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Just below is my story of October’s “crisis in the kitchen” at my apartment. Scroll down or click here to read the the note to neighbors by Maya, my mom.
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Julia Child, French cooking expert and the first celebrity television chef, was beloved for her unflappable, upbeat disposition. She thrived on fixing mistakes and unforeseen problems in the kitchen. Can’t flip an omelet? Just turn it into scrambled eggs. When Julia once dropped a potato pancake on the counter during a live taping of her show, “The French Chef,” she serenely scooped it back in the skillet. ”Nobody’s looking!” Julia told thousands of viewers.
She only lost her composure a handful of times. Once was when a small fire erupted on set – a towel and potholder had ignited on the stove. The cameraman stopped shooting, and Julia was furious. She wanted to show her viewers what to do about a kitchen fire at home.
Alas, Julia was not standing by my electric stove last week when a skillet of vegetable oil ignited. I was heating it in preparation for searing some lovely cod fillets, inspired by one of Nobu Matsuhisa’s recipes. Gaping in horror at the orange flames, I vaguely recalled some safety instruction about smothering them with non-flammable material or baking soda. An image of the mini-fire extinguisher in my old Santa Monica kitchen crossed my mind. But the fire looked insistent and in my compact apartment kitchen, the sink is but an arms-length away. “Fire? Water!” I thought, and thrust the skillet under the running faucet. Within seconds, it was gone. Barely a wisp of smoke remained. But a plume of superheated steam shot up at the ceiling sprinkler. Continue reading
