Bobby Flay - Bobby Flays Throwdown!: More Than 100 Recipes from Food Networks Ultimate Cooking Challenge

ThrowdownIt sounds like a brutal death match between two wrestlers or an Ultimate Fighting Championship cage fight. But in fact, a Throwdown is a friendly surprise competition and the best part about it is the ending, when we all get to eat some seriously delicious food.

The genesis for Throwdown! was pretty simple. When I had taped close to one hundred episodes of a show called Food Nation for Food Network a few years ago, I realized that by traveling around the country I had been privileged to meet so many wonderful people who were cooking, smoking, deep-frying, steaming, and baking these amazing regional dishes. Filming the show across America had really opened my eyes to how incredibly rich our country is when it comes to our food and the people who cook it.

Couple that with the fact that I have always felt that good cooks are at their best when they are not overthinking what theyre doingbut instead making their particular specialtiesand the germ of the idea for Throwdown! was born. What if I assembled a group of covert researchers to find the best cooks in Americathose so known for a single dish that they have become celebrities in their own community, local heroes who have won their neighbors hearts with the dishes they are passionate about?

And thats how it all started. The setup, which does involve a few white lies so we can keep our cover, goes something like this: We find someone terrific and tell them that Food Network wants to shoot a special with them. We tell them that over the next few days we want to see what they do in terms of shopping and prepping the food, and that wed like to meet their friends and family because we want to hear great things about them that they cant say about themselves. While all of this is going on, Im practicing and strategizing with my two trusted assistants, Stephanie and Miriam, to make a version of what our guest chef is making. At some point the production team asks the star to create a small party to celebrate their special on Food Network.

Then comes the moment of truth. Just when everything is going along swimmingly, I crash the party and politely challenge our star to a Throwdown, right then and there. For me, this is both the most exciting and the most nerve-racking moment of the show. The same questions run through my mind every time: Will they accept the Throwdown and be into it or will they show me the door? Do they know what the show is or am I going to have to explain it to them in the heat of excitement? And do they even know who I am? (Trust me, several people have not.)

So far, I have to say we have had wonderful success with people being incredibly gracious and receptive, despite our little white lieOK, big fat lie. Its always a good time and a win-win situation for everyone. I get to meet some of the nicest people, travel to some of the best places in this country, and, most important, eat absolutely great food. Also, I can honestly say that I learn something valuable at every Throwdown, including how to make the perfect puffy taco shell with Diana Barrios Trevio in San Antonio; award-winning Texas chili with Cindy Reed Wilkins in Houston; truly crispy fish and chips with Mat Arnfeld, a British national who now resides in New York City; the most delicious, rich, gooey sticky buns with Joanne Chang in Boston; and how to become a certified pitmaster cranking out perfectly barbecued and smoked pulled pork sandwiches with Lee Ann Whippen in Virginia.