Ep. 10: Josh Reisner - Master Chef Junior & 13-Year Old Philosopher

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Most people know Josh as the long-haired wunderkind who captured hearts while competing as a finalist on Season 2 of Master Chef Junior.  What most people are unaware of is Josh's near-obsessive love for food and wisdom that's beyond his years.  

Gracing us with his presence on our 10th episode, Josh shares with us:
- How he found opportunities to chase his dreams
- His unique approach to cooking and eating food
- Why we all need to cook and how/what we should learn
- Why adults' perceptions of kids are the very thing keeping kids from having a truly healthy (and delicious!) relationship with food and their kitchens.  

When not doing homework, Josh is working in some of the most prestigious kitchens across the nation (and even in Paris!), throwing down at various food & wine festivals (NYC, SoBe, Hawaii, etc.), and cooking the family dinner 4x a week.  Want a mind-blowing look at how kids can transform the way we eat?  Listen on!

Contact us at hiddenapron@gmail.com, or catch us on Instagram @hidden_apron.


HIGHLIGHTS & LINKS

5:35 - On ramen
6:50 - Kan Sui
9:10 - How Josh started cooking + The need for parents to let their kids explore and eat
11:40 - Young Chefs’ Academy
14:20 - The 2 variables of cooking: Control & Culture
16:30 - The basic culinary skills every child should have
20:30 -  Why kids SHOULD cook
22:50 - Why kids DON'T cook
23:55 - Research on self-selection of diet by babies
24:45 - Incorrectly reinforcing that kids can't cook
26:35 - Josh’s ideal culinary skill curriculum: "Build up your palate first"
27:40 - Disgusting mignonette + The value of experimentation
30:10 - How to balance "life"
31:00 - Why you should do your homework
32:00 - On finding opportunities, trusting the path, and the fact that it just takes "one"
40:20 - On how to find inspiration and "emptying one's cup"
42:15 - An unusual tip on what you can do to be a better cook
44:35 - On cooking for groups vs. small parties
47:50 - On how to get past feeling too lazy to cook
48:20 - What Josh WON'T cook
50:30 - A message to kids and parents on how to start eating
52:10 - On how to use baby steps to get people to change the way they eat
52:50 - Why Josh hates the question: “What do you do for fun?"

Rapid Fire:
Influential people: David Chang (Momofuku Restaurant Group)
Ingredients that describe Josh (...the deepest answers to-date): uni, vanilla bean, star anise
Film/TV Show: Mind of A Chef

Instagram - @mcjr2josh 
Snapchat/Twitter - @ChefJoshR 
Facebook - Chef Josh Reisner
E-mail - josh@reisner.net