lot of good food that we prepare.

For me, Cajun cuisine, though, it’s like eating home. I mean, I probably cook at least one or two Cajun dishes just for dinner for my husband and I each week and it’s something that always makes me feel comfortable and at home in my kitchen. I just don’t even have to think about it. It just kind of happens.

People love their King cakes and their beignets and their po’ boys and things like that. But most people don’t know about our festival food. You know how most people like spring, summer, fall, and winter as their four seasons. Well, in New Orleans, we don’t have those seasons. We’ve got Mardi Gras, we’ve got festival season, crawfish season, and Saints season.

During festival season, everyone has probably heard about Jazz Fest. I think probably one of my favorite kind of off the map food is crawfish bread from Jazz Fest.

It’s this two kind of flat bread, sandwiched around this melty cheese with crawfish and olives and all these spices. It’s just one of these foods that I think if you’re able to go to New Orleans at the end of April or early May for Jazz Fest, you cannot miss the crawfish bread because it’s absolutely amazing!

On Key Elements in Cajun Cooking:

Brooke Conroy Bass of Chocolate and Marrow on The Dinner Special podcast talking about Cajun food and cooking.

You know how the French have mirepoix, which is onions and carrots and celery. Well, in Cajun food, we have the holy trinity is what we call it. That is basically like a mirepoix but sub out the carrots and put in bell peppers.

That kind of gives it that spicy kick that New Orleans food is really well-known for. And I think also, New Orleans food is known for being fried. I won’t say fry anything but something in a nice cornmeal batter with just a little squeeze of lemon is probably a real classic New Orleans food.

I think that probably a really great dish to start with would be a gumbo. I know that sounds intimidating but it’s really basic. It just involves a roux and a stock and some kind of protein like chicken or turkey or seafood even, and then the holy trinity, sautéed with some spices and a bay leaf.

Then you throw it all together in a pot and just let it simmer and it’s pretty much heavenly. I think it’s a great way to start introducing yourself to Cajun techniques and also flavors.

On Some Good Resources for Learning About Cajun Food and Cooking:

One of my favorite cookbooks is actually called Cooking Up a Storm.

That is a book that came out after Hurricane Katrina because as you can probably imagine, when Hurricane Katrina hit, one of the things that people lost that they loved the most is their cookbooks. When people lost their homes, their cookbooks went with it. And so Cooking Up A Storm came out. It’s produced or created by two of the writers of The Times-Picayune which is the local newspaper there.

They actually found all these old recipes that have been published in The Times-Picayune and that readers were writing in and inquiring about, saying, “I lost my recipe books and I really want to get this recipe or that recipe.” So they published a collection of readers’ most requested recipes and I think that’s just a really great book for so many reasons.

As far as blogs, I actually just recently discovered a blog called the Acadiana Table and I have absolutely fallen in love. They have so many phenomenal Cajun recipes, just really authentic. I love the way that they do Cajun food.

The Pressure Cooker:

Which food shows or cooking shows do you watch?

The only cooking show that I watch is actually Top Chef.

I was really stoked this year because there were two Portland chefs on it, so it’s really a fun season to watch.

What are some food blogs or food websites we have to know about?

I’m a sucker for writing, good writing on blogs, and so my favorite would probably be Cynthia of Two Red Bowls, who has really short, fun, engaging posts.

Erica of Southern Souffle, who I think her words are just super soulful and inspiring and I just really connect with her over what she usually writes.

And then Beth of Local Milk, who is known for her photography but her writing is just as beautiful and eloquent, so I definitely recommend checking those bloggers out.

Who do you follow on Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook that make you happy?

To be honest, I’m not a huge Facebook or Pinterest person, but I am addicted to Instagram.

Some people that make me happy, I would say Martine Cooks is the handle and she’s amazing. She lives in New Orleans, she’s a photographer, and just posts the most beautiful photos with inspiring captions of things like oysters and crawfish, which I can’t get enough of.

And then probably some of my local chefs like Ian Wilson of Fenrir, post just really beautiful food all the time that’s super artistic. And Ryan Roadhouse of Nodoguro who does these most amazing Japanese-inspired dishes and I love looking at the crazy ingredients he gets flown in.

What is the most unusual or treasured item in your kitchen?

I don’t think I have a bunch of unusual things but I do love my cast iron skillets. I have way too many of them but they are like my little babies.

Name one ingredient you used to dislike but now you love.

I have to say clams. I used to hate them and then I met a friend who–actually we met on Instagram, which is a whole, different, long story. But I told her I hated clams and she convinced me to try making them with her and so I did and they were absolutely phenomenal, so now I’m addicted.

What are a few cookbooks that make your life better?

I absolutely adore The Flavor Bible when I’m looking to create new recipes, I’m looking for inspiration on what pairs well with what. And then I think Sean Brock’s Heritage, I’m really crushing on hard right now.

What song or album just makes you want to cook?

I can’t really think of a song or an album. I’m more of a Pandora person, so I have my Pandora stations.

I’d say my favorite ones are probably Louis Armstrong radio, which I use on mornings if I’m baking or something. Milky Chance, which I use to cook with during the week, just like on a random week night. And then Bob Marley is my go-to for the weekends. He just kind of gets me, you know, feel loose and inspired in the kitchen.

On Keeping Posted on Brooke:

Brooke Conroy Bass of Chocolate and Marrow on The Dinner Special podcast talking about keeping in touch with her.

Probably Instagram. I usually post at least once a day and it’s either recipe testing or ingredients that are inspiring me. I would love for people to check out Instagram and see you on there.

 

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Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: 2015 Saveur Food Blog Awards, Acadiana Table, beignets, Bob Marley, Brooke Conroy Bass, Cajun Cuisine, Cajun Food, Chocolate and Marrow, Cooking Up a Storm, Fenrir, Food Blog, Food Blogger, Great Chefs, Heritage, holy trinity, Ian Wilson, King cakes, Local Milk, Louis Armstrong, Martine Cooks, Milky Chance, mirepoix, New Orleans, Nodoguro, po' boys, Portland, roux, Ryan Roadhouse, Sean Brock, Southern Souffle, The Flavor Bible, Top Chef, Two Red Bowls

002: The Incredible Spice Men: How To Overcome The Fear Of Using Spices

February 20, 2015 by Gabriel Leave a Comment

Tony Singh and Cyrus Todiwala of The Incredible Spice Men on The Dinner Special podcast talking about the idea behind The Incredible Spice Men.
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Cyrus Todiwala and Tony Singh of The Incredible Spice Men on The Dinner Special podcast on How To Overcome The Fear Of Using Spices

The Incredible Spice Men

I am so excited to have Cyrus Todiwala and Tony Singh, The Incredible Spice Men, here on the show today.

Cyrus and Tony are award winning chefs and restaurateurs, stars of The Incredible Spice Men TV show, and authors of The Incredible Spice Men cookbook.

That’s just naming a few of the things that they’re up to.

They are truly incredible.

On How They Met:

Tony Singh and Cyrus Todiwala of The Incredible Spice Men on The Dinner Special podcast talking about how they met.

Tony: It was 2000. I’d just won ITV Chef Of The Year and I’d heard about Cyrus doing amazing things with British produce and contemporary and traditional Indian food, and what I was doing up in Scotland was traditional Scottish food with an Indian twist. I came down and I met Cyrus and we’ve known each other ever since then. We were in the Academie Culinaire together, we’ve done Master Chef.

We’ve come across each other in competitions and everything, so, since 2000.

On The Idea Behind The Incredible Spice Men:

Tony Singh and Cyrus Todiwala of The Incredible Spice Men on The Dinner Special podcast talking about the idea behind The Incredible Spice Men.

Cyrus: I use a lot of British produce from different farmers dotted throughout the country and make Indian food with it. We did a program in the restaurant for a few weeks called The Twisted Brit and then a second program called The Twisted Scot. They became very popular, so I was talking to some people about how that would make a great series because we are taking Indian food but twisting it to be British and twisting it to be Scottish.

The idea came about by asking how about if we take British food and twist it with a bit of spice? In the search for a partner, they came across Tony, they loved Tony, asked me if I knew Tony. I said, “Of course I knew Tony.” We did a little bit of a promo together.

Tony: Yeah, we did a promo tape for them.

Cyrus: Yeah, a very casual promo tape together. It worked like magic, the BBC approved, and bingo, we had a program.

They thought of many, many names. They actually wanted to call us The Spice Boys.

On Being Cooks:

Tony Singh and Cyrus Todiwala of The Incredible Spice Men on The Dinner Special podcast talking about being cooks.

Tony: We were always hungry and to sustain that hunger or to make it more bearable, you always helped your mother in the kitchen. From an early age, I always helped out in the house. My mom was a great cook and from then, I’ve always liked to cook.

I’ve been cooking since I was 16, so I learned to be a good cook. I’ve always been a great eater.

Cyrus: For me, in my community, I’m known in Bombay as Khaadraas which means greedy pigs. I even started here what is called a greedy pigs club, a Khaadraas club.

Like Tony, always hungry. There was a big hole in the belly somewhere that needed filling up, but our moms, fortunately for us, were excellent cooks, so were our aunts and grand aunts and everyone else. I grew up around food all the time.

Living in a joint family was a very good experience and then, of course, my uncle owned a hotel as well, so whilst I was in boarding school I could go visit his hotel and live with him for a while. That increased the desire to cook more food.

Eventually, I went into catering school, passed out, got a job at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay.

Tony: The rest is history.

We’re so fortunate to have a hobby that’s our job and that is so pleasurable. You know what I mean? It’s just very, very, very fortunate.

Cyrus: That is so true, isn’t it? The best part about our business is it is never consistent. It always changes. Every day is a new day and everyday there are new people and new customers.

Tony: New challenges.

Cyrus: New challenges.

Tony: New ingredients.

On Cooking With Spices:

Tony Singh and Cyrus Todiwala of The Incredible Spice Men on The Dinner Special podcast talking about cooking with spices.

Tony: The main thing is not to be afraid. That’s the biggest hindrance people have with spices, because they equate that to heat, which is not the spice. Well it is a spice, but it’s chili. Chili adds heat, spices add flavor and color.

Cyrus: Flavor, color, body, but, you see it today if you look at most of the larders in the western world, most homes would have nutmeg, would have cardamom, would have cloves, would have peppercorns, would have cumin, would have coriander.

Many people are keeping turmeric now, which is a very common ingredient in homes and you’ve got chilies. Actually, if you have cinnamon, cardamom and clove and peppercorn already in your house, and you’ve got chili, cumin, coriander and turmeric and that’s all you need, really. You don’t need many, many more.

As your talent develops and as you get better, you can keep adding to it. Your experimentation value gets better and you get more spices and condiments into your larder. These are basic.

Tony: It’s like the show shows. Do one of your traditional dishes that you’re comfortable with and just change one of them. If it’s got, say, cinnamon in there, try and take it out and put another spice in there that’s a dessert. Go for cardamom, go for ginger, or nutmeg, yes, star anise. Just add one spice or take one spice away and exchange it or use a spice in it.

There’s a lot more spice than what you would call spice, because people say “Oh, nutmeg. That’s not a spice. I use that in my grandma’s rice pudding,” or peppercorns, the spice that changed travel. People went looking for pepper.

Cyrus: Pepper, pepper was the one.

Tony: These things just need changing but have no fear trying because anything you make, you’re going to eat the evidence anyway. If it’s not good, then you don’t do that again.

Cyrus: The main thing is the fear. Once they get over that threshold, they will really enjoy their cooking. Really, really enjoy it. Most western food goes very, very well with a little bit of spice here and a little bit of spice there.

On The Incredible Spice Men Cookbook:

Tony Singh and Cyrus Todiwala of The Incredible Spice Men on The Dinner Special podcast talking about The Incredible Spice Men cookbook.

Tony: Normally, you shoot the series and then you do the cookbook, and you have a few months to do it. We had to do it all in six weeks?

Cyrus: Six weeks. In six weeks, while on the shoot. It was a nightmare.

Tony: Writing the recipes, getting them checked. It was lucky we’ve got kitchens for the chefs to check everything but they’re dishes that we’ve used before.

It goes back to the recipes. We made sure were accessible, they weren’t daunting, they were very familiar. That’s why we went with them.

Cyrus: The publishers from Random House put in a lot of effort into it. They knew it was a deadline deal and they put a very good crew onto it. The crew was chatting with us all the time whilst we were on set filming.

As soon as we came on a break, we’d get a phone call, “I’m making this. Tell me, something doesn’t look right over here. Can you help me with this?” and we could help on the phone.

They re-adjusted the recipe so it would look easy for the home cook.

The Pressure Cooker:

Which food shows or cooking shows do you watch?

Cyrus: Very few but Saturday Kitchen definitely on most Saturday mornings. Master Chef sometimes.

Tony: I’m the other way. I’m a junk food fiend. Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. It’s great because it’s loads of people eating hearty, sometimes a bit calorific, but hearty, rib-sticking dishes.

Cyrus: Oh, right, okay. That’s the one where they eat the big portions.

Tony: No, no, no. See, I don’t like that. That’s Man Vs. Food. I can’t stand that show.

Cyrus: No? Okay. Yeah, very few actually. There’s no time, unfortunately, for us.

You know what? I haven’t seen a single episode of our series yet.

Last year, where did you have the best meal and what did you have?

Tony: I’ve had so many. Assado. I was going to say, that was lovely because we had octopus. I’m still waiting for chef to give me the recipe. It was fantastic.

Cyrus: Actually, we had a great meal at a place called Dabbous. A very creative chef. He only does course menus, so only fixed menus, only set menus. There is no a la carte there, but his food was really good.

Dabbous in West London. Very good, excellent. That was one of the best meals we had this year.

If you were to have dinner and movie with each other, what would be for dinner and what movie would you guys watch?

Tony: Oh, that’s a hard one.

Cyrus: Something funny, definitely.

Tony: Yeah, Airplane! or Blazing Saddles. You know what I mean? It’s switch off kind of stuff and going back to the food, cheese and macaroni with lobster.

Cyrus: Oh, yeah?

Tony: Yeah.

Cyrus: Something very simple. It could be a shwarma. It could be something like that, really easy.

Good fish and chips. A very good fish and chips.

Tony: Something that you don’t need to think about but you know is going to work.

What are some cookbooks that have made your lives better?

Tony: La Technique and La Methode by Pepin, the French guy in America. Fantastic. As a student, they were the best.

Cyrus: I use a cookbook very often which is from a lady that cooks food from my community and she researched it very deeply.

Bhicoo Manekshaw, her name is, and it’s not known everywhere in the world. She has gone to the depths of the villages and brought the food out that we city boys would never had got an experience of knowing. That’s the one I use all the time. It’s sitting on my desk even now.

It’s called Parsi Food and Customs. Because I’m a Parsi.

I pick up ideas from that and then I have to double up them to suit 50, 60, 100 portions.

I am discovering things that my mother would have known, my grandmother would have known, but I, sadly, didn’t have the exposure to know.

What is something all home cooks should have in their pantry?

Cyrus: L-O-V-E.

Tony: I would say sharp knives.

Cyrus: A must have in the kitchen is a heat-resistant rubber spatula.

Tony: That’s just being posh.

Name one ingredient you cannot live without.

Tony: Chili.

Cyrus: Coriander for me, fresh coriander.

Tony: Fresh green chili.

Cyrus: I could live without it but I would be very depressed if I didn’t get to eat it regularly.

What music album or song pairs best with The Incredible Spice Men cookbook?

Cyrus: Space Odyssey.

Tony: Yeah, exactly. I was going to say The Muppets. Animal’s drum rolls.

Cyrus: How about Jungle Book, you know?

Tony: Yeah.

Cyrus: That song is one of my favorites.

Tony: Yeah, it’s good.

Cyrus: The Bare Necessities Of Life. And food is the bare necessity of life.

Keep Posted on The Incredible Spice Men:

Tony Singh and Cyrus Todiwala of The Incredible Spice Men on The Dinner Special podcast talk about how to keep in touch.

Tony: We have a Twitter account, The Incredible Spice Men. Cyrus has his webpage, I have my webpage, TonySingh.co.uk. The Spice Men have a Facebook page as well.

Cyrus: The Spice Men, we’ve got @MrTodiwala on Twitter or just log on to CafeSpice.co.uk. They can fire any amount of questions they want at me.

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    Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Academie Culinaire, Airplane!, Assado, BBC, Blazing Saddles, Cajun Food, Chef, Chef of the Year, Cookbook Author, Cooking Show Host, Cyrus Todiwala, Dabbous, Diners D, Indian Food, Indian Spices, ITV, Jacques Pepin, Khaadraas club, La Methode, La Technique, London, Man VS Food, MasterChef, Parsi Food and Customs, Saturday Kitchen, Scotland, Space Odyssey, Taj Mahal Hotel Bombay, The Incredible Spice Men, The Muppets, Tony Singh

    Hello! I'm Gabriel Soh, home cook, food enthusiast and your host of The Dinner Special podcast.
    Everything here on The Dinner Special is an experiment, just like with cooking. Thank you for listening and being part of the adventure.

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