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Darryl Pierce didn't hear many obscenities coming out of chef Gordon Ramsay's mouth.

But in a way, he kind of wished he had.

Pierce, a 28-year-old public relations specialist who grew up in Greensboro, presented his cooking to Ramsay last spring when he went to Los Angeles to participate in the hotheaded restaurateur's latest television series, "MasterChef."

"There actually wasn't a whole lot of profanity. But sometimes I would hear him (Ramsay) say things, and I thought, 'I would rather him just cuss," Pierce said in a telephone interview from Chapel Hill, where he now lives. "There was a contestant who had a very delicious fish taco dish, but when Gordon tasted it, he spit it out. Unfortunately, some were on the receiving end of some very caustic commentary."

Pierce is one of 50 home cooks from around the country who took part on the show, which premieres tonight on Fox. Ramsay, along with renowned chef Graham Elliot and author and restaurateur Joe Bastianich will judge.

Unlike Ramsay's other competition series, "Hell's Kitchen," which pits professional cooks against one another, "MasterChef" features only amateurs. The winner will receive $250,000 and a cookbook publishing deal.

A 2003 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, Pierce runs a consulting firm and served for a time as a personal assistant on talk show host Oprah Winfrey's staff.

He grew up in Greensboro, attending Cone Elementary School and Our Lady of Grace Catholic School and eating at Stamey's Old Fashioned Barbecue and Bill's Pizza Pub. His family moved away when he was in the fourth grade, but returned regularly to attend football games at N.C. A&T.

He learned to cook watching his mother and grandmother in the kitchen.

"Starting at about the age of 8, I was always hovering around, watching them, peeking in pots," he said. "At first they were like, 'Get out of the kitchen.' I was a distraction. But at some point they realized I genuinely was just very interested, and they kind of embraced it. By the age of 12, I was making cakes from scratch. I also got the grill skills from my dad."

He found out about the show when he saw an announcement for a casting call on Twitter last fall.

"I initially didn't think anything of it, because these days there are so many reality shows out there, and I don't really envision myself on any of them," he said. "But I read the pitch for the show, and I said, 'I'm going to be on that show.' It said they were looking for the most passionate, skilled home cooks. People who really loved food, but hadn't really had professional culinary experience."

He practiced his cooking every day for the next month and auditioned in Denver during the second week in January.

On the first episode, he will attempt his signature dish of smoked babyback ribs, cole slaw and baked beans, (which he also made at the audition).

"I kind of did a gourmet take on it," he said. "Having lived in New York and L.A. over the years, I fell in love with Asian food, particularly Thai, Korean, Indian and Vietnamese. So I made traditional Carolina-style barbecue sauce and ribs, but I used Korean red pepper powder and various Asian spices and influences. It was a very dynamic dish."

He only had an hour to prepare his dish, however, which was a bit of a challenge.

"My ribs usually take anywhere from six to eight hours," he said. "I could have tweaked that dish and made a pork tenderloin or a barbecue chicken, but I said these ribs are amazing, my sauce is amazing, I'm going with these ribs.

"So I got online, researched. A lot of Asian cooking incorporates a pressure cooker, so that you can cook ribs and other tough meats in a short amount of time. You were allowed to bring a specialty item that could help you, so I brought with me a stovetop smoker. And I was going to finish them in there. ... It was pretty frantic."

The top 30 chefs will be revealed next week. Those advancing to the next round receive a white apron.

Over the past few months, Pierce and another contestant have been in the Gulf of Mexico cooking for oil spill cleanup crews. He said the experience inspired him to try to start a personal chef business.

"I was working 18 hours a day, and at no point did it feel like work," he said. "I realized this is what I was meant to do. I couldn't wait to set tomorrow's menu."

As for Ramsay, in spite of his famously fiery temper, he wasn't such a bad guy to work for, Pierce said.

"I've watched 'Hell's Kitchen,' and he's obviously known for his angry, yelling persona," he said. "And I expected that. But he also served as somewhat of a mentor and tried to inspire people. He took a more uplifting approach, but still with heavy doses of Gordon Ramsay-style commentary. He pulls no punches."

Contact Robert C. Lopez at 691-5091 or robert.lopez@news-record.com