Decadent & Notorious | Mindy Crosato

Decadent & Notorious pretty much sums up Mindy Crosato.

She's the force behind Decadent Creations and the creator of Notorious B.A.G.E.L., two very different expressions of the same obsession: making food interesting.

On 50 Tastes Of Gray, Matthew Gray sits down with Mindy for a wide-ranging conversation about macarons, champagne, unconventional bagels, food waste, culinary creativity, French food, family and building food businesses.

Mindy talks about the precision behind her macarons, including her memorable “happy elf” meringue test, and why she personally still makes roughly 1,000 macarons a week.

Then there's Notorious B.A.G.E.L.

Mindy explains why she created a separate business around her bagels and why she deliberately went in an unconventional direction. Chicken soup bagels, Frito pie bagels, furikake, kimchi egg and inventive cream cheeses are part of the mix.

The conversation also gets into champagne and sparkling wine, including Mindy's love of Spanish traditional-method sparkling wine, her reputation as a food snob, and the memorable story of her “divorce bottle” of Dom Pérignon.

One of the most fascinating parts of the conversation is Mindy's approach to food waste. Her bakery has developed what she calls “carryover pathways” and “utilization pathways,” finding new uses for products that might otherwise be discarded. Brioche and croissants become bread pudding. Cookies become crumble. Whole leftover pies can become filling for cinnamon rolls.

Mindy also talks about:

Decadent CreationsCollective MarketPortland food and bakingMacarons and meringue techniqueChampagne and sparkling wineNotorious B.A.G.E.L.Unconventional bagel flavorsBrisket and “salt beef”French culinary cultureCooking for familyHer cookbookFood photography and creative directionA French-Pacific Northwest supper clubFarmers markets and building a food businessCulinary classesFood waste and creative reuse

And then Mindy takes over the interview.

She turns the questions on Matthew, getting into what he cooks at home, his spice pantry, roasting coffee, Hawaii and the years he spent building Hawaii Food Tours.