Catching up with chef Marcus Samuelsson

Ten years before he won "Top Chefs Masters" in an upset victory, Ethiopian-born Swede Marcus Samuelsson conquered the New York dining world with his contemporary take on Scandinavian cuisine at Aquavit. Later, he took on the challenges of Japanese fusion (Riingo), gourmet hamburgers (Marc Burger) and modern American seafood (C-House).

This fall he's embarking on another ambitious project: an American, farm-to-table restaurant in Harlem. This love of American food culture was clear from his 2009 cookbook "The American Table," which interspersed innovative recipes with stories of regional foods and cooks.

We caught up with Samuelsson (before his big win) at the launch of a new line of cooking ranges he designed for BlueStar Ranges.

Q Tell us about your next restaurant project.
A It's going to be called The Red Rooster and we are going to take the same farm-to-table theme we have (at C-House) and it will have all the same love and care. It's going to be American food, but very democratic and affordable. I already have the space. It should open September-ish.

Q You have such a diverse background. What are your best food memories?

A Sunday dinners with my family at my grandmother's house (in Gothenburg, Sweden) where we all had our jobs to do. She might cook a pork roast stuffed with prunes and serve it with mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts and carrots. Very basic. Maybe we started with a lentil soup and then had apple cake served with a sauce for dessert. It was all very rustic and made from scratch. We had luxury and didn't even know it.

Q What do you think about the Swedish cooking in the U.S.?

A I love meeting Scandinavian Americans and seeing Swedish restaurants in the States. But I do think there is a difference between the Scandinavian American cooking and the cooking in Scandinavia today. The cooking here reflects what food was like in Sweden 150 or 100 years ago with lutefisk and a lot of dishes we don't eat anymore. But then there are certain dishes like meatballs from Ikea that we all still eat.

Q What was it like to cook the Obamas' first state dinner?

A I worked very closely with the first lady months in advance to plan for the state dinner and think about what we would provide for the Indian prime minister. We also talked a lot about childhood obesity and health and what we could serve from the White House garden. When you are gathering food from the garden, the meal could not be more farm-to-table. It's amazing to be gathering food to cook that night and look over and see the Oval Office.

Q How have the first lady's campaigns changed the food conversation in the U.S.?

A Talking about food and health, inviting chefs to the White House and cooking with kids has done so much to get the conversation going. I think it is great that she has put these things all together talking about food and health and obesity. All you have to do is look at all the different blogs and the people joining the discussion to see that it's making a difference. I think we are on the right path and we can fix this thing.

Q What were your goals in designing a range?

A Heat! We have a 22,000 BTU burner while most people at home have 12 or 14. I wanted to blend high power and low temperature control so you can cook more precisely. Interest in food is at an all-time high, and so the consumer demands many of the same things we have in our kitchens. They want the same knives, they want the same cookware we have in the restaurant, and now we can give them some of those things on the range.

meng@tribune.com

Three Ethiopian Films Win Awards at The 7th Tarifa African Film Festival in Spain

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Thursday, June 3, 2010

New York (Tadias) – Three Ethiopian films have won coveted awards at the 7th African Film Festival in Tarifa, Spain.

Haile Gerima’s Teza won the “Best Full Length Movie” award, while Atletu, a film about the legendary long distance runner Abebe Bikila produced by Rasselas Lakew & D.Frankel received the “Prize of the Audience” award.

In the Short Film category, Zelalem Woldemariam’s Lezare (For Today), a 12 minute movie which explores the link between environmental degradation and poverty, was the recipient of the “Best Short Film Youth Jury Award.”

The winners were selected from a pool of 15 nominees from over 10 countries by an international jury of experts. They received cash prizes ranging from 2,000 to 15,000 Euro. The competition took place from May 21st to 29th in Spain.

Below is the full list of winners:


7th Tarifa African Film Festival award winners (Photo Courtesy of Zeleman Production)

1. Best Female Actress, IMANI from Uganda, directed by Caroline Kamya

2. Best Actor, FROM A WHISPER from Kenya, directed by Wanari Kahiu

3. Best Director, IMANI from Uganda, directed by Caroline Kamya

4. Best Short Film Young Jury Award, LEZARE, directed by Zelalem Woldemariam

5. Best Short Film RTVA Award, LE ICHA from Tunisia, directed by Walid Taya

6. Best Documentary Film, LES LARMES DE L’EMIGRATION from Senegal, by
Alassane Diago

7. Prize of the Audience, ATLETU from Ethiopia, by Rasselas
Lakew-D.Frankel, and EHKI YA SHAHRAZADE from Egypt, by Yousry Narsrallahr

8. Best Full Length Movie, Teza from Ethiopia, by H. Gerima