--- See Derrell Smith in Mad Good Food, with double episodes airing Saturdays at 3.30pm from 12 November to 3 December. Episodes will be available at SBS On Demand after they air. ---
The premise is a cracker: cook for a crowd then turn the leftovers into great meals for one. But it’s host Derrell Smith who makes the new show Mad Good Food such likeable viewing. The former pro-footballer turned meatball entrepreneur is laid back, funny, and authentic – along with the good food and infectious smile, there’s the occasional meaningful story that lets us connect with the man whipping up the everyday eats, party fare and soul food.
It's the same when we touch base over email: describing a smile-inducing image of himself brandishing a sword as he rides off into the sunset (read to the end below, it will make sense!), and also sharing insight into the “elder women” who helped make him the chef he is today, why he sees cooking as love, and what football, meatballs and making a food show have in common.
“Growing up, the elder women were the cooks in my family and at church. I always found my way into the kitchen to help and by default became their dedicated cake-bowl licker, heavy lifter and dishwasher. In turn – through osmosis and wizardry – I inherited their wisdom, grace, essence, patience, unit-less measurement techniques,” he says. But while his love of cooking started early, food is his second career.
A former NFL pro, Smith’s football career was halted by a neck injury. He went back to grad school, and then worked in advertising, all the while perfecting his meatball and sauce recipes. That was until, in 2016, he won a meatball competition in Brooklyn. His own meatball catering company and umbrella food business 99EATS followed. It’s all part of what he brings to the screen (he’s also the show’s executive producer) in Mad Good Food. The man is funny and smart, and the food is an eclectic mix of , other American favourites and international influences.
In each episode, he cooks a dish you could share with family or friends, then turns the leftovers into meals for one. In the first episode, for example, it’s – and believe us when we say that when Smith eases the lid off the pot with the braised lamb, you’ll wish you could haul that out of the TV and eat immediately. If there’s leftover lamb (a big ‘if’ to be honest!) you can then follow his ideas for or . Other episodes tackle meatballs, Mother's Day, Juneteenth food, and more, all dishes to serve four or so, with ideas to then turn the remains into tasty food for you.
If you’re a fan of Ainsley Harriott and his bright shirts, you’ll appreciate some of the bright numbers Smith shows up in, and like Harriott, he knows how to have fun on screen. But Smith is entirely his own man. We wanted to learn a little more about the newest face on SBS Food, so we caught up with ‘Rell’ for a Q&A. Read on for meatballs, sauce, sword-waving and cooking with love:
You’ve got so much good food happening in the show – that shot of the lamb shanks in the opening moments, just for starters! But the premise of the show is something special. What prompted you to think of the ‘cook for friends and family, then make meals for one with the leftovers’ angle? It’s so practical yet not something we see often.
You’re not alone, friend! Every time I see them shanks I want to close my eyes and lick my screen – try something strange just to see what happens. Like how the smell of a scratch-n-sniff sticker can place you in vivid memory, what if licking a screen while thinking about making shanks actually produces the taste of them in your mouth? When we create Mad Good Food, that is our thinking. To test strange and out-of-the-ordinary themes with our audience to see what happens. Cooking for loved ones is the thread that ties it all together, and makes it authentic to my story and connection to food. Teaching people what to do with those leftovers is the practicality of it and what makes it fun and unique.
Get the recipe for Derrell's Apple cider braised lamb shank with couscous here.
Apple cider braised lamb shank, lemon spinach couscous and watermelon feta salad Source: Mad Good Food
The on the 99EATS website gives a lovely glimpse of the spirit behind your ‘OG sauce’. Can you tell us a little more about your family and the sort of food you ate growing up.
Growing up, the elder women were the cooks in my family and at church. I always found my way into the kitchen to help and by default became their dedicated cake-bowl licker, heavy lifter and dishwasher. In turn – through osmosis and wizardry – I inherited their wisdom, grace, essence, patience, unit-less measurement techniques, and the highly-coveted secret recipe to the “Healing Seasoning” that is not of this dimension, and received only by watching the wise, well-lived matriarchs who have direct access to the source. The “Sauce” of the ancestors is Grandma's secret. It’s the special spice passed down through the generations of Grandmas and the Grandmas before them. When you eat it, the food makes you fuzzy and happy. A feeling I like to call “AMAZEBALLS”. The OG SAUCE is my homage to the Original Grandmas and their “special sauce”. My little jar of alchemy. Funny story: once, during a catering in 2018, I witnessed a salivating customer drop sauce on his shoe, and without hesitation, use his finger to swipe it up, and suck it off his finger with little to no self-judgment or control over his impulse. Only a sacred sauce has that power.
The word love comes up a lot when you talk about food. And you share a lot of joy in the show. Have you always had this much fun in the kitchen?
Absolutely. Self-expression through food is how I share my Love. Whether it's hosting you in my kitchen or teaching you through the television waves. Mad Good Food makes you feel Love because it is made in Love. From the entire crew on set, to the topics we discuss, to the details on the walls – our set feels like home and comfortable, like you’re working with family. Together, Tastemade [the international media company that produces Mad Good Food] and I have created a safe space where I can express my authentic self in an authentic way that resonates with the people and I’m appreciative of their trust and investment in me and my ideas.
Along with the dancing and joking, you share a few powerful stories in the show. And then there are things like the discussion dinners. Clearly, food is more than just fun for you?
in an 'Ultimate taco Tuesday' episode, Smith serves up pernil tacos and then creates empanadas with the leftovers. Source: Mad Good Food
I do what I do for one reason – to use whatever I have at my disposal at that moment as a vessel to share love and serve others. Once it was football – I served the men in the locker room towards a shared goal and our vessels were our pads and our persistence. And then in 2017, when I decided to sling meatballs full-time, meatballs became my vessel. Three amazing [meatball] bites, paid my bills, solved the lunch needs of companies with hungry employees, and allowed me the freedom and abundance to then feed and heal my community through the Salon dinners. By serving others I am effectively able to serve myself; therefore, service is my compass and intention in everything I decide to do.
So, let’s talk meatballs! That’s been a huge part of your food journey. How on earth did you manage to make meatballs, a tomato meatball soup AND eat a meatball sub (overhead, no less!) in the show without getting a single mark on that white shirt??
When I was let go from my advertising job in 2017, I had little money to invest in my new company, zero food experience and no car to deliver my catering orders around New York City. I rented a small kitchen in Brooklyn, commuted 40 minutes each way on a bike (even in the winter), and frequently rented Uber pools for 200+ person catering gigs (praying the other passenger didn’t get upset), all while running the rat race that is New York City. The competition of producing AMAZEBALLS meatballs daily, and the obstacles I had to go through to do it reminded me of my football playing days. So, as a practising athlete, I decided to challenge myself further by wearing white t-shirts often when I made OG Sauce. I did this for literally five years as a caterer to prove to myself I could do it, so when it came time to do it on television, that was easy, because I had practiced being a “food athlete” for so long and wanted to show-off my mastery to the world.
Has there been a fan-favourite dish from the series, among your viewers in the US?
Lobster mac & cheese Source: Mad Good Food
Lobster mac and cheese for sure! That entire episode was about a devastating breakup I had gone through literally months before filming, and my objective was to teach others about the lobster mac and cheese recipe that helped me get through it. "Treat Yo Self” is what I kept telling people to do to get over their breakups, and the people have listened. I’ve received lots of DMs asking for that recipe.
Have you ever been to Australia?
Not yet. Wussup?
Anything else you’d like to say about the show?
Everyone should watch Mad Good Food because it is, and will be one of the most important and impactful food shows ever made. We are creating a show that not only teaches viewers something practical like transforming leftovers into single meals, but also talks about real stories that people can relate to, in an entertaining and informational way. I am extremely proud and honoured that Tastemade has empowered me to be my authentic self, and can’t wait to look back years from now and see what we have created. *Lifts sword in the air - “LONG LIVE MAD GOOD FOOD” yells Rell from his standing horse, kicking in the sky. “HOO-RAH” roars the people from their warm sofas, clapping and cheering as Rell trots into the golden-purple sunset.
See series one of Mad Good Food on SBS Food and SBS On Demand from 12 November, and look out for series 2 next year. Look out for more recipes from the show as episodes go to air.
