Chef Profile: Chris Hastings
—Contest now closed—
Raw meat grabs.
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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I love Whole Foods as far as fresh produce goes and farmer’s markets are also a great bet!