Burrell has advice for the ‘Worst Cooks in America’ and chef

Having launched its fifth season last week, and airing Mondays on Food Network, “Worst Cooks in America” takes a team of cooking failures and seeks to give them culinary competence – in search of a $25,000 grand prize.

On hand to help them are chefs, hosts and coaches Bobby Flay and Anne Burrell. Burrell takes a few minutes off from filming to answer some questions about the effort to turn kitchen zeros into kitchen heroes.

Q: Now that you’re several seasons in, what things do all these terrible cooks have in common at the start?

A: All the recruits throughout the seasons are hopelessly bad cooks. I call them my “lovable losers.” It’s pretty much a sad state of affairs.

Q: What has proven to be the most difficult skill to master?

In Focus

A: Knife cuts. This is a skill all chefs and cooks spend time perfecting. These recruits are beginners, so it takes some time to develop.

Q: What skill do they seem to pick up most quickly?

A: Mise en place. They usually realize the importance of prep work before starting to cook early on.

Q: There seem to be a lot of bad or, at minimum, barely competent cooks in America. What has contributed to the decline in basic culinary skills?

A: I think the desire to cook stems from childhood. I grew up in a house where my mom was always cooking. It wasn’t an occasion. It was every day. And I know that motivated me to get in the kitchen and cook. Also, now there are so many products

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