(COLORADO SPRINGS) — It was not a typical breakfast for U.S. Air Force Academy cadets on Thursday morning, as salmon and chicken sizzled on stovetops. The man responsible for these enticing aromas was none other than English celebrity chef Robert Irvine.

“I have a fireside chat this afternoon with about 2,000 students, all cadets,” Irvine said. “We’re going to show a little healthy food and how to cook better food with less food in a quicker way but doing it the right way.”

When Irvine first arrived, he judged a culinary competition between cadets.

“There was one winner, but they all excelled, and I think that’s the nature of being put on the spotlight from when you’re at the Academy, to when you go through to your career and your future,” said Irvine.

Air Force Academy cadets eagerly watched Chef Irvine prepare two signature dishes.

Cadets eagerly watched Chef Irvine from the minute he started cooking the two dishes. For some cadets, cooking hits close to home.

“My grandmother taught me how to cook,” said Cadet Leo Sterns Rentas. “My mother and I cook every single Thanksgiving since I was little. We would cook the turkey or we would cook the pork and it’s amazing. It’s like something that really brings me so much joy, to think about my family.”

It was not a typical cooking demonstration, Chef Irvine went above and beyond by interacting with his viewers.

“I travel the world 345 days a year, 150 of those just for the military on a modernizing platform of feeding across the DOD in general,” Irvine said. “I think it’s really important for the young cadets that are going into the service, which are the future of our Air Force or our Army, depending on where they end up, to understand what they’re getting into.”

At one point he even called up a cadet to taste test the difference between olive oil and grapeseed oil.

“It was actually horrible,” said Cadet Kirsten Cannon. “It tasted like what canola oil smells like, so he proved a very good point today. I never knew that, but it was interesting to learn.”

All throughout the morning, Irvine was determined to teach our future defense the importance of cooking with minimal ingredients and how to properly fuel their bodies.

“When you’re 16, 17, 18, 19 years old, you can eat anything you want as long as you exercise,” Irvine said. “I was up at 5:30 this morning working out with the cadets, but as you get older, it doesn’t work like that. So, it’s really important to understand how the metabolism of your body works, what you put into it.”

Chef Irvine along with his team prepared a salmon and chicken dish on Thursday morning.

When the dishes were done, all spectators had the opportunity for a taste test and within minutes, the plates were clean.

“I was very surprised to feel the texture of the salmon and then when I tasted the rice with the zucchini and the chicken, it was a little bit more spicy,” Sterns Rentas said. “Like I could feel the extra spices that were there, were added to it, that make it like unique as a whole and then very flavorful.”

Air Force Academy cadets each sampling the two signature dishes prepared by Chef Irvine.

These cadets left with satisfied stomachs and a brain full of culinary knowledge.

“It’s always interesting when you can spice it up and do something different, especially like seeing a face that you’ve never seen and other people are looking in on this,” said Cannon.

Chef Irvine smiled next to one cadet after his cooking demonstration.

At the end of the day, Chef Irvine emphasized, “watch what you are because you are what you eat.”