Care, characterization and charoset: Celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern offers Pittsburgh recipe for good

In a room full of eaters, Chef Andrew Zimmern hopes to take a bite out of hunger and leave people craving change. An Emmy winner and four-time James Beard Award recipient, the television personality, author and food equity activist is set to host “Taste of the Draft” at PNC Plaza on April 22. Occurring one day before the NFL draft, the food-filled fundraiser will support grants for school nutrition equipment and NFL FLAG-In-School kits for western Pennsylvanian schools.

Before arriving in Pittsburgh, Zimmern, a Jewish Minnesotan known for popular programs, including “Bizarre Foods,” “Family Dinner” and “The Zimmern List,” spoke with the Chronicle by phone and described the importance of tackling hunger, calling out hatred and promoting Passover.

The topics, which Zimmern moved through like a choreographed meal, reflect a commitment to speaking one’s truth, he explained.

Get The Jewish Chronicle Weekly Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

For more than a decade, Zimmern, 64, has worked with GENYOUth, a nonprofit helping students live well-nourished and physically active lives. The organization’s “Taste of the Draft” is a “party with a purpose,” he said.

Attended by celebrity chefs, NFL players and community leaders, the event is an opportunity to better area youth. Funds raised will aid more than 50,000 western Pennsylvanian students and expand access to nearly 13 million school meals, according to GENYOUth representatives.

Zimmern holds the cause close to heart.

“I happen to believe very strongly that food and housing is something that no American should ever have to worry about, and in fact, no person globally should ever have to worry about,” he said. “This issue should be front and center of our political discussions in this country — this is not red or blue or left or right. We’ve been unable to address childhood hunger in America since World War II,  regardless of the administration in power. I say this from a civic standpoint, not a political one, despite the fact that the final resolution of this needs to be a political decision.”

Zimmern is outspoken about his views and the solutions he believes are necessary to address current problems.

Months ago, as Chanukah approached, Zimmern took to social media and noted that in lieu of posting a holiday-related message with pictures of latkes and other dishes, he needed to decry the senseless murder of 15 people at an Australian Chanukah gathering.

Alongside a nearly 90-year-old photo of a menorah placed on a window ledge overlooking a German building draped with Nazi flags, Zimmern wrote, “The horrific shooting at Bondi Beach, so many dead, so many wounded, all because they, like me are Jewish. This violence, this senseless violence, has to stop. The global rhetoric normalizing racism of any kind has to stop.”

Zimmern, whose shows have been broadcast in nearly 170 countries, told the Chronicle that when his fame rose years ago he quickly recognized his responsibilities.

“I literally found myself, overnight, being gifted with a platform, and I had a decision to make to either use it for positive change and speak my mind or not to,” he said. “And I was raised to speak my mind, and I’ve just continued to do that. I’m not going to ignore who I am, and what my experience is, and what my thinking and feelings are.”

Born to Caren and Robert Zimmern, Andrew Zimmern grew up in New York City with significant Jewish exposure.

Though he didn’t attend Hebrew school or have a bar mitzvah, his father was “raised in a very formidable Conservative household,” Zimmern told podcaster Margarita Lyadova.

Zimmern said his paternal grandmother, Henriette — whom he described as an “observant Jew” — played a key role in shaping his upbringing and tastes.

Along with serving as president of the Mount Neboh Synagogue Sisterhood on West 79th Street in Manhattan, Zimmern’s grandmother regularly cooked traditional dishes, like poached and roasted tongue with mustard sauce, chopped liver and roasted chicken.

“I can’t smell a properly roasted chicken or a simmering brisket without being transported back to my grandmother’s kitchen,” Zimmern said.

Some of those staples will be served in the coming days when Zimmern hosts his seder.

“We don’t keep kosher at our house, but I do everything the traditional way,” he said. “The word ‘seder’ means order, and the meal rolls out in an order. I make a mean charoset. We have all of the official trappings at the table. We go through a really great Haggadah that moves us through the meal itself. I make my matzah ball soup. We have our chopped liver at the table. We have our matzah. I do a brisket, and I usually poach a salmon.”

Zimmern isn’t sure how many people he’s hosting — “final numbers are not in,” he said — but the chef already knows the message he’ll convey. “You have to be other-centered. You have to, every time you can, try to put other people before yourself.”

That sentiment is one to be shared at seder tables, on television programs and at fundraisers, he continued. “Doing for others is at the center of what we all need, especially because there’s so many who don’t have a lot in our country.”

Within Pittsburgh, about 1 in 5 children are food insecure, according to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Data from the Department of Agriculture notes that in 2022, 17% of house­holds with children (13.4 million kids) nationwide grappled with food insecurity.

Whether it’s combatting hunger or hatred, change requires more than a mere mindset, Zimmern said.

“There is a very old saying, ‘faith without works is dead,’ and I have found that very much to be my personal experience,” he said. “If you have a daily spiritual practice, and you try to be other-centered, and you try to put other people ahead of yourself, and you try to back that up with some kind of action each day, and if you put all that together, you will find over the course of years, that not only does your life improve, but the lives of others around you improve.”

It’s a time-honored recipe, that like his grandmother’s roasted chicken, Zimmern will keep reusing and sharing.

“Do something that backs up your faith and hopefulness,” he said. “Whether it’s calling your friend, whether it’s spreading awareness, whether it’s volunteerism, whether it’s getting involved with an organization, whether for some people it’s just writing a check, whatever it is, do something.” PJC

Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

Two recipes from Chef Andrew Zimmern

Charoset

Zimmern said he has never written down his charoset recipe; even so, he offered a window into his “mean charoset.”

“I use diced apples, very precise, diced ripe apricots — again very precise cuts. I poach the apricots in port wine with a little bit of brown sugar and lemon juice. When it cools, I mix the apples, the port wine, poached apricots, toasted pecans, cinnamon and nutmeg. I’ve always just winged it.”

Roast chicken with ratatouille (recipe courtesy of andrewzimmern.com)

Ingredients

Chicken

● 8 skin-on, bone-in pieces of chicken
● 1/4 cup minced onion
● 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
● 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
● 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
● 2 tablespoons olive oil
● 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
● 1 tablespoon sea salt

Ratatouille

● 1/2 medium eggplant (6 ounces), diced (2 cups)
● 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
● 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
● 1 medium zucchini, diced
● 1 medium yellow squash, diced
● 1 medium yellow onion, diced
● 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
● 3 tablespoons sliced garlic
● 2 basil sprigs
● 3 oregano sprigs
● 1/2 cup dry white wine
● 3 tomatoes (3/4 pound), diced (2 cups)
● 1 cup tomato puree
● Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Prepare the chicken

Preheat the oven to 400 F. In a large bowl, toss the chicken with all the remaining  ingredients. Arrange the chicken skin-side up on a rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 40 to 45 minutes, until the chicken is golden and cooked through.

Meanwhile, prepare the ratatouille

In a colander set over a bowl, toss the eggplant with the 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Let stand for 30 minutes. Gently squeeze the eggplant to release any bitter juices.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the eggplant and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 3 minutes. Add the zucchini, yellow squash, onion, red pepper, garlic, basil and oregano and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the wine, tomatoes and tomato puree and cook until the vegetables are tender and the sauce has thickened, about 10 minutes. Discard the herb sprigs and season the ratatouille with salt and pepper.

Transfer the ratatouille to a platter, top with the chicken and serve. Originally published in Andrew Zimmern’s Kitchen Adventures on foodandwine.com.