June 2010

Meet the Moms

This Mom Has Good Taste

By Karen Kullgren

There was no grand plan for Vered Guttman to become a caterer, but when a friend suggested it, she jumped right in. For the last five years, she's been bringing Mediterranean flavors mixing contemporary tastes and traditional influences to tables around our area, through her company Cardamom & Mint.

Guttman is mom to three boys, 11-year-old twins Shauli and Evyatar and 8-year-old Uri, and wife to Nathan. She does her office work from their home in Chevy Chase and the actual cooking from a kitchen she rents in Gaithersburg.

"It's an immigrant story," says Guttman. In 2001, when the twins were 2 years old, the family left Tel Aviv when her husband Nathan accepted an appointment as Washington bureau chief of Haaretz. Guttman had been a software developer in her home country, but here, "I couldn't find a job, and for a long three years I didn't work, which was very hard because I'd been working all my life." Since starting Cardamom & Mint, "I've enjoyed it so much, and this second career I appreciate so much more than the first one!"

A Melange of Influences

How did she come up with her business name? "The word for cardamom in Hebrew is 'hell,' she says, so she had to give up her original desire to use the Hebrew name for the business. Guttman's cooking is a mélange of traditional and modern influences. "I grew up in Rehovot, Israel, being spoiled by two grandmothers, both named Rachel--one offered the comforting cooking of the Ashkenazi-Polish traditions, the other offered the refreshing earthy tastes of the Sephardi-Iraqi cuisine." Now Guttman travels back to Israel every year, "and definitely the restaurants and cooking scene [there] are a big inspiration to me. The new cuisine is so exciting, searching for its identity still. The traditional Jewish cuisines, Sephardi and Ashkenazi, are being mixed up together with the French, Italian and Palestinian cuisines and many others. The results are very Israeli--no rules, just fun. And some wonderful food."

She explains, "I mix all those kitchens together," and she specializes in contemporary tastes but also offers traditional fare. Her workload has evolved over the years; she used to do many small jobs but now does bigger ones--mainly bar mitzvahs and other large events--and less of them. She caters between two and five events a month, for 30 to 130 people.

Work and Family

How does she integrate her catering work into her family and other demands? "I should just thank my husband, who works from home also." (Nathan now works for the The Jewish Daily Forward and is Israeli public TV's correspondent in Washington.) He's available to care for the kids and their home, "as much as I am," says Guttman, "and together we make it work. Like letting me sleep late if I'm up late for work; he's just there when we need him. I am a spoiled woman." Nathan also has been very helpful in the business itself, she adds.

When I ask whether her kids were into cooking, she laughs and replies, "They're very much into eating! The little one calls himself the chef of the house and always wants to help. He'll taste things for me," she says, "and actually he has a very good sense of taste. I see a future there! They're all very adventurous eaters, by the way, to the point where Shauli will ask to take a slice of gorgonzola to school" instead of a cheese stick.

When she's not catering and being a mom, 41-year-old Guttman and her husband love doing things around the house they bought two years ago, fixing things, decorating and gardening, and she also plays the piano. The family enjoys traveling; they just came back from Mexico, and every year they spend a month in Israel with family and friends. "It's so much fun, the kids are so free over there," and what she enjoys most is that grandparents and aunts and uncles are part of their daily life. "Family members are so close to each other and meet on a daily basis, not just big occasions." She worries what will happen here when her kids head off to college. "I don't want to separate from them and see them twice a year, it will not be enough!"

While she stews about that, what's next for Guttman? When I asked if there's a cookbook in her future, she replied, "I really hope so!"

Bulgar and Roasted Cherry Tomato Salad
By Vered Guttman
Cardamom & Mint Catering

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 300 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Coat the tomatoes with one T. of the oil, spread on the baking sheet and roast for one hour.
  2. Put the bulgur in a strainer and wash in cold water for one minute. Transfer to a bowl. Add the tomatoes to the bowl with the rest of the olive oil, the lemon juice and the salt and mix well.
  3. Chop the basil and arugula and add to the bowl with the red onion. Crumble the feta cheese into the bowl, add the za'atar and hot pepper if using, and mix gently.
  4. Let the salad sit for an hour, so the bulgur can absorb the tastes. Mix again and adjust the seasoning.
  5. Enjoy!

Karen Kullgren has been contributing editor for Washington Parent for 12 years, and she is also a freelance writer. Reach her at karen@washingtonparent.com and read her blog, "Grace in the Gray Areas: Reflections on Life's Journeys & Joys, Books & Other Blessings" at karenkullgren.blogspot.com.