‘Duff: Ace of Taste’ shows how a baker approaches cooking
Most viewers know Duff Goldman as an “Ace of Cakes” able to translate the esoteric minutiae and science of baking into plain language. Now, he’s applying his culinary instruction to cooking in a series now airing on Food Network.
“Duff: Ace of Taste,” airing Sundays at midday, finds the baker and classically trained chef in the kitchen preparing sweet and savory foods for his family, friends and community, all with his signature creativity. So in the six episodes, he’ll come forth with creations such as a cheeseburger with a Velveeta mousse on a pate a choux bun, a spinach and artichoke babka, finger foods for his year-old daughter Josephine’s tea party and his signature Texas Chili with Southern cornbread. Explaining it all every step of the way.
“I’m kind of a natural teacher,” Goldman says. “I’m always explaining why things happen. Like for me, the thing I love about food and cooking is that it’s never boring. I think it’s fascinating, you know, all the things that come with cooking, like along with sort of the art of creating something delicious, also the science that’s behind it.
“You know, why does a steak get crispy? Why does pate a choux puff up?” he continues. “And so one of the things I like about this show is that I really get to sort of explain things but I do it in English. I do it so people can also say, ‘Wow, that’s fascinating.’ Because there are just a lot of things about food that I find really fascinating and I love sharing that with people.”
Also on display is Goldman’s creativity. Certainly his burger on a pate a choux bun with Velveeta mousse is a great example of that. But in an upcoming episode, Goldman makes a dish that literally came from a dream that his wife Johnna had.
“One day we woke up,” he says, “and she goes, ‘I just had the craziest dream. I dreamt that you made me a babka but instead of chocolate, it was made with spinach artichoke dip.’ I was like, ‘Wow, that sounds amazing.’ And so when we filmed that episode, I didn’t tell her we were making that. And so when she came on, I was like, ‘By the way, I just wanted to make your dreams come true. I made you a spinach artichoke babka.’ It was really fun, like she was like, ‘Oh my God!’ It was really cute.”