For many of us, being stuck at home during the pandemic means a lot of free time to learn new skills whether it's art, gardening or cooking. For those that decide to spend their time in the kitchen to try and not be a complete noob at cooking, it may have been a funny and perhaps somewhat dangerous experience. Enter Selena + Chef, where Selena Gomez, known for her acting and music talents, takes on her little to non-existent kitchen skills. With the help of professional chefs Zooming in from all over, she gets a crash course on cooking. Guru speaks to Aaron Saidman, who developed the show and serves as one of the executive producers, and asked him what it was like producing a show early on in the pandemic and whether the possibility of Gomez cutting herself or burning her house down gave him a heart attack.
What is the show about and how did it start?
You'll get a sense of being with Selena Gomez in her kitchen as she tries to learn how to cook and cope during the first lockdown in California. That's really how this series itself was born out of Selena's desire to learn how to cook, finding herself in the kitchen, probably more than she ever thought she would, like a lot of the rest of us, and finding that she wanted to learn how to cook better and make more delicious meals. You'll see her learning how to cook with the help of chefs teaching her various cuisines from all over the world.
What is the philosophy of the show?
We wanted to do something completely authentic. We didn't hire a team of culinary producers to prepare everything. When Selena had to dice an onion, it's not like it was pre-chopped and sitting in the refrigerator measured to the perfect amount. We were nervous every time she had to cut anything or turn on her oven or put something in a hot pan. Those were all things that made us consistently nervous. My anxiety level between whether she was going to cut herself or burn herself was roughly equal. We did get a fire extinguisher for her home, though it hasn't being used. Jokes aside, that was our approach to producing it -- she has to make the food herself. She's getting expert instructions from a master chef, but she still has to do it and we're gonna watch how that plays out organically. That's where the authenticity of the content really shines through.
Selena is just very real, very down to Earth and relentlessly and effortlessly charming. That comes through because we were filming during the early days of Covid and no one else, besides people who she wasn't quarantining with, could be in her kitchen. She was forced to do it by herself. If you were on a set together and they see you struggling, they'll take over and you're more than happy to let them. But because we were shooting it remotely, she had to do every single element of the meal herself. That gave us great creative opportunity to watch her struggle and accomplish her tasks. That's part of the fun of the series.
What kind of dishes does Selena cook?
We tried to cover a variety of cuisines from all over the world. For us, variety was exciting. We had a French chef in Season 1 and he attempted to teach Selena how to make the perfect French omelette and how to make a cheese souffle. We then had another chef who taught Selena how to make miso tahini ramen. In another episode, chef Nancy Silverton taught Selena how to make a roasted vegetable medley. So it's really quite a wide variety and especially as we get into Season 2, you see that expanding. We wanted to celebrate various cuisines on the show.
What were some of the challenges of producing a show remotely?
In the US, it was the middle of March 2020 when the pandemic really hit and when lockdown began. Less than two months later, we were in the production of a television series which at the time was unthinkable. The idea that we would navigate all the issues around the safety protocols seemed like a Herculean, and almost unthinkable, task. But as we started learning more about the pandemic, we started learning more about how to be safe. We installed a sophisticated set of robot cameras inside her kitchen so we could film remotely from a safe distance. We were stationed outside her house and able to control everything from there. It's an unscripted show and the audience vibes off of the energy coming across on screen so it's really important to make that a fun experience. Even though the show was born of Covid in a way, we don't want to remind viewers of Covid every time they watch the show.
The point is to just escape, have fun and learn how to make a great meal with Selena Gomez in her kitchen and that sort of intimacy was really important to us. But certainly there was a fair amount of consternation about how we would approach all of that. That was the real morale booster -- that we were able to make a TV show of the highest professional quality at the highest professional level and make it fun and entertaining. It was a really important hurdle for us as an industry.
What was it like working with Gomez as fellow producer?
Selena is a great collaborator and a great producing partner. She's gracious with her time and is as friendly and good-natured off-camera as she is on camera. She gave us a lot of confidence to want to go forward and try and pull this off under pretty challenging circumstances. It was an honour and a privilege to be able to collaborate with her. The first project we did together, Living Undocumented, was the first time she had produced a non-fiction project and Selena + Chef is the first time she's appeared on camera for an unscripted show. Those were both big firsts and we feel really grateful and honoured to be her partners in both instances.
One of the highlights is Gomez's grandparents, who sometimes join her and steal the show. Did you guys have to convince them to be on the show?
Well, we didn't have to convince them too hard. They were quarantining together at the time with Selena, so it sort of came about naturally. We thought it would be great to include them and we weren't exactly sure how much we would include them and in what way but we just started trying it. You're right, they do steal a few of the scenes in the most wonderful way. They have a really endearing and loving relationship with Selena and I think that comes through on camera and the more comfortable they got, the more we included them. They were wonderful with their time. They sparkle on camera and and provide a good bit of the comic relief.
Both seasons of Selena + Chef stream on HBO GO.
