Thelma Negley, the author of the cookbooks,
To The Good Life and
A Matter of Taste, discusses her exciting culinary experiences. She gives promising advice to anyone who loves food, but might have doubts about cooking it. Negley first started cooking in her junior year of college, and is now the owner of the restaurant
The Bay House, one of the top ranked restaurants in Southwest Florida, as rated by the
Fort Myers News Press.
Q: Have you always had a passion for cooking and food?
A: I first realized I loved to cook my junior year of college, when I met my husband and began cooking for him and his roommates. I went to the used book store and bought the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, the one with the red checkerboard cover, because it had a recipe for Baked Alaska, which my husband told me he liked. I was determined to impress him.
A year or so later, I was hired by a company, Around the World Foods, as their first employee. They were franchising gourmet food stores around the country. My office was behind the prototype store, and I spent a lot of time in the shop learning about gourmet foods and wines.
Q: What is your favorite ingredient and why?
A: Definitely chocolate, not only because I love, love, love it. But also because it is so versatile. When I studied with the pastry chef, and chocolate wizard, Albert Kumin at the International Pastry Arts Institute, I was the best in my class in chocolate. (However, I must confess, I did not do as well in cakes.)
Q: What is one of your favorite dishes?
A: Bob Hoffman's Almond Turtles Ice Cream - it is the perfect homemade (a family owned store at the Jersey Shore) combination of chocolate, caramel, mocha and creaminess. I do love ice cream!
Q : What advice would you give to beginner cooks?
A: Do not be intimidated. If you can read, you can cook. Get a good basic cookbook, like The Joy of Cooking, The Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, or The Best Recipe by the editors of Cook's Magazine (my favorite).
Q: Can you tell me about your cookbooks?
To The Good Life is the cookbook I did with Annemarie Huste. She was formerly Jackie O.'s chef, as well as chef to Billy Rose. She has a private dining room off Park Avenue in New York and also runs a cooking school from time to time. I was her food editor for years, doing her newsletter, etc. It is a cocktail table book with beautiful illustrations and wonderful recipes geared to entertaining.
A Matter of Taste is the cookbook I did for The Junior League as a very successful fund raiser.
Q: Do your cookbooks and recipes follow a certain theme?
A: Recipes should not be too complicated, and should produce an elegant and delicious result. Both cookbooks include "anecdotes" for the recipes, because I like a little description or "back story" to pass on.
Q: What inspired you to write a cookbook?
A: For Annemarie, we first started writing a book about the renovation of her Park Avenue town house, focusing on the way to design, build and equip a kitchen. Then we got bored with that and decided to do a cocktail table book on entertaining.
For The Junior League, I had been food editing and teaching cooking classes and doing a lot of volunteer work for a while. I guess I just seemed like the right person to take the reins.
Q: Why do you enjoy cooking?
A: I love the creative aspect of it, and the pleasure it produces. It is a lot more gratifying than housework!
Q: What is one recipe that you would recommend to beginner cooks?
A: It depends on what you like to cook. A simple roast chicken can be divine. If you like pasta, perhaps Pasta Livornese or Pasta Puttanesca, which just involve sauteeing onion with diced tomatoes, olives, capers and seasonings. (Find recipes online) For a fancier meal, Steak au Poivre, which just involves pressing coarsely ground peppercorns into a filet. Of course a wonderful chocolate dessert always is a hit.
Q: What is your favorite restaurant in the world and why?
A: My favorite restaurant in America is my own restaurant, The Bay House, in Naples Florida. It is waterfront, with fabulous views, wonderful food, and terrific service. My favorite restaurant in England is The Waterside Inn in Bray, near Windsor Castle. It is on the Thames river, and is ownd by the Roux brothers, who also own Le Gavroche (divine food, but a dark location) in London. I had my all time favorite dessert there, which was a raspberry creme brulee! My favorite restaurant in France is L'Auberge de Pere Bise, in Talloires, which is in a charming village on an alpine lake in the French Alps. They served us a capon cooked with vegetables in a clay pot. It was so delicious, we had seconds. My favorite restaurant in Switzerland is Giradet, in Crissiers, which is considered by some to be the best restaurant in the world. It is off the beaten track, but worth a trip. The food and service are impeccable.
A good restaurant experience is not only about the food, but also about the views, the ambiance, and friendly, attentive service.
If you have fresh bananas, flour, and eggs in the house then you can make banana pancakes from scratch! I have made banana pancakes many Saturday and Sunday mornings, and it is always worth waking up early for.
