Chef Profile: Chris Hastings

—Contest now closed—

Raw meat grabs.

Dec072009

The Chef: Chris Hastings is founder and executive chef at the Hot & Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Alabama. Along with his wife Idie, he wrote the recently-published Hot and Hot Fish Club Cookbook: A Celebration of Food, Family, and Traditions.

I’d had a copy of the book in-house, and ran into Chris at Tyler Florence’s recent Music To Your Mouth food and wine festival in Bluffton, South Carolina. When I found out he would be in Charleston a couple of nights later for a booksigning, we arranged for an interview.

Hastings takes a decidedly low-tech approach when it comes to tools. He relies on a wooden-handled metal skewer to check temperatures, but it also tests the relative doneness of a piece of meat. “Raw meat grabs,” said Hastings.

In the video interview, he also speaks of the cluelessness of cooks coming fresh out of culinary school, and of the need to get visceral and up close and personal with food. “You don’t learn that in 18 months of culinary school.” he said.

The most important tool? “You’ve probably haven’t had anyone tell you this is a tool before,” he said.

He was right.

Take a look:

Check the video on youtube.

Win One!

Win a personally autographed copy of Chris’s new book, The Hot and Hot Fish Club Cookbook!

One lucky BehindTheKnife.com reader will win a a personally autographed copy of Chris and Idie’s new book, The Hot and Hot Fish Club Cookbook, FREE, a $35 value.

Just leave a comment below by Monday December 14th, 11:59 p.m.

One of the great things about the Cookbook is that Chris and Idie include profiles of a number of the local people who supply the restaurant with honey, meat, produce, cheese, and other products. So in your comment, tell us about your favorite local supplier and what you like to do with the food item.

BONUS! Get an extra chance to win by also signing up for our newsletter, The Blowtorch.

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@BehindTheKnife Win an autographed copy Hot and Hot Fish Club Cookbook #giveaway RT by 12/14 http://tinyurl.com/yjto3z4

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Comments now closed

Amber Gibson Dec 07 2009

I love Whole Foods as far as fresh produce goes and farmer’s markets are also a great bet!

Rebar Dec 08 2009

Ok, is it me or is this guy hot Perhaps it’s yet another tie-in for his cookbook title…. Anyhoo I really enjoyed the video. My one question is how long does he leave the skewer thingy in the meat to best assess temperature? I’ll have to look for one of those skewers the next time I’m at my local resto supply store.

As for local suppliers…. my absolute favorite grocery store is Rainbow grocery in San Francisco – great attitude and great products. Since Rainbow probably doesn’t fit the category of local supplier so well, let me also offer up Giusto’s, a local flour supplier. They offer a myriad of flours that I love to buy in bulk at Rainbow – seriously, where else can you get locally-milled sorghum flour in bulk!

Diane Westerbeek Dec 08 2009

Would use Whole Foods if one were readily available

M. Rogers Dec 08 2009

Thanks for the contest!

Corey Dec 08 2009

Village bakery they make the best breads good for everything.

Don Dyer Dec 09 2009

Great contest…would love to win…Thank you.

Jason Nickolay Dec 10 2009

We have a Bakery called Emma Krumbies and they make the best breads and bread related items. But when it comes to fish, I would say I am my favorite local supplier. MN is the land of 10,000 lakes

jason(at)allworldautomotive(dot)com

John Rasmussen Dec 11 2009

We usually drive 45 miles to Asheville for groceries from either the Fresh Market or earth fare.

Rachel Newman Dec 12 2009

Mother’s Market for veggies and Whole Foods for Meat & Fish

Grant Dec 12 2009

Kensington Marmalade Company! I use their products to make sorbets and in baked goods but my favorite thing is to eat it straight from the jar.

Deborah R Dec 12 2009

Well…I live in a pretty rural area, so my local suppliers are small farmers. I guess my favorite is the fellow who keeps free range chickens and occasionally sells eggs at the feed store. Now I feel like such a country bumpkin lol.

Jill Myrick Dec 13 2009

My family has always loved trying new recipes. And this looks as if it would definitely have some wonderful recipes to try.

Thank you so much for the chance to win.

jweezie43[at]aol[dot]com

Jill Myrick Dec 13 2009

I am subscribed to the Blowtorch Newsletter as jweezie43[at]aol[dot]com

Mildred Dec 13 2009

I like the local farmers at the numerous farmers’ markets in our area. Often times, we’ll see well-known chefs from top restaurants shopping there for fruits and vegetables, among other things.

Aisling Dec 13 2009

Whole Foods is about the closest thing I have to a local supplier. I love to shop there.

Christine Dec 13 2009

We love to buy fresh seafood and grill it up! Thank you!

Christine Dec 13 2009

I’d love to win this and I tweeted http://twitter.com/Tina12312/status/6634563582

thank you!

Benita G. Dec 13 2009

In the Bronx, the Arthur Avenue Market. There are stands that sell meat, cold cuts, delicacies. There are bread stores nearby as there ar fish stores.

For a more elegant experience, you can’t beat Whole Foods or Food Emporium.

bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com

Benita G. Dec 13 2009

Bonus entry-

I signed up for your newsletter.

bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com

Karen Gonyea Dec 13 2009

Count me in – looks wonderful :)

christopher h Dec 14 2009

whole foods for beef and fish

karen Dec 14 2009

There is a fresh air vegetable marke near my house where I love to buy produce.

Maja Meza Dec 14 2009

i would love to win

janeh Dec 14 2009

the wonderful farmer’s markets in the summertime………we live on the beautiful produce!!

Ed Nemmers Dec 14 2009

Our village has a Farmer’s Market; the vegetables there are the best to use in the kitchen!

Chrysa Dec 14 2009

My uncle is my favorite local supplier. He has a huge garden and supplies us all summer long.

This giveaway is over, and comments are now closed.

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