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Apr 29, 2026
On Appetite with Cha McCoy
On Appetite with Cha McCoy
00:00
28:58
Transcript
0:00
Trying to be, trying to be up, trying to keep everything going, you know? Yeah. You know, you know this, this game, you know? Yes, yes. How, how are things going with the book?
0:09
You know, I realize that depends on who's asking. [laughs] Um, as a fellow author, I think that you understand maybe sales and all the marketing and all the things.
0:18
So to be brief, it's been, uh, great, you know, just got nominated for- Right... the NAACP award this week, so that's, you know, make me feel great. Getting ready for the Euro tour since it's- Right...
0:30
dry January in America. [laughs] It's time to hit the country, right? Get people drinking again. Um, and so yeah, so I feel like I'm refreshed and ready for, for the new year, so excited. Amazing, amazing.
0:42
Yeah, the rollercoaster of emotions that is endless when you publish a book. It's just- Right... yeah. And then I'm, I'm such a, I guess, being an entrepreneur is almost like so do you watch the numbers or do you not?
0:53
'Cause no, like, I guess, is that a factor? Should we not care that I'm not, like, you know, [laughs] but that's something I didn't realize. Yeah.
1:01
Maybe depends on who you're talking to, or maybe that's a goal that should've been established before I started writing the book, you know?
1:07
[laughs] No, it's very- Because- It's always interesting because then you, you come to the point where the only thing that matters anymore is how much it's selling, right? And then- Right...
1:17
but you try not to think about it because you can't control it whatsoever and- Right... we don't really know anymore what gets people to, to buy a book. So the- Right...
1:26
the most you can do is just keep talking about it, I think. Thank you. [laughs] That's, I would take those as pearls that I- Yeah... need to live by at this point.
1:32
[laughs] Well, I wanted to invite you on here because I think it's always interesting to talk to wine, wine people, people who are more wine focused than food focused necessarily because I think your insights into food and how you, you know, developed your palates and developed your appetites are, are, is, is unique, is unique in, in the, in the gastronomy world.
2:00
And so I always open my interviews by asking can you tell me about where you grew up and what you ate? I'm a true product of the Great Migration.
2:10
Uh, my mom's family is from Virginia, um, assumedly on both sides of her family just because it seemed like there's, the new story keep coming up each time.
2:20
And then on, uh, my father's side, uh, they are from the low country, Savannah, uh, Jacksonville. Savannah, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida area.
2:29
So, um, my father was the first one born of his siblings, um, here in New York, and it was four others that were born before him from Jacksonville, that were born in Ja- Jacksonville.
2:40
Um, and so, and then my mom's mom was actually born in New York, so we definitely claim Harlem, like, we are New Yorkers, [laughs] uh, in this case.
2:51
So, you know, so that's where I'm from and I feel like, you know, what else did you ask me? How that impact what I eat? What you ate, yeah. Yeah, okay. What you ate growing up. It says a lot about how
3:04
seafood is a big part, fish and seafood is a major component of our, um, of our diet, and I did not realize that it was a, you know, like, a Black, you know, like, Black people and crabs and, you know, whatever. Yeah.
3:21
Like, how much that... Until I got older, you know? And so the, I would say the connection or legacies from low country you can definitely see.
3:31
I mean, this to the point where even Thanksgivings we've had, like, three version of crab dishes on Thanksgiving, which very, is very odd, but everybody remembers that.
3:39
Like, I would come back to school and be like, "Oh, I had jerk crab." They're like, "Jerk crab for Thanksgiving? Like, this doesn't make sense." Or my father baked a stuffed fish and they'd be like, "A stu-", you know.
3:48
This, but, um, my family, in order to kind of everybody's appetite, all of the dietary restrictions, if you're gonna make a protein, go with seafood.
3:57
Obviously, um, not so much the vegans, but other than that I feel like you could please most people in my family with, um, seafood dishes. So heavy on, um, heavy on that.
4:08
You know, soul food, don't really eat out for soul food when I was growing up. Mm. That would say that my, my mother kinda, that was her, I guess, specialty if we was gonna have any of the soul food dishes.
4:20
And my father, um, even though they divorced when I was young, he was the one who went to culinary school and was considered the, the, the chef of the family.
4:30
Not just for my own, he was even the pit master if it was cookouts, you know, in the summertime for, for everyone. So he was, my family and extended family, they would always ask my father to take over the grill.
4:42
And he, before vegan, I, I should've Googled when vegan came up. I'm sure you know. Um, like, when was the term vegan popularized? Early 19... Ear- early 20th century. So recent. Wait, wait, wait. So, like, 19 what?
4:58
Like, I mean- I think in the '30s or '40s in the UK. Okay.
5:02
I feel like, I don't know when I became, v- veganism became popular in the Black culture for us to know what a vegan was, but my father never called himself a vegan, but he started leaning towards a, what we would call today a vegan diet.
5:16
So I thought that your, your podcast, your podcast and your questions, I'm like, maybe she knows from my book, you know, about, you know, how I ate,
5:28
what, what I eat has been, um, following me my entire life, and it has nothing to do with me being a sommelier.
5:35
Um, I even brought up around the holiday season when my brother was also visiting, at one point when I was in school, um, someone told me I was Muslim because of the way I ate, and I thought I was Muslim. You know?
5:47
[laughs] Sort of a Mus- 'cause I thought that was, like, a diet. I didn't recognize- Yeah... I was too young to recognize it had more than just what I didn't eat, it was also religion related.
5:56
[laughs] And someone was like, "You're not Muslim." And so I was like, "Oh, okay." You know, like, just- [laughs]... just remember being called a Muslim because I did not eat pork and-...
6:06
have it, you know, we have this adage here in Harlem, you know, "Lips that touch swine should never touch mine."
6:13
[laughs] And so when you are a New Yorker who, uh, parents grew up during that timeframe o- with, um, the, after the legacies of Malcolm X and my father, while incarcerated, ended up learning, um, more about the religion as well as returning home and getting into, um, becoming a Five Percenter, um, this really was heavy pa- a heavy part of him ch- his self, changing his diet.
6:41
Yeah. Meaning he grew up with more of that Southern food. I'm sure they be eating all types of, you know, I don't know, chitlins, ham hocks, whatever. My mother remembers her family cooking it.
6:52
But then when they got adults, this movement related to a, a particular religion and the new Negro identity was very much important, played an important role to most people, even if you weren't, um, Muslim.
7:06
And so, um, so I guess wanted to say that all out now because I would consider what I eat to be very, like, soul food focused- Yeah... um, when it comes to, like, what my mom cooked at home.
7:19
But I would also say that it was more of, like, the new, the new Black folks [laughs] in, in Harlem. And so then that actually excluded a lot of, um, different dishes and definitely proteins. So, um- Yeah...
7:31
so yeah, that influenced how I ate and always had to ask, "What's in the dish?" Like- [laughs]... my entire life, um, my mom's favorite story just to end there, feel like I'm just running on, it's 'cause I'm like- No...
7:43
this is the most craziest conversation I'm sure I'm gonna have with you. [laughs] But, um, she's like, "Oh, I remember you were in kindergarten and they sent a note home because y- that you didn't eat all day."
7:55
And my brother also, weirdly apart, went through the same... No, I was in daycare. And because I, I was, like, dramatic like, "That dish has pork in it." Like, you know, like, I just... You know.
8:05
And so I'm like, my brother, he'll eat anything. [laughs] And I'm like, "She can't eat it, I can't eat it, we can't eat." You know, like, I just like now I'm, like, rebellious at, like, four. Like- Yeah, yeah.
8:16
[laughs] But, and, um, so like we had to send your daughter home w- she didn't eat all day because she just assumed everything was tainted- [laughs]... after we tried to serve her Jell-O or something.
8:25
At that time Jell-O had, um, uh, something in it that was, you know, um- Gelatin, yeah... gelatin, yep. Yeah. So that was something that was not allowed in my diet. And so I, um, re- she remembers that.
8:38
She remembers that day. [laughs] And so I guess I'll leave you with that, just to give you a complex. [laughs] You asked the right person this question today. [laughs] Well, how do you eat today compared to then? Same.
8:50
Yeah? I, yeah, I think that it was interesting where my brother went through this phase w- of rebellion. Like, you know, like, "Oh, we couldn't eat this our whole lives."
8:59
Like, so now he's an adult and I feel like he started eating certain things. And then I think he, now he's more vegan than, you know, I guess- [laughs]... vegan, leaning. Um, he's more of a pescatarian. Cool.
9:10
I, I try to help him d- understand how to describe his- [laughs]... you know, his restrictions, but, um, he's a non-dairy pescatarian, basically. Oh, cool.
9:20
And so he still throws down on seafood, but he, but it, it's, it's the fact that he can't, he doesn't do egg either and no dairy products. It's like this whole thing when we're- Wow... going out to eat. So- Yeah...
9:32
he has his own complications, um, with trying to navigate the menu. And in my case, I still eat the same way I ate at, like, four. So, um- [laughs]... I really haven't changed much on that.
9:44
But m- of course my palate and taste has, has grown. Nice. Nice. Well, how would you describe your appetite? Do you f- Are, are you a person with a big appetite? Are you a person with...
9:55
who doesn't think about their next meal all the time? What is your app- relationship to your appetite? I'm always thinking about my meal. Yeah. [laughs] But I...
10:03
So my best friend, hope Tiffany hears this, she's like, "I think you're the only person I know who's always like, 'If we're going somewhere, but what are we gonna eat?'"
10:11
I, I guess 'cause I'm still traumatized that everywhere I went, someone picked a restaurant that did not have food for me, right?
10:19
So, uh, growing up, no matter if I'm in high school, whatever, I'm like, "I c- can't eat anything here." And so I had to always, like, orchestrate that. I mean,
10:29
in the early '90s, the most healthiest place that we can get snacks was GNC, and this is where my...
10:34
This was, there was no, obviously, Whole Foods or, you know, options where we could just get from out of the n- normal s- uh, store, the grocer.
10:42
So every time we went to the movie theater, my father took us to GNC to get snacks to eat at the movie theater. That's how crazy it got at one point. Um, and he would reward us for good behavior with Green Shots.
10:56
This is the kinda household [laughs] I grew up in, so trust me, I'm way more, uh, open than a lot of people. Yeah, yeah. Full vegans, um, no meat, uh, whole grain, uh, diet folks in my family. We run the gamut.
11:13
It's very rare that someone eat pork in my family, but people will eat red meat. Yeah.
11:17
Um, but I, yeah, I know that we don't got a lot of time, but my family has a lot of different diet restrictions, so I'm usually very inclusive of everybody else when I'm, um, let's say, not with my family too.
11:31
So- Yeah... back to the answer, my appetite is big. [laughs] Yeah. I wanna eat everything, especially if it's e- everything I could eat. Yeah.
11:38
But, um, but I had to always, like, plan in advance and understand where we're gonna eat so that it, there is options for me, where I feel like today, thank God, most, um, restaurants and chefs have alternatives, but I don't usually go to a steakhouse.
11:51
Like, for me- Yeah... it wouldn't make sense, you know? So, um, when that's the thing they do, even though some of them, they go, "You gotta have the salmon." I'm like, "But I'm at a steakhouse," like, you know?
11:59
[laughs] So- Yeah... I would rather not be at a steakhouse, I should say, than have salmon- [laughs]... you know?
12:03
So, um, but yeah, I'm trying to, you know, lose a, lose a th- uh, a few pounds these days, [laughs] so I'm trying to make sure this appetite kinda-You know, curves, but- [laughs] Other than that.
12:15
Well, who has had the biggest influence on how you eat and why? It sounds like it may be it's your dad? Or- Yeah.
12:22
I mean, I think he had the largest influence on, like, everyone in my family's, um, diet as he was the first born in New York, so therefore, that... All of the...
12:33
So I would say probably my aunts who came, moved up to New York. They already were much older than him, set in their ways about how they ate- Yeah... down South.
12:42
And then my father being the first born here and kinda growing up with Harlem, um, as his cultural connection and background, not so much, um, Jacksonville, um, he influenced all his sib- so his four siblings, um, older than him and three younger than him.
12:57
So he's the first of four, um, in New York. And so all of their diets basically were, like, either mimicked my father's or, um, in this case, their behavior, et cetera.
13:06
So my aunt, that was the next one after him, end up, um, she's Muslim and so her diet obviously re- reflects her religion.
13:16
Um, we don't eat red meat either, which I feel like for most people, I even heard about something called a spiritual diet. Never knew that was a thing. But I feel like they like putting names on all of us.
13:27
To be honest, I'm, I'm cool with not, not giving it a name. [laughs] Yeah.
13:31
But, um, because of some religions who don't eat red meat and cow, et cetera, as being very sacred, and so the fact that you're checking off kind of multiple religions with not having pork as well as not having red meat, they, like, call it, "Oh, you, you have a spiritual diet."
13:46
I'm like, "Uh, don't, you know, don't put that all on me." [laughs] Um, but to be honest, I feel like they just wanna put everybody in a box. In a box. And, uh, let's see if that takes off.
13:55
I don't know if you've seen more people talking about this in your... Okay. [laughs] The spiritual diet being a thing. Well, I like the, I like the n- name of it. I think it's interesting. I think it's evocative.
14:05
I think it says something to people. Mm. It, it, it says no pork, no red meat, I think, more than anything else. I think it, it makes sense that, that people would go in that direction with describing- Mm...
14:15
restrictions around animal products. But people don't- Mm... in general, don't like the labels. Like, most people really bristle at the labels, you know? They don't wanna be a- Yeah...
14:25
vegetarian or a vegan or a pescatarian or whatever it might be because they feel that that would restrict them too much and it would be like taking on a whole ideology when they just, they just wanna eat the way they wanna eat, you know?
14:40
Right. Uh, you know, your question was about my appetite- Yeah... and not my diet. But in my mind, I'm like, my appetite is framed by my- Right... diet restrictions, and I do recognize the importance of sharing.
14:53
Like, I think- Yeah... that's why it was easy for me to, once I connected to the idea of this is the reason why my father didn't eat this way, it was okay as an adult for me to continue on this way. Right.
15:05
I think my fa- my brother, in his case, was more exploratory and then eventually end up, um, excuse me, end up making a decision to kinda weed out, um, even more things out his diet.
15:18
In his case, he doesn't eat chicken or anything like that. I think it's gonna take a lot to keep me from duck, to be honest. [laughs] I just love du- I love duck.
15:25
So whenever I see it on the menu, it would be hard for me to say no to. Um, but as someone who never had pork bacon, and I know how people when they turn vegan they respond to, like, "Oh, man.
15:36
Oh, I gotta get pork bacon," and I'm like, "Yeah, but I never had it in my life, so I- Yeah... I'm actually okay." Like, I smell it. Yeah.
15:41
[laughs] Um, and as a sommelier and with wine pairing for the people, speaking about so many different, um, foods, cuisines, uh, proteins, it- Yeah... some I don't eat and can't eat.
15:53
You know, I think that's someone's, you know, it's almost, it's like a secret. It's all, you know, I like, I feel like I'm, I'm saying I don't drink alcohol, but I'm a sommelier. You know? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
16:02
Like, how could you pair with ribs if you don't know what they taste like? You know, like, this- Yeah... you know, sometimes come up from people.
16:10
And so I recognize that being a sommelier with dietary restrictions usually challenges maybe my, uh, ability to do that, you know?
16:20
But I lean into more of the seasoning, the spices, the rubs, the sauces, um, the brines, et cetera- Yeah... of the dish. Is it grilled, baked, et cetera? What is, what is also accompanying it on a plate?
16:36
To be able to help me do that job, for any of those who are listening, I feel like I'm still highly qualified to still- [laughs] Of course... pair. So I gotta make sure I put that out there as a disclaimer.
16:45
But, um- No, of course... but yeah, I can, I can definitely tell you that, um, yeah, it's been... I, I wouldn't... I'm very interested today more, I mean, people make a decision to become vegan.
16:56
I've, I've removed things out of my diet from fasting last year. Um, I did more of a vegetarian diet for, um, the whole 40 days for Lent, for example. Um, so I know I'm capable of doing it.
17:08
I don't know if I'm capable of living like that full, fully, and I think that's the reason why I don't wanna say yes to any, um, particular- Yeah, of course... diet. To check a box on a airplane, you know, Ron- Yeah...
17:20
you know, call me what you want. I'm Jewish today- [laughs]... 'cause I can't eat, you know, that. [laughs] Um, you know, a- and same thing. I, I check...
17:28
You know, it's kind of interesting 'cause of course people are gonna think something about you if you check, you check off these religious boxes, but that's the easiest way to translate to the, you know, the, the flight team- Yeah...
17:40
that I can't eat... So they usually look at me like, they look at my fit and they're like, "This is your diet?" [laughs] You know, like, girl, is that- Yes... you know.
17:47
So I have these moments where they're a little struck by- [laughs]... what I've chosen as my, you know... 'Cause like you said, I think looking at it as an identity, it just makes life easier. [laughs] Yes, absolutely.
17:58
Plus I didn't treat me, maybe they treat me bad because of that unfortunately. [laughs] You know what?
18:02
Everyone who eats meat could eat a non-meat meal, whereas, like, if you have a restriction for whatever reason, you can't- Mm-hmm... eat the other meal.
18:11
So if anything, they-If we were really taking things seriously in terms of climate change- Yeah... we would just default. We would default to the vegetarian, not dairy, I think. Yeah.
18:22
And, and that would be for everybody rather than just the, the few people selecting the special meal. Yeah, I mean, I put in, in the book I also, um...
18:31
there's a section that I call No Pork on my Fork, 'cause that was actually a restaurant that was across the street from where [laughs] I lived at one point. It was almost like a...
18:39
The food, they would make it like the deli basically. Yeah Now that everybody's gonna get, get their chopped cheese inside these bodegas, et cetera.
18:45
So, um, so it was almost like instead of, like, selling chips and candy and all those other things, they, they just basically made, like, what you would consider, like, diner food or bodega food.
18:55
Um, and it was called No Pork on my Fork. And, um, the bodega next to me is, they're all mainly, like, Yemenis-owned. So, um, so it's easy because we're, we're al- we all have kind of similar diets.
19:09
And, uh, in New York, or I would say Philly is another- Yeah... you know, great city where I feel fine. I don't have to ask is there pork in this. [laughs] Um, but I do have to check about red meat.
19:19
And so I, I wish we did have a name, to be honest, to- Yeah... understand us, because I think that saying that all Black people are a monolith is by saying that all of our food is the same.
19:29
Even though I'm having soul food, what do I, what I take out of the soul food staples in my diet, me... well, I, almost identify me as someone from the North immediately. Yeah.
19:40
Like, when I'm in the South and I go, "I can't have this and I can't have that," even though I'm Black and they're Black, they easily- Yeah... [laughs] say, "Oh, you must be from the up North- Yeah...
19:48
if you eat that way," you know? So- Interesting... I wish we did have a way to identify ourselves, ourselves culturally, um, within almost like a sub-sector- Yeah... of, um, you know, soul food. So, um, so yeah.
20:00
Maybe I'll leave it to you. You, you wanna help come up with a name? [laughs] Let me... You, you're the, you're the food writer so- [laughs]... you put it in one of your articles, you know- [laughs]...
20:08
and really lock into that. But, um, but yeah. That's awesome. Well, what is your favorite meal of the day? Dinner. Dinner is yours? Yeah, I think... I'm, I'm trying to make my dinner my lunches these days. Okay.
20:20
So I try to, so I can eat a little bit earlier. So I'm trying to flip it, the heavier dish in, you know, as the m- middle of the day, but I really do love, um, s- savory things. Yeah.
20:31
So for me it's always usually, like, dinner is, is a big deal. Lunch, I try to have it, but it could be simple. Same thing for my breakfast. I'm kind of...
20:39
I was, I was a kid that ate, my mother tell you I ate Eggos every morning for like, from, like, fifth grade to 12th. [laughs] So she's like... Yeah, she was... Like, I was easy. I didn't want cereal.
20:52
I didn't want nothing cold, um, in the morning. But, you know, I was like, "Just pop in them Eggos and keep going." [laughs] So I'm okay with having something real easy and simple for the morning, but, um- Yeah...
21:03
but yeah, it's... But dinner is where the magic happens. You just gave me, like, such a sensory flashback. I haven't had an Eggo in a million years. [laughs] I mean- And I'm, like, thinking about it's so good.
21:15
[laughs] I feel like they were so... Like, now that I... Look, now that I'm, I'm upgraded and I have my- Yeah... waffle iron and things- Yeah...
21:22
like this, um, c- I can't believe I had the things, 'cause them things so hard. I'm surprised I didn't lose a tooth trying to eat them. I feel like they used to always come out like little, like, Frisbees out the- Yes.
21:33
Yes. Well, I was always trying to get, like, a really good toast on it. Like, it was hard- Mm. It was hard- Yeah... to get them the right caramelization level, I think, like- It's, it's like a skill. Yeah.
21:42
'Cause once I realized people weren't even putting them in a toaster, the ones who were baking them or putting them on the stove top- Wow... with the butter, I was like, "Oh, this is a whole nother experience." Ooh.
21:50
So I feel like the toaster oven was not the move. It was quick, obviously- Yeah... as a teenager who just needed something warm and trying to keep going.
21:58
But I realized once you start having good, um, frozen waffle w- in the oven or, you know, stove top in a skillet with some butter- Yeah... it's a little bit, the experience is different, so- Wow...
22:09
I'm trying to have that experience No, you've just, you've blown my mind right now [laughs] with the idea of an, an Eggo in the skillet with... That's- Yes... that seems like- With butter. It's a good- Yeah...
22:18
it's a good thing. It's a good thing. That's like luxury for a 15-year-old, for sure. Like [laughs] Yeah, for sure. You know, keep my, keep my, um, my syrup up. Yeah.
22:26
You know, that's one thing I will say is that my father was really big on quality of, like- Yeah... quality of taste about everything. Yeah. Whether it's how we dress, how we...
22:37
you know, appearance, and especially when it came to flavors. He, he was really good at wanting, like, something authentic. Like, he craved authentic.
22:45
You would've thought he'd been to China the way he was like, "Oh, oh, Hop Kee." You know, "This is the place. This is authentic," you know? And so we were always on a hunt whenever we did eat out for, um...
22:56
And that's where at a young age I've always had restaurant experience, where I know that kinda like you don't bring children maybe at such young ages to the movie theaters, I've learned, as well as restaurants, 'cause you don't know if they're gonna just be, you know, slapping around forks and, and- [laughs]...
23:12
I guess all the restaurants we went to, they loved us. That's all we used to hear is, like, how great me and my brother was and, you know, how well... w- with no iPads. [laughs] Yeah, I know.
23:21
[laughs] And we were sitting at, um, at the restaurant every, whether it's a high chair to when we were able to feed ourselves, and my father really groomed us for that, whether it was, um, using chopsticks and everything.
23:35
He really wanted us to understand, um, everyone's culture through their food. And so that's where, you know, I had the ability to kinda tap into best of New York, is through his lens- Yeah... and through...
23:48
He, he wasn't into like, "Oh, give them a kiddie meal." Like, "They want chicken fingers," even though we at the Chinese restaurant. He was like, "No, girl. You gonna, [laughs] you gonna have, you gonna eat...
23:57
You can eat noodles. You can eat..." You know? So, um, I, I would say we also had very, um, adult palates and appetites- Yeah... at a very young age because of that early exposure.
24:08
And so I hope all the parents are, you know, who's listening, um, actually start allowing... You know, they'll, "But my kid don't eat any vegetables." I'm like, "You gotta be a little creative. Let's..."
24:18
You know, 'cause then they grow, they grow up to 40-year-old men who don't eat vegetables, I'm finding out. Who are a nightmare. Who are a night- That's a nightmare. Um- Yes. [laughs] No, I'm always...
24:27
I, like, bullied a friend once into learning how to use chopsticks. I was like-No one in their right mind is going to date you if you don't know how to use chopsticks. [laughs] So you have to learn.
24:39
You're either a civilian. Like, it's going to be... It's just gonna be embarrassing at some point, so you have to learn. [laughs] But I am a bit of, I am a bit of a bully about things like that. I just don't...
24:48
I'm trying to help other women, you know- Mm... to not go out with a guy who can't use chopsticks. I think, I think that's just like- That's what you... You j- [laughs] Okay, so you wanna start that. Yeah.
24:58
I actually like this idea- [laughs]... to be honest. Um, you know, I won't eat everything with a chopstick, you know- Yeah...
25:03
in there, but, um, we've, you know, in memory of my father, we've been going on his birthday, um, since he's passed recently.
25:10
And so, you know, it's kinda interesting to, like, see how, like, my cousins, if they like picking it up or not, or, [laughs] or if they're like, "No, I'm not even trying. Just- [laughs]... please send me the fork."
25:22
And then how many of us is really like, "Yeah, like, let's... Give us the chopsticks." Like, this is the opportunity to do it, right? Like, you- Yeah, yeah...
25:28
you know, unless you have your own set at home and you kinda just try with everything. But, you know, this is a...
25:32
We, we come here often of and to be able to, like, lock it down, so I'm trying to get back into it these days. Nice. So maybe I will get my fancy pair and actually start practicing with, you know, my Eggo waffles.
25:45
[laughs] Well, for you, is cooking a political act? You know, we talk so much about religion and food. I think that, you know, it, it is political because religion is, you know? Yeah.
26:00
So my appetite and my diet is very much connected to, um, to, to New York specifically, right? Um, so a, a sense of place, as we say in wine, so the terroir where I'm from. And then also, you know,
26:17
it was a rebellion to certain things, right? You know, so no pork on my fork as a restaurant tells you, you know, [laughs] you know, we're, we're not having it. We're not eating this way anymore, you know?
26:28
Uh, so when, you know, Minister Farrakhan, you know, talking about the creation of the bean pies and switching out, you know, the...
26:38
Going from sweet potato pie to bean pies, et cetera, like, all of that was political in a way where the stance was we deserve better, right? We don't have to eat any of the slave food anymore, quote-unquote, right?
26:52
And so in this case is maybe the rebellion is not so much about, like, the president in this case, but more, you know, we have a choice today. We don't have to eat what they left us, you know?
27:03
And so, um, you know, as they say, I's free, [laughs] you know, right? You, you free now, so let's, let's eat better. Let's eat different. And so that's question I wrestle with. Yeah.
27:17
I don't think I'm trying to be political by eating this way. I think that the more of us that I run into who eat the way I do, I, I recognize it, again, kinda creates this identity.
27:29
And so maybe there's a cultural connection and maybe even something political that we may stand for that stems from that diet, you know?
27:36
So that's something I'm recognizing as well the more, uh, adults that I'm meeting who are obviously saying that they grew up also not eating red meat and not eating pork, but not Muslim [laughs] or not any of the others religion.
27:49
So it kinda, it lets me know who they are kind of immediately just by understanding that. Um, and maybe that they make a connection to probably even how they think politically and- Yeah... how they were raised.
28:02
So, um, but no one... People just think we're, like you said, maybe just be, uh, being difficult. But there is some legacies here that started from something political. And so- Yeah...
28:14
um, it may be slightly rebellious, others would see. And so that is what I stand on. And so I think continuing to eat this way, I will do, and my children and anybody else.
28:25
And I hope to take some more things out my diet. I think that that's one thing. It doesn't end there. Um, but yeah, there is gonna be some things I'm just gonna have, I'm gonna have, I need a fix for. [laughs] Yeah.
28:37
[laughs] Um, and so I feel like I still probably won't take any, any names that's already out there given to us because of our, our diets.
28:45
I feel like that's something I'll be interested to see what comes up between the Black and brown communities that already have adapted this way, so. Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Cha. Well, thanks for having me
From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy
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