Members of the University’s culinary staff have recently released “The Penn Family Cookbook,” featuring some of their favorite family recipes which have been compiled into a booklet for distribution. Every day, these individuals help whisk up more than 10,000 meals for Penn students, faculty, and staff.
The 48-page pamphlet is organized in alphabetical order by last name of chef and contains bios of every participant. The book contains 30 different recipes from desserts and soups, to sides and main dishes. A digital copy of the book is available on the Penn Dining website.
Director of Business Services and Hospitality Services Pamela Lampitt said the cookbook showcases the favorite recipes of 13 campus chefs as part of a new program, Penn Cooks—Culture, Community and Cuisine, at the University’s various dining halls, including 1920 Commons, Hill House, King’s Court English House, Falk Dining Commons at Hillel, and Lauder College House.
“In recognition of the diverse student population we have on campus, Penn Cooks was created to provide opportunities to feature cuisines and chefs from a variety of locations, backgrounds, and cultures, including those who cook right here on campus,” says Lampitt. “While we have long enjoyed the meals they have prepared for their Penn family, we wanted to know more about the dishes they cook for their own families.”
The book answers that question by highlighting the chefs’ favorite family recipes, many passed down from parents and grandparents.
For the main course, one can count on Michelle Wilcox’s (pictured below) crab pie recipe. She has been with Penn for 15 years and works as a cashier at Kings Court English House.
“The recipe comes from my aunt who lives down South,” she says. “I love fresh seafood. It reminds me of when my family would visit my aunt in Savannah and go crabbing.”
If you are looking for a warm comforting side dish, Deborah Day’s macaroni and cheese will beckon your appetite. Day, who contributed nine recipes to the book, learned to cook from her mother and said her favorite dish to cook is her mother’s recipe for mac and cheese.
“My mother taught me the recipe and I make it here [at Kings Court] every Friday,” she says.
Day, who is nearing 50 years at Penn, said her favorite part of the job are the students and people she cooks for every day. “Miss Deb,” as she is better known, is a fixture at Kings Court English House.
For those looking to satisfy their sweet tooth, look no further than Carla Crawford’s recipe for chocolate sour cream pound cake. At a young age, Crawford was in the kitchen with her grandmother and began helping with each dish. That’s where she found her love for baking.
“I remember watching as the recipes were brought to life,” she says. “I enjoy bringing my passion for baking to Penn’s kitchen.”
Recipes, which have been time-tested, have been crafted into the cookbook to be accessible to a less-than-culinary-inclined person who may lose their cool over cutting a cucumber. But the book also appeals to a wider and more experienced audience.
“The hope is that students would have tasted the food and said, ‘You know what, that was really good, I’m going to take this and use it in my kitchen’,” says Lampitt
The kitchens at Penn have a simple philosophy according to Lampitt: small freezers and fresh deliveries.
“Everything is fresh and made from scratch,” she says. “The fish doesn’t come pre-breaded. Our chefs hand-bread each and every piece. We roll our own meatballs here. We are not buying pre-made frozen items. They are buying as much fresh products as they can.”
Lampitt said that feeding people is a very intimate act which is why they thought it was important to include biographies of the chefs along with their recipes.
“Food is very personal,” she says. “The title is, ‘The Penn Family Cookbook,’ so we have tried to ensure that students, faculty, and staff who eat in our dining cafes know that the people cooking and serving them all have a personal story.”
Lampitt said all recipes in the book are beloved, often passed down generations, and that the staff cooks at home for their loved ones—something that is worth sharing with the Penn community.
