‘Ace of Taste’ shows the savory side of celebrity chef Duff Goldman

He’s the “Ace of Cakes” and Buddy Valastro’s worst nightmare on “Buddy vs. Duff.”

But Foods Network’s new daytime sequence, “Duff: Ace of Style,” which premiered on April 24, reveals one more aspect of celeb chef Duff Goldman, who’s best acknowledged for his baking. Now he’s expanding his horizons to share savory recipes also, drawing on all his culinary abilities as a classically qualified chef and graduate of the Culinary Institute of The us in Napa Valley.

Ahead of getting a stellar pastry entrepreneur who constructed two enterprises, Appeal Metropolis Cakes bakery in Baltimore and Los Angeles, and the Do it yourself treats retailer, Duff’s Cakemix, with shops in Southern California, he labored in high-quality eating rooms this kind of as French Laundry and Olives. For this demonstrate, he’s preserving it down to earth with recipes drawn from his serious lifetime as a father, spouse and portion-time rock musician who performs bass in a band with some of his chef buddies.

Episodes will include things like shots from his property kitchen area in Topanga Canyon, and he’ll make dishes for his band’s apply session, his young daughter Josephine’s very first tea occasion, a college bake sale and a lot more. Get all set for sliders, chili, cornbread, mini quiches and other goodies. We spoke to Goldman about why he’s welcoming viewers into his residence to movie his new exhibit.

Q. Every person thinks of Chef Duff as the Ace of Cakes, but I recall you telling me about the meat cake you built for your wedding ceremony. Savory has normally been a portion of your skill set, proper? 

A. Yeah. I started off out wanting to be a chef and the to start with good dining cafe I went to, the chef was like, “Look, I’m not gonna employ the service of you to cook. You really do not know how to cook dinner however. But I’ll train you how to bake cornbread and biscuits.” And I was like, Okay, whatever I can do to get my foot in the doorway, and I just beloved it.

Q. That was Cindy Wolf, suitable? 

A. She has a bunch of eating places now. She’s like the godmother of Baltimore cooking. She is awesome.

Q. And you labored at some other spectacular fine eating dining establishments, like the French Laundry. What did you study there that you could possibly deliver to this demonstrate?

A. You just understand how to do matters right. I locate that when men and women cook dinner, they are likely to test to save a small time right here and there. “Oh, that does not seem like that is that important to me, I consider I’ll skip that.” But I believe when you do factors right, they’re not only gonna switch out much better, it’s generally a lot quicker.

Q. So, will these recipes be geared to the regular residence cook dinner? 

A. 100 p.c! I’m not like a tremendous fancy form of male. I make actually excellent chili. I make truly great burgers. I’m not producing steak au poivre or Beef Wellington or stuff like that.

Q. So the recipes are all approachable?

A. I want individuals to see that genuinely excellent cooking is not as complicated as they think. I do some authentic cooking and I imagine that when I split it down and demystify it, it’s definitely not that tricky to make. … I want folks to experience impressed, like, “Wow, I could totally do that.”

Q. Can you tell us about some of the recipes?

A. These are all recipes that folks can do at home. The Texas Chili is definitely good and I assume there’s seven substances, it’s effortless. You really do not need to have a whole lot of things to make seriously superior chili. There is a whole lot of baking far too. Like I’ll show you how to make significant comfortable pretzels, and that is some thing that a lot of men and women are genuinely afraid to do. But I think after they enjoy me do it, they’ll comprehend it’s only 6 techniques. It is fairly straightforward.

Q. What’s your get on cornbread?

A. I like it quite sweet. I really like the crust it will get. So when you bake cornbread, preferably you have solid iron, but if you really do not, you’ll be great working with a muffin tin. What I like to do is I set the muffin tin in the oven and get it really, really incredibly hot, then I pull it out, put the cornbread batter in there and then stick it right back in the oven. It will get the edges great and brown and crispy, and the within is like falling apart creamy.

Q. That appears tasty! Do you have any heritage recipes that you are going to share? You grew up in a Jewish dwelling, proper?

A. I really do not like to toot my personal horn, but I never ever tasted a babka better than the one particular I make. That was my wonderful-grandmother’s recipe. She arrived from Moldova, but for some motive she had a good deal of Sephardic recipes that have been extra like Spanish and Middle Eastern. I’m not actually sure how prolonged our loved ones was in Moldova perhaps we came from the Center East. But I just love those people flavors, so I’m creating points like a baklava with dates, raisins and nuts. I really like generating baklava, it’s really satisfying.