Cooking in brooklyn recipes?

chef alan harding recipesCooking in brooklyn recipes?
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Chef Alan Harding, the man credited with sparking the Smith Street restaurant revolution, will be one of the featured contestants on the cable Food Network鈥檚 ';Ready Set Cook!,'; to be aired Thursday, April 5 at 6 pm.





Harding, who arrived on Smith Street in 1997, is co-owner of Uncle Pho and Patois of Smith Street and Red Rail of Henry Street. The chef is a worthy contestant to represent our borough on the popular food game show hosted by British chef-comic Ainsley Harriott.





The TV program challenges two professional chefs to create a meal in 18 minutes using ingredients revealed at the beginning of the show. The chefs each receive a volunteer sous chef from the audience to assist in their battle for the coveted ';Golden Toque'; medal. (The toque is a chef鈥檚 hat.)





';This show is like the ultimate Culinary Olympics,'; explains the garrulous Harriott, ';Combining all the best elements of a sporting event with creativity of cooking - with only one champion coming out on top.';





';It was great fun. You never really get a chance to compete with another chef - like other sporting events,'; said Harding of the taping. ';When you鈥檙e in a restaurant and busy and serving a lot of meals to your customers, the only challenge is new and interesting ways to cook food.';





On the show, you ';do that and make sure it鈥檚 going to be better than the person you鈥檙e competing against.';





The episode that Harding took part in is called ';Scream Cuisine.'; When the secret ingredients are revealed to the chefs - just before the clock begins ticking - they鈥檙e looking at a platter full of ugly, unusual foods: spiny lobster, leeks, seaweed, Israeli cous cous and rambutan - a southeast Asian fruit with soft spines.





As the clock winds down, Harriott continuously interrupts the chefs and invites them to chat about themselves while they鈥檙e desperately trying to prepare tasty, complicated sauces.





';[The show] allows a chef to get out of the kitchen and get in front of the camera,'; said Harding. ';A lot of people don鈥檛 know who the chef is cooking their food - don鈥檛 know anything about the chef.';





GO Brooklyn won鈥檛 tell you who wins, but the show does fan the flames of audience anxiety - becoming edge-of-your-seat entertainment after just a few minutes.





';They were worthy adversaries,'; Harding said of his competitors, chef Amy Chamberlain of The Perfect Wife in Manchester, Vt., and her audience member sous chef Ronald Hughes. After the time has elapsed, the chefs must present their dishes to a panel of tasters.





';It all boils down to not what you like and what would sell, but what would the tasters like?'; explained Harding. ';My greatest compliment for the show is [the focus is] not how the food looks but how it tastes that鈥檚 really important.';





';Ready Set Cook'; airs daily on the Food Network at 6 pm. For more information, visit www.foodtv.com on the Web.





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