Accomplished chef Rachael Perron offers tips to perfect your holiday meal.
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Growing up watching Julia Child with her father and reading cooking magazines, Rachael Perron was destined for culinary success. Crowned Grand Champion at the Supermarket Chef Showdown in Chicago in June, Perron has taken the skills learned at home and at her parents’ bakery and put them to competitive use as well as in her role as culinary director at Kowalski’s Markets. There, she works to develop new products and stay on top of emerging food and flavor trends. Oddly enough, Perron spent 12 years as an accountant before transitioning back to her culinary roots. “I decided to look at my life and see what gave me that excitement that my co-workers had for accounting,” Perron says.
Rachael Perron’s Tips on Entertaining for the Holidays:
- Balance your menu: hot with cold, sweet with savory, and a variety of textures are important.
- Offer something sweet: A dinner party without a sweet treat is “like leaving a movie before it ends,” Perron says.
- Don’t overstock the bar: It’s impossible to satisfy everyone’s tastes, and buying wine and spirits gets expensive quickly. Stick to one wine, one cocktail and a beer, Perron says.
