Entertainment

BACK TO THE STOVE IN DROVES – YES, NEW YORKERS COOK ; LILIAN HAIDAR

YOU don’t have to be Dr. Laura to understand cooking’s allure at the moment.

When you roll ground meat and spices together, you’ll wind up with meatballs. Such simple facts are reassuring in these uncertain times.

What’s surprising is that the species notorious for steering clear of stoves – the New Yorker – is gravitating toward them.

“We all know that people eat more when they’re stressed, they drink more when they’re stressed, they cook more when they’re stressed,” says Rick Smilow, president of the Institute of Culinary Education.

At his downtown school (formerly Peter Kump’s), New Yorkers find solace in baking.

The dozen students in Cake Baking Level 1 include Anne Aguilar, who had worked at World Trade Center 4.

After the attack, she felt “traumatized” about coming back to the city, until friends signed her up for the baking class.

Marie Sibony’s niece worked at Cantor Fitzgerald. Baking, she says, is helping her deal with the loss.

And Tracy Margolin who was laid off before Sept. 11, signed up because baking is so nurturing.

The trend to cooking and entertaining at home was happening before Sept. 11, notes Heather Lamster, director of marketing for the Broadway Panhandler, the cookware emporium on Broome Street.

Afterwards, “it just picked up energy.”

Right now they’re seeing a focus towards being around family and friends and eating hearty, home-style meals. Oval ovens for roasts and stews and chickens are the item of the moment.

They’re also selling ethnic cookware such as woks and tagines. “Ethnic cuisine has been in since early September. People like to bring flavors home from where they’d like to travel,” she says.

Apple pie pans are another hot item.

“Baking is huge,” she says. “You kind of have that nesting feeling when something like this happens.”

Come the holidays, Lamster thinks people will be giving cookware because it’s not a frivolous purchase.

“When you have family and friends over, everyone always congregates in the kitchen where you can nibble and its warm and smells good. And there’s always good conversation in the kitchen,” she says.

Peggy Katalinich, food editor at Family Circle magazine, says empty restaurants and packed supermarkets point to a craving for “the nurturing that comes from being at home.

“It’s a different kind of food as well,” she says, “It’s not fancy schmancy. It’s comfort food.”

If you’re having people over, she suggests something simple, such as a loin of pork. “There’s nothing better than a roast. They’re pretty forgiving.”

Then build the meal around that centerpiece. “And always commission a friend who’s a great baker or lives next to one to bring dessert.

“I made boeuf bourguignon the other night. Now when was the last time you’ve had boeuf bourguignon?” she asked.

“But it just felt right – the stew that went on forever and the smells of bacon cooking and wine – it was heady and everybody was extremely happy.”

It didn’t even matter that it was warm outside.