Indiana Chef Reimagines Favorite Childhood Treats into Gourmet Dishes & Desserts
We're all told as kids not to play with our food. Thankfully, Jeremiah Galey didn't listen. If he did, we wouldn't be able to enjoy some of the deliciously crazy sandwiches, entreés, and deserts he's putting together in the kitchen as the head chef and partial owner of Amy's on Franklin on Evansville's west side. Through his knowledge of flavor profiles, pure imagination, and seemingly lets-try-it-and-see-what-happens style of cooking, Jeremiah has, for lack of a better term, "reimagined" some of our favorite childhood treats into incredible looking, and what I imagine to be incredibly delicious, cheesecakes and pies, including two popular candies we all grew up with, gummy bears and Nerds.
Meet the Indiana Chef Creating Deliciously Creative Desserts in Evansville
I reached out to Jeremiah on Facebook after seeing the photos he shared of the food experiments he was creating in the kitchen and asked him if he had any formal culinary training. The short answer was, "No." However, even though he didn't attend culinary school to learn the art of cooking, he took bits and pieces of what he observed while getting his start as a dishwasher at the Red Geranium in New Harmony. Over the course of a decade, he had worked his way up to Executive Chef of the upscale restaurant before leaving to pursue other culinary avenues. His journey to Amy's included stops in "fine dining, corporate [events], massive caterings, retirement communities, authentic Italian, [and[ tavern[s]," all of which he used to influence his style.
In April, Jeremiah sat down with local marketing company, JRL Local, to talk about his style and how becoming a chef wasn't initially what he saw himself doing with his life.
**As noted, the video does include a few, mild NSFW words.**
Check Out a Few of Jeremiah's Wild Creations
Most of us likely look at a beloved food product and take it at face value, Jeremiah sees it as inspiration for a potential new product for the Amy's on Franklin menu. For example, this Fruity Pebbles Cheesecake he whipped up in September 2021. A New York Style cheesecake with bits of Fruity Pebbles cereal folded in, topped with whipped cream and more cereal for a crunchy texture to balance the creaminess.
Or, how about this drool-inducing Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake featuring "Layers of peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake, buttered oat graham crust, whipped cream, peanut butter cup" that looks amazing.
How about one more? Check out this eye-popping, cheesecake version of Wildberry Pop Tarts he created in mid-April made with "Lemon vanilla cheesecake, strawberry + blueberry + blackberry + raspberry sauce, icing, oat & graham crust." Take. All. My. Money.
His wild culinary experimentation doesn't begin and end with cheesecake. Jeremiah is also known to get crazy with sandwiches too like this Chorizo Breakfast Burger featuring a "wagyu beef/pork chorizo blend, Tillamook sharp cheddar, avocado aioli, house Berkshire bacon, medium fried duck egg, LA hot sauce" on a "house chive-spiked English muffin."
There's also this concoction he dubbed the McThicc Rib Sandwich. A "1/3 rack smoked & deboned baby back ribs, Texas bbq sauce, pickles, shaved onion" served on a "house-made Hokkaido milk bun."
While some items eventually become permanent items on the Amy's on Franklin menu, most of his creations are only available for a limited time ranging anywhere from a week or two to a few days, to one day only. That includes his latest, mad scientist, desert, the "Revenge of the Nerds Clusters." A "cake" so thick and dense, the only way to cut a slice out of it is by heating a knife with a blowtorch. This one-of-a-kind dessert is "made entirely of Haribo gummy bears and rainbow Nerds." Check this thing out.
Who thinks of that? Jeremiah Galey, that's who. And thankfully, he's right here in the Tri-State where the rest of us can enjoy the flavors of his unique culinary mind.
[Source: Jeremiah Galey on Facebook]