Paris Alston on Storytelling, Community & the Power of Belonging

Paris Alston is the host of GBH News Rooted. She was previously co-host of Morning Edition and The Wake Up podcast at GBH News. She has done live coverage of Massachusetts’ elections, the unveiling of the Embrace monument to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, the 2023 national NAACP convention, where she interviewed Vice President Kamala Harris, and the 2024 Celtics Championship Parade. She also does community-based reporting for her award-winning original series "A Walk Down the Block,” and produces regular segments for the original mental health series “Wake Up Well.

Nom Nom is the podcast of Enroot, a global storytelling movement that uses food, culture, and memory to build belonging across differences. Founded and hosted by Elika Dadsetan-Foley, a global social impact leader, Persian-American immigrant, and cultural connector, Enroot brings people together in ways that are simple, human, and deeply needed right now. We believe that food is one of the oldest technologies of connection. Every dish carries a history, every spice holds a memory, and every table is a place where community can grow. 

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@eat_enroot

media@enrootyourself.org 

enrootyourself.org 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to Nam Nom, a space where food becomes a doorway into memory, identity, and belonging. Here, we don't just talk about what's on the plate, we talk about the stories behind it, the people, the places, the moments that shaped us. Because sometimes a single dish can carry a whole lifetime, if not bring back memories of many generations. Food is one of the oldest ways humans remember, heal, and stay connected across generations, across distance, and even across loss. It holds love, it holds history, it holds home. And today's conversation lives right at that intersection. I am so honored to be joined by Paris Alston, storyteller, journalist, and host of GBH's Rooted, and owner of Periscope Productions, where she explores the deep and beautiful ways food keeps family culture and memory alive, and so much more. Paris brings such warmth, honesty, and humanity to her work. And today we're going to talk about what food carries beyond flavor and how it helps us stay rooted in who we are. Paris, I'm so happy to have you at the table. Welcome. Thank you so much for having me, Elico. I really appreciate it. So we're gonna start with a warm-up lightning round where you just say first words that come to mind without too much thought. You ready? Yes. Okay. So sweet or savory? Ooh, sweet. Morning coffee or late night tea?

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Late night tea.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

One smell from childhood. Ooh. One food you can eat forever.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Bad time. I like these answers.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Kitchen memory, loud and lively, or quiet and soulful? Quiet and soulful. Who taught you to cook?

SPEAKER_00 1:58

My mom. All the women in my family, but I love it.

SPEAKER_02 2:01

Yeah, I love that part of your story. And a food that instantly comforts you. Mac and cheese. Make you mac and cheese.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

Me too.

SPEAKER_02 2:11

So food holds so much more than taste, as you know, as you know, it holds memory, people, and pieces of who we are. So let's go ahead and dive a bit deeper if that's okay with you. I'm gonna ask you some questions and take your time to respond. Or yeah. Okay. So what food or meal feels like home to you?

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Hmm. What food or meal feels like home to me? I would say anything soul food related, but specifically mac and cheese, collard greens, candy gams, cornbread, and fried chicken.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

That sounds like me so hungry when I'm like, this is such a great question. And I'm like, I'm so hungry after. That sounds amazing. So you talk about this a little bit. Um so I'm gonna ask you kind of just for this perspective, what do your mama's kitchen and family table represent in your life?

SPEAKER_00 3:12

So for me, it's lineage, right? It's like recipes that have been passed down for generations and generations, and recipes that have been improvised upon. Like, um, I always my grandmother today is actually her heavenly birthday. Um my grandmother, Mary Louise Austin, um was one of one of the only women in my family of like an older generation who I actually got to cook with, in terms of like my other grandmother got dementia and passed away before I was really able to do that with her, um, or before I was like old enough to really recognize the the need to do that. But with my grandma Mary, I was able to do that and like record it and all these other things. And so I always like remember just how simple her cooking was, but it was so unmatched. Like, yes, like she was making mac and cheese with like you know, not a whole lot of ingredients, but nobody's mac and cheese tasted like hers. Um, same with pancakes, like she was always known for her pancakes, that's why I said that. But she um but it was so easy, like everything that she did, she's like, oh, you just do this and this and this. And so it is, I think, a testament to how especially like Southern Black American families like have the this this history of like there wasn't all not always a lot, like you didn't always have fancy ingredients to cook with. Um, and for much of right, like there were certain foods that I never tried until I got to college or like never knew what they were, but I still like remember my family's cuisine as being so distinct and so rich, um, even if it was quote unquote common. Um, so yeah, and I think like it's it's obviously like it's it's food is mostly passed down through women in a family, but I I was so um pleased. This past Thanksgiving, like we my family was all together at the beach, and we so we were together for days on end, and one of my male cousins was cooking, like he was making breakfast and he made the eggs just like my grandma used to make it. So I thought it was just powerful that, like, in that context, that recipe had been passed down to him um and kind of transcended those those normal lines that fall along gender.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

I got chills so many times as you were just sharing that, and it's so interesting. So I was thinking, like, this is part of like it. I could smell and taste the love that you're talking about in those dishes, but it made me for the first time be like, this is why it's called soul food. Like, yes, it's I mean, like, yeah, it just kind of came to life as you're sharing that. It was so clear. Beautiful. Well, kind of, you know, to your point of the traditions that were passed down or just generally how they're passed down. Like, what recipe or food tradition do you feel responsible for carrying forward?

SPEAKER_00 6:04

Oh my goodness, such a great question. Um, yeah, because I'm still trying to figure that out. It's like my cooking is experimental, like it is I do cook the staples, but not as much because it's like I don't have a whole family to feed here in Boston. Like it'd be different maybe if I was in North Carolina cooking for my family all the time, but um it's not like I'm cooking Sunday dinner at you know, this one o'clock in the day or the night before, whatever it may be. Yeah. Um, so I don't always make a lot of soul food at home, or if I do, it's like one dish at a time. But what I do is when I am cooking things, like even if it's like a recipe that I found on the internet or something, I am trying to add that soulful flavor to it. So, like, you know, black people always talk about just season until the ancestors say stop. It's like that's just so true for me because I'll be making stuff and I'm like, oh, they're adding in salt and pepper and like paprika. Like, no, no, no, no, no. We have to add a little bit of garlic powder. We need to throw in some like seasonal, some Morton seasonal, maybe a little Lowry's, whatever it may be, right? Just extra. Um, but it's like, but that's like part of the tradition, is just like, yeah, like you keep layering these things on until you get to the point where you're like, okay, this is exactly what I wanted it to be. Um, so I do like feel the responsibility to introduce, I guess to introduce my family to other sorts of foods in that way, but to still like make it um suitable to their palates. Um, but even still, like I think like being able to grow into cooking those, those more, those uh more ancestral dishes, so to speak, is like a rite of passage. Like the moment that I have to, I did make mac and cheese for my family on Thanksgiving, and I was like, I need to keep practicing. So the moment that I do it and I'm like, yes, like this is what I become known for, or like these are the dishes that are just come are second nature to me. That's when I'll I'll know that I have made it.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Oh my gosh, you just brought that to life. It's just yeah, I hear you. And I can totally picture the and a little bit more.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

Yes, and you know, just like uh teaspoon, how about three?

SPEAKER_02 8:16

You said that's too much. Yeah, no, I love that. So you've spoken about this a little bit as well, in terms of like the women in your family being the ones who kind of or women in the family bringing you know these recipes forward. What do you would you say that the women in your family taught you through food?

SPEAKER_00 8:35

Um, resourcefulness. Um sometimes like to the absolute extreme, right? Like using things to the very last drop. Um I have an aunt who will not like she, it's so hard for her to part with things. Um, and like, but it's a resourcefulness. It's just this thought of like, well, we use we use things until we can't use them anymore, because there was a time where like that was all that our ancestors had, and so we use them until we can't use them anymore. Um, for me, it's like, yeah, it's like also just thinking about, you know, how can I turn one dish into three others? And like I made, like I'll make grits from scratch, um, which is a dish that I have come to love making now because like you get the corn, it's so easy to make. And I actually the grits that I make, I discovered because I was trying to make like um Johnny cakes, like corn corn cakes, and I got to a point in the recipe and I was like, this is just grits. So now like those are the grits that I make, and um, and so like I made every time I make them, I always have a bunch left over, and I'm like, I don't want to throw these away. And so then I go and I'm like, we're gonna have shrimp and grits, and so I get like the you know, I get shrimp and I get add a little turkey sausage, all that kind of stuff, and the spices, and make like a cream sauce, and then we have shrimp and grits. Um, but then it's like, okay, well, the cream sauce, even that I made for that, I had a bunch of extra left over, and I made omelets and put the cream sauce on the omelette. So it's like you can keep sort of iterating on one meal after another. Um, and that's true. Like, I remember so many times where my mom would like make something stretch all week long just because like she was making new dishes time and time again. And so um, so I really appreciate that they passed that down to me. And my mom and my aunt are so good, they have like freezers full of stuff. I'm just like, when are you gonna cook all this stuff? But they always find a reason to use it.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

Oh, it's beautiful. As you were saying that, I was thinking, like in my culture, rice is such a staple. And you just make a lot, you never make a little bit of it. And to your point, it's like you reuse it, remake it, whatever, into like 15 dishes for the week. And I'm like, that I wonder where that came from. And it's never been shared as an intention around resourcefulness, and I'm sure it is, you know, and to some extent, making a lot because you never know who's coming over for a meal that day. So right, no, thanks for that. You've mentioned a bunch of different like foods now, so I'm curious what the answer to this would be if it's something you've already mentioned or something new. So I'm gonna just ask it anyway and just see. But if someone truly wanted to understand your story, what dish would you serve them and why?

SPEAKER_00 11:19

Oh, that's so interesting. Um, I would say, so I would say broccoli and cheese casserole. My mom makes the best broccoli and cheese casserole I've ever had. She puts Ritzcrackers on top, but like, you know, puts her own little special stuff in there. And like, um is that a secret recipe that you just like? No, it's she puts like velvet of cheese. I think it's on the internet, and I I'm such a like, okay, this is a side note, but I am always on the fence about recipe about like secret recipes, because on the one hand, like, yes, it's all great that people in our family have these things that they hold that only they know what it is, right? But the problem is that the moment that they cannot they can no longer articulate to you whether it's because they, you know, their memory has faded because this happened in my family, or like they've passed away, then the recipe is lost. So it's like you need to tell somebody what exactly you just want to do. Write it down, put it somewhere, like hide it, just some part, and like the chances that someone is gonna like take that recipe and go make a fortune off of it. I don't know how high those chances are, but anyway, that's my take. Um, so anyway, I know that she uses Velveeta cheese in it and she uses roots crackers. Um, and it is a dish that is so like loving and hearty, and it's surprising because it's like, you know, casserole, I don't know who necessarily always gets excited about casserole. Um, but whenever I know she's making that, I know there's going to be something good on the table and it always gets gone and it always um it is always consistent, like no matter, and that's the thing is like I this is why I need to practice because no matter, even if someone does make someone's recipe, it's it's so hard for you to get it exactly the same because it's like I'm not in her kitchen, I'm not using her pans, I don't have the same look right, like my hand is not touching the spoon the same way hers is, so it will never be exactly the same. But um, but that dish definitely represents, you know, it's it's still a soulful dish, but it has this sort of adventurous flair to it, and I think that is definitely representative of me.

SPEAKER_02 13:31

I love that. That's so great. And I love that it's it's bringing up memories for me. I was like, I think there was like a cream of mushroom type of casserole that my mom would make that I have not thought about in decades. I'm like, okay, that was really like it was like cozy, you know, more than anything else. Well, so you've mentioned a few times, you know, whether it's your your grandmother from your mother's side or just, you know, in general, forgetting memory or um recipes. So I kind of keeping that in my mind as I'd asked this, and maybe you'll take it differently, and that's totally fine. But have you ever tasted something and and suddenly felt like someone you love, you know, even if they're not there anymore?

SPEAKER_00 14:12

Yeah, so I was in Barcelona for the first time, and I tasted um what's the oh my god, the name is the potato. No, it's not batata sprava, but it's the one, it's like a tart kind of tortilla, yes, the potato tortilla. Yeah, yes, it's potatoes, right?

SPEAKER_02 14:33

I don't think potatoes and eggs and like onion, like a portata, so yummy.

SPEAKER_00 14:38

So good. So I the first time I had that, I was like, oh my god, this tastes just like squash casserole. And I had had squash casserole growing up, like my mom, my grandma, my aunts would make it. And so it was like one of those things, like to this day as an adult, I don't really see squash casserole anywhere. Nobody's really making it, but um, but it just was like such a I'm like here I am all the way in Spain, which is a long way from like Silar City, North Carolina, which is where my family's from. And I'm like, I'm tasting something that tastes very similar to that and immediately transports me back. So I was I was really grateful for that moment.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

Wow. And now I want to try a squash.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:21

Um, so kind of to maybe a similar extent and different. Have you ever experienced a moment where food helped like repair grief or the distance or identity or you know, just even heal?

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Yes. Oh, let me think about that. A few things are coming to mind. I mean, I just think about the times when like anytime that I've been sick or that I haven't felt well, like friend, you know, there's always soup. Like people are always gonna bring you soup to to comfort you. Um, and like like it goes from, you know, my mom and the women in my family making me like chicken noodle soup, vegetable soup, um, to even like a friend has, you know, friends have bought me like pho when I'm sick. And so it's like, oh, that no matter what the flavor or like where the the source, like the the source of this cuisine comes from, the feeling is still the same.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

Um, and just like the the feeling behind the gesture is still the same of like you were trying to bring me warmth at this time that I'm feeling pretty pretty crappy.

SPEAKER_02 16:23

Yeah, like the intentionality behind it. It's really powerful. Yeah, you're right. I think you've spoken a little bit about um food helping heal like generational wounds. What does that mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Hmm food helping heal generational wounds. Yeah, I mean, I think it's like recognizing that the food that we consume tells stories, right? It's like no recipe, I mean, most recipes that are in your family are in your family because someone else taught it, right? Like somebody taught you that. Um and you know, like that doesn't mean it definitely doesn't mean that like everything, everything was all happy all the time, right? Like some foods um can evoke trauma, and like sometimes there are stories behind dishes that like it's like, yeah, the person who used to make this was like a terrible person, or like it just had a lot of flaws, or like had a lot of um things that they were dealing with and that they projected onto other people, um, you know, but like they sure couldn't make a good pot roast, right? And so like you remember that about that person. Um, or I would even say too, like, I think learning, you know, learning not to reject certain foods. So this is another hot take that I have about pork. And I want to be very clear, right? People don't eat pork for several reasons religious reasons, health reasons, whatever it may be. And I wholeheartedly respect that. Like, there have been parts of times in my life where I have abstained from eating pork for various reasons as well. Um at my age now, at like at this point in my life, I kind of look at it as like, look, like we reject things like, and I'm specifically talking about people in black communities, like, and a part of it is like we reject pork as a some some people are like no pork, right? Because it's considered dirty or like it is um, you know, it was forced upon us. Like we black Americans ate pork because it was the last thing that we were able to get, like it was considered scraps, right? And so, but out of it we made chitlins, and like I love chitlins, and I don't need to eat them all the time, but um every now and then, like I want somebody to give me a bowl, a bowl of chitlins, and it is a it is symbolic for me in terms of like yes, this is a food that we that came out of like trauma and struggle and it was forced upon us. Um, but like we really turned this thing around and made it something beautiful. Um and so I kind of always like joke with people. I'm like, y'all, you know, like y'all are rejecting your ancestors by not eating pork. But I but I totally get it, and I I think it's like um, you know, it's like one of those things where it's a mindfulness that comes when you eat certain foods. It's like, yes, okay, maybe I'm gonna have a little bit of this, but also recognize that like there's a lot of history behind this food, or there's a lot of um, you know, there might be some tension here.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

That is such a deep both and I had not heard that before. Culturally, we don't eat pork, and I'm vegetarian, so I don't and pigs are my favorite animal, so I don't eat yes, they're so cute. I did not and they're smart and they're clean, and it's actually interesting that because culturally similarly, like they're dirty, like they're such naturally clean animals that anyway. So I really appreciate you sharing that because I hadn't heard that culturally um at all before.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

So it's a newer shift, like I think probably in the last you know, like newer or younger generations of not just black Americans, but I think black people, Africans of the diaspora diasporically African people um interpret this differently, right? And like because I and think and there's also a huge movement right now with black veganism, and like and this isn't new, like you think about the Rastafarians in Jamaica, like this has always been part of um the diaspora as well. And so it is kind of like, but like you go, like I go home, and the concept of not eating pork to some people in my family, so they're like, What are you talking about? Like, I said, like, no ham hock in the green, like what? Um, but I but it's no, but it's like it it will at over time people do adjust because like I rec I notice now my mom puts smoked turkey in her collard greens instead of you know, so it's like it's this ebb and flow, and I try to like just recognize that for certain generations um it is integral, and it's not because it's not because they're dirty or because they like don't I mean, yes, like are there chronic health issues in black communities because of the again the foods that we have been forced to eat? 1000%, but I don't think that anyone is necessarily continuing to do that out of ignorance. Sometimes I think it's it is a an ancestral thing.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

That's yeah, that's really interesting. And I even as we were talking, I was thinking, well, of course, you know, the all the intersectionality is within a community as well. I mean, there are so many Jews who are black, there are so many Muslims who are black, and you know, there's just it's to say to say it blanketly, you know, I think that's missing many of the intersectionalities that exist as well. So yeah, I really appreciate that. Um you could you've could you answered this already, I think, to some extent, but you know, in case there's anything else you want to add and you don't need to. If you don't. How does cooking help keep history alive?

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Yeah, I mean, I think it's um similarly just like sharing recipes. Like, I think it's I I truly think that recipes are wealth, right? Like if if they weren't, then why would we hide like why would there be secret ingredients? Right? That there's some wealth behind that. Um and but I think the wealth is the history, and it's the like, okay, you know, someone may have added an ingredient because you never know, like maybe they were, maybe they met someone somewhere along the way who was from a different culture who introduced them to saffron, for example, and now they put saffron in a dish that typically wouldn't have it, but that's the secret ingredient. Um, and so it does, and it like they carry stories, and because a lot of times when you're eating things, people are telling stories about the people who made them. And so um, like I think about my maternal grandmother's dressing, which is a nobody has been able to replicate it because no one got the recipe. And people try and try and try. Um, and we haven't gotten there yet, but it's just like, yeah, like even if we never recreate it, we all know like she made some of the best dressing that we ever had, and so we can continue to to uplift her name um in that way.

SPEAKER_02 23:20

Absolutely, just every time you'll try, it's invoking her memory. So beautiful. Are there any actual food traditions that you carry? You know, you know, beyond ingredients necessarily, but just food traditions.

SPEAKER_00 23:36

Um, yeah, I would say like uh prayer is a big one for me, like blessing the food. Um it's like I'm like, you know, I go to church and stuff. I don't think I'm a super religious person. I'm more spiritual than anything. It it fluctuates. I don't know. And some days I'm really religious, some days I'm not. But um, but I say all that to say that it is no matter where I am, even if I'm talking to someone, I will sort of check out for a moment to make sure that I just acknowledge and like express gratitude for what's in front of me. Um and also acknowledge that there are some people who don't have food in front of them, right? And so that's part of that's like a ritual for me. Um, I would also say, yeah, like sitting down, like in my home, at least, um, like whether it's like having friends over or partner or my partner or whatever, just like sitting down, setting the table, because that's not something that happened for me when I grew up. Like I was a 90s kid. We ate so many meals in front of the TV or just like running around, whatever. And it was great. Like it was, I loved that part of my childhood, but I always wondered, like, especially when I would go to a friend's house or like watch stuff on TV, um, like, wow, like it must be really special to like sit down with your family and like set the table and everyone's eating together. And so um, we do more of that now and like as as we're older and adults and stuff, but this like, yeah, just something that I try to incorporate. Um, and I love like having nice dishes and like just like really, you know, nice table settings and stuff like that. I think is very special. Uh-huh. There and there is one I'll add that I haven't quite incorporated yet, but it um so my mom is a she bakes cakes a lot. Like she's real, she's not she's a great cook, but she's more known for the cakes that she bakes. Um, like any kind of cake, you name it. And so my mom and my aunt were telling me how when they were younger, um, because my aunt's always like, y'all are so spoiled. Like when we were younger, there was no just going and our days. Yeah, she's like, there's no way we can go and just cut ourselves a slice of cake anytime we wanted. Like the thing was, if their mom made a cake, it would sit in its rightful place, and she was the only one who could go and cut the cake. And it's interesting. And like they, and it was only at like a certain time, and so it was so interesting. And like, um, I'm not saying that I would exactly do that, but I think just like the idea of like having a cake on display is is something I aspire to do as I as I settle further into my aesthetic life.

SPEAKER_02 26:18

I can totally see that being a thing. Like, yes, like hold on a moment, please.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

Right, right. Would anybody want some cake?

SPEAKER_02 26:27

I will slice it for you and bring it up.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

Exactly.

unknown 26:29

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 26:31

And I really appreciate you bringing up just like prayer um and gratitude around food because it's you know, when I first was thinking about the concept of Enroot, it was just such a food brings people together. And so I was really thinking about it from a connection standpoint. And I think in time and just the world that we live in right now, I am so often reminded of how food can also be rep weaponized, you know, and held from people and held, you know, yeah, intentionally. And then there, of course, there are folks who don't have as much as others. So I really just appreciated that reminder, and I think that's really powerful. So thank you.

SPEAKER_00 27:10

Of course, yeah. And I think it's just a like, um, I went, I did this this land, food, sovereignty farming program in Cuba, actually. And it was incredible, so eye-opening. But part of what it reminded me of was that exact thing, like whether it's Cuba, whether it's Gaza, whether it's you know, the streets of you know, any inner city, just the ways in which something that should be so abundant can be restricted. And like even the concept of paying for food, right? I'm just like, what? When you really think about it, this is crazy. Um it's a basic human right, and like it divorces people from their food supply. Like, and you even I could get so deep into like just the concept of you know going to the grocery store and like people not understanding exactly where food comes from, but also the fact that in the US, it's not like you can't in certain places you can, but you go down the street and like there's no food growing on trees, there's no food food deserts are very intentionally placed, absolutely. Yeah, and like I gotta pay $60 to go pick apples, right? Like, and it's an it's a it's a like aesthetic thing when it's like but these actually they just grow, so why can't I just come and pick them?

SPEAKER_02 28:27

Right. Um belong to anyone, it's of the yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

And it I actually last summer I started gardening and I absolutely I love growing food, love growing things. Um, but I was very intentional about like, well, look, I'm growing stuff that I can't consume all these tomatoes. Like I could try, but part, but the fun of it was just seeing the things grow, and now that they're here, anybody can take them. And so I was trying to be very like vocal with my neighbors, or like just even when I would pick the food, like just leaving it out and saying, if anybody needs this, just come get it. It's here. Um, so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:05

That builds community just like automatically by sharing. Yeah, absolutely. That's yeah, that's great. Um, you were mentioning how being a 90s kid, you then always sit around the table. Um, and so do you think a table or sitting around a table can create belonging between people who were once strangers, especially?

SPEAKER_00 29:29

Yeah, I do, I do. Um I there's this event series called The Jar. I don't know if you're familiar with it. This is Guy Ben Aaron's um project or whatever it may one would call it. And um, and that was one time that I distinctly remember like being in a room full of strangers, and then we all sat at a table and we got to know each other because that was obviously like the the function of the event, but there were questions and all these other things that allowed us to do that. Um, and we were eating a meal that someone had prepared um in their home, which I think is like just a huge thing. Anytime anybody invites you in your home to sit down and eat is a big deal. Um, because that's very intimate. And so I think it that does it goes a long way and it builds community. And it's like even if there's no like point in your day where you're with people, the moment that you are able to sit and share a meal with them, you are part of something and it goes a very long way.

SPEAKER_02 30:29

I totally agree. And it's funny you you mentioned the jarks. I had been to one of their events, but it wasn't one of the ones at the houses, and so that's part of what I really want to have in Route do is like host dinners or meals for folks to come together and you know build connection because I have such an epidemic of loneliness right now, and it's the hope of really connecting folks as much as possible. So I love that I forget that they are also doing the home ones. That's just like a aside. Um, I think that's so powerful.

SPEAKER_00 30:57

Yeah, and there's also um another example of I think of when when you mentioned that is uh dinner on blank, if you're familiar with that. It is um, I've never been to one, but it's like this big dinner, everybody dresses up in white, and you like take a I think I believe you pack a picnic and you go and set up at these tables that are put in like city streets. And so everyone is like the idea is like it's a very elegant event, but like because everyone's in all white and it's very it's dinner en blanc, yeah. So it's like all of that, but you're sitting here and you're at this table with other people who have decided to come and commune in public and have a meal together.

SPEAKER_02 31:38

Yes, yes, I haven't heard of that one. I will definitely look it up. I had but that reminds me of the longest table, and I don't know. I think have you heard of that?

SPEAKER_00 31:46

It I think it started but I can imagine New York City, as you can imagine.

SPEAKER_02 31:50

And I don't know if that happened during the pandemic, but it was like everyone just bring a table and some chairs out on the street, you know, and they build the longest table, and you just everyone brings something, and it's you know, everything everyone brings something doesn't mean you're just like buying a bag of chips at the grocery store, right? Like everyone's putting like love and heart into a meal that they're bringing out and sharing with the community. I think that's just that's like that's exactly the type of thing I want to see more of everywhere because we we all need it. Yeah. Um, so let's talk about rooted a little bit. When you talk about rooted, what does that mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 32:25

Oh, for me, I mean, obviously it's my job, so it brings up a lot of different things, but it's but when I think about truly like the intention and the behind this show and behind the concept, it's it's it is bringing people together. And it's like we always talk about it as it being a destination of like okay, whether it's every Tuesday at 7:30, every Tuesday night at 7:30, or it's anytime on YouTube or Spotify, Instagram or TikTok, like we are a destination for people to for people to get black into like culture and joy. And you don't have to be black to do that. Um, and it's just like we because we make an effort to write to say, you know, like those things are for everybody. Like we all need to be, especially living in America, we all need to be aware of that experience. Um and we try to have fun. Like, yes, there's a lot of heavy things that are happening in the world, but what grounds us, what roots us, what keeps us rooted is the joy and is the the things that we're able to celebrate.

SPEAKER_02 33:28

That's beautiful, and I really appreciated seeing that that was developed. I think that's such an important to your point and such an important space for so many. So thank you. Anyway, we're moving toward the closing. So a couple questions for you in that regard. Um okay, so if you could cook one meal for the people who shaped you, who would be at that table? What would the dish be? And can you imagine where that would be?

SPEAKER_00 33:55

Wow. Yeah, so I I would start out of order. Um so there's a scene in the the reimagined color purple. This was the one that came out a few years ago. Um and the but like I think it's the last scene, and they do this big picnic and they're out uh around this big, I think it's like an oak or an weeping willow tree. Um, they set the tables up around that. So that's where I would put mine around the tree in North Carolina, um, and have everyone come out on like a really nice spring day and have the meal. And who would be around it? My family, like my parents, my brothers, um, as many cousins as I could fit, and my aunts and uncles, um, you know, my grandmothers if they were here. Um, and who else? I would also put uh there's a woman named Miss Troxler who was such a fixture of my life growing up. I always like just say she's my godmother just for the sake of like shortening the whole explanation of the relationship, but she was a is continues to be a family friend of ours. And she I have so many memories of um just being in her kitchen and she also was a caterer. So I would like there were so many times where whether it was me or my brothers or her kids or just like kids in our community were with her at some catering event and she was putting us to work, like it just that was a lot of early training that I got in hosting and in like you know, like entertaining. Um, so she would 100% be there and definitely be helping me set up. Um because that's just in her nature. But um, yeah, so I would have what would I have at the table? I would make this meal actually that I made not too long ago that was a combination of the whole improv improvisation and just like you know, throwing things together and making something really amazing. So I had made um, I was playing around with making the corn cakes because I was I was for some reason I was so fixated. I was like, I really want to get this recipe down. And I was like, well, what am I gonna eat with it? And I said, uh, well, what if I put like a piece of fish, it was Branzino fish, um, on top of it, and then I glazed some carrots because I had a bunch of carrots and a bunch of walnuts. I was like, I'm gonna make glazed carrots with these walnuts. Um, so I did that, and I had also had some um coleslaw, and I just put it, I'd like layered the corn cake, the fish, the carrots, and the coleslaw all together, and it was just like it was so good. And it was also just this blend of flavors that felt like okay, the corn cakes were very much in that like soul food ancestral thing um depart like category, but then the fish, like especially because it was Branzino, I was like, oh, this is the part of me that has like traveled far and experienced like all of these global cuisines and had had the privilege of doing that, and so like that's that part. And the carrots definitely remind me of like that 90s upbringing of just like this is something we're just throwing in the oven and like you know, jazzing up a little bit. Um, but they're like really good and it's simple, but but you know, really fulfilling. And then the coleslaw is also like a very much a southern thing. Um, and so yeah, it just all came together really nicely. And I would love to share that meal with my family because I think they would be very, very pleasantly surprised.

SPEAKER_02 37:26

And it's so like you're such an artiste, like the fact that you like thought to put all that together, that sounds so good. And to your point, like it really I felt like you brought so much of yourself and like your roots in, and like today, today's version of yes, 100%.

SPEAKER_00 37:42

Yeah, and that's really all it is because like when I think about my children and grandchildren and so on and so forth, like I do want them, I want them to still know, like, I want them to have those recipes that I had growing up. And like, even if because I was a very like old, I'm still an old soul, but even as a kid, like there are stories, and I remember many of them of me like crying to my grandma because I wanted peas and she didn't have them. And it's like, what child do you know who's like craving peas? Or like she used to, you know, she used to give me like sauerkraut and like hot dogs, she would cut up the hot dogs and the sauerkraut and give me a biscuit, and it was the best thing to me. And but it just was like what I was used to eating, and um, because that's what that's what she made, and like I was at her house, and so I really want you know my descendants to have that feeling too, um, but to also like be introduced to these these worldly flavors.

SPEAKER_02 38:38

Yeah, no, that's great, that's beautiful. What do you hope listeners remember about food and family?

SPEAKER_00 38:50

Um, just that it's it's abundant. There is truly never a shortage. Um, especially like practically, right? We waste so much food and we we cut off so much of ourselves from community, um, thinking that it's whatever. I don't know what it's in service to, but I think we kind of have all been a little um hoodwinked into thinking that that is fulfilling. And right, yeah, we all need our alone time and we can't all eat everything, you know, stuff expires, right? Like we can't all eat everything. But I think that when we recognize how when we when we recognize the power of resourcefulness and we recognize like what it really means to consume intentionally, like we can do a much better job um of just like opening our tables up metaphorically, right? And like just saying, like, look, and it's small things, it's like with food, if I have food that I know I'm not gonna eat, it's either getting composted or it's going to a community fridge most of the time because it's like someone else can eat this. Um, and I'm not doing anybody a service by just throwing it in a trash can. Um and similarly, right? Like when I have food, or I'd like to take it to someone to a friend or something, I'm like, hey, you know, I have this stuff that I made, I'm bringing it over to you because it's just like a way of sharing. And so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:18

Yeah, I really appreciate you bringing that up. Because I I do think so much of this divisiveness that we're seeing and the avoidance that we're seeing, and so much of it is we're living out of this deficit scarcity mindset, right? And just to be reminded that there is more. If I gain, you're not losing, you know, we can all gain together, and that really connects so much, and that's been something on my mind a lot lately. So I really just appreciate you naming that. Is there anything I didn't ask that you would like to share, you know, or a piece of you or your family or or work-wise, like something you want to plug?

SPEAKER_00 40:59

I mean, whatever you might yeah, I mean, yeah, definitely always plugging rooted, um, you know, and I would just say to like whenever I'm always looking for ways to preserve family history in general, but like, like I said, with recipes, I think that is a big part of it. Um, and so like if there are, I don't know if you're thinking about this, like ways that people can can cement those things and share them and write them down, or just like getting people to write stuff down. It's so important. It's so important. Um, that's just one thing that I would leave off with. But otherwise, I think we covered a lot.

SPEAKER_02 41:34

And I really appreciate you mentioning that too, because I think about how many cultures are oral cultures and we've shared and passed on stories or recipes and other things. And it is in such a I mean, like if I call my mother right now or my grandmother and said, How do you make X? They would just like say the ingredients and I'd be like, So how much? Right. And they would be like, uh, I don't that that much or this much, or like this, you know. And it's just because you've done it for so long and someone showed you, like you were there, they showed you how to do it. It's not like, you know, my mother wrote something down for me to learn how to do it. I watched her enough times, so I make it now. And so when someone asks me, it's been a um, I have no idea how much. Teaspoon? What's a teaspoon? Um, but I similarly want to like write things down, and that's something I actually started with my mom during the pandemic because she was stuck with me um in New England. She was visiting from California, and I was like, can we just pretend to make a recipe? And as a vegetarian, I'm like, I will make the vegetarian version of all of the Persian food that has meat in it. So it was a fun project, but again, we neither of us have been able to figure out how to write down how the actual ingredients and the amounts of every ingredient. So yes, I think it's really important as a way to pass down for folks to write down. Um, and like why it's important, you know, it's both and the it's the how it's the content and the process. It's like, what is it we're doing? And then how do we do it? Um Right.

SPEAKER_00 43:04

Yeah. And it's like it, I mean, the the grandmother I mentioned who I cooked with, yeah, like I filmed the whole thing. Like I was just like, grandma, is it okay if I record? She's like, Yeah, whatever. And so I have all those videos now. So it's not even it's the recipes, and like I can play those whenever I'm trying to make stuff, but then it's like her, it's like all the little jokes that she was making in between, and like all her mannerisms, which are so like wonderful to have, like on a you know, on a when I'm missing her on her birthday, right? Like, it's great to be able to revisit those things.

SPEAKER_02 43:39

Yeah, no, that's really powerful. What was her name? Her name was Mary Louise. So happy birthday, Mary Louise. Thank you. Yeah, that's and her voice, I'm sure. So you keep her voice.

SPEAKER_00 43:52

Yeah, she was she was my my grandma Mary was so funny because she just was like, she was quiet, like very mild manner and very sweet, but she like when you would least expect it, she would just make like an inappropriate show or something. She was like, What are you talking about?

SPEAKER_02 44:10

So yeah, that's awesome. Grandmas are the best. They get away with they can get away with grandparents, I think, can get away with anything with with that. Yeah. Well, parents think you like truly, truly kind of like conversations like this are exactly why nom nom exists. You know, it's to remember that food is never just food, it's so much memory and lineage and love and survival, and you know, sometimes healing. And what I'm taking with me from today is just how deeply food holds people, you know, the the way a recipe can carry a grandmother's hands and her voice, a family story, a history that refuses to disappear. Um, and how even across time and and change, all the changes, the table can still bring us back together, whether it's the table in front of the TV or around the dining table. Um in root, we often say that food is one of the oldest technologies of belonging, and today felt like living proof of that. So just thank you so much for sharing your stories, your heart, and your you with us.

SPEAKER_00 45:14

Thank you. Thank you. It's been such a pleasure. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 45:17

I really enjoyed that. Thanks.