texasmesquite

Texas 'dames' guide international cookbook to success
By Karen Haram - Express-News Food Editor


It may be an international cookbook, but “Cooking with Les Dames d' Escoffier: At Home With the Women Who Shape the Way We Eat and Drink,” has a decidedly Texas touch.
The 366-page book, already in its second printing and considered one of fall's hot cookbooks, was edited by Marcella Rosene of Seattle and San Antonio Express-News Chefs' Secrets columnist Pat Mozersky. San Antonian Tracey Maurer, a nationally recognized commercial food photographer, took photographs for the book, with photo styling by Julie Hettiger, food stylist and culinary consultant with JH Creative of Houston.
“Not every San Antonio Les Dames member has a recipe in the book, but many worked on it,” says Mozersky. “Bunny Becker (of Becker Vineyards) did the wine notes, Tracey Maurer was the photographer, Bettie Lee Wilson did the little bits of wisdom.” Other San Antonio chapter members featured in the book are Nancy Fitch, Cynthia Pedregon, Blanca Aldaco, Jenny Mattingsley and Terry Thompson-Anderson.
“Cooking with Les Dames d' Escoffier” (Sasquatch Books, $35), which has an endorsement by Jacques Pepin and a forward by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse fame, among others, breaks ground in another way. Among entries is a previously unpublished Lobster Newburg recipe of Julia Child, a Les Dames member before her death. The recipe came from Child's early years of testing for her first book, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”
“We're serving (the lobster recipe) at our cookbook launch party on Nov. 16,” says Di-Anna Arias, president of the local Les Dames chapter.
Other recipes include M.F.K. Fisher's Black Olive Tapenade with Tuna and Hard-Cooked Eggs; Edna Lewis' Fresh Blackberry Cobbler; Dorie Greenspan's Seared Scallops with Surprise Sauce; Joyce Goldstein's Greek Yellow Split Pea Soup; and Lidia Bastianich's Pork Rib Guazzetto. All the recipes in the book feature a suggested beverage.
The idea for the book came in 2004, when the publisher approached Rosene about a compilation of Les Dames recipes. Since Les Dames members include some of the country's best-known women culinary professionals, the publisher thought the cookbook was a natural. Work began on the project in 2006 when some 500 recipes were submitted. Those were pared down by a team of 20 testers to the 125 that are in the book.
“The recipes are all very good and user-friendly. The book represents an extensive collection of prestigious women in the industry and a wide variety of categories to choose from. I think the tips from the cooks are also an added addition,” says Hettiger, the Houston food stylist, who says she has three “absolute must-makes from the collection,” Minestrone with Butternut Squash and Kale, Cream of Chayote Soup and Walnut Fennel Tarts.
Hettiger's role as stylist to Maurer, the San Antonio photographer, was “to translate recipes from paper to permanent image. I always like to point out when talking about food styling, the stylist must make the image appeal to only one of your five senses, your eyes. When cooking or eating a recipe you are reaching all five senses. Thus it is extremely important to invite the reader to want to make the dish. It is also important ... not to misrepresent the recipe so that it is not user friendly.”
Helping with the photo shoot were San Antonians Arias, Mattingsley and Wilson, Rollie Backwell, Mary Dunford, June Hayes, Ann Thacker, Saundra Winokur, Cathryn Tarasovic and Molly McAdams. H-E-B donated much of the food for the photo shoot; baker Carlos Barrera of Bourdro's provided freshly baked breads.
According to Mozersky, the recipes are “just the beginning of the book. There are tips on preparations, shortcuts and stories on how these women made a career with their passion. There are a few company recipes, but most are absolutely do-able. These are the dishes these women make for friends or family. These are not the recipes they make in restaurant kitchens where they have four sous chefs.”
Cooking tips are woven throughout the book, like this one from Gail Gordon Oliver: “Instead of fiddling with flours and thickeners before, during or after making your next beef stew or braised short ribs recipe ... add 1/2 cup of dried red lentils for every 2 cups of cooking liquid at the very start of simmering. The lentils will cook down and virtually melt, and you'll have an easy, healthy, thickened sauce. Do not use French green lentils; they maintain their firm texture in cooking.”
The San Antonio Les Dames chapter is sponsoring a cookbook signing 4-7 p.m. Nov. 16 at The Culinary Institute of America — San Antonio, 312 Pearl Parkway. Tickets cost $125, which includes an autographed cookbook. Guests will sample food from the cookbook and enjoy music, wine and a silent auction. Proceeds from the cookbook and tasting go to Les Dames scholarships and community projects. Call (210) 434-2331 for tickets and more information.

Karen Haram is the San Antonio Express-News food editor and a founding member of the San Antonio chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier.