Everyday Chef: His dishes celebrate diversity of U.S. cultures

He makes his living behind the camera, but 58-year-old Glen Mason comes to life when he’s the star of his own show.

Mason, a producer and director for Right Angle Media, puts on his culinary performances in his Norfolk kitchen.

“I try to celebrate the diversity of cultures in America and share them with close friends and family,” he said. “I’m influenced by recipes, cooks and chefs that preserve regional cooking traditions.”

Mason recently cooked up his version of a reveillon, a holiday feast enjoyed by the Creole culture. A dozen family members and friends were lucky enough to attend.

Guests lined up for a buffet that included a Waldorf salad made from his mother’s recipe, shrimp etouffee, crab imperial, two gumbos, a sweet potato souffle and bread pudding.

Mason has traveled extensively, and he said food gives him an insight into different regions.

“You learn about people through the foods they eat and the manner in which they prepare them,” he said.

 Mason credits his late father, Glen Mason Sr., with helping him develop an adventurous palate at an early age.

“He wasn’t afraid to try new recipes he’d get from someone he met on a fishing pier or from someone he encountered in a supermarket aisle,” Mason said.

“He was always in pursuit of the best ingredients, a certain spice or cheese and would track it down until he found it. That kind of rubbed off on me.”

A childhood diagnosis of severe asthma also played a role in Mason’s early love of cooking. As a kid, he’d spend sick days home from school watching Julia Child on TV.

His dabbling turned into a full-on hobby, and soon Mason was preparing dinner for his parents and four siblings.

“I had to be the only child at 16 who had a subscription to Bon Appetit magazine!” he said.

Besides offering relief to his parents, cooking helped with the girls.

“I was a weird cross between a geek and an athlete,” he said. “I needed some game.”

Mason used his skills while courting Inez Blount , whom he married in 1989. On one of their first dates, Glen offered to cook for Inez.

“He said, 'Pick a country,’” Inez remembered. “I said, 'France.’”

For dinner, Glen fixed duck a l’orange, quiche Lorraine with a mushroom sauce and lettuce soup.

Inez has learned that her husband has an obsession with food; he often wakes her up after she’s gone to bed so she can try an experimental dish.

And if anyone questions her husband’s cooking skills, she points to her voluptuous figure and notes, “My wedding dress was a size 7.”

Over the years, Mason has made some culinary blunders. He once tried to prepare egg-drop soup for his mother-in-law, but a couple of rum and Cokes slowed his reaction time on the salt shaker. The over-salted soup was inedible.

Another time, he tried to use up a bunch of cayenne peppers by cooking them down. The result was a pepper-spraylike aroma that chased the sneezing couple out of their house and into the driveway for a picnic on the car.

But a few mishaps haven’t stopped him. He continues not only to cook in his own home but also to cater parties for Alvin Keels, who is responsible for bringing together Mason and his  “culinary musketeers,” a group of friends who swap recipes, share techniques and cook together.

Mason also plans on directing and producing a documentary on the cuisine of southeastern  Virginia, focusing on the region’s great chefs – past and present – and its noteworthy foods.

“I want to do something that could help make Hampton Roads a culinary destination,” he said.

Holly Van Auken, hvavb74@gmail.com

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Shrimp Etouffee
Olive oil
1 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 cup celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
½ cup flour
½ teaspoon blackened cayenne pepper
Pinch of sea salt
½ cup chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
¼ teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1 tablespoon brown mustard
3 to 4 pounds large shrimp, deveined
Cooked rice
Sauteed blue crab

Drizzle enough extra virgin olive oil to lightly coat large skillet.

Saute onions, a smashed garlic clove, celery and green pepper. Add red peppers for color.

As the vegetables smother down, add flour, parsley and spices.

After mixture turns into a creamy sauce/gravy, add shrimp.

Simmer and sprinkle with seasonings to taste.

After sauce comes to a boil, lower heat and simmer. Don’t overcook shrimp.

Serve over rice.

Place a dollop of sauteed blue crab and chopped fresh parsley in center of serving as a garnish.

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Sweet and Sour Cabbage
2 heads red cabbage, cut into long slawlike slices
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 to 1 cup sugar (to taste)
½ cup mulling spice (in a cheesecloth bag)
1 cup white wine
Pinch of salt
Cracked black pepper

Braise cabbage in a syrup of vinegar, sugar, spice, wine, salt and pepper. Cook until al dente.

Remove from heat. May be served hot or cold.