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Scott Haas combines
his passions
(February
2005 Issue)
His voice is well-known to loyal fans of National Public Radio.
He's that food and restaurant guy on "Here and Now," right? But
Cambridge's Scott Haas has more in common with New England Psychologist
readers than an affinity for food. He's also a psychologist
who makes a living in both private practice and as chief psychologist
at Human Resource Institute in Brookline, a teaching hospital affiliated
with Boston University Medical School.
In addition to his other work, Haas reports monthly for "The Splendid
Table," an NPR syndicated show, writes for Gourmet magazine, is
a contributing editor at The Robb Report, and co-wrote "The Da Silvano
Cookbook." He has been nominated for a James Beard award for Best
Short Radio piece in the United States in 2003 and won first place
awards from the Associated Press in 2000 and 2001. He has published
several books including his latest, "Are We There Yet? Perfect Family
Vacations and Other Fantasies.
While his double identity as psychologist and journalist seems
a bit super-heroic to some, Haas sees a strong link between the
two sides to his coin. He spoke with New England Psychologist's
Catherine Robertson Souter about his dual roles in and out of the
limelight.
Q:Tell us about your background. Are you from this area originally?
A:I am originally from New Jersey but I've been living in Boston
since I came here in 1982 to do an internship at Massachusetts Mental
Health Center, a teaching facility of Harvard. I live in Cambridge
now with my wife and two teenage children.
My practice is primarily consulting to schools, clinics, attorneys
and state agencies. I do a lot of psychological testing and I see
patients as well in private practice.
Q:How did you get involved in on-air reporting?
A:I started doing commentary on WBUR on "Morning Edition."
Q:Offering professional advice?
A:No, it was more humor. I did two or three years of pieces
on things like the Patriots or quirky issues or father and son bonding.
Each piece ran about three minutes. Then they started a new noon
show so I pitched them the idea of doing food and wine.
Q:And the rest is history?
A:I've been reporting on food and wine for WBUR [NPR's Boston
affiliate] for seven or eight years for "Here and Now" and for another
NPR show called "The Splendid Table." Both shows do food and wine
- not restaurant reviews but feature stories. For example, there
is a restaurant in Zurich called the Blind Cow where the diners
eat in pitch dark. It was started by a social worker and a minister
as a way for diners to experience being blind. Now there is a waiting
list of people who want to eat there.
For another show we did something on the organic farming movement
in Berkeley, Calif. A woman named Alice Waters is pretty much credited
with having introduced organic farming to the area. She told local
farmers she would pay more for produce for her restaurant if they
would grow organic.
Q:It sounds like you get to meet a wide range of people.
A:I go all over the world and interview people. I get to go
out to farms and into restaurants and ask people why they are doing
what they are doing. I like radio a lot. To me it's the same as
psychology. It's a very intimate medium where I try to connect with
people. You really use the same tone of voice when you ask questions
that you would use when you ask someone why they are having trouble
sleeping.
Q:So, there is an intersection between these two seemingly disparate
fields?
A:I think that all of the tasks I do are really similar. They
require two things - observation and documentation of what you've
observed. In both psychology and interviewing people, I am supposed
to be observing what is going on around me. And then I write it
down - it's all about observation and documentation.
It's also about trying to see some of the humor people bring to
their relationships. I am not writing about airplanes or machinery
- but about people. My favorite interviews are with farmers or fisherman.
They are not trying to be charming and interesting. When you ask
them questions, if you can't prove to them that you know what you
are talking about, they won't give you the time of day. It's the
same when you are a psychologist. In most cases, you don't know
who the person is going to be when they come in. You have to make
a strong effort to find something about them that is likeable or
you are going to have a problem. It's the same thing walking into
a kitchen.
Certainly on a couple of levels, psychology also plays a big part
of the dining experience. Every day, everyone eats or thinks about
eating. And, there is another level: when people go out to restaurants
something psychological happens. There is something fundamental
about being fed that brings out various characteristics in people.
I mean, who in their right mind would pay $200 for a meal that they
could make at home for a fraction of that cost? A really expensive
restaurant in Boston will cost that. Or even $50 to eat out? They
have to create a psychological environment where people want to
eat out.
Food is such a fundamental part of religion and culture. You learn
a lot about a culture by talking to people about food. These are
psychological issues. It's fun to bring psychology into it. You
get to take psychology outside of the room.
Q:And your training as a psychologist helps you in doing interviews?
A:As a trained interviewer, it's pleasurable to use these skill
sets outside of the office. I think I throw them a bit off balance
with some of the questions that I ask, like "has your mother been
supportive of your career choice?"
Q:So, how does your mother feel about your career choices, about
your radio gig?
A:She thinks it's very cool and very amusing that I have become
a good cook and passionate about food. I grew up in a house where
my mother was a very poor cook.
Q:How would she feel about that summary?
A:Oh, she'd agree. It's not her fault. My father alleged that
because of his background, he's allergic to onions and garlic. It
is very hard to cook anything without those two ingredients.
Q:She must enjoy your third career as a writer. You co-wrote
a cookbook with the owner of the Da Silvano restaurant in N.Y. and
you have this new book out, "Are We There Yet? Perfect Family Vacations
and Other Fantasies." Is that a psychological case study?
A:No, it's actually a funny travel book. It's a description
of traveling with my kids. Each summer since they were little we
have exchanged houses with complete strangers around the world.
This book is about how traveling together shaped us as a family.
I have also written a third book, on my internship at Mass. Mental.
It was a memoir on what it was like to train at a Harvard teaching
hospital.
Q:What does the future hold?
A:I have an article coming out in Gastronomica, in the June
issue. It's a very scholarly magazine and the article is on the
psychology of chefs, why someone would become a chef and remain
in the profession. I'm hoping that this will turn into a book. I'm
working on the book proposal now.
The article is done. It's been a lot of fun to do. I got a lot
of chefs to send pictures of themselves as teenagers - long before
success and celebrity. It's funny how they are really regular people
when you get to know them.
Chefs are by far the most maternal and the most generous people
I have met. Their generosity is something I think about when I see
people on a psychological basis. I work on being more generous as
opposed to just being analytical. That's something I could say that
I have learned from working with chefs - to be more giving of myself.
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