Celeste E. Whittaker|Cherry Hill Courier-Post
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Wiggins Waterfront Park in Camden offers gorgeous views. There’s the Philadelphia skyline, the bridges, the boats gliding along the Delaware River.
Chef Aaron McCargo, Jr., didn’t necessarily grow up with this view, but he’s always seen the bright side of things, and that can-do, positive attitude has served him well in his life.
That, along with his talents in the kitchen, have allowed the Camden native to reach great heights in his culinary career. All the way to the Food Network and QVC.
The father of three, who now resides in Gloucester County, has big plans for his future. While it’s been years since his show “Big Daddy’s House” aired for six seasons on The Food Network, and years since he won Season Four of “The Next Food Network Star”, McCargo, 49, has never really been out of the public’s view.
One of his recent posts on Instagram was a video of the chefmaking a tempura-fried salmon burger with gourmet chipotle cabbage slaw and lemon mayonnaise. It was stacked with three toasted brioche buns. He asks the viewers if he should bite the monstrosity whole or cut it. The vote was to bite it whole. He gladly obliged and clapped his hands afterwards.
“I love my own food,” McCargo, Jr., said when we caught up with him recently. “I didn’t get this healthy just watching. I packed on the pounds because I really enjoy.''
That "Big Daddy'' part is not just a catchy TV title. Family is always top of mind
"What stimulates me is my family members first,'' the chef said."They’ve been around me all my life. They’ve supported me. They tell me when it’s wrong, they tell me when it’s right. They encourage me. I want to share with the audience, the people that want to check out Aaron McCargo, Jr., and see what he’s doing.
“I’m a greedy guy. It makes me want to cook,'' he continued. "It drives the passion because I love to eat. Whether it’s a scrapple, egg and cheese sandwich to how you’re cooking your lamb chops and Brussel sprouts. It’s about making sure they seasoned it and that they’re cooking with love and passion. That’s what’s important to me.”
‘Nothing beats the ‘Big Daddy's House’ feel’
TV is his jam. You can see McCargo Jr. these days on QVC about three times per week.
“I was blessed to be able to take on a job and partnership with QVC as their chef for their proprietary brand Cook’s Essentials, so that was amazing," he said. "A new walk of life for me, but I’m being able to introduce to folks kitchen gadgets and cookware and electrics (appliances) that I know work for me and that they can get at an affordable price.”
The bubbly, outgoing culinary guru would love to have his own show again, however. He’s got a few ideas for some shows, because he loves to gab about food and other things. He would love to get back to teaching and instructing and showing people “big, bold-flavored foods with simple ingredients and not breaking the pocketbook.”
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Some of McCargo Jr.'sconcepts are game shows, but they’re all centered around food“but also a little bit of that talk show part of me that I want to be able to introduce to the world in the 2021 season.”
“I’m grateful that I am on QVC because it is a platform and I get to talk more in depth about what kind of cookware and things that I use and that I think people should have in their kitchens, and I can also show the them the type of food that I’m doing with some of these things,” he said.
“It’s almost borderline getting me there, what I’m doing with QVC but nothing beats the ‘Big Daddy's House’ feel of vibing with the fans and people watching and just really being me. I’m able to be me with QVC, which is a blessing, but something about your own show, that just really tickles your fancy.”
McCargo, Jr. posts on social media the times he’s going to be on QVC. Normally, he’s on Sundays “In the Kitchen with David” (airs 12 to 4 p.m. EST) and Wednesdays (8 to 10 p.m. EST), he said. On Saturdays, he can be viewed on QVC2 on the app or online. On a recent Saturday, he was on “In the Kitchen with Mary” with host Mary DeAngelis (airs 1 to 4 p.m.) and was back on later at 9 p.m. on "Cook’s Essentials'' with host Ali Carr.
“Three times are definite that you can catch me,” said McCargo, Jr., who does the shows from the QVC Studios in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “You can see what kind of items I’m presenting for the week and how they can make life easier and fun for them in the kitchen at home. I’m looking to expand my sauce and spice line (called The SAUCE and THE SPICE). I’m looking to just bless the people that are watching QVC and in the meantime working on another cookbook that hopefully will be out in the next year, year and a half.”
'Great man, chef, father'
His daughter Jordan, 14, has appeared in some of his cooking videos on his social media accounts. While his three children – Josh, 27, and Justin, 17, are his two boys – all know how to cook, none are as passionate about cooking as their dad, he says.
“They all enjoy the eating and the concept part of cooking,” said McCargo, Jr., who grew up with five siblings in Camden. “They all know how to survive and cook. If anything were to go south for me, I’ve got someone that can cook me breakfast, lunch and dinner and I don’t have to stress about it. That’s a good thing. They all have their passions. Jordan’s into singing;Justin, football, and Josh is into real estate. Jordan’s into law as well. I’m glad they’re taking their own passions.”
The chef's family encouraged him to follow his dreams and his passions. His father, in fact, allowed him to see it was OKfor a man to cook. He saw his dad cook many meals for the family growing up, he said.
After graduating from Camden High in 1989, he attended The Academy of Culinary Arts at Atlantic Cape Community College for a time.
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He knew for sure that cooking was his passion and has been lucky enough to have some strong culinary mentors along the way, including Chef Jonathan Jernigan, a Willingboro native, who was the longtime executive chef at Cathedral Kitchen, and gave McCargo his first job at the Harbor League Club in Camden.
Other local Black chefs really look up to McCargo and consider him a friend and influence.
“Chef Aaron McCargo is a great man, chef, father and I’m proud to say friend,” said Chef Timothy Witcher, a Willingboro native, who is a “Chopped” winner and has The Wing Kitchen restaurants in Turnersville and Glassboro, as well as Witcher’s Kitchen in Turnersville.
“I had the pleasure to meet chef about eight years ago and as soon as we met, he treated me like one of his brothers, giving me his personal number and always making himself available. As a young Black chef, watching his passion, drive and infectious personality inspired me to keep pushing and keep striving for bigger and better things in the industry. Love that dude.”
It’s all about the passion, McCargo, Jr., says. You have to have it in anything that you do.
“The one thing I believe in life, if you want to live life partially happy, for the most part, find something that you’re going to love and enjoy doing,” McCargo, Jr., said. “That’s been my sermon to anyone. If you don’t like it, get out of it and find your passion. If you don’t know it, ask yourself what you would do for free every day or if someone pays you minimal. Go in, invest the time and get good at it.”
‘Who passed you during the health inspection?’
Don’t ask McCargo, Jr., for his opinion unless you want the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
The restaurant industry has struggled mightily during the pandemic with some restaurants permanently shuttering over the last year, unable to withstand the tough times, while others have been able to pivot by adding delivery-only ghost kitchens, curbside pickup and other services to stay afloat.
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“A lot of folks don’t take kindly to this,” said McCargo, Jr., who has worked at more than nine restaurants and also openedseveral. “For a long time, there’s been a lot of eateries that should’ve been closed down due to a lot of things that were wrong, whether it was not tipping the waiter staff fairly, not putting out the best quality food, really having filthy facilities, and I think a lot of places that were staples, people were going to, just because it was out of routine, but definitely they violated a lot of the culinary rules from my perspective as far as how we should treat food, treat our customers and treat our staff.”
McCargo thinks the industry will bounce back, for the most part, hopefully learning a few things along the way.
Being sheltered in by the pandemic has given some people a chance to experience good food, he says, whether it was their own cooking, delivery services orcurbside take-out.
“They now have choices,” he added. “…The workforce is a lot harder. I think they (the workers) want a real, good reasonable rate as far as their salaries, benefits. They want a lot of these things that they realized they didn’t have prior to the pandemic. Now that they can pick and choose, that’s what they’re choosing to do. I hope the industry picks back up.”
But, he said, for some of those that never open back up, “they weren’t supposed to be open in the first place … I’ve done (Spike TV, now Paramount) '‘Bar Rescue'’ for five years. I’ve seen some of these places. I’m like, ‘Who passed you during the health inspection? Who comes in here and buys your food? How do you serve people out of dirty glasses? How do you treat your employees?’ ”
“… I pray that the folks that got the assistance they needed during this pandemic and those that are allowed to open back up, that they’re doing it with a staff that they continue to take care of, that they continue to make money and pour back into the economy.”
‘A dudefrom Camden’
Those from Camden always seemingly have such enduring love for the city and McCargo, Jr., is no different. He helped developer Damon Pennington get a Market Street venture called Camden Arts Yard off the ground. The beer garden is still a happening place, but McCargo, Jr.’s role has concluded.
“I was just a consultant for that job,” he said. “I help you set up shop, create your menus, train your staff and then I move onto doing something else. They’ve been doing very well from what I understand. They’ve been pushing forward and have a great following of people on their social sites, as well as events on Friday and Saturday nights. I wish them well and the best and I focus on my next project.”
The waterfront area has seen an influx of redevelopment in recent years with the Philadelphia 76ers, Subaru, Holtec, American Water and others building headquarter facilities there, utilizing huge tax breaks to relocate to a city that has seen its share of urban blight and troubling times.
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“I enjoy the city so much,” said McCargo, Jr., who would love to open up some eateries in his hometown.
“I do wish every day that I could do so much more there. My nonprofit, Play to Win, is still based in Camden. Due to COVID, we had to slow things down. I do anticipate getting back involved with the school systems and the young men and do what Play to Win does, which is encourage young men to find their passion, show them how to get on track to achieve something great that they want to do, and also encourage them that this isn’t the end.
“Here I am a dude from Camden who would’ve never had any idea of what God had planned for me but I know that sticking with what’s in my heart to do and in spite of all the obstacles and all the setbacks, it pays off if you stick with it. I think a lot of our young men need to know that you don’t have to quit something when you hit a bump in the road and that’s what Play to Win is about. Whatever God has for me, I’m in His hands and I just trust Him and I’m living in the moment.”
Aaron McCargo Turkey Burgers with Smoked Cheddar
Servings: Four
½ medium bell pepper, halved and seeded
½ medium yellow bell pepper, halved and seeded
2 jalepeno peppers, halved and seeded
1 medium sweet onion, such as Vidalia, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick disks
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
½ cup Arugula Mayonnaise (see recipe)
4 round Portuguese rolls
1½ pounds ground turkey
1 envelope dry ranch dressing mix (about two tablespoons)
4 slices smoked cheddar cheese
Prepare a hot fire in a charcoal or gas grill and oil the grill grates. Toss the bell pepper, jalapenos and onion slices with two tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until the outside of the peppers and the onion are nicely charred - not burned - and the vegetables begin to soften. Remove the peppers and onions from the grill and set aside to cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, slice the peppers into strips and toss with the onion.
Spread the mayo onto the rolls, and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix the ground turkey with the ranch dressing mix. Form the meat into four burger patties and put on a platter lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Grill for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until the burgers are just cooked through. Top each burger with a slice of cheese and cook for an additional minute, until the cheese melts. Put a burger between the halves of the rolls, and top with peppers and onions before serving.
Recipe by Aaron McCargo, "Simply Done, Well Done"; Courier-Post archives.
Celeste E. Whittaker is afeatures reporter for the Courier Post, Daily Journal and Burlington County Times. The South Jersey native started at the CP in1998 and has covered the Philadelphia 76ers, college andhigh school sports and has won numerous awards. Reach her at 856.486.2437 orcwhittaker@gannettnj.com.
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