Octavia Spencer made her fame playing a Southern woman who’s a skillful (and sometimes devious) cook, as evidenced by her delectable fried chicken and a “special pie” with a hidden ingredient.
Spencer, a Montgomery native, earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in 2011’s “The Help.” She fairly leaped off the screen as Minny Jackson, a fierce and capable housekeeper in 1960s Mississippi. Minny has faced injustice throughout her life, and she’s sick and tired of being sick and tired.
In one pivotal scene from the film, Minny gets revenge on a racist former employer by feeding her a pie that includes a dollop of something nasty. (Watch that scene in the video below.)
But in real life, the Oscar-winning actress is far from an ace in the kitchen. Spencer, 55, will be the first to admit she could never match Minny’s culinary skills and ingenuity — poop pie notwithstanding.
How do we know? Spencer has mentioned her lack of cooking prowess several times on “Family Recipe Showdown,” her new reality series on the Food Network.
On an episode titled “Southern Cocktail Hour,” Spencer, who hosts the show, immediately brought up the subject as she met the contestants.
“Here in the South, cooking is a big part of our lives, “ Spencer said. ”That’s why a lot of my best memories have taken place in a kitchen. Not that I was actually cooking in it, because no sane person would ever ask me to do that. I’m not good at it, but I am an expert at tasting.”
Later on in the program, Spencer mentioned the topic again, saying, “I can tell you right now, I couldn’t serve anybody anything I’ve ever made.”
Three episodes into the season, her humility about cooking has been much on display — and sometimes played for laughs. On an episode called “Biscuit Bliss,” for example, Spencer seemed perplexed by a food processor, causing guest judge Al Roker to erupt into laughter.
“You don’t have a food processor?” Roker said.
“I might, I just don’t know what it is,” Spencer responded, throwing up her hands and chuckling. “This is me learning. I have all these things that I don’t know what they are.”
Spencer isn’t shy about expressing her opinions on food, however, and she does have a bona-fide chef by her side on the judging panel: Edgar “Dook” Chase IV of Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans.
Celebrity guest judges have acted as taste-testers on the series, as well, including TV weatherman Roker, Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon and Eric Stonestreet of “Modern Family.”
Witherspoon — whose movie credits include “Sweet Home Alabama,” ”Walk the Line” and the “Legally Blonde” franchise — appeared on a “Southern Brunch” episode that kicked off the series on July 17. That program also found Spencer declaring herself clueless in the kitchen.
“Some of y’all my know that I’m from Alabama,” Spencer said. “That’s why I wanted to do a show for us Southerners that celebrates food and culture. Nobody appreciates Southern food more than me. That’s because I can’t cook it.”
Spencer and Witherspoon both have a stake in “Family Recipe Showdown,” which is produced for the Food Network by Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine and Spencer’s Orit Entertainment.
Each week, six home cooks compete in two-person teams on the show, vying for a $10,00 prize. Two rounds of competition are featured on each episode, focusing on specific cooking themes.
It’s unclear if any Alabama contestants will be in the mix, but episodes listed on the Food Network site focus on biscuits, brunch, seafood, cocktails, cast-iron skillet recipes, family superstitions, deep-fried food and tailgating.
Southern desserts do not appear to be on the agenda during the first season — a bummer for folks who love “The Help” — and viewers have yet to hear any jokes about Minny’s special pie.
If you watch: New episodes of “Family Recipe Showdown” air on Thursdays at 8 p.m. CT on the Food Network, and stream the next day on HBO Max. Episodes also repeat at various times during the week on Food Network.
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