Venus Rising

ProfileIssue: cancer 08

Lauren Gammon, The Nomadic Chef, Brings Global Fare to Vermont

Lauren Gammon began The Nomadic Chef in 2003 as a small catering company to outfit multi-course meals for 15-25 guests. Five years later she still loves to do the dinner parties, but she also tries to fit in 6-8 events for 100-200 guests as well as cooking classes during the off season. Lauren says the food itself her motivation. New ingredients, a trip to an ethnic market in the city, and heirloom varieties at the farmers market all make her dance with joy. 

Lauren’s family has always had a deep passion for food. When politics, interests, and sensibilities diverge, Lauren says that food has always brought them together. Lauren’s father worked in international sales for Carrier Air Conditioning the first 20 years of her life. He lived all over the world and infused the travel and food bug into both Lauren and her brother. They lived in Singapore and Indonesia between 1979 and 1982 and traveled to other parts of the world on home leave. “I literally have pictures of me in a kimono in a Japanese temple eating my first quail egg with kid-sized chopsticks that I still own.”

Three Mushroom Dumpling Lauren returned to South East Asia after college in 1998 and took a seven-month solo journey to Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Nepal. It became evident that she was driven to travel by the urge to fill her belly. If given the chance, she would wander for endless hours from food stall to food stall in search of a special night market or the perfect mango. Four years later, she returned to Thailand & Laos with the intension of writing a business plan for a catering company focused on small ethnic dinner parties. She spent two months collecting recipes and ideas for interesting fare while using her limited knowledge of Lao & Thai to decipher ingredients. When she returned back to the states, she spent the next four months in the test kitchen rewriting recipes to fit what was available locally.

Lauren’s business has since grown beyond the flavors of South East Asia to encompass the spectrum of global fare. Now only about 25 percent of the food she puts out is Asian based. She dabbles heavily in Mediterranean, Indian, and South and Central American as well. With unexpected items on the menu such as “Miniature Beef and Green Olive Empanadas” and “Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Dumpling served with basil pesto” she has clearly taken the next step to create a unique fusion of many cuisines.