Guy Fieri has a reputation as something of an imp… But you can tell that a big brain is always working be-hind the winks and grins. And for the first time, for better or for worse, Fieri has disclosed the se-cret of his success…
Guy Fieri is popular with so many fans, for so many reasons, it’s hard to pin down the root causes of his overall appeal. But he maintains he first became interested in cooking when he realized it’s okay to ask questions, question tradition, and go with your gut…
Started young
And those realizations began at a very tender age for the future Future-chef. During a recent appear-ance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Fieri told the host his first serious foray in front of the stove was cooking some steaks for his folks.
He recalls going to the grocery store and asking the meat counter guy what kind of steak to get, and how best to prepare it. His only hazy memory is of arriving home with a couple of ribeyes, some pasta, and some tomato sauce. And plunging ahead totally unhindered by any know-ldege of traditions or classic techniques…
“I just remember cooking [the steaks] in the pan with butter and soy sauce. And I made the pasta cooked in the tomato sauce – probably not the most al dente.”
The verdict? “[M]y dad… takes a bite, sets down his fork and knife. And he goes, ‘You know what, Guy? [That] might be the best steak I’ve ever had!’ And that was it… That’s why I wanted to be a chef. That’s why I wanted to be a cook.”
Never faltered
Fieri’s approach to cooking has never faltered. He’s still addicted to discovering new and ingenious ways to prepare old familiar foods. And he’s as entranced by ‘adlibbing’ as he ever was.
Fieri’s constant questing curiosity clearly explains how his flagship TV series, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives came about. And became a modern-day food TV legend.
My take
A lot of tomato sauce has ‘gone under the bridge’ since his first steaks came out of the pan. But Guy Fieri has never lost sight of what got him interested in cooking in the first place. Nor has he ever let himself be bowed by the demands of tradition or popular fads…
If you’ve always thought cooking was a boring, repetitive, blinders-on affair, the terms of which were dictated by rigid traditions or cultural restraints… Maybe all you need to do is to try it Guy’s way a few times, to get yourself back on track!
~ Maggie J.