Q&A with ‘Next Food Network Star’ Winner: Aaron McCargo Jr.
Aaron McCargo Jr. with Chef Bobby Flay — Courtesy the Food Network
In case you’ve been living in a ditch, had your your cable dug up by a back hoe or never been to this site before, Aaron McCargo, Jr. won the nine-week Next Food Network Star competition on Sunday night. He did so beating out talented finalists Adam Gerler and Lisa Garza and winning his own Food Network cooking series, Big Daddy’s House which premieres next Sunday at 1:30pm.
Btw, this is a great improvement from the three previous seasons when the winner’s show would popup six months later, long after the hype had died and causing viewers to scratch their collective heads and try to remember “who?” It’s about time FN finally figured out how to harness “media inertia”; imagine that, a network about food figuring out how to serve their shows “fresh”. FN did some other good things this year with their show. They jazzed up the music and the pacing and the editing. They did a way better job selecting the initial ten contestants who collectively had more culinary chops — and many this time out had some media experience — than any other group from the previous three years. People seemed to notice this too as NFNS’s ratings numbers beat out Bravo’s Project Runway to the delight of FN brass.
But enough of the show, let’s move on to the new “star”. First a quick bio and then we’ll hit the Q&A session held yesterday.
From the network bio: Aaron, 37, is a family man from Camden, New Jersey “who adores all things flavorful. Aaron’s big personality, warm smile, and passion for down-to-earth cooking stand out in his new show. … Aaron has been passionate about food and cooking since childhood even serving as a Junior Volunteer in the Cooper Hospital University kitchen at age 13. He has worked as a chef in nine New Jersey restaurants including his own (McCargo’s Restaurant), which he opened in 2003. Most recently, Aaron served as the executive chef at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. He also attended Atlantic Community College’s Culinary Arts Academy.”
Yesterday, TV Chefs Blog was proud to be among a small number, roughly a dozen, of press and internet sites granted special access to the question and answer session with Aaron. What follows is our highlights of that interview.
How has your family’s food habits influenced what you want to present in your new show? “My family’s food habits influence what I want to present in the show. We’re all about big portions. My father was this massive cook and my mother was the one into flavoring food, making sure things were well seasoned and things like that. And I want to bring those two things together on Big Daddy’s House to hopefully teach people you can flavor your food and you can have big portions and you can enjoy it with your family.”
Asked why he sent in a tape, McCargo replied he didn’t — exactly. “My wife had my hands tied behind my back,” he said with characteristic laughter. “She said I had the skills and talent. I said you send in the application and I’ll send in the audition tape. And the rest is history.”
To the question of “when did he think he had a chance to win?” Aaron replied he knew from the start he had a chance to win. That the judges kept him “humble week after week” with their constructive criticism. “I never gave up thinking I had what it took; it was a matter of giving the selection committee what they wanted.”
Would the new show be on specific food or open to different regions? “I’m wide open. I have the blessings of having worked with different chefs who do different cuisines whether it was Latin cuisine or Italian cuisine but I have the ability to put my own spin to them.” He added he’s looking forward to having a bunch of different cohosts on with him and “definitely the finalists from the Food Network Star”.
Adding more about his culinary point of view and his show he said: “I call it soul food but I try to keep things seperated. I don’t want people to think ethnic-wise that it’s black food, because every body has their own type of soul food, be it if your Italian or Irish or Asian or whatever. It’s about food that is really flavorful and something you can be proud of and it comes from your soul. And that’s how I like to cook.” He went on to say “I want to keep the dishes simple. And I want to wow them (the television viewers) by making them think their eating food from a restaurant but that they’re preparing it for themselves. I want to use very few ingredients.”
In terms of his own food loves, McCargo answered the question about what his favorite comfort food is as “buffalo wings, extra crispy, hot and spicy with blue cheese dressing”. And as to his most perfect meal: “A nice 16-18 ounce strip steak cooked medium with asparagus and either a twice-baked potato or some very good au gratin potatoes, of course with a great salad and a dressing I’ve made and a bowl of soup I’ve made.”
Regarding people who have influenced his food or “who is your favorite food person?”, Aaron answered: “It’s a tie-up betwen Bobby Flay and Paula Deen. … He brings that spice and the flavor that are really bold out. …. Deen’s food is so flavorful. … I’ve had the privledge of having eaten both their foods, and they’re both so different and both so great.”
When asked about his previous nervousness in front of the camera as well as how was he approaching the stress of making a new cooking show, McCargo said: “I don’t have to worry about being in competition with no one now, so that takes a lot of the stress and strain away …. Now the hardest part is allowing myself to be me, cooking the food that I love to cook, and just having fun with this.”
TV Chefs Blog: Knowing there’s a good four to six month lag between when things are filmed and then shown on the air, what have you been doing since you were eliminated?
