Regina King on the Tom Cruise Movie Perk She’ll Never Forget & Her Love for “Auntie Ina”

0:00When you join Sam's Club, you get way more than you'd expect. You don't just get value. You get insider tips from fellow members. You don't just pick up a pizza. You actually vote on its toppings. Mmm, bacon crumbles. You don't just visit the club, because with the Sam's Club app, everywhere can be the club. You don't just shop the latest finds. You find your people. And at the end of the day, isn't that what it's all about? Come join us. Sam's Club. A good pound cake is dessert, a good pound cake is breakfast, a good pound cake is a snack, lunch, all of the above. Hi, I'm Jo Salts, the editorial director of Delish, and welcome to Snacks, the show where we talk to your favorite stars about their craziest food obsessions.

0:45Today, we have an absolute icon. She is the star of Watchmen, If Beale Street Could Talk. She's also been in Jerry Maguire, but I remember her from back in the day in 227. Please welcome Regina King.

1:00And we'll be right back. Got a Sam's Cafe pizza order up. You know the best part about this spicy Italian sausage? I voted for this topping. Yeah, just another perk of being a member. Come join us. Sam's Club.

1:23Welcome. Hello. Well, so I, first of all, I've heard so many amazing, I've been a fan for a long time. I try not to say that because I know it's really embarrassing. But I grew up with 227. So we grew up together. We grew up together. And so through the years following you. But I didn't realize what a food fan you are. Oh, yes. So you have a restaurant. I had a restaurant. You had. Tell me why you decided to get into the restaurant business. Well, one, I love food. want to anyone that's a control enthusiast could relate to wanting to control what's going into your body and having to say what's going into other people's bodies sure and um i think i have pretty great taste well so tell me what the what what was it so at that time is when the people were calling um nouvelle american oh yeah yeah of course so that was that was like 98 so um that was the the term for the food that we have but we would have um it was a seasonal menu okay and there were three dishes that remained on the menu at all times it was this tian of crab that pretty much was just like remove all of the bread crumbs or anything like that you'd put in a crab cake right right okay and just lump crab meat and herbs flavors and just flavors and the chef she would put it in um kind of like uh you know like uh in in one of those things that like a spring form pan.

3:09Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like a tiny little ring. Yeah, so like a tiny little spring. And so that's how she would, you know, pan fry it so it would stay together. So good. And it was so delicious. And everyone would come, you know, we would, it would be hard to not sell out of them. Yeah. Because people would want to order more and some people would be like, I want to just smuggle some in my purse. So that was something that was a big thing. Do you miss it? I do. I always say that I'll do it again when I grow up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's something Ian and I always talked about that we would do together.

3:42Your son. My son, yeah. Because he remembers being, you know, two, three years old running around the restaurant. And then he eventually, one of the many things that he did well, he was a chef as well. Wow. So we talked about it. We had these dreams of having a restaurant in Ojai, you know. Oh, the dream. You know, me and mom type restaurant. Yes. Yes. Do that. Let me enable you to do that. Tell me, did you raise him in a good food house? Do you feel like you were a good food mom? Yes. But like, okay, were you a fun food mom? Were you like... I would say more good food mom. So you cooked? Yes.

4:21Fun food, but things that I cooked. Right, okay. Tell me, what were your go-tos? Like fun food, like pumpkin brownies. You know, like always themed around the, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Like that was like Halloween. Like we started out, we would have kind of like a Halloween. First of all, Halloween is like our favorite holiday. Even though it's not a holiday, it feels like a holiday. Oh, it's a holiday. Like we get into it. It's also a food holiday. I feel like it's an unsung food holiday. It's a creative holiday. What did you make for Halloween? Well, I always did turkey chili. That was just, but turkey chili and pumpkin brownies and salad.

5:04Oh my gosh. Like that was just the thing. And people would look forward to it every year. Nothing ghost shaped? No witch's hats? No. No, I mean like, or no like witch's legs sticking out of a cupcake? No, I didn't do all of that. No, didn't do that. Yeah, no. I get it. But like purist. No bobbing for apples type thing. Purist Halloween. Purist, yes. Yes, and we would always look forward to the pumpkin brownies. And then just the trick-or-treating. Oh, yeah. You know, we'd have like one year we had 60 kids that we were trick-or-treating. And I lived in like these hills, not a lot of, it's an area called La Cunada in L.A.

5:50And I can say that because I don't live there anymore. Yes, got it, of course. so you know don't try to go to her house she does no longer yes she no longer has halloween candy for you but we full-size candy were you a full-size house um like when you gave out no i was a fun size fun size okay fun size house yeah but you know we would go to other houses with the full size candy you know you knew like this is the good house you always know you always know who the neighborhood that gives out the full size. But the funniest thing is, so like years later, so we did this from the time Ian was probably like six till maybe 15.

6:31Yeah. And then when he was about 16, you know, now he just, he wants to go to the Halloween party. So I was like, okay, well, I'm not really going to worry about cooking or whatever. What am I going to do with candy? And I'm in my healthy mode. So I got bottled water, the little small bottle waters. Cute. And I was like, this is, do you know those kids loved it? Oh, my God. They came, they would tell other kids on the trick-or-treating route, and kids would come to the door, we heard you're the house with the water. It was like, who knew? It's kind of genius. Who knew? Honestly. Now, you know, I'd have to find glass bottles.

7:12Yes, you would, but also I feel like, sometimes I'm always like, the house that gives out the pretzels, I would always roll my eyes at, but then I'm like, no, actually, you kind of just want pretzels. Yeah, it was like fuel for the trick-or-treating. I just want to get salty with my sweet. Yes. You know what I mean? And if you're a serious trick-or-treater, you need the water, and you probably need the pretzels. A hundred percent. Okay, but I also want to know, so where did you grow up? Los Angeles. Oh, so you were born and bred. Did you grow up in a good food house? I did. Okay, funny thing. We grew up eating kale.

7:47So, you know, kale's kind of become the thing in the past, like, 10, 12 years. But we always had kale. So we'd have friends that would come over. What's kale? You guys don't eat collard greens? We're like, I know we eat those too. But, you know, so my mom. Was she good at that? She, my mom makes the best vegetables. Tell me why. How? I think because she's always loved vegetables, you know, and so I wouldn't even say that she cooked them a specific way. Her thing was that she just hates overcooked vegetables, like mushy vegetables. That's an art, hitting the exact right spot. And she still hits it right.

8:30At 81, she's still hitting it right. How much do you think is also Californians having access to, I feel like, superior produce? I think it plays a big part. Because I grew up in New Jersey. I assure you, I've never been like, God, the vegetables. I know. Respect to Jersey. I don't want to hear it. Tomatoes are there. Corn. We do that. But, you know, at one time, California was providing like 60 % of the country's produce. Just because of the sun. We have so much sun. Yep. I guess you guys probably get a lot of your produce from Florida. But it tastes different there. It does. And we also kind of have year-round vegetables where some things in other states are being shipped in or seasonal.

9:20A hundred percent. Yeah. Tell me a little bit. Okay, so I do have to ask. I always ask a craft service question, and I always am fascinated. Well, I'm particularly fascinated with you because you've been in the show business industry for such a long time, but also through so many, I'm sure, changes in the performing industry. First of all, what was it like being 14 and seeing craft services for the first time? Yeah, it's interesting because I started out on a TV show. Right. So we more had like a kitchen. Oh. And then like on the rehearsal stages, there'd be kind of like a, let's say a craft table.

10:07Sure, sure. Okay. But the kitchen was cooking for you guys? Oh, yeah. Like there's kitchen. Like, hey, you're like, I want to get hot dogs today. And they'd make it for you? Well, maybe not that specific. Okay. But like if, you know, like Marla. Yeah, yeah. Marla Gibbs, by the way. Of course. Just Marla. Yeah, Marla. We know Marla. My other mom. Your other mom. Yeah, yeah. Just the actual legend, Marla Gibbs. Yes. If she would want something, you know, particular or we would, as a cast or whatever, talk about something, yeah, they would make it. And I want to say that's still the case for the few shows that are still on stages.

10:53There's a kitchen. Yeah, wild. But then moving on to like, and then you're on a set with Tom Cruise. And then it's like the craft service truck. What's a Tom Cruise craft service like? Amazing. The Tom Cruise craft service and the Tom Cruise catering is amazing. You know, he really cares for the production. Tell me, tell me, tell me what you remember. I just remember like normally. OK, this is more towards catering. I always remember like when you're doing a film or even a show, the last week of catering, you know, they pull out the stops. You know, more money goes into the catering. They're like, quick, we got to burn this budget.

11:42We got money for this. But that catering crew that was on Jerry Maguire, it would be like middle production. It'd be like steak and lobster. Okay. You know, and I was nursing. So I was like, oh, I need the protein. Of course, obviously. Yes, yes. The baby needs it 100%. All right. I want to make sure we get, so you have an orange wine. Yes. Tell me what is your experience with orange wine. I actually appreciate this. Because a lot of people, it's a very new thing for them. Okay, yes. I actually really appreciate you asking. Okay, because here's how I honestly feel. I feel ashamed that I have not loved orange wine because I feel like cool people with cool palates love it.

12:30And I feel like not liking orange wine is like someone not liking caviar or mustard, where it's like you need to have a sophisticated palate. But do you disagree with that assessment? I look honestly I'd have two thoughts I do feel like people who weren't lucky enough to have a very cultured upbringing when it comes to food yeah you know I've parents create their children's palates so if your parents don't eat vegetables you probably don't eat vegetables if your parents You know, I grew up in a house, no soda. Yes. You know, no cereal with food coloring. Yes. So, like, I still, like, bust honey nut Cheerios.

13:15Oh, my God. That's what my, and to be fair, I grew up in that house, too, but my parents weren't, like, really big drinkers. My dad drank beer. Like, so there wasn't, like, wine around. Like, I didn't grow up in a house with that. I didn't grow up in a house with great wine. My mom was, like, Almaden Mountain wine. Oh, God. Like, the wine with the jug where you hold it like that. Yes. But my mom was like a brandy drinker. You know, my dad was like a whiskey scotch drinker. Like they were, you know. That's sophisticated. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. But we've always, you know, traveled. We could never say we didn't like something if we hadn't tried it.

13:52Like that was just like, and that might be my mom being a teacher. You know, like she's big on education in every arena. That's really important. You're just learning through books. You're learning through experience. Yes. So we tried everything, you know, and I'll even try it a second time to make sure. Like, I am sure I don't like okra. I am sure I don't like chitlins. I am. And because I've tried them more than once. Well, has anyone said to you, you have to try it nine times. You gotta try it nine times. You haven't had mine before. Yes. This is a fight I have with my daughter all the time.

14:30Well, I'm going to do you like that. I know. You haven't had mine. I'm going to do it. We're gonna do it. We're gonna do it. But I do feel like you might have had more, cause a lot of times with natural wine, they can veer a little bit, you can feel like you're kinda drinking kombucha or something like that. Yes, yes, yes. Not the case here. They can be, well also, by the way, me and you, come on, with M-I-A-N, your son's name is Ian. Yes. Me and you, and I'm like, I just, I love a good name. Yeah. I love, the camera is gonna look at this wine, you don't wanna look at my face, you wanna look at Regina's face.

15:03Oh, no. You want to look at that. Look at that camera right there. Oh, my camera's right here. You hold it there, and now I'm going to open it. They were like, how are you at opening bottles? I'm like, well, we're going to see. Well, you got a good, you don't have the. No, they tried that. I was like, absolutely not. Good for you. I'm not. Do you want to do that on the couch, or do you want to do it? Oh, no, Sarita, I want to make for a really good video here, so I'm going to make an absolute mess. I, one time when we had Brie Larson on, we did these. Oh, my God. Do you want me to do it? What's wrong with me?

15:31It's not going in. Do you want me to do it? No, I got it. I'm going to flex my muscles in front of Regina. There it goes. It's starting to go in. It's starting to go in. Is it? I think you're, can I do? Yes. Yes, Regina. I think I got it. I think we want to go here. I think I got it. Oh, she's got it. See the leverage. Also, her arms are so good. The editorial director of the list. Just forget it. I can't open wine. So, also, I hear that you really like pistachios. I do. pistachios and um terra chips are those the herb um terra chips the mediterranean blend the mediterranean blend if you haven't had the mediterranean blend terra chips this is not a commercial this is not a commercial but if you want it to be but also terra chips get on this regina king here i'm gonna pour you first um it's also 11 45 in the morning well i mean it's like It's like five something somewhere.

16:30It's 845 in Europe. It's 845. Well, I was thinking 845 in L.A. But I've been here a few days, so I've acclimated. All right, cheers to you, friends. I love that we've become friends over wine this early in our relationship. And I hope I change your mind. I'm all open right now. I have nothing but openness. And we'll be right back. Honey, what are you listening to? Mom! Your teen might not share everything with you, but teens share everything with each other. And certain everyday behaviors, like sharing food, drinks, or kisses, could mean sharing bacteria that can cause meningococcal disease known as meningitis.

17:09Although meningitis is uncommon, about 1 in 10 who develop it will die. Ask your teen's doctor about missing meningitis vaccinations. Learn more at meningitis.com. Vaccination may not protect all recipients. Sponsored by GSK.

17:25Just take it in the nose first. It has almost like a cider, a little bit of a... Oh, is that what you get? I got a little bit of cider. One of the tasting notes, I would say there's a bit of green apple, I guess. Yeah, green apple is what I feel like. And then, sorry, tell me what makes it... I kind of feel like, I would say, maybe not green apple. I think like a pink lady apple or something like that. But can you also tell me what is orange wine? Orange wine is a skin contact wine. Oh, okay. So I just want to tell you when Ian introduced me to orange wine, the first thing I asked, are there oranges in it?

18:13Right, yes, of course. And he was like, no, Mom. He's like, please, Mom. Yeah, I'm glad you didn't say that out loud. So he kind of broke down the whole story. Like, orange wine originated in the country, Georgia. Priests would make orange wine. And so do you have a vineyard? I do not. I don't want to go broke. I can't imagine. But I have an amazing winemaker who, you know, he procures grapes and brings them to me. And we taste and all of that. Do you find that you are a wine connoisseur? Like, do you appreciate going and tasting? I feel like I've learned so much more about wine since I'm now a vintner.

18:56Of course. I love that we can add vintner to your list. I do, too. I love that for you. I do, too. It's very sophisticated. All right, one more cheers. Okay, one more cheers. One more cheers, and then let's go. Let's see what you think.

19:12Oh, okay. Is she saying that for the camera? I'm not. I really, first of all, I'm not an actress. I couldn't hide it. I really couldn't even pretend. What I will say is very crisp. And honestly, I really appreciate not a lot of heavy aftertaste. It's very... I'm going to say something that's not going to sound right, but I am trying to find the right phrase. I think you should just say it. I think when we try to find right phrases for something. It almost has a, like, a sweet, I'm really sorry, mustard is what I think of. It's like seed kind of. Here's the thing. When you're talking about tasting notes with wine, there are words that graphite is, you know, like, and when you say graphite, you know, that, like, almost like when you think about it as a kid, the smell of pencil shaving.

20:15Yes. Some wines have that graphite taste. Some wines will have even almost like a taste that's a petrol. Yes. I would say it also. So mustard seed is OK. It's definitely it has like a little bit. It's herbaceous. I'll also say, too, and I do wonder if it's like a Georgia thing because I I'm my family is Lithuanian. which is like kind of all mixed into that same I'm going to go with one of your Mediterranean chips now too. And then you should have a little another sip after you've had a few chips or whatever. But I feel like it would go very well with like the traditional foods that I remember growing up with that are like 1000%.

20:58But similar Mediterranean but also like sausage and kraut and like that kind of stuff. All of that. It would go delicious. Really nicely with that. So it's a Gewurzminer and chardonnay grapes it's two grapes and i think that makes sense a lot of times oh yes yeah so now just yeah just opened up wine i am gonna be hammered well we'll just you know what we'll do we'll just have a little sip and then everyone else will have a sip too and then that way we will all not be hammered we'll just be a little like a little more relaxed exactly for the the afternoon crowd. The perfect wine pairing. Honestly.

21:38She's got the... Oh my God, what are these? The pistachios. The pistachios, I know. But the seasoned... Those are the wonderful chili roasted pistachios. Yes. Chili roasted pistachios. Yes. And the... The Mediterranean blend. Mediterranean blend and the orange wine. Yeah. You have a dream dinner guest. Do you know who it is? Do you remember? I believe so. Let's hear it. Auntie Ina. Auntie Ina. Yeah, I have to call her Auntie Aina. She's probably like, oh, no, she's definitely, I'm not coming. No, she's going to love this. I just, when I would watch her, when I watch Barefoot Contessa, and just her cooking, and Jeffrey comes in, and Jeffrey tastes, like I know my Uncle Jeffrey.

22:23Of course, obviously. I know. He's everybody's Uncle Jeffrey. Oh, my God. But yes, and she just her show. I just it's so inviting. It's so it's like a bomb. Yeah, it really is. Like, it doesn't feel like, oh, I wouldn't like if you if you spilled something in her kitchen, you wouldn't get in trouble. Now, there are other chefs and you watch their show and you're like, oh, they're great, but you wouldn't want to touch anything. You just I'll sit and you tell me when to eat. She took the preciousness out of the precious fear out of cooking. And you learn so much watching her show. Yep. Like, I don't think.

23:07What did you learn from her? The San Marzano tomatoes. Like, I was one of the people that was criminally using regular tomatoes. And then Ina said that you should be using these. so I went and I found those and she's right so that's the only can canned tomatoes I have I will tell you I also learned from her first cookbook and I have never gone back and we are not being paid to say this Hershey's chocolate chips over any other chocolate chips I missed that one it's a little footnote on the sidebar in the most recent? No. First first. Like original. And it's a side note in maybe her brownie recipe.

23:58Like if you weren't looking for it, you'd miss it. And it is, I swear to this day, Hershey's, I will not buy. I'm going to have, because you know, there are people from other countries that would challenge that. I know. I know. Because in America, we don't typically have the best chocolate. And I'm sure when, listen, I'm sure if she was given all of the options of choosing whatever chocolate, maybe that wouldn't be. But probably she's saying that when you're speaking of American chocolates. Yes, and when you're in the supermarket, what you have access to. That makes sense. I get that. So I would say, I will tell you next time you have to buy them at a supermarket.

24:34I wonder how Nestle feels about that. I know Nestle's going to be upset. I wonder how they feel about that. I'll hear about it, trust me. But I will say, oftentimes if I send my husband to the store and I'm like, get chocolate chips. Hershey's! You got to get Hershey's. Like, don't even come back here with anything. Auntie Aina said it. Auntie Aina. I love that you call her Auntie Aina. Tell me about the recipe you have framed in your house. It's my grandmother's pound cake recipe. And the funny part about it is that I probably should have put it in a frame with like a UV glass or something on it.

25:08No, it's worn. It's worn, but you literally, there's got to be like vanilla or a little. of I mean yes stain that's what it should be yeah it was used and what makes it special and it's more than 40 years because I'm 55 and she was making it before me so yeah 70 years maybe easily easily but what makes it so good um well if I tell you I know I know you'll have to kill me it's fine yes I'm willing to sacrifice I guess I can say I guess I can say because I feel like Like, you know, caring is sharing your recipes. Don't gatekeep here. We don't believe in it. She uses butter, and she also uses butter-flavored Crisco.

26:00Oh. A combo of both. That is actually. You figure out the portions. Yes. The measurements. Good luck. Good luck. I have heard that's the secret to good pie crust. Yeah. Well, it is a secret to some good pound cake. Well, I have to say we have and she uses lemon not vanilla because some pound cakes use vanilla She she uses lemon. I said this actually we were just talking about pound cake on another episode And I was saying it is sort of the unsung hero of desserts Oh, yeah, people don't give it enough credit because a good pound cake I think is maybe all you need All you need because a good pound cake is dessert a good pound cake is breakfast lunch A good pound cake is a snack, lunch, all of the above.

26:44But now let me ask you this, though, because I feel very strongly that, like, it does not matter what I do. I could follow the recipe to a T. It will never taste the same as the way my grandmother made something. Yeah. You know, I will say my family tells me I'm close. Oh, you're lucky. I don't think it'll ever be. And you know why? Why? because, you know, those old school mamas, they were cooking in, like, potbelly stoves. And so where we rely on our temperature, okay, our oven tells us when it reaches 375 or 425. My grandmother never, like, really paid attention. She can put her hand, she would put her hand in the stove and could tell if it was too hot or too cold.

27:35that's that old school intuition did not have measuring cups and you know thermometers and all of the by feel and I think that's you know like they know when I think part of the reason why ours don't come out exactly like theirs my grandmother and I'm sure yours does too or did to i don't know if your grandmother's she's not no no no but yeah um knows just when over mixing it happens yes to stop before it's over mix i think that makes such a big difference also no measurements yeah how did they do that it was just yeah it's nothing infuriates me more though here's what i'll say what i've committed to is it'll never taste the same but it'll taste my version of different different right like I feel like this is like we have a really a very well worn matzo ball soup recipe in my family and I it will never taste the way it's actually technically it's my husband's grandmother's recipe and it will never taste the same as hers but it will taste hopefully my version of different and I'll teach my kids continuing to make it then your version of different is good right i feel like it's something but we like find all of these little things to put our signature on it but it comes from from them so it's still like in the family exactly you've been a delight thank you so much for joining so fun and quick i told you it's gonna be so fast but also me and you wine get it eat it with mediterranean taro chips and some Pistachio, chili pistachios.