WASHINGTON 鈥� One of the year鈥檚 most inspiring cookbooks isn鈥檛 authored by a celebrity chef, and its pages are not filled with complicated techniques alongside pictures of perfectly styled food.
It鈥檚 from Chase Bailey, a 15-year-old Californian who, for the last two years, has been rewriting the rules on what it means to be a food celebrity. As it turns out, you don鈥檛 need to win a cooking challenge or have a bank of Michelin stars. All you need is determination.
Chase was diagnosed with autism when he was 2 years old. His mom, Mary Bailey, says one of the earliest signs of the disorder was Chase鈥檚 extreme aversions to food.
鈥淲e got into therapy right away, but one of the areas the therapist really struggled with was getting him to eat. We tried a ton of different therapies and it didn鈥檛 work,鈥� said Mary, adding that there were only a few foods Chase could stomach.
But when Chase was 8, curiosity triumphed over his taste buds. One day while watching TV, Chase landed on the Cooking Channel, and he instantly became hooked.
鈥淗e had shows filling up the DVR and was watching them over and over again,鈥� Mary said.
Chase started verbalizing his desire to try new foods. His first request? Frog legs. Then, his interest shifted to fried alligator.
Mary got him to try something a little less exotic: hamburger 鈥� 鈥淎nd normal things kids would eat,鈥� she said.
Pretty soon, food became Chase鈥檚 passion. Mary says it鈥檚 all he would talk about, from morning to night. And he wanted to take that passion beyond the plate and launch a cooking show and food blog.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 take it too seriously in the beginning because I thought, well, he鈥檚 so young and kids tend to change their minds a lot,鈥� Mary said. 鈥淏ut he was talking about it with his teachers, he would talk about it with his aid at school; the projects he was doing at school were related to food. I finally just said, 鈥業鈥檝e got to make this happen for him.鈥欌��
Mary borrowed a friend鈥檚 kitchen and filmed the very first episode of 鈥�,鈥� on which her son made a Mexi-burger, complete with taco seasoning, pico de gallo and guacamole.
Then, they posted it on .
鈥淚 went to the grocery store, got the stuff for his recipe and then started filming with my camera, and we did that for six or seven episodes,鈥� Mary said.
Chase鈥檚 online audience grew, and people who saw his show began volunteering their services 鈥� from filming to coaching and more. Working on the show became an everyday project for the Bailey family 鈥� cooking was even incorporated into Chase鈥檚 educational curriculum.
The hard work paid off. Now, 鈥淐hase 鈥楴 Yur Face鈥� has more than 18,000 YouTube subscribers.
The turning point, Mary says, is when Roy Choi, a chef who became famous for his Los Angeles Korean taco truck, accepted an invitation from Chase to cook on his show.
Other well-known chefs followed Choi鈥檚 lead, including Mario Batali.
鈥淚t really gave him a huge outlet for his creativity because the earlier shows start off with him just in front of the camera, getting used to it, and then he started adding some comedy to it and he would dance in them. It was just a way for him to be creative and have fun,鈥� Mary said.
This fall, Chase published his first cookbook 鈥� 鈥溾�� 鈥� which is a collection of the recipes he鈥檚 kept in his journal over the years. It鈥檚 filled with stories and step-by-step instructions for dishes such as 鈥淪loppy Chase,鈥� made with lamb instead of ground beef, and tikka masala pizza.
Mary says the main takeaway from her son鈥檚 cookbook is that it鈥檚 accessible and inclusive, since many recipes can be adjusted to be gluten-free and vegan.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really going to create an opportunity for people to find success in the kitchen,鈥� she said.
Chase鈥檚 cookbook may be complete, but that doesn鈥檛 mean the teen is taking a break. Mary says her son鈥檚 goals include going to college, studying film and eventually having his own television show.
