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Eggnog Spokesman Shines On Red Carpet

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By JEFF HOUCK, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 12, 2007

Even for a celebrity chef, Jon Ashton leads a fairly surreal life.

The 33-year-old from Liverpool, who calls Orlando home, appears frequently on NBC's "Today" show. He hobnobs with the likes of Martha Stewart and Food Network stars Giada DeLaurentiis and Alton Brown. A few weeks ago, he catered an event for the New England Patriots. So there's no reason the holidays would be any less stellar..

Still, life got a little crazier last month, when Ashton was hired by Mount Gay Rum to mix and serve eggnog-tinis during the after-party for the premiere of the film "Fred Claus." The movie stars Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti. (Vaughn's character quaffs the beverage in the film.)

The folks at iVillage.com got wind of this and asked Ashton to quiz celebrities on the red carpet as they made their way into Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood to watch the movie.

Wait a second.

A chef. Pegging celebs. On a red carpet.

Clearly, a culinary pop culture threshold has been crossed.

Ashton admits to being out of his element.

"I'm really a foodie," Ashton says. "I read and I cook. I'm not really interested in these celebrities' lives. I didn't know who any of those people were."

Anyway, not to worry; Ashton kept to his comfort zone. Instead of asking the usual questions about love lives, what they were wearing or their next project, he threw them a culinary curveball. And since eggnog was created in England, Ashton kept to the theme.

"If you were to make eggnog for the Queen of England," he asked, "what would you top if off with? Cinnamon, nutmeg, chocolate curls or a splash of Mount Gay Rum?"

At first they looked at him funny.

"Other people around me thought it was strange, too, but I'm a chef," he says.

Justin Long, the actor best known from the film "Dodgeball" and from the Apple computer commercials (he's "Mac"), played it safe with nutmeg.

John Michael Higgins, who co-stars as Willie in "Fred Claus," replied, "Splash of rum and nutmeg. Actually, easy on the rum because you will be drinking a lot of it."

Mercurial actor Robert Downey Jr. blew Ashton off.

Vaughn, the star, went another direction, taking the question seriously.

"I would ask the queen what she would prefer," the actor said.

"He's just as witty off camera as he is on," Ashton says. "And, yes, he really is that tall."

Later at the party, Ashton handed out glasses of the eggnog with gingersnaps crumbled around the rim. Actor Andy Garcia got a glass. So did rapper Ludacris. Seth Green, best known as the character Scott Evil from the "Austin Powers" movies, drank two. Masai Oka from the NBC series "Heroes" filled in Ashton on season No. 2.

"I was just grabbing them and saying, 'Come here you rascal. Try this and you'll love it.'"

At the end of the evening, after all the eggnog was poured, Ashton took his chef's jacket off and wandered around the party. Several people came up to ask who he was. When he told them he was a TV chef, they quickly excused themselves and went in search of another celebrity to schmooze.

Except for Giamatti. The noted character actor struck up a conversation and spent 20 minutes talking about British comedies.

"He was really nice," Ashton says. "He likes Great Britain, loves the old shows."

THE HOLLYWOOD EGGNOG

1 large, AA-grade egg, separated

2 teaspoons superfine sugar

1 ounce heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 ounce Mount Gay Eclipse Rum

Separate the egg into two bowls. Beat the yolk until stiff.

Beat the white with 1 teaspoon sugar until peaks form. Slowly fold the yolk and white together.

Separately, beat the cream with the almond, vanilla and 1 teaspoon of sugar in a bowl until stiff.

Slowly fold in the cream with the egg mixture. Add rum and stir gently.

Refrigerate overnight or serve immediately over ice in a punch glass or martini glass.

Makes 1 serving.

Reporter Jeff Houck can be reached at (813) 259-7324 or jhouck@tampatrib.com.

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