Chef Keith
Chef Keith Nickerson’s job is to tell stories of America’s past with his food. His Madeira braised lamb shank does just that. Nickerson, culinar y director for the historic area of Colonial Williamsburg, takes a cut of meat from an animal ’s upper leg and uses perhaps the most popular late 18th centur y alcoholic drink as a seasoning – Madeira wine.
The fortified Portuguese wine is intert wined with American independence: delegates to the First Continental Congress drank it after long days of debate, Thomas Jefferson toasted with it at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and George Washington held a Madeira-soaked celebration after his first inauguration.
“This dish embodies everything I love about combining cooking skills and histor y,” Nickerson says. “It’s a refined version of what people would have loved to eat when they walked into a restaurant more than 200 years ago.”
Nickerson has been cooking since he was a young child, starting alongside his grandmother and mother. Born into an Italian family, he grew up in New York and Raleigh, North Carolina. He worked in pizzerias throughout high school and added a variety of other restaurants during college.
Nickerson studied business at N.C. State University and the Universit y of South Carolina. “Eventually, I realized I’m much too high energ y to sit at a desk in an office all day, and my real passion was for cooking,” he says.
In 2002, Nickerson enrolled at Johnson & Wales University, which then had a campus in Norfolk, to study hotel restaurant management and culinary arts and related ser vices. For nine years after graduation, he worked as a chef in various positions for Colonial Williamsburg dining, mostly based at the Williamsburg Lodge and Woodlands Conference Center.
Nickerson then spent about three years cooking at restaurants in Florida. He ser ved as executive chef at the South Seas Island Resort in Captiva, Florida, before returning to Williamsburg.
Braised lamb shank is one of his most popular dishes. While the recipe might look complicated, it mostly comes down to good preparation. Get a quality piece of meat (ask a butcher to trim it, ideally), fresh seasonings and a good stock. For those who don’t like lamb, beef short ribs are a good substitute.
“It is a process, but it’s delicious and I think especially perfect for winter days,” he says.