WESTFORD — The Friends of the J.V. Fletcher Library last Thursday hosted celebrity chef Dan Souza as a guest speaker during the organization’s annual meeting.
Souza, a Westford native, now works as the chief content officer for America’s Test Kitchen, a half-hour long cooking show where chefs test recipes in their Seaport test kitchen.
“We make the mistakes so you don’t have to,” Souza told attendees. “We don’t make any assumptions. We’re really annoying people at work and ask ourselves what is the best way to cook a steak. Then we spend six weeks in the kitchen trying different methods.”
Souza said the show’s process starts with weeks of research – where chefs can reference one of the largest private cookbook collections on the east coast.
Next, chefs “cobble together” a recipe, where they make several variants of the same item in the same conditions, only changing one variable.
“There’s a lot of really fun testing, but it’s a lot of lab-style testing,” he said, “We put it through the paces.”
Each recipe is tested 40 to 60 times before appearing on the show. Additionally, the show collects feedback from nearly 40,000 home cooks who volunteer to test recipes.
Souza, who was announced as the Friends’ guest speaker in September, returned to the library, promoting the show’s 25th anniversary cookbook.
“It’s a really big milestone for us,” he said.
He said the library was “one of his favorite places to come as a kid.”
“My mom would take my sister and I here all the time. I came here so much as a kid,” he said.
The Friends of the J.V. Fletcher Library meetings comes at the heels of an approximately $32 million library expansion approved by voters in 2022. The Friends, through its foundation, have been tasked with raising $1.5 million over the next three years.
As WestfordCAT reported in February, the foundation has begun its ‘1,000 Homes’ campaign, where they ask 1,000 homes to pledge $1,000 toward the library over the next three years.
Donors who pledge could pay their tax-deductible donations of $1,000 upfront or split their payments in $333, $333, and $334 installments through 2026.
Several naming opportunities are available for those who opt to donate more. Every donation will be recognized on the “Wall for All” in the renovated building.
