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Talk toppings with Chef Talde

by Barry Lewis
Posted 5/12/23

BETHEL - The Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association has partnered with Bethel Woods Center for the Arts to bring together on Saturday more than a dozen notable celebrity chefs for a hands-on foodies …

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Talk toppings with Chef Talde

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BETHEL - The Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association has partnered with Bethel Woods Center for the Arts to bring together on Saturday more than a dozen notable celebrity chefs for a hands-on foodies festival on the grounds of the legendary Woodstock site that will feature cooking insights, demonstrations, tastings, a market place and, of course, great music.

Celebrity chefs Alton Brown, Scott Conant, Alex Guarnaschelli, Marcus Samuelsson, and Geoffrey Zakarian will share their cooking tips and prepare dishes inspired by the Catskills.

Organizers say Catskill Cuisine is a way to expose visitors to the Sullivan Catskills and its distinct regional cuisine, derived from local sustainable sourced products, fresh-from-the-farm produce and craft beverages made from the purest Catskill water.

Celebrity Chef Dale Talde, who’s received a James Beard nomination and has been host, judge and participant in multiple culinary shows including “Knife Fight,” “Top Chef” and “Chopped” says he loves to help folks raise their cooking game. The secret is don’t be afraid of condiments.

“Really season your food, be more heavy-handed with your salt,” suggests the owner and chef of notable restaurants in and around New York City and the Hudson Valley. “Generally cooks are afraid to season things properly. They’re too gun shy, thinking too much salt can’t be good. Generally more is better.” Talde says when you hit the condiment aisle, buy it and try it out. “We’re talking a few bucks and they will last forever in your pantry. Like fish sauce. It’s been fermented, it’s been preserved. It’s already been spoiled once.”

Talde says looking forward to driving out of the city and going to an event like Catskill Cuisine where he can be “face-to-face with people who’re interested in what you’re trying to do and know your achievements in the industry.” It’s an area he’s very familiar with.

“I’ve been going to the Catskills to vacation, and we have a house up there that we love. I’m a big fan of Sims Foster and what he’s doing up there. There’s a lot from the city who have moved up and are kinda not looking back. We love being part of these communities that are kind of underserved from a culinary standpoint. It’s where we love to be,” said Talde. 

On the phone with his rambunctious toddler yelling in the background, the 44-year-old great chef admitted he’s still trying to figure out how to satisfy his young son’s pallet.

“We try to give them what we make, but we do know that there are limitations. My wife is Korean so we don’t give him a  lot of spicy food. At some point we hope he will fall in love with some of the food we make. It’s kind of a waiting game. I used to be like, don’t dumb it down, make whatever you make. But that doesn’t work all the time. You want your kids to eat. Find what they love.” 

 

Do you encourage parents help in the kitchen

Expose them to cleaning green beans, picking herbs, washing rice and learning how to cook rice. Rice was the first thing I learned how to cook. Help kids get into the kitchen and understand the process. Have your kids watch you wash the dishes. It’s a skill.

 

Washing is a skill?

A lot of people just don’t understand the process that helps make it easier. When you are washing, get everything on one side, wash all the dishes, move them to another side. Then once they are all washed you rinse them all and then put them away instead of washing and then trying to clean something all in one motion. If you divide your motions into one it makes the process get a little easier, faster. 

 

What do people ask you?

How did you get so good? Cooking becomes intuitive. We do it on a day-to-day basis. It’s our thing. It’s what we do. So the more you do it the better you get. I want people to get out of their comfort zone. I have a show, “All Up In My Grill’’ to get people out of the mindset that their backyard grill is just for hamburgers or an occasional steak. It’s an extension of your home kitchen. Whatever you can do inside you can do outside. 

 

What did the  pandemic teach us?

That craft cocktail making is actually a skill and an art. So when you’re in a restaurant and you’re complaining why a really great cocktail costs $18, now you know because for three years everyone was making crappy cocktails at home they realized they couldn’t do it - drinking beer and wine instead.  A lot more respect for what people do. People got into a mode of cooking because they had to but it taught them how to be more efficient with time management, how to cook without 15 million pots because no one wants to wash dishes four times a day.

 

Preparation can  scare people 

If you know you are not great at prepping, buy diced onions, carrots or smashed garlic. Anything that helps your process and gets you cooking at home and cooking for your family. 

 

What’s your go to food? 

I’m a sandwich guy. I can eat a sandwich for three meals. I grew up in Chicago, so I’m a sandwich junkie. I’m as simple as ham and cheese and I’m as complicated as a Reuben.

For ticket information on the upcoming event, please visit: www.bethelwoodscenter.org.

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