Today, Guy Fieri is recognized as the host of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, along with his signature spiky, bleach-blonde hair, vibrant shirts, and substantial empire of food entertainment. However, even the Mayor of Flavortown had to start somewhere, and Fieri’s passion for food began at a young age.
The celebrity chef and restaurateur built a pretzel cart with his dad at just ten years old and began selling the soft, chewy treats. He used the profits from the pretzel cart to eventually fund a trip to France as a teenager, where he learned more about international cuisine. However, before any of these early ventures into the food world, Fieri was learning to cook.
During a recent episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Guy Fieri appeared to discuss everything from his hometown to the latest season of his fast-paced cooking competition show, Tournament of Champions. Even stars like Fieri had to start somewhere, and while chatting with Colbert, the television host shared a few fun tidbits about how he learned his way around the kitchen, including a simple strategy for becoming a better chef that we all can try at home.
It all started with a steak
Although Fieri is now known for comfort foods — ranging from his famous trash can nachos to the decadent burgers you’ll often see on “Triple-D” (as Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives is affectionately known) — he tells Colbert that his parents mostly cooked healthy dishes at home, like “steamed fish and bulgur.”
While spending the night at a friend’s house when he was eight years old, the future restaurateur was stunned by the sight of a meatloaf that their family was eating. “I was so amazed by this,” Fieri explains. “I’m like, why do they get to have a loaf of meat? So I came home and told my parents, and my mom’s point was, if you don’t like the way we cook, then you cook.”
From there, young Fieri had to muster his courage. He ventured to the grocery store in their small town of Ferndale, California, asked the clerk what pairs well with steak, and later came home with a couple of ribeyes, some pasta, and tomato sauce. As he began cooking, Fieri wasn’t quite sure of his methods, recounting to Colbert, “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, and I served it to my parents.
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“And my dad… takes a bite, sets down his fork and knife… and he goes, ‘You know what, Guy? 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.”
There’s an important lesson to learn from Fieri’s first experience with cooking: don’t be afraid to experiment. The only way to discover what not to do in the kitchen and how you don’t want your dishes to taste is by trying and failing. So, overcook some pasta, realize you prefer your noodles less mushy, and then cook them properly next time.
Guy Fieri became very familiar with improvising
The way this Food Network star became adept in the kitchen at a young age is strikingly similar to the setup of his hit cooking competition show, Tournament of Champions. In the fast-paced series, high-profile chefs must prepare dishes that comply with a random selection of required ingredients and techniques, which they learn about only immediately before competing.
The improvisation required on Tournament of Champions is something Fieri is very familiar with. “That’s how I learned how to cook… My dad used to, when we would be going to to our cabin or something, he would say, ‘Here’s $5.’ ([This is] when you could buy protein for $5…) ‘Go in and get something,'” Fieri tells Colbert. “And then we would take off, up to our cabin, and we would get there. And then he would say, ‘Okay. What did you grab? I go, ‘I grabbed pork chops.’ And he goes, ‘Okay. Good. Figure out what’s in here and make us dinner.’”
Related: 7 Comforting Recipes for Entertaining Like Guy Fieri
Because of his own experience learning to make use of what was available to him, Fieri says “As a cook, that’s what I expect all my brothers and sisters, these super cooks, to be able [to do]. To take these five categories and employ them and make it happen.”
If you’re a home cook, using what you already have on hand and not adhering to a recipe is an excellent way to become more adept in the kitchen. This approach will teach you important skills like tasting for seasoning as you go, how to build flavor, and which ingredients you do (or don’t) enjoy when paired together. So maybe it’s time to create your own Fieri-style adventure at home — although it’ll certainly cost more than $5 for a protein at most grocery stores these days.
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