Even before Chef Chazz Alberti began to cook, you knew the evening would be about beauty. Arrayed on the table before him, oranges, lemons, limes, and bright green herbs resembled an artist’s still-life.
Artistry is integral to Alberti’s approach to cooking. Executive chef at the Chase Center on the Riverfront, (Sodexho USA), the Wilmington-based chef starts his 
palette with ingredients, fresh and superb. These must be treated with respect and patience, simmered without haste. After all, the basic recipes go back generations, in some cases for five or six hundred years. Bones for the ancient fish stew bouillabaisse, for instance, were traditionally ground through a mill and the mayonnaise made by hand.
As with his cooking methods, Alberti chooses his ingredients at an unhurried pace. “I don’t go shopping with a list,” he says. “I let one ingredient lead to another until I have the makings for a complete dish.”
Alberti calls his cuisine “sophisticated comfort food,” beloved, familiar flavors that he has updated. “Foods are called comfort foods for a reason,” he said. “They make us feel good. When you are cooking for people, you are doing more than nourishing their bodies; you are nourishing their spirits.” Smiles in the dining room make Alberti happy as well.
The chef demonstrated three such smile-bringing recipes at the Northampton Community College Chef-in-Residence cooking demonstration at Lipkin Theatre on March 31.
Salmon and tuna tartare parfait with citrus crème fraiche highlighted the chef’s alacrity with the cooking knife, as he sliced and diced the uncooked fish. Presented in a parfait glass, topped with a dollop of cream and stemmed with blades of fresh chive, the dish could easily have passed for an elegant sundae dessert.
A Maine lobster hash filled the auditorium with sweet and savory aromas. A garnish of 
beet laces, strands of whisper-thin vegetable, topped off the dish with a splash of ruby red. Rack of lamb, bathed in a marinade of mint, olive oil, lavender, rosemary, garlic, mustard, and honey, received a coating of panko and lavender crumbs before it was roasted.
As he cooked, Alberti expressed his preference for locally-grown produce raised through sustainable methods. He has used cups made from corn and cutlery made from potatoes. He also believes in unami, a Japanese concept linking comforting foods with the nutritional needs of our bodies.
At each step in the preparation, Alberti paused to season ingredients. This attention to flavoring at each stage is an important part of his technique.
Alberti also told stories from his cooking career, which started in 1977 and has
encompassed Nuevo Latin, French, bistro, Caribbean, Pacific Rim, and other foods,
sometimes blended together to create “fusion cuisine.”
Bob Wood, who originated the idea for Chef-in-Residence, and whose company,
Wood Dining Services, underwrites the series, which features master chefs for two
days every semester, said that the series is based on the passion and expertise
of renowned chefs throughout the region.
Some of the recipes, as lovely to look at as they are to eat, are as follows:
Lavender crusted Rack of Lamb with Rosemary Demi
(Serves 4)
2 frenched lamb racks, about 1.5 lbs. each
4 T. olive oil
2 T. fresh thyme (chopped)
2 T. fresh savory (chopped)
2 T. fresh mint (chopped)
2 T. fresh garlic (chopped)
Sea salt
Peppermill
2 T. honey
½ C. Dijon
1 T. white wine
1 C. panko crumbs (fine)
4 T. dried lavender
1 T. fresh rosemary (chopped)
6 cloves roasted garlic
½ C, demi-glace
Cut the racks in half and marinate them in the thyme, savory, mint,
olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. After 2 hours remove from the
marinade and sear the racks on a hot grill or heavy sauté pan. Mix the
honey, Dijon and white wine and season the mix with salt and pepper. Put
the panko and lavender in the food processor and buzz until fine. Dip
the meat part of the racks in the honey mixture and then dredge in the
lavender crumbs until well coated.
Place the lamb in a pre-heated 350-degree oven and roast for 25-30
minutes until the internal temp is 125. Scrape the roasted garlic
into a paste, heat the Demi-glace and add the rosemary, season with a
pinch of salt and a couple of twists of pepper.
Remove the lamb from the oven, slice into individual chops and tent them
on the plate. Drizzle with a little of the demi.
Salmon and Tuna Tartar Parfait with Citrus Crème Fraiche
(Recipe feeds 8)
1 lb. chilled fresh salmon pin-bones removed
1 lb. chilled sushi-grade yellowfin tuna, bloodline removed
4 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon
4 T grated lemon zest
1 T fresh lime juice
½ t. Wasabi Powder
1 lime
1 C. Spring Water
1&1/4 C. Crème Fraiche
Sea salt
Pepper mill
Fresh chives cut into 2-inch lengths for garnish
8 chilled 4 oz. Glasses, small but wide enough to get a spoon into, the
“Empire” shot glass is perfect!
Whisk the lemon zest and both fruit juices into the creme fraiche. Set it
aside to let the flavors marry.
Next take the salmon and make sure that you’ve trimmed away any excess
skin and bone. Cut in a small dice, no bigger than 1/8 of an inch.
Place the salmon into a bowl and season with just a light squeeze of
lemon, 3 t. of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.
Now start the tuna, making sure that you’ve removed all of the dark red
bloodline. Slice and dice the same as the salmon. Season with a slight
squeeze of limejuice, Wasabi powder, 3 t. of the olive oil and the salt. You
can dice the fish up to an hour before serving; but once seasoned, the
dish should be served within 15 minutes. Otherwise, the acids will begin to “cook”
the fish changing its taste, color and texture.
Place 2 oz of the tuna into the glass, top it off with a thin layer of
the crème fraiche, and put 2 oz. of salmon on top of this. Repeat until
all of your glasses are done. Place the remaining crème fraiche into a
pastry tube and pipe onto the top of the glasses. Stick a few lengths of
chive into the top and you’re ready to go.
