…is the executive chef at Gourmet magazine, but most people know her from her television shows. Sara used to host a show on the Food Network called “Cooking Live” where she cooked with professional chefs and culinarians. Now she has a series on PBS called “Sara’s Weeknight Meals”. She is also the food editor for the “Good Morning America” television show. I met her years ago when I first appeared on GMA and she was nice enough to crack all my eggs for me!

I’d been on Sara’s Food Network show twice, once cooking omelets and once making soufflés. Though her new series doesn’t allow for guests, I recently contacted Sara to see if she would whip up some omelets on her show. I sent her a list of the omelets that I customarily demonstrate to live audiences. They included a Japanese tomago roll omelet, a French omelet Lorraine with wine in the egg batter and filled with gruyere cheese and bacon, a classic Denver Western omelet, an omelet wrap plus several other varieties. I guess she was intrigued enough by this list of culinary sensations, since she set a lunch date to talk more about the omelets I had sent. We got together at Benoit, Alain Ducasse’s new French bistro restaurant.

I learned that Gourmet magazine doesn’t allow coated cookware because they bought into the Teflon cancer scare (which I understand has so far only been shown to release fumes that can kill canaries if the empty pan is left to overheat). So I brought along a simple 10-inch coated pan to give to her only to learn that she, herself, uses coated pans all the time! It’s only the magazine’s test kitchens that don’t. I also brought her my instructional DVD in which I demonstrate my foolproof 40-second omelet technique. Lastly, I brought along a list of all the filling suggestions I had mentioned to her previously.

We talked about mistakes I thought people make when cooking eggs in general and omelets in particular. We also talked about why omelet making seems to intimidate so many people (is it that it’s a French culinary thing?) and how to simplify the process, though I think my technique couldn’t be simpler.

We also reminisced about her Food Network days when a mutual friend of ours, Todd Coleman, was in charge of the food preparation for her series. Todd is now the food editor of Saveur magazine. Last week, I got a call from one of his staff asking about how to crack open an egg.  We spoke for over half an hour on that one subject! Who knew there was that much to say about such a simple thing? I understand the interview will appear in the magazine’s November issue. Keep your eyes peeled.

Sara is now digesting all of the information and material I dumped on her at lunch. She promised she’d let me know when to watch for her cooking omelets on her show – don’t worry, I’ll keep you updated!

It’s enormous. The size of the show, of course, reflects Florida’s popularity as a destination. Florida is mighty popular. Orlando was mobbed despite the hot weather and so many kids back in school. I was there at the invitation of the Florida Poultry Federation.At the show, it’s terrific watching teams of chefs compete for awards. I spent the most time watching the team from Universal Studios though I never learned where they placed in the competition. Even more terrific was watching pizza makers compete for a slot on the American team for the International Pizza Competition. I learned that two years ago the American team took the gold, in Italy of all places! Last year in Paris they placed second.  Prizes are given to the best pizza maker, of course. Other pizza competitions included acrobatic dough tossing, the fastest pizza maker, the biggest pizza dough stretch and dough throwing for kids. It was all so entertaining that I almost missed my own omelet presentations at my booth!

Everyone eats at the Restaurant Show. Within Orlando’s huge Convention Center there were hundreds of food vendors and food suppliers, almost all giving samples of their wares. At our booth, I made omelets to order by the hundreds. We also gave out hard cooked eggs on a stick and New England Johnny Cakes. Even though there were so many interesting foods to taste at the show, eggs still ranked way up there in popularity.

Speaking of other interesting foods, there was alligator meat prepared several ways, cheeses from everywhere in the world cut into 1-inch cubes for tasting, I tried 8 different varieties of canned tomatoes from a single vendor, 5 different flavors of chicken wings (boneless, oven roasted, Italian, barbecue and spicy hot) and a dozen different Asian sauces for all manner of food. There was a huge array of different bottled waters, all vying  for attention simply because of the amazingly artistically beautiful bottles they’re sold in.

There were many different cappuccino machines, two different totally automatic sushi roll making machines, one even slicing the roll automatically, pasta making machines, and even an a dedicated automatic hot milk frother for café au lait and other exotic coffees.  It didn’t make the coffee, only the froth!

There was a company that made food replicas, incredibly realistic dishes that totally fooled the eye, and an array that looked like it included every dish on every menu you’ve ever ordered from. There was a company that made and installed fountains to fill a wall of a restaurant. There were companies selling uniforms and comfy shoes for serving staffs, micro vegetables from around the world supplied in the very earth they’re grown in,  Mexican style food delivered pre-prepared and – get this – microwave-ready so that any restaurant can serve the “authentically made” food in 90-seconds. Selections included poblano peppers and cheese, pork with green salsa, and sweet corn tamalitoes. And it all tasted pretty good to me, but then, all Mexican food tastes pretty good to me anyhow.

I loved the gelatos, the biscottis, the different exotic pizzas and soups, and exotic pastas and fish, and exotic breads and buns and flatbreads and even an amazing variety of beefs.  And even though the show is on lots of acres of floor space through which I walked miles and miles, and despite the hours I spent standing and cooking omelets non-stop, I know I gained considerable weight experiencing it all. It was worth it.