Andreas Viestad of New Scandinavian Cooking

Andreas Viestad pens monthly column for the Washington Post

BOSTON (Feb. 13, 2008) -- Andreas Viestad, food-writer and host of public television's NEW SCANDINAVIAN COOKING WITH ANDREAS VIESTAD, launches a monthly column for the Washington Post. The column, entitled "The Gastronomer," premiered Wednesday, Feb. 13. Viestad's focus will be food and science from a home cook's perspective.

"'The Gastronomer' is all about finding a balance between home cooking and the science of cooking," says Viestad. He adds: "I feel that traditional home cooking is often too limited, too traditional – more interested in doing things the way they have always been done than finding out ways to improve, and often quite hostile to innovation. The so-called scientific cooking on the other hand tends to forget that cooking takes place in a kitchen, not in a lab, and that we cook to eat, not just because we want to make something 'interesting.' That's why I suggest a sort of maverick gastronomy, using findings from food science to improve the way we cook. In my first column I feature one of my favourite recipes, an adaptation of a discovery – a wonderful mousse, made with one ingredient, plus a little water – made by my friend, the great French food scientist Hervé This." (To read the column, visit WashingtonPost.com.)  

The third season of NEW SCANDINAVIAN COOKING WITH ANDREAS VIESTAD, distributed by American Public Television, is currently airing nationwide on public television stations and on the digital lifestyle channel Create™ TV – check local listings. Viestad will also be appearing in a new cooking series slated to premiere on public television this fall. PERFECT DAY features Viestad and three other regional chefs as they embark on culinary adventures to intriguing destinations in Scandinavia and beyond.

About American Public Television:
With more than 10,000 hours of programming in its library, American Public Television (APT) has been a prime source of programming for the nation's public television stations for 47 years, distributing more than 300 new program titles per year. APT milestones include distribution of the first HD series on public television and the 2006 launch of Create – the TV channel featuring the best of public television's lifestyle programming. Known for its leadership in identifying innovative, worthwhile and viewer-friendly programming, APT has established a tradition of providing public television stations with program choices that strengthen and customize their schedules, such as Carreras Domingo Pavarotti in Concert, Battlefield Britain, Globe Trekker, Rick Steves' Europe, Great Museums, Jacques Pépin: Fast Food My Way, America's Test Kitchen From Cook's Illustrated, Broadway: The Golden Age, Lidia's Family Table, California Dreamin' – The Songs of The Mamas & the Papas, Rosemary and Thyme, P. Allen Smith's Garden Home, The Big Comfy Couch, Monarchy With David Starkey, and other prominent documentaries, dramatic series, how-to programs, children's series and classic movies. For more information about APT's programs and services, visit APTonline.org.

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