La. fire captain brings cajun flavor to PBS’ ‘Great American Recipe’

By JOANNA BROWN
The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.
(TNS)

Lafayette firefighter Coby Bailey will show off his Cajun home cooking skills in the season 4 premiere of Great American Recipe, airing on PBS on Friday, July 11.

Great American Recipe selects home chefs from across the country, and explores the way their backgrounds and stories impact their personal recipes and cooking styles. Described by PBS as an uplifting cooking competition,” each contestant shows off the dishes that mean the most to them, exposing the wide range of flavors and cuisines that make American cooking delicious.

Each week of the 6-week series will feature two challenges, after which judges will select the winning dish. In the final episode, the top 3 chefs will compete to see who has the “great American recipe.”

Bailey is a 27-year veteran of the Lafayette Fire Department, and has been a captain in the department for the last 10 years. He grew up immersed in Louisiana’s culinary traditions, and credits his mother and grandmother for passing down their skill as Cajun cooks. According to Bailey, his signature dish is a stuffed chicken with an andouille sauce.

He said of his time on the show, “I had a phenomenal time on the Great American Recipe and it was an honor and a privilege to represent Louisiana and the Cajun and Creole cultures we love so much down here.”

Bailey also served in the U.S. Navy, and lives in Lafayette with his wife and two children. Bailey shares food, recipes, merch and glimpses of his life as a firefighter and chef on his “Captain Coby Cajun Cooking Facebook page.

Season 4 of Great American Recipe on PBS will feature these 8 home chefs:

Rex Alba ( Columbus, Ohio )

Coby Bailey ( Lafayette, Louisiana )

Anika Chowdhury ( New York, New York )

Brie Jamieson ( Great Falls, Montana )

Suwanee Lennon ( Spokane, Washington )

Waigal Safi ( San Diego, California )

Carlos Tiburcio ( San Antonio, Texas )

Fran Wescott ( Durham, North Carolina )

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