Mmmm TV
A "free thinker", by his own description. Berlin enjoys being self-employed. And since he loves interacting with people, teaching and working catering jobs help energize him. One of Berlin's primary goals is to make it big in the food biz. Of course, a major secrete to success is to find a niche and fill it. His niche, he believes, is the youth market, specifically those age 14 to 25, the same market MTV is always after. "The shows on the Food Network are aimed at people age 25 and up," Egg points out. But he aims to reach people in high school and college, and young professionals as well. In other words, the inexperienced "knuckleheads" with little money and little space, those who do occasional cooking while still at home, those who live in college dorms and teeny tiny apartments. To fill his niche, even while still in college, Berlin originated a half hour cooking show designed to produce an entire, balanced, generally healthful meal in just a little time with inexpensive ingredients and simple cooking tools and techniques. The show earned him three credits for independent study. And since graduation, he has continued to produce his cooking shows for public-access television, here in Howard County (Channel 73) as well as in Wicomico County where UMES is located. One aim in doing these shows is to reach a wider audience than he can as a substitute teacher and catering maven. And he puts his money where his mouth is, using some remuneration from teaching and cooking to entirely pay for producing the television show you can see on Channel 73 every Friday at noon, 4and 8 p.m. And, true to one of his other loves, besides featuring all those recipes, he also highlights local musical groups as well. Egg's aims aren't entirely altruistic, though. He has high hopes of selling the show to the network whose primary audience exactly meets his demographic niche: MTV. And with his show, he points out, you can park you children in front of the TV for a half hour and know they'll be seeing something safe and wholesome.

Simple tastes
Although "classically trained" in more complex cookery, Berlin prefers simple fare. "I like to preparing good food that people are going to eat," he notes. "Chinese, Italian. Home cooking: meatloaf, macaroni and cheese. I love to barbecue with my friends." And he passes his preferences on to his viewers in a format that frequently sees him produce a complete meal, including three to four different vegetables and a total of five to six recipes during a half hour, commercial free program. "If somebody watches my show and uses only one of my recipes I demonstrate, I'm satisfied," Egg says. Scratch cooking is emphasized. His first show taught viewers how to make homemade tomato sauce. Another teaches you how to roast a chicken, and prepare all of the fixings to produce a dinner for four. Berlin is not a purist, though, so he he's also willing to use prepared mixes. The youth market isn't necessarily long on cooking implements, he notes. But he'll round out mixes with more healthful things. Macaroni and cheese gets some fresh broccoli, for instance. The idea is to "take things from the store and add your own ingredients," to make it your own recipe. He's also a pragmatist when it comes to cooking appliances. A microwave is fine for pre-baking a potato, which you can then finish off in the oven. A George Foreman Grill is a legitimate way to cook, he opines. As is an electric skillet or a toaster oven, if that's all you have room for. His message for his youthful audience, as well as any of us who are trying to simplify our everyday cooking chores, is to keep it simple. And be willing to "try everything, at least once." For more inventive ideas from Egg, visit www.cookingwithegg.com and visit his TV show every Friday. A new series will air beginning in early December, Egg says.