“I’m an avid eater,” he says. And as the founder of Big Chicken in Las Vegas and a Papa John’s board member and franchisee, he’s also in the food business. His culinary crew includes longtime personal chef AlexConant and executive chefs MattSilverman and MattPiekarski (aka “The Matts”). But until recently, O’Neal, 50, admits he was mostly “sitting behind the counter eating.” The pandemic changed all that when his chefs had to stay home, leaving O’Neal in charge of kitchen duties. “It was me and, like, 11 kids,” he recalls. “First it was ramen—kids love ramen. Then it was hot dogs, and then it was spaghetti, baked chicken and fried chicken. So I was like, You know what? Cooking is fun!” Since his chefs weren’t available in person, they coached O’Neal by phone. “‘Boil the water, put the noodles in. Get the meat sauce, heat it up…’” he recalls. “I wish I would have recorded it.” In a way, Shaq’s Family Style (out April 5) does just that with a lip-smacking compilation of recipes reflecting his very personal style of cooking and eating—hearty, fun and unfussy fare influenced by the food he grew up with (like his mama Lucille’s fried chicken) and the places he’s lived over the years (especially the Cajun cuisine he loved as a college basketball star at Louisiana State University). “I don’t want people to think I’m a full-blown chef,” says O’Neal. But he’s learning, thanks to his culinary team. “Every recipe in the book, I’ve tried and cooked with their assistance.” With a few of his recipes below, now it’s your turn to try them!
The World According to Shaq
Go-to comfort foods: Fried chicken, macaroni salad, coleslaw and potato salad—all prepared by his mom, “Dr. Lucille.” Now that he’s a cookbook author, does he cook for her? “No, she doesn’t want me to,” says O’Neal. “She tells me, ‘You’re my baby. I’m not your baby.’” Whenever he’s in Texas, he also loves chicken-fried steak. KISS: Although O’Neal wrote the book with his chefs, he’s quick to point out the book’s recipes aren’t complicated. His Smash Burger With Jalapeño Pimiento Cheese is a good example—it’s a delicious concoction that doesn’t need a lot of extras to shine. “I had to fight my chefs about that one because they wanted to do more—‘Add this! Add that!’ I was just like, ‘No, man, KISS, keep it simple, silly.’” Six degrees of Shaq: Since 1985, every NBA championship team has included O’Neal or at least one of his former teammates. “I guess that makes me the KevinBacon of basketball.” The doctor is in: O’Neal is a lifelong student, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration and a doctorate in education. Movie that always makes him laugh:Step Brothers, starring WillFerrell and JohnC. Reilly. “It’s about two old guys that never want to grow up—reminds me of myself. I don’t ever want to grow up. I always want to be a kid.” Favorite tunes: Classics from his high-school days, including Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” Culture Club’s “Karma Chameleon” and old-school hip-hop. “Just trying to reminisce what I was doing in ’87, ’88 and ’89.” His personal theme song:Mr. Mister’s “Broken Wings” Best advice he ever got: A nuclear physicist once told O’Neal, “Stop caring about what the naysayers say. What do they know?” Birthday wish: O’Neal turned 50 on March 6. His goal for the next half century: “I want to be like a Black angel.” That means sharing his good fortune through random acts of kindness. “I was in CVS last night, I see a lady in there with her daughter, and she’s bargain-shopping,” he recalls. “She needs to get a lot of stuff, but she doesn’t have a lot of funds. She keeps going back and forth to the counter—‘How much is this? Is this on sale?’ That’s what me and my mother used to do.” O’Neal urged her to get whatever she needed. “We spent about $1,000, but it just felt good to bless her.” No regrets: O’Neal credits his parents with raising him to be “a great adapter. Life is about learning and adapting to change and persevering through tough situations,” he says. “Everything I’ve done, I’ve done in a respectable, honorable way. My favorite person [his mom, Lucille] tells me she’s proud of me still, [so] I wouldn’t change a thing.”
A Few of Shaq’s Favorite Things
O’Neal uses freshly ground black pepper liberally in his recipes. The rechargeable electric Shaq Gravity Spice Mill ($130 for two, shophq.com) makes it easy to grind pepper and other spices in the kitchen or at the table.If O’Neal had a signature ingredient, it’d be chicken, and the cookbook includes more than a dozen recipes featuring poultry. “I bought so much chicken during the pandemic, I had to cut a side deal with the [supermarket] manager,” O’Neal recalls. “I said, ‘Hey, man, I don’t want to take all the chicken because I know people are struggling, but can I come in here 10 minutes before the doors open?’ I would be fair to people—I’d just grab four chickens.”As an alum of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, O’Neal is loyal to the Bayou State’s Tabasco and Crystal hot sauces.
Shaq’s Recipes
Sheet Pan BBQ Chicken Thighs With Sweet Potato BakeSmash Burgers With Jalapeño Pimiento CheeseShredded Pot Roast Tacos With Black Bean Cilantro RiceShaq’s Slam-Dunk Breakfast Sandwich
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