Josh Stein Napa, CA
Marital Status: Married
Job #1:
Father to Leyna and Arlo, anywhere and everywhere – five years
Job #2:
Professor of English,
Job #3:
Brands Manager & Assistant Winemaker, Hagafen Cellars,
Job #4:
Owner & Winemaker, Stein Family Wines,
Hobbies
House re-building by hand – eight years
Sanity-hunting – five years
Q: What wine would you pair with your recipe?
A: Stein Family Wines Los Carneros Gewürztraminer because it works so well with spicy, umami-rich dishes.
Q: How would you define your culinary style?
A: Fresh ingredients—I’ve lived in New Jersey , California , and Liverpool —and I’ve never had trouble finding locals growing and selling good, healthy ingredients. I’m also a big believer in the use of technique—knife skills, saucing, etc.—in combination with a point of view. I want a dish to taste like a dish I prepared. That also means balancing the flavors in each dish.
Q: What do you enjoy most about cooking?
A: It’s a lot like the most enjoyable part of the winemaking process: blending components so that the sum is better than the parts—so that you want the sum more than you want any of the parts. Getting that right on the plate is fun, too!
Q: At what age did you start cooking? Who inspired you?
A: Six or seven—making good solid breakfasts like eggs and toast and the like
Mid-20s—lived in Liverpool amidst the “Mad Cow” scare so went without beef for fifteen months. That, and living on $10 for food money (who says graduate school is living high on the hog?) taught me how to make the most of each ingredient—to look for and find what it really tastes like; instead of adding expensive extras all I could do was vary the kind of cooking technique.
Mid-30s onwards—cooking for my family is how I can show I love them, especially because my schedule often doesn’t permit much else during the week during the semester. And yes, finals and bottling always seem to coincide with a major meal I have to cook.
Q: What culinary training have you received? Where have you learned more, in class or by experimenting?
A: I worked in kitchens as a teenager—dishwashing, prepping, cooking—but have never taken a formal class. I am a trained researcher, though, so I have done my homework all the way back to LaRousse as well as reading broadly across cuisines. Obviously, given my enjoyment of classical technique, I like Magee and Brown and their ilk. I also teach courses which focus on fast food, food production, and food distribution, so I keep pretty current on culinary trends. All of that is set up, really, for each time I get back in the kitchen, though—I believe we teach ourselves to cook over and over based on the fundamentals of technique and cuisines and who we are that day. I sometimes drive my wife crazy because it’s hard to give a recipe for anything since I like just being responsive to what’s on hand or readily available that day.
Q: Who cooks in your home?
A: Me, about 90% of the time. To give my wife her due—she’ll kill me otherwise—she is a solid cook, but she likes to be exact, which is why she does 90% of the baking the house.
Q: If any chef in the world could prepare a meal for you, who would it be?
A: See, I guess I’d rather turn that one around. My idea of heaven is to get all the people I’ve known and loved—living and dead—together for a fantastic meal with lots of food and wine and fun. I’d like to have the ability to make everything ahead of time and get to enjoy the food and the people and the wine rather than how it usually works out for the cook: sweaty, harried, and missing most of the fun.
Q: Do you select and buy the ingredients yourself? Where?
A: Generally, we buy from local markets or organic regional stores.
Q: Is there a website or blog where we can see something about you and your cooking and/or wine?
steinfamilywines.com
Q: Cooking Experience – Novice, Intermediate, Experienced, Pro ?
A: Experienced semi-pro
Q: What would you say to a novice in the kitchen to help them get over their fear of cooking?
A: Just do it. Read for fundamental principals you can apply in all situations and then cook, cook, cook. It’s food—play with it and see what you can do.
Q: What is your favorite cooking gadget?
A: Saute pan
Q: Do you have a signature dish?
A: Not really. I would say I try to have a signature set of flavors so that no matter what I’ve made it feels like I made it.
Q: Who are your biggest fans?
A: Honestly, my wife, who embarrasses me all the time in public by announcing to people how good my cooking is. I love her for it, but I’m really much more low key. I really enjoy preparing something that matches with a wine I’ve made so it’s almost a “sole author” course of a meal—even better when the ingredients have come from my own garden!
Q: Do you clean up after yourself? (If not, here’s your opportunity to thank whoever does that messy job)
A: Yes, I learned a long time ago the value of clean-as-you-go J
Q: Favorite type of wine to use for cooking?
A: Anything you like to drink—if you wouldn’t sip it, then don’t cook with it!
Q: Wine Experience?
A: Almost a decade as a pro, and I’ve helped to make lots of 90+/Gold medal wines.
Q: What is your Favorite Winery - Why?
A: Excepting my own, I like the small places that are still left on the Silverado Trail in
Q: Are you affliliated with wine industry in any way? If so, how?
A. Yes, I am owner and winemaker of Stein Family Wines, as well as Brand Manager/ Assistant Winemaker at Hagafen Cellars. Stein Family is philanthropy-oriented as can be, read about at
A. Yes, I am owner and winemaker of Stein Family Wines, as well as Brand Manager/ Assistant Winemaker at Hagafen Cellars. Stein Family is philanthropy-oriented as can be, read about at
Q. How did you get interested in wine? Where did you learn about wine?
A: We always had wine around in my family—along with beer and whiskey—but it wasn’t until I was in college that I started to get more interested. I took a class on geology, and I was driving back and forth between Eureka and Riverside , California
Q: What is the best way for our readers to find a local retailer who sells your wine?
A: Currently, we sell mostly direct because of how small we are. Give us a call or check out the website—our motto is “Wine made the right way… because fair is fair.”
Asian Soup Mother Recipe
I do the vast majority of the cooking in our house—a deal my wife and I made long, long ago—so I’ve given the mother recipe version I use which I simply vary based on what I’ve got in the fridge and pantry in terms of proteins, veg, and noodles. Like the wine I like to pair it with, the recipe is versatile and made to exist in my life—and if something works amidst the rubble of my schedule, then I know it will for most everyone.
Number of servings - 4-6
1 Large Yellow Onion, diced
2 Tbsp Fresh Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp Fresh Ginger, minced
2 Tbsp Sriracha Hot Sauce
4 Cups organic chicken stock
4 Cups water
3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
1 Cup Mushrooms, sliced
1 Cup Carrots (or other fresh, seasonal veg), peeled and sliced at an acute angle
1 Bunch Green Onions, sliced thinly at an acute angle
1 Cup Protein (Beef, Pork, Chicken, Shrimp, Fish), sliced thin
1 Cup Fresh Cilantro leaves
Salt and Pepper, to taste
16 Oz. Fresh or Dried Asian Noodles
(your choice—I like ramen or chukka-soba)
hi Josh - Was curious if you make your own stock and if so how? Nothing wrong with buying it of course - but I've noticed that the starting point of the stock flavor makes a big difference in the result. I usually make stock from the leftover bones of a roast chicken, but that stock is different than the stock I make from raw bones. (Great first post, by the way!)
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