Rooted in Fire: Cooking, Culture, and Community with Chef Pyet DeSpain

Rooted in Fire — with Chef Pyet DeSpain

On the podcast, I recently chatted with Chef Pyet DeSpain. Chef Pyet made history as the first-ever winner of Gordon Ramsay’s Next Level Chef, where she showcased her Mexican lineage and her cultural heritage as a proud member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. 

Today, she continues to honor and preserve Indigenous foodways through her cooking and storytelling, including her PBS food-streaming series, Spirit Plate. Her debut cookbook, Rooted in Fire: A Celebration of Native and Mexican Cooking, reflects that same deep connection to land, culture, and community.

In this episode, we chat about how family and community shaped her approach to cooking, the importance of keeping Indigenous food traditions alive, foraging and seasonal cooking, and how food can spark meaningful conversation and connection at the table. Listen to the full episode or keep reading for some of the highlights from our conversation.

How Did You Get Interested in Cooking?

As a child, I was always making soup because you could throw just about anything into a pot. I’d toss together the strangest combinations of ingredients, and I think they were mostly terrible. But cooking was all around me. I watched my parents and grandparents cook with passion, and I absorbed that energy early on.

My father was especially devoted to perfecting his gumbo, always tweaking flavors and techniques. From him—and from my parents and grandparents more broadly—I learned that cooking was about care. It was about nourishing others and paying attention to flavor, detail, and intention.

Growing up, many traditional foods showed up most often during ceremonies or communal gatherings. While my parents and grandparents didn’t cook traditional dishes every day, food was always central to how we came together. Family and community mattered most, and that foundation stayed with me. 

Tell Us More About Your Book, Rooted in Fire

The heart of Rooted in Fire comes directly from those experiences. Family and community are the roots of everything I do, and the “fire” in the title references that source of energy and connection.

The book celebrates foraging, seasonal cooking, and understanding where food comes from, whether that’s harvesting dandelions or reconnecting with the land in simple, respectful ways. It’s about honoring Mother Earth and cooking regionally and seasonally.

Corn plays a central role. There are savory and sweet tamales, and fresh masa in particular warms my spirit. It reminds me of home and identity. Corn represents survival and beauty, and there are more than 2,000 varieties that most people never see. Even the husks, silks, and cobs have purpose.

Writing the book opened doors to family stories I hadn’t heard before. Asking questions allowed my grandmother and other family members to revisit memories, share history, and heal through storytelling. It brought us closer together.

That philosophy carries into everything I do—from the kitchen to my show Spirit Plate, where I explore Indigenous foodways, connections to land, and gratitude for those who came before us and the generations yet to come.