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For fans ofThe Bear, you may be curious on how the food magic happens and what it takes to make your favorite on-screen dish. Lucky for you (and for us!) we just found out how it all goes down.
Courtney Storer, the FX show’s culinary producer and founder of anLA-based catering companyCoco’s to Go-Go teamed up withAmazon Devicesto share her expertise and advice this holiday season. Through this partnership, we were given the opportunity to talk to Storer about how she uses smart devices in her own kitchen—plus some curiosity questions aboutThe Bear, of course.
Want to know more about that potato chip omelet? Need some hosting advice as the holidays approach? Read on to find out Storer’s insights in this exclusive interview.
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EatingWell:Are there any behind-the-scenes moments that you want to highlight while working onThe Bear?
EatingWell:OnThe Bear, what was the inspiration for putting crushed potato chips in the omelet?
Storer:That omelet is a famous omelet that I learned from a chef in Los Angeles, Ludo Lefebvre. He’s a very classic French chef, so that was a nod to him. He and a lot of chefs have a tradition where you walk in and they say, “Hey, make me an omelet.” It’s a test of technique: can you do something that’s a very simple-seeming task that actually is quite complicated and takes finesse? That’s why Chris [Storer, the director] and the writers and the team wanted to put an omelet in there. Where I enter is, I thought about what Sugar would make, who’s pregnant and a chef.
I have lots of experience making family meals. I always try to make them craveable and different and fun. I like to have fun with how I cook. I mix a lot of nostalgia and technique with just snacks that I love, so I talked to Chris about it. I said, “OK, if we’re going to make an omelet, it’s got to be something that Sydney can express a little bit of versatility and creativity.” Where she has these chips sitting in the dry storage or the area where you usually grab things to make the staff lunch or dinner. And she thinks, “Hey, this could be a nice twist.” And when testing the omelet in LA, we actually really, really liked the texture of the chips with the eggs. We tried so many chips that day we were like, we can’t eat another egg or another chip for a while until we filmed it in Chicago. But it turned out it was really good, and that day, everyone ate omelets. The whole crew, everybody tried the omelet because we made it so many times. And I like what you see on camera like there’s no double, there’s no one stepping in, that was all her.
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EatingWell:How do you use Amazon Devices as unexpected kitchen tools?
Storer:Multitasking is something that any home cook knows very well, but in my chef and production world, it has been pretty daunting to stay organized, especially because I report to so many different departments. Having a resource like Alexa has been super helpful for me to stay organized and stay on track. Using something like the Echo Show 15 is a resource not only for me but my team because they can come in, they check the schedule and they can see the shopping list. I can delegate responsibilities really easily and it’s really helped me in my small business and in my personal life, which is really cool.
EatingWell:Are there any other tools or appliances that are kitchen must-haves for you?
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EatingWell:Do you have any advice for home cooks this holiday season?
Storer:Every single time I cook something, I’m nervous–and I’ve been cooking for years. It’s my profession and I still get nervous, so that’s normal. I always say it’s OK if you burn something. Don’t get hard on yourself. The reason I’m a good chef is because I’ve been a bad one. I’ve made a lot of mistakes; there’s a lot of things I can tell you I’ve done wrong to get to the place where I know how to make something correctly. I think any attempt at cooking is a worthy attempt.
EatingWell:Whether on set or on a busy workday, any favorite snacks to keep your energy up?
Storer:Energy is super-duper important and when you work those long hours, you have to step back and really nurture yourself. I think in the production world, as well as the chef world, the adrenaline starts to suppress your need for food. So we have a lot of fruit on set. We’re all fruit snacking. Craft services are incredible and have all sorts of healthy snacks, little sandwiches to fuel throughout the day. We have little food vendors from Chicago that come through and set up stands so that we’re able to eat throughout the day as well as at lunch. My thing that I’m always grabbing is any sort of tangerine, orange or apple. I love to snack on fruit. But then I love making the cast a lot of focaccia. I make a fresh potato focaccia, grab that, put a piece of turkey on it and keep going.
EatingWell:What does “eating well” mean to you?
Storer:I think it’s balance. I obviously have my favorites. I’m a pasta chef, I make pasta all the time, but I need to incorporate other foods that make me feel better and have a higher nutritional value like kale or spinach. I try to eat green as much as I can and vegetables as much as I can. If I’m serving a pasta dinner, I always incorporate an escarole and spinach salad that really gives the meal some well-rounded balanced eating within it. I think when I write menus a lot as a chef, I’m always thinking about that. When I’m eating a meal, I need to walk away not just full but fulfilled, and that well-roundedness comes from planning and looking at the seasons. It’s our job as chefs to bring the seasonal vegetables into the forefront of the menu to make it just as desirable as a pizza or a pasta.
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