The Costco Connection - December 2017

LE F T: AME RIC A’ S T E ST KI T C HE N ; W HIS K : MR . R ATC H AC RI T N AKK H O NO K / S H UT T ER S TOC K

photographed to give home cooks visual cues for how each step should look. The walk-through ends in an alley, which serves as the location for barbecue shoots.

After the tour we chat about what it’s like to make the change from test cooks to co-hosts, how they prefer eating in to dining out, and their new cookbook, Cooking at Home with Bridget & Julia.

THE COSTCO CONNECTION: Your new space sounds luxurious compared with what you have now.

BRIDGET LANCASTER: I’m already practicing my old-codger voice: “You kids don’t know how [good] you have it.”

JULIA COLLIN DAVISON: We already do
that. When we started here, I had to do the
shopping, lugging it in my o wn car, putting
it on my own credit cards.

CC: Season ;; starts airing in January ;;;;. Is there anything you’d like to share about the new season?

BL: It’s the second season for a lot of the new crew, and it was great seeing them grow into their roles over the last year. The ;rst year that you’re on television you have no idea what to expect. So they had some expertise built into it this year.

JCD: This year you [Bridget] and I tried to really bring the testing forward … to talk about the day-to-day around here, because this place is pretty amazing. To talk about the ;; pounds of shrimp that it took to develop this recipe. And, you know, how we develop a recipe, which I don’t think we’ve ever said to our camera audience before.

CC: What did you learn last season that you carried over into season ;;?

JCD: For me, it’s a constant sense of learning how to be a host and how to be the kind of host that I want to be. Because I was always a cook, I don’t want to step on other people’s toes. I want to really reinforce what they’re saying, but I’m not the cook anymore. I’m not in a place where they’re teaching me how to cook. I know how to cook. So that’s a di;erent relationship to the host cook than we’ve had before.

BL: We’re setting [the test cooks] up for success. Julia and I are giving the recipes and what we’re going to be doing, and it really is: How can I draw that information out of the test cook? Because they’re the experts now, and sometimes I feel like we’re the interpreter.

JCD: Especially if something is very sci-ence-based. It’s where we’re trying to get to the molecular level of it, and then what’s the takeaway? That’s really what our show is about. You should be able to take away at least one thing and bring it into a kitchen, no matter if you make that recipe or not.

CC: What was it like moving from test cook to co-host?

BL: Fun. If there’s that moment when I’m stumbling and I can’t remember, Julia will ;nish the thought. And it’s really, really, really helpful.

It’s an interesting dynamic that you have with the audience when it’s two people. You’re talking to each other, but you’re also talking to the camera. So no w you’re in a group, instead of on a date. When it’s three people, I feel like the conversation becomes a lot less formal—more comfortable and conversational.

JCD: It’s PBS, so it’s educational. But it also has to be entertaining. It’s not going to be fun if we’re not having fun. You can’t make that up. It’s just us being friends, but teaching something and still having fun.

CC: What strengths and skills do you each have that you feel complement the other?

JCD: Bridget is hysterically funny. She could easily be a stand-up comedian if she wanted to. So, on top of being a wonderful cook and able to talk about the food, she can keep it light and funny.