Creative couple make cooking contagious

Regular customers and curiosity seekers flooded Tubac’s Tumacookery for samples, a little wine and a peek at Randy and Karin’s new kitchen.

Tumacookery was always more than just a kitchen gadget or cookware store, now confirmed by everyone who dropped in on Feb. 15 to watch Randy Wade grill gourmet pizzas while Karin Rosenquist greeted the crowd that wandered the aisles of the food lover’s new hot spot tucked behind the Tubac Deli.

“We like to have things that make cooking easier and make things taste better,” Wade said as looked around the contemporary cook’s “toy store” he and his wife fashioned to attract those who appreciate a tasty recipe, quality cookware, a new spice or sauce, or maybe an ingenious little gadget.

Both architects from Tucson who met in college, Randy was specializing in energy-efficient urban residential planning when they took over the project his mom and sister originated four years ago, turning it into perhaps the most popular new place in the tiny art village they have come to love.

Randy recalls a college assignment studying the buildings at the Presidio that stuck with him, and Karin, who comes from a family of artists, tries to find time for her own art when she’s not managing the growing operation with the clever name she added.

“We were in Sedona at the time,” she remembers, “and it just popped into my head.”

Laid-back lifestyle

They bought land in the area and are happily picking up the laid-back Tubac lifestyle.

Randy mountain bikes, and they hike and walk the dog along the river.

“We like the community very much,” said Randy, who has always been one of those “throw it all together” kind of cooks.

“I like to take whatever is in the fridge and make something out of it.”

Karin bakes and is more of a “follow the recipe” type, he says, as he mentioned his wife’s New York City background and her musical family. Her grandfather was an opera singer and a family member attended Juilliard.

The couple showed off their new “test counter” area where customers will be able to demo a gadget of interest, watch a cooking demonstration, or sample a soup mix, rub, or sauce — just one more way Tumacookery wants to encourage the newbie as well as the experienced home cook to explore some new horizons.

They even provide a sharpening service for the “tools of the trade.”

About 300 shoppers enjoyed the open house, nibbling on the couple’s creations while they carefully examined cookware, recipe books, handy tools, and interesting food items from around the world and around the corner.

“Even with the economic downturn, people are still cooking and eating at home, maybe even more so,” Randy noted.

“It’s not a gourmet kitchen store, though. It’s everyday food with a flair.”

Local, regional products

They pride themselves on the local and regional products they carry, such as prickly pear syrups and jams, Queen Creek olive oil, Green Valley pecans, ancient recipe seeds from Native Seeds Search and unique china from H.F. Coors, both in Tucson. They have mesquite cutting boards from Tumac‡cori Mesquite Mill, and there’s Arbuckles coffee, for example, grown in Guatemala, but roasted in Tucson.

Visitors can sit on a corner bench and browse through recipes from simple and comfortable to exotic and unique in the little library of cookbooks.

Karin, who admits she still keeps secret recipes in the family, found her favorite is Five Spices/Fifty Dishes.

“The recipes are fairly simple, but you end up with a sumptuous meal.”

A huge seller is a simple but particularly effective cheese knife made in Tucson that Randy says, “slices cheese like nothing else.”

Their theme, “Our mission is your kitchen,” sums up the couple’s commitment to helping their customers find just the right ingredients for success in the room in the house where a growing number of Americans are spending a lot more time than they used to.

If you go

Explore Tumacookery, open 10-5 daily, at 2221 E. Frontage Road, Suite N102, next to the Tubac Visitor Center, and check out its schedule of free samplings each day, as well as regular Saturday and Sunday afternoon demonstrations starting in March, and other information on www.tumacookery.com.