Chef, TV personality, and cookbook author Alex Guarnaschelli chatted about her latest endeavors, which include helping firefighters with “Stacks for Giving Back.”
Daily motivations
On her daily motivations, Guarnaschelli said, “I have a teenage daughter, who is 16, and she still likes me. To some extent, it is about being an example to her in the ways that I know how.”
“I grew up in New York, where I was raised by two Italian parents, so my heritage is important to me (where I came from and who I descended from), so those are motivating factors,” she said.
“Also, I happen to just do what I love,” she admitted.
The digital age
On being a part of the digital age, she responded, “I started cooking because it’s a visual art so the fact that people make a visual art out of visual arts feels like a natural progression to me.”
“So much of cooking is visual. So much of how we eat, what we buy, and what we are interested in is what we see. I enjoy it. I enjoy the fact that there is so much teaching that you can do in regard to cooking and so much learning,” she acknowledged.
“Cooking is a field that is forever changing and breathing, so that is honestly inspiring,” she added.
AI on the future of the food industry
When asked about her thoughts on AI (artificial intelligence) on the future of the food industry, she said, “I am hoping that AI can never cook a hamburger, or make a pancake.”
Helping firefighters with ‘Stacks for Giving Back’
On her partnership with Nutella where she is helping firefighters, she said, “This is such a great partnership as part of ‘Stacks for Giving Back.’ Essentially, it is an opportunity for anybody in the country to enter their local firehouse to win a special breakfast pancake kit towards their next Firehouse Pancake Breakfast, which I love.”
“I had the daunting task of creating a special pancake recipe, which I did,” she said. “It is essentially dry ingredients with white ingredients, and it’s a buttermilk pancake batter.”
“Then, we put in a few whipped egg whites, which adds protein and it also adds a fluff factor. These pancakes turn out fluffy and thicker so when you spread Nutella right on top, you get those hazelnut notes, and you bite down on that thick texture,” she elaborated.
“These pancakes are steamed; essentially, they are browned a bit, but they are covered and steamed to allow the egg whites to cook, so I felt this recipe was special enough,” she added.
Career-defining moments
On her career-defining moments, Guarnaschelli remarked, “I worked in restaurants for a while but I worked in one in France for a number of years, which was pretty challenging.”
“They actually wouldn’t let me cook anything for the first 18 months that I worked there. I was not allowed to go to the stove and cook anything because they didn’t feel that ‘I was ready.’ Finally, on month 19, the chef felt I was ready to cook some broccoli,” she elaborated.
“So, I cooked a little broccoli rabe. I had watched it for so long (being done and I had witnessed it), so I was more than ready to do it. This built a drive and a resolve in me that I still carry with me to this day,” she explained.
“After that first plate, I cooked (fish, sauce, and vegetables), and I put it up. I thought ‘oh my God, I can call myself a cook now.’ That was a big defining moment for me,” she added.
‘The Next Iron Chef’
Her other defining moments include winning a few TV network competition shows about two decades later such as “The Next Iron Chef.” “When I became an ‘Iron Chef,’ that was another career-defining moment for me,” she admitted.
Speaking of “The Iron Chef America,” Guarnaschelli noted that it was an “amazing” experience.
“To use a baseball analogy, it’s like being asked to be a baseball player and being the shortstop for the Yankees, and I was like ‘sure, let me check my calendar, I’m free.’ It was like those kinds of moments,” she said.
Favorite recipes in her catalog
From her personal catalog of recipes, she shared that there are two recipes that stand out to her. “First, my cornbread that you make by mixing together and pouring it a hot cast-iron skillet and baking it. People never get sick of seeing that skillet hit the table piping hot,” she said.
“Also, I have an eggplant parm recipe, especially for my vegetarian friends,” she said. “They are always looking for the meatiness in vegetables and in other forms with protein.”
“There is something about my eggplant parm recipe, where there are a lot of steps but none of them are very hard. When you make it all and bake it, and it comes out of the oven, it’s really something,” she elaborated.
“The eggplant parm recipe is even better left over if there is any left over,” she added.
Beets recipe
She also went on to share a recipe that involves beets. “I would take a couple of beets and I would cook them,” she said.
“Then, I actually take the juices from the beets (that wonderfully natural sweet liquid) and I mix it with poppy seeds and I toss some hot pasta into that. Then, I put the beets, pasta, and the poppy seeds together with the juices from the beets and they get that beautiful purple, magenta, and violet color and it’s delicious,” she said.
Stage of her life
On the title of the current chapter of her life, she said, “Teenage Daughter and Giving Back.”
“To me, it’s both of those things,” she admitted. “I’ve definitely reached a point in my career where I think chefs by nature, we cook and give food to others. We feed others; it’s what we do. My ‘Stacks for Giving Back’ partnership with Nutella allows me another outlet above and beyond what I do in my daily life to do something like that.”
“I like to get my daughter involved in developing a recipe, whether she likes it or not,” she said. “Luckily, we both like pancakes.”
Superpower of choice
If she were to have any superpower, Guarnaschelli revealed that it would be to “cook every chicken breast perfectly.” “Do you know how much dry chicken we eat in this country? Can you imagine how in-demand I would be if I could do that?” she said with a sweet laugh.
“I make a mean pancake but just imagine if we branched out into chicken. Only a chef would wish for this superpower,” she said.
Favorite motto to live by
On her favorite motto to live by, she shared, “My No. 1 motto applies mostly to chefs, and that is to never shuck oysters when you are nervous… if you know what I mean. I think that can apply to a lot of things. Keep calm, do what you’ve got to do calmly and methodically.”
Success
Regarding her definition of the word success, Guarnaschelli said, “For me, success means being a master of my craft.”
“Going on television, working where I work, doing things such as this partnership with Nutella, and feeling like I’m an expert worthy of the work. That’s success to me,” she said.
Fans and supporters
For her fans and supporters, Guarnaschelli said, “I would invite all my fans to check out my partnership with Nutella and ‘Stacks for Giving Back.’ I think that everything about this is special, from helping firefighters to the nostalgia of great pancakes and my recipe, this is something great to get involved in. This is a formal call to action.”
“If it takes a village, come down to the village and make pancakes,” she admitted. “I just hope that people check out my partnership with Nutella, and the ‘Stacks for Giving Back’ program because it’s really cool, and it supports a great cause that is critical to every community in this country, so to me, it’s a no-brainer.”
To learn more about Alex Guarnaschelli, follow her on Instagram and visit her official homepage.
