PBS Cooking Competition Series 'The Great American Recipe' Celebrates Culture and Cuisine in Free Community Event on July 12
PBS SoCal celebrated the new cooking competition series "The Great American Recipe" on Tues., July 12 through a regional event in downtown Los Angeles at LA Plaza de Cultura Y Artes promoting multiculturalism through food. Approximately 140 guests attended the event with food (including the contestant’s recipes) prepared by Chef Bret Thompson of Pez Cantina and drinks from Angeleno Wine Company in the recently opened museum and teaching kitchen LA Plaza Cocina. LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes CEO Leticia Rhi Buckley and PBS SoCal President and CEO Andrew Russell welcomed guests greeted by booths from PBS SoCal partners.
The event highlighted two regional contestants Foo Nguyen and Silvia Martinez as well as the series' Executive Producer Jilly Pearce who participated in a short panel discussion following the free community screening. "The Great American Recipe" premiered Friday, June 4 on PBS SoCal as an eight-part series that features ten incredible home cooks offering their takes on various dishes with a range of culinary styles infused by their backgrounds.
Partners included Casa Fina Restaurant which made savory Mahi Mahi Tacos boasting a line as soon as guests walked through the door. Also representing the community was Vietnamese Street and Comfort food restaurant Bé ù which offered a refreshing vegan and Gluten-free mango, cucumber, and mint salad with sesame rice crackers. Finally, LA Unified Adult Education offered learning resources to those interested. Further down the walk, PBS SoCal unfurled a map where guests could write their favorite dishes and pin them to the location they derived from.
Episode Four of "The Great American Recipe" was screened just until the final judgement, asking the audience to tune-in for its official airing on Friday, July 15. PBS SoCal's own Maria Hall-Brown teased the audience with this sentiment before introducing the regional contestants Nguyen and Martinez as well as Executive Producer Pearce for a short panel discussion.
Following the discussion, the all-female Mariachi Las Catrinas performed beloved traditional music while Pez Cantina continued the celebration during a reception that featured several dishes including potato taquitos, cauliflower tostadas, chili verde pork sopes, hibiscus margaritas and more.
