Interview: Aarón Sánchez and MASTERCHEF Season Premiering 6/2

MASTERCHEF is back - this time with an incredible season of Legends! Every week, one of the world's biggest culinary legends visit the MASTERCHEF kitchen to inspire this season's contestants. With only 15 aprons up for grabs, home cooks from across the country serve up their signature dishes to judges Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich and Aarón Sánchez and guest judge Emeril Lagasse to try to win a spot in the MASTERCHEF kitchen in the all-new "Legends: Emeril Lagasse - Auditions Round 1" season premiere episode of MASTERCHEF airing Wednesday, June 2 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (MCH-1101) (TV-14 L).

Broadwayworld had the pleasure of interviewing celebrity chef, Aarón Sánchez about his career and role as a judge on MASTERCHEF.

Aarón Sánchez has starred in multiple Food Network shows, most notably as a judge on Chopped and Chopped Junior. He was the host of Cooking Channel's Emmy-nominated series, Taco Trip, and has appeared on numerous other shows including; Iron Chef and Best Thing I Ever Ate. Additionally, Aarón hosted two Spanish-language shows on Fox Life, 3 Minutos con Aarón and MOTOCHEFS. A third-generation cookbook author, Aarón has written two cookbooks - "La Comida del Barrio" and "Simple Food, Big Flavor". In Fall 2019 he published a memoir titled "Where I Come From: Life Lessons From a Latino Chef". Aarón has won a James Beard Award for Television Studio Program and was recognized by the Hispanic Federation with the Premio Orgullo Award for being a leader in the Hispanic community. In 2016, Aarón founded the Aarón Sánchez Scholarship Fund (ASSF), an initiative empowering aspiring chefs from the Latin community. ASSF provides recipients with full culinary scholarships to schools in New York City and ongoing mentorship. Aarón's love for the arts extends beyond the kitchen. He is a partner in a world-renowned tattoo shop and museum, Daredevil Tattoo in NYC. An avid music lover, he enjoys cooking to the sounds of Portugal the Man, Shakey Graves, Café Tacvba, Alabama Shakes, Tank and The Bangas, Amos Lee, Lianne La Havas, and Lenny Kravitz. He has a son, Yuma, and lives in New Orleans, LA.

What was your earliest interest in cooking?

My abuela or Mema as we called her always had me help her in the kitchen and I remember the aromas being so comforting and realizing what a boiling pot on your stove when you bring people into your home can do.

Have you had any particular mentors?

Yes, Chef Paul Prudhomme was my earliest mentor and I'm still constantly reflecting on the lessons both in and out of the kitchen that he taught me.

You are a man of many talents. How do you juggle such a busy career?

It's not always easy but looking at the big picture helps; you can't get tunnel visioned. I also highly value family time and rest, I am not afraid to take a break when I need it.

What bit of advice can you offer aspiring chefs?

Find a mentor, write letters, call their restaurants or businesses and find someone who will take the time to show you the ropes. It can feel hard when you are going at it alone, having someone to champion you can go a really long way.

The upcoming season of "MasterChef" is very exciting. Tell us a little about the challenges of hosting the show.

It's always really hard for me to tell someone they didn't live up to the expectations when I know they gave it all they had, but that's part of the reality of this show. There's one winner and everyone else gets experience and amazing knowledge, but eliminating folks is always hard for me.

What would you like MasterChef: Legends viewers to know?

It's going to be really fun and a bit different from past seasons so buckle up and get ready for the ride!

Can you share with our readers any of your future plans?

I have quite a few irons in the fire currently but I'm working on expanding our scholarship foundation (The Aarón Sánchez Scholarship Fund) and the paperback version plus the audio version of my memoir (Where I Come From; Life Lessons From a Latino Chef) have just come out so that's what I'm pretty excited about these days.

For more information on MASTERCHEF, please visit https://www.fox.com/masterchef/.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of FOX

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