Meet the Chef: Suhair Lauck
Title: Co-owner, chef, cashier, hostess at The Little Tea Shop
Age: 50 plus and holding.
Who or what was your first cooking influence? My mother. She raised nine children, so we grew up seeing (her) in the kitchen. We always helped mama.
Photo by Michael DonahueMIchael Donahue/The Commercial Appeal
MIchael Donahue/The Commercial Appeal
Suhair Lauck is a co-owner and chef at The Little Tea Shop on Monroe.
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What was the first thing you ever cooked or baked? Rice pilaf. (I was) maybe 10 years old or even younger.
What made you decide to become a chef and when was that? When I immigrated to the United States in '67, the food was completely different from what I was used to in the Middle East. I started cooking every day, lunch and dinner. My neighbor tasted, the friends tasted and I belonged to the International Club of Memphis, so we'd bring a dish. People said, "Wow." And I said, "I have something." I learned the best recipes from my mom.
What was your first food-related job? I worked for La Baguette at the bakery. Part of it was a little cafe. I started cooking stuff for them and people liked it.
What was something important that a fellow chef taught you? To use the Saran wrap and foil at the same time and steam stuff. That was the neatest trick ever. Sarah Smith, right here (at The Little Tea Shop).
What is the Suhair Lauck style? Southern-style cooking the healthy way. There's no pork, no grease. Fresh ingredients.
Describe one of your dishes on your current menu? The Hopping John. The Hopping John from the South everybody thinks of black eyed peas and turnip greens and ham hock. But I cooked it like this once or twice without the pork in it. I didn't care much for it, so I created a dish. (It's made of) lentils and spinach and herbs and spices and it's on top of rice.
What do you cook or bake at home, if anything? Nothing. Don't mention food. Even if my husband says what's for dinner, I say, "What?"
What's your least favorite ingredient? I cannot stand cilantro and mustard. The yellow mustard, the icky mustard. Cilantro, there's no way I can eat it. But I use it dry -- coriander, the seeds, I use it daily. That's one of my favorite spices. Dry mustard, I use it for cooking. I tolerate that. But mustard in general on a hamburger or hotdog, no way.
-- Michael Donahue: 529-2797
The Little Tea Shop is at 69 Monroe; 525-6000.
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