LA JOLLA, California (Press Release) – The 16th Annual San Diego Jewish Book Fair presents three approaches to fresh, healthy and delicious food with Terra Restaurant’s Executive Chef, Jeff Rossman on Fri., Nov. 5 at 10 a.m.; kosher baker Paula Shoyer on Sun., Nov. 7 at 2 p.m.; and Sam “the Cooking Guy” Zien on Mon., Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. A book signing will follow each speaker.
Jeff Rossman – Fri., Nov. 5 at 10 a.m.
Wondering what all the local/sustainable/organic fuss is about? Basically, it’s a way to eat – and to think about food – that helps fight childhood obesity, helps preserve the environment, and helps support the local economy. San Diego’s own Jeff Rossman, chef/owner of Hillcrest’s acclaimed Terra Restaurant, presents his new cookbook, From Terra’s Table, which features 140 delicious, creative dishes, and shares a better way to eat, one that will benefit our children, our town, and our planet.
Chef Rossman seeks to create a San Diego community united by a shared love of good food and mutual respect. Rossman’s family owned a chain of local delis, whose success enabled them to open their first restaurant, Pam Pam Café and Grill, in what is now the Daze Inn, in 1981. He started his culinary career as a dishwasher in his family’s restaurant, working his way up and gradually teaching himself how to cook. After college and a Boston externship with star chef Michael Schlow, Rossman returned to the family restaurant, serving bold dishes like seared fish with papaya salsa and steaks with chimichurri sauce.
Bolstered by the success of Pam Pam, Rossman convinced his father to partner with him in Terra Restaurant, which opened its doors in 1998 and continues to win praise from Zagat and Wine Spectator as well as local publications. Rossman works to encourage more comprehensive nutrition education in local schools, donating his time to a variety of organizations and events including Central Elementary’s “From the Ground Up” garden project, a program that recently garnered attention from the Childhood Obesity Initiative.
Paula Shoyer – Sun., Nov. 7 at 2 p.m.
Learn how kosher cooking can be taken to the next level. Author, pastry chef, and cooking instructor Paula Shoyer offers 160 inspired, innovative dairy-free recipes in The Kosher Baker: 160 Dairy-free Recipes from Traditional to Trendy as proof that kosher cooking can be a culinary cornucopia. From traditional rugelach, orange cake and peanut butter cookies to trendy mousses, “cream cheese” frosting and even crème brulée, Shoyer’s creations are delightfully delicious and always dairy-free.
Shoyer is a pastry chef who owns and operate Paula’s Parisian Pastries Cooking School in Chevy Chase, Maryland. She received her pastry diploma from the Ritz Escoffier Ecole de Gastronomie Française in Paris, in 1996. She is a former attorney and speechwriter who took advantage of living in Europe and enrolled in a pastry course in Paris for fun. After being asked to bake for friends, she ended up operating a dessert catering business in Geneva, Switzerland.
While in Geneva, she was asked to teach a few classes to raise money for Jewish organizations – in French. When she returned to the U.S., she began teaching classes in French pastry and Jewish cooking and baking to adults and children in the Washington, D.C. area and around the country. Shoyer is also the author of Kosher by Design Entertains and Kosher by Design Kids in the Kitchen.
Sam Zien – Mon., Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m.
San Diego’s biggest cooking star Sam Zien – way better known as Sam the Cooking Guy – offers a conversational smörgåsbord. The 12-time Emmy winner and author of Awesome Recipes & Kitchen Shortcuts will delve into his life – e.g. he never expected to be cook, let alone become a cooking instructor – his thoughts on keeping kosher (he doesn’t), and much more. This is a unique opportunity to spend time with a man who describes himself as an everyday guy…who has found a way to make cooking casually understandable.
Zien characterizes himself as “the everyman of television cooking.” His twice-weekly half-hour show is shot in his own home, where he cooks with his kids, dogs and neighbors. He likes to show his audience how to cook easy, great food that’s “big in taste and small in effort.” Zien’s original idea was to produce a show about travel, not cooking, a show that would be the opposite of the “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” – a show about travel for regular people. But when September 11th happened he revised his plan and decided to demystify something else – food. He felt that TV chefs tried too hard to impress with a ton of impossible-to-find ingredients and impossible-to-understand “chef-speak.” Zien’s show has just shot its 100th episode, has won 12 Emmys, and has become a national series on Discovery’s Health channel. Zien is currently readying his third book for the printer.
Admission to Jeff Rossman’s presentation on Nov. 5 and Paula Shoyer’s appearance on Nov. 7 is free. The evening with Sam Zien on Nov. 8 is $14 for members and $17 for non-members. The Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, Jacobs Family Campus, is located at 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla. For more information or to purchase tickets, call the JCC Box Office at 858-362-1348 or visit the web site at sdjbf.org.
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Preceding provided by the San Diego Center for Jewish Culture