Five Questions for Gale Gand
She attended pastry classes at the prestigious La Varenne Cooking School in Paris and has worked in numerous bakeries and restaurant kitchens throughout France. Her talents have also taken her to work in New York, England, and Spain, before returning her to Chicago.
Ms. Gand first achieved fame at age six, when she was photographed for Life magazine, while making mud pies. In addition to a very successful restaurant career and numerous culinary awards, she is now a celebrity chef, famous for hosting Sweet Dreams on the Food Network, authoring best-selling cookbooks, and making public appearances. Her first cookbook, American Brasserie (co-written with Chef Rick Tramonto) appeared in 1996. Four more popular cookbooks have followed, and her next cookbook, Chocolate and Vanilla, will be published later this year.
Ms. Gand’s passion for the creative exploration of delicious possibilities (along with a strong nostalgia for the root beer of her youth) led to her creation of Gale’s Root Beer, available for purchase from the TRU website. With the success of Gale’s Root Beer, she is currently developing additional soda flavors and other sweet treats for purchase, including frozen cookie dough and candy bars. Gale at Home is her line of bakeware, available for purchase from Marshall Fields and online at the Home Shopping Network.
Ms. Gand is sincere in her culinary service to others. In her own words, from the TRU website:
“Cooking and feeding others is the noblest thing a person can do. I feel privileged every day that I get to create with the earth’s abundance and through this, I am graced with connecting to people. I’ve been doing this 25 years and my work isn’t even half done. Each day I celebrate the life breathed into people through cooking. Each day I rejoice that my work brings families together, marks great accomplishments and important moments of life, joins people in matrimony, is entertaining, nurturing and restorative.”
“This is what I am honored to do.”
Recently, we [Paper Palate]asked Ms. Gand 5 questions:
1. Is it difficult finding new inspiration for your delicious and creative desserts?
Never. I find inspiration everywhere. In a candy bar, a painting, a memory or just from a friend’s craving. What IS hard to find is the time to work through them all.
2. Do you have a favorite past episode of Sweet Dreams on the Food Network?
My favorite to make was either the Ginger Bread People show I did with my son Gio or the Babkah show where my chef friend, Ina Pinkney, was on. I just love cooking with her.
3. Favorite personal choice of “Comfort Food?”
Root beer floats, which is why I make my own root beer so I’ll never run out of the one thing I seem to need most when times are tough. Also matzah ball soup.
4. With the success of Gale’s Root Beer, what types of similar products (if any) for purchase can we expect from you in the future?
Frozen Cookie Dough, some additional soda flavors, chocolate bars, and I came out with my own bakeware this year called Gale at Home, which is sold at Marshall Field’s, soon to be Macy’s, and on HSN.
5. Any one-word advice or suggestion for aspiring chefs?
Always wear comfortable shoes and only work in places you love.
