By ELENA MANCINI
Dishing on favorite recipes at 92Y Tribeca
As one of the many recent events hosted as the new 92YTribeca, last Wednesday afternoon food writer and former Parade Magazine editor, Sheila Lukins gave a lively and generously varied presentation filled with recipes, tastings, restaurant tips, food trends, nutritional advice, and colorful personal anecdotes. Lukins was seen as somewhat of a maverick in the late 70s, when as a mother of four, she became an entrepreneur by joining forces with Julee Rosso and opening The Silver Palate (also the title of two the books they co-authored) gourmet shop in Manhattan. She has since written a total of eight cookbooks. At the talk in Tribeca, Lukins shared many of her favorite recipes from her latest work, “Ten: All the Foods We Love and 10 Perfect Recipes for Each.” Each of the book’s 32 chapters centers on a different food item, each one the main ingredient in 10 different recipes.
The bubbly author rattled the recipes—and quick variations of them—off the top of her head effortlessly, spontaneously, and on demand, as required by the audience in the intimate and friendly Q&A session. As the listeners sampled a refreshingly savory cup of roasted golden beet salad with tangerine vinaigrette, Lukins gave away the simple recipe, which requires roasting beets in aluminum foil, in addition to some useful trade secrets. Glazing chicken with orange marmalade is a crucial step to making the spin-off to her “Chicken Marabella,” the Orange-Ginger-Tomato Glazed Chicken. She shared that it is not necessary to purchase very expensive olive oils for most dishes; she typically cooks with pure Berio olive oil, uses Colavita extra-virgin olive oil for salads and for special dishes, Lerida, a Spanish extra virgin olive oil, for which the author was a Spanish government spokesperson during a two-year-stay in Spain.
As the audience polished off toasted French bread topped with artisinal ricotta from Di Palo’s in Little Italy, Lukins spoke of how her career has evolved. The trend of health-consciousness has caused her to include very few recipes with butter and creams in her recent work. This was not the case in the 80s, Lukins explained. She snickered at the editorial demands that have surfaced because of the current economic downturn. Coming up with 10-minute recipes that can be made with 10 dollars or less are among the types of requests that Lukins receives. The Philadelphia native and Upper-West side denizen enjoys simple tight budget solutions that include a glass of wine and a small plate of pâté or a frisée salad.
The conversation became more personal over aromatic, delightfully moist cubes of lemon spiced cake. When a woman in the audience asked her how she started cooking. Lukins jokingly retorted: “I got married.” Wistful of the married life she once enjoyed, she spoke adoringly and animatedly about spending time with her preteen granddaughter and creating and improvising recipes. One parent in the audience asked for advice on how to introduce greens in a child’s diet. Lukins recommended ripe avocados. “They are so sweet, who doesn’t like them?”
Pressed by the audience to list her preferred New York restaurants, Lukins revealed that Tom Valenti’s Ouest and Danny Boulud’s Bar Boulud are among her neighborhood favorites. In the Downtown scene, she is a big fan of Balthazar’s, but, she also loves low-key joints. Lukins gives a feisty response to what she thinks of rising star chefs. She does not like them: “They are too snotty.” She shops at Eli’s on the Upper East Side because she loves its butcher counter and the high quality charcuterie. She is not fond of Citarella’s because the staff is not as precise there and it’s too big and difficult to find stuff there. Lukins encouraged everyone to shop at farm stands and support local dealers and growers. Ripe avocado, anyone?
For information on upcoming classes and events, call 212-601-1000 or visit 92y.org/92yTribeca.
