O, the Oprah Magazine Cookbook

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Barack Obama has a search committee to find a vice presidential candidate. It seems journalists and pundits are also looking for Obama's White House Executive Chef, a position now held by Cristeta Comerford. Super Chef has already profile Marvin Woods who is interested in the job. But to widen the search, Super Chef decided to turn to the one source that has already vetted chef candidates, Oprah Winfrey. Luckily, Oprah's magazine has just published O, The Oprah Magazine Cookbook (Hyperion 2008) that comes with an introduction by Oprah herself. Is she spilling the beans on whom she'd like to see making dinner in the White House? Are the celebrity chefs and writers mentioned on the pages of the cookbook possible executive chef candidates? Is her top pick Marcus Samuelsson? Here she raves about him in her introduction: We got Marcus Samuelsson to dazzle us with a bright green calaloo soup and a mellow mango jalepeno couscous. Marcus would fit right in with Obama, since they both share East African roots. His Calaloo Soup is a bright green spinach soup flavored with clam juice, cumin and coriander, and coconut milk. It would definitely add a jolt of iron to Obama's diet. What about Art Smith? Oprah mentions him next in her introduction: We got Art Smith to share his great, great-grandmother's melt-in-your-mouth 12-layer chocolate cake recipe... Art was Oprah's personal chef for a decade, so he has plenty of experience cooking for demanding celebrities. The cake (pp. 234-235) is indeed 12-layers, but the recipe lacks any head notes about how the recipe came down to Art (maybe that information is in the original article). Did she live on Smith Island in the Chesapeake, where the women bake layer cakes with from six-twelve layers? What about Govind Armstrong? Oprah continues: Govind Armstrong to devise a show-stopping Thanksgiving… Govind trained with Wolfgang Puck so he also has plenty of experience with gigantic events. Govind's Maple–Glazed Whole Duck with Savoy Cabbage (pp. 128-129) is cooked with one cup of Vermont Maple Syrup, enough for any president's sweet tooth. O, The Oprah Magazine Cookbook is full of other celebrity chef recipes, perfect for a presidential candidate and his wife to peruse once they get to the White House. But perhaps Cris Comerford will keep her job. After all, she does hail from the Philippines and is a female chef, two facts that break with tradition – and Barack Obama does claim to be a president of change. Previous articles: Marvin Woods: Obama's Chef-In-Waiting [White House Coverage - complete] [Chefs & Politics - complete] [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to Super Chef