Food
Roger Mooking, Host of ‘Man, Fire, Food’
R
oger Mooking, host of “Man Fire Food,” visited
Portland recently to film a show for his popular
Cooking Channel series, “Man, Fire, Food.” The
episode, which features Jason French of Ned Ludd restau-
rant on N.E. Martin Luther King Boulevard in Portland,
will air Dec. 11 and 30. A third-generation chef and restau-
rateur, Mooking’s cuisine draws from a rich mix of global
food traditions. Mooking is also a musician and the author
of the cookbook, Everyday Exotic. The Skanner News
spoke to Mooking on the phone Tuesday, Nov. 20.
TSN: Is it true that you are the third generation in your
family to be a chef and restaurateur?
RM: Yes, it’s true. My grandfather came from China and
ended up in Trinidad, in the Caribbean. There, after many
years, he eventually opened a bakery and restaurant. Then
he moved his restaurant to Los Angeles. My father ran that
restaurant for many years, and my aunts and uncles still
own and operate restaurants and catering companies. So it’s
in the blood. I come by it honestly.
TSN: Did you ever think about doing anything else?
RM: Yes, for sure. When I was three years old I knew I
wanted to be a chef, but when I was around 15 I started dab-
bling in music and that really took off. So I’ve done music
professionally since I was about 15 or 16 as well. I contin-
ue in both of those endeavors.
TSN: What is your first food memory?
RM: One most definitely is standing up on a chair at the
counter and learning how to make wontons with my father.
I was very young, probably 3 or 4. I was always interested
in the kitchen, and any opportunity I could to climb up in
the kitchen and see what people are doing, or if my grand-
mother was cooking to check up on what she was up too. I
was always there you know.
TSN: You are Canadian now though?
RM: I was born in Trinidad and when I was 5 my family
moved to Canada. I do have a lot of memories of Trinidad,
strangely, but also I have been back many times since. All
my aunts and uncles still live in Trinidad and a lot of
friends, so I keep contact –especially now with social
media.
SWEET WAYS
continued from page 8
unblended soup; stir to combine.
Add tomatoes, scallion and 1 tablespoon cilantro; bring to
a boil. Serve hot and garnish with cilantro.
Sweet Corn and Ricotta
Fritters
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
2
ears fresh Florida sweet corn, kernels removed
1/2
bunch fresh cilantro, chopped fine
4
ounces low-fat ricotta cheese
2
large eggs, beaten
1/3
cup self-rising unbleached or whole-wheat flour
salt and fresh groundpepper
Olive oil (for shallow pan frying)
In medium-sized bowl, combine corn, cilantro, ricotta,
eggs, flour and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Add a small amount of olive oil to a medium-high pre-
heated sauté pan. Carefully add spoonfuls of corn mixture
to hot pan. Cook on both sides until golden brown. Test the
first done fritter, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Serve with low-fat sour cream if desired.
Roger Mooking with Jason French of Ned Ludd
restaurant on N.E. Martin Luther King Boulevard
TSN: Tell us about your family’s food traditions, because
you have this wonderful rich mix of cultural influences?
RM: Defnitely! Well, my grandfather, like I said, was
Chinese fare and he used to cook traditional Chinese fare
for my father growing up. So a lot of these recipes have
passed down to our household. But you know we were
born and raised in Trinidad and that has a very interesting
mix of traditions also. There is a large African
population, a large Carib Indian population –
the indigenous population; there is a large Chi-
nese population, and a large East Indian
population. So all of those food traditions are
an integral part of what makes up Trinidadian
cuisine. We learned a lot from Trinidad alone,
but my grandfather being from China, there
was a heavy influence from that. And then our
family moved to Edmonton, Alberta, which
has a large Ukrainian and Polish population.
So my mother had made friends with an elder-
ly Ukrainian baba, and when I walked in after school, they
would be making pirogues and cabbage rolls, and kielbasa
and all of this stuff. All of those come together.
TSN: What is your signature as a chef?
RM: I like to take comfort foods, whether they are Asian
comfort foods or North American comfort foods, and give
them a little bit of a twist. So I might take something like
macaroni and cheese and give it a twist with some curry and
asparagus. Or if it’s a burger, I’m going to make a lamb
burger with five-spice powder. Those are the kinds of things
you’ll see on my other show, “Everyday Exotic”. I do a lot
of recipes for many different publications, and I think peo-
ple come to me for a little bit of flair, a little bit of spice, a
little bit of heat and just a little bit of an interesting, inven-
tive twist on regular foods.
TSN: Where do you live now and do you cook at home?
RM: I live in Toronto now, and I travel quite a bit with my
work, but when I am home I am the designated cook.
TSN: We are all thinking about Thanksgiving this week,
but you don’t have that in Canada do you?
RM: We had our Thanksgiving last month, and it’s very
similar food. We have the usual sweet potatoes turkey and
stuffing, cranberries and so on. This year my family did a
potluck and strangely nobody brought a cranberry dish and
nobody brought ham. But we had a couple of turkeys.
TSN: Can you give us one tip for any cook hosting a big
celebration?
RM: Make a list. Make a plan and make sure you have
some dishes prepared ahead of time so you can just reheat
them and keep them warm. Those last few minutes can be
busy, but if you have prepared in advance you can keep it
really simple.
TSN: Your new show Man Fire Food is all about barbe-
cue. So what’s the biggest thing you have ever barbecued?
RM: The biggest is I would have to say would be a whole
cow. We went to an event called Bovinova in South Car-
olina. This is an annual fundraiser and these are
entrepreneurs and business men who do this event for char-
ity. So they built this contraption with pulleys and 7,000 lbs
of steel. It’s quite a contraption; you have to see it. So they
hoist the cow onto this grate and it spins and turns. It took
seven guys to hoist the cow onto this thing and it cooks for
24 hours. It’s quite a spectacle.
TSN: And the smallest?
RM: That would have to be a clam.
‘My mother had made friends with an
elderly Ukrainian baba, and when I
walked in after school, they would be
making pirogues and cabbage rolls,
and kielbasa and all of this stuff’
TSN: What about the health experts who are telling us
that barbecue is bad for us and causes cancer and so on.
What do you think about that?
RM: Well, I read a lot of different information from a lot
of different sources and apparently everything will give you
cancer. So, I do follow the latest information. But at the end
of the day, I’ve got to be honest, I defer to what my grand-
mother told me growing up. She said, “All things in
moderation at all times.”
So I’m not going to be making barbecue every single day
of my life. I’m not going to be eating hot food every day of
my life. I’m not going to be making Chinese food every day
of my life or Caribbean food every day. I like to mix up
everything always, whether it’s a cooking technique: steam-
See FIRE FOOD on page 10
Kitchen Tips for Kids
Get the kids involved in buying, prepping and cooking
corn. Here’s what they need to know to help you in the
kitchen:
~ Look for fresh sweet corn with the husk still attached.
They should feel and look moist and plump, with the ker-
nels inside fat and shiny. The silk of the corn should be a
little sticky and should look glossy, stiff and moist.
~ To shuck: Grasp the husks and pull down to expose the
kernels. Continue until all the husks and silk-like hairs have
been removed.
~ To remove kernels: Hold corn cob upright by the tip,
with the large end solidly down on the table. Take a small
sharp knife and cut down, removing the corn kernels. Be
careful not to cut too deep and remove parts of the cob.
To get more fresh ideas for cooking with corn, visit
http://bit.ly/floridacorn.
November 28, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 9