Priscilla Martel

Priscilla Martel

Priscilla Martel
Born Priscilla Martel
October 22, 1956
Education Andover
Spouse(s) Charlie van Over

Culinary career

Cooking style Mediterranean
Website
Martel dessert page

Priscilla Martel is an award–winning[1] American chef, food writer, and consultant notable for desserts, baking, pastries and fireplace-cooked meals. Her recipes appear in magazines such as Food & Wine. She is a contributing writer at Flavor and the Menu Magazine.[2][3] She teaches and has written textbooks including ebooks[4] used to teach students of the culinary arts.[5] Martel married prominent Connecticut restaurateur and chef Charlie van Over, and the couple often collaborate on recipes and cooking. Martel and van Over have cooked for 60 Minutes reporter Morley Safer, Chef Jacques Pepin as well as the late Broadway actor Peter Kapetan at their home in Connecticut.[6] Martel and van Over were co–owners of a restaurant in Chester called Restaurant du Village.[7] Her cooking often reflects a Mediterranean emphasis.[8] She has a particular interest and expertise in almonds and desserts of the northeast. Martel and van Over hold patents regarding baking processes.[1]

Martel and van Over cook in a style sometimes described as Mediterranean cuisine.

Martel attended Phillips Academy in Andover and graduated in the school's first co–educational class in 1974. Her classmates included jazz Grammy–winner Bill Cunliffe, software financier Peter Currie, actor Dana Delany, painter Julian Hatton, poet Karl Kirchwey, writer Nate Lee, television producer Jonathan Meath, editor Sara Nelson, and sculptor Gar Waterman. She graduated from Brown University in 1978.

Martel and van Over opened a Chester, Connecticut restaurant which they named Restaurant du Village in 1979 and sold it in 1990.[9] In 2010, they own a firm called "All About Food" which holds baking patents and collaborates with food manufacturers and restaurants on such matters as menus, marketing programs, and new products.[1]

Martel and van Over have friends for dinner and often cook in a fireplace and outdoor wood–fired oven.

Martel and van Over were quoted in the New York Times about doing rotisserie cooking using a fireplace; on occasions, Martel and van Over have cooked for fellow Chester resident and 60 Minutes reporter Morley Safer.[6] The couple would cook a multicourse meal in the fireplace while having sing–a–longs which sometimes included dancing, and their dinners often included quail, duck, venison or porterhouse steak.[6] At one point, Martel and van Over lived in a house with six[9] or seven fireplaces.[6] Martel said the fireplace cooking experiences "brings out the best in people."[6] They grow vegetables and other foods in their garden for some of their meals.[8] The dining table often has beautiful flowers such as zinnias and snapdragons and meals are often served with wine.[8] Martel and van Over advise restaurants about such matters as how to create a brasserie.[10] Beef steak and veal stew are cooked using a Tuscan grill.[9] Martel and van Over argued in their book "The Best Bread Ever" that the best way to make the perfect loaf is to use a food processor.[9] Martel's recipes entitled Cod with creamy nut sauce and Chicken Almond Curry with Apricots appeared in Food & Wine magazine.[11]

Martel created the recipe for this dessert entitled "Almond and Mixed Berry Shortcakes". For recipe, see external links.

Publications

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "PRISCILLA MARTEL". Flavor Trends. 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-20. Priscilla Martel ... holds several baking patents and collaborates with food manufacturers and restaurants to create innovative products, menus and marketing programs.
  2. ↑ "sentimental sweets". Flavor-Trends. 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-20. ... Diners will want to see which version they like better.Priscilla Martel (see page 108)
  3. ↑ Priscilla Martel (2010). "Rustic Revolution". Flavor Trends. Retrieved 2010-10-20. Big Dish: Clay pots, skillets, pottery and pot pies served at the table are less-fancy ways to present this rustic fare. — PRISCILLA MARTEL
  4. ↑ Sarah R. Labensky, Priscilla A. Martel, Alan M. Hause (2010-03-19). "Pearson eText for On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals, 5/E". Pearson Higher Education. Retrieved 2010-10-20. Format: Electronic Book; 1320 pp
  5. ↑ Sarah R. Labensky, Priscilla A. Martel, Alan M. Hause (2010-02-08). "Pearson Test Kitchen for On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals, 5/E". Pearson Higher Education. Retrieved 2010-10-20. Sarah R. Labensky, Priscilla A. Martel, Alan M. Hause, Fabulous Food
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 ELIZABETH MAKER (December 11, 2005). "CONNECTICUT AT ITS BEST; On an Open Fire, Much More Than Chestnuts". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-20. Charlie van Over of Chester,... wife, Priscilla Martel, throw in fall and winter for guests who include Morley Safer of 60 Minutes and the chef Jacques P?n, both of whom live in Chester. '... the Broadway actor Peter Kapetan, ...
  7. ↑ CAROLYN BATTISTA (January 1, 1989). "Chefs Hunt Up a Delicious Time in Chester". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-20. 'You have a busy kitchen, Charlie, he said to Charles van Over, the co-owner of the Restaurant du Village, with Priscilla Martel. Mr. van Over was cooking sausage in a pan.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 MOIRA HODGSON (May 31, 1992). "THE SETTING IS CHESTER, CONN., BUT IT looks like Provence.". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-20. Our menus revolve around the sort of food you get around the Mediterranean," says Mr. van Over.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 LARY BLOOM (February 10, 2008). "Lessons From the Founding Fireplaces". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-20. It’s true that Mr. Van Over, at 70, has been much more widely known for his advice in the kitchen than other parts of the house. He served as a restaurant consultant even before he and his wife, Priscilla Martel, opened Restaurant du Village, which helped make Chester a destination. (They sold it in 1990).
  10. ↑ STEPHANIE LYNESS (October 14, 2006). "A New Brasserie That Knows What It Is". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-20. ... (Mr. Van Over, a Connecticut chef and the original owner, with his wife, Priscilla Martel, of Restaurant du Village in Chester, was a consultant on the creation of the brasserie.)
  11. ↑ Priscilla Martel (2010-10-20). "Recipe search". Food and Wine. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
  12. ↑ Priscilla Martel (2009). "Sampler Companion Website for On Baking: A Textbook of Baking and Pastry Fundamentals". Pearson Higher Education. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
  13. ↑ "On cooking". otoku-money. 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-20. Mastercook cd for on cooking, 4/e; sarah r. labensky; alan m. hause, fabulous food; steven r. labensky; priscilla a. martel, the center for the culinary arts; ...
  14. ↑ Charles van Over and Priscilla Martel (authors) (1997). "The Best Bread Ever". Bookstores.com. Retrieved 2010-10-20. The Best Bread Ever: Great Homemade Bread Using Your Food Processor (1st Edition)

External links