A few weeks ago, as election season heated up, Cambridge welcomed a DC insider who wows pols on both sides of the aisle: White House pastry chef Bill Yosses. Marking his third year presenting at Harvard's fall Science & Cooking public lecture series, the man Obama calls "the Crust Master" schooled a rapt crowd with his talk "How Phase Changes Cause Deliciousness." But first, Yosses chatted with us about the issues — like winter gardens and reality TV.
One of your responsibilities is tending the South Lawn kitchen garden. What's your philosophy on cooking seasonally? Every chef would like to cook seasonally, but it's not always possible, especially if you are living in a northern climate. Sometimes in the winter there's not much, and for a pastry chef that basically means apples and pears. We love seasonal, we love local, but we are not limited by it. . . . Eliot Coleman, a farmer in Maine, is a great example of the way chefs and farmers are collaborating today. He has a four-season garden — in Maine, if you can believe that — and we use a similar system. They're called hoops; it's a hoop with plastic over it, and in the dead of winter you can still grow things underneath because the sun heats the ground during the day and allows ground water to collect. We've grown things at the White House in January in the snowfall.
A French take on Italian tiramisu for the former president and first lady of France, blown sugar apples filled with ice cream for a Chinese state dinner — how do you make desserts that are culturally relevant to White House visitors? To me that has been one of the most interesting parts of the job. There are people coming from every corner of the world, so we do research in the kitchen. Of course, we want to learn about what kind of dishes and what ingredients the guests would like. Sometimes we'll call the embassies; sometimes they send information to us.
Related:
Hot Plate: Harvest's honey semolina cake, Southie’s GrandTen enters the craft-distilling game, With his new restaurant almost ready, chef Will Gilson mulls heritage, humility, and his year in culinary purgatory, More
- Hot Plate: Harvest's honey semolina cake
Brian Mercury’s homemade sea salt tastes exactly like that first time you tried to body-board as a kid, when you wound up face-planting in the surf and were gifted with a mouth- and nose-full of ocean water. In a good way.
- Southie’s GrandTen enters the craft-distilling game
With so many small distilleries opening lately, from Ipswich's Privateer to Boston's Bully Boy, it seems like it's never been easier to launch a spirits brand.
- With his new restaurant almost ready, chef Will Gilson mulls heritage, humility, and his year in culinary purgatory
The door to the kitchen is open, and inside, Will Gilson is getting ready.
- Sound Bite: Flour Power
When Joanne Chang recently announced via Twitter (@jbchang) that she was signing a lease for a fourth Flour location, pastry lovers around the city dropped what they were doing and immediately Google-mapped its proximity to their homes and offices with bated breath. Well, we did, anyway.
- The Kitchen's Ink: A tribute to Boston chefs’ tattoos
We'd be more than a bit behind the times if we were to suddenly declare chefs the new rock stars. Same goes for announcing the prevalence of tattoos in almost every restaurant in the country. Big, resounding duh .
- You're Doing it Wrong: Bubbly
From morning mimosas to midnight toasts, champagne is one of our favorite alcoholic beverages.
- Hey, You’ve Got Some Food on Your Face…
Autumn's bounty doesn't just mean chugging pumpkin lattes and pickling everything in sight. We found the season's foods in a cornucopia of grooming supplies around town, from the local pharmacy to luxe department stores. Check out our fall menu.
- Review: Argo
There are many heroes in Ben Affleck's spunky, polished political thriller. But the biggest hero is Hollywood itself.
- Smoke Me Out
There comes a time in every drinking career when the nuances of a well-made cocktail — the subtle botanical notes, for instance — just don't cut it anymore. You need a more intense experience.
- Shrimp Capellini Egg Nest at Shōjō
Many Bostonians have specific ideas about Chinatown dining.
- On the Cheap: Doowee & Rice
When I finally strolled into DooWee & Rice, a new East Asian eatery in Powder House Square, close to closing time after a weirdly long drive from Central, I had beef and noodles on the brain.
- Less
Topics:
Food Features
, White house, food features, pastry chef