Interviews, like so many things in life, often involve paperwork. Before your appearance, the media outlet may require some preliminary information. As one friend always says, “Enquiring minds got to know!”

The amount of pre-interview information varies depending on the type and length of the interview and the media outlet. For some stations, your original news release or media letter along with a copy of your cookbook, recipes, restaurant menu, cooking class schedule or product may be all that’s required.

With radio interviews, especially for first-time guests, a pre-interview may be requested. This interview may occur several days before your scheduled appearance, or you maybe asked to arrive early to meet with the producer or interviewer. In either case, it’s a good idea to have a few key points in mind and / or a number of recipes or menu items you’ d like to highlight.

Other media outlets may only request copies of the recipes you intend to prepare and your general theme, for example, a brunch for Mother’s Day.

With television, particularly if there are multiple segments, you may be asked to file a complete segment breakdown. This is common with some morning shows. Some stations will send you a form to complete before a deadline. No matter how repetitive it might seem, be sure to fill the paperwork out completely for each segment. The information most commonly requested is:

• The location of the event, if it is not to be conducted in network studio. The full name of who will be presenting the segment. This is particularly important if there is more than one presenter.
• A brief description of what the audience will see and hear.
• A website address, telephone number and any pertinent addresses which can be displayed for viewers at the end of each segment. If you are promoting a store, restaurant or food event, always supply the hours of operation. In the case of special events or cooking classes, include the dates. Always double check this information.

On rare occasions, some segment breakdowns can be more complex.  In addition to the information above, you may be asked to include the actual recipes, an outline of what you plan to discus in each segment, potential interview questions and the answers.

Once you have completed any pre-interview submissions, you are more than ready to take your interview to the next level — assembling everything for your presentation!

Photo © nerdcoregirl. Published under a Creative Commons License.

What’s your weakness? Dessert or mains?
Even with an incredible attachment to sugar, I would still choose a vegetarian main dish, but I might add a drop of maple syrup.

Who or what got you interested in food?
Growing up in the 1950s with a last name like mine, it might be argued that my interest in food was pre-destined, but in fact, it was my insatiable sweet tooth. At the age of 8 I realized that I could dramatically increase my intake of desserts if I made them myself.

What inspires you?
Thoughtful use and new combinations of herbs and other ingredients in recipes

What was your favourite dinner when you were a kid? Do you like it now?
In the winter it was oxtail stew and in the spring it was butter-fried smelt from the Humber River. My favourite summer dinner was simply buttered corn and in the fall, I loved the fat tomatoes from my father’s vegetable garden. I love those foods still, and yet I have not tasted smelt for a very very long time.

What’s the first dish you remember making?
Nanaimo Bars- to me they were the perfect dinner dish!

Proudest food-related moment?
My daughter’s first birthday cake.

Strangest food you’ve ever eaten?
Cod’s tongues.

Favourite sound in the kitchen?
My mother’s Sunbeam stand mixer.

Favourite cooking smell?
Vanilla

Quintessential Canadian dish?
Cod’s tongues or Nanaimo Bars- can’t choose.

Molecular gastronomy, best thing ever or the unwearable haute couture of food?
Just another food fad.

Cilantro — can’t get enough or tastes like soap?
My worst nightmare.

What local foods can’t you live without?
Garlic, garlic, garlic

What’s your greatest culinary extravagance?
My trip to Istanbul to visit the spice market.

Most over-rated kitchen gadget?
The garlic  press.

What’s the most treasured possession in your kitchen? Why?
Mezzaluna- it is efficient and precise in chopping garlic and green herbs.

Fill in the blank. If I never cooked / ate / heard about  ______ again, I’d be happy.
Cilantro.

If you could cook for anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
I love cooking for my friends and family; I am in heaven in the kitchen with Susan Belsinger (www.susanbelsinger.com) and it would be a thrill to share the hob with Jill Norman (Herbs & Spices, DK Publishing, 2002).

What would you prepare for him/her?
It would depend on the season and what was up in the herb garden.

What  was the last thing you ate?
Home-fried potatoes with bacon, onions, dried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, thyme, rosemary and leftover potatoes.

If you had to work outside the culinary field, what would you do?
Be a full-time gardener.

Gold Medal Winner for Cookbook Category at the 2009 Canadian Culinary Book Awards

Practical Gourmet | Small Plates for Sharing
Edited by Laurie Stempfle (Company’s Coming Publishing Limited, 2008)
Review written by Margaret Demerson

Entertaining can be fun, but at times it can also be a challenge. Maybe you’re looking for a recipe for Creme Fraiche. Wondering about Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce? Curious about Dukkah? The answers to these plus a variety of fantastic recipes are combined in a new prize-winning cookbook and, as it says on the cover: “Sharing never tasted so good.”

Company’s Coming Publishing and Jean Pare are well known for their best-selling line of dependable, inexpensive cookbooks that are readily found in stores throughout Canada. Small Plates for Sharing is the first of a new series from Company’s Coming called Practical Gourmet. While more sophisticated than its predecessors, these recipes provide the signature ease of preparation and reliability. It’s a great new book, so good that it  won the Gold Medal in the English Cookbook Category of the Canadian Culinary Book Awards.

Small Plates for Sharing begins at the beginning – with recipes for appetizers, hors d’oeuvres, antipasto, great little ideas to start a meal or for entertaining. Each recipe is clearly written in both metric and Imperial measure, the directions are easy to follow and ingredients are readily available in most areas. Any ingredient that might need an explanation is explained, any instructions that need further clarification are provided, and there is a Nutrient Analysis with each recipe. Ideas for recipe presentation and a variety of helpful tips are all a part of the book, and each recipe has a wonderful full-colour photo on the page opposite the recipe. It’s hard to go wrong.

Many of the recipes in Small Plates for Sharing can be prepared ahead of time to make life easier for the host. It’s divided into eight chapters, each with a descriptive name so you can choose accordingly. It begins with Beds and Pillows – a strange name for a chapter. but it relates to canape beds of bread, pastry, crepes, mushroom caps, and makes perfect sense. Little Bowls are next, and these include dips, tiny bowls of gazpacho, soup, custard or risotto, a tasty teaser at the beginning of a meal. Maverick Morsels are delicious bites of little treats like Peanut Noodle Cakes, or Margarita Chicken Lollipops.

On The Green provides tasty toppings to all sorts of leafy and vegetable greens, Chili Squid on Peas and Peppers, for instance, or Praline Pecans, Beets and Blue Cheese on Baby Greens. The photos tell the whole story and make the recipes very clear.

Rolled Up and Tucked In is self-explanatory, a chapter devoted to wrapped or filled delicacies, and is followed by Skewered, with recipes for Pork Souvlaki with Red Pepper Yogurt, or Chicken Saltimbocca Spikes, among others.

Small and Sweet is great for people who really want dessert but insist on “just a bite”. The recipes in this chapter are “petite yet powerful dessert temptations”, leading to the last of the eight chapters, Simply Sophisticated, “Ordinary foods dressed to the nines”, like Braised Hoisin Spareribs, or Strawberry Salsa with Goat Cheese and Melba Toast. And if this last dish sounds strange, the photo is mouth-watering.

There’s a Glossary at the back of Small Plates for Sharing to explain some of the terms that might need a little help, and menu suggestions to help match the flavours (and dishes) in a meal together to get maximum taste. There are some Libations to begin the book, drinks that are as colourful and tempting as the recipes. Laurie Stempfle and her team have put together a wonderful new cookbook, the photography is exquisite and, most importantly, the recipes taste great.

Pat Crocker wins Best in The World at the Gourmand Awards in Paris for her book The Vegan Cook's Bible.

Cuisine Canada member Pat Crocker recently won a Gourmand World Cookbook Award in Paris, France. Her recent book, The Vegan Cook’s Bible (Robert Rose) took top honours as the Best Vegetarian Cookbook in the World.

For Crocker, this is  her second big Gourmand win. Her book, The Juicing Bible,  also won Best in the World in 2000.

Awarded the Gertrude Foster Award for Excellence in Herbal Literature from the Herb Society of America in 2009 and a Gold Medal from Books for Better Living, Crocker seems to know the recipe for success.

When asked how she felt about her recent honours, Crocker said, “To write a cookbook takes long hours alone in the kitchen and at the computer. Awards not only connect authors and readers, they feed the souls of writers. For me, this award isn’t just about The Vegan Cook’s Bible, it’s the result of years of writing for newspapers, magazines, and most recently, my blog as well as the cookbooks.”

Congratulations, Pat!

What’s your weakness? Dessert or mains?
Ice cream. I can’t not finish the container. Also anything topped with melty cheese.

Who or what got you interested in food?
My appetite got me interested. As a kid my mom was a really healthy cook – everything was grainy and when we were young she’d offer up apples for dessert – I figured if I learned to bake cookies and cupcakes myself, it would equal an unending supply of the stuff I craved. When I was 7 I opened a cupcake company, called the Kooky Cupcake Company – I got a $20 loan from my mom for ingredients, baked cupcakes using the One Egg Cake recipe in Joy of Cooking, and sold them up and down our street. When it was all paid back I made about a $7 profit. (Most of the profits were eaten up.)

What inspires you?
People. People are amazing.

What was your favourite dinner when you were a kid? Do you like it now?
I dreamt of McDonald’s because we never used to get it. And for my birthday I asked for Wonder bread with Jiffy peanut butter and jelly. I still remember my mom making it for me while I watched Happy Days. Today? Wonder Bread? Not so much.

What’s the first dish you remember making?
I pulled the ends off the long grasses in my backyard and turned it into “cereal” and made my sister eat it. She cried. It looked just like the wholesome waving wheat on the cereal commercials on TV…

Proudest food-related moment?
I won the Calgary Stampede chili cook-off when I was 13, and up against the grown-ups! The interviewed me on TV and it was very exciting. It was also my first time trying to be funny for the camera in an attempt to hide my shyness, and not the last time it didn’t go over as well as I thought in my head that it would… they asked me why I learned to cook and I said “someone had to or we’d all starve to death!” My mom almost left me there at the Stampede grounds to walk home myself.

Strangest food you’ve ever eaten?
Honestly, I can’t think of anything that strange. Frogs’ legs? Offal? (and it really is..)

Favourite sound in the kitchen?
Willem, my 4 year old, chatting as he cooks.

Favourite cooking smell?
Browned butter? Coffee? Baking bread? Roasting turkey? I can’t decide!

Quintessential Canadian dish?
Poutine. So easy to make, and so much better than you can get at most fast food joints.

Molecular gastronomy, best thing ever or the unwearable haute couture of food?
Don’t dig it. But maybe I don’t understand it.

Cilantro — can’t get enough or tastes like soap?
Used to taste like soap, but now I like it. I can get enough though.

What local foods can’t you live without?
Bison. It’s the new Alberta Beef! also flax oil from Highwood Crossing.

What’s your greatest culinary extravagance?
Extravagance, money-wise? Hmmm.. going out to nice dinners? Cheese? Bernard Callebaut chocolate? Oh yes – real Nutella – Bernard Callebaut chocolate and ground hazelnuts – $15 a jar and worth every penny!

Most over-rated kitchen gadget?
Salad spinner. Takes up far too much real estate.

What’s the most treasured possession in your kitchen? Why?
My grandma’s measuring cups and sifter. I love that the 1/2 cup measure has actually been repaired – a new metal handle attached back on – who these days would actually fix a measuring cup rather than go buy a new set?

Fill in the blank. If I never cooked / ate / heard about  ______ again, I’d be happy.
BLACK LICORICE. I’d be happy if no one else ate it anymore either, thank you.

If you could cook for anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
My grandparents. Or John Cusack.

What would you prepare for him/her?
Oh boy, I have no idea. It wouldn’t matter, really.

What  was the last thing you ate?
Leftover lasagna and a Strongbow. I’m still eating it. Before that, Tim Horton’s and a cruller. Before that, baklava. It hasn’t been a good food day…

If you had to work outside the culinary field, what would you do?
Write, if I could, or photograph.

UPDATE:  According to Julie’s Twitter account, the book has raised more than $10,000 in its first few hours of existence.

Less than three weeks ago, Cuisine Canada member Julie Van Rosendaal sent an email out to the food writing community to see if there was interest in compiling a cookbook to raise funds for Haiti. There was. And today Blog Aid: Recipes for Haiti is available for purchase. The turn around time on this project is breath-taking. So is the passion behind it.

You can watch the project unfold on Julie’s blog, Dinner with Julie, but in a nutshell, it was a whirlwind of passionate energy. Chef Michael Smith contributed — despite his duties at the 2010 athletes village– as did 26 other bloggers/writers from around the world, including several Cuisine Canada members. One bone-tired art director gave 100 hours to the cause while, two companies came on board to match proceeds with donations, effectively tripling the funds raised. Proceeds raised before February 12, 2010 will be matched by the Canadian Government, which means proceeds increase to sixfold.

You can order (and preview) the book online. The hardcover version ($50) is here, and the softcover version ($25) is here.

Want more details? Here’s the press release.

Blog Aid Press Release

Do you know what these delicate, silver-plated utensils were used for?

First Clue: They were not dessert servers. Although they may have been used at the dining room table, they were never associated with cakes, pies or other fine delicacies.

Second Clue: While they may not have served food, these utensils were part of a social ritual that revolved around a particular use of the plant, Artemisia absinthium, a woody herb that had been employed by people from ancient times to treat, among other conditions, intestinal worms. Worms? In fact, the common name for Artemisia is wormwood and we in Canada grow several varieties, the western sagebrush (Artemisia tridentatum) being native to North America.

Third Clue: Worms notwithstanding, the popularity of this herb rose to a frenzy in Paris and by the late 19^th century artists and writers like Picasso, Oscar Wilde, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Emile Zola and many others enjoyed this anise-flavoured herb in one of the city’s 30,000 bars and cafés.

Of course, these are Absinthe spoons, used to hold a cube of sugar over which water was slowly poured into the emerald-green alcoholic herbal drink. If you look closely at the photograph above, you will see that the spoons were designed with a lip to affix them to the rim of the glass. Water-soluble components in the clear liquor dissolve into the water and cloud the drink, turning it from translucent to a milky opalescence.

At its peak, two million gallons of absinthe were being imported annually to feed the growing obsession (some called it addiction) of thousands of French people across all social classes. But by 1915, the French National Assembly had banned its sale. By then, all but a few countries (Britain and Spain most notably) including the United States had prohibited the making and selling of absinthe.

Artemisia absinthium grows in the Jardin du Musee de l’Absinthe in Auvers-sur-Oise, France

It is the active constituent thujone found in the herb that was thought to bring on loss of intellect, impaired speech, amnesia, hallucinations, convulsions and death. Almost as dramatic as absinthe’s meteoric rise, popular consensus turned it into a frightening and lethal enemy of decent society and almost within one generation, its use was extinguished.

With no evidence to show that absinthe was psychoactive, the ‘Green Fairy’ or ‘Green Muse’ as it was once called, has been amazingly restored to popularity–especially with young people. Many countries in the European Union have reauthorized its manufacture and sale and commercial distillation of absinthe in the United States resumed in 2007.

Liquor laws in Canada are a provincial jurisdiction. Is absinthe banned where you live? Check here if you’re unsure or curious.

What are your views on this intriguing drink with a checkered past? If you’ve tried it, what did you think?

What’s your weakness? Dessert or mains?
Really fresh fish and seafood, couscous, and traditional dishes of Italy, France, England, Canada and Quebec.

As for desserts I like sugar pie and fruit desserts such as kuchen. But the best memory for dessert is the Britany Kouing Aman — absolutely delicious. I’ve never baked it, but I will surely try.

Who or what got you interested in food?
I’ve always loved all things about food. My first memory? I was 5 years old  and I would watch my grandmother Mongrain prepare a cake with no recipe, unshell peanuts and mix them with salt and oil, and grind her coffee beans every morning.

What inspires you?
Fresh vegetables and herbs from my garden, the mushrooms I picked in the surrounding forest, dishes tasted when I travel, and the family dishes of the different countries of the world.

What was your favourite dinner when you were a kid? Do you like it now?
Roast chicken with meatballs served with rice and plenty of chicken juice — Mom’s recipe which I still prepare today. The flavour of the meatballs cooked in same pan is really special.

What’s the first dish you remember making?
Cream puff pastry filled with lemon pie filling at the age of 11.

Proudest food-related moment?
I was chef and manager in charge of preparing and serving 65 guests for Prime Minister Jean Chretien in our town. We had 2 1/2 days to plan, buy (no limit to the budget), and prepare the food — including cocktails, show pieces, homemade bread and desserts. The guests and Prime Minister had only 1 1/2 hours allotted for the lunch and all left 10 minutes early. Ouf!

All the while 10 bed-and-breakfast guests had their meals served as usual.

Strangest food you’ve ever eaten?
A jellied Japanese dessert. I disliked the taste and granular texture so much I don’t even remember the name of the dish.

Favourite sound in the kitchen?
Food sizzling in the skillet.

Favourite cooking smell?
Bread baking in the oven.

Quintessential Canadian dish?
French Canadian Ragoût de pattes et boulettes, pigs feet, and meatballs ragout.

Molecular gastronomy, best thing ever or the unwearable haute couture of food?
Close to haute couture.

Cilantro — can’t get enough or tastes like soap?
It tastes like soap most of the time.

What local foods can’t you live without?
Local pork, wild blueberries, La Ferme Basque duck products, fresh farm eggs, and Pain d’Exclamation bakery.

What’s your greatest culinary extravagance?
A fresh sockeye salmon my husband brought back on a jet directly to La Tuque (QC) from Campbell River (BC). It was promptly cooked and served with Hollandaise and fresh vegetables.

Most over-rated kitchen gadget?
A tool to hold potatoes while you peel it, bought in Germany.

What’s the most treasured possession in your kitchen? Why?
My cookbook collection and knives. These are the most important tools to discover new dishes and enjoy preparing them.

If you could cook for anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
First, my husband, the best and most accurate tasting partner I will ever have by my side. My children. My late grandmother Anna Mongrain for the pleasure I had watching her preparing food and discover new tastes. She was a very adventuresome cook for her time. And finally Paul McCartney as I have been a fan since the beginning of his career –  just for the thrill.

What would you prepare for him/her?
Home smoked trout on greens.
Partridge à la crème with morels, wild rice and Brussels sprouts.
Maple syrup pie.

What  was the last thing you ate?
Pesto pasta served with sauteed medium pork loin flavored with marjoram.
Homemade chocolate doughnuts.

If you had to work outside the culinary field, what would you do?
I cannot think of another field — except writing.

There’s less than a month left to submit nominations to the 2010 Canadian Culinary Book Awards. Deadline for submissions is February 16, 2010.

Hosted by Cuisine Canada and the University of Guelph, these annual awards recognize excellence and creativity in food and beverage writing and publishing. Not only do these awards promote our Canadian culinary food culture, they celebrate Canadian authors and publishers.

Are you eligible?

• Books must be written by a Canadian author who is either a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada.
• Books must be published by a Canadian publisher or self-published in Canada.
• Books must be published during the calendar year. For the 2010 awards, the book must have been published between January 1 and December 31, 2009.

Winning authors and their publishers will receive recognition through:

• our awards event in November 2010 at the Royal Winter Fair, Toronto
• our press kits for the media
• our national publication of the short list and winners list
• our Cuisine Canada Website
• our permission to use the Cuisine Canada / University of Guelph Canadian Culinary Book Awards logos to promote the award-winning cookbooks.

Below is a PDF outlining the awards categories, criteria and eligibility, and submission procedures, as well as an entry form. Click it to download the PDF.
2010 call for entries Canadian Culinary Book Awards

The entry form is also available online here at the Canadian Culinary Book Awards site.

How do you enter? Just fill in the form by computer, print it out, and submit it with your books. Please note that each nominated title must be accompanied by a $50 entry fee and seven copies of the book.

For further information:
Fiona Lucas, Awards Chair
fionalucas@rogers.com
416-781-8153 (evenings only)

Promoting your message, business, product or cookbook on radio or television? While it’s exciting to know you’ll reach a large audience, the pressure to talk live can be daunting. Over the last dozen years or so I have made hundreds of visits to media outlets both in my home base of Edmonton and in other Alberta locations. Here are a few tips I would like to pass along to help make your media event a success and generates return visits.

Besides planning your presentation:

Be on time:

• If you are scheduled to appear before or after regular station business hours, ask if there is an after-hours telephone number you can call in case of emergency. In an after-hours scenario, find out how you get into the facility.
• Ask when the station would like you to arrive. Arrival time is particularly important in after-hours interviews. Somebody may have to let you into the station during a break in programming. Allow yourself ample time for set up.
• Know the route to the event location, especially in an unfamiliar city. Many live morning television shows, do their “hits” from locations other than their station.
• Ensure you leave with a full tank of gas if you’re driving. Taxiing? Book the cab ahead of time. Either way, allow ample time to get to your destination.

You may be asked to provide contact information for the public, recipes for website posting, a cookbook for reviewing and possibly promotional items for give-aways prior to your interview. So…

Be Prepared

• Double check your information to make sure it’s correct. An error in your telephone information can be costly as well as embarrassing.
• Bring additional copies of the information with you. If possible, pass the information onto the station receptionist since this is the person who answers all the calls from people who didn’t get the complete information on the air.
• Save one copy of the information for the interviewer, just in case their information is incomplete.
• Find out what equipment is available and functional. Never assume any kitchen set in a television station is fully equipped or functional.
• Double check when packing your gear. Do  you have everything you need for your presentation? If doing a cooking demonstration, include clean up items like garbage bags, hand sanitizer, paper towels and disposable gloves.
• Pack bottled water if at an all day or outdoor event.

Look Professional

• Make sure your hair, clothes (and make up if you wear it) are neat, professional, and suitable for the occasion — even if you’re going on the radio. Although the listening audience won’t see you, the interviewer and producer will get an eyeful. And some radio programs may be viewed on line these days.

I’ve outlined the basic check points for a media event. You’ll likely find variations between media outlets and appearances will require you to adjust accordingly. With limitless scenarios, do you have any tips you’d care to pass along?