Aarón Sánchez Reminisces On Cooking With Barack Obama - Exclusive
What's a bigger sign of success than cooking for the president? Chef Aarón Sánchez knows the feeling all too well, as he shared while looking back on his most memorable cooking experiences. In an exclusive interview with Tasting Table, the "MasterChef" judge explained what it was like to prepare food for former President Obama as well as for beauty mogul Selena Gomez. Sánchez has appeared on many shows for his kitchen skills, the most recent being the HBO Max series "Selena + Chef."
The Johnny Sanchez restaurant owner described his guest appearance as "fantastic" and mentioned how much he loved Gomez's enthusiasm. He said, "I'm so impressed [by] celebrities or people that have a lot of attention and recognition and love food [when] their eyes light up when you teach them something as simple as seasoning the piece of fish and mak[ing] sure you pat it dry and how to brown certain things and peel."
Sánchez added that he enjoys teaching lessons that celebrities can bring home with them. Although he had an "exciting" time with Gomez, the food connoisseur named visiting the White House as his biggest celebrity cooking encounter.
Sánchez cooked chipotle marinated chicken for Obama
Chef Aarón Sánchez specializes in Mexican cuisine, as is shown in his restaurant recipes and book, "Where I Come From," which focuses on his life as a Latino chef. The television personality recalled his time with President Obama, as he told Tasting Table, "I was able to cook him a chipotle marinated chicken with some hominy and beautiful pico de gallo and seasonal vegetables. From my understanding, he loved it. He thought it was unbelievable."
Sánchez added that it was one of the "most nervous meals" he's ever cooked. When you're cooking for any well-known celebrity, let alone the president, some nerves are bound to kick in. Sánchez was not the first in his family to cook for the White House — his mother made meals for the Reagan administration (per TVOM). If you are reading this, Chef Sánchez, the invitation to cook our family dinner is always open!
Check out Aarón Sánchez's Instagram page to keep up with his latest projects. New episodes of "MasterChef: Back to Win" air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.