Ruth Reichl lectures at Miami Book Fair

Published for 68 years (!) Gourmet magazine led the way for foodies before it was even trendy! Wonder what delight is wrapped and tied in the parcel on this vintage cover?

Darlings, as you probably know, Gourmet magazine, an industry icon, has published it's last issue after 68 years. La Diva gets terribly sad when anything that's wonderful and has survived and thrived that long experiences an untimely demise.

Fortunately, the Gourmet "brand" will still live on with their latest publication "Gourmet Today," a five-pound behemoth of a book jam-packed with 1000 "new" recipes. Ruth Reichl edited and contributed to the tome and was in Miami this past week to promote the cookbook and lecture at the Miami Book Fair. La Diva had already planned on going but assumed the lecture would be on the weekend.

La Diva was wrong. I found out about her Monday night lecture at 6pm in downtown Miami at 4pm! Diva didn't waste any time and bolted out the door. In my haste, I forgot my trusty camera but made it in plenty of time to purchase the cookbook for Ruth to sign after the lecture.

Ruth was just like she is on her television shows: passionate, informative and endearing. She told a few personal stories, talked about food trends, how Americans' palates have changed and progressed but most fascinating to me were her stories about the magazine itself. With obvious sadness, she explained how there will never be another magazine like Gourmet again and La Diva heartily agrees.

Ruth said that Gourmet had EIGHT test kitchens and TWELVE people employed whose sole purpose was to test recipes. And boy, did they test! Relentlessly! There was a time when one staff member tested a recipe 12 times and a horrified, budget-minded editor demanded to know why? So that the reader will have their dish turn out JUST LIKE THE RECIPE each and every time. And that's part of what makes Gourmet magazine and their recipes so wonderful!

And so our beloved Ruth continued talking about how American eating trends have changed: "Just look at what is now available at our supermarkets?" Indeed, a stroll down any major supermarket aisle offers a cornucopia of ethnic foods, spices, rice varieties....."Everything you could possibly want."

Another comment that was not lost on La Diva was: "You better learn to cook vegetarian if you have friends or kids under twenty-five-years old!" and then lamented about meeting her son's new girlfriend that was not only vegetarian but vegan! She explained how today's youth are more ethical and aware in their eating habits and food choices.

The floor opened up for questions and of course, La Diva, being the shy gal she is, stepped up to the mic. After telling her how much I enjoyed her show on PBS on Saturdays, "Adventures with Ruth", where she explores cooking schools around the globe, I explained my situation.

I told her I am a self-taught cook since I was eight-years-old and have learned so much from tv shows, cookbooks and talking to chefs, but at my age, would it still benefit me to consider culinary school to expand my knowledge and technique?

Ruth was emphatic in her reply: YES! She explained that no matter how many times she's made a risotto, she'd go to Italy and then learn something else about the dish and how she continues to learn. La Diva was definitely inspired.

After the lecture, I hurried out the door to get my book signed and was stopped by Miami Herald reporter Connie Ogle to see if I would really go to school? We spoke for a bit and I told her how much I would miss the magazine and that yes, it was true, every time I cooked a recipe from Gourmet magazine, the dish did turn out and that I was indeed considering going to culinary school. Ms. Ogle was kind enough to quote me and add a La Diva web link in her article and you can check out her post here.

Ruth signed my book and we shared a quick giggle about the luscious spring pea and fresh cheese salad she had devoured on a recent episode of her show. La Diva was thrilled to share a passionate foodie moment with an esteemed industry favorite.

Click on the photo to get the new cookbook for less than La Diva paid for it!

Looking at the new Gourmet Today cookbook, I'm so impressed to see the variety of ethnic cooking represented and simply sophisticated selections. Just the soup section alone offers Tunisian Soup with Egg Noodles and Chard, Spicy African Chicken and Peanut Soup, Greek Egg and Lemon Soup and a Smoky Tortilla Soup with Duck. Ruth Reichl is correct: Americans did not eat like this in decades past.

But La Diva did. For the years and years of the 80's and the 90's that I lived and traveled in Australia, I enjoyed Chinese sang choi bao, Moroccan fish chermoula and spicy grilled Portuguese chicken in the same way that Americans enjoyed spaghetti and meatballs, fajitas and Cajun-style blackened fish! And judging by the excellent selection of worldly recipes from Gourmet Today, America has caught up to Australia by also displaying a ravenous culinary curiosity and embracing our multi-ethnic food culture.

Do you want to hear Ruth's interview with local food guru Linda Gassenheimer from NPR last week? Click here. The interview echoes much of what she spoke about in her lecture.

To leave you with a final quote from Ruth: "We cook to tell the people we care about that we love them." And La Diva SHALL continue cooking for people she loves...only 999 recipes to go!cooking class, cocktails, parties, cocktail party, Miami, coral gables, events, bartending class, cocktail class, Laura Lafata, Miami Beach, miami cooking classes, bachelorette parties, bachelorette party, personal chef, corporate events, catering, personal chef, party entertainment