Back in 1953 the culinary world changed forever: Simplot brought to market the first commercially viable frozen French fry. Fast forward more than 70 years - and an innumerable amount of French fries consumed later - chefs are still inventing deliciously mind-blowing ways to put away those potatoes. 

As Culinary Content Chef at Simplot, Chef Zach Greatting is one of the masterminds behind the inspiration and applications on the infinite ways chefs can cook with Simplot’s food products like potatoes, avocados, vegetables, fruits, grains, and more. 

Now in 2025, Simplot is still a family-owned agribusiness that operates in 60+ countries with more than 13,000 employees worldwide - including Chef Zach. We sat down with Zach for Spiceology’s Periodically Inspired interview series to talk about inspiration, process, menu planning, and a lot more. Read the full interview and get to know him below:

When did you first find a love of cooking?

“Easy answer. My grandmother was my inspiration. When I was a kid, our Thanksgivings always started very early because everything had to be made from scratch no matter what convenience product came on the market that year. My grandmother lived for cooking, standing there in the kitchen and doing everything. 

And while my sisters and cousins were off inventing games, I was standing right there next to my grandmother, learning how to make pies from scratch. Just the fact that you can stand in a kitchen all day and hear the stories and really bond. That's what did it for me. 

A great example - when people's parents go out of town, parties get thrown when you're in high school. But instead I threw dinner parties (laughs). I used these opportunities to go buy food and start to make things and create and watch people come together over food. 

Another stand out moment was when I was 14. I got to eat at Le Bernardin in New York City after we saw Wicked on Broadway. It was an amazing experience all around. Earlier that day I got a suit at Sacks Fifth Avenue, so I arrived at Le Bernardin well-dressed and had a multi-course dinner with all these beautiful sauces. Chef Eric Ripert changed my entire being that evening. My family even let me have a little bit of the wine - it was such a cool experience.”

Where do you find inspiration when you're developing dishes?

“That's a complicated question because it's a collection of a lot of things. It's almost a burden to be in this industry because when you go out to eat, it's not just a dining experience; every time I go out to eat, whether it's a food truck or going to 11 Madison Park, it's an analysis and an opportunity to bank ideas. And I'm not going to take that dish and go and recreate it - it's always a little garnish or a sauce or two flavors coming together with the right glass of wine that makes you go, ‘that's interesting.’

Almost everything I do on a day-to-day basis - I'm looking at food through that lens. Even now in this stage of life being a father I’m watching my kids put ketchup on something and thinking why on Earth are you doing that? But it's thought-provoking for my kids to put pineapple in ketchup - like maybe I should try that?

I am also a social media guy - I can burn 45 minutes just scrolling. Social media can be kind of evil for some things, but it's been amazing for the culinary world because it allows you to travel when you don't get to as much as you'd like - you get to experience all of this food from around the world. I have little folders within Instagram where I save everything and when projects come up I go back there to browse and get inspired.”

What advice would you give to a chef just starting out?

“Cook and be around people that are both scary and blow your mind. Take the worst job in a restaurant you admire just to get into a space in a major metro city. Vegas, San Fran, New York - get yourself into a city where you can not only get a job learning from the best and bounce around to different restaurants, but you also save every penny you have for great meals, whether it's the new crazy hot dog situation or getting to go to Le Bernardin. 

Save your money, find your way into those dinners because that's the only way that you're ever going to get your mind blown and get your mind racing. Of course travel if you can, but it’s more important to get yourself into a cosmopolitan area where you can be a part of this world. Because reading and looking at Instagram is great, but until it's on your lips and you get to experience it, you're not going to get it.”

What are some flavor and dish trends you’re seeing or playing with in 2025?

“At Simplot we’re really focusing on avocados and ways to tie them in beyond Mexican fare, finding ways for avocados to live on menus and not be guacamole. It's such a versatile ingredient from making an avocado green goddess to working it into desserts.

It's an incredible ingredient that can add value to menus, even at a QSR, throwing it on a burger, chicken sandwich, that type of thing. I just did a Mexican-inspired sushi roll tying avocado in with some carne asada and cilantro lime rice. 

Global fusion is hot and it will continue to be, and that is kind of refreshing. Tying in different seasonings and spices from around the world can give your menu buzzwords and create interesting dishes. Marketing is half the battle - diners need to see something that grabs their attention - like I have to go try that - and the way to accomplish that is interesting menu items, buzzwords, limited-time offers, things like that.”

Talk to me about being a Sommelier. 

“We had a food and wine pairing class taught by an amazing teacher who worked for Lettuce Entertain You for forever - this class just lit me up. It was the fact that you can take a mediocre wine and pair it with the right food and the two things come together and it's like wow this food and this wine now taste WAY better because someone thought to put them together.

He helped me get a scholarship to the CIA Greystone’s wine program. It all happened so fast and within months - I passed the Sommelier test and started working at RIA Chicago, which was a two Michelin star restaurant. I’d finally found my place to share my passion for food and pair it with wine out front. 

I'm a French wine guy through and through. It's where it all started and I just love it so much. A Pinot Noir is hands down the most food friendly wine out there - just seeing it in all its versions around the world and how beautiful it can be from the most acidic sort of rare expensive versions in France to a very fruit forward version from the Sonoma Coast. It's just incredible to me. I love all wine. I can find something to love in every wine. I really can, but Pinot Noir is where it's at for me.”

What is a spice you consider to be undervalued?

“I'm a Worcestershire powder freak. I find myself grabbing it constantly. Recently we were out of mac and cheese for my kids so I made it from scratch - even though they're going to throw it on the ground - they don't even care, but I care (laughs). And so I'm making this cheese sauce and it's just missing a little something and I put a couple of kicks of Worcestershire in there and it just rounded it out. 

I'm also Caesar salad freak. If I've had a bad day, I want steak Caesar salad and a bottle of fruit-forward Pinot Noir -  that can heal me in every way, shape or form. It’s the Worcestershire in the Ceasar, it just makes me happy. 

Worcestershire Powder gives that Caesar moment to anything.”

Do you feel competitive with other chefs?

“I think competition is healthy. You can't help but see something come out on a menu and you're like, ‘I should have thought of that!’. So, I think it's fun to be competitive, but I love getting to be with other chefs and cook with them because as competitive as everyone is, it is such a supportive community in the sense that we all love cooking so much. And when you come together, you get to collaborate on the ideas and do even better. 

I've gotten to do a few dinners where each chef takes a course and your dish gets better by being in that kitchen all day because you're all there working together and you're like, ‘Wow, I've never cut a pepper like that.’ You learn from each other quickly because it’s so tactile and you’re tasting things together and tweaking as you go.”

What's one of your favorite ingredients to cook with and why? 

“Dijon mustard. It's so versatile. It adds that acidic oomph to almost anything - every sauce I make, it just makes its way in there. Plus, you can make it more sweet or spicy. 

I'm not capable of making a basic oil and vinegar dressing. I just can't do it - it seems lacking to me every time. And then coating meats or just as a dip on its own - again, Dijon just finding its way into everything.”

What's a cooking technique or kitchen trick you learned along the way that even a home cook could use?

“Using a gastrique. I've taught my siblings this - if you’re making something like a chili and it's just not quite there, if you make a sweet and vinegary gastrique on the side and add that in, you immediately change the flavor and add that zing. 

I always say the difference between an amateur and a professional or eating at home and going to a restaurant is the sauce. People love to go out to eat because things are seasoned properly and 99% of the time there’s a sauce on the plate. 

Making a great sauce hinges on having all of the flavor elements - having it be sweet, spicy, acidic, a touch of everything has to be in there. Gastriques might sound fancy or complicated, but they are so simple to make and an easy way to add a layer of flavor that takes it over the top.”