The following article was submitted by the Manitowoc Public Library, and written by Brix Chef, Casey Scherer.
Dear Diary:
I know, I know. It’s been a long thyme, but don’t worry your little heart. I swear I did NOT forget about you. Blame it on COVID.
I am worried maybe you forgot about me though, so I’ll refresh your memory. Name’s Casey Scherer and I guess people would say I’m a chef. I mean, yeah, I am a chef. It just feels weird calling myself that because I feel like I’m still a cook. Because I’m still learning. That’s one of the things I love most about cooking is that you really can always learn something new. ALWAYS! And I’m working with Manitowoc Public Library again to hopefully teach all of you guys a couple, two, tree new things about spices in my new two-part series on the Library’s Facebook page—Spice It Up with Chef Casey! Also, to have some fun and enjoy some tasty food.
So, lettuce ketchup real quick, huh? I’ve been cooking all my life. Grew up in Two Rivers and started in the restaurant business when I was the ripe age of 14 or 15. Now I’m 32, so I’ll leave it up to you to do the math. I have an associate’s degree in Applied Science of Culinary Arts from Le Cordon Bleu in Minneapolis (fancy, I know). Worked at some nice places in the Twin Cities, came back to the Manitowoc area, and worked at a few places here. For the past eight months or so, I’ve been helping hold down the kitchen at one of the newest restaurants around—a beautiful place called Brix.
Brix Chef Casey Scherer
So, spices. How’s that for a transition? Everyone has some somewhere in their cupboard at home. But, what the heck are they and what the heck do you do with them??? Well that’s exactly what I’m teaching everyone in these new videos. One already premiered on July 22nd if for some reason you live under a rock and missed it! Lucky for you it’s still available on MPL’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/manitowoclibrary) in the “Videos” section. That one is all about the lovely spice that is cumin in all its glory. I whipped up some very tasty cumin-spiced chicken tacos with a chayote slaw that is to die for! That recipe is also available on MPL’s Facebook page. So, it’s not too late. Just head to the “Past Events” area get that recipe. Check it out now!
Premiering Thursday, August 5th, at 6 PM will be an episode focusing on fenugreek burgers!!! I’m super excited for this one. Let’s be honest here: how many people in these parts have ever even heard of fenugreek or have the slightest clue what to do with it? Or even what it tastes like?
I’m going to tease you a bit here and tell you I guarantee that almost everyone has had fenugreek on their pancakes for breakfast and didn’t even know it. I’m sure you can figure it out from there, but just tune-in to find out.
I’m going to be demonstrating how to make a fantastic burger with the perfect sweet and spicy balance to wow all the guests at your end-of-summer BBQ. And, we’ll also be featuring it as a special at Brix if you want me to cook it for you. I really just want people to learn some basic things about spices that they’re familiar with like cumin and then ones they aren’t like fenugreek. By doing that hopefully I’ll inspire you to go out on your own, research and learn about spices, and use them in your cooking. Boring foods sucks. And spices are like magic.
Please don’t be afraid of something because it has a weird name or you’ve never heard of it or you have heard of it, but don’t know what to do with it. The name of the series is “Spice It Up with Chef Casey,” so do that Spice it up—spice up your life, spice up everything!
While I’m here in my diary again, I want to talk about one more thing.
I know COVID has been hard on EVERYONE. It’s terrible. No way around that. It’s so refreshing to be trying to get back to normal. But, I really hope everyone takes into consideration how incredibly hard this has been for both the Library and every single restaurant. And it still is. We’re doing our best right now. Working long hours while understaffed. Honestly every restaurant still open is lucky to be open. A lot of them didn’t survive. And I know the Library is so happy to be open again.
So, please—please—just be nice. Show some patience and understanding. And I’ll be straight with you—we’re never going to live up to the fantasy people have been dreaming-up the past year about what’s going to happen next. It’s just impossible. But, it’s still going to be great. I can promise you that.
Hope to cashew later!
Love,
Casey Scherer
