Portrait of a Chef: Stephen Gerike

portrait of a CHEF

by KATHRYN O’MALLEY

Stephen Gerike

Chef Stephen Gerike has two tattoos: one of a clam and one of a pig.

The former, he says, is emblematic of his first true food passion, and the latter represents where his zeal has ultimately led. As the National Pork Board’s foodservice marketing director, Gerike is now intimately involved in the most rapidly growing protein in foodservice today—and he can butcher a whole hog faster than it takes most of us to fry a piece of bacon.

Learn more about the evolution of Gerike’s career, his ideal “last supper” and the camaraderie of professional cooking in this exclusive interview led by our previously featured chef, Rodelio Aglibot.

dan dan pig skin noodles with szechuan numbing sauce

View recipe on page 81 »

if not pork, what protein would you be passionate about?

I began my food career working in a cheesemonger’s shop. I learned to appreciate new, unusual and subtle flavors. I also worked in the fisheries business, where I found my first and true food passion that has stayed with me until today: a cold, briny, firm, Eastern hard-shell clam on the half shell. In my family we have a saying that “clams is good.” And I have two food tattoos—a pig and a clam.

who would you want to cook for? cook with? and have cook for you?

I like to cook for chefs. Chefs appreciate good, simple and humble food if it’s cooked correctly. They appreciate it more than anyone else and will eat just about anything.

There is nothing better than cooking with a group of chefs that are as passionate about food and eating as I am. And the camaraderie in a working kitchen, on a deadline, is one of the most fulfilling experiences you can share. I have friends all over the country and they are almost all chefs with whom I have cooked.

Like most chefs, I love to eat anything that someone else took the time and care to prepare. A simple cut of meat on a wood fire, a handmade sausage, a thin slice of salami, a clam or oyster shucked in a parking lot—it’s all good, all good.

your “last supper” would be consist of what?

Eight raw clams from Barnegat, NJ, on the half shell, plus an ear of sweet, white corn from the Wallkill Valley in NY, a few slices of warm garden tomato, and a sea water and buckwheat honey-brined, pork shoulder chop—about 1 inch thick—cooked on a wood fire. That, and a cold bottle of Miller High Life.

what do you think the challenges are for chefs today versus 10-15 years ago?

Without a doubt it has to be the shallow labor pool of young people who truly love food and want to work. Kitchens need young cooks. Some cities are different than others, for sure, but we need cooks who actually enjoy eating and understand hospitality. There are so many amazing foods available to kitchens today and a growing movement to learn the basic crafts of cooking. Yet there are still so many places that disrespect those ingredients or just plain don’t know how to make food taste good. Keep it simple and pay attention to what you’re doing.

what do you want to do in 5 years?

The same thing as I’m doing now—but smarter, more thoughtful, with a continued open mind, with even more great cooks, artisans, professionals and friends surrounding me.