Right: The recipe for Eve's

Brandade in a Box — smoked cod
in a puffed pastry with spicy greens
and garlic cream — is one of hun-
dreds offered in the new cookbook.
Below: Miniature Southwest Turkey
Burgers with Cilantro Lime Sauce
were among the offerings at the
book-launch party.

excited about the food is a really nice compli-
ment."
Aronoff, 38, who began cooking profes-
sionally while studying comparative literature
at Brandeis University near Boston, Mass.,
created what she calls a "working curriculum"
for herself after college, working everywhere
from fish markets to pastry kitchens, from
prep cook to line cook to chef. She went on
to attend Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, where she
received diplomas in French cuisine and wine
and spirits.
Growing up in an East Lansing home
eating meals prepared by her mother, whom
Aronoff calls an "adventurous cook," she
believes her Jewish upbringing helped shape
her philosophy that providing an atmosphere
of conviviality — warmth and hospitality
around eating — is just as important as per-
fecting a recipe. It's also a strong tenet of the
Slow Food movement, which believes that

the industrialization of food is standardizing
tastes and obscuring cultural cuisine. Eve
promotes the group's values, which include
the beliefs that food should be prepared from
scratch, follow the seasons and should come
from local farmers as often as possible.
"We think Eve is exceptional; she has
a vision," says Shira Klein of Ann Arbor,
owner of the Huron River Press, which pub-
lished the 272-page cookbook. "She has such
devotion to everything she does — she was
involved with every detail of her cookbook,
every sentence, every photograph. This is truly
a labor of love."
As is her restaurant. "The Torah says
Abraham's tent was open on all four sides,"
explains Aronoff. "Well, that's what I want
for the restaurant — anybody who comes
here should feel welcomed and taken care of"
Read on for a preview of some of the recipes
published in the book.

Left: Chocolate
Pots-de-Creme
is topped with
Brown Sugar
Cream — and served
with an accompanying
cupful of cream for
alternating bites.

28 •

JANUARY 2007 •

platinum

