For the past 25 years Chef Christopher Erickson has been cooking, managing events, teaching and creating his own version of Global Gourmet Cuisine (globalgourmetcuisine.com) using high quality natural, organic, local and sustainable ingredients with light cooking techniques. His menus feature seasonal produce and recipes with exciting visual presentations, delicious flavors and a wide variety of textures.
Growing up in New England on a family run resort, Christopher started working in the kitchen at a young age with his parents learning how to prepare food. He spent two years living in Naples, Italy diving into the Italian culture and sampling all the local food he could find. He traveled through Europe and North Africa and discovered there was a whole world of ethnic foods and flavors much different from the traditional New England foods he grew up with.
Erickson spent the 80's living in California where he experienced the melting pot of Mexican and Asian cultures and the abundance of vegetables and herbs grown in the San Fernando Valley. He spent much of his time shopping in local markets in San Francisco, Los Angeles and across the border to Tijuana and Baja Mexico always finding some new type of vegetable, spice or herb with which he could take home and cook with that day.
He returned to Southern New England in the early 90's and he got a job working as a private chef at a summer mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. Cooking with local seafood and organic vegetables hand picked from the garden, he developed a great interest in local and ethnic cooking. After the season was over, he moved to New York City and enrolled at The Natural Gourmet Cookery School. There he learned the skills of preparing food that was not only delicious but also made with healthy ingredients.
After working as a private chef for some well-known clothing designers in New York City and building a repertoire of dishes, he moved to Greenwich, Connecticut and became the Executive Chef at Organic Planet. He continued to experiment with traditional dishes and the conversion of the ingredients into organic and healthier alternatives. He practiced techniques of low-fat roasting, steaming and sautéing, and eliminated cream and butter and replaced them with flavorful marinades, vinaigrettes, dairy-free sauces and broths. He discovered that by using fresh ingredients and balanced spice blends, you can create incredibly flavorful dishes without the fat.
In the summer of 2000, he returned to Newport, Rhode Island and opened a restaurant called Pan-Jam. Critically acclaimed for great tasting food with healthy ingredients including international appetizers, soups, salads, entrees and daily specials which were complemented with delicious low-fat desserts and a fresh juice bar with organic wines.
He has consulted for local restaurants in Newport and Providence, developed recipes for O’Natural’s, Portland, Maine and Arbor Restaurant, Washington, D.C.
He’s managed events for rock stars and concert events for Aerosmith, Sting, Meat Loaf, Luther Vandross, Boston and Trans Siberian Orchestra, all have been great experiences and exciting adventures with high profile menus and personal demands.
From 2005-2017 he took part with the Taste of Health organization as a special events chef on the “Holistic Holiday at Sea” in the Caribbean. Each winter he would go on the cruise and prepared vegan/macrobiotic dishes in huge cruise ship quantities. He’s involved with the cooking classes held on the ship and prepping the special vegan/macro menu. This event has continued to grow and is rated by National Geographic Traveler as “one of the 100 best worldwide vacations to enrich your life”.
In 2009 he started offering cooking classes in Newport, RI and Greenwich, CT. He teaches how to prepare great tasting food that’s healthy and healing. Discusses how to use alternative cooking ingredients to boost your immune system. How to eliminate sugar, salt and fat from your diet to promote better health, weight loss, proper digestion and more energy. The class series is held in the Spring and Fall each year. See menus page for scheduled cooking classes.
Chris started as a “Personal Chef ” while he was attending cooking school New York and still continues to cook for clients in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York.
He also created a “Fat Flush” menu in which he consulted with Ann Louise Gittleman, the well know author and health educator, about how to cook food with no fat that still tastes great. He succeeds in doing this and offers a special menu for people who want Fat Flush food items.
Along with all the cooking and managing he’s done over the years he offers a line of dairy-free salad dressings and sauces. Known as "The 7 Wonders of the World" and the 8th wonder which is a dressing that revolves with the change of seasons. All of the products are wonderfully balanced and versatile for everyday use. It’s how I get adults to eat their vegetables, he says.
Chris is available for managed events of any occasion, as a private or personal chef for those who want custom menus and service and for one-on one cooking classes or group classes. Erickson continues to develop new recipes and dishes with a cutting edge in cooking for today and tomorrow.
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