Local epicure Gayle
Jolley never went to culinary school, but the success of In
Good Taste, her combination cooking school, catering business
and wine and food shop in the Pearl District, proves that
keen instincts go a long way. Jolley talked to WW about
her fear of killer tomatoes and love of food.
Willamette Week: What did you grow up eating?
Gayle Jolley: Dinner was always some kind of protein--meat,
poultry, some fish--but it didn't go beyond the ordinary
stuff. I didn't have lamb until I was well into high school.
I didn't eat a fresh, whole artichoke until I was in college.
What's your take on genetically altered produce?
It's absolutely despicable. I teach people tomatoes are
against the law unless they're in season.
Do you rely heavily on organic and free-range ingredients?
We buy from two or three farmers, and whenever possible,
we buy organic. We rarely open a can in our kitchen.
You took cooking classes with John Hurst, a chef and
architect who helped Alice Waters design a kitchen at the
Louvre. Is he a mentor?
Is and was. John Hurst's was the very first cooking class
that I ever attended. Class would start at 9:30 am; we'd
cook and then sit down to lunch with wine. After, I would
go to the store and buy everything we had done and go home
and cook it. I don't know of many people who go home after
one of my classes and do that.
Are you a proponent of slow food?
Oh, yeah! Of course. There is nothing more rewarding and
entertaining than cooking for myself. I'm not above eating
some fast food every once in a while, but I really subscribe
to eating fresh things.
Do you have a 15-minute convenience meal that you make
over and over again?
I love to make spaghetti alla carbonara. You can whip it
out quick, and it's so full of fat and so heart-warming.
I also love pasta with a good tomato sauce, and I am absolutely
blessed that I like that because it's not full of
fat! I used to think that a petite filet with bearnaise
and baked potato was treating yourself well, but now we
know that it is not treating yourself very well--but I still
eat that every once in awhile.
What is the best way for travelers to learn about indigenous
cuisine?
Don't eat in just the expensive, four-star restaurants.
Learning about the food of the region is eating with the
people. Trattorias and bistros are the places I like to
go. I eat street food like grasshopper tostadas on the streets
of Oaxaca. I eat tripe sandwiches in the mercato
in Florence. Go to the markets and look at the food. Try
to make friends with locals that invite you into your homes.
Has that happened to you much?
One of the greatest experiences I had was when I befriended
a taxi driver in Oaxaca. I was there on a food mission to
learn to make mole; there are seven different moles
in Oaxaca state, and I was bound and determined that
I was going to have every one of them. His wife and sister
invited me to their home to make the traditional Oaxacan
tamales with red mole. They didn't speak any English.
We wrapped tamales by the hundred and cooked the mole
outside over open fire.
You offer many classes year-round. Do you see In Good
Taste developing into a larger program for professional
chef hopefuls?
Not right now. For me, it's preferable to offer classes
to 90 percent of our population rather than a select few
who want to be professionals. Also, I find it really frustrating
to observe people who think that going to culinary school
for an accredited program is going to land them a well-regarded
position. You either have it--the palate, the sense, the
passion--or you don't. It's not something you can learn.
Care to predict any food or restaurant trends for Portland?
I'd like to see some good Chinese food, and in my opinion,
we don't have any.
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Willamette Week | originally
published January 26,
2000
|
