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Simmer & Sift with Chef Van Aken
September 27, 2017 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
This summer’s Simmer & Sift: Summer Cooking Series celebrates Florida’s culinary history and innovation in conjunction with the MFA’s special exhibition, Skyway.
The event begins at 6 pm with guest check-in and a signature cocktail, followed by a discussion with the historian from 6:10-6:30 pm. The Chef demonstration and tasting take place from 6:30-7:45 pm.
Norman Van Aken
“Before the celebrity chef craze… before the start of Food Network, Norman Van Aken was starting a revolution. He was doing something unheard of at the time, taking local ethnic flavors, merging them together at restaurants where he worked.” — The Smithsonian
Among his many masteries as a chef, Norman Van Aken is best known for introducing “fusion” into the lexicon of modern cookery and considered to be the founding father of New World Cuisine – a celebration of Latin, Caribbean, Asian, African and American flavors. He is the only Floridian inducted into the prestigious James Beard list of “Who’s Who in American Food and Beverage” and is a 2016 MenuMasters Hall of Fame inductee along with Jacques Pépin and Wolfgang Puck.
Van Aken is a James Beard semi-finalist for “Best Chef in America” and his namesake restaurant NORMAN’S, was nominated as a finalist for “Best Restaurant in America.” He has represented the United States proud with international recognitions that include being honored alongside Alice Waters, Paul Prudhomme and Mark Miller as one of the “Founders of New American Cuisine” at Spain’s International Summit of Gastronomy ‘Madrid Fusión’ (2006) and represented the State of Florida at the USA Pavilion at EXPO Milano as part of the World’s Fair (2015).
Van Aken has shared his cooking and career, penning more than five cookbooks (Feast of Sunlight; The Exotic Fruit Book; Norman’s New World Cuisine; New World Kitchen; My Key West Kitchen) and a memoir (No Experience Necessary… The Culinary Odyssey of Chef Norman Van Aken). His cookbooks have been hailed by Anthony Bourdain, Thomas Keller, Emeril Lagasse, Mario Batali, Wolfgang Puck; while his first memoir captured the attention of the prestigious IACP/Julia Child Award and received a nomination.
MFA members are $40 per person; non-members are $50 per person for each event.