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December 1, 2000/Kislev 10, 5761, Vol. 53, No.10
Local chef shares secrets of culinary independence
TAMI BICKLEY
Associate Editor
Most people escape to a favorite spot in their homes to relax and rejuvenate. For Joan Bullis, that place is her kitchen.
Day and night - and in the wee morning hours when she can't sleep - Bullis is in the kitchen, fine-tuning a recipe, adding an ingredient here, taking one away there, until she gets it just right.
Bullis, a private Phoenix chef who runs Services by Joan, a one-woman company, prepares meals for people who have special dietary needs, cannot make meals for themselves, or simply want to improve their eating habits.
She often works with individuals seeking personal guidance on meal preparation to fulfill their special needs. Her clients range from diabetics to cancer patients, from the lactose-intolerant to those who must adhere to gluten-free diets.
She also works with people who keep kosher, seniors and those who want to gain or lose weight or lower their cholesterol.
In the case of the ill or elderly, a client's children or friends may hire her.
"It's hard when (clients') kids want me to come in to help their parents," Bullis says. "(The clients) feel their self-esteem is being taken away. I have to find out from them what they want and need and if they are comfortable with someone else (coming into) their home or kitchen. ... I tell them I am there for them and can give them guidance and help them."
After Bullis learns important details about her clients - such as what foods they cannot tolerate, their culinary likes and dislikes, and if they are capable of doing their own cooking - she visits with them in their homes and devises a meal plan.
She then shops at local grocery chains for her clients, and sometimes with them, keeping in mind their budgets, she says.
Albertson's, which has a kosher section, orders requested foods for Bullis. She also ventures to specialty stores on occasion for wheat and gluten-free, vegetarian and organic products.
While in clients' homes, Bullis works with them on their terms, she says. That may mean initially cooking all of their meals until they learn to do it themselves, or simply showing them what to do.
"I don't want people to think that I have to come into their homes and cook," she explains. "I want them to know that they can say, 'I want to cook my own food, but I need guidance and direction how to put my meals together.'
"I'd rather let them run their lives and their own food programs than have me be the mommy hen."
Depending on clients' individual needs, Bullis may meet or speak to them on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. The duration of her providing personal chef services also varies.
"I don't see myself cooking for a person all the time because I am very expensive," she says. So instead, she shows them how to shop and prepare meals on their own.
"Some people just want me to do some shopping, preparation work and cooking for them. It's whatever the family feels comfortable with."
When Bullis teaches clients to cook, she brings her own sterilized dishes and silverware. The only exception is if the client keeps kosher, in which case everything must come from the client's home in order to avoid non-kosher contamination.
In addition, she teaches her clients how to avoid food contamination, and provides them with sanitary containers - meant to be used only once - for storage of leftovers.
"I am very conscious of food safety," she points out, adding that she scrutinizes the cleanliness of every establishment in which she shops or dines.
Although Bullis does not have a culinary degree, she came to understand the intricacies of food safety and meal preparation for people with dietary needs through research, she says. She has talked extensively with registered dieticians, and is "learning new things every day."
She emphasizes the importance of "listening to people."
While most of the recipes she offers are her own, she also uses recipes from cookbooks, altering ingredients and portions to suit a client's needs.
She says food has been her life for all of her life. Born and raised in a Jewish home in Wilmington, Del., she recalls that at least four generations of her family have been involved in the food business. Her first job was working with her father at his delicatessen in Delaware. She then took cooking classes and worked as an apprentice to two chefs, one Greek, the other Italian. She has also managed restaurants.
"(Working with) food has just always come naturally to me. I feel most comfortable in the kitchen," she says.
Before moving to Phoenix in 1985, Bullis resided in Texas for a few years. She married her husband, Larry, a computer programmer analyst, in 1994.
In the works for Bullis now is a possible book, "Cooking on the Run," about how to prepare a substantial breakfast in minutes using combinations of foods most people would never dream of mixing together, or, for that matter, eating in the morning.
"Spaghetti is great for breakfast," she suggests, for example.
Meanwhile, she says she will continue to help people learn to eat what's right and satisfying for them, while helping them maintain their self-esteem in the process.
"I like doing this. What makes my day is when I get a phone call from a client who has gained two more pounds," she says. "I am lucky I get to do my hobby as my profession."
Joan Bullis can be reached at 602-216-0095. Her Web site is www.cuisineforme.com.
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