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April 23, 2010
Cooking and kibitzing
David Gale keeps Winnipeg audience laughing.
REBECA KUROPATWA
Award-winning entertainer David Gale was in Winnipeg on the evening of April 7 to host a live version of his show, Loving Spoonfuls, at the JCC Berney Theatre.
The theatre’s full house seldom had a moment to catch their breath between laughs, as Gale kibitzed and cooked with three notable local chefs: Ami Hassan of the Falafel Place, Tony DeLuca of Deluca’s Specialty Foods, Cooking School and Restaurant, and Maxine Shuster of the Rady Jewish Community Centre’s Shmoozer’s Café.
The Fress with the Best event was held as a fundraiser for the Winnipeg Jewish Federation’s Combined Jewish Appeal (CJA) women’s philanthropy branch, with co-chairs Cara Kroft and Carol Duboff. It was not the first cooking event organized by women’s philanthropy, but it was the first one to have a host.
Shuster, who has been Shmoozer’s chef for more than nine years, was born and raised in Winnipeg. Right out of high school, she started out in the restaurant world at Gary’s Deli and has remained working in the industry for 24 years, spurred by her love of cooking and baking. At the fundraiser, she and Gale, between jokes and jibes, whipped up two recipes: one for rugelach and one for a chocolate mousse log.
Deluca began experimenting with cooking at home for his friends and family, and eventually made the leap into the professional cooking world. He and Gale cooked a pasta dish with garlic, olive oil and vegetables, while sharing some cooking secrets. For instance, advised Deluca, when making pasta, use a lot of water but no oil or salt, do not rinse the pasta (only drain it) and then add olive oil first, cheese next, and finish with sauce.
Hassan came to Winnipeg in March 1986 from Bat Yam, Israel. He and his father-in-law opened the Falafel Place in September that same year. Gale and Hassan prepared a diverse selection of eastern dishes: hummus, Turkish eggplant salad and North African tabouli salad.
Tongue-in-cheek, Gale said, “I grew up in the Old Country ... the North End [of Winnipeg].... My very first language was food ... and my family’s motto is ‘Until we eat again.’”
Gale, who now lives in Toronto, said, “The tastes of Winnipeg are close to my heart, and Winnipeg will always be my home.”
After graduating high school in 1976, Gale studied theatre at the University of Minnesota. He moved to Toronto and did a stint at Theatresports, performing improv with entertainers like Mike Myers and the Kids in the Hall. Gale and Winnipeg-born friend Allan Novak decided to launch a cooking show, inspired by Novak’s Polish aunt, Ruth Zimmer, a cook of quick-witted humor.
Novak produced the Spoonfuls pilot, and the internationally broadcast TV docu-comedy was born. The show’s focus was grandmothers from varied ethnicities and food-related stories about their families and histories, which later resulted in a cookbook series. Gale won a Gemini in 2001 for his hosting, in the category of best host in a lifestyle or performing arts program or series. Today, the show is broadcast around the world.
In addition, Gale continues to do voice work, he will be hosting the alternative Indy Awards in May 2010, he volunteers as vice-president of ACTRA, the Canadian Actors’ Film and TV Union, and serves on the board of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, among other endeavors.
Rebeca Kuropatwa is a Winnipeg freelance writer.
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