IACP
ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS OF 2005 AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Winner: Getting Thin & Loving Food,
200 Easy Recipes to Take You Where You Want to Be, Kathleen Daelemans,
Houghton Mifflin, 2004
Article
by Talitha Daelemans
Best known these days as
one of the country's unlikeliest weight loss success stories, 75 pounds and
counting, Daelemans' first made her mark at the stove of her Hawaii restaurant,
Café Kula, at the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel and Spa on the island of
Maui where she was praised for menus prepared with organic produce obtained
from small farms located throughout the Hawaiian Islands. It's only natural
that her love of pure, authentic locally grown organic food lead to her dramatic
weight loss and greatly improved health. "Most often meals were prepared
with produce harvested hours before service", Daelemans says.
During her tutelage at San Francisco's Zuni Café with chef/owner Judy
Rodgers, she learned to "Make menus after meeting with suppliers."
Daelemans took her mentor's message to heart, "When you develop local sources,
you become part of the culture, and everybody works hard to produce the best
organic fruits, vegetables, and herbs possible."
While in San Francisco Daelemans volunteered for many Bay Area Benefits where
she met and worked for Alice Waters of Chez Panisse who imparted similar values,
"When you understand where your food comes from, you look at the world
in an entirely different way. In order for there to be a future to the environmental
movement, we must teach the children that taking care of the land and learning
to feed yourself is just as important as reading, writing, and arithmetic."
Daelemans was tireless in her commitment to supporting local farmers while in
the islands and received an award from the Hawaii State Senate for her promotion
of local organic agriculture. She is a charter member of Chef's Collaborative
2000, "a project by gourmet chefs from around the world to advance sustainable
food choices for the next century."
"By supporting local sustainable organic agriculture and comprising meals
that are not only delicious and nutritionally sound, we can impart to our children
and each other the impact our food choices have on our health, our communities
and our environment. This belief can lead to bettering communities both physically
and environmentally," says Daelemans.
I sat down with Daelemans and asked her what it meant to win the award, "It's
extremely humbling to have your work recognized by culinary professionals whose
work you respect and admire. I had the good fortune of being surrounded by friends
and family during the production of this book. It was a group effort in that
there were always (mostly) willing participants on hand to sample the food and
proof read the work, "one more time, I promise". Miho Mizuno my friend,
culinary assistant and teacher put up with way more than anyone should have
to. My editor, Rux Martin, somehow managed to wade through the minutia of "too
much information" and whittle down the pages to an easy read. My agent,
Doe Coover, was there to peel me off the pavement on days I thought I "couldn't
do it" and of course my parents, my sister Carol and the love of my life
were all there on her days off. Cooking Thin fans, especially those on the forum
were (as always) generous enough to share their stories and sage words. Without
them there would be no one to work for or be inspired by. I'm truly thankful
for the opportunities they've afforded me and am more committed than ever to
continue to research and deliver ways we can all eat right, get fit and live
well.