A podcast! Hurrah! (And, in case you accidentally scrolled right past it just now, just scroll back up to the top of this post to listen.)
Today we’re at the table with Nils Riis and Tammy Rampone, two of the best home cooks and hosts I know, and two friends who never cease to inspire me. Gastronomy has nothing to do with either’s profession (Nils is a human-rights lawyer and Tammy a naturopath), but they have made a side vocation of food and adventurous travel, a combination that leads to outstanding dinner parties that you wish would never end — and that you wish you could pull off as well as they can. Here they are in action on the day we recorded this podcast, preparing a Sri Lankan feast:
Their dinner parties always take on a different theme. Here’s a smattering of their imaginative and exotic creations from over the years:
I asked Tammy and Nils a few bonus questions after the podcast:
Can you tell us some foods that you have in your kitchen that most of the rest of us probably don’t?
Thai curry paste from Bangkok, butter from Normandy, wild fennel from Sicily, yuzu kosho, three kinds of radicchio, pre-made Negroni, salsa macha, pickled caper leaves, and a week’s worth of salad jars to take to work for lunch. Oh, we also have a salt cupboard. Once we discovered that salt wasn’t just salt, we were compelled to buy local salt whenever we travel. It’s a nice touch to add a sense of place to a dish, and I just love salt.
What are some cooking items that you can’t live without?
Surgical gloves. They’re the best way to toss salad, because hands are gentle and get the leaves evenly coated with dressing. Also, these gloves are essential for handling hot chilis (mistakes have been made…).
Our Pyro Star Table Gas Lighter for torching a dessert, or lighting candles and cigars. It’s not like those tiny ones that take forever to caramelize the tops of crème brulée.
Our wood-burning Argentinian-style barbecue. You can grill on it, you can spit roast, you can hook things on the bar to raise and lower over the heat to your liking. It makes the best bisteca florentina, whole fish, and all sorts of kebabs. It takes much longer than a gas barbecue and requires a lot of practice and intention, but the flavour is worth it.
Our Bradley Smoker. Once you make your own bacon it’s hard to go back to store-bought. We also use it to smoke fish and nuts and anything we think might benefit from a hint of smoke.
Tammy’s vintage egg slicer. It makes pretty avocado slices, too.
What are some of your most cherished tabletop items:
Nils’s Viking-ship salt cellar, a tongue-in-cheek nod to his Norwegian heritage. We bring it out for Scandinavian-themed dinners.
Our Sri Lankan ice bucket, which is beautiful in its simplicity.
Tiger-themed plates and bowls from Chiang Mai for a playful pop of colour.
Vintage bubbly coupes from Italy. They’re so delicate, and they’re a beautiful reminder of an antique market in Puglia.
Finally, would you give us three hosting tips to help us all up our game?
1. Cook what you’re comfortable cooking, but, at the same time, don’t be afraid to get adventurous. Borrow a cookbook from the library about a cuisine you maybe don’t know much about, choose dishes for a menu that you can manage, then have fun giving it a go. And invite people over who will be sports about trying something new.
2. Make batch cocktails in advance so you’re not scrambling at the last minute, and serve everyone the same thing, rather than trying to run a speakeasy.
3. Know your audience and recognize people’s unique comfort zones and relationships with food, but also press a bit so that you’re exposing them to something mind-opening and exciting.
Thank you, Tammy and Nils! Until we eat again…
Hosts at Home, with Tammy and Nils