Orlando-based home chef featured on ‘The Great American Recipe’ season two

When Salmah Hack moved to Florida from the comforts of the New York City neighborhood she was raised in, it meant she was leaving the place enveloped by her family and heritage.

Hack grew up in Little Guyana, where she was immersed in her family's culture and cooking, where her bedroom literally opened up into the kitchen. When she got married, she knew she'd have to make the move to her husband's new home in Central Florida.

That was in 2005. Now, after adjusting to the city's energy (and figuring out how to source essential curry powders and seasonings in a new place) Hack is representing Orlando and her culture as a contestant in the second season of PBS's The Great American Recipe.

The series spotlights talented home cooks from all ends of the country as they share dishes that best represent them, in an effort to pinpoint the great American recipe.

First aired in June, 2022, The Great American Recipe aims to uplift the multiculturalism in cooking that both defines and unites American cuisine. The series focuses on home chefs, ensuring a kind of passion often unseen in professional cooking competitions.

For Hack, a project manager by day, the show encapsulated storytelling through food.

"I had the opportunity of coming on each week and preparing a dish based around a theme that reflected my family, my culture, my background and my upbringing," she said.

Much of what Hack cooks is heavily influenced by her Guyanese heritage. The Guyanese love of food is reflective of the indigenous people that make up Guyana, she said.

Guyana is made up of seven different ethnicities, all of which Hack works to reflect in her cooking. Authentic Guyanese cuisine draws from many influences, like Indo-Caribbean, Indian, Chinese, African, Dutch, Portuguese and more.

So far, only three episodes of the season are available to viewers. Some of Hack's recipes in those episode include Geera lamb chops and hummus, vamazelli (a sweet vermicelli noodle cake) and kitchri with stewed chicken.


In episode three, Salmah introduces her kitchri dish through tears, connecting the meal with familial comfort. She calls the dish "a hug from my grandmother."

Guyanese cooking is not widely known, but Hack is proud to share it. Since the episodes have aired, she's received messages from viewers all over: from Canada to England to, of course, Guyana, celebrating her ability to represent a culture not often seen.

"They were touched and they felt represented in seeing, one, a Guyanese person on TV, two, someone wearing hijab on TV," she said.

Hack set off on the show to do just that; she started with the intent that she was there to represent not only herself, but the kind of person she would have wanted to see on a cooking show when she was growing up.

"Typically when you do turn on any type of food competition or Food TV, you see someone of Indian descent," she said. "And there are so many different Indians on the spectrum in terms of where we fall within the world and the map. So, that was my intent: to stay true and authentic to who I am."

The Great American Recipe episodes one through three are available to watch now via PBS. (If you live in Orlando, that means you'll see it on WUCF.) While the winner of the series won't be announced until the season's final episode, viewers can tune in to watch Hack continue to share her story through culturally rich cooking.

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