46 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY NOVEMBER 23-29, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com FACE TO FACE To visit with Mary Chamberlin is to travel the culinary world. The chef, instructor and cookbook author has been everywhere in search of flavors, learning cooking techniques and collecting recipes for works like The Traveling Cookbook and The Traveling Soup Pot. And it’s hard to find a person more influential, as Chamberlin takes leadership roles in organizations such as the James Beard Foundation, the American Institute of Wine & Food and Les Dames d’Escoffier International, as well as volunteering for less lofty functions, such as Meals on Wheels. Chamberlin opened Mission Deli in San Francisco with two people and grew it to a staff of 80 before selling the restaurant and moving to Monterey County. She also operated the Mission Gourmet Cooking School. In fact, it would be difficult to outline all of her activities and accomplishments. Chamberlin was born on an Illinois farm and moved with her family to Chicago and then California. She has a teaching certificate from the University of California, but worked as an executive secretary before going to culinary school at West Valley College and Cordon Bleu in Paris. She also spent time in Little Rock and Dallas. She remains active in retirement, hosting charity dinners, teaching courses, serving on the board of the August Escoffier School of Culinary Arts and more—quite a bit more. The Weekly caught up with her in her Carmel kitchen (once featured in Better Homes & Gardens), where she was eager to prepare omelets. Weekly: Why write cookbooks? Chamberlin: I did my cookbooks because I had all these treasured recipes and I felt they should be put in a book. I sent it out and no one was interested. I thought, “I’ll do it myself.” Traveling Soup Pot is in its seventh printing. Is there an art to putting a cookbook together? I said that if I were going to have a cookbook, I would not have to put a brick on it [to hold the page flat]. It’s ringbound. You can put hundreds of recipes in a book, but that doesn’t mean people will use all of them. It’s about quality. I got the chilled red and yellow tomato soup from Chef Alan Wong. It’s one of the finest chilled soups you’ll have in your life. It’s divine. There’s a reason for every soup in the book. How did you manage to get to so many places? My husband was a pilot. When he proposed to me, he said, “Marry me and fly for free.” But my first experience overseas was Paris. Here I was, a young girl. My brother was getting married and I said, “I’m going to the wedding.” So I borrowed the money. It didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped. I was in a terrible auto accident a day after my brother’s wedding. I healed, but I lost my secretarial skills. (Chamberlin’s hand is still damaged from the long-ago accident; she spent three months in a French hospital.) What got you into cooking? After the accident I thought, “What am I going to do with my life?” I like to cook. I experienced only homemade food until we moved to Chicago. My mother would do all the canning. So I enrolled in culinary school. When I opened Mission Deli, I promised God I would not be open on Sunday and that I would always have something for a dollar. When I sold it, I had $2 million yearly in sales. Have things changed in the culinary world? There’s a change in what’s happening with food. For example, I do not think you need to heat things up with chiles. It’s barbaric. The heat takes away from the other flavors. There’s no reverence for recipes. [Laughs] Maybe I don’t fit in anymore. You’ve run kitchens and organizations, taught cooking, hosted dignitaries—how did you do it all? Sometimes it’s like, “Did I do that?” My life was never say no. When something presents itself, do it. It’s there for you. This interview comes with omelets. I’m going to do a three-egg omelet. The eggs have to be at room temperature. I’m going to put a little pad of water in each one. All I’m going to do is put the eggs together. I have this fire on full blast. When the butter foam breaks, I pour in the omelet—and I don’t stop stirring. The perfect omelet is less than 30 seconds in the pan. Now watch this [folds omelet from the pan]. Voila! This is the best omelet I’ve ever had. It had better be [laughs]. I’m just joking. I just wanted you to see how the texture of the egg should be. World Class Mary Chamberlin is a culinary influencer of the old school, no social media required. By Dave Faries Mary Chamberlin prepares an omelet in her home kitchen, which she also uses as a culinary classroom and to prepare dinners for charity. It was an impressive omelet. 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