1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to Ruthie's Table four, a production of iHeartRadio and 2 00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:05,000 Speaker 1: Adamized Studios. 3 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:11,119 Speaker 2: There is nothing better than a friend you love, falling 4 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:15,200 Speaker 2: in love with someone you love. When my friend Salmon 5 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 2: Rushdie brought Eliza Griffiths into our lives, we were happy 6 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 2: for them and happy for us too. Eliza's smart, she's funny, 7 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 2: and she's kind. She's a beautiful poet. A photographer whose 8 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:32,560 Speaker 2: black and white images evoked for me. Drothia Lang promises 9 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:35,559 Speaker 2: her work of fiction just published, the Story of a Family, 10 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:38,239 Speaker 2: the story of the Civil Rights movement, a story of 11 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:41,239 Speaker 2: food at the table and food in the kitchen. For 12 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 2: food is important to Eliza, and today in the River Cafe, 13 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 2: we will talk together about friendship, memory, writing and love. 14 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:52,879 Speaker 2: So thank you for being here, So. 15 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 3: Good to see you, So. 16 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 4: Thank you for having me. 17 00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, that's great. 18 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 2: And you've just been in the River Cafe kitchen and 19 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 2: what were you making? 20 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 5: I was making this wonderful dish with broad beans and 21 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 5: pasto and garlic bread and it was heaven. 22 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:12,680 Speaker 4: It was so delicious. 23 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 5: I just want to go back to the kitchen and eat. 24 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:21,959 Speaker 4: It looks so yummy right now. That's the color is so. 25 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:23,280 Speaker 3: Pretty, really bright. 26 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:25,199 Speaker 4: I love the green. It's good. 27 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 3: That should be enough. 28 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 6: Would you like to taste some at this point? 29 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 7: Absolutely, I'm not shy about tasting anything. 30 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 3: It's a dish that we make when the broadbeans are 31 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:48,760 Speaker 3: in season. 32 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 2: You can't really do it when they're kind of older 33 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 2: and more floury. 34 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 4: I like cooking by season. 35 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 5: There's something very special about what's available and what you 36 00:01:57,720 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 5: get to look forward to. 37 00:01:58,840 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 4: When the time comes. 38 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 5: And I'm used to cooking for like six people or 39 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 5: more in my family, so I love making, you know, 40 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 5: large pots of things and a lot of food. And 41 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 5: even now sometimes my husband is like, don't make so much. 42 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 5: We're going to eat this for five or six days. 43 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 6: Just cook for two. 44 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 3: Is that true? Someone? 45 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:25,120 Speaker 8: Yeah, When when Eliza cooks dinner, when everybody's finished eating 46 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 8: a lot, it looks it looks like it hasn't been touched, 47 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 8: and then we have it for the next week. 48 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:35,079 Speaker 3: Do you ever do you ever cook together? 49 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:36,919 Speaker 8: I'm the eater. 50 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 3: Yeah, the eater. Yeah, he's a good eater. 51 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 2: God yeah, yeah, yeah, you need a good eater. 52 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:48,639 Speaker 8: Yeah, but yeah, she When when Eliza decides to cook, 53 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 8: which isn't always, but when she decides to do it, 54 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 8: it's always a treaty. 55 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 3: I imagine, do you go to market? 56 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,359 Speaker 5: I used to go to markets more frequently. I used 57 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 5: to walk down to Union Square and go to the market, 58 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 5: and you know, walk to different places to get specific things. 59 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 5: And growing up with my mother, she had you know, 60 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 5: the butcher we went to, and then she went to 61 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,360 Speaker 5: a different place for her flowers. And sometimes we go 62 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:17,640 Speaker 5: as far as Philadelphia just for a certain spice sharp 63 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 5: to get spices. I have a lot of very vivid 64 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 5: memories of you know, you just don't go into one place. 65 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:27,799 Speaker 5: You know, she would have neighbors who would bake bread, 66 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 5: and so she would put in her bread order or something. 67 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 6: So where was this? 68 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:32,520 Speaker 3: Where did you grow up? 69 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 5: I I grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, between Wilmington, Delaware 70 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 5: and Washington, d C. 71 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 4: So in Washington, d C. 72 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 5: Of course, there's just so much culture and so many 73 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 5: kinds of food. You know, Ethiopian food, and you know 74 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 5: French and Italian. It's I mean, all of these different things. 75 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 5: And you know my mother's kitchen, she would really experiment 76 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 5: with cooking different types of food. 77 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 3: So tell me about her. Was she born in the 78 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 3: United States? 79 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 4: She was born in Washington, d C. 80 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 5: And she when she married my father, they moved to Wilmington, 81 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 5: and my mother I think, you know, one of her 82 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 5: her gifts as an artist was cooking. 83 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 4: I mean she. 84 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 5: You know, it was a classroom to be in her 85 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 5: you know kitchen, that would be the place. 86 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:27,159 Speaker 4: Where so many things would happen. 87 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 5: But she would experiment with food, she would find recipes. 88 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 5: She actually did classes for cooking. She had a whole 89 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 5: chef's uniform she would put on, and she had some 90 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,039 Speaker 5: really wonderful her bread pudding recipes. 91 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:45,480 Speaker 4: She won prizes for. 92 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:47,359 Speaker 3: You know what it was. What did she put in 93 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 3: the bread pudding? 94 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 5: She put a special ingredient that only myself and my 95 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 5: three siblings can ever tell. So it was kind of lockdown. 96 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:59,360 Speaker 5: Although I can't bear to eat bread pudding now because 97 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 5: in makes me think of her too much. 98 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 4: I've been spoiled by her bread. 99 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:07,039 Speaker 5: Pudding, and so whenever I see it on the menu, 100 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:11,480 Speaker 5: I just immediately see her face the saying no one's 101 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 5: bread pudding is as good as mine, and her pretty 102 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 5: much being right about that. 103 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:18,359 Speaker 2: That's just so interesting that she had. I love the 104 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 2: idea that she had a chef's outfitted home. She did 105 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:23,160 Speaker 2: because you know, when you put on a chef's out, 106 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:24,040 Speaker 2: when you change. 107 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 3: We all change for work every day. 108 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:28,200 Speaker 2: We come in here in our clothes and before we 109 00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:30,479 Speaker 2: write the menu, because we write the menu every day. 110 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:32,839 Speaker 3: Even just sitting down and writing the menu. 111 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 2: You need to be wearing the clothes of cooking, you know, 112 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:37,920 Speaker 2: and puts you into that world. 113 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 3: And she did that. 114 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:45,360 Speaker 5: She was very meticulous about it and her her equipment 115 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 5: and materials and things that she began to acquire. Cooking 116 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:54,920 Speaker 5: was very serious business for her. And yet it was 117 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 5: the place where, you know, you learned a lot of lessons, 118 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 5: but your hands are always And I loved that. I mean, 119 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 5: I felt like she was a real artist with color 120 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:07,480 Speaker 5: and how the dishes would look in the flowers, and 121 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:10,880 Speaker 5: it was just a whole kind of event, even if 122 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:14,040 Speaker 5: you were making like a grilled cheese, like how is 123 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:16,159 Speaker 5: this grilled cheese so amazing? You know? 124 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:18,599 Speaker 4: And did she entertain? 125 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 3: Did you have? 126 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 9: She? 127 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 3: Did? 128 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:21,080 Speaker 6: She did? 129 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:22,039 Speaker 4: Growing up? 130 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 5: I mean, our home was a place where people in 131 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,160 Speaker 5: our community, you know, if they knew that my mother 132 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 5: was cooking, they were not declining that invitation. And it 133 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:34,280 Speaker 5: would just be a whole thing. And I remember I'd 134 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:38,440 Speaker 5: have to like iron and starch the tablecloths and help 135 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 5: with the flowers and you know, polish the silver. And 136 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 5: it was just this whole kind of stage that she set, 137 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 5: even down to the music that might be on, and 138 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 5: it just there was so much joy about it. She 139 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 5: would keep, you know, trying different things, and she would 140 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 5: have her tasting spoon, and she wouldn't give up on 141 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 5: a recipe until she really got it, until she didn't 142 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 5: have to look at the book anymore. 143 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 4: And I think I think some of that. 144 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 5: Is probably involved in my process as a writer, Like 145 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 5: you can fail at your sentences, but you keep pushing 146 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 5: language until it gives and you think I hear it, 147 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 5: now I can see it. But my mother food is 148 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 5: one of the greatest gifts that she gave our family, 149 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 5: and certainly to me being the eldest daughter. You know, 150 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 5: I would I would be sous chef quite a bit 151 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 5: and it's made me a better person. And I love 152 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:44,440 Speaker 5: cooking for my friends and my husband and my family. 153 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 3: Did you think that she was Did you have a career, 154 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 3: Did you have a job. 155 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:54,880 Speaker 5: No, she mostly was at home. She had four children. 156 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 5: I'm the eldest, and we were young, and so she 157 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 5: was more of a homemaker. When she was older, she 158 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:05,480 Speaker 5: went back to school and got a degree. She did 159 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 5: a lot of kind of things where I would kind 160 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,280 Speaker 5: of call her like a kind of business woman of 161 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 5: her own, where she sometimes did real estate or she 162 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 5: would you know, literally be selling things that she cooked 163 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 5: to people in the community. Sometimes she actually would cater things. 164 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 5: And growing up, maybe when I was eleven or twelve, 165 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:34,439 Speaker 5: she got diagnosed with kidney failure, and so her ability 166 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:39,560 Speaker 5: to work maybe a more traditional job changed because she 167 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:41,559 Speaker 5: was trying to raise for children, and then she had 168 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,360 Speaker 5: this kind of chronic illness. And one of the most 169 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 5: beautiful things about her cooking was when she was in 170 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 5: the kitchen, it was like that was the cure. 171 00:08:51,679 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 4: Like she would kind of dance around. 172 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 5: She put on like Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross and 173 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:01,800 Speaker 5: the Supremes, and she suddenly wasn't a sick mother. She 174 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 5: was making things and being a creator, and you know, 175 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 5: having to kind of balance the day being in bed 176 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 5: on medications. 177 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:13,120 Speaker 4: But then she would she. 178 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 5: Would rally and want to be in the kitchen and 179 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 5: make things for her children and her family and for 180 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 5: her friends. 181 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:20,920 Speaker 2: It's interesting that you draw the parallel of the artists, 182 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:26,360 Speaker 2: because there was a great film about Christo building a 183 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 2: fence in California, and the whole objection by the ranchers 184 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:35,440 Speaker 2: was that it wasn't art because it was temporary. And 185 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,200 Speaker 2: a woman who actually was in favor of the fence 186 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:41,640 Speaker 2: got up and said, you know, I make a cake 187 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,439 Speaker 2: every night for my family, and I really think that 188 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:45,679 Speaker 2: that cake is a work of art. 189 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:46,960 Speaker 6: And then it gets heated. 190 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 2: You know, you think about that it is temper and 191 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 2: that your mother doing or you know, what she did, 192 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 2: and creating, as you said, like an artist, and then 193 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:02,679 Speaker 2: feeding people she loved, is a part of the whole circle, 194 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 2: isn't it. 195 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 5: I think it feels so special because you know you 196 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 5: have in that moment, whoever is there, whoever is present, 197 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 5: they have this kind of feast and then you can't be. 198 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 4: Precious about it. It's to be devoured. 199 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:21,480 Speaker 5: It's to be savored, it's memorized, and you know, then 200 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:23,680 Speaker 5: you go and boast and brag to other people. You 201 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 5: need to taste this, but then it will never be 202 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 5: the same, so you get a whole new experience. You know. 203 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:34,079 Speaker 2: It's also so if it's art, it's also a performance 204 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 2: because absolutely, you know, we have an open kitchen in 205 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 2: the River Cafe, and I have an open kitchen at home, 206 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:41,840 Speaker 2: and so you put the food down, and then you 207 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:44,320 Speaker 2: want to see people's response, you know, and you see 208 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:47,640 Speaker 2: I often look at the table and see if they're sharing, 209 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:49,000 Speaker 2: if they're tasting, if. 210 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:50,840 Speaker 6: They're shaking their head no, or shaking their. 211 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 2: Head yes, because it's an immediate response to what you've 212 00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:57,439 Speaker 2: just made, and you know they may be they may 213 00:10:57,480 --> 00:10:58,520 Speaker 2: be right if it isn't. 214 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 5: It isn't always of the open kitchen here, it's kind 215 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 5: of like that's where the excitement is kind. 216 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:05,880 Speaker 3: Of look drama, and. 217 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 5: Everyone's excited, everyone's pleased, because you know, there's just something 218 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:15,320 Speaker 5: about cooking. It's beyond the food. It's the whole kind 219 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 5: of sensation and experience of it. You're there with the 220 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:22,680 Speaker 5: people you're with and whatever you might be talking about 221 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:26,600 Speaker 5: and sharing stories or just how you feel your moods, 222 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:31,240 Speaker 5: and then you're looking at the kitchen, you're watching the waiters, 223 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:34,360 Speaker 5: you're looking at all the details. And I think too, 224 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:39,200 Speaker 5: when you're on the page, it's different, but you as 225 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:42,880 Speaker 5: the writer, bring attention to the details for your readers 226 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:44,560 Speaker 5: of what you want them to look at in a 227 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 5: way which is a little bit similar with also being 228 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:51,320 Speaker 5: a photographer. Here's what I want you to see, the light, 229 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 5: the atmosphere. Can I draw you into this, you know, 230 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,360 Speaker 5: flat photograph, But in the kitchen everything's alive and it's 231 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:01,560 Speaker 5: all connected with people. 232 00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 2: When you left home, when you left this incredible home 233 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:21,240 Speaker 2: of food and your mother expressing her love through food 234 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:24,280 Speaker 2: and feeding her children and teaching her children and handing over, 235 00:12:25,080 --> 00:12:28,440 Speaker 2: handing over the reins to her children. And then you left, 236 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,280 Speaker 2: you know what, eighteen years of every day having your 237 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:33,679 Speaker 2: mother do this. 238 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:34,960 Speaker 3: Where did you go? 239 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 6: What was your next step? 240 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:37,800 Speaker 10: Well? 241 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 5: After going to college, I moved in. 242 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:42,120 Speaker 3: Where did you go to college? 243 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:45,320 Speaker 5: I went to the University of Delaware, And for graduate school, 244 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:47,520 Speaker 5: I went to Sarah Lawrence College in New York. 245 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 6: You did you cook when you were in college? 246 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 3: What did you do? 247 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:52,880 Speaker 6: Did you go in college? 248 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:56,440 Speaker 5: I was the person doing the parties, big pots of 249 00:12:56,600 --> 00:13:00,960 Speaker 5: pasta and garlic bread, and I would drape scarves over 250 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 5: like the awful fluorescent academic you know, dorm dormitory lights. 251 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:10,160 Speaker 5: And I would have candles everywhere and people will kind 252 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:12,680 Speaker 5: of feel like, well, this is like home away from home. 253 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:16,080 Speaker 5: I do not like doing the dishes so people would 254 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:17,200 Speaker 5: volunteer that part. 255 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 2: But where did you find this kitchen in college that 256 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 2: you could cook and ever your own apartment or did 257 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:24,199 Speaker 2: you know? 258 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 5: I was in the dormitory, but I would just take 259 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 5: the kitchen. 260 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:30,439 Speaker 2: You cooked for everyone. And then when you graduated, did 261 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 2: you live a domestic life where. 262 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:33,400 Speaker 4: You can you know? 263 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:36,280 Speaker 5: When I'm in two thousand and three, when I moved 264 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:39,000 Speaker 5: to New York, I kind of it was that moment. 265 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:41,480 Speaker 5: I think many writers have them and have many moments 266 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 5: where I just thought, I need to live in New York. 267 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:44,199 Speaker 4: I'm a writer. 268 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 5: I want to see what I'm made of. Can I 269 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:50,480 Speaker 5: make it? And you know, reading so many books about 270 00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:53,600 Speaker 5: you know, the writers and the poets, and you know 271 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:56,960 Speaker 5: they're in the village and they're all over Manhattan, and 272 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:58,680 Speaker 5: I thought, well that that should be a good place 273 00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 5: for me to go and see if I'm like cut 274 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 5: out for this life. And you know, I worked every 275 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:06,720 Speaker 5: kind of job and then I finally thought, you know, 276 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 5: I'm going to go back to grad school and just 277 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 5: so I'll be able to feed myself if the writing 278 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 5: doesn't work out. And during those years I taught at college. 279 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:21,480 Speaker 4: I was a nanny. 280 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 5: At one point I was a waitress for about an hour. 281 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 3: Did you have to cook for the children? 282 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 5: No, it was a very small baby, so you know, 283 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:33,800 Speaker 5: we spent a lot of time with me reading bad 284 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 5: poetry to the baby in Central Park. 285 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:39,360 Speaker 4: But I got to. 286 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 5: Kind of get into the rhythm of the city. 287 00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 3: Because you read out, you discover restaurants. 288 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:49,040 Speaker 5: Yes, I loved finding little places, and you know, New 289 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:53,440 Speaker 5: York is such a feast of little places and well 290 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:57,080 Speaker 5: known places, and it was just wonderful to kind of 291 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 5: have these discoveries of things and also to go to 292 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 5: restaurants that you'd read about. You know, as you're wanting 293 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 5: to become a writer, suddenly you're going to. 294 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 3: A restaurants where they do. 295 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:13,040 Speaker 5: You remember I loved Cafe Dante in the West Village 296 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 5: and you know little places or the Romanian pastry shop 297 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:25,240 Speaker 5: up in Columbia that's just divine. And then you know, 298 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 5: going to you know, No host Star or I feel 299 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:35,800 Speaker 5: like the diner situation was really great for me to 300 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:38,200 Speaker 5: just sit in a diner and write and write and write. 301 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:39,160 Speaker 3: So do you write? 302 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:44,840 Speaker 2: How do you combine working and writing and doing your 303 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:47,760 Speaker 2: work with food? Do you I often ask actors if 304 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 2: they eat before the play or after the play, or 305 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 2: artists who feel that, you know, they live such a 306 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:56,760 Speaker 2: solitary life that they only want to go out to parties, 307 00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:59,520 Speaker 2: and film directors who basically don't want to stop for 308 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:01,640 Speaker 2: lunch because it ruins the rhythm. 309 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:03,400 Speaker 3: What is your writing and food day? 310 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 5: Like, I won't really have that much food in the morning. 311 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:11,880 Speaker 5: I'm someone who with wellness things I'll have like my 312 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 5: green Mucky drink, which is delicious, or I'll have just 313 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 5: some poached eggs or something like that, which I like 314 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:21,720 Speaker 5: with a little spinach. And it depends what I'm doing. 315 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 5: If I'm out in the field working on photographs, then 316 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 5: I probably don't eat. I'll just have like some fresh 317 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 5: squeeze juice and then I'm out because I need to. 318 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 4: Follow the light very carefully. 319 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 5: If I'm writing, I can write for long periods of 320 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:39,080 Speaker 5: time and a lot of tea. In New York, you know, 321 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:42,960 Speaker 5: going to friends homes to eat is a thing that 322 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:47,520 Speaker 5: we enjoy, and going out to really lovely restaurants. We 323 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:50,560 Speaker 5: both my husband and I both have an appreciation for 324 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 5: wonderful cooking and food and kind of the imagination. So 325 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 5: we'll kind of work all day and then perhaps we'll 326 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,560 Speaker 5: go out to a restaurant to meet a friend, or 327 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:06,639 Speaker 5: we'll just go together. These days were more inside. We 328 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,000 Speaker 5: love to have, you know, Indian food delivered. 329 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 2: Have you thought, Eliza more about Indian food, because I 330 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:15,359 Speaker 2: know that you are passionate and grew up with it, 331 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:17,439 Speaker 2: and we talked about Indian food. 332 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 8: Well, New York used to be not good at. 333 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 3: Indian food, unlike Britain. 334 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:27,120 Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, it's getting much better. You know. They now 335 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:31,399 Speaker 8: are like half a dozen really good Indian places in 336 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,439 Speaker 8: New York. So that that feels great because it felt 337 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:36,320 Speaker 8: like a real you know, in this city which has 338 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,360 Speaker 8: every kind of cuisine. Indian food was a kind of absence. 339 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:42,920 Speaker 2: But now why do you think that is not many? 340 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:47,439 Speaker 8: I think Americans hadn't discovered India, yeah somehow, but now 341 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,520 Speaker 8: they have. And you know, my view about eating and 342 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 8: working is that I've always thought work hungry. 343 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:57,400 Speaker 3: You work hungry, you do eat later. 344 00:17:57,960 --> 00:17:58,360 Speaker 8: Yeah. 345 00:17:58,760 --> 00:17:59,160 Speaker 3: Interesting? 346 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:01,639 Speaker 2: Are you as a writer, are you attempted to get 347 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:03,560 Speaker 2: to get up and down? You get up and go 348 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:05,360 Speaker 2: look in the fridge and then close the door. 349 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 8: Will you go into the kitchen? I think one of 350 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:10,840 Speaker 8: the important things about writing is to stay. Sitting down. 351 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:17,240 Speaker 3: Helps New York. I always think that it is interesting. 352 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:21,320 Speaker 2: This is a diversion that Britain British food, which is 353 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:26,439 Speaker 2: so I could say, quite bland and you know, unadventurous, and. 354 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:30,560 Speaker 3: People cook the traditional food they grew up with. 355 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:32,919 Speaker 2: But except for when I came to London, I couldn't 356 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 2: believe it how Indian culture had. You know, everybody can 357 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:38,679 Speaker 2: make a curry, you know, or you know whether it's 358 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:40,720 Speaker 2: a good curry or not. But then you'd go to 359 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:44,760 Speaker 2: a small town outside of Britain will be an Indian restaurant. 360 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:48,159 Speaker 2: You know, there would be people selling all sorts of 361 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:49,320 Speaker 2: chilis in the market. 362 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:51,040 Speaker 6: Now it's it's so interesting, but we. 363 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:53,600 Speaker 8: Know why to do with an empire? 364 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:54,360 Speaker 3: Just to do with an. 365 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:00,960 Speaker 2: Not a very hard question to answer, but it was 366 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:03,760 Speaker 2: to do with an empire. Then coming back I guess 367 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 2: and saying this is I had this fabulous food and 368 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:06,960 Speaker 2: we have to learn. 369 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:10,160 Speaker 5: Things I love to do when we come to London 370 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 5: is to sit at Salmon's sisters table Samine. Her cookbook 371 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:21,920 Speaker 5: is amazing, but it's such a treat that she usually 372 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:26,560 Speaker 5: cooks when we come to visit, and so everything she 373 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:30,439 Speaker 5: makes is so delicious, and she'll have the chutney, and 374 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:33,640 Speaker 5: she'll have the sauce and the somosas, or she's oh, 375 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,000 Speaker 5: I just put something together and it's like the best 376 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:39,199 Speaker 5: thing you've ever tasted, and it's so good. And so 377 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:42,520 Speaker 5: when I've kind of flipped through her her cookbook and 378 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:45,119 Speaker 5: I look at the spices and things, I kind of 379 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,520 Speaker 5: just feel so overwhelmed. But I know sooner or later 380 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:50,520 Speaker 5: I need to be able to kind of get a 381 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:53,040 Speaker 5: proper curry in my skill set. 382 00:19:53,119 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel the same way. 383 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:56,320 Speaker 4: Yeah. 384 00:19:56,359 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 2: And then can we talk about the food in your 385 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:04,480 Speaker 2: book and how you integrated and brought food in to 386 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:06,639 Speaker 2: tell a story, a complex story? 387 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:07,399 Speaker 4: Sure? 388 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 5: So, you know, one of the things I've always loved 389 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:13,879 Speaker 5: when reading novels is food and how it's kind of 390 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:17,840 Speaker 5: you know, how it's introduced to the reader and the 391 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 5: presence of it, Or novels where no one's eating you 392 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:23,719 Speaker 5: kind of noticed, well, what were they eating? What exactly 393 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 5: are they drinking? Where are they what's in season? I think, 394 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:32,439 Speaker 5: I promise the two Black sisters who are the central 395 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 5: characters of the novel their coming of age in nineteen 396 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:41,840 Speaker 5: fifty seven in a remote sea village in Maine, and 397 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:46,880 Speaker 5: in that space which is very spare and bleak and 398 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 5: suddenly kind of hostile to them. The shelter of their 399 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:57,400 Speaker 5: home and the relationship that their mother as a nurturer 400 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:00,480 Speaker 5: has provided for them one of the things that is 401 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:03,120 Speaker 5: most important, as you know, how to feed the children, 402 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:06,719 Speaker 5: what's available, what's in season, in a kind of place 403 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 5: like that. And the kitchen is a kind of classroom too, 404 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 5: as they're coming of age, and so, you know, to 405 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:15,880 Speaker 5: grow up to have a mother who has her rules 406 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:22,480 Speaker 5: and her recipes, and that in the space of the 407 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 5: kitchen they're all safe, whereas elsewhere outside of their home 408 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,879 Speaker 5: things are beginning to become quite unsafe for them. 409 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,920 Speaker 4: And so there's something in the. 410 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:40,080 Speaker 11: Girls that they have their kind of authority and imagination 411 00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:45,600 Speaker 11: and respect for their mother's stature in the kitchen and 412 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:46,200 Speaker 11: in the home. 413 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 5: You know, their mother cooks them a kind of special 414 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,639 Speaker 5: the day, you know, before the first day of school meal, 415 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:56,200 Speaker 5: and that's almost as important as Christmas dinner for them, 416 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:00,159 Speaker 5: and that there are these different moments through the food 417 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:05,120 Speaker 5: that certain things about each character is revealed, and how 418 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:08,760 Speaker 5: they feel about the kitchen or what they're eating, and 419 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,919 Speaker 5: the kind of comfort that food offers them in a 420 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:17,480 Speaker 5: place that is really starting to shift as different things 421 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:21,360 Speaker 5: are happening elsewhere in America. So, you know, I think 422 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:26,879 Speaker 5: a lot of my own upbringing is transmitted into the 423 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,760 Speaker 5: space of food and thinking about food and just you know, 424 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 5: if I were to expand outward and think about Black 425 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:42,160 Speaker 5: American families in America and the real trajectory and storylines 426 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:46,880 Speaker 5: and stories of food and recipes and things being handed, 427 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:50,760 Speaker 5: it's real kind of delicious lineage that is important to 428 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:54,600 Speaker 5: survival and to joy and to having a place where 429 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,560 Speaker 5: different family members live on through the foods they made, 430 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:02,679 Speaker 5: the foods they invented. You know, there were visions of 431 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:06,879 Speaker 5: a recipe, secret recipes. I find all of that really 432 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:08,000 Speaker 5: lovely and magical. 433 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 2: Families can be victims of racism, or victims of poverty, 434 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:18,040 Speaker 2: or people who've just immigrated from another country. It's so 435 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:21,959 Speaker 2: interesting to me that many people who've emigrated from one 436 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:24,399 Speaker 2: country to another bring the food with them, or the 437 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:26,879 Speaker 2: grandmothers bring the food with them. They talk more about 438 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:30,320 Speaker 2: their grandmother's food than their mother's because the grandmothers actually 439 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:32,640 Speaker 2: bring the food. The mother might be trying to adapt 440 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:34,440 Speaker 2: and the children kind of throw it out, but they 441 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:38,720 Speaker 2: go back to the grandmother to experience what those memories 442 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:41,359 Speaker 2: she's brought with them, very often just being the food. 443 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:47,240 Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I've read many accounts were enslaved people, 444 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:50,320 Speaker 5: you know, will come over and have stitched into the 445 00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:53,960 Speaker 5: hems of their clothes seeds from their country of origin, 446 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:56,720 Speaker 5: and that they would try to literally bring kind of 447 00:23:56,760 --> 00:24:01,000 Speaker 5: pieces from the homeland or the motherland with them to 448 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:03,680 Speaker 5: try and grow it, you know, wherever they were being 449 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:05,000 Speaker 5: taken against their will. 450 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:06,639 Speaker 4: And so there's such a power in that. 451 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:11,160 Speaker 5: But also I love stories about, you know, one I'm 452 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:15,680 Speaker 5: thinking in African American families, you know, taking something that 453 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,679 Speaker 5: was the scrap and then making it into something that 454 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:22,680 Speaker 5: then finds itself in the mainstream of American culture, you know, 455 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:28,200 Speaker 5: and how things can you know, transform and become these 456 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:30,840 Speaker 5: other things even though they were supposed to be the 457 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:34,840 Speaker 5: food of the poor or this is all that was available, 458 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,359 Speaker 5: and then it becomes this thing that everyone's like, what 459 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,760 Speaker 5: is that. There's a politics to it. There's also this 460 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:45,840 Speaker 5: really wonderful humanity of like we all need to eat 461 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:49,480 Speaker 5: and how we eat as as important as what we eat, 462 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:51,480 Speaker 5: what we can afford to eat, what we can afford 463 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:55,680 Speaker 5: not to eat, and you know, for Promise, which takes 464 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:59,199 Speaker 5: place in nineteen fifty seven fifty eight, that would have 465 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:02,639 Speaker 5: been an issue of where black people could go to 466 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:09,720 Speaker 5: eat versus other places and what that means. And you know, 467 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:13,399 Speaker 5: it's it's so powerful to to really think about that. 468 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:16,200 Speaker 5: But in my research, you know, I would look at 469 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:21,399 Speaker 5: advertisements and read different things and watch films and you know, 470 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:24,919 Speaker 5: colors only or they can't see at this hotel, or 471 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 5: they can't stop on the road to get gasoline at 472 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:28,160 Speaker 5: this place. 473 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 4: It all is. 474 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:33,160 Speaker 2: So do you see those sized photographs of Gordon Parks. 475 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:37,960 Speaker 2: I love He's one of those favorite too, and those 476 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,720 Speaker 2: ones that particularly take place in the drinking fountains or 477 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 2: the outside and a diner outside of a place of food, 478 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:52,440 Speaker 2: and you see the separation. It's they're they're painfully beautiful. 479 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:56,119 Speaker 5: Photography is just sounding. It's heartbreaking, but then it's also 480 00:25:56,240 --> 00:26:00,879 Speaker 5: like beautiful the way that he shows the distance. And 481 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:05,760 Speaker 5: yet there's a beauty and a dignity. Dignity absolutely agree. 482 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:16,960 Speaker 8: Hi. 483 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 10: My name is Sophia and I'm a cheh at the 484 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:23,560 Speaker 10: River Cafe. Today we're making brusquetta with smash broad beans 485 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:25,639 Speaker 10: and ball of Montsorella. 486 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:29,080 Speaker 4: So for the smash broad beans. Here we have some 487 00:26:29,119 --> 00:26:30,160 Speaker 4: potted broad beans. 488 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:32,320 Speaker 10: You want to choose the smaller ones if you can 489 00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:36,120 Speaker 10: get them, because they're not so starchy, so a bit sweeter. 490 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 10: Put them in a food processor. 491 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:43,320 Speaker 7: Give that big clip. 492 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 10: You don't want it, you know, to be blitzed too much. 493 00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:52,800 Speaker 10: You want it the texture. And into that a little 494 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:56,240 Speaker 10: little bit of crush garlic, bit of roughly chopped. 495 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:56,720 Speaker 6: Basil and mint. 496 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:03,200 Speaker 3: It's fantastic. Give that another list. 497 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:10,280 Speaker 10: In with the herbs this point, a bit of salt, 498 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:12,919 Speaker 10: bit of pepper because people will be adding cheese. 499 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:14,040 Speaker 4: You don't want too much. 500 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:17,320 Speaker 10: And now it's a fun pot. 501 00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:18,760 Speaker 3: We get to put quite a lot of the. 502 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:19,159 Speaker 6: Oil in it. 503 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:26,919 Speaker 2: We were talking about creating food and making food and 504 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:30,040 Speaker 2: your mother making food, and just before we came into 505 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:32,880 Speaker 2: this room, you were in the kitchen with a chef 506 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:36,760 Speaker 2: from the River Cafe. You made smash broad beans to 507 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:38,040 Speaker 2: serve with mozzarella. 508 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:42,879 Speaker 5: Yes, with mozzarella and warm tasty garlic bread. 509 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:45,919 Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, So would you like to read the recipe. 510 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:50,800 Speaker 5: Smashed broad beans with mozzarella. We only make this when 511 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:53,439 Speaker 5: the first broad beans are in season and when they 512 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:58,440 Speaker 5: are small and sweet. Three hundred grams potted broad beans, 513 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:03,520 Speaker 5: extra virgin olive oil, and when we say extra, we 514 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:09,560 Speaker 5: mean extra one hundred and fifty grams of freshly grated parmesan, 515 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:16,280 Speaker 5: ten basil leaves, very very green, ten mint leaves, half 516 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,639 Speaker 5: a clove of garlic, the stinkiest garlic you can find, 517 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:25,720 Speaker 5: one large ball of mozzarella, and sour dough bread. Put 518 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:31,399 Speaker 5: the broad beans in a blender with the olive oil, parmesan, basil, mint, 519 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:33,720 Speaker 5: and half clove of garlic. 520 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:36,120 Speaker 4: Then roughly pure. 521 00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:38,560 Speaker 5: Because you want to keep some of the texture. Don't 522 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:39,360 Speaker 5: over pure. 523 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:42,720 Speaker 4: Trust me. Season with salt and pepper. 524 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:47,640 Speaker 5: Lightly tear the mozzarella with your hands, which is fun, 525 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:51,560 Speaker 5: and place onto a plate. Place a spoonful of the 526 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:56,440 Speaker 5: pure next to the mozzarella. Grill the bread until browned. 527 00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:00,680 Speaker 5: Rub the bruschetta generously with the remains garlic. 528 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:02,640 Speaker 4: Finish with a. 529 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:06,720 Speaker 5: Drizzle of extra extra extra virgin olive oil, and serve 530 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:07,920 Speaker 5: with delight. 531 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:12,760 Speaker 3: An extra extra extra happiness. What was it like seeing this? Smell? 532 00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:14,680 Speaker 4: Sophia is wonderful. 533 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 5: I mean when she was making this, the bright green 534 00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:20,800 Speaker 5: and the smell of the garlic and the mint and 535 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:24,960 Speaker 5: the basil, it was like better nearly as good as 536 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:27,640 Speaker 5: having a really strong cup of coffee, because the smell 537 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:30,680 Speaker 5: suddenly brought you kind of into the world. And then 538 00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:34,520 Speaker 5: of course the warm bread and the cheese. It's like 539 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:38,400 Speaker 5: everything you love. So I was very happy to be 540 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:41,160 Speaker 5: in the kitchen and to have a little taste. 541 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:43,480 Speaker 6: Maybe you'll make it, oh for sure. 542 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:45,800 Speaker 3: Yeah, what did you think? 543 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:54,280 Speaker 8: I couldn't believe how much olive oil. That's a serious 544 00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:58,280 Speaker 8: amount of olive oil. 545 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:02,920 Speaker 4: Really really go for it. 546 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:05,240 Speaker 3: It's a good thing. Yeah, it's good. 547 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:11,720 Speaker 10: Final blitz. And then you want to add the cheese 548 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:15,160 Speaker 10: at the end. You don't want it to become gummy 549 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 10: in the mixture. Same with the broad beans. If you 550 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:21,600 Speaker 10: ever pure it. It's the texture isn't as nice. 551 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:23,120 Speaker 4: Texture is very important. 552 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:25,080 Speaker 3: M that is good. 553 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 10: I think more oil still, it's quite a lot, you know. 554 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:31,880 Speaker 3: It's more herbs. 555 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:36,680 Speaker 8: Okay, I think. 556 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:39,800 Speaker 9: That that would be perfect. 557 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:43,960 Speaker 10: And then you put this mix on a brusqutter. 558 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:48,040 Speaker 9: Let's have garlic and salt on it, rubbed on onto 559 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:51,360 Speaker 9: the bread. A bit more oil, and then we've got 560 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:53,480 Speaker 9: a ball of mozzarella. You can either cut it in 561 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:56,480 Speaker 9: half or rip it on the plate with your brusqutter. 562 00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:57,200 Speaker 9: A bit more oil. 563 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:04,480 Speaker 4: Oh my gosh, fantastic. That's beautiful. Thank you so much. Fun. Yeah, 564 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:05,840 Speaker 4: I'm very welcome. Thank you. 565 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:13,160 Speaker 2: We always ask one question of everyone, which is that 566 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:18,280 Speaker 2: if food is alleviates hunger, and if food expresses sharing, 567 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:21,440 Speaker 2: and the food expresses of course love, and it can 568 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:23,840 Speaker 2: be something that you turn to whenever you need to 569 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 2: be fed because you're hungry, or you need to be loved. 570 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:29,480 Speaker 2: It's also comfort and so one of the questions that 571 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:32,280 Speaker 2: I'd like to ask you before we end this interview 572 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:34,840 Speaker 2: is if you have a food that you turn to 573 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:39,000 Speaker 2: for comfort, do you know what that would be? 574 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 5: I think when I think of comfort and food, I'd 575 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:49,720 Speaker 5: probably make something my mother made for me. She had 576 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:54,000 Speaker 5: some wonderful soups that I met. I can make them, 577 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:57,840 Speaker 5: but there was nothing like coming into the house and 578 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:01,200 Speaker 5: having one of those days or things are you're blue, 579 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:04,440 Speaker 5: you're a little bit blue, and you could immediately smell 580 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:05,960 Speaker 5: that she was making a soup. 581 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:09,080 Speaker 4: And I love to read and have soup. 582 00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:11,760 Speaker 2: So is there a soup that you particularly like or 583 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:12,959 Speaker 2: does it depend on the season. 584 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:15,400 Speaker 5: I think it depends on the season for me because 585 00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:18,560 Speaker 5: I love chilled soups too, So you know, a soup 586 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:22,680 Speaker 5: that has meant, or a soup that is gospato, or 587 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:25,640 Speaker 5: you know a New England clum child, or they're all 588 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:29,320 Speaker 5: different seasons. And in the autumn, I love a squash soup. 589 00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:33,360 Speaker 5: It's so nice and comforting carrot soups. So I think 590 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:37,480 Speaker 5: when I need comfort, I will I look at the 591 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:41,959 Speaker 5: kind of traditional, kind of really nice soup or stew. 592 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:43,000 Speaker 6: Yeah. 593 00:32:43,040 --> 00:32:45,600 Speaker 2: Well, speaking of stew, would you like to read a 594 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:47,360 Speaker 2: section from your book? 595 00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:48,040 Speaker 8: Sure? 596 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:50,080 Speaker 3: Because I'd love that. 597 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:52,520 Speaker 2: And there's a reference to the stew, and I thought 598 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:54,719 Speaker 2: you could perhaps tell us what that is. 599 00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:57,160 Speaker 4: This is from promise. 600 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,280 Speaker 5: Miss Irene ask us to set the table with her 601 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:07,280 Speaker 5: special wooden dishes and spoons. She'd made a healing stew, 602 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:12,200 Speaker 5: she said, filled with nutrients to replenish and restore our 603 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:16,040 Speaker 5: self esteem. I'd been so afraid of what miss Irene 604 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:19,240 Speaker 5: was going to say to us. I hadn't noticed the 605 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:24,120 Speaker 5: rich scent of the stock simmering on the stove. This 606 00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:29,400 Speaker 5: has potatoes and peaches in it, she said, having no 607 00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:33,360 Speaker 5: idea really what she was talking about. We only nodded 608 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:38,080 Speaker 5: and went around the table, quickly arranging bowls and spoons 609 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 5: and cups. 610 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:43,880 Speaker 4: Before our father would arrive. To take us home beautiful. 611 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,520 Speaker 2: I love many things about this paragraph. I love the 612 00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:52,600 Speaker 2: idea that nutrients can give you self esteem. Yes, I 613 00:33:52,840 --> 00:33:55,520 Speaker 2: like that would be saying that we hear, especially with 614 00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:58,840 Speaker 2: this generation, that self esteem, self esteem and self esteem. 615 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:01,360 Speaker 6: But who knew that peaches and a healing stew could 616 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:02,480 Speaker 6: do that? So we have to. 617 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:05,000 Speaker 2: And I was also very intrigued by the idea of 618 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:07,680 Speaker 2: having a stew with peaches in it. That's almost Moroccan, 619 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:10,200 Speaker 2: isn't it, the way they do Tajeans with fruit. 620 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:12,480 Speaker 6: Did you have a stew with peaches or did? 621 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:16,640 Speaker 5: I think sometime in the past I probably had a 622 00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:19,239 Speaker 5: stew that had fruit in it, but I don't know 623 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:23,400 Speaker 5: if it would necessarily have been peaches. I think, you know, 624 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:25,600 Speaker 5: thinking about in August and it's kind of end of 625 00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:29,960 Speaker 5: summer and peaches and last chance peaches and all the 626 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,440 Speaker 5: different types of peaches and loving to have them grilled 627 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:36,160 Speaker 5: or loving to have them like cobbler or something like that. Like, 628 00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:41,359 Speaker 5: I'm sure there must be a stew somewhere that has pea. 629 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:44,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm saying, you know that's I don't know if 630 00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:47,600 Speaker 2: you've been to Morocco, but they do these Tajeans if 631 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:51,520 Speaker 2: you're somm would have maize and apricots and lamb and 632 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:56,320 Speaker 2: prunes and chicken and lemons, and it's really using everything 633 00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:56,680 Speaker 2: in there. 634 00:34:56,760 --> 00:34:59,680 Speaker 5: Yeah, I think miss Irene who is the mother and 635 00:34:59,719 --> 00:35:04,400 Speaker 5: the family that they are very close to her people 636 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:08,480 Speaker 5: kind of come in my mind from like Caribbean or diaspora, 637 00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:12,160 Speaker 5: and so they might have a different bit of a 638 00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:16,600 Speaker 5: different palette than Cynthia and her sister. And so these 639 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:19,120 Speaker 5: kind of hardy stews where they're wondering where she gets 640 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:22,200 Speaker 5: these ingredients and things and puts them together, and that 641 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:25,440 Speaker 5: this is something their own mother can't make, but they 642 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:30,839 Speaker 5: get the motherhood of miss Irene. And so you know 643 00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:33,520 Speaker 5: the certain things that you know, maybe you eat them 644 00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:36,840 Speaker 5: to feel confident or strong or they make you feel good, 645 00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:41,560 Speaker 5: and that there's a way of putting that love into 646 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:45,040 Speaker 5: a dish and telling the girls to kind of you know, 647 00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:49,160 Speaker 5: be strong and be confident and keep their heads up high, 648 00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:55,360 Speaker 5: and that they're beautiful young girls and that their appetites matter. 649 00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:56,000 Speaker 3: You know. 650 00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:59,239 Speaker 2: I mean, I think this has been I have to say, 651 00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:02,080 Speaker 2: one must be full. Interviews we've done, the talks, we've 652 00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:05,960 Speaker 2: done in conversations because you know, we know that. 653 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:08,960 Speaker 6: Food is memory and is food is family. 654 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:16,239 Speaker 2: Food is an expression of comfort, time together and just 655 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:19,720 Speaker 2: having this time together for two of us with someone 656 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:22,239 Speaker 2: to talk about that is. 657 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:24,239 Speaker 6: Something that I'd love to do more of. And I 658 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:26,680 Speaker 6: feel so grateful to you for coming. 659 00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:28,160 Speaker 4: I'm grateful for you too. 660 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:30,360 Speaker 5: It's lovely, it was lovely for all of us to 661 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:31,160 Speaker 5: talk about food. 662 00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:33,279 Speaker 4: I can't stop smiling right now. I just want to 663 00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:35,759 Speaker 4: go eat it. Thank you so much. 664 00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:38,719 Speaker 2: And as I said, you know, there's nothing better than someone. 665 00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:43,520 Speaker 6: You love being with someone you love. Thank you good. 666 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:48,920 Speaker 1: The River Cafe Look Book is now available in bookshops 667 00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:53,120 Speaker 1: and online. It has over one hundred recipes, beautifully illustrated 668 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:57,600 Speaker 1: with photographs from the renowned photographer Matthew Donaldson. The book 669 00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:01,560 Speaker 1: has fifty delicious and easy to prepare recipes, including a 670 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:05,080 Speaker 1: host of River Cafe classics that have been specially adapted 671 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:09,680 Speaker 1: for new cooks. The River Cafe Lookbook Recipes for cooks 672 00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:17,560 Speaker 1: of all ages. Ruthie's Table four is a production of 673 00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:22,200 Speaker 1: iHeart Radio and Adami Studios. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 674 00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:26,560 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 675 00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:27,600 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows,