Keegan-Michael Key Defends Cheddar Sour Cream Chips Like His Life Depends On It

0:00Your call has been forwarded to voicemail. Hi, this is Zoe Deutsch.

0:05Keegan-Michael Key:And Nick Robinson. Our brand new movie, Voicemails for Isabel, is all about those little moments that feel like the universe is looking out. Feeling homesick, then your sister calls. Hearing that perfect song exactly when you need it. Please stay. Sometimes life rigs things in our favor. Like learning about your new favorite rom-com, Voicemails for Isabel. Only on Netflix, June 19th. I can have a margarita anytime? Yes. I can't have a beer anytime. I get it. Do you know what I mean? It's like the salad of drinks. It's just like refreshing. It's the salad of drinks. You know what I mean? Hi, and welcome to Snacks, the show where we talk to your favorite stars about their craziest food obsessions.

0:49My name is Joe Saltz, and I'm the editorial director of Delish. And today, we have an amazingly prolific comedian. He's one half of the very famous show Key & Peele, but you'll also recognize him from lots of television commercials and as the face of FIFA in Casamigos. Please welcome Keegan-Michael Key. We'll be right back.

1:14First of all, soccer or football? Well, I say football. I have a European parent. My stepmother is from the U.K. Okay. And so as a young guy, it was kind of drilled into me. This why she goes, why would you call? It wasn't about soccer so much as it was about why in the world do we call American football football? And so I've always kind of you call it soccer. You have to. But I have no problem making that transition when I go overseas. Yes, I absolutely adore soccer. I played soccer in high school. I wasn't good enough to play in college, but I love it. I adore it. What's your team in the UK?

1:49Liverpool. I'm a Liverpool supporter because my stepmother's from Northern Ireland and lots of people. People always say about Liverpool, they go, Liverpool, the second biggest city in Ireland. So Liverpool. And then my grandmother, my biological maternal grandmother was of Belgian descent. Oh. So I root for the Belgian national team. I see. Okay. And yeah. Yeah. So that's my national team. Deep roots. Deep roots. Deep roots. But I follow everything. Okay. So because my son is a big soccer fan. I'll just try not to. We'll just say something. I'll try to pose. I won't try to pose and pretend, but, and Man City is his team.

2:27Man City and Man U are my two boys. I think my youngest. They're rivals. Oh, no. Well, I think my oldest established Man City, and then my middle son just picked Man U just to tip him off. Just the contrary. Just because it's his brother. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. But we did, I did attend my first soccer game this past year. I went to a Fulham Man City game this last year. Was it at Fulham? At Fulham. It's a nice ground. I've never seen a game there, but it's cozy. Totally cozy. And what I feel like Americans don't understand is like how part of the fabric, the soccer, like it's in the town. It's such a part of the community.

3:04It's such a part of the community. Yeah. And also the fact that so many people from the town played soccer on the teams, you know, decades and decades and decades ago. And now everybody, you know, every team is international. There's somebody from Senegal and somebody from Norway and somebody from Iceland. But back then. But it's a home team. It's like a hometown team. Yeah, it's a completely different kind of fandom. So do you eat while you watch soccer? Like, is soccer an eating sport? Oh, yes. Well, soccer is an eating sport sometimes because sometimes you can kind of lie into it. You can just lie into it and go, okay, everybody's playing a little bit of defense right now.

3:40I'm going to eat a little. I'm going to get some food in my face. I am a pacer, though. So sometimes I have to eat, like, it's hard. I'm not good. You're not a bull. Most people are eating. You're not a delivering from the bull. I'm a up and like walk. I have to walk around the room like, why in the world would they go with a 4-3-3? This is really good. He's going to go with a 4-3-3? I see. What are we doing? You guys just going to park the bus all day and just be on a low block? So how could you have a bull in your hands through that? But then I eventually I'll sit down. Right. And sometimes a game, you don't even know, you intrinsically understand that the game is going to be a slower game or the game's going to be a high-scoring game.

4:17Yes. And then sometimes it's a genuine surprise. But I like to eat. I like to lay... I do this a lot. I walk a lot. But let's not... I don't want you to think I'm always pacing. I get a little of this going on. You got to... Okay, feed up on the sofa. You got a little bit of trickery. You want to get a little of that going on. Yeah. So I'm a big... Here's my thing. I like a dip. I love a dip. I love a dip. I love a seven-layer dip. Yep. I love a guac. Guacamole. is the great who invented guacamole okay i have something to tell you which is the best thing i'm allergic to avocado so i can't eat i used to be able to and then it was what did you do in a past life i don't know but it's a late in life allergy late in life it just came up like in my 30s and now i'm allergic to so i can't eat guac but i can appreciate people who love it because i used to love it there's really not much better in the world and this is if i'm entertaining okay so You've got to have guacamole.

5:11Make as much guacamole as you can. Here's the one thing at the table that's going to be gone. The guacamole is going to be gone. Do you make your own? I make my own. My wife and I make. We will make our own. We always kind of make. Some people have onion allergies. Sometimes you do the guac without onions. I can't do it without onions. I put salsa in it, onions. And then you've got to have one of these. A margarita. Casa Migos margarita. Casa Migos margarita. That's my jam. That's my jam. It's my J to the A to the M. And here's the thing. Because you get... Also, here's another thing I want to tell you.

5:48If you live in a world where you have bipolar taste buds and you like things that are sweet and savory at the same time, that's why this is my drink. Because you have to have salt on the rim or it's not even a marker. I don't really understand not having salt. Sugar on a rim? You won't tolerate a sugar rim? Sugar rims are fine. That's not for me, though. That's fancy. That's overkill to me. I get it. Because here's the thing about a margarita is that you get everything. You get tart. Yeah. You get all. Maybe you don't get umami. Salt. Yeah. Well, I guess salty. It could be a little. I guess that's true.

6:20You could. But I think you get every single. You get every taste bud. Yes. Yes. So you get tart. You get sweet. Yes. You get it's refreshing, which is not a taste bud. And then you also get the salty. So you get the savory and the sweet at the same time on the drink. Where do you stand on purity of flavor? Or do you like any of those flavor? like fruity margarita switch-ups. I'm a traditional. I'm a purist. I want, I want, now it doesn't necessarily matter the age of the tequila, but I just want it to be mostly tequila. This is, somebody perfected this years and years and years ago. I know. I'm, I'm very traditional.

6:55It's like, you know, people go, you love soccer. And sometimes I don't know as much about, I won't know as much about a league now as I'll know what they did in the fifties. Right. Totally. So I'm, or, or, or, you know, who won the first world cup, you know, Uruguay. That, um, uh, the tournament was held in Uruguay. He knows everything. He knows everything. Which is the capital of Uruguay. Please. Anyway, um, and then they went again in 1950, even though they played in Brazil. They beat Brazil in the final. We're intending to not talk about snacks at all. No, no, I'm sorry. I'm back. I'm back to this.

7:26I want to try this. We're going to try this. Yeah, we should try it. Cheers. Cheers. Salud. We're having a little, listener, we're having a sip. That's good. And here's the thing.

7:35Keegan-Michael Key:You can, you can, it's versatile. Not as much ice. Yeah. Get more tart. Yeah. More ice. Not more refreshing. Different level of refreshing. Frozen or rocks? I'm rocks. I'm a rocks person. Okay. I'm very, very traditional. Where do you live full time? L.A.? I live in New York full time. Oh, New York. I live in New York, yes. Because I think of L.A. as like a very margarita town. L.A. is a margarita town. Also, by the way, this kind of like larger, thick kind of rock glass. Yes. That's my situation. Hefty in the hands. I don't love the... No, no. You don't like a sculptural fish bowl. I don't need blown glass.

8:11You know what I mean? I don't – fish and – that's not me. I take this very seriously. I know I'm like probably seem like I'm being facetious, but I actually care deeply about the construction of your perfect drink. It really does matter to me. I appreciate that. It really does matter. Well, because I think people have strong opinions about this stuff. That's why I feel like this show is so fun. Some people like the sugar rim and they want it to be spicy and that's – and to each his own. But I like it very, very classic, very traditional. So you live in New York now. I live in New York, yes. And first of all, will we catch you at a FIFA game?

8:43You absolutely will. I am going to a match that I'm extremely thrilled about. I'm going to see Morocco play Brazil. So to be able to see, first of all, just see Brazil, one of the great staples, Brazil, by the way, the team that's won the most World Cups, to see Brazil play Morocco, which is one of the most World Cups. one of the new kind of hottest international teams. That's the perfect place, especially in a hot day. This is the perfect drink for the perfect place. I'm going to go see a game at MetLife and then have a Casamigos Margs. I like how that's called Margs. Margs, great nickname for a drink, great nickname for a lady.

9:23Margs and Margs. Margs. I want to meet a woman named Margaret who's drinking a Casamigos Margarita. I think that would just make my day. We can arrange that. I feel like Casamigos could arrange that for you. Can you guys arrange that for me? I got one of these. That's from the Casamigos army. Yes. I'll tell you, Brazil and Morocco are actually training near my house and staying near my house. Are they really? Yeah, I live in western New Jersey. Really? Yes. And so I just found this out. My son told me that one of them is training at the private school not far from me and staying at a hotel in our town.

9:55Another one is staying on the other side and training at it. I mean, so I might—maybe I'll bump into them. Maybe they'll bump into them. drinking Casamigos margaritas at the bar in our town. I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, if you see Hakimi, say hello for me. Oh, I wouldn't know who that is. I wouldn't know if I saw him. I'm the opposite of knowing anything about soccer. It's all good. That's perfectly fine. Okay, so you live in New York City. I want to know. I actually want to know, sports fans, NBA? I'm an NBA sports fan. What's your team? The Detroit Pistons, which, oh, by the time this airs, I think all my anger will be gone.

10:30Sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm a Knicks fan. Okay. I'm an Eastern Conference fan. Okay. But I live in New York. I love the Knicks. Do you go to Knicks games? I do. I go to Knicks games quite a bit. Do you eat during Knicks games? I do not. I don't eat during the game. I can't. It's a lot of up. It's like I'm in church. This is a poison in my family. It's a lot of up and down. I can't eat at the games. I can have a drink at the games. Okay. Okay. Which is weird because the drink spills more than a foot. You know what I mean? But I. But will not eat. But I can't. Okay. I can't. Especially while we're recording this right now is during the Eastern Conference Finals.

11:02I know. I can't. Look, I'm just knocking stuff over. I know. You're a little stressed. I'm a little stressed. I get it. And it's only game one. I understand. Like literally tonight's game one. Anyway, NBA. Yep. Huge NFL fan. Who's your team? Detroit Lions. So you're from Detroit. I'm from Detroit. We're going to get there in one second. So Detroit Lions, do you eat during football games? I do eat during football games. Okay. What's your snack? During a football game, a big hot dog guy. And by the way, hot dog guy, not a ketchup guy. You got a mustard, this jammer. Okay. Then you go to the other side of the dog and you relish that jammer.

11:34Oh. And then you snack it down. From the snack shack at the Ames? Yes, at Ford Field in Detroit because I'll fly to Detroit. They have good food there? They have very good food. In fact, one of my best friends runs a restaurant and they have a kiosk in their place and they make really good barbecue. Okay, noted. But here's the thing about a hot dog. Hot dog also goes with a margarita. Yeah. There's something about... Salty. It's the salty again. Smoky. Smoky. Tarty. Do you know what I mean? I get it. I'm with you on this. You know what I mean? Relish. The relish, the lime. And the mustard, too.

12:09But the mustard helps as well. I get it. Okay. So then baseball. I like baseball. I do. But basketball and football are my favorite American sports. I'm also... This is really random. Please. I'm an enormous Australian rules football fan. Oh. And I'm an enormous cricket fan. Wow. I love cricket. Wow. I love cricket. Can you eat during cricket games? 100%. Is that like, that's a thing? Yeah. I mean, well, there's different types of cricket. Test cricket, which is what everyone in this room is thinking when I say cricket, takes five days to play a match. Of test cricket. Oh, okay. There's three types of cricket.

12:49Okay. But you can eat all day. In fact, cricket is built around eating. Interesting. So you start cricket in the morning. You take a lunch break. You come back. You play more. You take a tea break. Wow. You come back. You play more. The sun goes down. You stop. And you start again the next day. Wow. So people stop playing the sport to have two meals during the day. That is not my game. Yeah. I'm just like. Now, that's for that particular form of cricket. But I'm a big cricket fan. And I love just sports from other countries. I love just sport. I love rugby, Gaelic football. I just love international sport.

13:28That's cool. I'm fascinated by it. I do have to say, and, you know, for us, it's delicious. You know, obviously the Super Bowl is like an unofficial food holiday here. But I do like – but gathering around sports has become such a mainstay to our – like the way we create food here. Oh, 100%. Right, and eating around sports. And so I am always fascinated here because I do live in a house with I have three kids. Two of them are boys. And they are that my husband and my two boys will not eat one thing during games. And I find that so not fun. And I'm just like the whole point of us getting together is to like have a drink and have a snack and have a dip, for God's sakes.

14:07You got to have dip. You got to have dip. Hit the seven layer. You can't. Hit the guac. Yes. Get some hummus going on there. I mean, I'm not like. You're not going to eat the dips. You're not going to eat the dips during the game? You can walk around. Here's the thing. I'll just take sometimes the chips. You like a handheld. I put them in the dip, and then I'm carrying the margarita. They just have to be tables. That's all. You just got to make sure there's just tables everywhere and around. So you can just set stuff down periodically. I do, but as I said before, I'm a pacer. You like to pace.

14:35I got a pace. I like to pace. I get it. But also like a nibble. I do feel like the dip is a perfect food. Pace and nibble. Pace and nibble. I get it. And we'll be right back. This episode is brought to you by Prime. What if you had one more chance with the one that got away? Sam, you came home. Based on the best-selling novel from Carly Fortune. Every Year After follows childhood friends Sam and Percy as they reunite in the dreamy, nostalgic lakeside town of Ferry's Bay. Love can be hard to find. So if you're lucky enough to find that person, never let go. A Second Chance at First Love. Every year after now streaming only on Prime.

15:17What kind of food house did you grow up in? You know, I didn't. My brother and I did a lot of the cooking. My mother was not a cook. So we would do, you know, we would a lot of spaghetti. Make a lot of spaghetti. Things that things that 12 year old boys can cook. Of course. Macaroni and cheese with paprika in it. And also a dollop of cream cheese. Oh, just in case you want to. Just to give it a little cream. Just to thicken it up a little bit. What about snacks? Did you have a good snack house? I had a good snack house. I was a, I'm a big coffee cake person. Like a coffee cake, a proper bakery coffee cake?

15:52Yeah. Or like the kind of we used to get in the package. Especially where I grew up. There were a lot of Polish, in Detroit, there were a lot of Polish bakeries. Yes. So there was that. What is it? Kolache? Kolache? Kolache? Kolopki? Not pierogi, but punczki, which is what people eat before. on Fat Tuesday before Eastern. And then what else do we have? Like, what's the food that sends you straight back to your childhood? You know what it is? It's Cheetos. You know how they make puffed Cheetos now? But we didn't have puffed Cheetos when we were kids. Like the gnarled... Yeah, the scrunchy... Cheetos?

16:26Yeah. Well, we're gonna say it. It's already too late. Because not a cheese puff. Yeah, like the gnarled... Yeah, the gnarly ones. The gnarly ones. Like the scrunchies. That and, you know what... Here's one. Sugar babies. Wow. Remember sugar babies that you used to get at the movie theater? Yeah, and you'd like pry them out of your teeth for 45 minutes? Yeah, sugar babies. Not the little bars on the sticks. No, no, not the sugar daddies. Not a sugar daddy. The sugar babies, which are just little pellets of sugar. Just pellets of like teeth wedging sugar. Yeah, yeah. Love those. It makes me think.

16:59I can see myself with my like pegged pants. I love that. I have to say, I ask that question of literally everybody who comes on. And I am always fascinated to hear the differentiation because I do feel like everybody has that like one pure of heart thing. 100%. But now what's your like guilty pleasure snack? Like what's the thing that like when you're like being bad, you're going to do something? Or like do you have like a food ritual that you have before you go on a show or something? I usually will eat. I love potato chips.

17:33Keegan-Michael Key:I've always loved potato chips. Do you have a flavor or true purist? I'm kind of a sour cream and onion person and a cheddar and sour cream. Cheddar, sour cream, the best flavor. What are we eating? Why is that just not the flavor? The flavor. Right. That is the flavor. But a chip I can eat at any time. Yep. It's the same thing with, I'm going to say it again. It's the same thing with, I can have a margarita anytime. Yes. I can't have a beer anytime. I get it. Do you know what I mean? I get it's like it's like the salad of drinks. It's just like refreshing. It's the salad of drinks. You know what I mean?

18:11I'm just like because it could be, you know, like especially on a summer day. Yes. It can be noon. Yes. It could be 7 p.m. I don't know what it costs. Could it be earlier than noon? Maybe. I don't know if you're traveling. Who's to say what time it is? It could be 11. It could be 11. Sorry. If you're in an airport, you could drink it at any time. Well, it's absolutely depending on where you're coming from. it's not 11 there. Mm-mm. You know, but it's, you know what I mean? Yes. So like snacks, I think, are very specific to a time. Yeah. And I have to eat. But nowadays, what do I eat? What's your, like, what's your go-to?

18:49You know what I like? I like a chocolate-covered cherry. Oh. Chocolate-covered almond. Huh. Chocolate-covered cashew. Chocolate-covered. I like something chocolate-covered. I like a little bit of sugar. Yep. Yep.

19:03Keegan-Michael Key:A little bit of protein. Yep. Do you know what I mean? 100%. It makes you feel like I'm doing something, like I'm eating something healthy. Sure. But I'm just canceling it out. So nothing bad is happening because I'm canceling it out. A cashew is my problem. I love a cashew. But I'm also like, this is healthy. And then I'm like, okay, I think I just ate 1 ,000 calories worth of cashews. Yeah, especially roasted cashew and salted. So good. But also like the best to have when you're having a drink too. Like a little salted nut. I'm being like I get like I said I'm the savory guy like I'm the savory guy I like sweet stuff but I'm a savory like I like kettle corn yeah you know like the sweet and the and the salty together but at the end of the day give me the salt all right so I have an interesting fact about you that I need to know more about oh you and your wife had your wedding catered by second avenue deli is this true it's true how did this come about uh my wife is uh a big fan of second Avenue Deli.

20:02The best place on earth. Great. And their family has always been very... I have learned so much about Jewish cuisine because of her. I am Jewish, so I appreciate this. And so, not only our wedding, but also every holiday party we have, Second Avenue Deli. Stop. Every holiday party we have. I don't want you to give away, but is this something that you're having to schlep far across town? Are you nearby? No. It's not a big deal.

20:30Keegan-Michael Key:Because they'll deliver they'll deliver now there's certain things i have to just jump out and grab you know what i mean yeah we we always have a big spread we have all that what's your spread describe it so you know there's pastrami and corned beef and white fish and and tongue i love tongue oh my god my husband is gonna flip love tongue out and then you gotta have your russian dressing and then like you know macaroni and cheese i mean macaroni salad and then we have the whole bar stocked out You have all your stuff. I, of course, have Casamigos. Of course. But I like the colors. There's a clear one, and this one's brown.

21:07The white brown. And this one's a little browner. And then you put lights behind them. You light it up? She's very good at the design. She's amazing. Wait, you just said whitefish out loud, and I'm just like, that is my— I said whitefish out loud. I'll say it even louder if you want me to. That's my favorite. That is actually my favorite. Nobody understands. And again, the right amount of salt. Salt. It is a salty thing. I do have to say, though, I'm so impressed at your level of immersion in Jewish cuisine. And honestly, Second Avenue Deli is the way to do it. It's the best. It really is. I love a matzo ball.

21:39Yes. I love the pastrams. Kanish. Can I get you on a kanish? I like a kanish. I love a bagel. Bialis. I like bialis. I do too. I like bagels more. Same. Yeah. I'm sort of like, well, this is fine. It's like a pita, but it's whatever. It's pita with a little onion in the middle of it. A hundred percent. All right. So and then I need to understand this last thing. OK. An interview where you mentioned a standing pie order that was inspired by Robert De Niro. What is this? When I was in high school, the reason I'm talking to you right now is because I'm in the entertainment business. I get that. And the reason I'm in the entertainment business is because I decided to pursue acting.

22:16And the reason I decided to pursue acting is because when I was 13, way too young, saw a movie called Taxi Driver. Oh. And in the movie Taxi Driver, I believe, I may be wrong here, but I think my memory serves, in the voiceover in the movie when De Niro and Sybil Shepard are going to have their first date, he mentions that they went to the diner and they ordered, he talks about the food they ordered. And he said, I had a slice of apple pie with cheese melted over the top. And I don't know why that stuck with me. The only thing that would make that better would be a margarita. But I judge it. Wouldn't that be good?