He’s probably the only chef whose cooking show is sandwiched between county board of supervisors meetings. But unusual placement hasn’t stopped Sam Zien, also known as “Sam the Cooking Guy,” from rising to local culinary celebrity status.
The Emmy Award-winning cooking show host “” seen on County Television Network and SD4 “” sizzled, grilled and broiled at this year’s San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival.
Zien taught a class on “Cooking happily south of the border” as part of Southern California’s largest five-day celebration of food and drink. The festival is held annually at locations along the San Diego Bay waterfront. This November it featured dozens of cooking classes, wine tastings and food events.
Adding one part cooking instruction, one part entertainment and two parts margaritas, guests were treated to a healthy portion of Zien’s snacks and satire.
“My whole show is based on one thing,” said Zien, whose set is in the kitchen of his home. “Everything comes from the supermarket.”
The Cooking Guy’s success is part of the emerging trend of cooking shows “for the rest of us,” suburban chefs that can barely tell Sous-Vide from sesame seed.
It’s this backlash against the culinary establishment that’s rocketing everyday chefs like Zien and foodie starlet Rachael Ray to fame.
“That’s mostly what my show is about: getting you to cook,” Zien explained. “I really don’t care what you make.”
For not caring, Zien put together a well-rounded menu for his class that consisted of Mexican bruschetta, shrimp tacos and grilled halibut with salsa cream, and ended with toasted pound cake with fresh fruit.
Adding a little bit here and there, the guy with no formal culinary schooling “” he is a former biotech worker who changed careers after Sept. 11, 2001 “” takes a flexible approach to cooking.
“I don’t measure,” Zien said. “It’s because this is cooking and it doesn’t matter. If it were baking, it would matter.”