Portrait of a Chef Gale Gand

PORTRAIT OF A CHEF

GALE GAND

by K ATHRYN O’M ALLEY

Gale Gand has a knack for turning out some of the nation’s most delectable and dazzling desserts. Winner of the 2001 James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef, and founding pastry chef and partner at Chicago’s acclaimed restaurant Tru, Gale is also a celebrated cookbook author, television host, and owner of her own root beer company. Talk about a seriously sweet career.

We invited Tony Priolo, the subject of last issue’s Portrait of a Chef, to ask Gale anything he wanted…and she was happy to indulge us with her answers.

Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Hibsicus-Infused Berries: Hibiscus-infused strawberries and raspberries give Gale Gand’s silky panna cotta a splash of ruby red color.

do you have any early childhood memories of what inspired you to be a chef?

Baking cherry pies with my mom. She was THE designated neighborhood pie baker. She taught me how to do elaborate woven lattice tops. And then there was playing restaurant as a kid—I was always the cook, not the waitress. I used to make “banana soup” out of orange day lily buds that my mom had in the backyard.

what is your favorite season for cooking (and why)?

Probably early summer for rhubarb and local strawberries, or midsummer for stone fruit. Peaches and apricots can sometimes be so good they make me weep.

tell us about your worst kitchen disaster.

I’ve never had one...just kidding! There was the night Chicago Magazine was in the house dining and reviewing us at Tru our first year, and our gas went down. I remember CM was at the table near a window looking into the pastry kitchen, so I had to remain cool and calm even though we couldn’t cook anything in ovens or on stoves; we only had my convection oven, which was electric, and a few induction burners for the whole restaurant. I also had about 10 boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the kitchen and I was so afraid they would write about that. I mean, who has that many donuts just hanging around? Well, I do, but other than me, who does that?

And then there was that time when a kitchen towel caught fire on the set at Food Network while I was taping Sweet Dreams. I didn’t realize it, so a cameraman had to sneak on set way down low and stamp it out with cameras rolling while I tried to ignore it.

But other than that....

what’s your guilty pleasure?

Probably sweet (unsalted) butter on baguette slices, or Frosted Flakes with half and half—that’s always my birthday breakfast!

what do you eat when no one’s looking?

Cold fried chicken and Peppermint Patties.

what’s your favorite thing to do with whipped cream?

Put it on hot cocoa or espresso or chocolate pudding—but really good chocolate pudding, like chocolate pot de crème. Or, fold it into mousse or plop it on top of a Pavlova and sprinkle with berries.