Down and Dirty with Adam Gertler of Will Work For Food by Troy Rogers
Adam Gertler is living proof that placing second in a competition can sometimes pay off just as much as if you walked away a winner, especially if you have a great personality and you can make people laugh. In fact, after placing second in last year's The Next Food Network Star, Adam Gertler made such an impression on Food Network executives that they decided to give Adam his own show as host and reality lead in Will Work For Food, which airs Mondays at 8:30pm. Although Adam worked his butt off in The Next Food Network Star, Will Work for Food is a weekly one-man reality challenge that would break the backs of most "couch chefs" who are watching from the comforts of their kitchen living rooms.
Since the food we eat and prepare comes from all walks of life, Adam Gertler gets down and dirty on a street/land level with the people and cultures where the food chain starts before it hits our frying pans. Already this season Adam has traveled to Maine to find out what it's like to haul 200 lobster traps from the sea, crossed the country to work on an oyster boat, and ventured to an 1800s style village to learn the skills of cooking like the early settlers. This week Adam is off to Las Vegas where he'll be working to become a "Wine Angel" while scaling the four story high wine racks at the Bellagio Hotel. As you'll find out, "working for food" on a Food Network reality series isn't as easy as it sounds.
This week we took a break from preparing our own Deadbolt recipes to take a call from Will Work for Food host Adam Gertler for an exclusive chat about his toughest job, Cajun caviar, the popularity of food as entertainment, how his personality finds its way into his cooking, and whether girls are throwing themselves at his feet now that he's a Food Network reality rock star.
THE DEADBOLT: After getting your own show as the runner up on the Next Food Network Star, I’m seeing a similarity to American Idol. How does that feel?
ADAM GERTLER: Well, it feels really good if you mean in that the runner-up can end up doing quite well. It’s great. Look, I did not expect to do as well as I did on that show. It was a shock to me, I think, because I didn’t expect to do that well. It kind of let me take some risks, because I really just didn’t expect to be around much longer and it kept kind of working. So it’s just amazing where you find yourself and something that changes your whole life happens. It’s pretty wild. It’s been a wild year.
THE DEADBOLT: If things didn’t work out on Next Food Network Star, would you be working for food right now?
GERTLER: Yeah. I’m sure whatever I’d be doing in any employ would involve food, because just about any and all jobs I’ve ever had have been in food. I was working as a server in a Tapas restaurant in Philadelphia. So, you know, I might still be there because that was a great restaurant, a great job, or I might be cooking somewhere, but I would most likely be in food.
THE DEADBOLT: I was surprised at how hard you actually work on Will Work For Food. What has been the toughest job so far?
GERTLER: I’m glad to hear you say that because we really try to not make it easy on me. And the producers are like, "Really work his ass hard." Some of the jobs are really difficult, especially when you don’t know how to do them. I always say a lot of the physical labor ones are really tough, like working on the oyster boat, building and hauling 110 pound sacks of oysters on a boat. It’s tough. You know, working on the pheasant farm, that was particularly tough just because it was so freezing in Wisconsin and the pheasant business goes all through the year. It doesn’t matter how cold it gets, these people do this work.
I remember it took hours before I could feel my toes and I was wearing like three pairs of wool socks, work boots, and we had to like chase down the pheasants and corner them before you collect them, and it was just absolutely blisteringly cold. And then other jobs are highly skilled. I was asked to sculpt a - it’s called a Shachihoko. It’s a Japanese sculpture with the body of a carp and the head of a tiger, with a chainsaw, which, you know, I’m not a graphic artist in any way.
THE DEADBOLT: And that was with ice, right?
GERTLER: This is with ice, yeah. I also got to do some carving with cheese as well.
THE DEADBOLT: So how tough is an eating contest?
GERTLER: Tougher than it looks like. If you’re like me, I can eat a lot of food. But once you get full, you’re full. And then what gets those guys through the contest has nothing to do with hunger or appetite. It is all about mind over matter and the ability to take serious uncomfort in your stomach area, a lack of a gag reflex, because you’re trying to force your body to swallow things that your brain is sending the message that it doesn’t need. All of us eat by habit, and most of us eat too much anyway, but still our brains tell us to stop eating at a certain point.
I trained for a week, or at least what I thought was training, and I finished dead last. I ate 16 slices of pizza in 10 minutes, which I was not that far behind the other guys in my area. But the winner, Joey Chestnut, had 45 and that’s in the same amount of time. So it’s not even about [hunger]. It’s about stomach capacity, it’s about gag reflex, but it’s also about a rhythm, because when you’re at that level even to have the time to get all of the food down becomes an issue.
THE DEADBOLT: Have you ever had meat sweats?
GERTLER: I’ve heard about the meat sweats from the professional eaters. I got the meat sweats before, probably eating BBQ. Eating the "sampler extreme" from Dinosaur BBQ, which is a half rack of spare ribs, not baby backs, a half chicken, a half a pound of sliced brisket and two sides. That’s the most insane. I’d say at my best eating, like back in senior year of college, I was able to put it down. I couldn’t put it down today. You get the meat sweats, man, and you start sweating smoke and garlic.
THE DEADBOLT: Has there been any point on Will Work for Food where you said, "Man, what did I get myself into?"
GERTLER: Yeah, definitely, quite a few times. Both of the ones in Louisiana - I was already talking about the oyster boat, which was really tough, we also did a thing there. Now this is really fascinating and people are going to love the segment because it’s not been done on the Food Network. We actually made Cajun caviar and you get it by harvesting a fish known as the bowfin, or the Cajun word is "Tchoupique."
THE DEADBOLT: I’ve never heard of it. Is it a catfish or something in that family?
GERTLER: It sort of looks like that. It’s actually related to the sturgeon. It’s a 2000 year old species of fish and it yields eggs that you can produce caviar far less expense than sturgeon or sevruga or ossetra or anything like that. So you actually cut open the fish, take out the eggs, pass the eggs through a screen, and salt them. That part was cool. But being in the swamps and getting the fish out of the nets, that’s really tough work. You have to get your hands under the gills and just pull the fish and work them through the nets.
It’s a combination of being really forceful and gentle at the same time because you don’t want to damage the fish. But you've got to show the fish who’s boss. We were in a boat with 60 bowfin, so it was way more than we had crates for and you’re stepping around the fish. I was looking around the swamps in Louisiana and I was like, "How the hell did I get here? What is going on? I’m in the swamps of Louisiana getting caviar?"
THE DEADBOLT: I'm curious about something from your time at Old Sturbridge. How easy is it to make meals from the 1800s?
GERTLER: Well, it’s certainly not easy but it’s very much wonderful, like the kind of stuff I love to do in the kitchen. I love making stuff. I’m not necessarily your fancified "haut cuisine" kind of guy but I love to make brines and make breads and really do stuff from scratch. So the whole idea of making cheese and cream and butter, but starting with the cow? Totally what I’m into! So, I mean, it’s not easy. It doesn’t look easy. I was trying to make the butter, and I don’t know why, but they were saying sometimes it doesn’t work, sometimes the butter whips together in 15 minutes, sometimes it can take an hour, and molecules never start to capture the air for some reason. And one thing I need to have a is a hearth stove like that. Did you see that stove they use?
THE DEADBOLT: Oh, yeah. It looked old.
GERTLER: That’s sick, because you build this fire and then you build the fire in the oven that’s up to the left. And then you take all of the wood out of that because it has residual heat that you can bake in. Then you have the fire there, which you can hang a pot over, and in front of the fire you can have that reflector rotisserie. What a cool way to cook. It's not an exact science, no dials or anything, but totally cool.
THE DEADBOLT: Why do you think the various cooking shows have become so popular over the last couple of years?
GERTLER: It’s strange. There’s been this evolution with reality television in the last 10 years, I guess. Not even 10 years, if you think about it, where people have become fascinated with the same people that are like them and not necessarily like these unattainable celestial beings. Like with stars or celebrities, there’s been a reverse. And great story telling, I’ve always found, can be told by [real people]. You know, you put a real simple person in an extraordinary circumstance and that’s what’s going on with these shows. You know, like traveling to the farthest reaches of the country to the swamps of Louisiana or the Arctic flatlands of Wisconsin and see how they do when thrust into a job. I think people can relate to themselves. It’s like that classic everyman thing. I think that has a lot to do with it, like laughing at someone or going through a tribulation with someone that could be you.
THE DEADBOLT: When you’re cooking on your own, how to you think your personality finds its way into the dishes?
GERTLER: Well, I’ve been cooking for so long I just think it can’t not. I just get very enthusiastic about food and I think that’s contagious. I think it’s clear that I’m not the most organized cook or the neatest. But I’m very passionate, very enthusiastic, and when I’m cooking around people and talking about what I’m doing, people seem more interested. And I think it’s because of that honest enthusiasm.
Hey, I mean that’s what it’s got to be. I mean, we cooked for a Super Bowl party, my brother and I, and it was like 200 people and we were just in the trenches putting out pizza, wings, and everything, and people were just like checking out what we’re doing and they want to hear about it. And then they’re going and eating and you overhear them talking about what you just told them and recycling that information. It’s like people like to learn. I think it’s just the way you get the knowledge. It’s like your favorite teachers as a kid, who were very enthusiastic, or the real cool teachers, not the people who are just droning on and going by the book.
THE DEADBOLT: In today’s TV food world, does it matter if people can cook well or is it simply all about personality?
GERTLER: I definitely think personality has a lot to do with it. Certainly people need to have skills cooking, but it’s secondary to being able to convey information in an entertaining way, because otherwise you would just see a lot of the top restaurant chefs on programs. And that doesn’t necessarily play, because if you have this guy from this top restaurant preparing something cuvee, and then he’s confeeing this, and then he’s preparing a foam or emulsion, it’s not like people are really going to do that at home. So it doesn’t really translate.
It’s kind of fun to watch, like on Iron Chef, but it’s not the kind of thing you watch and are like, "Oh, wow! Yeah, I’m totally going to do that. I've just got to get myself a $10,000 emersion circulator and a vacuum operating system and then I can be making myself cuvee pork chops all day long. I’ll cook them for 15 hours at 120 degrees." So definitely, cooking skills are important. But I’m a good example of that. Being able to tell a good story and to be personable are probably more important.
THE DEADBOLT: Now that you’re a food rock star, are girls throwing themselves at your feet?
GERTLER: [laughs] It’s definitely easier to meet girls. I have a better ice-breaker now than when it was, "I’m a waiter." Starting a conversation with someone is always the hardest thing, so it’s good to have a good ice-breaker, especially with the town I’m in right now. Ha! I’m in Los Angeles right now and it’s really interesting, "What do you do? What do you drive? Blah, blah blah." It’s not what I’m used to. I’m a real east coast person.
THE DEADBOLT: Well, if food doesn't work just tell them that you’re the guy who invented dice.
GERTLER: [laughs] I should try that.
THE DEADBOLT: Why not?
GERTLER: "You invented dice? Wow, you look so young." Yeah, I get a blood transfusion every day. I’m actually 130.
Adam Gertler is living proof that placing second in a competition can sometimes pay off just as much as if you walked away a winner, especially if you have a great personality and you can make people laugh. In fact, after placing second in last year's The Next Food Network Star, Adam Gertler made such an impression on Food Network executives that they decided to give Adam his own show as host and reality lead in Will Work For Food, which airs Mondays at 8:30pm. Although Adam worked his butt off in The Next Food Network Star, Will Work for Food is a weekly one-man reality challenge that would break the backs of most "couch chefs" who are watching from the comforts of their kitchen living rooms.
ADAM GERTLER: Well, it feels really good if you mean in that the runner-up can end up doing quite well. It’s great. Look, I did not expect to do as well as I did on that show. It was a shock to me, I think, because I didn’t expect to do that well. It kind of let me take some risks, because I really just didn’t expect to be around much longer and it kept kind of working. So it’s just amazing where you find yourself and something that changes your whole life happens. It’s pretty wild. It’s been a wild year.
GERTLER: I’m glad to hear you say that because we really try to not make it easy on me. And the producers are like, "Really work his ass hard." Some of the jobs are really difficult, especially when you don’t know how to do them. I always say a lot of the physical labor ones are really tough, like working on the oyster boat, building and hauling 110 pound sacks of oysters on a boat. It’s tough. You know, working on the pheasant farm, that was particularly tough just because it was so freezing in Wisconsin and the pheasant business goes all through the year. It doesn’t matter how cold it gets, these people do this work.
GERTLER: I’ve heard about the meat sweats from the professional eaters. I got the meat sweats before, probably eating BBQ. Eating the "sampler extreme" from Dinosaur BBQ, which is a half rack of spare ribs, not baby backs, a half chicken, a half a pound of sliced brisket and two sides. That’s the most insane. I’d say at my best eating, like back in senior year of college, I was able to put it down. I couldn’t put it down today. You get the meat sweats, man, and you start sweating smoke and garlic.
GERTLER: Well, it’s certainly not easy but it’s very much wonderful, like the kind of stuff I love to do in the kitchen. I love making stuff. I’m not necessarily your fancified "haut cuisine" kind of guy but I love to make brines and make breads and really do stuff from scratch. So the whole idea of making cheese and cream and butter, but starting with the cow? Totally what I’m into! So, I mean, it’s not easy. It doesn’t look easy. I was trying to make the butter, and I don’t know why, but they were saying sometimes it doesn’t work, sometimes the butter whips together in 15 minutes, sometimes it can take an hour, and molecules never start to capture the air for some reason. And one thing I need to have a is a hearth stove like that. Did you see that stove they use?
GERTLER: Well, I’ve been cooking for so long I just think it can’t not. I just get very enthusiastic about food and I think that’s contagious. I think it’s clear that I’m not the most organized cook or the neatest. But I’m very passionate, very enthusiastic, and when I’m cooking around people and talking about what I’m doing, people seem more interested. And I think it’s because of that honest enthusiasm.
GERTLER: [laughs] It’s definitely easier to meet girls. I have a better ice-breaker now than when it was, "I’m a waiter." Starting a conversation with someone is always the hardest thing, so it’s good to have a good ice-breaker, especially with the town I’m in right now. Ha! I’m in Los Angeles right now and it’s really interesting, "What do you do? What do you drive? Blah, blah blah." It’s not what I’m used to. I’m a real east coast person.