A Moveable Feast: Wild Cooking with MasterChef Protégé Che Spiotta

Che Spiotta is a young man with the world at his feet. At the tender age of 13, he competed in and went on to win the Fox TV show, MasterChef Junior. Today, the 19-year-old from Boiceville is studying at the prestigious culinary school of top French chef Alain Ducasse in Paris. But away from the TV cameras and the rarefied world of cordon bleu cuisine, Spiotta’s love of cooking is rooted in the earthy realities of the Hudson Valley.“So many of the ingredients that I learned to cook with growing up came out of my backyard,” says Spiotta. “We got raw milk from a woman down the street who kept cows. I foraged for mushrooms and caught trout in the stream behind my house. I feel very blessed to have grown up with these experiences, and I think they definitely made me the cook that I am today.”

Building on his formative experiences, Spiotta recently took a break from his culinary education to explore this connection between cooking and the Hudson Valley landscape in a documentary short, “Che’s Next Course.” He worked on the film with the Kingston-based nonprofit film production company, Hudsy. The film is a paean to the region’s natural wonders, with Spiotta shown fly-fishing in the rugged beauty of the Catskills and cooking trout over open fires on the banks of the fast-flowing Esopus Creek.

“The idea for the show was for Che to start exploring food with a different approach,” says Hudsy’s Angel Gates Fonseca, who shot the initial pilot episode with Spiotta. “We wanted to create an Anthony Bourdain-type show, but with a youthful, teenage energy. The first episode that we decided to run was on fly fishing, because it’s a pretty popular pastime out here.”

Fonseca was first introduced to Spiotta through Nigel Barker, best known as a judge and photographer on the reality TV show America’s Next Top Model, with whom Hudsy has previously collaborated. He was immediately struck by the young cook’s charm and talent. “When I met him, I instantly fell in love with him.”

But he was also aware that Spiotta’s career trajectory had been stymied because of the timing of his MasterChef Junior victory. The season he won aired in 2019, a year before the world was shut down by COVID-19. “He did the show, and there was nothing after that because the pandemic happened,” says Fonseca.

Spiotta still looks back on his MasterChef experience with genuine fondness. “I don’t feel it as a weight,” he says. “It’s this really cool thing I did when I was 13, and it was great for a lot of reasons.” At the same time, he doesn’t feel compelled to lead with that achievement. When he started culinary school last September, he didn’t mention his win to classmates. Still, word eventually got around. “People had lots of questions,” he says, “but it wasn’t a problem.”

Spiotta has been cooking for nearly as long as he’s been able to stand. He was at the stove by age four, his earliest experiments driven by necessity—namely, a gluten intolerance. As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention, and Spiotta began finding creative ways to expand what he could eat. “I started to discover the things that were naturally gluten-free and experiment with them,” he says.

“For me, cooking is close to an art form,” he says. “I love cooking without a recipe, just letting myself be free in that way.” — Che Spiotta

One of his first experiments was gluten-free donuts. “I remember vividly starting out making donuts; then it became a funnel cake because, you know, things don’t always go to plan,” he says. “But it was a great moment of trying something, failing, and then it becoming something else.”

These first experiments still inform how he sees cooking—as primarily a creative act. “For me, cooking is close to an art form,” he says. “I love cooking without a recipe, just letting myself be free in that way.” But even more important to him than the creative aspect of cooking is its communal value. “I love coming together and sharing things,” he says. “My favorite people to cook for are my family, 100%, and I think that comes from it being this act of love. It’s such a meaningful and comforting thing to cook for people that you love.”

Photo by Nigel Barker

At the École Ducasse, where Spiotta is now refining his craft, he has come to appreciate the many paths that can lead to a passion for cooking. “Before I came here, I assumed everyone was inspired by the same things I was,” he says. “But I’ve realized there’s a real diversity. Some people are drawn to the restaurant world—the excitement and that ‘good stress’ that comes with it. Others are inspired by specific chefs. We all share a love of cuisine, but there are so many different motivations that brought us here.” He doesn’t see himself working in restaurants in the future and is more drawn to a media career based around food. “I would love to write a cookbook one day. That whole side of things definitely excites me more than the rush of restaurants.”

For his part, Fonseca sees those ambitions as entirely within Spiotta’s reach—and is convinced of the Hudson Valley native’s star quality. “After I met him, I just thought, ‘You’re going to be a star—so why not give you the reps and start training you on TV now?’” he says. “So that’s what we did.”

Hudsy’s cooking show pilot with Spiotta, “Che’s Next Course,” is available on YouTube, and Fonseca hopes it might eventually evolve into a full series hosted by the young chef. “We wanted to create something that could help propel his career—use our ‘sweat equity’ to support him,” he says. “There’s this big misconception that because he won the show, he’s automatically going to be a star.”

Championing local talent like Spiotta is part of Hudsy’s DNA, the nonprofit media platform co-founded by Fonseca in 2017 alongside fellow Hudson Valley filmmakers Jesse Brown and Shawn Strong. What began as a regional streaming concept has evolved into a dynamic production company responsible for dozens of documentary shorts.

“We’re telling stories that often go untold but deserve to be heard. It’s about recognizing the chance to shine a light on people who merit it—people like Che.” — Angel Gates Fonseca, Hudsy

Many of Hudsy’s films take on urgent social issues shaping life in the region—from housing insecurity to the mental health challenges facing local farmers—alongside projects like a recent PSA created with Family of Woodstock offering guidance in the event of sudden deportation. The organization also runs a six-month paid apprenticeship program, which has graduated nearly 30 local filmmakers over the past five years. “We’re giving people the opportunity to create shows that might never otherwise be made—and to get paid doing it,” says Fonseca. “We’re telling stories that often go untold but deserve to be heard. It’s about recognizing the chance to shine a light on people who merit it—people like Che.”

To explore more of Hudsy’s thoughtful, community-driven programming, visit Hudsy TV—and follow @chespiotta for a steady stream of delicious recipes and upstate adventures.

Caught & Cooked: Fly Fishing & Cooking Streamside | Che’s Next Course

CREDITS
Starring: Che Spiotta, Paul Schiavo
Director: Angel Gates Fonseca
Director of Photography: Natasha Scully
Sound Mixer: Greg Vardhami
Boom Operator: Christine Shoshannah
Editor: Christopher Greffrath
Camera Operators: Gabrielle Johnson, Corey Spears
Special Thanks: Jakson Spiotta, Cosimo Spiotta, Elizabethanne Spiotta
Producer: Lex Catania, Kathia Kilcrease
Executive Producers: Laura Kandel, Angel Gates Fonseca, Aja Schmeltz

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