Joe Bastianich Recounts His MasterChef Food Feud With Mother Lidia - Exclusive Interview

Each generation brings something to the table, and the new season of "MasterChef" is here to highlight those differences. Joe Bastianich, along with his fellow judges, have the task of combing through contestants from each of four generations as they each strive to prove their generation is the best. Joe is no stranger to generational cooking; his mother, Lidia Bastianich, is also a famed chef and even guest judged on one of the episodes. However, with too many cooks in the kitchen, it is no surprise that there were some disagreements. 

We got to speak with Bastianich in an exclusive interview about the upcoming season. He told us all about the stresses and disagreements that come up when working with a parent and the strengths of each generation. Bastianich also gave us timeless tips to help cooks at home create the best pasta and burger dishes they can, regardless of their generation.

This season of Master Chef features contestants from four generations. As a Gen Xer, what are some of the foods that define your childhood?

We were the latchkey kids, so a little bit, we had a fend for ourselves. I grew up in an Italian family but there was a lot of hamburger cooking when I started cooking myself at home. My parents were at work. They worked in a restaurant. I had a fend for myself. So I started with hamburgers, and then there was a lot of pasta making, so I was an early '90s pasta maker.

It's funny because that's when I started doing restaurants too, I would bring the recipes from the restaurants to my home cooking. But yeah, '90s are about the birth of international food scenes, sushi restaurants, international food in America. When I think about the '90s in my life, it's when I began my professional career in restaurants, and when I even began to attempt cooking international and Asian food at home. That's what I remember.

What are some of the differences that you've observed between how the different generations approach cooking?

It's an amazing theme in this year's "MasterChef" because there is such a stark divider. You can imagine the Baby Boomers are all about meatloaf and shepherd's pie and chicken Kiev, those very '70s and '80s dishes that were [from] the first immigrants who came to this country from Europe and from around the world. You go down to the Gen Zers, which it doesn't even matter what it tastes like, as long as it looks good on my phone. It's the abyss of differences and the millennials are somewhere in between.

Okay. So your mother returned as a guest judge for the Baby Boomer tryouts this year. Do you feel more joy or anxiety when she's on set?

It's a combination, a delicate combination of both, because you never know what she's going to say about me on a national TV show in front of people. You never know what she's going to do. She still treats me like I'm 7 years old. But it's fun to have her there because she's got a lot of experience in cooking and tasting food and has a unique perspective. I think that she really touched a chord with the Baby Boomer contestants that we had.

I noticed during one of the taste tests, you chastised the contestant for not removing the skin from his peppers, and your mother actually advocated for leaving the skin on for the crunch. Are there other disagreements you two have in the kitchen?

A — she's wrong, because the skin of peppers just makes them taste bitter. So, unless you want to burp all day, please take the skin off your peppers. It makes them sweeter and better to eat. There's a lot of things we disagree on, but we mostly agree on what great food is. Everyone has their own opinion, but we do disagree sometimes.

Have you talked to Gordon Ramsay since his bike accident?

No, we've had a little text exchange, but I know he was pretty shaken up, so that was pretty ... We've done a lot of biking together. We've done Ironmans against each other and whatever. When you're doing that kind of bike riding, I've always told him, "It's not if you fall, it's when you fall." It happens. He got out lucky. Thank God he was wearing his helmet. I think he's pretty shaken up. I bet you he's going to be on a tricycle from now on.

What was your reaction when you first saw the photos? That bruise is pretty intense.

Yeah, well, I mean, I was happy that he was okay. I could see even from the first videos that he was very shaken up and then I texted him and he explained everything to me. But he is lucky.

Are you excited for Season 3 of "The Bear?"

Super excited.

What do you like about "The Bear" as a show?

Well, I think more than any of these other shows or movies that got into our business, it's the one that really tells the true story. It's exactly how it is.

Beyond the standard aperol and limoncello, do you have an Italian spritz recipe that you can recommend for the summer?

Yeah, it's with St-Germain, which is kind of like an elderberry liquor, and you just do that with Prosecco with a little bit of sparkling water. It's called a Hugo Spritz. St-Germain is the spirit. Very good.

That sounds delicious. You brought Joe's American Barbecue to Florence. What Italian barbecue or grilled dishes should Americans be cooking?

We do American barbecue in Italy, so there's no such thing as an American barbecue. It's funny because in Italy, barbecue is like grill. You barbecue at your house. The real barbecue is something you have to explain. But, barbecue is interesting because it's really [one of] our only regional cuisines in America. If you really get down to it, barbecue is uniquely American, and it's a great culture. So yeah, [we're] just creating confusion everywhere.

Your sandwich chain also continues to expand. What are some of the biggest mistakes that people make when preparing an Italian cold cut sandwich at home?

The main thing, the main mortal sin committed by Americans, is mixing the meats. You can't put prosciutto and mortadella and ham together. It doesn't work. You can put anything, pistachio cream, stracciatella, eggplant, zucchini on prosciutto or prosciutto with mozzarella. But don't put prosciutto with mortadella. They just don't want to be together. They don't like each other. Don't mix your meats.

Going back to the foods that you were making in your childhood, you mentioned burgers. Do you have any favorite burger recipes or toppings that you just love on a burger?

I'm a purist. In an American way, I like meat, cheese, and bread with spicy mayo. I also happen to be a very big advocate of the Juicy Lucy, which is when you put the cheddar inside the burger and then you cook it till it melts, and then it comes out in the middle. That's my Juicy Lucy.

During the audition round, Michael made an herb and goat cheese ravioli. Making pasta, for you in particular, was a very risky move. But one that seemed to work out. Why was his pasta so good, and what do people typically do wrong when they're making a homemade pasta?

His was good because he actually nailed the pasta itself, and it was not too thick and he boiled it properly and the fillings were interesting. I think generally the main mistake is that people don't use enough salt in the water when they boil pasta, fresh or dry. It has to be salty like the sea. I think that the balance between the pasta itself, and the filling has to be perfect. And either people put too much filling and then they explode or they become mushy or they put too much pasta, and it's hard and it's out of balance. The balance between the filling and the pasta itself is very important.

New episodes of MasterChef: Generations air on Wednesdays on Fox and are available to stream on Thursdays on Hulu.