“America Tonight with Kate Delaney” featuring John Tramontana

by ReadersMagnet | May 2, 2024 | radio interview | 0 Comments

John Tramontana sat down with Kate Delany on “America Tonight” to talk about his book When It Tastes Good, It’s Done. Mangia!

Author John Tramontana sat down and talked about his book When It Tastes Good, It’s Done. Mangia! on “America Tonight with Kate Delaney,” hosted by Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Kate Delaney. John shared how he learned to cook, his chemical engineering degree, running a restaurant business, and the innovative lessons his book offers.

John Learned to Cook from His Grandmother.

John shared how he learned to cook from his grandmother. He used to go to the garden to get some herbs that her grandmother would utilize when cooking in their kitchen. “I cook with my grandmother all the time. I was always in the kitchen doing something, either going to the garden to get basil or other herbs that she had out there. When I came back, we cooked. And there were no recipes; everything was done with a pinch of that and a handful of this, and that’s how I learned to cook in her kitchen.”

The When It Tastes Good, It’s Done. Mangia! author also added, “I was the oldest of the grandchildren. I was like the only grandson for four years. So, she taught me what she wanted to teach me and everything she knew. She did a great job!”

John Has a Degree in Chemical Engineering

One of John’s high school teachers encouraged him to pursue chemical engineering. He also holds an MBA from the University of Buffalo.

“It worked out well. I had a relatively good chemical engineering degree and an MBA that I got from the University of Buffalo. And my last corporate job, I was a chief operating officer of a food ingredient company. That helped with my cooking.”

John Talks About Being a COO of a Food Ingredient Company

Kate Delaney got curious about his life as a COO of a food ingredient company. John shared his job in the industry saying, “We made a lot of different chemicals that went into food items. We made Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate, all of which are strong preservatives for the food industry.” 

John added, “One of the things that I did on a routine basis was go to China for a month. I went in to qualify the import material citric acid material from China and made sure it met all the FDA. Once we got all those audits done, we negotiated the pricing and brought a fair amount of citric acid from China for our products.”

John’s Book is Broken into Sections

When It Tastes Good, It’s Done. Mangia! by John Tramontana is a compilation of recipes broken into sections.

“[The book] is broken up into sections. There is an appetizer recipe and there are some dessert recipes that my wife actually helped me out. She was the dessert person in the family. And I went through various sauces. You know, Marinara sauce, Alfredo sauce, and just things like that, and you take the marinara sauce, and you use that not only as a sauce on its own but as an ingredient for the other sauces. So when you make, for instance, a cioppino, which is a seafood stew. You’ll make a seafood stock and mix that with the marinara and you’ll cook the fish in that. When it starts to taste terrifically, it’s a wonderful seafood stew.

John’s Favorite Recipe

Kate proceeded to ask John about his favorite recipe in his book. He mentioned two recipes: Shrimp and Asparagus and Veal Parmesan.

“The ‘Shrimp and Asparagus’ is a pretty simple recipe, and it’s our go-to recipe. Our family recipe. It’s simply Shrimp Aglio Olio with broccoli, and it’s very good. And I kind of prefer the ‘Veal Parmesan,’ too. When you pound out the veal, get it thin and fry it out, and when it comes out, it melts in your mouth; you can cut it with a fork. It’s terrific. So those are two of my favorites, I guess. But there are many!

John Used to Own a Restaurant

John and his family had a restaurant that was active for ten years. However, he finally decided to stop its operation because he thought that running an international business was easier than keeping a restaurant.

“We had a restaurant for ten years. And it was difficult in the beginning because it was something that I did not quite know to jump into, and running an international business for me was significantly easier than running a restaurant and different rules and regulations and all that stuff, and you know, you’re really working with the public directly as I was a chef. It was a lot of work, but it was fun. In the end, we did very, very well. It was certainly something, and I’m very glad I did it. Another check on the bucket list.”

Tramontana also added that keeping a restaurant was tough, so he decided to close it after a decade of service.

“We just couldn’t get help anymore. [Employees] would come for a few days and leave, and you’re training all these people. They got to the point where I said I prefer not to do this anymore. So we got rid of the restaurant. It was a sad day, but it was a good day. You know what they say, ‘The best two days of holding a boat is when you buy it and when you sell it.’ Same thing for a restaurant.”

What John’s Grandmother Would Think

John Tramontana had been trained by his grandmother in the kitchen when he was young. Part of his kitchen knowledge now was a product of his learning from his grandmother.

“She would be exceedingly proud. She worked in our school system for 47 years, and she cooked in our little hometown lunchrooms and eventually became the chief [nutritionist]. So, me following her footsteps would make her very, very proud.”

Takeaway

Kate Delaney asked John what he hoped his readers would take away from his compilation of recipes. He shared that he intended his readers to learn how to make a few changes to his recipes using six different spices to adjust to their own tastes.

“It’s a flexible book. It allows you to take each of the recipes that I put in the book, which is the way I like to eat the specific recipe and change it. And you can make whatever you wanted. With those six spices, you can make quite a bit of changes and change the flavor of it. What I ultimately hope is that you’ll find a recipe that you’ll make a few changes in that’s become your favorite recipe.”

Buy John Tramontana’s When It Tastes Good, It’s Done. Mangia! on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.