Airmen gain more than a lesson in cooking

Geoffrey Zakarian, a celebrity chef and restaurateur, has a long list of accolades, and is well known for his appearance as a member of Food Network’s “The Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs” slated to become the newest Iron Chef to battle in Kitchen Stadium. He had simple advice for the two Airmen who helped with food demonstrations at ‘The Taste of Navarre’ — “I’m happy to have you guys ... just don’t mess up,” Zakarian said as he laughed.
The two specially selected Airmen helped demonstrate the preparation of meals with celebrity chefs at the Navarre Beach Chamber of Commerce’ s Taste of Navarre Seafood, at Navarre Park, Navarre, April 28.
Senior Airman Broderick Bryan and Airman 1st Class Eric Rydecki, food service specialists with 1st Special Operations Force Support Squadron, assisted Zakarian and Jim Shirley, local celebrity chef and restaurateur out of Pensacola.
The Airmen received the unique opportunity because of the hard work they put in to be recognized for the Henessey Award, given for excellence in a military dining facility.
“He and I put in a lot of work in the past year for the Hennessey award,” Bryan said. “I believe they just recognized that.”
The two chefs centered their demonstration on fresh seafood caught off local shores in the Gulf of Mexico. Zakarian demonstrated a simple risotto-a popular Italian rice dish, with smoke grouper fish and battered and deep fried shrimp.
“I didn’t have to do much work, actually,” Zakarian said jokingly. “I enjoy relaxing, so these two guys are going to be sweating and working and I’m going to be taking all the glory and fame.
The invaluable and exclusive experience not only showed the Airmen new things, but shined a light on the importance of fundamentals.
“As an Iron Chef, even knowing what he knows, [Zakarian] still follows recipe cards, checks over everything and goes through all the recipes and ingredients as far as prep work,” Rydecki said. “That’s what the [Air Force really emphasizes] in the kitchen.”
“We’ve learned how to be very detailed, very organized; to double check to make sure we have everything,” Bryan said. “We learned there are different ways of cooking, different spices and condiments to prepare our meals.”
The recipe cards, organization, detail-oriented approach, the basics—these are essentials in the cooking industry developed and which contributed to a long 30-year career that Zakarian continues to utilize in his profession, but the true lesson he bestowed upon the young Airmen is what drove him all these years to his success.
“I just love to eat, you know? It sounds strange, but I just love sitting at a bar, sitting and eating and hospitality. It’s all about hospitality and taking care of people - it’s just in my blood, I love it, my hobby is what my career is and I’m very lucky in that way,” Zakarian said.