Cory Vicens from Allrecipes is in the Garden!
Welcome, Cory Vicens, culinary director for Allrecipes.com. Thank you for joining us in the garden. Pull up a chair, have a glass of wine and make yourself at home. Cory, here at the garden we chat a bit about wine, wineries, parings, food, restaurants, travel and everything in between.
Mary: Before we begin, can you tell us about you? What your hobbies are and where you grew up.
Cory: Thank you for inviting me Mary. I have a culinary degree from The Cordon Bleu, and consider myself pretty lucky in that I was raised in Hawaii and though I reside in Seattle, WA I’m able to call both states home. A sports nut, I love to play golf, travel, discover/try new foods and explore where and what the locals are eating when I visit a new city.
Mary: Nice, two of my favorite places. Cory, tell us a bit about Allrecipes .com and what you do there, what you love about your job.
Cory: Allrecipes was founded 14 years ago in Seattle, WA and is the #1 food site visited by over a million busy home cooks daily. The site is unique because all of the content and recipes come from the members of our community.
As for me this September will mark 5 years that I have been at Allrecipes and I’ve been privileged to have worked on many cool initiatives for the company (recipe contest, tutorial videos, special events). I’m currently a part of the Brand Marketing and Communications team where I wear many hats! I respond to media inquiries, our communities’ food questions from Facebook/Twitter/Allrecipes.tv and am currently working on our new “Allrecicpes.com What’s Cooking?” webisode series. This is such a fun project, we’re headed across the country to film short video segments from the kitchens of our community members. They are the stars of the show, sharing the tips, tricks, secrets and stories behind some of our most loved, regional and seasonal recipes.
Mary: I can say that I love the daily recipes. The other day there was one for Pesto Chicken, I will be serving that at our next wine tasting/party. When there is an article on a recipe, how do you determine what wine pairs best with the dish? In my mind, I have this image of you and some of your co-workers sitting around tasting an assortment of wines with the dish. Am I close?
Cory: Well there is never a shortage of food or wine pairings happening at Allrecipes so you are close. We do have a team of qualified food editors and specifically one, Carl Hanson, as our wine editor whose job is to review recipes and determine what wine is best paired with that dish based on the ingredients.
Mary: Your job sounds great! Almost as good as what I do. Stay home and write. I’ve been checking out the web site, all kinds of good recipes and fun stuff to check out. You can join free and sign up for the newsletter. Just go to http://allrecipes.com/ Cory, have another glass of wine or some cheese and crackers. What goes into your decision about the ‘cook of the week’?
Cory: Yes, membership is free and you can choose to receive 1 or all of our 8 newsletters with 2 additional holiday newsletters, Novembers NEW Pie Countdown and our annual December Cookie Countdown Newsletter, there is something for everyone. We do have some criteria based around being selected as our “cook of the week” featured on our homepage. Primarily it is based on a member’s level of site participation or engagement and this ranges from how many rate/reviews they have posted, number of photo submittals and if they have a published recipe. We have over 3.8 million members Mary so it is a tough job and we’d love to feature all!
Mary: Do you travel much in your job; if so, what types of places do you visit? What have been your favorites so far?
Cory: I do not travel for my job. Although most recently I do feel like I have been on the road because of my involvement with our new “Allrecipes.com What’s Cooking?” webisodes. The show premieres July 29th on Allreicpes.tv. I manage the identification, selection and state coordination of our featured home cooks for the videos, so I feel like I have been crisscrossing the country to cities and states I have not been to recently and learning more about our communities’ hometowns, their regional foods/dishes and what they themselves are preparing for the families because of this project. It’s been so great to connect with our members as they have allowed us to learn more about them and graciously (with tons of excitement) have let us into their homes.
Mary: I'm going to set a reminder for July 29th! Cory, do you have a favorite winery? Tell us how you discovered it and why it’s your favorite. We love stories here—the longer to relax with friends.
Cory: WOW this is tough one to narrow down as I do love, appreciate and collect different wines and varietals from many regions of the world. The Northwest has some wonderful vineyards and wine makers but I will have to go with a local favorite of mine DeLille Cellars. They make some special wines none of which has yet to disappoint and we came about it while dining at one of Seattle’s iconic restaurants, Canlis, in celebration of my parents 50th anniversary a few years ago. So great wine, family, and an excellent meal made for a memorable evening all the way around.
Mary: Next time I'm at the wine story, I'll be checking DeLille Cellars. Thanks! Cory please tells us what varietal you prefer when it’s time to relax in the evening with a nice glass of wine?
Cory: Well right now with it being summer and temperatures a bit warmer I am enjoying a nice glass of rose after a day of work. Refreshing and pairs well with most summer dishes.
Mary: Can you share with us a fun recipe, and which wine would pair well with it? If so, thank you very much!
This recipe pairs very well with a Pinot Noir, it’s a very versatile varietal and you can find some great values as well as many recipes at Allrecipes.com to pair it with, http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Everyday-Cooking/Food-and-Wine-Pairing/Wine-Types-N-Z/Pinot-Noir/Top.aspx
Mary: Okay, now I'm hungry. I love Salmon. Maybe I should try this for my wine tasting/party! One last thing before we let you get back to work, at the end of a long week, what restaurant do you visit to relax and get away from it all?
Cory: Well Mary if I could at the end of a long week I’d jump on a plane and head to Maui to Mama’s Fish House! My favorite! It is hard to beat fresh caught fish, fresh organic vegetables, the view is spectacular, service perfection and of course it’s always sunny and warm. But since that’s not a weekly option I’m going to have to say Chez Cory’s. I love entertaining friends and find cooking a meal relaxing, now couple that with sitting out in the garden sipping tasty wine and enjoying good conversation and it’s the absolute best way to relax and end a busy week.
You and I think a like! Thank you so much for visiting with us at Mary’s Garden, Cory.
Cheers Mary and thank you for having me!
Comments
I'm on the East Coast, but I grew up in the Seattle area, and I have to admit, I really miss the salmon. (Of course, I've got great lobster out here to make up for it! LOL)
Thanks for all the great info!
The recipes you have, are they for one or two people and if for two can they be easily pared down for an individual.
As with Donna, I live on the East Coast. The wines you recommend, are they available nationwide or do you make several suggestions for those of us not in the Northwest.
Lesli
Nice meeting you too. All of the recipes on the site are scalable, from an individual serving and upwards. The scaling feature is a favorite amongst our community especially when planning for a large party. With regards to the wine, I would check with your local wine merchant the Delille should be available nationwide but if not the winery does ship. In general I find most wine merchants very helpful when looking for a wine to pair with a dish and of course our site does make varietal suggestions for recipes. Here is a link to our wine articles http://allrecipes.com/Info/Wine-and-Beverages/Wine/Main.aspx. Cheers!
Cory
I may ask you to visit again, so be prepared.
Have a good weekend.
I found out something fun, interesting and exciting tonight. I was looking for a new and different chicken salad recipe and since I've got an iPhone I checked to see what apps they had. And low and behold an app for Allrecipes. The best part-it was free. Needless to say I downloaded it and, yes, you sure do have some really great recipes. And the best part, I can take the recipe with me to the grocery store to do my shopping. No writing it down.