CheekyChicago

Chef and food stylist Lauren Braun Costello recently co-wrote the acclaimed book Notes on Cooking: A Short Guide to an Essential Craft. From her experience as an Executive Chef of Gotham Caterers in New York, to recipe testing for the 75^th anniversary edition of Joy of Cooking, to her current role as a food stylist for The View and The Early Show, Lauren is an undisputed expert on the culinary arts. However, she still knows how to offer practical advice for every level of cooking mastery. The guide – co-written with Russell Reich – is succinct, instructive and indispensable. It condenses the art of cooking into digestible notes…exactly 216 kitchen insights that can benefit everyone from the amateur to the expert. Cheeky talked to Lauren and learned how writing is like lovemaking, why cooking is a privilege and what Whoopi Goldberg loved to eat.

Cheeky: How did Notes on Cooking develop into a book?

Lauren Braun Costello: Writing this book was one of the greatest professional experiences of my life. It’s like the process of lovemaking, creating a baby and then raising it. And just like rearing children, there are joys and aggravations. Russell (co-author) and I were absolutely meant to partner on this project. He was a student in one of my cooking classes when he approached me about writing the book. He had the voice and concept (Notes on Directing was his award-winning first book); I had the information and the sensibilities and standards the material required. We edited together and refined together. It was joyful and rewarding work. The book has wisdom for the craft of cooking, without status or class. It’s a collective mantra that anyone can relate to. It’s a short volume meant for a wide audience. It can inspire everyone from someone learning to make grilled cheese to a master like Chef Daniel Boulud (the first person to endorse Notes on Cooking).

Cheeky: How did you become a chef? What inspired this career choice?

LBC: I came from a family of cooks who did lots of formal entertaining, sophisticated eating and traveling – it was a very important part of how I grew up. I always loved to entertain – I would even throw college parties in dorm rooms. When I went to Colgate, I was expected to go into a corporate career and I worked in corporate communications on Wall Street for investment firms. I didn’t get out of bed in the morning and cry, but I wasn’t passionate about it. It occurred to me, at 25-years-old, that I was a young woman who wanted to have a family one day – so why climb the corporate ladder and then quit? My fiancé suggested culinary school and a friend actually dared me to do it. I thought of it as a solipsistic venture into food – I’ll enjoy it. I started a catering business, Gotham Caterers, even before graduating and then went into food styling. As it says in the book, “a cook’s first job is to delight.” My job is to give pleasure and satiate people. I find nobility in this and it’s a privilege to serve people.

Cheeky: What’s your signature dish?

LBC: For my son, it’s turkey meatloaf or roast salmon and cous cous. For my husband, pork loin stuffed with brandied prunes and apricots with Armagnac sauce. When it comes to my co-author, Russell, he would pick my apricot frangipane tart. At The View, Whoopi loved my guacamole!

Cheeky: Is your book a CliffsNotes version of attending cooking school? The teachings of a classroom distilled into a miniature book?

LBC: Yes, yes, yes – functionally yes.

Cheeky: You cite the importance of the culinary term “Mise en place”, meaning everything in its place. Is this also a life lesson?

LBC: It’s the way life is best led. Mise en place allows you to respond to the world – being prepared and organized instead of just reacting. Response is with intention. Reaction is knee jerk. It’s a lesson from the kitchen that can be applied to life. Our hope is that people find life lessons in the book beyond cooking. To find delight, give pleasure, apply aesthetic sensibilities and enjoy others.

Cheeky: In the book, you offer this piece of advice: “continually asking questions helps you build quality at each step and keeps you in the mental game of cooking until the moment the food is eaten.” How important is intelligence in cooking? Are chefs smarter?

LBC: I haven’t met unintelligent, successful chefs. Chefs need to understand the interplay of the five senses. They need them to work on the plate for the diner…otherwise, they’re missing something. Chefs must have an appetite for life and curiosity – which leads to erudition.

Cheeky: You make the point that the look of food is a powerful form of “culinary communication.” How important is the aesthetic in enhancing taste?

LBC: It’s another life lesson that I learned from my grandmother. She would say, “Don’t leave the house in that schmatte [Yiddish word for rags] – you don’t know who you’ll run into!” It holds true with food. Appearance matters. Presentation is a form of communicating because it informs taste. Shapes, sizes and layering – like a Caprese salad or sushi variations – impact our taste. We eat with our eyes, nose and the feeling of texture.