Brothers create cookbook suited for culinary neophytes November 18, 2008
Posted by Max in : Press , trackbackCheck out this great article from the Berkley Mirror:
Don’t know how to mince an onion or boil pasta? Tired of tossing a frozen meal in the microwave and calling it “dinner”? If you can’t find your way around the kitchen, let Max and Eli Sussman guide you, one tasty step at a time. The Huntington Woods natives and siblings have created an appealing and chock-full-of-tips cookbook, Freshman in the Kitchen: From Clueless Cook to Creative Chef, published by Ann Arbor-based Huron River Press.
Raised on homemade meals, the Sussman brothers started helping out in the kitchen at a young age, and as teens they frequently cooked family dinners for their parents, Marc Sussman and Lynne Avadenka. Max and Eli’s culinary skills were put to the test in the summer of 2005 when, as college students, they took charge of the kitchen at Camp Tavor, a summer camp in Three Rivers that they had attended in their youth.
“We handled all the cooking for the entire summer, three meals a day for 180 people,” said Eli, who spoke to me from Los Angeles where he lives and works as a media consultant and part-time caterer. “Max came up with the idea that we weren’t going to do any frozen foods. We were going to cook fresh. So, we got rid of the tator tots, the chicken nuggets. We decided to cook everything from scratch, to open up the kids’ minds to some different dishes and a variety of foods.”
During their college years (Eli is a 2007 Michigan State grad and Max is a University of Michigan alum) the Sussmans worked in a variety of restaurant settings. Eli’s experience was mostly short order cook and diner-style food, while Max honed his culinary skills in fine dining and more upscale restaurants.
“We both had friends who were asking us for advice, friends who really needed tips to accomplish simple tasks and more complicated tasks in the kitchen,” Eli said. “So it seemed like a logical extension to use our experience to help everybody out.”
Friends and family members encouraged the brothers to put their recipes and helpful hints into book form. Freshman in the Kitchen is a breezy read, with step-by-step cooking instructions for both simple and more challenging recipes that range from sandwiches, salads and desserts to vegetarian fare, grilled foods, ethnic dishes and Sussman family favorites, like Nana’s Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes.
“When we were coming up with recipes, I would come up with really fancy, intricate dishes and Eli would kind of put it in check and say, ‘People don’t have two hours to spend on it,’” said Max, who lives in Ann Arbor, and was in California with Eli to promote their book. “A lot of the recipes in the book are simple and budget-minded, but you’re also going to end up with a high-quality dish that tastes really good.”
A chef at Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor, Max strives to use locally grown, organic foods whenever he cooks.
“All summer I would go to the farmer’s market, and pick a vegetable or a few vegetables and build a meal around that because I think it’s important to know where your food comes from and to be able to see the people who actually grew it,” he said. “It’s a really good feeling and beyond that the food just tastes a lot better.”
Max and Eli will sign copies of their book, make a dish for tastings, and answer culinary questions at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, at the Huntington Woods Public Library. They’re looking forward to their visit and hope parents will bring kids to the program. To register, call (248) 543-9720. Visit www.freshmaninthekitchen.com.
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