Photo Gallery: Cookin’ Docs event offers tips for those with sensitive palates

Two doctors wearing maroon aprons and the executive chef at the Hacienda at the River retirement community agog at the chef torching the top of ratatouille dish prepared for surrounding residents as a gluten-free option for controlled diets of those suffering from celiac disease.

Two doctors, Juanita Merchant, MD, PhD, and David Lieberman, MD, wearing maroon aprons and David Sullivan, executive chef at the Hacienda at the River retirement community, agog as he torches the top of ratatouille dish prepared for surrounding residents as a gluten-free option for diets of those suffering from celiac disease.

A festive group of residents at the Hacienda at the River retirement community and family members were feted to a fresh meal of ratatouille with three different flavorful sauces served over rice, noodles and quinoa on June 10 at the first public Cookin’ Docs/Docs in the Kitchen event to demonstrate eating healthy doesn’t have to mean bland diets.

Three University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson physicians and the chef at the Hacienda at the River gather for a photo in the dining hall at the River Road retirement community before a cooking demonstration for those with special dietary needs.The Saturday evening event, brainchild of Juanita Merchant, MD, PhD, a Regents Professor, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson’s Department of Medicine, underscored that to everyone’s delight.

This includes David Sullivan, Hacienda at the River executive chef, who partnered with David Lieberman, MD, in preparing the demonstration meal – a signature dish for those who suffer from celiac disease and must eat gluten-free fare or risk triggering an immune reaction in their small intestine due to the protein found in wheat, barley and rye.

Dr. Lieberman, who joined the Division of General Internal Medicine, Geriatrics and PalliativeMedicine (GGP) in 2019, in a previous life before medical school worked as a chef and cookbook author and hosted a Food Network series, “Good Deal with Dave Lieberman.”

A physician (on right) wearing a maroon apron gesticulates as he explains how gluten can sneak into the food supply even for things labeled gluten-free.They were joined by Mindy Fain, MD, GGP Division chief and co-director of the UArizona Center on Aging, and Kanwal Bains, MD, CNSC, a hospitalist in the Division of Inpatient Medicine who did a fellowship in nutrition at Harvard and plans to apply for GI fellowship here.

After a short talk by Dr. Merchant, each took turns answering questions from a very engaged audience. Dr. Bains noted that not everything that’s labeled gluten-free is actually gluten-free due to fillers and other side ingredients. Chef Sullivan underscored that in describing how some gluten-content ingredients slip into the food supply. The Celiac Disease Foundation offers a few tips for consumers to ensure what they’re eating is indeed gluten-free, as does the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

A blonde woman watches as a TV news camera person interviews a female physician wearing a maroon apron emblazoned with a "Cookin' Docs" logo about people with special dietary needs and how to add flavor to their meals while still eating healthy.KOLD News13, KMSB Fox 11 and KGUN9 TV aired reports on the nightly news about the culinary demonstration.

Dr. Merchant said she’d like to hold the Cookin’ Docs events quarterly with different chefs and covering different medical conditions and how to add spice to the menu so as to provide more variety in people’s diets. That’s true, she said, whether they’re on low-salt diets due to high blood pressure, low cholesterol due to a heart condition, low-fat/low-sugar due to diabetes, plant-based diets for kidney disease, etc.

At $100 per person ($70 of which is a tax-free donation), the Cookin’ Docs culinary experience serves as a fundraising tool for the Gastroenterology Division, she added.

Below are some photos from the event. For a broader selection, visit the Department of Medicine’s flickr webpage here. See links to this and other image collections at the department's Photo Galleries webpage.

MINI-PHOTO GALLERY:

Mouseover the images for captions and click on them to enlarge.

Two women wearing maroon aprons emblazoned with a “Cookin’ Docs” illustrative logo in the office of the chef at the Hacienda at the River retirement community. A man in black hat and gray chef’s jacket at a large stove stirs a pot of vegetables being prepared as ratatouille while an older woman and young man watch in the kitchen at the Hacienda at the River retirement community which served as locale for a cooking demonstration and fundraiser for the UArizona Division of Gastroenterology. Physicians wearing maroon aprons gather with the chef in the kitchen at the Hacienda at the River retirement community, site of a fundraiser June 10 for the UArizona Division of Gastroenterology where attendees learned about gluten-free meals such as ratatouille for those suffering from celiac’s disease.  UArizona Gastroenterology Chief Juanita Merchant, MD, PhD (in maroon apron in middle), gestures to her left to introduce her supporting cast for the Docs in the Kitchen cooking demonstration and fundraiser at the Hacienda at the River retirement community.

From foreground backwards, Kanwal Bains, MD, CNSC, Mindy Fain, MD, and David Lieberman, MD, clap as Dr. Juanita Merchant (offstage left) thanks Hacienda at the River executive chef David Sullivan and membership director Lisa Terry-Jones for hosting the Docs in the Kitchen cooking demonstration and fundraiser for the UArizona Division of Gastroenterology. Hacienda at the River executive chef David Sullivan chops vegetables to prep for making ratatouille as UArizona Gastroenterology Chief Juanita Merchant, MD, PhD, explains what celiac disease is and how it affects sufferers who must eat gluten-free diets to avoid the discomfort and danger consuming wheat, soy and rye may wreak on their small intestine. UArizona Gastroenterology Chief Juanita Merchant, MD, talks to attendees at Docs in the Kitchen fundraiser at the Hacienda at the River retirement community. As Dr. Merchant listens, Hacienda at the River executive chef David Sullivan talks about how whole food dishes are quick and easy as well as healthy and tasty with proper preparation and varied seasonings for anyone, whether they suffer from celiac disease or not.

Juanita Merchant, MD, PhD, points to the cooks as they shift from chopping produce to firing up the sauce pan. Former Food Network host and New York Times best-selling cookbook author David Lieberman, MD, jumps in to help prepare the meal. The vegetables simmer in their sauce as Dr. Lieberman stirs the pan. Chef David Sullivan walks the pan around the room to give everyone a look – and smell – at how quickly ratatouille can be prepared.

Chef David Sullivan can’t resist using a cooking torch to give the ratatouille a coup de grace, crystallizing its flavor as others are taken by surprise. The audience and physicians get a big laugh at chef David Sullivan’s enthusiasm with the cooking torch, as he explains how heat changes the natural sugars in the vegetables and brings out the flavor. Gastroenterology Chief Juanita Merchant, MD, PhD, opens the floor to questions from attendees. Chef David Sullivan prepares to dish up the varieties of ratatouille he has prepared as Dr. Merchant answers questions.

Drs. Bain (in background) and Lieberman (foreground) chat about food, diet and health with Docs in the Kitchen attendees. Dr. Mindy Fain and two ladies talk about diet and changes in our ability to digest things as we age – at least in the quantities we used to consume when we were younger. Dinner is served. A plate of three varieties of ratatouille, traditional, spicy and curried, over rice, noodles and quinoa.

NOTE: For information on future Cookin’ Docs events – whether to attend, host or support, please contact Katherine Sepulveda (ksepulveda@arizona.edu, 520-626-3334) or Carmen Mendoza (carmenm1@arizona.edu, 520-626-6119) in the Division of Gastorenterology and Hepatology.

ALSO SEE:
“Hacienda at the River to Host June 10 ‘Cookin’ Docs’ Reboot Event” | Posted May 12, 2023
“‘Cookin’ Docs’ Video Series Launched by GI Division for Patient Dietary Needs” | Posted April 26, 2019

Release Date: 
06/16/2023 - 1:15pm
Media Contact: 
Carlos David Mogollón