Cookbook reviews

The Extraordinarily Magnificent Life of a Master Chef

No Experience Necessary is Chef Norman Van Aken’s joyride of a memoir. In it, he spans twenty-plus years and nearly as many jobs–including the fateful job advertised in the local paper for a short-order cook: “no experience necessary.”

This book is the story of a young man wandering the country searching for his true purpose in life. It’s also a tell-all travelogue about the wild world of food services, cooking and what it really means to be a “chef.” Though most of the stories alternate between North Shore Chicago and other parts of Illinois to Key West and southern Florida, there are also stops in Hawaii, Kansas, California, Colorado, New York and all the roads a hitchhiker can take in between.

After landing on the shores of Key West, Van Aken faced hurricanes and economic downturns. From a graveyard-shift grunt at an all-night barbecue joint to a James Beard-award finalist for best restaurant in America, Van Aken put his heart, soul and natural talent, and ever-expanding experience into every venture–and helped transform the American culinary landscape along the way.

Long considered a culinary renegade and a pioneering chef, Van Aken is an American original who chopped and charred, sweated and seared his way to cooking stardom with no formal training. He is known as “the founding father of New World Cuisine,” a celebration of Latin, Caribbean, Asian, African and American flavors. He is also known internationally for introducing the concept of “Fusion” to the culinary world.

In the irreverent tradition of Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, and populated by a rogues’ gallery of colourful characters–including movie stars, legendary musicians, and culinary giants Julia Child, Emeril Lagasse and Charlie Trotter–No Experience Necessary offers a personal, highly entertaining under-the-tablecloth view of the high stakes world of American cuisine told with wit, insight and great affection by a natural storyteller.

No Experience Necessary: The Culinary Odyssey of Chef Norman Van Aken (Taylor Trade Publishing) is available at amazon.ca or amazon.com.

Norman Van Aken: No Experience Necessary

Get the cookbook from Maine’s first family of seafood

It’s been said that Harbor Fish Market is synonymous with Maine’s iconic industry and has become a must-see destination for tourists and locals alike. It’s the ultimate authority on Maine seafood.

9 Custom House Wharf in Portland, Maine, has been the site of a fish market since sometime in the late 1800’s. It became the Harbor Fish Market when the Alfiero family purchased it in 1966. Nick Alfiero is the owner of Harbor Fish along with his two brothers, Ben and Mike. Their father founded the iconic seafood market, located on Custom House Warf, in 1969.

Now for the first time, the family behind the successful business shares some of its favourite seafood recipes in this collection of more than 50 dishes. In Harbor Fish Market: Seafood recipes from Maine, the Alfiero family’s 30+ years of expertise comes to life with crab cakes and baked clams that would make any true Mainer proud. But it also includes a few dishes that go beyond tradition like scallop ceviche and a lobster roll with crème fraiche and lemon.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a Maine cookbook without various takes on chowder and fish stew. There’s crab-meat and corn chowder, a Scandinavian fish chowder, a lobster stew, an Italian fish chowder, a Scandinavian fish chowder and an Italian twist on fish stew called cioppino which is made with non-classic fish stew ingredients like mushrooms, oregano, curry powder and lime juice. What makes this book even more appealing is how Asian and Italian influences come to play as well. This fusion adds an interesting dimension to some traditional Maine seafood dishes.

With this book, you’ll master some fundamental techniques on how to grill seafood and create fish stock. You’ll also get some handy tips on how to buy fish, cook lobster and how to properly fillet and skin a fish, making this that must-have practical cookbook you’ll keep in your kitchen for years to come.

Harbor Fish Market: Seafood recipes from Maine (Down East Books) is available for $29.99 at amazon.ca or Down East Books. Visit the Harbor Fish Market at 9 Custom House Wharf in Portland, Maine for your personalized signed copy.

Boobs, Whipped Cream and Sage Business Advice: Steve DiFillippo’s new book "It’s All About the Guest"

“Boobs slathered in whipped cream are great, but money is better. If you want to do well in your business, you should think the same way.” –Steve DiFillippo, It’s All About the Guest.

I love this guy. I’ve yet to meet him, but I am already quite fond of him. How could that be? It’s All About the Guest: Exceeding Expectations in Business and in Life, the Davio’s Way is no less all about the reader than it is about the guest, and I came away from the book feeling confident that he and I could be bona fide old chums.

DiFillippo is a great raconteur. In the book, his “character” leaps off the page, and you can’t help but cheer for his obsession with food and admiration for people. You are left with the sense of a man who has given himself totally to this world and who has an insatiable appetite for life.

He’s an all-in type of guy, one who shows reverence and a profound commitment to his family, friends, guests and his people. He’s inextricably bound to his upbringing. “Warm and comforting memories,” he calls them. In the book, he recounts how he grew up in the kitchens of his mother and his aunts—both Portuguese and Italian. From his Nana (grandmother) he learned that food mattered, and how it was prepared mattered. “I’m not sure where I’d be today if it wasn’t for Nana.” From his dad, he learned that it was all about having good people in your life. “You can’t get anywhere without them. And you have to treat them right. Then watch, they treat you right.” It’s clear that both his dad and Nana have had a profound effect on how he runs his business and conducts his life.

DiFillippo’s instincts and deepest beliefs are on full display in his book. His narrative shifts as he recounts the highs and the lows from childhood fat-camp, to coffee clerk, to head chef, to a multimillion dollar brand. Part The Art of the Deal, part Kitchen Confidential, with cherished recipes and practical wisdom thrown in for good measure, It’s All About the Guest is a story-driven, passionate chronicle of what it takes to triumph in the restaurant business.

But, this isn’t just a story about how to make it in business. It’s All About the Guest is a tale of DiFillippo’s personal, passionate pursuit to own and operate a successful restaurant, a quest that began when he was a young boy growing up in Lynnfield, Massachusetts. It’s a story of lessons learned along the way, and it provides a recipe for success for young entrepreneurs.

DiFillippo is a model of what it means to be focused and doggedly determined. “If you want to thrive for decades, you can never let up. Not even when a topless server flings whipped cream in your face.” Well put Steve, well put.

“It’s All About the Guest: Exceeding Expectations in Business and in Life, the Davio’s Way” by Steve Fillippo is available at Amazon.com and Chapters.Indigo.ca.