THE CHOPPING BLOCK – CHEF PROFILES
Brian Ferguson
Favorite class to teach:
Don't really play favorites, but especially enjoy the smaller classes with students who want to get their hands dirty.
Training/education:
Bite Café, Wishbone, Mekalas Thai of Eugene. BA University Of Oregon
Cooking since:
I was tall enough to reach the stovetop on my tiptoes and professionally since 1985.
Favorite childhood food experience:;
My dad and I rolling Stealhead Salmon fish egg sacs in cornmeal and frying them up in a skillet with foraged mushrooms while camping.
What made you want to become a chef?
After the first eighteen years of working in kitchens, it just made sense.
What is your signature dish?
I guess this means a dish's popularity? My tofu/tomatillo ceviche has gone over well. The slow roasted juniper pork and stewed 3 chili hominy with Navajo fry bread was also popular. I think my signature in the kitchen is variety.
What are the 5 ingredients you can't live without?
Hmm, maybe for the past few weeks: achiote, soffritto, greens, lemon, curry from any country.
What do you love about cooking?
Working with my hands, the transformation of ingredients, and feeding people.
When you're creating a new recipe, what influences and inspires you
What's readily available – anything that catches my eye at the farmer's markets, maybe something I hadn't noticed before in an ethnic grocery, that combined with any recipes I've been perusing at the time from my myriad of cookbooks.
What advice would you give a new cook?
Taste everything, then share.
What are you doing when you're not cooking?
Eating
Describe your perfect evening.
After a late afternoon snorkel, sitting at a beachside table with my Lady under the palms as the sun sets on the Yucatan and we are devouring perfect pico de gallo and fish tacos.
If you had friends in from out of town, where would you take them to eat?
Tiffin, Vie, Luc Thang, MyPie Pizza
Where are you from?
Small town, Oregon
What was your favorite vacation?
What, is it over?
What are your hobbies?
Gardening, reading, musing
What are your favorite bands?
Phillip Glass, Animal Collective
What is your favorite sports team?
I don't watch sports much, but I'll root for the underdog every time.
If you could have dinner with one person, who would it be?
Paul Theroux
What are your guilty pleasures?
Gummy Bears, Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich
Who is your favorite celebrity chef?
Elizabeth David
What 5 tools should every new cook have in the kitchen?
A Chef's Knife, a paring knife, a sturdy wooden spoon, an iron sauté pan and a mixing bowl
List/describe three of your favorite tips or techniques you use in the kitchen.
First, and maybe this is more philosophy than technique but, always control food waste by using all parts, ie. make your own stock, preserve, learn simple butchering techniques- just being able to dissect a bird will give you not only new things to make but will really help you stretch your dollar. Second, a trick: For wilted herbs, lettuces and greens, if you cut the ends off the stems, soak in lukewarm water for 15 min., drain, soak in cold water for 15 min., you will bring them back to life. Third, stewing meat wrapped in pastry: pasties, empanadas, pot pies, oh yes.