Category: Chicago Chapter News

“Dames Who Read” organizer Judith Hines gathered a hungry group of Dames around a table laden with Southern comfort food for February’s culinary book club event. The book: The Best Cook in the World: Tales from My Momma’s Table by Rick Bragg. The venue: Ina Mae’s Tavern, one of Chicago’s newest hot spots by acclaimed chef, Brian Jupiter, who brings his southern roots to the menu.

The group dined on cheddar biscuits, Cajun mac-n-cheese, beans, pork chops, deviled eggs, fried okra, sweet potato hash, and fried apple pies as they dished about the book.

In the book, author Rick Bragg introduces his mother, Margaret Bragg, who does not own a single cookbook. She measures in “dabs” and “smidgens” and “tads” and “you know, hon, just some.” She cannot be pinned down on how long to bake corn bread –“about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the mysteries of your oven.” Her notion of farm-to-table is a flatbed truck. Many of her recipes pre-date the Civil War, handed down skillet by skillet, from one generation of Braggs to the next. In this New York Times bestseller, Rick Bragg finally preserves his heritage by telling the stories that framed his mother’s cooking and education, from childhood into old age. Because good food always has a good story, and a recipe, writes Bragg, is a story like anything else.

Dame Mary Aregoni brought the Vietnamese celebration of Tet – or the Lunar New Year – to life with a lively dinner at Bang Chop on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Mary and her mother, known to all as Mama Suu, orchestrated a multi-course feast from the menu of Mary’s restaurant, Saigon Sisters.  Each course was paired with two wines selected by the “Dame Somms:” Veronica Hastings, Gina Voci, Kim Hack and Liz Barrett. They intentionally chose non-French wines — which are so often paired with Vietnamese food — which led to some delicious discoveries of wines from Spain, Italy and Austria.

As guests arrived, they were greeted with a “Tet Tropicale,” a delectable concoction of Portell Cava (a lovely Spanish sparkling wine) and Mango-Basil Syrup by Dame Melissa Yen, founder of Jo Snow Syrups. Guests were then treated to such Vietnamese delights as Goi Bap Chuoi Ga (chicken salad with banana blossoms, papaya and herbs), Nem Cua (Imperial crab rolls in fried rice-paper), Wagyu beef Pho dumpling soup, Thit Heo Kho (pork braised in coconut water with caramelized egg, pickled vegetables and rice and much more.

The “Dame Somms” team presented the wines as each course was served, sharing background on each and ideas about how the food complemented each wine and vice versa. Huge thanks to Mary, Mama Suu and the entire team at Saigon Sisters and Bang Chop for such a festive and delicious evening!

The Dame Somms R to L: Kim Hack, Carla Williams, Gina Voci, Veronica Hastings, Liz Barrett, Jill Haas.

A Tet table full of culinary delights, Dames and guests!

Dame Gina Voci was joined by her two daughters!

A dozen Dames got comfy in Gina Voci’s cozy screening room (aka third-floor guest room with fancy big-screen TV!) on Sunday, Jan. 7 to watch “The 100-Foot Journey” accompanied by delicious snacks prepared by Dame Chandra Ram from her new cookbook, The Complete Indian Instant Pot Cookbook. The movie tells the story of a young Indian chef in France and his dramatic ascent to the top, so the pairing of Indian foods was perfect! Crispy samosas filled with peas and potato, Indian-spiced popcorn and papadams with delicious spicy chutney kept everyone munching throughout the movie. Lest we get thirsty, Gina provided a perfect array of wines to match the food. (The Vouvray paired especially well with the spicy Indian foods!)

After the movie, the group headed to the kitchen, where Chandra and Gina were putting the final touches on an Indian feast for dinner! We enjoyed lamb vindaloo sliders, chickpea chaat (chickpea salad with pomegranate, cucumber and crunchy fried Indian bits), basmati rice with cumin and preserved lemon and saag paneer (sauteed spinach and mustard greens with Indian fresh cheese).

Chandra shared how her own experience as the daughter of an Indian father and an Irish mother growing up in America,  informed her perceptions of Indian food. “Because of the way I grew up, I put a bit of an American spin on classic Indian recipes. So for example, lamb vindaloo turned into a riff on the southern pulled-pork sliders we all know and love — but with Indian flavors.”

Dorie Greenspan is not only one of America’s most prolific food personalities and cookbook authors, she also is a long-time member of Les Dames d’Escoffier (New York Chapter). Her newest book, Everyday Dorie: The Way I Cook, dropped on Oct. 23, and during a promotional visit to Chicago, Dame Stacey Ballis hosted an afternoon reception with Dorie in between her packed schedule of public events on Nov. 1.

Stacey prepared an amazing array of treats from her own repertoire and from Dorie’s new book including Gougères, Tomato Chutney, and “Ricotta Spreadable,” a heavenly whipped ricotta cheese situation laced with herbs … delicious dolloped on the Gougéres! Thanks to H2Vino for providing Cava, and to our friends at Kerrygold, for providing an impressive array of delicious cheeses.

It was great fun to meet and talk to Dorie in such a casual atmosphere. These types of intimate gatherings with fellow Dames are part of what makes Les Dames so special.  Huge thanks to Stacey Ballis for hosting us and of course, to Dorie, for making time for Chicago Dames. Bon appetit!