Culinary Producer

What do you do on a daily basis?
Anything from figuring out how to film a cooking show with no stove, finding 14-pound turkeys in August (or Halloween cookie cutters in March), or trying to condense a four-hour recipe into a 30-second demo on live TV.

Who is your culinary icon?
Julia Child

Who is your favorite food TV personality, past or present?
Graham Kerr, The Galloping Gourmet

What's your favorite cookbook?
Clean Food by Terri Walters (though I add meat to her recipes!)

What dish or ingredient will we never catch you eating?
Melted cheese — it's a textural thing.

What's your favorite condiment?
Hot sauce

What's the first dish you learned to make?
Milkshakes with my grandma, I've increased my difficulty level since then.

Sweet tooth, salty tooth or both?
Salty

What kitchen tool can't you live without?
Tongs

What music do you like to listen to in the kitchen?
Steve Winwood to Stevie Wonder. I don't know any music made after 1995.

What's your favorite food scene from a movie?
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory — the three-course dinner gum or the chocolate river.

What's your favorite alcoholic beverage?
Ginger beer and whiskey

If you weren't in food, what career would you have liked to have tried?
International spa service tester (does this exist?)

What's your favorite "food city" to visit?
Tulum for fish tacos and a bucket of Coronitas