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They met, Lorraine Catell says, on the Canadian Riviera—also known as Old Orchard Beach. “I’m from Montreal. Brian was playing in a band.”
“Her mother noticed me,” Brian explains. “Yeah, but she didn’t know I’d marry you,” she replies.
Destiny took over, and soon the 18-year-old beauty from Montreal, who barely spoke English, was soon traveling around to music gigs with her 22-year-old husband. That’s when her 33 years as the piano player’s personal chef had its lowly beginnings.
“We didn’t want to eat in restaurants,” Catell says, “so we traveled with a little hot plate and I’d cook in the hotel, things like American chop suey or spaghetti or soup.” When they weren’t on the road, dinners with her mother and Brian’s mother became valuable cooking lessons. “If I saw something done once, I could repeat it.” Soon she was cooking turkey and roasts, later graduating to more gourmet fare found in cookbooks, on TV shows, and learned from friends. “I have several friends who are excellent cooks.”
These days, Lorraine Catell’s cooking setup is far different from her hot plate days. Back in 1992, she and Brian built a home in Bangor, one that not only includes a 90-foot piano repair shop, but also a colorful, ultra-spacious kitchen that puts the chef front and center.
As Catell preps the evening’s entree—salmon primavera—one piece of equipment seems unusual, her pressure cooker. “You need to steam the broccoli a bit so it will be done at the same time as the other vegetables in the stir fry,” she explains. “And I always use a pressure cooker. I actually own about six different pressure cookers, but this is my favorite,” she says of the compact stainless steel pot she’s using. “I’ll steam vegetables, potatoes, corn, everything. I’ve been cooking with pressure cookers so long, I don’t know how to cook without one!” (Though early pressure cookers that were prone to explosion gave the devices a bad reputation, pressure cookers cook food three to four times faster, saving time and energy, and preserving flavor.)
Another Lorraine Catell cooking secret that’s shared by every serious cook—quality, fresh ingredients. The tomatoes in her appetizer of guacamole, for instance, tasted like something a master gardener might have just plucked out of the garden, though outside spring has barely sprung. “There’s only one tomato to buy—it’s called a Roma. I get them from Sam’s Club,” she says. “We eat them year-round.”
She’s also a big fan of experimentation. “I’ll never do something twice the same.” Experiments aside, accommodating her husband’s schedule is always on the menu. “He likes to eat at around 5,” she says.
“I start to get shaky if I don’t eat early,” he says. “I like to practice after dinner. (Brian Catell memorizes all the music he plays, and spends a couple of hours each day he isn’t playing going over old and new material.)
After 33 years, has his wife’s cooking bug ever bitten the piano man? “No. I don’t cook. But I can warm things up.”
Salmon primavera à la Lorraine
Serves 4
1 lb. salmon filet, cooked and cut into chunks
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 orange or yellow pepper, sliced
1 bunch of broccoli, chopped
1 red onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 Tbs. olive oil
3 Tbs. chopped fresh basil
Salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper, to taste
1/2 c. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
1 lb. linguine
Steam broccoli separately until al dente. Prep vegetables. Heat wok and oil; add garlic, broccoli and rest of vegetables, and seasonings. As vegetables stir fry, boil linguine until al dente. Add salmon chunks and most of the parmesan cheese and basil, tossing gently until hot. Serve immediately over linguine; garnish with additional cheese
and basil.
