Most parents tell their children not to play with fire, but Gilroyan Steve Janisch inspired his daughter to do the exact opposite.
For the past 34 years, Janisch has been a pyro chef—someone who squirts oil into pans, tames massive fireballs and cooks some of the Garlic Festival’s most coveted Gourmet Alley dishes on piping hot pans. Steve’s daughter, Ashley Janisch, wanted to follow in his footsteps and has been working as a full-time pyro—the first full-time female pyro in Garlic Festival history—for four years.
“I wanted to do it because he’s been doing it for so long,” Ashley said Friday. “I kind of wanted to prove everyone wrong that a girl could be a pyro. It’s kind of a way of life now.”
Both Ashley and Steve remember their first flame-ups—that moment when the oil hits the pan and the flames erupt. Steve, the festival’s head calamari and scampi pyro chef, tried it for the first time at the second annual Garlic Festival in 1980. After washing pans for half a day, he moved to the front line and started cooking.
“I felt like I graduated and went from high school to college,” Steve said.
In 2010, Ashley did her first flame-up—and it was while a television camera had her zeroed in.
“That was very stressful and nerve-wracking,” she said. “But it was a puny flame and I was very disappointed. Once you’ve done it though, you think: ‘What, that’s it? I can do this.’”
After four years, Ashley has perfected her technique.
“She’s very good at it and, of course, I’m proud of her,” Steve said.
But for the pair, it’s not just about the food, the flames and the always amassed and mesmerized crowd that surrounds them.
“It’s nice to have some family bonding time back here—it’s not just us, there’s also my uncle and cousin,” Ashley said. “It really is like a big family back here. No one is looking to be the big guy on the block. Everybody is looking out for everybody else. It’s almost addictive. Once you do it, you can’t wait until the next Garlic Festival.”
“A lot of charities benefit from this and at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about,” Steve added. “It’s a lot of fun for us these three days. I tell people it’s the one time of the year I get to be a rock and roll star.”
“Some moms and dads tell their kids not to play with matches, but we get to play with matches for three days,” Steve said with a smile.
