Reflections from a Culinary Theatre

These pages also include a few reminiscences from the 1980’s – and some classic culinary ideas then being revived across America – that I experienced during the active days of the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont. That spirit lives on in my kitchen – intensified by the Great Pandemic – and most recently manifested in the holiday foods of 2020 and 2021.

So – needless to say, if one ever finds oneself near a good cooking school which allows the novice to audit classes – GO! While our knowledge of food and classic techniques has grown in the last few decades with the Food Network – and the birth of the internet – there is no substitute for the wonderful opportunity to watch in person.

Here one touches, smells, feels, asks questions, and yes, EATS – all while meeting new people with divergent interests and backgrounds who share a passion for Good Food.

NECI Stories:

• “Finding the seat with a view”

• Instructors with bandaged hands DO make the best teachers of knife skills

• “Sugar! Sugar! The sugar is contaminated!!!“

• No matter what happens – keep on cooking...

Images – 2021 – KPS

Some Thoughts on Maine Lobster…

“Maine” invokes nature, water, lighthouses, ships, mountains, forests, wildlife – and of course -LOBSTER. Moving to Maine in 2020 (one NEVER becomes a “Mainer” unless born to it – after all, this is place where dinner guests are boiled alive and served with butter) – even as a “transplant” it was inevitable that I eventually prepare a lobster.

Undaunted by the famous scene in the movie “Julie and Julia” where Julie laments having to “murder a crustacean” – describing Julia Child’s “between-the-eye stab” with the words: “Oh, Julia!” – I summoned all my pithing skills from A.P. Biology Class (thank you, Miss Allard, one of the best teachers – ever!) – and set about the task.

Needed: The correct pot. The correct utensils for cooking. The correct utensils for eating. Researching methods. Selecting a pier-side vendor for fresh ocean-caught lobster. Discussing procedures with purveyor. Selecting and purchasing a lobster from that day’s catch. Transport and storage temperatures. Naming my first lobster: “Levi” (after Leviticus). Selecting your sharpest knife…

Images – 2021 – KPS

(A more detailed video with close-ups, effects, a local seafood merchant, and Maine coastal vistas – with music – is currently in production…)

“If you don’t follow your dream, who will?”

Emeril Lagasse

Celebrity Chef

Television Host and New Orleans restaurateur