Tom Harte
Host - A Harte Appetite; Former Host - Caffé ConcertoTom Harte is a retired faculty member from Southeast Missouri State University where he was an award-winning teacher, a nationally recognized debate coach, and chair of the department of Speech Communication and Theatre.
A founder of “My Daddy’s Cheesecake,” a bakery/café in Cape Girardeau, a food columnist for The Southeast Missourian, and a cookbook author, he combined his passion for food with his passion for classical music as former host of the daily program, The Caffe Concerto.
An inveterate traveler, as well as a connoisseur of food and classical music, Tom has been to the five major continents and sailed the seven seas in search of great music and great cuisine, delicacies which he enjoys most when consumed simultaneously.
Tom is host of A Harte Appetite.
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The origin of hummus is something of a mystery. Some antique cookbooks suggest it was invented in the 12h century for the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria. The name itself derives from the Arabic word for chickpeas. -
Cake mixes have some real advantages over home made. For instance, they’re much more forgiving. Over-beat the batter and they still bake up fine. Under-beat it and the result is nonetheless perfectly acceptable. Take a box cake out of the oven sooner than you should and all will be well. -
You don't have to be from Africa to appreciate couscous. The late Craig Claiborne, for example, called it one of the dozen greatest dishes in the world. -
Most observers say Boston's Parker House Hotel -- where they still bake nearly 200 of them each week invented the version of Boston Cream Pie we know today. -
The pomegranate, that beautiful fruit with the jewel-like red seeds, has recently exploded on the culinary scene. Which is appropo for a fruit which inspired the name a hand-tossed explosive, known as the grenade. -
What do award-winning cookbook author Rick Bayless, Food Network Iron Chef Bobby Flay, nationally acclaimed pastry chef Gale Gand, and Chloe, my granddaughter, have in common? They all began their culinary education by slaving over a hot light bulb. -
The Romans believed cinnamon was sacred and every Roman emperor stocked cinnamon in his treasury. The Romans weren’t the only ones who valued cinnamon. The ancient Egyptians used it for witchcraft and embalming. -
Ever been in a sticky situation? We all have. But probably none as sticky as the Great Molasses Flood, sometimes called the Molasses Massacre, which hit Boston in 1919. -
The word brunch is a portmanteau of breakfast and lunch, indicating a meal which combines elements of both. The term first appeared in print in 1895 in an article whose author proposed its virtue thusly: “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday-night carousers.” -
Its more than 100,000 varieties grow on every continent except Antarctica; it feeds more people than any other crop and has for thousands of years; and it can be the principal ingredient in a wide range of dishes ranging from appetizers to desserts. I’m talking about rice.
