In 1999, Lee Schrager started the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, casually referred to as SoBe. In those early days Schrager called SoBe "my mother's fondue party on the beach," but today it is described by Drew Nieropont as "the sexiest food and wine event of the year," one that draws celebrity chefs and food-lovers combined. Not coincidentally, the back-stage parties have become famous. But all is not a party, the Festival raises funds for wine, culinary, and hospitality education which has given roughly 8,000 students an opportunity to launch a career. South Beach Wine & Food Festival Cookbook is a joyful account of the festivities, the backstage stories, and best of all, of the recipes contributed by the best chefs in the country. It is all here, from barbecue to recipes from the "Burger Bash," which turn hamburger into starburger, but it's the joie de vivre, the energy, the zest that these pros bring to their work that infuses the book.
This is a book of stories, opinions, histories, and the most sparkling of recipes. There is a collection of interviews called "Grilled for One Minute" gathered from such disparate personalities as vintner Francis Ford Coppola (who happens to also be a filmmaker), to classical French chef Alain Ducasse. Ant there are recipes from such luminaries as Daniel Boulud, Jamie Oliver, Cat Cora, Ferran Adrià, Emeril Lagasse, Tyler Florence, Giada De Laurentis, Alfred Portale, Rick Tramonto, Francois Payard, Nigella Lawson - to name but more than a few of these celestial, shining stars .
Reflecting the festivities, the book is organized into seven chapters that will bring the reader to SoBe, as it is called:
Drinks
Starters and Small Plates
Barbecue
Burgers
Comfort and Casual Food
Main Courses
Desserts
These are recipes to make stars out of all of us. Try Martha Stewart’s Lobster Roll · Guy Fieri’s All-Star Sausage Steak Sandwich with Guy's ’s Pickled Hot Veggies · Alice Waters’s Grapefruit and Avocado Salad · Jamie Oliver’s Roasted Carrots and Beets with the Juiciest Pork Chops · Paula Deen’s Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake · Tom Colicchio’s Caramelized Tomato Tarts · Rick Bayless’s Brava Steak with Lazy Salsa · Spike Mendelsohn’s Toasted Marshmallow Shake · Nigella Lawson’s Caramel Croissant Pudding.
As Anthony Bourdain says in the introduction, "For these few days in February, many of the greatest chefs in the world will meet like Mafia dons and relax. They will gossip, they will eat, they will party, they will reacquaint with old friends, the will receive news of far-flung associates and developments near and far - and, oh yeah, they will cook. In this book there are recipes, photographs, and what I hope are severely edited stories from the past decade of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. I hope you enjoy reading and cooking as much as we enjoy remembering."
Have fun! Be transported to this exciting celebration Emeril has dubbed “Spring Break for chefs.”
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