![Gamoran says he’s met lots of fun people in the green room including Tom Hanks, but his favorite “has to be Peggy from ‘Mad Men’ [Elisabeth Moss]. I had a little crush on her. My wife said, laughing, ‘Were you flirting with her?’”](https://today.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Gamoran_UCTedit-998x665.jpg)
One of the best meals TV chef Joel Gamoran ’07 (CLAS) recalls eating was at UConn — sort of. He was studying abroad in Italy and biked to a trattoria with a friend. “They plucked the fish out of the ocean and just grilled it right there, squeezed lemon on it, and it was the best thing I ever had. Now was it the fish? Was it the lemon? No, it was the bike, it was the 20-year-old me, it was the Italy, that seasoned that fish.”
Gamoran’s latest cooking show, PBS’s “Homemade Live,” sees the chef and friends recreating such food memories. Gamoran took up cooking at age 14 to battle anxiety and has been “spreading the gospel” ever since. “Cooking’s like giving someone a hug.” He’s a serial TV guest as well as host, who seeks to counter the cooking intimidation factor by maximizing the fun. “I’m not getting too sciencey, I’m not getting too foody — it’s not about the food, it’s about empowering people. And having fun. Because ultimately that’s what cooking’s all about — the joy of living.”
