She's a Sweet Genius
But we already knew that about Lasheeda Perry.
She's a Sweet Genius
Ronnie Polaneczky, Daily News Columnist
If you want to see someone having fun with goat’s milk and fruit chews, check out Philly native Lasheeda Perry on the Food Network’s “Sweet Genius.”
The weekly show’s host, Master Pastry Chef Ron Ben-Israel, gives absurd culinary assignments to three competitors, all of them professional pastry people. The one who creates with the most yummy concoction with the bizarre ingredients wins the title of “Sweet Genius” and – better still – $10,000 cash.
Lasheeda, 26, blew away the competition. Which is no surprise, since her expertise with sweets has been obvious since her days as a stand-out student in Frankford High School’s Culinary Arts Program.
She graduated in 2004, earned a full ride to Johnson & Wales University, the culinary-training mecca, went abroad on foodie adventures, then snagged a coveted gig doing a la carte desserts at the Four Seasons in Dallas. She then moved to Philly’s Four Seasons for 18 months, where her desserts received special mention in a review of The Fountain by Inquirer food critic Craig Laban.
"The pastry kitchen delivers its own exquisite delicacies, like apple sticky toffee pudding with cognac ice cream, or a playful Meyer lemon tart that looks like a snail trailing blueberry compote," he wrote of Perry's creations.Two months ago, Lasheeda moved to the Four Seasons’ Baltimore property, where she’s a sous pastry chef. She loves the high-end hotel chain but her dream isn’t to run its whole show; it’s to open her own pastry cafe.
“I’d do traditional desserts but with an elegant twist,” she says. For example, she says, she’d make a coconut cake but add a coconut sorbet to it, for an unexpected surprise. “I’d make it different, but make sure people could still relate to the flavors.”
By the way, if Lasheeda’s name and face are familiar to Daily News readers, it might be because, two years ago, I wrote about her identical twin, Mareeda Perry, who - against astounding odds - graduated from LaSalle University.
The sisters are unbelievably accomplished, which is impressive - but doubly so when you understand the tough background they trumped to get where they are.
Read the column here.
When my phone rings here at the Daily News, nine times out of ten the caller begins the conversation with, “Yeah, so what happened was…”.
Because this is Philly, the caller doesn’t say, “My name is Bob” – or Mary – “and I wonder if I could have a moment of your time?” Philadelphians are too direct for that. They just say, “Yeah, so what happened was…”, and then tumble into a tale they think oughta be shared with a wider audience. I love getting these calls (even the ones where it becomes clear, after 30 seconds, where the caller sowed the seeds of his own misery), because they give me chance to connect with fellow citizens in a way that no other job allows. Well, okay, no other job for which I’m remotely qualified.
That’s why my blog is titled “So What Happened Was…”. To me, it’s the quintessentially Philly way of saying, “Once upon a time.” When I hear it, I know a good story is coming. And I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Ronnie Polaneczky has been an award-winning columnist for The Philadelphia Daily News since 1999, offering a front-steps perspective on every aspect of city life, from the sublime to the stupid. In her past life, she was the editor-in-chief of Atlantic City Magazine, associate editor at Philadelphia Magazine and a fulltime freelancer published in Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Reader's Digest, Men's Health, MarieClaire and others. She lives with her husband, daughter and various pets in the city's Fairmount section, where she dreams of one day singing The National Anthem at an Eagles game. In addition to her column and blog, you can enjoy Ronnie's musings in podcast form here.
Read more from Ronnie Polaneczky at Earth to Philly, the Daily News blog on anything and everything "Green
Reach Ronnie at polaner@phillynews.com.
