This week on Food Network Obsessed, host Jaymee Sire sits down with Food Network star Anne Burrell to talk all about Worst Cooks in America. Find out if the cooks on the show are really that awful and what it’s like working with her new co-host, Carla Hall. Anne describes her approach to coaching cooks and advice for how to get back to basics if you’re a bad cook. Then, Anne talks about how her love of cooking began and how she lives for what she calls the “head bob.” Finally, she talks about her experiences working in Italy, reveals the pickup line she used to snag her fiancé and insists she started the cat obsession among Food Network stars.
This week on Food Network Obsessed, host Jaymee Sire sits down with Food Network star Anne Burrell to talk all about Worst Cooks in America. Find out if the cooks on the show are really that awful and what it’s like working with her new co-host, Carla Hall. Anne describes her approach to coaching cooks and advice for how to get back to basics if you’re a bad cook. Then, Anne talks about how her love of cooking began and how she lives for what she calls the “head bob.” Finally, she talks about her experiences working in Italy, reveals the pickup line she used to snag her fiancé and insists she started the cat obsession among Food Network stars.
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Find episode transcript here: https://food-network-obsessed.simplecast.com/episodes/anne-burrells-advice-for-bad-cooks-finding-love-on-bumble
[MUSIC PLAYING] JAYMEE SIRE: Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Food Network Obsessed, the podcast where we dish on all things Food Network with your favorite Food Network talent. I'm your host Jaymee Sire, and I hope you guys are ready because we have one of my favorites on the podcast today. You may know her from her signature platinum blonde hair or as the red team leader on Worst Cooks in America, which she has been for the past 21 seasons today. We are talking to Anne Burrell.
But before I get to my interview with Anne, wanted to share with you guys what I did this past weekend, and more importantly, what I ate. My boyfriend, Justin and I had a chance to go up to Urban Cowboy Lodge up in the Catskills. It was snowing, it was like this perfect winter wonderland. And we just got to kind of create some images for the hotel.
And they just recently launched their food program. Their new chef is Damian Frank. He previously worked at Trout Beck, a resort upstate as well, and also at Locanda Verde in New York City. And I'm so excited about what they are doing up there, you guys. I have to tell you about this chicken sandwich that I had. I am a sucker for a fried chicken sandwich. If I see that on a menu, I am most likely ordering it.
But this one was really special. So the chicken is brined in pickle juice, which I love. In fact, I have a container of pickle juice in my fridge right now that Justin almost threw out and I freaked out at him. I was like, no, no, no, I need that. He's like, why is there a pickle juice container in here with no pickles? And I said, I'm saving it for a chicken brine.
Anyways, this chicken sandwich is brined in pickle juice. It has this whole grain mustard aioli, big fat pickles, almost bordering on too thick. But I actually love getting like a big bite of pickle with that crispy fried chicken. Oh, and it's also served on a potato sesame seed bun, which is like one of my favorite you know buns, I guess. Can you have a favorite bun? I do.
It is a perfect bite, and it was just-- I mean, obviously, I'm just drooling over it thinking about it again. But everything that we tried was really fantastic. They are starting their indoor dining this weekend for guests only, and hopefully, in the future, you can make a reservation even if you are not staying at the lodge. The schnitzel is really good as well. Can you tell I like fried proteins?
Anyways, it was a wonderful little escape, little get away from the city, and nice way to refresh as well. And I know Ann Burrell is a fan of all things upstate as well. She spent quarantine up there. So let's dive in to my interview with Anne.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Anne, welcome to the pod. I am so pumped to be reunited with you. For our listeners who don't know, we first met on the set of Beat Bobby Flay. We instantly hit it off over our love of cats and sports. We had grand plans of going to a Rangers game together, but COVID kind of put a damper on that. So I'm just putting it out there on the record, we need to get a redo of that Rangers game at some point down the road in the future. Are you game for that?
ANNE BURRELL: Absolutely. And I'm so bummed that I've not gotten to see any Rangers games thus far this season.
JAYMEE SIRE: I know.
ANNE BURRELL: I'm like, I can't wait till hockey really comes back to you being able to see it in person. I miss it.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, I was checking out your social media, and I noticed that in your bio across all of your socials it says you are a spreader of sparkles and smiles and a perpetual optimist. Having met you in person, I can attest to that. And I also noticed that you always are showing your gratitude with your work, your life. You always have #luckygirl and love what I do and all of your posts. Your energy is truly infectious. So I'm wondering where that sense of perpetual optimism comes from.
ANNE BURRELL: Well, I mean, I think it started a bunch of years ago when I actually truly decided like what my career path would be. And I mean, it all started with an epiphany one day when I was 23 years old and I was walking. And I remember every single thing about the moment like what I was wearing, what I was doing, what time it was, what the sky looked like.
And it was just I was like I decided to go to culinary school. And ever since then, I have never looked back. Yes, of course, like everyone, I've had career ups and downs. But never have I ever been in doubt of where my career was taking me or that. And so I feel so lucky to be able to make a living at what is my passion, and then on top of that, be able to share it with so many people.
Like when I see the Worst Cooks coming into boot camp, and they really are the worst cooks, but then you see the journey that they take. And I take this journey with them every single time, every season. To see how much better they get and how much better they feel when they're in the kitchen and all of that, it truly makes me love what I do even more and feel like a truly lucky girl that I get to share it with people.
JAYMEE SIRE: Amazing. And I'm so glad you brought up Worst Cooks in America, 21st season streaming now on Discovery Plus. When you're watching it, I mean, it's something that you just can't look away from. I'll put it that way. A lot of mistakes happening, but a lot of learning happening as well. But they really do seem to struggle in the kitchen, especially early on to the point that it's a comedy at some points. But tell us the honest truth, are they really that bad when they show up?
ANNE BURRELL: Oh my gosh. Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes, they really are that bad. And I mean, it's sort of like when people stop me on the street or whatever. It's the number one question people always ask me. And I'm like, oh, no, we don't have to fake any of that. And it is comical, but to me, it's comical in a way that these people know that they are bad and they come to boot camp to get better. It's kind of like get better by sort of tough love torture almost.
But what we ask them to do is incredibly difficult. But you see these people really put their heads down and get better. But I mean, the stuff that I have seen people do to food in boot camp, oh my gosh! And it's also one of my very favorite things on the first day of a new season when I have a new co-host.
And like they really-- I mean, I can try to explain it to them, but they really have no idea just how bad it is until they get in there and see it with their own eyes. And they're just like, oh my gosh. And they look at me, every single host does this, and looks at me and says, Anne, what have you gotten me into? So I'm always like, please still be my friend after this, and do you need a hug?
[LAUGHTER]
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, speaking of your co-host this season, Carla Hall, she joins the show. I actually love watching both of you together because she also has an infectious personality. And to your point, your guys' reactions throughout the season are hilarious. What was it like working with her?
ANNE BURRELL: Well, Carla is just delightful. I mean, she's fine, she's kooky, and she gets the teaching part of it where it's not, yeah, we do all of the games and that kind of stuff, which are fun. But all of the games always have a purpose, like a teaching purpose to them.
So it's sort of what I kind of like to describe as passive-aggressively teaching people that, oh, they're having fun but they're also learning a little bit of something as well. And Carla is just so delightful, and she really got into the games and everything as well. And she is a really good teacher, and I mean, she's just fun. So we had a great time together.
JAYMEE SIRE: It definitely showed on screen and at home as you're watching it. You're a great teacher as well, though. And you've mentored a lot of winning contestants from worst place to first place. So what's your secret to getting these contestants to the top?
ANNE BURRELL: Well, I mean, I sort of go at it with a two-pronged approach. Is one, people sometimes are like, oh my gosh, Chef Anne's so scary and she's really tough. And it's like, yes, I am. Because I truly believe in my heart that these people can do this. And yes, I am tough, but I also care so much about seeing people do better.
And it's like I realize that everything that we ask them to do, to be away from their families. And in times of shooting and COVID they had to be away for an extra two weeks to quarantine. And the whole thing is a super stressful environment with very long days. So it's my mission to make sure that these people get the very most out of it that they possibly can.
And then on the flip side, when I'm teaching, I really truly try to teach people the why we do things and to connect the dots. So it's not just teaching recipes. It's actually really teaching cooking techniques. And I take things for-- at least in the initial time when I'm teaching people, I take things out of cooking terms. Because people don't understand that.
If people ask me to go to their job and do their job in that vernacular, I would have no idea how to even get started. So I tried to explain what we're doing, why we're doing it, and then put the name to it, so they can be like, oh, all right. I get it. And it usually takes a few times of explaining the same thing over and over. I have to have a lot of patience.
But it's also then when I see people have what I like to call the light bulb moment, which is when they use the information that I've taught them all by themselves. It makes me feel like a proud mama. And I'm just like, oh, look at my little baby birds. And then I can eventually push them out of the nest and see them fly.
JAYMEE SIRE: I love that. I'm sure it's rewarding for both sides, for you and for them. And I can only imagine just the skills and the knowledge that they take away from being on a season of the show. For anyone out there listening that maybe feels like they are a horrible cook, where would you suggest they start as far as trying to develop some of those skills you are talking about?
ANNE BURRELL: Well, it's really funny because whenever I ask people that are recruits on Worst Cooks, I'm like, well, what happens when you try to follow a recipe? And they look at me like I'm absolutely bonkers, which we all know I am. But they look at me like, what do you mean a recipe? And I just think, I look back at them and I'm like, what do you mean what do you mean?
I mean, if I know I don't know how to do something or to go somewhere, I find directions. So we have to think of a recipe is a set of directions on how to make a dish. So I mean, I tell people, if you want to make a roasted chicken for instance, Google, "how do I roast a chicken?" I mean, there is a lot of information out there on how to roast a chicken or any recipe.
And so find the recipe, read it before you start. Because there's always like sometimes in recipes where you'll just like read the ingredients and you're like, I got this. And then you'd get through and you're like, OK, now put the short ribs in the oven for three hours. And you're like, three hours? Dinner is supposed to be in 20 minutes.
So read the recipe so you have a good understanding of where you're going before you start. Get out all of your ingredients and make sure you have enough of everything. Don't assume that you have like, oh, I've got bread crumbs. And then you open the container breadcrumbs and you have a 1/4 of a cup in there and you need like 3 cups or something.
Because some people start to get creative and it's like, I wonder if I can substitute bread for bread crumbs. Or I wonder if powdered sugar would work instead of regular sugar. And it's like, no, no, no. So get out all of your ingredients, make sure you have enough of everything, and then do all your prep work first.
Like cut all your onions or do whatever you need to do to get all of that done before you start cooking so then you can kind of clean as you go, you keep things uncluttered, and then you can just use all of your mise en place or your prep work that you have and it makes cooking so much more enjoyable.
And it's not this frantic, you know, oh my God! What am I doing now kind of stuff. And then you can go along in a nice, easy way and you don't finish in your kitchen is a disaster and a pile of dishes in your sink and you're like, I thought cooking at home was supposed to be relaxing and easier. And if you cook like that, it won't be.
But if you cook what I call the mise en place method, like do all your prep work and all of that stuff first and then start cooking, it's so much more-- I mean, that's how I have to do it. And I can't stand a dirty or a messy, cluttered area because it makes my mind cluttered. So just do those few basic steps.
And it's like it's so funny because when I was a kid and cooking, my mom used to tell me all of that and I would never really do it. And then things would run amok, obviously. And so every time I say that I'm like, oh, my mother's-- I love her to death, but she's always right.
JAYMEE SIRE: She was right. I know. That's the worst thing what do you have to admit that. Oh, mom was right.
ANNE BURRELL: Mom's always right.
JAYMEE SIRE: You've mentored every season of Worst Cooks. I'm curious if you have a favorite, like all time favorite memory from the show.
ANNE BURRELL: Oh my gosh, there are so many. I mean, when I see people using the information that I've taught them is always so amazing to me. There was one winner actually a few years ago, this woman named Hazel. And she was a single mom and she was starting to-- right after she finished Worst Cooks like a couple of days afterwards, she was moving her whole family to Binghamton, New York to start her master's degree in social work.
And like times are really tough for her, but since then, she finished her master's degree. She's now a social worker. She's written a book. She's gone on to be successful in her life. And I hear from her periodically like along the holidays or something. And it's so nice that people keep in touch with me.
And I've heard from a lot of recruits over the course of quarantining and stuff, celebrities and regular people-- civilians, we call them-- celebrities and civilians alike saying, oh my gosh, thank god I did Worst Cooks because now during this time when no one can go anywhere, I can cook at home. And it's really that just-- that is the reason that I love the show so much.
Because yes, it's silly, it's goofy, people start off terribly. But they get better, and it really changes lives. They take what they've learned back to their families and their kids. And so then they create those memories for their families. And they get the joy that I feel when I cook for other people. So I mean, all of those reasons are reasons that I love Worst Cooks so much.
JAYMEE SIRE: I love hearing those kind of stories. And I would love to hear your story because we see these people finding their interest in cooking throughout the show. Where did your love of cooking begin?
ANNE BURRELL: Well, it started when I was a kid. My mom swears because of Julia Child that's why I became a chef. I mean, when I was three, I went to my mom and said mom, I have a friend named Julie. And she said, you do? Who? And I said, Julia Child. I watch her every day on TV. So I feel like if I can do that for even one kid, I've won. And my mom was also a great cook. And I grew up in a little tiny town in upstate New York. And we had a big garden.
And my mom would be like, all right. Go outside and pick lettuce for dinner or dig up potatoes or that kind of stuff. And I always loved cooking because it was like an arts and crafts project with something to eat at the end. And I just loved also, I loved still to this day the hospitality aspect of it. I love setting a beautiful table. I love seeing people when they first start eating.
And I always say, comedians work for the laughs, but chefs work for the head bobs. Because it's like when people eat something they like they're like, mmh. They throw head bobs. And so even from a distance, like even when I was working in restaurants and stuff, you can see when people like stuff because you got the head bob. Or the first five or 10 minutes of dinner is quiet because everyone's eating I'm like, yes!
JAYMEE SIRE: You know that's a good sign.
ANNE BURRELL: Right? I always say that as a chef, I'm a professional pleasure provider. And I love that.
[LAUGHTER]
JAYMEE SIRE: I love that too. You mentioned growing up upstate New York and then-- I know you studied in Italy as well. How did that experience kind of also set that foundation for what we see now?
ANNE BURRELL: Growing up in a tiny little town, I didn't have exposure to so many different types of food and that kind of stuff. So I knew when I was graduating from culinary school that it was really important to travel and to learn everything I could about cultures and food through traveling. So I graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. And I found this school program to go to Italy for a year.
So it was three months of school, and then I spent the rest of the year working in restaurants for free in Umbria, Tuscany, and Liguria. I mean, like we took it out and trade. They had to house me and feed me, but I worked for them. But really when I went to Italy, being from outside of Syracuse, New York, to me Italian food was like chicken parm or something like that.
I remember one time as a kid, my dad took us to this restaurant. And he was like now kids, this is a really fancy restaurant. It's called a ristorante. The salad that we're going to have before we eat is called an antipasto. And it was like a red sauce kind of place. And so when I got to Italy, I was like, oh my gosh, this food is nothing that I know of Italian food.
And I love it so much more than I ever knew that I could. And it was just the simplicity of it, the pristine ingredients, the seasonality of it, the cooking techniques about rustic Italian food to me is not easy to do well because there's really no place to hide. And if your ingredients and your cooking techniques aren't on point, it's a glaring mistake.
And to me, that was just thrilling. And sometimes people think that rustic is another word for sloppy. And I'm like, oh, no, no, no, no. If that's what you think, you just don't get it. So I love to do rustic Italian food because to me, it's so soulful. That's where the soul in the food comes from.
JAYMEE SIRE: I love that. Is there a specific dish that you like that brings you back to that time in Italy where you were like, that is where I fell in love with this cuisine.
ANNE BURRELL: Oh my gosh. I mean, I had a million of those, but it all came wildly into focus for me was when I was working at this little tiny restaurant in Tuscany. And it was a 30-seat restaurant in a town of 60 people. So it was like out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by olive groves and vineyards and stuff. And we had been working there for a while.
It was a husband and wife that ran the restaurant. And the wife was the chef and the husband ran the dining room, and he was a nutty, nutty Tuscan man. But we'd been there for a while, and so we were thinking, all right, let's move on to another place to see a different kind of food and whatever. And they kept saying like, [SPEAKING ITALIAN]. Like, "Wait for the new oil." And I'm like, the new oil? What the hell is this all about, the new oil?
So the day that the Frantoio opened, which is the olive press in the little town, I mean, all that was in the town was clearly a church-- every town in Italy has a church-- a cafe to get coffee and this restaurant, and an olive press. So we went to the Frantoio Toyo the day it opened and we brought bread that we burned with us on the fire in the restaurant and walked across town, which was like across the street, 10 feet away.
And right as freshly pressed Tuscan olive oil was coming out of the centrifuge, we tasted it on this warm bread. And you could feel it just going down the side of your face, and it was such a beautiful, pristine flavor. And it's like you could feel thousands of years of history and just the delightfulness of it. And I was like, all right, I get it now. I get what the Italian food just feel and the soul is about it.
JAYMEE SIRE: I mean, you painted such a beautiful picture, I felt like I was right there with you in Italy. And I know that you kind of went back to your roots at the beginning of quarantine. And you went upstate you're with your family with a big group of people. What was that experience like?
ANNE BURRELL: Well, yes, it was a big group of people. It was myself, my now fiance-- we actually got engaged when we were up there, which was very exciting-- my fiance's son, my mom who lives up there, my sister who lives up there, her three children, and her boyfriend. So there was nine of us all together.
Yes. And it was quite an experience because there were four teenagers. And I have not lived with a teenager since I was one, so that was a little eye-opening. And my two nieces who are in high school decided that I was going to be the time that they were going to go vegan. And I'm like, oh, great, super.
And my mom is gluten-free, so to cook dinner every night for nine of us with a couple of special diets in a tiny town that doesn't have access to like-- my big trip every day was like, OK, I get to go to the grocery store. And we have two grocery stores in town, and I was like, should I go to Aldi or Tops, Tops or Aldi? Or if it was a big day, I'd go to both. So everyone was like, do you want me to go with you? And I'm like, no, no, this is my alone time.
JAYMEE SIRE: That was your time. By the way, congratulations on the engagement.
ANNE BURRELL: Thank you.
JAYMEE SIRE: I heard that you guys met on Bumble and he did not know you were a chef. So what was his reaction when he found out?
ANNE BURRELL: Well, so yes, we did meet on Bumble. And I mean, Stuart had known that I was a chef because I had that in my profile. But he did not really know about the whole Food Network thing. And. He didn't know that I was sort of a celebrity chef I guess. And so that was a little eye-opening to him, but I mean, he was like, oh, oh wow. All right. OK. That's what this is all about.
And in our first couple of dates when we were out walking along the street and people would stop and ask for a picture. And he was like, oh, wow, all right. This is really what this is all about. And I was like, well, you know, I was kind of trying to tell you. But you don't want to sound like, oh, well, you know, I'm this famous person, blah, blah, blah, kind of stuff. I was like, he'll suss that out himself. And so he gets it, but he's funny because he always talks about he's like, to me, you're just Anne. And so then goes from Anne to then to work mode where it's Anne Burrell, that kind of stuff.
JAYMEE SIRE: And I on Bumble, the girl has to make the first move, right? So what drew you to him initially? And what was your opening line?
ANNE BURRELL: Well, what drew me to him, A, was that he's very cute. And he didn't have that many pictures. He only had three pictures, but he had a really friendly smile. And then it said that he was British, and I was like, oh, cha ching right there. I am a little bit of an anglophile I will say.
And he said also, I'm the father of a wonderful-- I think Harvey was 13 at the time or something. And I was like, oh, he just seems really nice. And I was like, and he's age-appropriate. So there we go. Perfect. And so my opening line was, "Hi!" with a lot of Is and a lot of exclamation points, "nice to meet-ish you." And I guess that was the line that did it.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, I mean, here we are. You're now engaged and I mean, that's it's a modern day love story. So I love hearing all that. I met my boyfriend on Instagram, so basically the same thing.
ANNE BURRELL: Right? And I like to call Stuart my Prince Charming. He really is.
JAYMEE SIRE: That's so sweet. But I do understand that you have more than just one love to your life, your cats. We talked about this.
ANNE BURRELL: I thought you were going to say the Rangers.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, that too. That too. No, I was talking about your cats, Marsha and Nancy, right?
ANNE BURRELL: Marsha and Nancy, yes. Their full names are Nutty Nancy Crazy Pants and Marcia Marcia Marcia. And they really do both live up to their names.
JAYMEE SIRE: Really?
ANNE BURRELL: But they are Maine Coon cats, which I guess has sort of become the official cat breed of the Food Network.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yes.
ANNE BURRELL: I got Nancy and Bobby Flay and I were doing a season of Worst Cooks together. And I showed him a picture of Nancy and he was like, oh my God, I've been wanting a cat. And he'd been wanting a cat for a long time. So I put him in touch with the breeder, and that's where he got Nacho from.
JAYMEE SIRE: So he copied you?
ANNE BURRELL: Exactly. But he always gives me props for that, and he's like, you connected me with one of the best things in my life, which are my cats. And Maine Coons are just-- I mean, they're so fun and entertaining and lovely and huge. And yes, I spend my life attached to a lint roller, by it's all worth it.
JAYMEE SIRE: It is. I'm a cat person as well. So I can relate. I feel like I'm turning this into a cat podcast because I feel like I ask every guest about their cats. But I do love hearing about it. And I love to know that Anne Burrell was first and Nacho Flay is in this world because of Anne Burrell so--
ANNE BURRELL: Right? Exactly. But no, Bobby's always very good at giving props about that.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yes. Yes. Well, this has been so much fun. Before I let you go, we always asked our guests the same question at the very end of our podcast interviews, what would be on your menu for your perfect food day? So we're talking breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. There's basically no rules. You can time-travel, you can spend however much money you want, you can be served by another chef, you can cook your own meals or some of your-- I mean, basically, there's no rules.
ANNE BURRELL: Wow. All right. This is a toughie. Let's see. For breakfast, and so because we're just imagining all this and so I'm going to go big here. The calories aren't real.
JAYMEE SIRE: No, no, no, no.
ANNE BURRELL: So I would start off breakfast with a pain au chocolat like a chocolate-filled croissant. And then I would have a very lovely French rolled omelet with some Gruyere cheese in there and maybe some asparagus. And clearly, then I would have big fat bacon sausage and all that sauce on the side which is not part of the French petite dijon. That's the big girl dijon.
JAYMEE SIRE: That's the American sign coming in.
ANNE BURRELL: Yes. But I love a lovely French rolled omelet. Fresh squeezed orange juice maybe with a little shot of something fun in there like champagne or vodka.
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh, yeah. Maybe both.
ANNE BURRELL: Right? And then for lunch, I would have the most perfect BLT sandwich with juicy summer tomatoes that you can sort of still feel the sun on and really cold lettuce, the perfectly crisp bacon that's like crunchy but not too crunchy, and bread that's toasted that is crunchy but still pliable so you don't tear up the inside of your mouth. And that would be accompanied by perfectly done French fries like perfect frits and accompanied by a chili [SPEAKING FRENCH], a little chili white wine in there.
And then for dinner, we would take a trip to Italy, so either Piedmont or Tuscany. Maybe Piedmont so we could have a lot of those really delicious wines from there in like Barolo, Barbaresco. But Tuscany has some amazing wines as well. So either one of those places wouldn't be bad for me.
And we would start off with several antipasti courses of whatever was in season. Then we would go into our pasta courses, which I would love some [SPEAKING ITALIAN] very classic piedmontese tiny little ravioli that are filled with a mixture of chicken and rabbit and pork and bound together with a little bit of rice And then in a butter and sage sauce with shaved white truffles.
And then we would go into, if we were in Tuscany, we would be having one of my favorite pasta shapes ever, which would be peachy pasta, which are really thick chewy ropes of pasta with a really lovely big ragu like rather it's like a lamb or a wild boar or even just a straight up beef ragu, all of that. And perfectly finished with Tuscan olive oil and Parmesan cheese.
And then honestly for the [SPEAKING ITALIAN] of that, I don't even know. Like just something super yummy and delicious. Maybe we'd have a fish course of [SPEAKING ITALIAN] so it's like fish and crazy water. And then maybe, I don't know, like some porchetta or something. I don't know, something very classic Italian. And then we would finish it up with probably a really lovely olive oil cake.
And I haven't had it in years and I always think to make it in the summer and I never really do, but which is very simple, which is called [SPEAKING ITALIAN], which is it's like Italian fruit cocktail so it's like all kinds of seasonal fruit soaked in a very juicy it's almost like in its own water really but a lemon simple syrup and then with a little scoop of lemon sorbet or gelato in there. So it's like juicy and it's fresh and it's cold and it's so delicious.
JAYMEE SIRE: Wow. I am like floored, right? I need to wipe up all of the drool off of my computer keyboard because that was probably the most thoughtful and complete and just elaborate answer that we've ever received for that question so--
ANNE BURRELL: Oh, goody!
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. I think that's a perfect way to go out on this interview, but wow, that was incredible. I'm in awe.
ANNE BURRELL: Oh, actually, you know what, for dessert, I would have cake, like birthday cake.
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh, like a classic.
ANNE BURRELL: A from scratch yellow cake with a nice thick chocolate buttercream all over it. And yeah, maybe even some sprinkles on the outside.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah, why not?
ANNE BURRELL: I love like a really moist from scratch cake. And you never really find those anywhere, but I love them.
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh my gosh. Well, I love everything that you just said. So I have to figure out now what I'm going to eat for dinner that will even try to compete with any of those dishes that you describe. But thank you so much again for taking the time. I know you're a very busy lady, but so much enjoyed talking to you about all of your projects and your time in Italy, and obviously, your perfect food day, which is now going to be a goal of mine. So until we can attend a Rangers game together, I will say goodbye and thank you so much for joining us.
ANNE BURRELL: This was a delightful conversation, Jaymee. Thanks so much for having me. And yes, I promise, sooner rather than later, we will do that Rangers game.
JAYMEE SIRE: We will do it. All right, mark it on the calendar.
[LAUGHS]
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Hi, Anne Burrell, always a delight. I loved hearing the story about her cats and how they kind of led to the existence of Nacho Flay in the Food Network family. I was transported to Italy during both her talk about that and her favorite food day, which she just painted this gorgeous picture of food for a few minutes. I was just in awe, and I cannot wait to travel again. I've been to Italy, but it has been way too long. So I definitely need to get back there as well.
Of course, you can catch new episodes of Worst Cooks in America Sunday nights at 9:00/8:00 Central on Food Network and streaming now on Discovery Plus. And of course you can see more from her adorable cats and incredible life and her hashtagging on Instagram @ChefAnnBurrell. If you enjoyed this week's episode, please leave us a five star rating and review. If you haven't already, please subscribe. And as always, thank you so much for listening. We will catch you foodies and next Friday for another episode of Food Network Obsessed.
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