Chefs to Watch: City of Hope’s Chef Christian Eggerling fights cancer with cooking classes

A five-year, $2.5 million initiative to prevent cancer through a culture of health is underway at City of Hope, a facility in California dedicated to treating cancer, diabetes and patients with other serious conditions. The cancer-fighting plan is made possible by a donation from the Conrad Hilton Foundation.

The chef in charge of making the most of this initiative is Executive Chef and Director Christian Eggerling, CEC. He’s a big proponent of food as medicine, and his menu planning and cooking classes reinforce the lifesaving role of a nutritious diet for cancer patients.

As a chef, Eggerling draws parallels between not just flavor and presentation, but from food to wellness. His series of classes have helped patients make some great— and realistic—meals for themselves at home, including cauliflower-chive soup, Tuscan white bean stew, homemade Bolognese sauce, black-bean burgers with sundried tomatoes, Ethiopian red lentils with sweet potatoes, braised Moroccan beef, brussels sprout gratin and bruschetta. Coming up, he’ll be showing off summer barbecue in August, shrimp diavolo and comfort food alternatives in September and cauliflower grits with shrimp in October. Definitely lots to watch!

Eggerling, a Chef to Watch, talks to us about his inspirations and the experience of helping to connect cancer patients with better health.