Everyone loves a good creative competition. This summer PBS offers The Great American Recipe, a show where amateur cooks show their best works It's a fun delcious way to spend a Sunday night.
The second season debuted last night at seven PM right before the crime drama Ridley. The show will continue for seven more weeks until the finals where the winner will be picked. The series gives talented home cooks from different regions the oppurtunity to showcase their beloved signature dishes and compete to win the national search for "The Great American Recipe." If you were waiting for snippiness and backstabbing then go to another competition. The show has a kind host and fair judges. Alejandra Ramos is the hostess, once being on The Today Show. she has even run her own underground dessert business. The judges are Tiffany Derry, a classically trained chef and food entrpereneur, Leah Cohen, the chef and owner of the famed Manhattan restaurant Pig & Khao and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and Graham Elliot, owner and chef of the Michilin two star restaurant Eponyous Restaurant alnd has cooked for President Obama.
The contestants themselves represent a new American landscape. One contestant Relle was written about in last Wednesday's New York Times Food section. She is a blogger writing about preserving Hawaiian cooking and her dishes in the first episode reflected this. Then there is Abbe who is first generation American, her grandparents and father leaving Lithuania right before the Nazis took over. Her cooking reflects her heritage , especially in the noodle kugel she makes in Episode 2. another contest Brad is also Jewish but his father comes from Libya. His influences are both Sephardic and Ashkenazi, also seen in his cooking and choice of ingredients. The Midwest gives us Khela who loves using ingredients from her garden, Mike who combines his family's Southern roots with his Cleveland upbringing and Ted, A Greek American from Chicago. He combines Hellenic favoirtes with the Windy City's love of beef. Leanna is from Georgia but was raised in New York City. her background is Barbadian or Bajan and we see that in her choice of ingredients and spicing. Salmah is from Queens , and lives in Orlando. She grew up with Guyanese parents and their love of curry and hot spices are evident in her cooking. The Indigenous Nations are represented by Maria, a member of the Couer d'Alene tribe. she has helped pass legislation supporting food sovereignty for the Columbia River tribes. her cooking relfects Native American cooking.
It's going to be a fun summer on PBS. The Great American Recipe is a fun and interesting contest.watch it and enjoy friendly rivalry and interesting recipes.
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