“Top Chef” host and chef Kristen Kish has eaten her fair share of culinary delights, but there’s one dish she’s not a fan of: smoked salmon.

“You could probably pay me, because if I’m on ‘Top Chef ’ and if someone serves this to me, I’m going to eat it,” she laughs. “But outside of my job, smoked salmon, especially the ones you buy in the grocery stores that are in the packages, and you open it and it’s so oddly slimy and like wet with salmon fat? I don’t know that smoked salmon’s ever been my thing.”

The disdain stems from her days as an apprentice cook when she “had to make a lot of smoked salmon mousse for canapés.”

Kish is now in her second year hosting the Emmy-nominated reality competition show, and she has settled in and found her groove. “In the first season, you’re getting used to the process,” she says. “I was finding my stride and confidence. Going into Season 22, I started leaps and bounds farther than where I felt I ended. Whether people see that on screen, I’m not sure.”

Kish recently looked back on Season 22’s winner, Tristen Epps, shared her thoughts on the power of representation and her hopes for the future of the Peacock series.

At what point did you know Tristen was going to win? When did he start really standing out to you?

It was around Episode 4. You have people pulling ahead, but that’s not to say it was a runaway for
him. The beauty of “Top Chef” is that you can be up here one day, and you can be down there the next day, because it’s not a cumulative competition. It’s that day and how well you perform. When Tristan started to talk more, I was like, “Huh?” because what he was saying was equally impressive as what he was cooking. He delivered on the execution and creativity. And you’re starting to see all the pieces come together.

As a host, what’s your method before going out on camera?

Why I love this job so much is that, although it is television and I sit in the glam chair for an hour and 45 minutes, I can go on there and be a naturally curious person, ask questions and talk about the universal thing — which is food.

Why I love “Top Chef” is that it is a reflection of our industry, but it’s also something that’s pushing our industry forward. I am a real chef on reality television, doing my real-life job with real-life chefs who go out into the real world and feed real people. It is the definition of reality television. No one’s playing a part. No one is doing something performative. We’re just there to experience and celebrate chefs and food

You’ve been in the industry a long time, and you’ve said that there still needs to be change. What do you mean by that?

Shows like “Top Chef ” are activating change, because all of a sudden, maybe where you live, you don’t have access to amazing chefs and restaurants and businesses run by powerhouse women. Maybe in your area, you don’t have chefs that look different than you. [On] “Top Chef,” you are introduced to an array of different people, backgrounds, pedigrees, ways of thinking and cooking. You might not be tasting the food, but at least it might pique your interest. You’re now acknowledging that the world may not be as monochromatic. Maybe you assumed it was, or that the kitchen industry is full of tyrants, assholes and people yelling and screaming. There are some of those, which is what we need to change.

I’ve heard stories about the yelling in the kitchen.

We don’t like that. There is a level of accountability, especially as chefs move on from “Top Chef.” All of a sudden, people are interested in what you’re doing and saying. It hyper-focuses and starts to funnel on what you’re saying and how you’re saying it. A lot of the alums that have come from “Top Chef” have certainly taken that and use it with great responsibility. I feel it is just bettering our industry in general.

You’ve never been to the Carolinas. What can we expect in Season 23?

I don’t go in with any expectation. All I know is that “Top Chef ” has incredible people working behind the scenes, tirelessly creating challenges and giving us a broad scope and landscape of different things that maybe I’m unfamiliar with. I’ve never been to Charlotte, and I’ve never been to Greenville. The excitement is in the unexpected and the unknown.

Do you look for recommendations or enjoy the process of discovery?

Holy shit! I could write a book about where to go and what to do. I have more recommendations in my DMs right now than I am ever going to get to. There’s this great, small-run shop by this Vietnamese woman with phenomenal Vietnamese food. Of course, I have to have Carolina barbecue. I have to filter through which ones are the best places to go to, but I always try to find the ones that have great food and great recommendations. I want to find those magical little places that are unexpected. That to me is fun.

You’re also going to be on the next season of “The Traitors.” What made you say yes to that?

To be 100% frank, I didn’t want to do it on my personal time. Is that what I want to do? No, I’m on reality television, but not that kind of reality television. I did it because I love our show. I love “Top Chef,” and if I have any opportunity to represent a part of our show, I’m going to do it. It was a business decision. I left having had a phenomenal time, and I met wonderful friends. I went in, [thinking] I need to do this. This is a job. And then I came out being like, “I’m really glad I did that.”

Earlier this year, your memoir “Accidentally on Purpose” came out. How was that process?

The memoir process took the better part of three years. I had those three years to get comfortable with the idea that all that was going to be out there. I found comfort in knowing that my parents, my loved ones and the people in my core group knew all that stuff. My mom and my dad read the book before it was published. My wife read the book before it was published, and to me, that was good.

They didn’t have any horrible follow-up questions. Knowing that they were proud of me, that’s all the approval I needed.