THE HEALTHY CHEF
Houston's top chefs offer advice on low-fat, flavorful cooking
JEAN-PHILIPPE GUY
BISTRO PROVENCE and BISTRO DON CAMILLO
“There has always been a paradox about French food. The myth is that French food is very rich and, therefore, not good for you. Ironically, there is a best-selling book called “French Women Don’t Get Fat” in which the author discusses the merits of not just the ingredients common in the French diet, but also the lifestyle.
“Eating is very important in French culture, but it is a love of seasonal, fresh foods and natural flavors, not just filling the appetite or overpowering the taste buds. Growing up, I had three meals at specific intervals: breakfast, lunch and dinner, with one snack at 4 p.m. If I got up late, I did not eat anything until lunch. Fruits, vegetables and dairy products, particularly cheese, are in almost every meal. People think of French food having so much butter. At Bistro Provence, we are more likely to use olive oil, butter is more for cooking. You do not see people covering bread in butter.”
“While we take physical fitness seriously in the U.S., we have difficulty incorporating it into our routine. In France, people walk everywhere. That is not convenient here, but I find it helpful to look for ways to put exercise into my routine, like parking the car farther from my destination, using stairs or walking the dog. My wife Genevieve and I teach our children that food is an adventure, not something to just fill the stomach. When we all go to the grocery store, we try to find something the kids have never tried and ways to prepare it. Teaching children how to eat wisely is made difficult thanks to the food they are served in school. When are we going to realize we are slowly killing our kids this way?”
Tough Choices
Dr. Beth Dennard, a well-known expert in college planning and placement, has been coaching adolescents for over 30 years. Dennard, who appears this month on “Living Smart With Patricia Gras” on HoustonPBS, worked 15 years as an admissions liaison officer for the U.S. Air Force Academy and nine years as a private high school guidance counselor.
Dennard, who also taught at the Air Force Academy, the University of Houston at Clear Lake and San Jacinto College, says picking a college that is right for you can be overwhelming. “Things have changed, and there is a right-fit college for every student. One of my early mentors would used the line, ‘There is a Harvard for everyone,’ meaning there is really a good fit for every single student no matter what their credentials."
Dennard advises students to analyze themselves before they try picking a school. What are the student’s interests, strengths and personality? “If you start with where your best friend is going to college or where your parents graduated from, you are making decisions based on someone else’s personality and strengths, and you need to look inside yourself first,” she says.
Parents tend to want what is best for their children, but Dennard makes it clear that their children may be very different from them and they need to make their own decision. “Sometimes parents become very enthusiastic about this process, and they are well meaning,” she says. “They love their children, they want the best, but they forget that it is really the student’s life, not theirs.”
She says choosing a college is one of the most important decisions a young person will make.
“College is a life-framing experience. It is a right of passage for most American young people,” she said.
On our “Green Tip” for this program, we discuss green college dorms with Richard Johnson and Spencer Howard.
“Living Smart with Patricia Gras” airs Sundays at 3 p.m. and repeats Fridays at 10 p.m. on HoustonPBS channel 8 KUHT. For more information, visit Houstonpbs.org/livingsmart, or Patriciagras.net.
Patricia Gras also co-hosts “Latina Voices: Smart Talk.” Check listings at Latinavoices.com.
—Patricia Gras
Photo: Gras With Dennard [Photo By Anisworth Duvernay]
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