Celebrity chef explores Trini roots

AUDIENCES THROUGHOUT the United States and Canada are turning on to Trini culinary delights such as float, accra, sorrel and even pelau, thanks to celebrity chef Meredith Laurence. The popular host of The Fretz Kitchen, a half-hour cooking show carried on cable channels on the East coast of the US, Laurence has been turning to her Trini roots for inspiration in some of her recent culinary efforts.

Laurence, who is known as Blue Jean Chef because of her down-to-earth, casual and comfortable approach to cooking, is a descendant of the Laurence and Kelshall families of Trinidad. Her father, Denys Laurence married Norma Sharpe and they lived in Trinidad before migrating to Canada in the late 1960s. Meredith was born in Oakville, Ontario, but grew up in Calgary, Alberta. She recently spoke of the TT influence in her life during an interview on CBC Radio in Canada where she shared her mother’s recipes of Trini favourites, accra and floats. Laurence said these foods remind her of her childhood and Christmas morning.

“Lately,” she explained, “I’ve been exploring the West Indian foods of my childhood, trying to really pinpoint and write down recipes that can be followed by my North American public. It is like a trip down memory lane and I’m reliving the dinners of my youth made by my mother, as well as by my aunts and grandmother in Trinidad.” In keeping with her image as a Blue Jean Chef, Laurence, a professionally trained chef often wears a blue jean chef coat when she is working. “When I’m not working, you’ll usually find me in blue jeans. So, one way or another, I’m a Blue Jean Chef.” Laurence shares her recipes with her American audiences, not only through her numerous television appearances — she is regularly featured on QVC, the number one television shopping channel in the US — but through her Web site, www.meredithlaurence.com.

In her bio on the Web site Laurence revealed: “I have always loved food. Luckily for me, I’ve been able to turn this love of food into a career in cooking and have spent the last ten years sharing this passion with friends, students, co-workers, and now television viewers.” Laurence started her food career as a baker and caterer for Bistro Delight, a small independent bistro in Canada, an experience which she credits for giving her “a little taste of the industry, which was all I needed to realise that I truly wanted to pursue a culinary career.” After graduating from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario with a degree in English and History, Laurence enrolled in the New England Culinary Institute. After that formal training, she began working in restaurant kitchens.

She recalled: “I jumped straight into the deep end and started my kitchen experience in France, working at two Michelin-rated restaurants in Les-Baux-de-Provence — L’Ousteau de Beaumaniere and La Cabro D’Or. “As the only woman in the kitchen, this was more than a culinary encounter - it was a lesson in life. I recorded all my experiences there, both the good and the bad, in a journal. Working in France was a memorable start to my career in restaurants, but it also involved a steep learning curve, and I refer to that journal as a record of all of the lessons I learned in those two restaurant kitchens.

“After my time in France, I continued my restaurant experience in San Francisco at the Zuni Cafe, and in Berkeley at Cafe Rouge.” After three years of restaurant work, Laurence returned to the New England Culinary Institute where she helped open their new restaurant in Burlington Vermont — The Commons. She also taught culinary students and held evening classes in basic culinary techniques for adults. However, she said, she “couldn’t stay away from San Francisco,” so she returned to California where she managed two HomeChef’s cooking schools and taught cooking classes. “From there, I was asked to create and be featured in five one-hour cooking classes for live, nationwide television on QVC. These cooking shows led to more live television work.

“I can now be found in QVC, cooking with as cookware line called Technique by Cook’s Essentials, and I also host a half-hour cooking show called The Fretz Kitchen, which can be seen from Virginia through Maine on local cable channels.” In addition to her teaching and television work, Laurence has worked as Test Kitchen Manager for the Centre for Culinary Development. Her cookbook reviews have been published in the San Francisco Chronicle and she is an active member of Women Chefs and Restauranteurs. Laurence has published two cookbooks and is currently working on publication of the journal which describes her experiences cooking in restaurants in France.