Annapolis Home Cook Featured on new PBS Series Launching June 24, The Great American Recipe
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Robin Daumit, Annapolis contestant on PBS’ new series, The Great American Recipe.
EDC sat down with Robin Daumit to find what it’s like to compete on a food reality TV show
It turns out, this local home cook is an old hand at TV cooking competitions
By Susan Able | Edible DC
Last month, PBS announced the launch of a new eight-part series called The Great American Recipe that features ten accomplished home cooks from across the United States who face off in a culinary competition. The twist? Not only do these chefs possess serious culinary skills, they also come from distinct multicultural backgrounds—from Syrian to Hungarian, Vietnamese to Mexican, Italian to Puerto Rican, Southern soul food and Filipino. Each episode of the series gives the contestants the chance to present two of their beloved signature dishes as they vie to win PBS’ national search for The Great American Recipe.
Robin Daumit in her Davidsonville kitchen, which is also set up for her culinary blogging and media production. Photo courtesy of Robin Daumit.
We are well represented in the DMV by Robin Daumit, a mother of four who grew up in the Syrian community of Annapolis. Now 70, she is also a 3 time Food Network Chef, author, cookbook and recipe writer, blogger, recipe writer and is developing a new culinary media project for production.
I recently had a chance to sit down and talk with with Robin in her Davidsonville home about her role in The Great American Recipe and much more.
Susan Able, Edible DC: Robin, tell me about how you landed a spot on this show?
Robin Daumit: I was first contacted about the Great American Recipe by the PBS casting crew via Instagram. And about two hours later the show programmers called me. They loved my experience with recipe creation, cookbook writing and my prior on-air experience, but especially loved that I was of Syrian descent and had deep Syrian culinary roots. Being Syrian is such a big part of who I am and how I cook, and the show producers wanted that background for this show.
Shooting The Great American Recipe was such a great experience. We stayed nearby during the shoot, which was done at an event space called The Barns at Mattaponi Springs about an hour outside of Richmond, VA. The whole show was a very well organized process, every detail addressed. As an example, the show production team chose all of our outfits and scheduled when we would wear them. The shoot was 20 days long. Our days started at 6 am when we got picked up, and then of course because of the pandemic, the first thing we did was get Covid tests.
EDC: What challenge were you given?
RD: We were given a 60-minute time period to cook for the first round and 90 minutes for the second round. Since there are 8 episodes, there were 8 themes for each one.
The first episode theme was “Me on a Plate”—and we were given some time to think about it. My Syrian mother was an incredible cook of Middle Eastern food, and I decided to make rosewater baklava with decorated with rose petals. So it was quite bold, I did a dessert out of the starting gate. Did I think it was risky? Well, I always say you can always tell a good restaurant by their dessert. If you all don’t make in-house desserts, can your restaurant be good?
Everyone will have to watch. I can’t give too much away. It was beautiful production and luckily there was a food stylist to help stage things for promotional shots.
EDC: We can’t wait! It airs June 24th, and details are here.
RD: But you know, this wasn’t my first time on TV. I’ve actually been on three TV food specials.
EDC: That’s what your bio says and that’s fascinating. Tell me more. How did that happen?
RD: My first show was one that a lot of people have seen. It was the Food Network’s Clash of the Grandmas, which aired on the Food Network in May 2016, and now is shown every Thanksgiving. It’s a very lengthy process getting selected for a show like this. A long application, head shots, photos and videos of me and my food, and of course an interview. But I won a slot and then it was off to the studio. The theme of the episode was "Home Sweet Grandma” and our challenge as cooking grandmas was to create a “handheld mac and cheese something to go.” I felt a little bit like a deer in the headlights, because we were filming live when they told us what the challenge would be.
EDC: I’ve always wondered how food show contestants come up with something on the fly. What did you do?
RD: You know I’m a Maryland girl, so I clicked right into my roots and put together a handheld mac and cheese with crab, then I rolled it into phyllo dough which was baked. I didn’t win, but I did get the attention of a casting agency that worked with the Food Network, JS Casting, which was a great outcome, plus the on-air experience.
Some time passed, and JS Casting reached out to me to see if I was interested in trying out for another Food Network show, Guy’s Grocery Games. They called me two years in a row to be a player in that challenge, and I said no. I didn’t see myself running around a grocery store to be honest, so I passed. But in the meantime, I was writing cookbooks, my children had encouraged me to start a blog which was growing, and being on the Food Network show got me so interested in all aspects of production. So, when the agency called a year later, I said yes. The time was right.
EDC: What was that experience like for you?
RD: On that episode of Guy’s Grocery Games, all the contestants were grandmothers, and Guy Fieri’s mother, Penny, was there too. We had two-part challenge. We had to make to something with chili peppers, and it had to be a sandwich. Luckily for me, the grocery store where the show was shot was an amazing one in Santa Rosa, CA, so that was very good.
But let me tell you, that challenge is for real! We only had 30 minutes to shop, make our sandwich and present it.
EDC: Once again, I have to ask—what on earth did you come up with?
RD: (Laughing) I told you, I’m a Maryland girl. I said I’m making a crab cake sandwich. I made the crab cake and incorporated jalapeño peppers, and one of the judges, Robert Irving, the English celebrity chef, said it was the best crab cake he’d ever had. I served it on a brioche roll. I used Dungeness crab and I won $15,000. It was thrilling.
EDC: And what was your third reality food show?
RD: Our third show was with my family, so it was very special to me. It was called Family Food Showdown and was hosted by Valerie Bertinelli. The premise was that two families compete against each other, and my family was ready. My oldest son, Tomio, and youngest daughter, Leah Van Buren, joined me. But here’s what happened. We did the first round, and then your family has to choose to eliminate one of your team. We all decided that Leah would step back. Then, it was the second round, and this time, the other family got to choose who to eliminate from your team. And they picked me.
This meant my son, Tomio, had to go it alone. And he killed it. The challenge was to incorporate an apple into a dish, and he did a sausage pizza with a drizzle of balsamic and honey with a small salad with apple and arugula on the side. And the sad thing is that it never aired. All I have is a few photographs. But as a mom, I’ll never forget my son Tomio just rallying to represent us. It still brings me to tears.
EDC: Thank you for sharing. As someone who watches reality food competitions, what draws viewers is all the stress and drama, yet at the same time, it all seems so effortless or at least the production makes it seem that way. So I love hearing the behind the scenes. I’m excited to watch you in the upcoming show.
RD: I had a blast. I’m in my element when I’m on set. Please watch the first episode on June 24 on PBS and the whole series. You’ll love it. And follow me @whiskndine and whiskanddine.com I have many more adventures lined up.
The Great American Recipe airs on PBS June 24. Hosted by Alejandra Ramos, Today Show contributor, the series gives talented home cooks from different regions of the country the opportunity to showcase their beloved signature dishes and compete to win the national search for “The Great American Recipe.” Judges Leah Cohen, Tiffany Derry and Graham Elliot bring their professional insights and deep culinary knowledge to encourage and support the contestants along the way.
