Felisa Rogers
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COOKS IN MY LIFE: STEVE ROGERS

3/25/2010

9 Comments

 
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The first post in the soon-to-be-ongoing series on the cooks in my life, past and present.

It seems appropriate to start this series with the first cook, or rather the first cook who influenced me, my dad, Stephen Hale Rogers.

Even though he was famous for his cooking (somewhat literally) and conjured some of the best food I have ever eaten, I never think of Steve as a chef---always as a cook. Anything but a snob, my dad cooked the way your grandmother might cook if she happened to be capable of shifting ethnicity several times a day and had a predilection for undermined ingredients (fish heads, jack, government cheese).

He cooked comfort food in that his dishes were often saucy, usually fatty, and always intended (perhaps required) to be eaten in large quantities. He was not the sort of man who blinked an eye if six extra people randomly showed up at dinner time. His comfort food was comforting because the cooking of it infused the house with aromas and warmth, and the eating of it always entailed the camaraderie of satisfying gluttony. It was not, however, bland or easy.

I think growing up in Ohio in the 1940's gave my dad a disdain for many types of meals that perfectly acceptable to the foodies of today. Roasted chicken, mac n' cheese, meatloaf, pot roast, steak--these things were never served in our house. As a 14-year-old, my dad had rebelled against his mother's Midwestern cooking and started on his culinary career. The first dish he served his family was fish head soup, and that was portentous of things to come.

He thought breakfast foods were boring, but wasn't one to pass up on a meal, so breakfast at our house (at dawn, before I left on the long bus ride to school) consisted of enchiladas verde, giant fried burritos, or possibly 'a nice curry' sold in a wheedling tone to a blurry-eyed ten-year-old who dreamed of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

His appetite was limitless, and his curiosity was boundless. He cooked everything from chimichangas to African groundnut stew. He ate songbirds in Thailand, Armadillo in the Yucatan, Iguana in Oaxaca. Being a cheapskate and a culinary explorer, he dismissed restaurants, preferring to ferret out the grungiest (aka most 'authentic') street cart in the most dubious part of town.
He called this practice 'street grunting', with a gleam in his eye.

When I turned 19, my friends and I drove up to Vancouver to celebrate. I called my dad to tell him about our adventures. "Vancouver!" he cried, "a great city for food. There's fantastic Asian food in Vancouver, especially if you get out of the tourist districts. Where did you go?" I was obliged to tell him that we'd gone to a Hooters (it wasn't my idea, I protested) where I'd ordered a grilled cheese sandwich. His mournful, disappointed reproach still rings in my ears.

My dad didn't teach me to cook, because that would have required him to actually let someone else into his kitchen. But I think I learned a lot by osmosis, sitting on a stool, my elbows on the kitchen counter, watching the mad, joyful flurry that was his evening ritual. Perhaps more importantly, I learned that food was a way to bring people together, and that all was right in the world when a circle of people sat around a table bellowing things like "Pass the ground nut stew!" and "Is there any more of that habanero stuffed squid?"

You can read my dad's recipe for Chiles Rellenos here.
9 Comments
babyface link
4/2/2010 11:52:20 am

I wish I had a chance to know your father, because I'm fairly certain we would've gotten along well.

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Tuna La Rosa
4/10/2010 02:49:26 am

Well done, captures Steve's flavors rather well!

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felisa link
4/11/2010 04:17:10 am

Babyface, you and he would have been instant friends. He was also a history dork, so I'm sure you would have had plenty to talk about in the kitchen.

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Tuna La Rosa
4/11/2010 11:00:42 am

You need to write one about Tia since they shared one soul in two bodies!

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felisa link
4/12/2010 07:30:06 am

Yeah, Tia is def. on my list!

Reply
Evan
4/21/2010 06:55:08 pm

I'm really glad to see this. I can see Steve in the whole premise of this blog but I'm glad you have your own unique flavor too. Kudos

Reply
felisa link
4/27/2010 02:56:37 am

Thanks, Evan!

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Cheap Tiffany And Co link
4/18/2011 04:21:27 pm

They are so beautiful and very cheap. Do you move? If your answer is yes. Just scan it.

Reply
Ontario Gay Master link
4/23/2023 11:58:20 pm

Thanks for a great rread

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