Sahar Elgamil

Meet ICE Alumna Katie Elliott, Private Chef and Content Creator

ajohnson — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 02:19:16 +0000

Meet ICE Alumna Katie Elliott, Private Chef and Content Creator ajohnson Thu, 10/12/2023 - 22:19 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/KatieTakesAWhisk%20HEADER.jpeg.webp?itok=7YYiCsKM October 13, 2023

By Sahar Elgamil

“Why choose?” This is what Katie Elliott — private chef, digital content creator and ICE alumna — asked herself when she was faced with figuring out where her culinary career would take her. She didn’t come upon the answer immediately.

“It was a long journey to get here,” Chef Katie says.

Career Beginnings

With a background in studio and digital art, Chef Katie always had a creative streak.

“I started out in advertising,” she says. “My first job out of college was on the social media team at an ad agency.”

She was doing everything from writing captions to managing the social pages and doing community outreach. From there, she began getting into content creation.

“My agency worked with a lot of food brands, so I would write recipes and shoot content using different branded products,” Chef Katie says.

This was not her first introduction to working with food for social media, however. In college, she interned at Spoon University, a food and lifestyle site powered by student contributors across the country. Chef Katie credits this experience with helping her kick off her food media career.

“They would send us recipes and we would video them, take photos and send them back to get posted on their page,” she says. “Honestly, it was a way to get free food in college, but also a way to make really cool recipe videos. I remember one of my videos showing up on the Food Network Snapchat — I was freaking out.”

After her internship, she stayed with the ad agency for five years, eventually working her way up to content manager and director of photography.

“I really grew within the company and helped build up a content studio,” Chef Katie says.

Chef Katie's Turning Point

“It was during the pandemic that I realized — okay, this is my first job out of college — and I was ready for a change,” Chef Katie says.

During this time of uncertainty, Chef Katie says what she knew for certain was that “food was always a constant" in her life. She always loved to cook. However, figuring out what she wanted her life to look like was not simple.

“I was conflicted about which direction, food or digital media, I wanted to go in,” Chef Katie says. “I remember calling my sister as I was sitting in traffic on the way to a Lakers game saying, ‘I’m not sure what I want to do’ and she told me ‘Why don’t you apply to culinary school?’”

Chef Katie found the thought interesting but was hesitant. “I didn’t want to go back to school at that point. It felt like starting over,” she says.

But the idea never left her. Further into the pandemic, Chef Katie reached out to a friend of hers who had gone to culinary school to ask for some advice. This call was impactful.

“I remember getting off the phone, walking out of my room, and saying to my [now] husband ‘I’ve decided. I’m going to culinary school,’” she says.

She reached out to ICE and took a tour of the campus. Chef Katie remembers meeting Chef Peter George, who would later become her first instructor.

“[The students] were making eggs,” she says. “I was confident I knew how to make eggs. Then of course, fast forward to the first couple weeks of school when we were making eggs, and I was terrified.”

Chef Katie entered the Culinary Arts program at ICE in February of 2021 and graduated in September of that same year.

She decided to go part-time at the ad agency while attending school so she could focus on learning more about food. When the time came for her to complete her externship, she made the decision to leave her job so she could try out restaurant work.

“I figured I should give it a shot,” she says. “It wasn’t for me, but I kind of knew that going in.”

Despite this, Chef Katie still thinks she learned a lot from her externship. “It was a good building block for when I decided to pursue more brand-side recipe development and food styling,” she says.

Starting Her Own Business

After completing a stint in recipe development and food styling for MEATER, a wireless smart meat thermometer company, Chef Katie felt it was time to strike out on her own. She began private cheffing, doing weekly meal prep and executing elaborate dinner parties for her clients. At the same time, she was filming and posting content from her dinner parties, her trips to the farmers' market and her own recipes at home.

When working, Chef Katie taps into what she learned at ICE. “The fundamentals. When you're taught the technical way of doing things, you look at cooking from a completely different perspective,” she says.

Chef Katie especially knows how much her time at ICE improved her knife skills, as well as her ability to manage her time and plan ahead.

One of ICE's greatest impacts on her, though, comes from the people she met while in school.

“I felt so nervous going into it, but this was one of the first times I was surrounded by people with the same passion, and I really hadn’t found that connection anywhere else,” Chef Katie says.

Having worked across many niches in the food industry, Chef Katie asserts that she “wouldn’t have been able to do any of them without the previous one.” She regards each experience as a stepping stone for the next one and says they all helped her get where she is now.

Chef Katie chose her current job because of the creative freedom it allows her.

“I can follow my own rules and work across the full range of my creative spectrum,” Chef Katie says. “Private cheffing and digital content creation are two of my favorite things, and I figured, why choose one when I can do both?”

Chef Katie says that starting her own business was the perfect way to balance her two passions and do them on her own terms.

Parting Advice

Chef Katie wants everyone interested in the culinary field to know there's more than just one career path with a culinary degree. “There are so many spaces for you in the food industry," she says. "If restaurant work is your path, that’s amazing, but it’s not the only one out there.”

She says that Chef George was the first person at ICE who encouraged her to pursue food media.

“When I presented him with one of my dishes during the first module, Chef George asked me where my phone was,” she says. "He said that I had to start gathering photos for my future cookbook from then on.” Having that encouragement from so early on was really impactful.

When asked if she has any advice for those thinking of going to culinary school, or for those who are already at ICE and trying to figure out what they want to do, she says: “Just take the leap. It sounds cliché, but it’s true. I’m so glad I made that jump. Take the risk and know your options. You can pursue whatever you want to, and ICE is a great place to start.”

You can check out what Katie is up to on her Instagram @katietakesawhisk.

Alumni Interview Food Media

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What is Za’atar Seasoning?

ajohnson — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 19:41:44 +0000

What is Za’atar Seasoning? ajohnson Mon, 07/17/2023 - 15:41 /sites/default/files/styles/width_1400/public/content/blog-article/header-image/Za%27atar%20photo%20header.jpg.webp?itok=0EjW8Dwo Photo by: Sahar Elgamil A look into the history, flavor and uses of the za’atar spice blend July 18, 2023

By Sahar Elgamil

As a cornerstone of Middle Eastern cuisine — and one that is rapidly growing in global popularity — za’atar seasoning is one of the most versatile and unique ingredients that the Middle East has to offer. But what is za'atar seasoning, and how is it made?

What is Za’atar?

Za’atar is a spice blend composed of herbs such as thyme, oregano, marjoram or a combination of the three, along with other spices including sesame, sumac, cumin or coriander. The seasoning blend first dates back to the 12th century, making it one of the most ancient spice blends in both Levantine culture and in the world. Its origins are in Palestine, though za'atar quickly spread to other countries and eventually became ubiquitous throughout the Middle East.

As with any homemade recipe — and especially one this old — each za’atar seasoning recipe varies slightly region to region, and even family to family. However, there is one ingredient that you can count on being in every za’atar seasoning recipe worth its salt: sumac.

Sumac provides a uniquely tangy, almost citrusy flavor that gives za’atar spice its inimitable taste.

How to Use Za’atar

One of za’atar’s greatest attributes lies in its versatility — enjoy it sprinkled over any dip, like labneh, hummus or baba ganoush. You can use it in a marinade for meat or vegetables or combine it with olive oil to create a paste.

Za'atar spice is a key ingredient in man’oushe, which is pita that is topped with the za'atar-olive oil paste before baking. Man'oushe is a very popular any-time-of-day snack in the Middle East.

ICE Los Angeles Chef-Instructor Stephen Chavez is no stranger to za’atar’s wide-ranging uses and unique flavor.

“l like za’atar on bagels or crackers or like, crudite," he says. "I like to sprinkle it on vegetables. I really like it where it can almost be the main accent. Especially on bagels with a little bit of cream cheese or sumac or something like that. When you add it on there, it makes things stand out.”

The way I grew up eating za’atar — and personally my favorite way — is to fill up a small dish with olive oil and another with za’atar and to simply dunk a piece of bread in each and then eat it. It’s unbelievably simple, but completely addicting.

Recipe: Roasted Za’atar Chickpeas

Za’atar’s Influence

Growing up, no one around me really knew what za’atar was; I never saw it outside my home. However, the za'atar spice blend that I and so many Arab-Americans grew up eating has steadily made its way over to the West. It has begun to spring up everywhere — on bagels, on croissants stuffed with labneh and even in pasta.

This uptick in popularity can be attributed to many things. Social media has undoubtedly played a role, but I think a huge part of this cultural culinary exchange is Arab and middle eastern chefs finally having the space and courage to showcase their food; chefs like Sami Tamimi, the Palestinian co-author of many best-selling cookbooks including “Ottolenghi,” “Jerusalem” and “Falastin.”

His books brought forth recipes and ingredients that were certainly not at the forefront of the culinary world for many years. However, with works like his and many others, ingredients like za’atar have begun to show up in various restaurant menus, cooking shows and fusion recipes like this za’atar fish and chips.

Za’atar’s fragrant, herby and tangy flavor profile lends itself well to many different applications. Adding it to rice, salads, roasted vegetables or any number of dishes is a great way to experience new flavors and to bring a bit of zest to your kitchen.

How to Make Za’atar

I happened to be over at a close family friend’s house recently and he told me how his mother used to make za’atar back home. In Palestine, they harvest the wild thyme that grows on the hillsides, dry it, and crush it between their hands. His family keeps their recipe extremely simple, with just thyme, sumac, toasted sesame and salt. There is so much passion and history within these simple ingredients, and that shone through brightly when he described it to me.

During my own time at ICE, one of the last modules of the curriculum was International Cuisine, including that of Northeastern Mediterranean countries. Our book did not include a standalone za’atar seasoning recipe, but I do recall one for a lamb kofte that unwittingly contained the spice blend.

Listing sumac, oregano, cumin and sesame in the ingredients, this recipe was a great example of how prevalent the flavor of za’atar is throughout Middle Eastern cuisine (even if it wasn’t specifically labeled as such). It’s also a good reminder as to why having your own premade za’atar as a pantry staple is the most convenient way to access those flavors without measuring out each individual ingredient.

Of course, you can use a store-bought za’atar spice blend too. However, the best way to experiment with your perfect blend is to make it at home, which is surprisingly simple.

Here is a standard za'atar seasoning recipe to get you started:

1/3 cup dried thyme or oregano
1/4 cup ground sumac
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon salt

Combine these ingredients and enjoy as you like. Store the za'atar seasoning in a plastic bag or tightly sealed container to it keep fresh.

As I mentioned, you can experiment with za’atar to a certain extent. This recipe is just one simple variation of the many wonderful ways you can make za’atar.

Ingredient Exploration