

Jim Stark, an Ole Miss grad from Greenville, will cook off against an unknown celebrity chef tonight on NBC’s Food Fighters show.

Stark, 58, now lives in California, but he says he got involved in the show on a lark. “It was a fluke, really,” he said. “I went on th NBC website and they were promoting auditions for this cooking show. I had kind of taken up cooking as a hobby after retiring and I said to myself, ‘I’ll try this — it can’t hurt.'”

Stark was selected to audition, which amounted to a rigorous process of cooking competitions agains other candidates for the show. “I may not be the world’s best cook, but I’m a problem-solver and I applied that skill to competitive cooking. I always try to anticipate what the other cook’s strength is and do something else,” Stark said.

In the season final tonight at 8 p.m., Stark will test his culinary skills against a celebrity chef, but he’s not intimidated. “I don’t know who’ll I’ll be competing against but I always try to incorporate my Mississippi and Delta roots, including some of my family’s recipes, into the dishes I prepare,” he said.

Some of those dishes in past episodes have included fried catfish with Asian slaw, and his grandmother’s version of chocolate souffle cake.

The show airs tonight at 8 p.m. so be sure to tune in and root on a proud Rebel and 1978 graduate.

Andy Knef is editor of HottyToddy.com. You can contact Andy about this story at Andy.Knef@HottyToddy.com.