Chef’s business is hot stuff(1)
From Kent Hospital in 1964 to the furthest corners of the world. That’s the story of Rhode Island’s own Jason R. Gronlund.
As executive chef for the McIlhenny Company and the Tabasco brand, Gronlund’s job takes him to China, Japan, Korea and other Pacific Rim nations where he teaches chefs about Tabasco products and builds dishes and develops recipes for their restaurants.
Tabasco Pepper Sauce has three flavors in its profile, he explains. They are vinegar, chili peppers, and fermentation. Did you know the chili pepper mash is aged for three years before it makes it to bottle? Asian dishes are steeped in these three flavors. Think kimchee from Korean kitchens.
But that’s just one part of Gronlund’s job. He also works on the ingredient part of the business, including in the states helping food manufacturers spice up their products. If you notice spicy versions of everything from chips to dips in your grocery stores, you know that is a growth industry.
He also works with companies, from white-tablecloth restaurants to whole-food chains, to help develop new products and recipes including limited-time items that fast-food places feature in promotions.
Gronlund’s is a real hot business, you could say. But today’s chief topic is the chef’s down-home charitable work.
Growing up in Rhode Island, he started cooking at 13 in his family’s business — Bakers Catering in East Greenwich. Later he graduated from Johnson & Wales and cooked in the U.S. Army. But first he studied culinary arts at what was then called West Bay Vocational School and is now the Regional Career and Technical Center at Coventry High School.
He’s coming home to work with students there for two fundraisers Wednesday, April 8 which will benefit the culinary arts program. There are some 59 students in the program under the direction of chef John Rapoza.
Gronlund will work with them to create a Taste of Louisiana for an 11 a.m. to noon lunch crowd. The menu includes gumbo, plus either an Authentic Muffuletta Sandwich or Shrimp Po Boy, and a dessert of Banana Bread Pudding with Butter Rum Sauce. The cost is $15.
At 5:30 p.m., Chef’s Dinner Night begins with Miso Meatball Soup, Green Salad with a Chardonnay & Crystallized Ginger Dressing, Skirt Steak Napoleon-Style with Crispy Corn Bread Pudding and steam vegetables and the Banana Bread Pudding dessert. The cost is $30. There will be $600 Tabasco gift baskets up for grabs at both meals.
The Chef’s Dinner has a distinct global bent, which reveals the reach of Tabasco and some of Gronlund’s work.
For example, the Miso Meatball Soup looks like Italian Wedding Soup when it is done. It was created for a restaurant chain based in Tokyo. It starts with a dashi broth (a clear stock used as a base for miso soup), and includes edible seaweed, ground beef mixed with Japanese panko breadcrumbs and lots of egg whites which substitutes for the pasta. The Chardonnay & Crystallized Ginger is a dressing he designed for Irish chefs. He steeps the wine with shallots and ginger for layers of flavor.
A trip through South America resulted in his Skirt Steak Napoleon-style. After searing the meat, he takes roasted peppers and layers them with cheese and a mole sauce. That sauce is not chocolate-based, as most assume all moles are, but made with coffee. Looking at the meat from the side, it has layers like a Napoleon.
Gronlund lives in Orlando, Fla., and is in his 10th year with McIlhenny and Tabasco. Today he is on the board of Chef Relief, a nonprofit group which feeds people in time of disaster.
He also works with Helpings from the Heart which feeds the needy in Central Florida. He said they served 21,000 meals on Thanksgiving alone last year.
The benefit meals at the Regional Career and Technical Center at Coventry High School will be served on April 8 in the Knotty Oak Room at the school at 40 Reservoir Rd., Coventry.
To reserve a space, call Tina Andrews at (401) 822-9499, ext. 292.
Students offer brunch buffet every Thursday and Friday1
The Culinary Arts students of the Regional Career and Technical Center at Coventry High School, under the direction of chef John Rapoza, serve a brunch buffet every Thursday and Friday from 10:30 a.m. to noon (when school is in session, of course).
