FIREHOUSE: How did you became involved in cooking and firefighting?
CHEF MANNY: It all started with my father, Emanuel Washington Sr., a City of Miami firefighter who is now retired after 26 years. My dad was the station chef his whole career. Every shift he made sure they had three amazing meals. Growing up in the firehouse I can remember seeing how essential it was for him to make sure his team was fed and ready to go out and respond.
Not only that, my grandmother and my mom influenced me. They will make food from scratch. I can just remember them cooking and the aromas that would come out of the kitchen, waking me up from my sleep. As I grew up, I started to make the desserts for the family on holidays. This is where I learned to make my grandmother’s famous bread pudding, which I took to the Food Network and was able to impress Iron Chefs Bobby Flay and Alex Guarnaschelli. Then I got a promotion to making the sides for the family where I learned to make my mother’s famous mac and cheese. After that I got the biggest promotion a teenager could ever get in my family—my dad let me handle the meats!
When I became a firefighter, I took the mantle as a second-generation firehouse chef. One day, I got an interesting call. A woman from Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen” asked if I wanted to be on the show. I thought is was prank and hung up, but she called me back and later I found out a fellow firefighter signed me up. So, I took a chance, flew out to Los Angeles and took on three other firefighters from around the country. With my cooking skills, I was crowned the Firefighter Champion. Ever since then I have been on the national stage of cooking around the nation.
Although I followed in my father’s footsteps of being a firefighter, it wasn’t my original path. I wanted to be a flight nurse. I even started college in nursing, did two years of prerequisites and was about to start the nursing program. Every summer I had off in those two years, however, I started to take my Minimum Firefighter Standards and my EMT-B certifications to help me get a jumpstart to my medical career. A month before starting the nursing program I got a call to be part of the best—the Orlando, FL, Fire Department (OFD). At the age of 20, I started my career with OFD and never looked back.
FIREHOUSE: How do firefighting and cooking go hand-in-hand for you?
CHEF MANNY: When I make the perfect meal for everyone at the firehouse, it gives me that joy you get from making a great stop on a structure fire. Especially when I do competitive cooking on TV shows—that gives me that nerve-racking pressure to make sure I make the perfect meal in 30 minutes. It reminds me of the pressure you have of getting everything right on a call.
Being a firefighter by far has prepared me to be a competitive chef. The funny thing is that cooking was a great way for me to de-stress from the bad things I see on the job. The kitchen—with some good tunes—is my sanctuary for me to do my therapy. At the end of the day I hope it helps all the men and women I serve food to forget about all the bad things; I hope it brings happiness to their bellies during the time we have at the dinner table together.
FIREHOUSE: What are the benefits of having hobbies/a lifestyle outside of the fire department?
CHEF MANNY: Wow, with cooking, I have been afforded the opportunities of a lifetime. With my first show of “Cutthroat Kitchen,” they flew me out to Los Angeles, and I had the wonderful opportunity to meet the great Alton Brown. After that show, I tried out for “MasterChef “where I had the opportunity to meet with and work alongside the legendary Gordon Ramsay. This was a dream to have him teach me how to make many of his famous dishes—he even cussed me out, so that was icing on the cake. On that show, I got to meet other food legends such as Wolfgang Puck and Aaron Sanchez. Unfortunately, I finished 15th but was determined to make it back. The opportunity showed itself when I got invited to be on Food Network’s “Next Food Network Star.” On that show, I was mentored by Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis. These experiences have given me a break from the ripping and running the calls at 3 a.m. Every firefighter knows that this life takes a toll on you, but I found something that I can use to get away and have some fun.
