Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SANDY — A 15-year-old cooking enthusiast will show off his skills on television as he competes against three other young contestants on a new Food Network show.
Daniel Kligmann said he has basically cooked his entire life. Though his mom wouldn't allow him to use the stove until he was 7 years old, he practiced with uncooked food quite a bit.
The teen will appear on the Thanksgiving special of "Chopped Junior" at 6 p.m. Nov. 17. The contestants will have 30 minutes each for the appetizer, the entree and the dessert rounds.
According to Food Network, the contestants are to make meals from "mystery ingredients" as they compete for the $10,000 prize.
If they fail to use all the ingredients, they lose points and could be chopped.
The young cook's food will be judged by Chris Santos, Geoffrey Zakarian and Martha Stewart.
Kligmann said it was an honor to cook in front of Stewart.
Kligmann has six brothers and five sisters, all of whom know how to cook really well.
"It's kind of a Kligmann thing to know how to cook," Kligmann said. "...We all know how."
His mom assigns them days to cook dinner, and Kligmann cooks at least twice a week. Because their household is "an open door," people sometimes come over and stay to eat.
I always cook extra because that's just the way our house works.
–Daniel Kligmann
"I always cook extra because that's just the way our house works," Kligmann said.
He and his brother own the Salt Lake Catering Company and he also cooks for a homeless ministry in his church.
His favorite part of cooking is the art of it, and he will never stop learning how to cook.
Kligmann is really excited for the show to air and said it was a lot of fun. In the future, he plans to continue the catering company and save money to attend culinary school.
