Tampa, Florida Chef Premieres National Digital Series: “Cuban Kitchen with Dennis Perez” @ CreateTV.com November 21st
Hosted by Dennis Perez, National Second Prize Winner, Create Cooking Challenge: My Family’s RecipeBOSTON, November 3, 2022— American Public Television (APT), the original home to public television’s lifestyle experts and sponsor of the Create Cooking Challenge: My Family’s Recipe on national public television channel Create®, is introducing the Second Prize Winner’s premiere of a digital short-form video series featuring Dennis Perez and his family’s multi-generational, traditional recipes. The premiere of Cuban Kitchen with Dennis Perez follows the release of the Grand Prize Winner’s series, Adam Lambay’s Indian Inspired, which continues episodic premieres through Thursday, November 17th, featuring St. Louis chef, Adam Lambay. The first of Tampa-based Dennis Perez’s three-part series will stream on CreateTV.com starting Monday, November 21st at noon, ET.
As Second Prize winner, Perez was awarded $1,000 and production equipment valued at $1,000 to finance and produce his web series of three, two-minute videos for CreateTV.com. Perez selected three family favorites to premiere his series (in order of presentation): 1) Pasteles de Guayaba y Queso (a beautiful breakfast pastry), 2) Pollo a la Plancha (a chicken dinner with flair), and 3) Flan (a great dessert recipe). As with Lambay’s Indian Inspired series, Perez offers video shorts to walk viewers through every recipe, sharing a personal note about what makes each special, a comprehensive list of ingredients, and detailed recipe instructions. The second episode premieres on Thursday, November 24th, and the third episode will release on Monday, November 28th, both at noon ET.
APT President and CEO, Cynthia Fenneman who participated in the judging competition was impressed with both Lambay and Perez, stating that “the competition was filled with incredible talent and fascinating family dishes.”
“We were presented with so many rich family stories and recipes, which made the judging very challenging. Adam and Dennis did a great job in bringing their family’s traditions into their presentations, making them lively, fascinating and accessible,” said Fenneman. “It is a real pleasure welcoming them both to our Create family of chefs. We feel fortunate to have two hosts who bring such strong resumes to CreateTV.com.” Distributed and produced by APT, The WNET Group, and GBH Boston, Create® is a national channel carried by 241 local public television stations, featuring food, travel, home and garden, arts & crafts, fitness, and other lifestyle content.
About Dennis Perez
Tampa’s Dennis Perez works in IT and manages software development teams. Away from his computer, however, Dennis is in the kitchen tinkering with recipes and recording videos, or in the outdoors pursuing his other passions: hiking and archery. Dennis is also a fan of Tampa’s local public television station, WEDU PBS.
Cuban Kitchen with Dennis Perez centers upon recipes reminiscent of the multi-generational setting in which he was raised. He says that his family spent more time in the kitchen than any other room in the house. Though they first settled in New York after leaving Cuba, they eventually made their way to Tampa, Florida, where they now live. Perez said that in his family, you “grew up in the kitchen” as it was the heart of their home and “love was expressed through food.”
Whether inside the kitchen, at his computer, or slinging arrows downfield, Dennis is focused on what he loves to do, and sharing these skills is important to him. His winning Create Challenge video entry, Cuban Picadillo, received high praise from the judges. Chef Diane Kochilas said she found Dennis to be “very engaging” and that she learned something from his stories. Chef Nick Stellino was eager to see Dennis host a series. Culinary TV hosts Pati Jinich and Kevin Belton both praised his work in holding viewers’ attention with interesting camera shots and providing tips for substitutions in his recipe.
About the Judges
In addition to Fenneman, the panel of judges from this year’s Create Cooking Challenge included some of public television’s most recognized hosts: Kevin Belton (Kevin Belton’s Cookin’ Louisiana), Pati Jinich (Pati’s Mexican Table), Diane Kochilas (My Greek Table), Nick Stellino (Storytellers in the Kitchen), and Martin Yan (Yan Can Cook!). Entrants’ online submissions included a short (two minutes or less), original video featuring their recipe’s preparation, a brief narrative about the origins of their recipe, the full recipe and a photo of the finished dish. Judging criteria included demonstrated culinary knowledge, presentation skills, telegenic appeal, unique ideas and production values. This year’s more than 100 entrants presented multi-generational recipes originating from more than 25 countries and cultural traditions, as well as American-grown recipes representing nearly 35 regions of the country. The winners’ recipes, as well as many select entries and some shared by the judges may be found in Create’s new Heritage Recipe Collection at CreateTV.com.
Along with the two top prizes, 16 prizes were awarded to entrants from local Create stations and public television markets in New York, New Jersey, California, Wisconsin, Florida, Washington, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia, New Hampshire, and Arizona. A full list of the top 18 contest winners, their video entries, hometowns, and local station information may be found at https://CreateTV.com/challenge/winners.
Sponsored by American Public Television. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal residents of the fifty United States, the District of Columbia and U. S. Territories. Age 18 years or over. Began 3/8/22 at 12:01 a.m. ET; ended 4/5/22 at 11:59 p.m. ET. For the complete Official Rules, visit www.CreateTV.com/challenge.Void where prohibited by law.
About Create: Now in its 17th year, Create® is the premier lifestyle channel featuring public television’s most popular how-to series, focused on food, travel, home & garden, arts & crafts, fitness, and lifestyle. Create is produced and distributed by American Public Television (APT); The WNET Group (New York); and GBH Boston, in association with National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) and PBS. Create TV is carried by 241 local public television stations nationwide, reaching more than 83% of USTVHH, and is seen in 21 of the top 25 U.S. television markets. Create’s companion website CreateTV.com features extensive video, the Create TV schedule, program and host information.
For more information:
CONTACT: Jamie Haines - jhaines@APTonline.org mobile: 617-962-5604