Rocco DiSpirito Breathes 'Healthy' Into America's Comfort Foods

Last Updated on Tuesday, 02 February 2010 22:49 By Tina Guiomar Tuesday, 02 February 2010 21:31

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In the cycles of fad dieting, there is one constant: lack of taste. No one wants to diet and those that do usually have no desire for foods that are deemed “healthy” and “better for you.” Diets fail because people often end up disappointed with the proffered foods and resort to cheating with the foods that made them need to diet in the first place! The Boulevard recently spoke with celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito about his new book, Now Eat This! 150 of America’s Favorite Comfort Foods, All Under 350 Calories, which has the potential to fix previous diet failures.
Rocco DiSpirito has been in the cooking business for more than 30 years. It all started with an11-year old boy’s desire to add a new Kiss album to his collection. He asked his old-fashioned Italian mother for the money and she convinced him to get a job. He started work at a local Queens’ pizzeria, grating cheese and opening cans of tomato sauce. From the beginning, “ [I] felt like part of the process and really enjoyed watching people smile after they took a bite out of a great piece of pizza.” The experience sparked a desire to study culinary arts – and the support of a mother “who cooks the greatest meatballs” didn’t hurt. Rocco graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1986 and went on to work for renowned chefs Gary Kunz, David Bouley and Charles Palmer. At 31, the young chef gained recognition when he opened Union Pacific, earning him acclaim as “Best New Chef” by Food and Wine magazine, among other accolades.
Rocco credits his success to his passion for nurturing and caring for people. “It wasn’t the cooking that I fell in love with, it was the interaction of the people, the idea that I got to make someone’s life a little better.”
The chef encountered some adversity with his first reality series, The Restaurant. Now back in reality TV, he has created a unique show called Rocco Gets Real in which he gets out of the studio kitchen and into the lives of viewers to create culinary solutions for real life stories, ranging from guiding an inexperienced soon-to-be fiancé to creating a full Sunday dinner. The show airs on Saturdays on A&E at 10:30 a.m.
In 2003, Rocco received the James Beard Award for his first cookbook, Flavor, following up with Rocco’s Italian American (created with Mama DiSpirito) in 2004, Rocco’s Five Minute Flavor in 2005, Rocco’s Real-Life Recipes: Fast Flavors for Everyday in 2007 and Rocco’s Gets Real: Cook at Home Every Day in 2008. With his new book, Now Eat This! he brings his passion for flavorful food to the diet scene but with more realistic ideals, applying healthy ingredients to America’s favorite comfort foods, with less than 350 calories per serving, 0 grams bad carbs, 0 grams sugar and minimal salt.
There were many questions that needed answers, such as to how someone can take a 549-calorie dish like fried chicken and turn it into something delicious at under 350 calories (check out his Flash Fried Finger Lickin’ Chicken). Another question was, why the new direction?
To understand how a chef decided to help people lose weight and still enjoy the foods they love, Rocco took us back four years to when his chiropractor asked him to join his charity. What the chef initially thought was a request to prepare 200 portions of tuna ended up being something unexpected: the doctor asked Rocco to run a triathlon. Having no experience in running, Rocco nonetheless took it in stride, finished ­– and fell in love. He had to trim down so he worked with trainers and figured out ways “I could eat the food that I love but prepared in a way that was healthier and still tasted good.” Rocco was brought on The Biggest Loser as a special guest chef to find out the contestants’ favorite foods and make them in a healthy manner. Rocco has an advantage that trainers, dieticians and doctors don’t – the personal and professional experience to create healthy food that tastes good.
Now Eat This! will be out in March. Recipes include fried chicken, mac ’n’ cheese, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, jalapeno poppers, onion rings, even mozzarella sticks ­– basically, America’s favorite dishes. Rocco has developed new techniques and includes “secret ingredients” that add flavor, not fat, to the foods. Rocco’s pride is a 53-calorie brownie that is as chocolately as any decadent dessert you’ve ever eaten. “The main ingredients will blow you away. The trick is to find how to swap something unhealthy for something healthy.”
To find out more about Rocco DiSpirito and his tricks and techniques, visit www.roccodispirito.com. For Rocco's Recipes click here

 Photography By Kritsada