Sharif Dean – Worst Cooks In America

By starrymag | January 26, 2015

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How did you get involved with the show “Worst Cooks In America?”

A) My sister nominated me. At the time, she lived with me in my house and she would complain about me in the kitchen. When she got home, it would always smell really bad. It would smell like food all of the time because I would burn a lot of stuff and mess up the house while cooking. Also, I used to bring over girls to the house and get takeout, but pretend I made it myself. She’d just shake her head and said I needed to be on the show.

Q) How did you settle on “Basil Chicken” for your introductory recipe?

A) I usually cook chicken. That’s my healthy thing that I cook. I used to cook it on a Forman grill. So, I did want to make chicken because we were supposed to make a dish that we make at home all the time. I was just kind of messing around with the show’s refrigerator to see what was going on. With all of the different ingredients, I was just kind of improvising. I always cook with cayenne pepper. So, as long as it is not cereal it is going on there.

Q) The judges seemed a bit overwhelmed by your spices. Were you surprised it was even that powerful for a chef?

A) I don’t know. I just think Anne didn’t like me in general. If you saw the last episode, I put a dash of habanero in the glaze that I made and she just went crazy! Tyler took the same bite and didn’t do anything. I think she was just exaggerating. But it was clearly not that hot!

Q) Well, you did refer to her as “hon” during the first episode.

A) I don’t know. It was kind of an informal way and I didn’t know if we were supposed to call her Chef Anne. Hon was too informal I guess. I call everyone hon! That was the second I knew that I wasn’t going to be on her team.

Q) You seem to come off fairly cocky during show. Is that how you are or is that due to editing?

A) No, I wouldn’t say I’m cocky. I’m a little more confident. They do kind of make me seem a lot more cocky than I am. I’m definitely not like that in real life. I get competitive, that’s for sure. Then, when I get competitive I get confident. When I get confident it comes off as cocky. So, yeah I guess I’m cocky.

Q) Before coming on the show, did you have a mentor in mind?

A) I really wanted Tyler. I wasn’t really sure because Tyler was as eager to learn as I was. He just seemed to want it. Anne was just intimidating and not in a good way. She made me feel uncomfortable. I wanted to learn without someone yelling at me.

Q) What was it like having Tyler Florence as a mentor?

A) I really enjoyed his method. It was more constructive criticism and wouldn’t make you feel nervous. If Anne were behind me, I would stop cooking until she walked away. If Tyler were behind me, he would tell me what I needed to improve or he would give positive reinforcement. He would give positive comments on my dish. He would never say, “This is terrible! Start over!” He would just say that I needed to add a little bit more of this or something wasn’t seasoned. He was just helping me.

Q) What were your friends and family’s reaction to learning you were cast on the show?

A) My parents were extremely excited. My mom is Italian and my dad is Algerian so they are both into cooking and have been cooking all their lives. They were really excited! I can make things for holidays now and they don’t have to do all the work.

Q) How did you feel about your competition when you first met your fellow contestants?

A) To be honest, I didn’t really analyze the competition until we were separated into teams. Then, I went one by one and thought, “I could beat this person” or “I’m not sure about this person.” I knew we would play against each other as a team and then I’d only have to worry about the Red Team at the end if I got there.

Q) What was it like living with your fellow contestants?

A) It was really cool. It’s not every day that you put fourteen random people in a house and they click off the bat. Usually, there is at least one or two people that just don’t like each other, but I liked everybody in the house. It was great living with everybody and it was comfortable. It wasn’t hectic. There was no drama. It was great!

Q) Many of the contestants have said they wished there were cameras in the house to catch funny moments. What is one moment you can share from the house that you wish was caught on camera?

A) David fell down the stairs one night and that was really funny. He fell from the very top of the steps and slid to the bottom, but kept a straight face the entire time. He started smiling towards the end. If there had been a camera in there, they definitely should have put that on the show! Other than that, I feel like everyone had a crazy personality in the house. A lot of people think the show is a bunch of actors. None of us are actors. Some of us dabble, but most of us have regular jobs and just want to learn how to cook. David is really like that. Sarah is really like that.

Q) Norman alluded to a rivalry between the two of you. How did that begin?

A) It’s all love between us! We’re both very competitive people. We definitely had a rivalry. We both blamed each other for knowing how to cook, but we both obviously didn’t know how to cook. It just seemed like constant competitiveness with him throughout the dishes. Even though we didn’t make the same thing, he would want to win a challenge and I would want to win a challenge. I felt like Norman was like a big brother to me. It wasn’t like a beef between us. It was more like a friendly thing.

Q) Who did you become the closest to while you were on the show?

A) I would say Norman! Norman and I were definitely the closest in the house. I could relate to him more. I loved everyone, but they all had crazy personalities. So, I could relate to Norman more. He was cool and we had a lot of stuff in common. We shared a room. I remember the first time we walked in the house on the first day we looked at each other and said, “Bunkmates!” That was like the first thing we said to each other.

Q) You mentioned your brotherly competition between you and Norman. Is that why there is so much talks online about there being a “ringer?”

A) We joke around with each other. I won the salad competition in episode two and he said, “You’re a ringer! How did you figure that out?” Norm won one of the competitions as well so when I saw a place in Los Angeles called Norm’s Restaurant I took a picture and sent it to him. I told him, “I figured you out!” It’s all joking. There are no ringers in the house! Everyone is really that bad!

Q) With there being musicians, performers and magicians on the show many fans are curious about the casting this season. What do you think of the casting this season?

A) I think it was excellent casting. I didn’t realize it until I got into the house. I was like, “Where am I right now?” Everybody was so out of control, but there were no cameras near. It is just how they were in general. When the cameras were around, they were the exact same. David is the most genuine person. He doesn’t want anything to do with acting. He just really wants to learn how to cook and it’s just hilarious watching him try. Kristen is a musician so people think she might be trying to get attention. That has nothing to do with it! She just wants to learn how to cook. Everyone has an occupation and I don’t think it really matters what it is. This is just a cooking show. People don’t get on the show to be famous. You just come on to learn how to cook.

Q) What can you tease is in store this week for the sports themed challenge?

A) I think this episode is a Super Bowl theme. It’s a more upbeat and fun challenge. It’s less stressful, that’s for sure! It teaches people what to do for the following week when it is the Super Bowl. It’s a bunch of appetizers that you can make homemade to impress your friends. This week I’m happy with what we are taught to make because it is one of my favorite foods and I usually buy it premade!

Q) What did you take away from your time on the show?

A) I learned a lot! My cutting skills were just horrible. They have improved a lot. I never even made rice in my life. So, when it came to paella, rice was the least of my problems! Learning to organize your ingredients before starting to cook…I would just look for ingredients while I cooked. It was more about getting your ingredients organized before preparing meals because it is a lot easier to cook when you have everything in front of you. I’m also a lot better at multitasking so I can be cooking multiple things at the same time.

Q) What have been your friends and family’s reactions to your new cooking abilities?

A) My friends text me every single day. They watch the show and they will SnapChat me. They all want me to cook for them. I didn’t win an Emmy on the show. It’s not like I got that crazy good at cooking. I’m a lot better, but I am not a Top Chef. I’m probably just as good as my friends who know how to cook are now.

Q) Is there anything you really want viewers of the show to know about you?

A) I’m really nice. I’m not that cocky! I do modeling on the side and I need to keep in shape. I kept eating bad foods so this has helped me a lot. I write out my meal plans every day now and I cook a lot of meals. Just the fact we learned to cook chicken in a pan and just because I learned how to cook paella I am able to cook things I have never cooked before because that is like starting at the very top. They started us out on the first day with filet mignon! I think starting us really high helped out a lot, especially for those who didn’t get much time on the show.