Pasquale Carpino (1936 – December 30, 2005) was a popular television chef in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

and an operatic singer.

Early life

Born in the southern Italian province of

Cosenza Cosenza (; :it:Dialetto cosentino, local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000; the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosen ...

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in 1936, Pasquale immigrated to Toronto in 1958 at the age of 22, arriving alone with only a few dollars in his pocket. He was intensely passionate about music, most specifically

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

. Pasquale met his wife Evelina, a

Soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880& ...

Singer of Italian descent, in 1964. They had two daughters together, Beatrice and Lisa.

Cooking career

Pasquale began his career in cooking as a dishwasher and prep cook at several restaurants located around the city of Toronto. With his dedication and talent for food, Chef Pasquale eventually became a chef and later a

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

. While continuing to progress his cooking career Pasquale studied opera at the

Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto ...

Television

Pasquale's original cooking show was played on Toronto public access television in the late 1970s. He hosted "La Cucina Italiana con Pasquale" on CHIN television during Johnny Lombardi's Sunday Italian programming. Later Pasquale was the host of popular cooking shows in the 1980s and early 1990s by the names of ''Pasquale's Kitchen'' and ''Pasquale's Kitchen Express''. His trademark outfit was a blue smock, a white necktie and a red chef's toque. Pasquale engaged the audience in his cooking while singing at the same time. The food prepared on the show was for the most part Italian, usually consisting of an appetizer, entree, and dessert. The episode would usually end with Pasquale pouring wine and serving his dinner to an audience member.

Technique

Pasquale's cooking technique focused on quick full multi-course meals. In different episodes he quoted a different time allotted for his four-course meal: 18.5 minutes to 22 minutes. The meals were composed of several dishes: one for carbohydrate (usually

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, ...

risotto Risotto (, , from meaning "rice") is a northern Italian rice dish cooked with broth until it reaches a creamy consistency. The broth can be derived from meat, fish, or vegetables. Many types of risotto contain butter, onion, white wine, and Pa ...

), another for protein (chicken, meat, or fish), and two of each of an appetizer (e.g.,

frittata Frittata is an egg-based Italian dish similar to an omelette or crustless quiche or scrambled eggs, enriched with additional ingredients such as meats, cheeses, or vegetables. The word ''frittata'' is Italian and roughly translates to "fried". ...

), a

dessert Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as confections, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. In some parts of the world, such as much of Greece and West Africa, and most parts o ...

, a

soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling soli ...

, or

salad A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients with at least one raw ingredient. They are typically served at room temperature or chilled, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a va ...

. The meat dish is usually made using a pan-grilled method: grilling the meat on both sides in a little

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: ...

, then adding the sauce composed of chopped vegetables (such as

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

potatoes The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern United ...

zucchini The zucchini (; plural: zucchini or zucchinis), courgette (; plural: courgettes) or baby marrow (''Cucurbita pepo'') is a summer squash, a vining herbaceous plant whose fruit are harvested when their immature seeds and epicarp (rind) are st ...

onions An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Welsh onion and Chinese onion. It is native to South Asia, Central Asia and northeas ...

parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, ...

, and

celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, ...

, which are steam sauteed in a separate pan), then adding either 35%

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

tomato paste Tomato paste is a thick paste made by cooking tomatoes for several hours to reduce the water content, straining out the seeds and skins, and cooking the liquid again to reduce the base to a thick, rich concentrate. It is used to impart an inten ...

. The sauce was always added to the meat pan, so in the process deglazing it. The pasta/rice dish was made with a similar sauce, but the pasta/rice added to the sauce instead of the other way round. In both sauces, he would add

broth Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups, ...

from a pan beside the stove top. On rare occasions, Pasquale would use the oven, for example, when cooking roast veal, rigatoni, or

focaccia Focaccia ( , , ; lij, fugassa ; nap, label= Barese, fecazze ) is a flat leavened oven-baked Italian bread, similar in style and texture to pizza; in some places, it is called ("white pizza"). Focaccia can be served as a side dish or as san ...

bread.

Quotations

Pasquale would often repeat certain quotes while he cooked, such as: *''If you sing to the food, then it will come out good.'' *''The pasta should not wait for the

sauce In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi-solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French wor ...

, the sauce can wait for the pasta.'' *''Watch out for your eye lashes when you flambee.'' *''When a little girl would flip the

successfully, she is ready to be courted to get married.'' *''Do not use milk in the sauce instead of 35% cream, otherwise we make

ricotta Ricotta ( in Italian) is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain afte ...

.'' *''The best cooking is what the mama cooks'' *''If the pasta stays for a long time in the boiling water, it will become

polenta Polenta (, ) is a dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. The dish comes from Italy. It may be served as a hot porridge, or it may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried, or grilled. ...

'' *''Excuse my back'' (he always says it when turning around to drain the pasta). *''You want some more?'' (usually when he is adding cheese to the

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

dish, then adds some more, then either pours the entire container of cheese, or puts it aside saying ''you can add to your dish''). *''May everyone in the world, specially the little ones .e. children have a meal like this'' *''Mamma mia! We should say Papà mio sometimes.'' *''I believe cooking is art, fantasy and vocation.'' *''You can repeat a recipe, but I cannot repeat a recipe.'' *''There are three things in the world you cannot repeat exactly the same: sing a song, sign your name, and a recipe.''

Legacy

Pasquale's fame is due greatly to the fact that he was one of the first celebrity chefs in Canada. Known as the Singing Chef, Pasquale once said : Pasquale Carpino died December 30, 2005, of complications from surgery. ''Pasquale's Kitchen Express'' continues on air as re-runs on OMNI.1 and

Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television ...

in Toronto.

References

External links

Pasquale Carpino
at the Chef and Restaurant Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Carpino, Pasquale 1936 births 2005 deaths People from Cosenza Italian emigrants to Canada Canadian television chefs Chefs from Toronto Musicians from Toronto Date of birth missing Place of birth missing