“Kaye’s Cooking Proves Equal to Hollywood Boast”
Lakeland Ledger – Mar. 26, 1975
By: Craig Claiborne (From the New York Times)
Caption: With aid of Ming Lo Chin, Danny Kaye prepares Chinese meal in Beverly Hills, Calif. Home.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – There were eight guests at the table. Danny Kaye was at the
stove with volcano-
“The trouble with Danny’s cooking,” Olive Behrendt was saying, “it spoils you forever for going to restaurants. You could eat in this home every night for a month and never be served the same dish twice.”
Mrs. Behrendt, president of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and a frequent guest at Danny Kaye’s table, added that Luciano Pavarotti had recently dined there and agreed that the multitalented Kaye makes perhaps the best fegato all veneziana, or calves’ liver Venetian style, in the world.
For years we had heard of Kaye’s prowess as a chef, particularly in the province of Chinese cooking, and tended to regard it with at least a touch of skepticism. One more bit of Hollywood, we scoffed.
But if we came into the man’s kitchen to scoff, we stayed to stare with open-
Danny Kaye, who is 62 years old, was born in Brooklyn of Russian plarents, and his father did most of the cooking.
“He cooked very simple dishes,” Danny recalled. “Great soups like borscht and schav and Russian stews. He got so much joy out of raw ingredients, and I think I inherited that.”
Danny’s abiding interest in Chinese cooking came about when he traveled to Shanghai in 1934 with a group of American entertainers.
“Every day they’d spend their waking hours in search of bargains—shoes, suits, trinkets.” On his first day there, he recounted, he was taken to a Chinese restaurant by fiends, and it was something like getting religion. He was taken in the kitchen.
“It was an overwhelming experience; 180 degrees in contrast to anything I’d ever experienced in the Western world. I was absolutely riveted by the heat and flames and the technical speed of the chefs.” He knew from the beginning he had to become involved.
When you write of Danny Kaye’s cooking, there is an inherent temptation to drift into hyperboles. He has what is undoubtedly the finest Chinese kitchen of any private home in America and as far as we know the world.
He has cooked for many of the world’s notables.
It has been rumored that most of the ingredients used by Danny Kaye when he cooks
are prepared by a team of Chinese sous-
The gentleman does all of his own shopping, most of it in Chinatown in Los Angeles,
about a 20-
Here is a small sampler of the Danny Kaye repertory.
BATTER-
1 pint scallops
½ cup flour
½ cup cornstarch
1 egg white
1 tablespoon peanut, vegetable, or corn oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup or more water
Peanut, vegetable, or corn oil for deep frying
2 ½ cups sweet and sour sauce
1. If desired, rinse and drain the scallops well.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, egg white, one tablespoon oil, vinegar and baking soda. Mix well.
3. Gradually add the water, stirring constantly with a wire whisk. Add enough water to make a thick batter like a pancake batter.
4. Heat the oil for deep frying and, if desired, test one scallop by dipping it in the batter and frying to determine if the batter is took thick. If so, stir in a little more water.
5. Add the scallops to the batter and quickly drop them one at a time into the hot (but not smoking) oil. Deep fry, stirring and turning with a strainer, making sure that the scallops do not stick together. Remove and drain well. Arrange on a serving dish. Pour over the sweet and sour sauce and serve.
Yield: Eight servings.
SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE
1 cup sugar
¾ cup white vinegar
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons water
¾ cup pineapple juice
1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon red food coloring
1. Combine the sugar, vinegar, one-
2. Blend the cornstarch with the remaining three tablespoons water and stir it into the simmering sauce. Stir in the food coloring.
Yield: About two and one-