Christine Pirello,host of Christina Cooks Naturally, jokingly looks away while pouring plenty of monounsaturated fats like this avacado oil.

story by Crystal Harpstreit
photo by Tyler Williams

Sun Winefest 2010 at Mohegan Sun showcased many talented chefs and wine makers. A few of those were women who were able to break into predominantly male dominated career paths.

Two female chefs who were showcased at the event were Christina Pirello, a vegan chef and Mary Ann Esposito an Italian chef. Both participated in the celebrity chef cook offs on the DACOR Culinary Event Stage in the Uncas Ballroom.

Christine Pirello, host of Christina Cooks Naturally was first to appear and created a Crispy Tofu and Artichoke with Radish Salad. Before the demonstration began, Christina pulled an unsuspecting member of the audience up to the stage.

He ended up helping with the dish by frying the tofu in avocado oil until it turned a perfect golden brown. The end result was a colorful and fresh dish.

Christina recommends cooking with monounsaturated fats such as olive oil, avocado oil, walnut oil and macadamia nut oil, which she joked, “Is so expensive you’ll have to re-finance your house once you buy it.” She also recommends that all the food you purchase be organic.

Christina became an advocate of whole or unprocessed and unrefined and organic foods after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of 26. Her cancer was gone within 14 months of beginning the change to whole foods.

Later in the day came Mary Ann Esposito, who is the host of Ciao Italia with Mary Ann Esposito.

Mary Ann cooked up a dish of Spaghetti a la Carbonara. As she began boiling the water she entertained the audience with questions about pasta and life in Italy.

“Do you think that one pound of pasta is enough for four people?” she asked. Many audience members replied, “No.”

However, in Italy she stated that pasta is served as an appetizer instead of as a main dish, therefore it is fine to have only one pound since each person will only get about a cup.

Mary Ann also shared her knowledge of how to tell when pasta is done cooking, which is very useful. She said, “Doing this will not tell you anything,” as she tossed a string of spaghetti over her shoulder and it clung to one of the cabinets.

Instead, she recommended breaking a string of the spaghetti in half. “If you see any white in the middle it’s not cooked.”

Sampling her meal was a rare treat, the pancetta, what many call the equivalent of Italian bacon, was pan fried to a crispy yet chewy texture, the pasta was cooked to an al dente perfection and the egg sauce was rich and creamy.

Mary Ann learned to cook from her two Italian grandmothers and later on, in formal classes. Her show on PBS is in its 20th season and going strong.
One of the wine exhibitors, Bedell Cellars of Long Island, New York is proud to say that they employ one of the few female wine makers in the business and the only female wine maker on Long Island. Her name is Kelly Urbanik.

Kelly graduated from UC Davis with a B.S. in Viticulture and Enology; she was later selected as a Laureate by the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin in Burgundy.

Though Kelly did not appear at Sun Winefest 2010, her work in the wine cellars was appreciated by many who attended. Her First Crush White 2008 which is aged in steel and never touches oak was light and refreshing.

Kelly has already won many awards for her work. She will be on the wine scene for years to come.

These women achieved prestige in their careers and are paving the way for the many who will come after them.