Casa Nueva : Culinary Chatter

On Tuesday afternoon I sat down with Michelle Wasserman, a cook at Casa Nueva, in a cozy booth on the bodega side of the restaurant. As soon as we began talking, her cheery smile and giggly personality opened the doors for a great conversation about food, motivation and how she has benefitted from being a part of Casa's worker-owned environment. When I met her she seemed right at home, clad in a comfortable peasant skirt and Birkenstock sandals. Her maroon tank top complimented the deep red walls of the restaurant and her dreadlocks kept with the bohemian feel of her work environment.

Michelle is Casa's food coordinator, which means she has the dream job of putting together their ever-changing menu and experimenting with the local produce and organic foods that enter her kitchen. I asked her about her favorite food to incorporate into her dishes. Expecting her to say something very Athens-esque - like paw paws - I was surprised when she said cottage cheese.

"People are really resistant to baking it into a burrito, but I love cottage cheese," she told me with a prideful grin.

She said the cottage cheese, which Casa receives from the Ohio Organic Family Farm, is full of protein but low in fat, so it's ideal for their vegetarian customers. To enhance the flavor, she added her own special blend of spices to the cheese. She highly recommends that I try the cottage cheese pancakes, which she boasts as her own special concoction.

Cottage cheese is one of the "trinity" ingredients for Casa's Spring '07 menu. Each season, Michelle and her culinary team devise a trio of items that they incorporate into all their seasonal dishes. This spring, the trinity consists of a mushroom medley, green onions and cottage cheese, but will change in the summer to feature three new peak-season foods.

It's easy to tell that food is Michelle's passion. Her body tensed with excitement and her eyes glowed as she chattered about the robustness of this season's green peppers and how black beans are a fabulous addition to any salsa. She seemed so comfortable talking about the food she works with, yet she said she's had no formal culinary training.

"My grandma was a good cook, but my mom never let me in the kitchen," she laughed. "I don't know, I guess she figured I'd make a mess."

When Michelle moved to Athens in 1998, she worked at the Burrito Buggy for 5 years before she joined the Casa co-op. It's her work at Casa and the amount of time she spends reading about cooking that has taught her to be more creative when experimenting with her own recipes.

"I'm the baby here," she said. "There are people here who know much more than me. But that's OK."

Michelle said she has learned the most about food preparation and restaurant operation from a 9-month inventory project she overtook during her first year at Casa. She thoroughly explained to me the complicated process she went through of creating an Excell workbook of the restaurant's produce and costing everything out. I had a hard time understanding all the detail that went into the project, but it sounded like tedious work.

"It's the biggest thing I've ever done," she told me with the same enthusiasm and pride she revealed throughout our whole conversation. "I love it!"

Through the spreadsheet, she linked information to recipes, food cost and waste, storage spaces and even a shopping list that's available to the Casa employees. While telling me about this, she constantly referenced her schedule and laptop - because not only is she an enthusiast of all things gourmet, she is tech savvy as well.

But everything she has done at Casa has been supported by her co-workers.

"It's a great environment for learning how to run a business and getting paid at the same time."

And a true business woman she is. As we talked, co-workers broke into the conversation to pass along little updates to her.

"I triple-booked myself today," she told me.

Grateful for her generosity in taking time out of her day to give me a behind the scenes look into her life as a cook, I wrapped up the conversation. However, I will return on Thursday to see the cooks in action.