Chef Taffy Elrod

Interview By Maria Buteux Reade

Scroll through Taffy Elrod’s social media and you’ll soon feel your stomach growling. Gorgeous shots of bright fruits, crunchy veggies, toothsome baked goods. Deep-golden banana blueberry rye waffles with a pat of melty butter. Shaved steak and avocado tostadas with curried peanut sauce. Braised tofu cubes with citrus and cilantro. A platter of olives, cukes, peppadews and snow-white feta drizzled with olive oil and herbs. Welcome to the delicious world of a chef who knows what people like to eat and cook. Taffy and her husband, Pizza Man, gradually moved from Brooklyn to Ulster County and now live in Schenectady, where they happily embrace an omnivorous, food-centric life.

Edible Capital District: You’re a busy woman: chef, culinary instructor, food writer and recipe developer. What led you on this pathway?

I’ve spent my life immersed in food, including 25 years as a professional. At this point, everything I do revolves around food: my work, my hobby, my relaxation. Food represents the wholeness of who and what I am.

Did you grow up in a family obsessed with food or cooking?

Definitely! My dad is a chef, and my mom was a pastry chef and a talented cake decorator. Ironically, she didn’t like to cook, so my grandmother, who largely raised my brother and me, did all the cooking. She embraced vegetarianism and natural food years ahead of the curve. My grandmother was an artist and very creative, and she always found ways to make recipes gluten- or dairy-free. That’s where I developed the ability to transform food.

What were some of your sources of inspiration?

I pored over cookbooks. I read whatever my grandmother had, I borrowed from the library, and eventually started collecting my own. I bought my first cookbook in fourth grade from the Scholastic Book Fair, and yes, I still have it. Cookbooks were magic for me: I could take something from the pages of a book and bring it into the real world. I also watched all the cooking shows on PBS and the CBC since we lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, not far from Canada.

Any early cooking memories?

I remember making cannoli and sweet and sour chicken when I was about 15. Both were utter disasters. But my first baking success was a Lady Baltimore cake from my mom’s cookbook. It’s a white layer cake with fluffy frosting and fruit and nut filling. To this day, I remain obsessed with fruit and nut baked goods.

What are some of your favorite dishes to prepare?

I love making homey, comfort food like seasonal soups and fruit crumbles with whatever fruits are on hand.

Describe your approach to cooking. Are you driven by recipes or ingredients?

Even though I’m a recipe developer, I generally make meals out of whatever is available, from beautiful produce or what I find digging around a cupboard. That’s the type of cooking that has sustained people for generations. If you have the basic skills, you can make a meal out of almost anything.

When did you decide to pursue cooking as a career?

In my early 20s, I had a job at a local grocery store chain that had a program called “Meals Solutions.” The woman who created the program took me under her wing, gave me the recipes, let me shop the aisles for the ingredients, and then I did cooking demos on an induction burner near the deli section. It was my first teaching experience and I loved it. I saved up money from that job and put it toward culinary school in New York City.

What were some other formative experiences along the way?

I’ve always been the type of person who would rather have three jobs than one. So I tend to juggle teaching, restaurant cooking, catering and writing. I’ve cooked in almost every environment, from cafés and restaurants to private chef work and institutions. This wide range has afforded me a deep understanding of how food functions in American society. I try to pass that knowledge on to my students.

Tell me about your work at the Capital District Educational Opportunity Center.

EOC is a division of Hudson Valley Community College. I teach culinary arts, which focuses on professional cooking skills for people who may want a career in food. We cover safety, sanitation, basic cooking skills. The classes are tuition-free to anyone who qualifies. Each day involves preparing and serving meals to all students and staff, so we get immediate feedback daily. After we finish service, I sit down to eat the meal with my students, which is a really nice tradition that brings us together on a different level. I continue to be impressed by my students’ talents, skills and professionalism. They are great!

If you had a motto for life, what would it be?

Empower people through food. I believe everyone should have access to good ingredients and know how to cook them. Access to food and the ability to feed oneself is a basic human right.

What inspires you to remain in this field of work?

My two passions are teaching people to cook and feeding people. When I feed someone and they say, “Oh, this tastes like something my grandma used to make,” I take that as the greatest compliment I could ever receive.

Have you seen the food industry change during your career?

Yes, and for the better, post-pandemic in particular. My goal is to do whatever I can to institute change and show my students new approaches or standards for a healthy, balanced lifestyle in professional cooking. I don’t believe people should be selfless to the food industry. We need to teach people to take care of themselves. When you’re healthy, you’re more valuable in the kitchen. I want people to maintain their integrity.

Speaking of balance, what are some of your interests beyond the kitchen?

I love chamber music! I’m looking forward to attending more concerts of the Albany Symphony and checking out different music halls. I also read a lot of nonfiction. And finding ways to laugh—laughing is one of the greatest joys of my life!

What inspired you and your husband Bejto, aka the Pizza Man, to move to Schenectady?

We had lived in New York City for many years, and then we found a turnkey restaurant for sale in Ulster County, which we opened as a pizzeria in 2015. Not surprisingly, a guy named Pizza Man makes amazing pizzas! We ended up closing during lockdown and decided we wanted to live in a more urban area but not return to New York City. So we landed on the Capital District, which offers a perfect blend of rural and open space and access to some metropolitan energy and opportunities.

How do you find the food culture in this area?

I think it’s really burgeoning and feels exciting with new ventures and plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs.

Tell me about your work as recipe developer.

That started primarily during lockdown after we closed the restaurant. I had made a lot of connections through social media. People started reaching out, asking me to develop recipes for specific occasions or using certain ingredients. Recipe development requires both technical and diagnostic skills: I need to be able to formulate a recipe properly and write it clearly to convey the methods succinctly. My forte is modifying recipes to meet certain dietary needs.

I heard you were invited to contribute a recipe to the Washington Post. That’s pretty cool!

Yes, they reached out and asked me to create a cookie with a related backstory for their annual holiday cookie feature in December 2022. I sent a recipe for a chocolate fudge cookie with a ganache filling inspired by the first chocolate truffles I ever had, given to me in grade school by my mom and grandmother. That was my first exposure to fine chocolate. I even taught myself to make chocolate truffles and ganache because I was so enamored of those treats!

What does the future hold for you and Pizza Man?

This is a new area of my life, where I can do freelance work while also teaching at EOC. It combines the best of all worlds and keeps me challenged. I plan on doing pop-ups and teaching recreational cooking classes. I’ll do more food writing as I have lots of stories percolating in my head. In fact, I just signed a contract to develop recipes for a children’s cookbook scheduled to come out next year, something I’ve wanted to do my entire life. I’m here and ready to dig in, so folks—reach out to me and let’s collaborate!

Instagram: @cheftaffyelrod

5 Rapid Fire

Breakfast today?

Two long shots of espresso at home, and then a mid-morning breakfast with my students at EOC. Today was peach and oatmeal crumble with fresh whipped cream.

Favorite childhood meal?

My mom rarely cooked, except for pasta fagioli. My brother and I would eat that until we burst. My grandmother made an all-vegetarian Thanksgiving, and her specialty was a stuffing baked in an earthenware bowl. I can see that bowl and taste that stuffing even today.

Cake, pie or cookies?

Pie. Pecan pie, cherry pie, cranberry-walnut pie, apple pie.

Guilty pleasure in food or drink?

I gave up on guilt about food a long time ago. But if I’m alone, I’ll eat any pasta with an obscene amount of cheese.

Late night or pre-bed snack?

Olives, pickled veggies, cheese. Anything pungent, tangy or briny. On a related note, my grandmother would take me to her favorite delis in Detroit, and as a little girl, maybe four years old, I distinctly remember eating Kalamata olives, halvah, feta cheese and sauerkraut. On a first date with Pizza Man, he brought a container of Bulgarian sheep’s milk feta which I devoured. That’s when we knew we were perfect for each other!