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Who could be more comforting and inspiring a figure than Lidia Bastianich? The beloved chef, cookbook author, restaurateur and TV personality has focused her annual PBS series, Lidia Celebrates America, on a very special community this year: America's first responders. After a year of hanging out (and cooking with) firefighters, cops and medical workers on the front lines of the COVID crisis, Bastianich got a pot of soup going on the stove and dished her irrepressible version of the American dream with AARP.
Watch Lidia Celebrates America: A Salute to First Responders (PBS, Fridays, Feb. 12, 10 p.m. ET, check local listings)
How is your new show different from your previous cooking shows?
I've had my PBS cooking show for 20 years. But for seven years, I've been doing one-hour specials, Lidia Celebrates America, getting to know America — the different ethnicities, different cuisines. Because I am an immigrant, helped by people when we came here. Food is the connector!
But I thought: Are Americans really thanking our first responders enough? These are the people who guard us in time of peril: firefighters, EMS [emergency medical services] and ambulance workers, the hospital workers, the police. They put their lives on the line to protect ours. What was most interesting was connecting with them and finding out why they do these things, and seeing some of the action. Then we ended up cooking because food is comforting to all. It is about caring for each other.
New York police officer Eddie McNamara cooked for you, right?
Yeah. It was funny. He did it via Zoom. I was on my side of the screen, he was on his side, we tasted the same thing, and we connected. I taste the flavors, his philosophy. Through the food you get to understand what people feel about certain things. [Loud alarm rings and she hustles to the kitchen to check.] Oh, no! I had soup on the stove, it overflowed, oil fell on the flame, and the smoke alarm went off!
At least you know firefighters you could call. You also sent letters to first responders and our military members overseas as part of Operation Gratitude — what is it?
Operation Gratitude is a great way to say thank you to these people. They send care packages, along with a personal letter. So wonderful.
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