Food writer and cook Chris Perrin serves up equal portions of wit and wonderful recipes. Here, he warmly welcomes us into his kitchen for a peek at his style and a piece of his story — topped with big twist of freshly ground pepper. Enjoy!
“Where We Cook” interview with Chris Perrin
Your kitchen style?
Organized chaos. It starts organized. It ends in chaos.
Kitchen style inspiration?
Emeril Lagasse. I don’t know that he ever said the words “mise en place” but after a few episodes of Emeril Live, I realized that he had all his ingredients in little bowls and because he did, everything cooked so quickly. It was like a light came on and now I do most of my cooking by first prepping my mise en place and then turning on the stove. The one time I can’t start with mise en place is when I have a screaming, starving child at which point things just start getting tossed in the skillet. Technique be darned!
What do you enjoy most about your kitchen?
What it lets me do. My kitchen is my creative workshop. In it, I get to make beautiful things, food that makes people happy, and dishes that make me happy. Even better, cooking transports me away from all of my problems, no matter how bad my day has been, and puts me square in a world where I can do anything as long as I have a sharp knife and the right ingredients.
Kitchen indulgence?
My collection of Asian sauces. I love opening my Dim Sum cookbook or my crazy Sichuan cookbook and having the sauces I need. On any given day, I’m pretty sure I don’t have prepared mustard, but I wouldn’t be caught without fermented black bean paste. Pretty sure that qualifies me for counseling.
One thing you would change?
I need more counter space. The people who owned my house before me took about 5 feet of kitchen space and made it into a bathroom. I want that 5 feet back. My wife won’t give up the bathroom, though.
Three most frequent kitchen aromas?
Garlic, onions, basil
How many cookbooks in the kitchen?
One…the one I am cooking from. I am all about dirtying up a cookbook as I am using it. After that, I put it away where it won’t get splashed, splattered, or burnt. Nor chewed on by the mutts. My bookshelf, though, has probably one hundred and my bedroom ten more. None have my name on the cover unless I wrote it on the inside. For now.
Most unusual thing in the kitchen?
My giant pepper mill. It’s also Emeril inspired and I bring out when I want to be silly. And possibly to threaten people who don’t like my food were such people to exist. (They don’t.)
Warmest childhood memory involving a kitchen?
Wow, that kitchen in my memory looks huge. I had to stand on a chair to even use the stove. It had wooden counters and a big red oven. On top of the stove was a small glass bowl with bacon grease and biscuits. Grease to cook and biscuits for making croutons or bread crumbs. Probably totally unsanitary, but my dad didn’t waste a lot. That kitchen also had my dad in it. I have always enjoyed cooking with him. He taught me how and for that I owe him.
Favorite kitchen to visit?
Jasper Mirabile’s. Jasper is a fantastic chef and a better human being. I can’t help but get excited when I walk into it.
Did you have a “play kitchen” as a child?
Never. I secretly wanted to have an easy bake oven, but I figured the other boys would laugh at me. So instead, my parents let me use their kitchen (supervised, of course) with varying success.
In the kitchen with you?
My son. He loves to “cook.” Cooking for him usually means one of two things: standing over the skillet I am using and dumping things into it when I am not looking or standing over his own mixing bowl and dumping in his spices. We buy him 99 cent spices from a local grocery store and just him dump them in, add a little soy sauce, and whisk to his heart’s content. The dogs also clean the floor for me. I am less than enthused by this since I trip over them. But it does speak to my greater laziness.
Kitchen play list?
I listen to O.A.R.’s Live in Madison Square Garden. That’s it.
Julia Child’s kitchen is now in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
Where would you like your kitchen to be displayed one day, and why?
Mars. I’m a big geek and if my kitchen was a “relic of Old Earth” some day, then my kitchen would be the ultimate combination of geek icon and culinary icon. Again, therapy is probably in order.
Chris Perrin
Merriam, KS
Blog: www.blogwelldone.com
Twitter @blogwelldone
Contributor to SheKnows.com, TotallyHer.com, and BigBlendMagazine.com.
