BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The traditional definition of soul food has to do with dishes with an African American cuisine. Of course, there is nothing traditional to the way chef and best-selling author Deborah VanTrece prepares soul food.
Season two of “Global Soul Kitchen” – that has just launched on the basic cable service of FYI – has VanTrece in the kitchen as she brings more twists to her “global soul food” style of cooking. What she does is combine traditional Southern American dishes with influences from across the globe.
For her, the term soul food refers to the way the dish is made, the ingredients used and the taste.
“But it goes deeper than that,” VanTrece says. “I think originally it was considered more about the ingredients and the ingredients are what I am trying to talk about. Those are ingredients we can find all over the world.
“Traditionally, soul food is food that comes from the heart. It comes from the soul.”
Examples of her take on soul food she has prepared so far this season include Hoisin Sloppy Janes on Bao Buns which is a meal made with crispy purple yam “Jojos” inspired by the Pacific Northwest. She has also made Cajun Chicken Confit with Pickled Fennel.
In each half hour episode, VanTrece brings together bold flavors and unique inspirations to create one-of-a-kind dishes. With recipes this season from Jamaican beef pot pie and black-eyed pea biryani to adobo ribs and duck schnitzel with sweet potato waffles, VanTrece whips up meals that are both familiar and unique.
“I make food that could be comfort foods or foods that come from all cultures,” VanTrece says. “I think each one of us has a version of soul food, so I think it is a term that means different things to different people.”
One thing soul food has meant to VanTrece is success. She has become one of the South’s most recognized culinary personalities. In addition to being creative director and owner of Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours and Oretha’s at the Point in Atlanta; Chef Deborah added a James Beard Award nominee to her long list of accomplishments.
Along with being a bestselling author, VanTrece is the Curating Chef for the American Express Centurion Lounge at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and host of her own cooking show: “Global Soul Kitchen.”
VanTrece believes living and working in Atlanta has had a major impact on her as a chef.
“It goes back to my roots, my ancestors’ roots. I feel like I am in a place that is really responsible for what I believe is the beginning dishes that define American cuisine,” VanTrece says. “I think the Southerners’ contribution to American cuisine is huge and often understated.
“Basic dishes that were considered unhealthy have come from strife. Have come from basically making do with what we had. And we have come up with some extremely delicious things that are made of ingredients that are indigenous to the Southern states.”
VanTrece recognizes the influence of Southern cooking now but that didn’t come until she moved to Atlanta. The Kansas City native attended the University of Missouri where she studied fashion merchandising before taking a job as a flight attendant.
It was that job with American Airlines that relocated her to Atlanta. A flight attendant strike left her so worried about her job she attended the culinary program at the Art Institute of Atlanta where she graduated as valedictorian in 1994
The years working as a flight attendant gave VanTrece the opportunity to travel to destinations throughout Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Her experience had what she describes as the primary influence on her culinary style.
“I feel extremely blessed but at the time I had no idea what I was getting into. I was just trying to get out of town and go somewhere else,” VanTrece says. “But it opened up the world to me and the world is an amazing place.
“I feel like it made me a better person, a better cook to be able to experience it.”
VanTrece is convinced that she would not be able to do what she does in the kitchen today had it not been for the time she spent jetting around the globe.
With all that world traveling and years of training, the one bit of advice VanTrece has for budding chefs is very simple. She stresses they should always have salt in the pantry and not be afraid to use it.
FYI is a basic cable channel owned by A&E Networks as a joint venture between the Disney Entertainment and Hearst Communications. The network features lifestyle programming, with a mix of reality, culinary, home renovation and makeover series.
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