Personal Chef

Published 9:18 am Friday, September 4, 2015

Cooking at home has new meaning 

The perfect combination of cultures for a future chef is Italian and French. A great place to practice the art of combining them is Acadiana.

Chef Agnes Cappello of Savoir Faire was born and raised in France. Her father’s family immigrated to France from Italy before he was born. Later he met and married Cappello’s French mother.

“My passion for cooking started with my parents. They taught us how to cook; we were four girls,” Cappello said. “Every day my family would go to the market to buy, then cook, fresh foods.”

Cappello took culinary courses, but since she was good academically her father suggested having a dual degree. His advice was to do something intellectual that would stretch her. She said he was right and in 1982 got a degree and began teaching French. She wanted more and when she was 27 moved to New Orleans. Cappello said she was at the right place at the right time.

“I was involved with promoting the food and French culture in New Orleans,” Cappello said. “I worked with the tourism industry there and later in Lafayette.”

Cappello then took a break from her profession to marry and raise two children in New Iberia. Beginning in 1991, she said there was very little time for outside cooking. She started professionally cooking and giving classes 10 years ago and five years ago started her business, Savoir Faire by Agnes Cappello.

What she offers, in part, is dinner parties at people’s homes. She meets with individuals, presents them with menu options, preps for the meal prior to arrival and then prepares the dinner in the client’s kitchen. This allows for hostesses to bring out their, often rarely used, beautiful china, crystal and linens, with the luxury of a gourmet cook in the kitchen.

“Usually dinner is connected to a special occasion, the reason for the event,” Cappello said. “You won’t believe how interesting it is for me to have people open their homes and tell their family stories. It’s very personal and an experience for everyone.”

Cappello prices the meal according to the menu, number of guests and whether additional servers are needed. The clients are responsible for providing any alcohol or special requirements such as imported caviar that would be considered an additional expense.

Events range from birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and women’s gatherings. She has now moved into catering for larger groups such as baby showers, funerals and bridal luncheons or buffets. Cappello considers her business a service and enjoys creating not only the food but the atmosphere for the celebrations.

“I want to keep the dinner concept. People really like that in their homes,” Cappello said. “It’s like an upscale restaurant in the middle of your house. People are excited about it. Number one, they take pleasure to set their own table. They have beautiful things. Setting the table is an art form. I want to bring that back into a home.”

Cappello said she feels appreciated and really likes the privacy of the home and the community of people sitting around the table. She said dining this way makes people happy, they take their time, enjoy their wine, without rushing through a meal. It is enjoyable for everyone, she said.

Featured in today’s recipes is Beef Bourguignon, reminiscent of “Julia and Julia,” the movie that highlighted the developing career of Julia Child during her years living in France.

“Number one, it’s very, very delicious. Number two, it is a traditional dish of the French,” said Cappello. “It is from the area of Burgundy which produces very fine wine. A hundred years ago a lot of people in the country (France) would tenderize their beef with wine as a marinate with garlic, onions and bay leaves. They would marinate the meat in burgundy wine overnight, add in pearl onions, carrots, tomatoes and at the end, thicken the gravy with cognac or brandy.”

Cappello said you cannot use little pieces of beef, but the meat must be chunky in order to soak in the wine before browning it and then baking at least two hours. And, you drink a good burgundy with that, she said. You have to have the right wine to go with your dishes.

During her dinner parties, Cappello also talks about the food and cultures with guests. Her French background and accent brings something to the banquet beyond a traditional American meal.

“The way I see it, it’s all connected,” Cappello said. “It’s the people, the food, the culture, the wine, it’s all connected.”

Some of her Teche Area dinner parties as a personal chef and featured dishes are on her Facebook page, SavoirFaireByChefAgnes.

In New Iberia she has been the guest chef at Clementine and taught cooking classes at Accentrics kitchen and gift shop prior to its closing.

She has been teaching at Rouses in Lafayette twice a month for more than a year. She wants to cook all types of cuisine and Rouses allows her to cook whatever Rouses collectively believes customers will enjoy. Sometimes French, sometimes Italian and other times American.

“We’re lucky we live in an area where we’re such foody, foody people, and health oriented, going back to farm to table things with markets, people raising their own beef, producing their own things,” Cappello said.

One of Chef Agnes’ favorite recipes is Chicken Marengo. It combines, Cajun, French-French and Italian together. It has the Cajun crawfish and spices, the French way you cook chicken in wine sauce, tomatoes and pasta with olive oil from Italy. Cappello has made it her own, but honors the tradition of a famous Frenchman.

“I want to promote that dish. It was a favorite of Napoleon Bonaparte,” Cappello said. “His chef combined the French and Italian cuisines including crawfish when fighting in the north of Italy, a place called Marengo.”

Starting with a wine and hors-d’oeuvre reception, Sept. 14, Cappello will begin teaching adult French classes at Blue Butterfly Boutique, 141 West Main St. in New Iberia.