Bringing Family Into the Kitchen

Star Chef: Getting to the Top

Campanaro said he enjoyed being in the kitchen from the start.

Joey Campanaro's yeast dough for holiday zeppole

(Courtesy Tommy Krakowiak)

"I love working with my hands," he said. "I love starting from scratch. I love figuring out how to make something better."

And being a good chef, he said, takes "practice, patience, persistence and passion."

"I don't think that I have, or most chefs, have all the ideas. You take a hamburger. Who was the first person who created a hamburger -- who knows?" he said. "But now it's not just about just hamburger, but it's about wanting to make that hamburger a great hamburger. And having the passion to do that I think feeds that skill and it feeds learning technique and practice."

Related

Making the Most of Thanksgiving Leftovers

Daniel Boulud: Food 'Can Drive Me Crazy'

Thanksgiving, From the Farm to Your Plate

And he got a lot of practice and technique during the holidays with the family.

"During the holidays, especially in Italian-American homes -- and I mean all holidays -- baking and cookies are a very, very big thing," Campanaro said. "We give out cookies to people for gifts to people on the street, our door is open for people to come in to have a little pop of sambuca usually."

His family also taught him a secret ingredient that has carried with him throughout his career -- fennel seeds. Even in cookies.

"One of the things that's interesting about my family recipe in which you don't really find if you were looking for this recipe online is the addition of fennel seeds, the fennel seeds are usually used in savory ingredients," he said. "I use it for a pork chop, I put it in the gravy we eat for macaroni. So you don't really find this in sweets, there aren't many desserts that use fennel seeds, it's an interesting little kick."