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| Inside Jersey's Best Home Chef Matt Gilvey demonstrating his Cuba Wellington to Rutgers journalism students on March 12, 2014. | Alexa Wybraniec for New Jersey Food Journal |
By Alexa Wybraniec
Matt Gilvey is a dad from Clinton with a secret: He can cook his Cuba Wellington for a fraction of the price of its beefy cousin. And his three children, aged 15, 12 and 9, have the method memorized.
The Cuba Wellington creation, a variation on the famous French (or is it English; people disagree) format, won Gilvey the title of Jersey’s Best Home Chef in last month’s edition of Inside Jersey magazine. Instead of the usual Beef Wellington ingredients (filet, pâté and duxelles), he uses both pork tenderloin and prosciutto, Swiss cheese and a zestful green paste made with dill pickles, oregano, mustard, lime and garlic.
“Moisture is the enemy of this dish,” Gilvey said as he unpacked the fixings. “I’ve got all this meat … and cheese and this filling … and that’s a wreck because if you cut this open, it could very easily gush fluid all over. So this is the part about adapting a recipe.”
He explained that he initially experimented with the Wellington arrangement because of the prevalence of Cuban food in his hometown, Union City. Inspiration lay dormant in a traditional Cuban sandwich (made with ham, roasted pork, Swiss, pickles and mustard) until Gilvey decided to try his hand at something completely unprecedented.
“When you first blend the ingredients, [you think] there’s no way that this is going to come together into a puff pastry.”
“Everybody (in the family) knows the process, everybody’s been involved in this,” he said, assembling prosciutto and Swiss atop homemade dough. “In fact, this morning, when I was getting her off to school, my oldest daughter said, “You’ll be OK, with the puff pastry, without me?””Gilvey has taught his children how to feed themselves, which he laments as a dying practice. In his house, the kids each have back-pocket recipes. And as a kid, Gilvey helped his father run a local diner. Some days, he would wake up at 3 a.m., open the store, work the entire day and close up shop. Alone.
“I think that one of the problems with people not growing up in a kitchen anymore is [that] everything seems like perfection,” he said. “Everything you see on TV is remarkable. But the fact is, you can achieve that. They just make it seem impossible.”
Gilvey, who met his wife in a Rutgers agriculture class, says anyone can learn how to cook regardless of initial expertise. Most techniques are so simple, Gilvey insists, that any family with Google Calendar can find time to cook together.
Learning is half the battle, yet half the fun. Breezily dismissing apron anxiety, his kids are encouraged to try to make anything and everything. The Gilvey motto: “If a person has done it, then we can do it.”
“The first puff pastry you make … is a total leap of faith,” he said. “When you first blend the ingredients, [you think] there’s no way that this is going to come together into a puff pastry.”
Gilvey invited the class to get up close and personal with his demonstration because, according to him, it’s always better when someone proves it to you.
His finished product disappeared in about five minutes. The crumbs were satisfying, satiating proof.
Alexa Wybraniec is a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore majoring in journalism and media studies, and minoring in French. She is a foodie – and runner – in training.
