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RJ Harvey
RJ Harvey is an American chef and dietitian. He is the culinary director at Potatoes USA. He is an absolute expert on potatoes. His kitchen at Potatoes USA is called the Spud Lab and he is the Spud Bud. He is always busy with some interesting projects like baking bread that will help reduce carbon emissions. He chatted to us about all these exciting things. Read our chat:
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RJ Harvey is an American chef and dietitian. He is the culinary director at Potatoes USA. He is an absolute expert on potatoes. His kitchen at Potatoes USA is called the Spud Lab and he is the Spud Bud. He is always busy with some interesting projects like baking bread that will help reduce carbon emissions. He chatted to us about all these exciting things. Read our chat:
Hello RJ, Hannes here from Since Bread. Thank you so much for your willingness to chat to us. Are you available to chat to me now?
Hi Hannes! Thank you for reaching out. It’s always a pleasure sharing food stories. Yes, sure, we can chat now.
Great, thanks. Let’s get going. Could you tell us about your background and how you got into cooking in the first place?
I have always enjoyed cooking. From a very young age, food excited me. Ingredients and how to prepare different dishes were important to me. I grew up watching Martin Yan, Julia Child, and Jacques Pepin. I favored shows like Great Chefs of the World over cartoons and TV shows for kids. My grandmother on my mother’s side cooked regularly, so I enjoyed learning some of the basics from her, my mother, and my aunts.
What is your first memory of a potato?
As a child I remember helping my mom make mashed potatoes on the regular, she would let me peel and cut the potatoes with a butter knife into smaller pieces and then let me help mash them when they were cooked. We had mashed potatoes on the regular.
Who in the culinary world do you admire most?
I’ve had a lot of culinary heroes over the years. Currently, Jose Andreas is at the top of the hero list for me. Not just what he has done for the restaurant industry but what he is doing from a humanitarian perspective.
What advice would you give for someone who is just starting out as a chef at a high paced restaurant?
Keep your head down and learn. You may feel overwhelmed but keep working hard and one day it will all click. Ask questions, go the extra mile, and show your chef that you are hungry to learn from them. Save your money and travel, dine at restaurants, taste everything, cook for your friends and family, and read every cookbook you can get your hands on. But most importantly, on your days off, use them to rest, recuperate, and regenerate.
How would you describe your relationship with food?
Food is my life. I wake up thinking about it and go to bed thinking about it. I think about textures, flavors, shapes, temperatures, and combinations of ingredients in season. I question techniques and if there is a better way to approach making something. I study food trends and I keep a food journal. I read magazines and watch YouTube. I go out to eat with other chefs. I’m always working at being a student of the game.
How is it being a dietitian and a chef? Feeling guilty every time you add another dash of cream?
Chefs have a responsibility to their diners to be well versed in food and in nutrition. Dietary restrictions, understanding different diets, and also how to make dishes healthier are all signs of a solid chef. There are those times when flavor and pleasure take the top tier. But more often than not, we should be trying to feed and nurture our guests through good nutrition. Being a chef and dietitian in this day and age has been a game changer in terms of my career and the places it has taken me.
What’s always in your fridge?
Fresh limes, Thai chilies, garlic, and fish sauce. I love Nuoc Cham and make it regularly. It’s delicious with virtually everything. Outside of that I routinely keep a well stocked pantry of Asian sauces, condiments, and ingredients such as miso, oyster sauce, dried shrimp, and kewpie mayo.
You need to cook for a fancy bunch of people. No form of potato is allowed on the menu. What are you going to cook?
I’m a big fan of produce driven menus which are globally inspired. I tend to plan menus in the form of tasting menus. So I would start with a cured scallop crudo, with elements of green apple, yuzu, and celery. The next course should be slightly heavier and definitely a hot course like a soup such as a butternut squash and coconut bisque. For the next course, I would make pasta. Agnolotti is always a crowd pleaser, and mine would be made with fava beans and freshly made ricotta, butter poached lobster would accompany the pasta and a light corn brodo with chili oil would balance out the dish. For the entrée, a perfectly seared duck breast with a pomegranate gastrique atop a light and crisp watercress, orange, and fennel salad. And for dessert: I love fruit desserts, so I think a goat cheese panna cotta with rhubarb, and sweet corn madelines would be a light and refreshing way to cap off the meal.
What don’t you eat?
Stinky tofu is still one I’m trying to get over. I don’t think I’ll be able to sample that again.
What do you do when you don’t cook?
I enjoy going to new restaurants and checking them out. But if I just want a solid go-to, l check out a ramen shop, a place to get Vietnamese pho, or I’m grabbing dumplings or sushi.
How many pairs of sneakers do you own?
I currently have 74 pairs in my collection but it grows weekly, lol.
What interesting plans do you have up your sleeve for the future?
Lots of great things coming down the pipeline. Our culinary program at Potatoes USA is becoming increasingly busy. On top of that, I am part of Sea and Flour, we have a dynamic new line of bread coming to the market soon, which are carb positive and carbon negative. We have patented a process to incorporate sea vegetables into bread and baked goods, helping deplete the atmosphere of carbon emissions and simultaneously delivering solid nutrition to your body in the form of delicious bread. Check out @seaandflourpower on IG. There are some other projects I can’t get into now but you’re going to be seeing more of me hopefully on a larger stage soon.
RJ Harvey is an American chef and dietitian. He is the culinary director at Potatoes USA. He is an absolute expert on potatoes. His kitchen at Potatoes USA is called the Spud Lab and he is the Spud Bud. He is always busy with some interesting projects like baking bread that will help reduce carbon emissions. He chatted to us about all these exciting things. Read our chat:
Hello RJ, Hannes here from Since Bread. Thank you so much for your willingness to chat to us. Are you available to chat to me now?
Hi Hannes! Thank you for reaching out. It’s always a pleasure sharing food stories. Yes, sure, we can chat now.
Great, thanks. Let’s get going. Could you tell us about your background and how you got into cooking in the first place?
I have always enjoyed cooking. From a very young age, food excited me. Ingredients and how to prepare different dishes were important to me. I grew up watching Martin Yan, Julia Child, and Jacques Pepin. I favored shows like Great Chefs of the World over cartoons and TV shows for kids. My grandmother on my mother’s side cooked regularly, so I enjoyed learning some of the basics from her, my mother, and my aunts.
What is your first memory of a potato?
As a child I remember helping my mom make mashed potatoes on the regular, she would let me peel and cut the potatoes with a butter knife into smaller pieces and then let me help mash them when they were cooked. We had mashed potatoes on the regular.
Who in the culinary world do you admire most?
I’ve had a lot of culinary heroes over the years. Currently, Jose Andreas is at the top of the hero list for me. Not just what he has done for the restaurant industry but what he is doing from a humanitarian perspective.
What advice would you give for someone who is just starting out as a chef at a high paced restaurant?
Keep your head down and learn. You may feel overwhelmed but keep working hard and one day it will all click. Ask questions, go the extra mile, and show your chef that you are hungry to learn from them. Save your money and travel, dine at restaurants, taste everything, cook for your friends and family, and read every cookbook you can get your hands on. But most importantly, on your days off, use them to rest, recuperate, and regenerate.
How would you describe your relationship with food?
Food is my life. I wake up thinking about it and go to bed thinking about it. I think about textures, flavors, shapes, temperatures, and combinations of ingredients in season. I question techniques and if there is a better way to approach making something. I study food trends and I keep a food journal. I read magazines and watch YouTube. I go out to eat with other chefs. I’m always working at being a student of the game.
How is it being a dietitian and a chef? Feeling guilty every time you add another dash of cream?
Chefs have a responsibility to their diners to be well versed in food and in nutrition. Dietary restrictions, understanding different diets, and also how to make dishes healthier are all signs of a solid chef. There are those times when flavor and pleasure take the top tier. But more often than not, we should be trying to feed and nurture our guests through good nutrition. Being a chef and dietitian in this day and age has been a game changer in terms of my career and the places it has taken me.
What’s always in your fridge?
Fresh limes, Thai chilies, garlic, and fish sauce. I love Nuoc Cham and make it regularly. It’s delicious with virtually everything. Outside of that I routinely keep a well stocked pantry of Asian sauces, condiments, and ingredients such as miso, oyster sauce, dried shrimp, and kewpie mayo.
You need to cook for a fancy bunch of people. No form of potato is allowed on the menu. What are you going to cook?
I’m a big fan of produce driven menus which are globally inspired. I tend to plan menus in the form of tasting menus. So I would start with a cured scallop crudo, with elements of green apple, yuzu, and celery. The next course should be slightly heavier and definitely a hot course like a soup such as a butternut squash and coconut bisque. For the next course, I would make pasta. Agnolotti is always a crowd pleaser, and mine would be made with fava beans and freshly made ricotta, butter poached lobster would accompany the pasta and a light corn brodo with chili oil would balance out the dish. For the entrée, a perfectly seared duck breast with a pomegranate gastrique atop a light and crisp watercress, orange, and fennel salad. And for dessert: I love fruit desserts, so I think a goat cheese panna cotta with rhubarb, and sweet corn madelines would be a light and refreshing way to cap off the meal.
What don’t you eat?
Stinky tofu is still one I’m trying to get over. I don’t think I’ll be able to sample that again.
What do you do when you don’t cook?
I enjoy going to new restaurants and checking them out. But if I just want a solid go-to, l check out a ramen shop, a place to get Vietnamese pho, or I’m grabbing dumplings or sushi.
How many pairs of sneakers do you own?
I currently have 74 pairs in my collection but it grows weekly, lol.
What interesting plans do you have up your sleeve for the future?
Lots of great things coming down the pipeline. Our culinary program at Potatoes USA is becoming increasingly busy. On top of that, I am part of Sea and Flour, we have a dynamic new line of bread coming to the market soon, which are carb positive and carbon negative. We have patented a process to incorporate sea vegetables into bread and baked goods, helping deplete the atmosphere of carbon emissions and simultaneously delivering solid nutrition to your body in the form of delicious bread. Check out @seaandflourpower on IG. There are some other projects I can’t get into now but you’re going to be seeing more of me hopefully on a larger stage soon.
