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A Layering of Flavor

‘Food is more than just sustenance. It reflects the heart and soul of the culture.’

William Dissen is renowned as chef and culinary diplomat, restauranteur, author and early pioneer of the farm-to-table and ocean sustainability movements in Southeastern Appalachia.

Dissen is perhaps best known for helping to establish the local food shed in Western North Carolina in the early 2000s, which resulted in access to the best ingredients for the region’s restaurants and organic food grocery stores. He has been committed to cooking exclusively with locally foraged ingredients, prepared using traditional methods from a variety of cultures but with a reverence for the heritage and roots of Appalachian ingredients and dishes. The results are meals and cocktails that have been lauded by world leaders, global culinary institutions and award-winning chefs at the forefront of fine cuisine and sustainable food policy.

Dissen owns three farm-to-table restaurants: The Market Place in Asheville, Billy D’s Fried Chicken at The North Carolina Zoo, and Haymaker in uptown Charlotte. In 2021, Dissen beat Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay on National Geographic’s show ‘Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted,’ landing Dissen the title ‘most sustainable chef in the world.’

“On many levels, adventure is very important for me. It helps me grow as a human being and global citizen,” Dissen said. “As a chef, I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to fly around the world to cook, explore and to chase flavor. When I married my wife, Jenny, who is from India, I was able to learn about all of the spices of her home country to help me grow my flavor palette.

“I look to build flavor as I cook, and in typical Indian cooking, masala is a core flavor in most every dish. But masala really just means ‘spices’ that are ground together to a blend to use as a base to build flavor. Masala is the base to any good curry dish. How many types of curry are there? A lot. Typically, when you’re making a curry, you begin by putting oil into the pan, adding your base ingredients like onion and ginger, and then adding your spices in. ‘Vagar’ is the Gujarati word to temper spices in hot oil, which builds the fragrance and the flavor in a dish,” he said.

“This layering of flavor is something that is found in cuisines across the world, but it’s a traditional Indian style of cooking. After learning from my wife’s family, I now have a love of layering flavor and it’s become a part of the way I cook,” he said.

“One of the dishes I learned from my mother-in-law is called Bhindi Masala, which is more or less a sautéed okra curry. There are many ways to make it, but the way I make it is very summery: mixing okra, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, lime juice and cilantro. I love to cook it as a nice, simple side dish. You can also turn it into a meal by serving it with jasmine rice, a scoop of fresh greek yogurt or Indian-style raita (a yogurt), a lot of fresh cilantro, and a wedge of lime. It’s a really clean, healthy lunch or summer dinner. Since okra isn’t a year-round vegetable, we spend a lot of time preserving and pickling okra when it’s in-season.

“Another traditional Southern dish we love that showcases okra is called A Limpin’ Susan. It’s an okra and rice dish, typically made with onion, garlic, sauteed okra and rice. Sometimes it’s finished with bacon and shrimp. Okra is one of the key ingredients in the South, and in the summertime folks eat okra in everything, and is one of the quintessential ingredients of the region,” he said.

Chef Virginia Willis, a James Beard award winner and author of ‘Secrets of the Southern Table,’ said, “food is more than just sustenance. It reflects the heart and soul of the culture. Being a great chef is more than being a good cook. A great chef is a leader in the kitchen, in the dining room, and in the community. In a world that can be more style than substance, William Dissen is the perfect combination of both. He is the real deal, and his enthusiasm for local, regional, and sustainable food is reflected in every single snap of his mouth-watering Instagram feed. Each and every dish shows his dedication and commitment to his craft, his business, his family, and his home.”

Here are some of Chef Dissen’s Okra recipes. We hope you enjoy them.

Indian Okra Recipe

Yield: 4 portions

Ingredients

Method

1) Wash okra and slice off stem end. Slice into rings ¼” thick.

2) In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium high heat and add the onions. Cook until translucent.

3) Stir in all of the spices except the garam masala, and sauté for about 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant.

4) Stir in the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes and cook for 1 minute.

5) Stir in the okra and allow to cook for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and cover the pan and allow to cook for an additional 5-8 minutes.

6) Remove from the heat & stir in the salt, pepper, and garam masala to taste.

Serve with yogurt, lime wedges, and fresh roti bread.

Limpin’ Susan Recipe

Ingredients

Method

1) Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Stir in the bacon and cook until crisp, about 4-5 minutes.

2) Stir in the onions and peppers and cook for about 3-4 minutes until translucent, stirring from time to time.

3) Stir in the garlic and red pepper flake, and cook for another minute.

4) Add the rice, and stir to coat. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

5) Stir in the chicken stock and okra and season with salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil.

6) Cover the pot, and reduce the heat to a low simmer, and cook for 18 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Turn off the heat and allow the rice to steam for 5-6 minutes.

7) Remove the lid and stir in the lemon juice, hot sauce, and basil.

8) Serve immediately.

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