(continued)

GrahamKerr:
Treena would force me to buy them, even though I would want to put a paper bag over my head because of the floral designs. She was the producer and therefore was to be obeyed. I found some at Nordstrom's, some at a store called The County Gentleman, and occasionally at Heathrow airport.

katie:
Speaking of quick dishes, my husband just informed me that the eggs-in-a-nest he's been making since 1970 or so were inspired by the Galloping Gourmet. Also a wine meat loaf that didn't go over very well!

GrahamKerr:
(laughing) How long ago was the meatloaf? The '70s? You should try my 1990 meatloaf. As we grow older we become wiser, we hope.

katie:
I guess it was wine hamburgers, and he used Thunderbird, and yes, it was the '70s.

Frederick Cooke:
Can you tell us about some of the tools you have invented for the home kitchen?

GrahamKerr:
I'll answer this in a two-step way. Number one, the tools that I think are most important are all completely shown in full detail and all reasons given in a Sierra Online CD-ROM called Swiftly Seasoned, which can be find wherever CD-ROMS are found. Now, I would say that the lemon squeezer is my favorite tool. You have to roll the lemons first. It's very simple, it simply holds the half lemon and squeezes out the juice at the bottom. Very simple -- but very important for my kind of food. The second is what I call the Bash and Chop. It used to be called the Scooper Scraper until the New York leash laws came into effect, and one had to take something that sounded the same to clean up after one's pet.

Adam:
Which food writers and cookbook authors have had the greatest influence on you? Why?

GrahamKerr:
Elizabeth Rozin wrote a book called The Flavor Principle about 14 years ago. And this I thought was a scholarly attempt at surveying the flavors of our world. She continues to follow up that benchmark book with other interesting stuff. I like her work and appreciate her enormously. Paula Wolfert on the Mediterranean is first class. And of course I simply could not manage without referring to Julia. While we obviously do not have the same view of butter, et cetera, we both are striving to provide food which is excellent within its own framework. She calls my cooking irregular, so I guess that she is regular. But she describes every detail, and some folks find that too long, but I am just so grateful for the hard work that goes into the treatises that she writes. I could go on and on and I have a huge recipe collection. I would not take a recipe and use it, but I will scan the way others do things and relate it to my experience.

Hotsy:
Do you have any anecdotes from your recent PBS special with Julia Child?

GrahamKerr:
Yes, she was making a Rouille. This is a red somewhat spicy mixture which is placed into bouillabaisse, into the fish stew or seafood soup. I had made mine with roasted red peppers and just a touch of oil, a little garlic, a little cayenne, she ate this and said, "It's really not bad," in her wonderful way. She then proceeded to invite me to taste hers. Now, I had noticed that in the use of the cayenne pepper, her spoon had inadvertently tipped the jug and dislodged all of itself into this dish, which had at least a quart of oil in it. I braved it anyway -- though I don't like hot things -- and swallowed it and started to choke and said, to cover my embarrassment, "As an Englishman, I think I've just been violated." Julia, quick as a rapier, came back and said, "Really dear, I didn't think it was that easy." (laughs)

Frederick Cooke:
I guess that's a good example of when you rouille the day!

ROBENN1:
Do you have any new shows that are in the works , or planned ?

Kevin Staff:
What projects can we look forward to seeing from you in the near future?

GrahamKerr:
The answer to both of those questions is in a TV special that will be aired in tthe fall of 1998 by Candy Dancer Productions, called Dining On The Diner. Or Dinner on the Diner. And it is the famous trains of the world that offer high cuisine. I just came back from filming on The Royal Scotsman on the highlands of Scotland. Quite extraordinary. Five gustatory days where, thank God, one parks for a bit after the meals before the train goes chugging off again. It will be a fun special. Famous trains from China, South Africa and Spain.

bill::
What do you feel is the key to successful change?

GrahamKerr:
The key to successful change: I think it is to care about the person for whom you are cooking, especially if you are cooking yourself. I'd like to offer an acronym which you could perhaps download for yourselves and have to carry away from this time. C-A-R-E:
C: Concern
A: Altruism
R: Restoration
E: Enthusiasm.
Now, Webster's Dictionary describes those four words as follows.
Concern: To have your mind filled with something.
Altruism: A selfless devotion to the well being of another person.
Restoration: To return something to itsmoriginal design intention, as in a car or house.
Enthusiasm: comes from the Greek en theos, which means "in God."
So together, CARE means: To have one's mind concerned with the selfless devotion to the well being of anther person, so that they will be returned to their original design intention in God. One can do all things if one remembers to wrap it in pleasure.

Frederick Cooke:
Well, we're out of time :( I would like to thank everyone, especially Graham for coming to the chat tonight. Don't go away because we are about to announce the three winners of the Graham's new CD ROM, Swiftly Seasoned...

Kevin Staff:
Thank you, Graham for sharing your wisdom and your time!

GrahamKerr:
Well, thank you, also.

Frederick Cooke:
And the winners are...Altaira, katie, and Cindy. Congratulations! I'll contact all of you tomorrow by email.

Altaira:
Wow! Thank you!

Frederick Cooke:
Good night everyone. Make sure to come back for our next chat, when we'll be chatting with Lynn Penner-Ash (on Tuesday, November 18)....

katie:
Thank you for your time and since I'm beyond the land of cable TV, I will truly appreciate the CD...thanks!