THE CHOPPING BLOCK – CHEF PROFILES
Carolyn Maniaci
Favorite class to teach:
Baking classes
Training/education:
Certificate in Baking and Pastry, The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago; undergraduate studies in linguistics and social sciences at Michigan State and San Francisco State Universities.
Cooking since:
Professionally, off and on since 1985
Favorite childhood food experience:
Making a spread of hors d'oeuvres from The Joy of Cooking for New Year's Eve when I was 10.
What made you want to become a chef?
Who wouldn't want to do something they love for a living?
What is your signature dish?
I'd have to say pies…although there are plenty of things I love to make just as much—curries, braised meats, southern Italian-style dishes.
What are the 5 ingredients you can't live without?
Cheese, garlic, curry paste, olive oil, sambal oelek.
What do you love about cooking?
Seeing the look of pleasure on people's faces when they eat something delicious that I made.
When you're creating a new recipe, what influences and inspires you?
Taste memories, creating food that complements an occasion, learning culinary traditions from different cultures.
What advice would you give a new cook?
Start by following directions carefully, trust your taste, and don't be afraid to make mistakes!
What are you doing when you're not cooking?
Daydreaming…
Describe your perfect evening.
Dinner at home, paired with a good bottle of wine, with my husband.
If you had friends in from out of town, where would you take them to eat?
Perhaps a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurant; Spacca Napoli or Crust; or my favorite Peruvian place, Rinconcito Sudamerico. You don't have to get spendy to have a great meal!
Where are you from?
Michigan
What was your favorite vacation?
Three weeks traveling through Italy.
What are your hobbies?
Cooking and baking (yep, still a hobby!), listening to and playing music, reading, writing, gardening.
What is your favorite band?
Kinks Big Star Zombies Small Faces VU BeeGees Stereolab Beach Boys Buzzcocks Echo and the Bunnymen Black Moth Super Rainbow Nick Cave Bowie Radiohead Free Design…
What is your favorite sports team?
I don't care much about sports.
If you could have dinner with one person, who would it be?
Alice Waters
What are your guilty pleasures?
Handfuls of chocolate chips from the pantry, late-night quesadillas, one more glass of wine, 80s pop music…
Who is your favorite celebrity chef?
I don't really follow celebrity chefs, but I'll always be a fan of Julia Child.
What 5 tools should every new cook have in the kitchen?
One good sauté pan (10- to 12-inch), a good chef's knife, a good-sized cutting board, at least one silicone spatula, a grater
List/describe three of your favorite tips or techniques you use in the kitchen.
Gather ingredients before you start cooking; use prep bowls to keep ingredients organized and handy.
For success in baking, pay attention to whether your ingredients should be cold, warm, or room temperature.
It's done when it's done! Take cooking and baking times in recipes with a grain of salt.