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Featured Chef Tom Lacalamita
Bio
My first encounter with the pressure cooker was in 1977 living in Spain where I was a language student. I shared an apartment with 3 Spanish students. Since I was the only one who knew my way around the kitchen, I was the appointed cook by default. We were all living on tight budgets, and it was my job to prepare 3 meals a day on $50 a week. The thing that really saved us was "the noisy pot with the twirling valve" found in the apartment that we had rented. Before I knew it I was preparing almost every conceivable Spanish dish possible and even a few creations of my own in my trusty pressure cooker.
I was extremely disappointed with the lack of appealing pressure cooker recipes available in this country. For lack of other alternatives, I began to adapt and cook in the pressure cooker some of the foods I had grown up eating - to great success. I became even more when information on the (health benefits) Mediterranean diet was first published in the mid 1990's. The results of years of delicious pressure cooked meals are compiled in my recent book, The Ultimate Pressure Cooker Cookbook. I have ventured beyond the Presto classic and now have an impressive collection of pressure cookers. I have also learned to appreciate the pleasure of cooking in the new, European, stainless-steel, spring-valve and developed weight-valve regulated models. Nevertheless, I have never strayed from its origins and continue preparing essentially Mediterranean foods in this, my most valuable of kitchen tools, the pressure cooker.
More Info
This Turkish menu I've chosen from my new book, The Ultimate Pressure Cooker Cookbook is especially good when Spring lamb is available and is sure to please your family and friends.
