Top Chef Winner Brooke Williamson Spills Her Must Have Ingredient

Top Chef season 14 winner Brooke Williamson has spilled an unexpected ingredient that she regularly uses in her cooking: fish sauce.

“Fish sauce is an ingredient that I add to almost everything. I’ll make turkey bolognese like once a week and add fish sauce; it turns it into something that you can’t stop eating. People always say, ‘What is that flavor?’ It’s kind of slightly recognizable but not to the point where it feels like it doesn’t work. That’s something that really enhances flavor.”

Luckily fish sauce is pretty easy to come by, and a little goes a long way. Brooke went on to explain her other eating habits.

“We try to eat really healthy at home because when we go out to dinner it’s kind of a free for all. I always have cucumbers in my refrigerator. My son loves cucumbers, and they also add texture to any salad or relish — they’re also full of water and they’re hydrating. I have salmon in the house a lot. I’ll sear off salmon or make sashimi and that makes me feel good as a parent. I also always have grains. I do a lot of sushi rice at home, and I add in black rice or brown rice to cut it with a little bit more fiber.”