In an exclusive interview, Rocco DiSpirito opens up about his latest cookbook, favorite ingredients, food TV and why he’s inspired by other culinary pros
By Sara Perez Webber
Ten ingredients, 30 minutes or less. That’s the ethos of Rocco DiSpirito’s latest cookbook, Everyday Delicious: 30 Minute(ish) Home-Cooked Meals Made Simple.
The idea for the book grew out of DiSpirito’s experiences preparing meals at home for friends and family during the pandemic from a limited pantry. He hadn’t spent so much time cooking at home in decades, having started his studies at the Culinary Institute of America at age 16 and going on to work in some of the world’s top restaurants—including his own three-star Union Pacific in New York.
Along the way, DiSpirito became one of the first celebrity chefs—starring in NBC’s reality series The Restaurant in the early 2000s, among other TV shows—and earning such accolades as “America’s Best New Chef” from Food & Wine magazine and “America’s Most Exciting Young Chef” from Gourmet. His first cookbook, Flavor, received the James Beard Award.
With his 15th cookbook, Everyday Delicious, DiSpirito celebrates what inspired him during the pandemic-induced time at home—a renewed appreciation for “what the core of cooking is all about, which is really taking some ingredients, transforming them, and creating a moment around the table.”
The book’s 100 no-fuss recipes are flavorful and simple, including many of the chef’s longtime favorites and classic Italian dishes from his childhood, such as Mama Nicolina’s Cavatelli with Broccoli Rabe and Sweet Sausage, and Linguine Vongole.
Weeks after opening his newest restaurant in the Hamptons—Il Pellicano Southampton, serving coastal-inspired Italian cuisine—DiSpirito spoke with CFE about Everyday Delicious, food TV, the challenges of catering and his upcoming appearance at the California Restaurant Show in Los Angeles on Aug. 26.
CFE: Congratulations on your 15th cookbook!
DiSpirito: Thanks so much. It’s interesting; I spent a lot of time wanting to be an author and trying to figure out what it is I had to talk about. And a number of years later, my 15th book came out, and it’s the simplest cookbook I’ve published to date.
CFE: Do you have a favorite recipe from it?
DiSpirito: I have a couple of favorite recipes from it. There’s a Pad Thai in there that I’m excited about that I haven’t been able to put in any book. It’s very much inspired by my friend Jet Tila. And because of what I’m known for, I’m never really allowed to put Asian noodle dishes in my books, so this is an exception. Pad Thai is one of the greatest dishes ever invented, and it’s a great recipe, and I get to give Jet all the credit on that.
The Fettuccine Alfredo, I think, is a very special recipe because it’s Roman style, where you basically emulsify butter and Parmigiano Reggiano and pasta water with fresh fettuccine. So it’s very simple and it occurs in the serving dish. I like that a lot because for anyone who spends the 11 minutes it takes to make it, I think they’re going to be in shock at how good the dish is for, you know, less than 15 minutes of work.
CFE: What are some of the key ingredients that you advise readers to always have on hand so they’re ready to make these kinds of meals in a short amount of time?
DiSpirito: In the beginning of the book, I have a mise en place section, which has a lot of my favorite ingredients in it. So some of those are Kewpie mayo, Parmigiano Reggiano, sriracha, miso soup powder, chicken bouillon powder. I like to have fresh herbs around a lot. If you can’t have fresh herbs because of how quickly they go bad, there are now these in-between frozen and fresh packaged chopped fresh herbs that are kind of amazing.
Another good one is garlic puree. The one that’s in the tube is very good and very convenient because the flavor is not terrible like the garlic chopped in a can or a jar is. And then there’s sambal oelek, which is basically ground garlic and chile. It’s the one with the rooster on it, the one everybody seems to know what it is but may be afraid to use. That’s a great way to get garlic flavor into a dish.
Dijon mustard is just like a lifesaver to have around. One of my favorite sauces is Dijon mustard, tomato puree and white wine. Just bring that to a boil and you’ve got a great all-purpose sauce.
CFE: That sounds delicious. Do you grow herbs at home?
DiSpirito: I do. Whenever I have a space to grow something, I try to grow at least basil. I’m pretty fascinated with growing strawberries in a pot; that actually works.
CFE: Since many of our readers are caterers, we were wondering if you’ve done any catering yourself, and if so, what are some of the challenges that you’ve found when cooking in a catering environment compared to a restaurant environment?
DiSpirito: Catering is a big part of my background. I continue to cater for friends and family and even for clients. I have a big wedding coming up soon. The challenge is making restaurant-quality food in tents, you know, out of proofers. I think some of the rental equipment has changed and gotten better. But by and large, we’re still cooking out of proofers with Sterno. So it’s interesting. That hasn’t really changed in 40 years.
Some of the sous vide techniques have found their way into catering in a very meaningful way. So that’s helped with overcoming some of the challenges and the obstacles, but caterers have it tough. The expectation of a caterer today is about as high as it’s ever been in terms of food quality, and the resources that a caterer has haven’t really improved that much. So it’s a tough job for tough people.
CFE: As one of the pioneers of food TV, how much of an impact do you think the Food Network and other TV shows have had on consumers’ understanding of the restaurant industry and their interest in it?
DiSpirito: I would say in the very beginning, almost no impact, but now tremendous impact for two reasons. The TV version of our industry and our real industry have morphed into one thing now….you find young chefs referencing Chopped and Top Chef and The Bear and other TV sources of programming quite a bit.
When food TV originally happened, there was very little crossover. You know, you were either a TV chef or a real chef, right? And now it seems like the lines have blurred. I think TV chefs have become closer to their restaurant chef counterparts. And there are a lot of us doing both. When people call me a TV chef, I often say, “You should see me in the kitchen!” I’m a restaurant chef first. Always have been. And I think that’s true for a lot of chefs that are out there.
CFE: Since you’ll be at the California Restaurant Show in August, what do you find most fulfilling about speaking to other chefs and people in the restaurant industry?
DiSpirito: It’s always been fulfilling because the exchange of ideas is so free and fluid with chefs. Chefs tend to love to talk about what they do and really get energized from listening to other people. You know, they’re like the last true craftsmen left in the world. And we are all still in love with the craft. We love the knives and we love the cutting boards and we love the onions, you know? Everything about it is fascinating to us, and we can’t really talk to a lot of other people about that kind of stuff because they’ll think we’re crazy. Talking to chefs is really fun, because you get to take the mask off and be your true self and they don’t make fun of you for it, which I love.
There seems to be no shortage of new ideas, new information, new resources. No matter how many years you spend in this business, there’s always some wonderful new technique or tiny bit of information, like where to get local shrimp from off Montauk that I learned about recently. I’ve been in the Hamptons for 25 years. I just opened a restaurant out here and I had no idea there were shrimp in the waters off the coast of Montauk. That happened from a very informal conversation with someone in a parking lot. And it’s now one of the greatest things on the menu.
So there’s just so much richness in our world. When you get real craftsmen together, real artists together, and you get to share and exchange ideas about this very rich world of purveyors and farmers and customers and restaurateurs, it’s a really interesting conversation. I love everything about it.
For more information about Rocco DiSpirito and Everyday Delicious, visit RoccoDiSpirito.com.
To register to attend the California Restaurant Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center from Aug. 25-27, 2024—featuring the Culinary Demo with Rocco DiSpirito on Aug. 26—visit westernfoodexpo.com.
