Lafayette, Louisiana Fire Captain Makes Finals on ‘Great American Recipe’

Lafayette, Louisiana (KPEL-FM) - A Lafayette, Louisiana Fire Captain is not only great at fighting fires, but apparently he's also one heck of a cook.

He's one of four contestants to earn their spot in the finals of "The Great American Recipe" reality cooking show on PBS.

What Is The Great American Recipe?

"The Great American Recipe" is a cooking competition on PBS where talented home cooks from across America compete and showcase their signature dishes and share the back stories behind their signature dishes.

From KBPS.org -

"This season features eight new home cooks, including Rex Alba from Columbus, Ohio—who blends Filipino traditions into his cooking—and firefighter Coby Bailey from Louisiana with a rich Cajun heritage."

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On The Great American Recipe, the winner doesn’t get a big cash prize like many cooking shows.

Instead, the cooks are competing for the title of “Great American Recipe” champion, a feature in The Great American Recipe Cookbook, which includes recipes from all contestants that season, and of course, bragging rights.

Lafayette, Louisiana's Coby Bailey 'The Great American Recipe'

Lafayette, Louisiana Fire Captain Coby Bailey has just punched his ticket as one of the 4 finalists on "The Great American Recipe".

A 27-year employee of the Lafayette Fire Department, Bailey has been Captain for the past 10 years. And, somewhere in his duties as Captain he's still found time to cook like a champion. From NOLA.com -

Coby Bailey is one of three people left vying for the Season 4 crown.   The Lafayette native and U.S. Navy veteran has had performed solidly over the last five weeks, using his Louisiana roots to produce Cajun dishes that have wowed the judges.

In the episode of "The Great American Recipe" that aired this past Friday (8/8/25), the challenge was "heirloom recipes that have been treasured by their families for generations."

Bailey wowed the judges with his Alligator Sauce Piquante featuring smoked sausage and Gulf shrimp served on top of delicious homemade grits.

Clearly he knocked it out of the park because the judges loved it so much they pushed Bailey through to the finals.

You can watch Bailey in the finals of "The Great American Recipe" this Friday, Aug. 15, at 8 p.m. Central on PBS or online. Read more at NOLA.com.