Tatyana Ali Reveals She Had A 'Fresh Prince' Food Feud With This Cast Member

0:00Tatyana Ali:Good sleep is everything. That's why Ali's science back support is made with a blend of melatonin and L-theanine for both kiddos and grownups. So when your mind won't switch off, you've got something that can help. Erasing thoughts and restless nights won't stand a chance. Find Ali's sleep solutions for the whole family at Ali.com. That's O-L-L-Y dot com. Hi, welcome to Snacks. I'm Jo Saltz, the editorial director of Delish, and welcome to the show that's all about the crazy snack habits of your favorite stars. Today, our guest is 90s royalty. You know her as Ashley Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

0:40However, she's also a super creative genius. She's a Harvard grad, she's an author, and she's just a great human to get to know. Please welcome Tatiana Ali.

0:54We'll be right back. I'm so happy to be on the call with you today and so excited to have you on snacks. I honestly, I've been like hearing so much and learning so much about you. First of all, like I need to understand you wrote a kid's book. What, what is going on? What happened? I know. What happened? I know. I've been working on it for a couple of years. It's called Aussie and the Octopus and it's out on Scholastic. um it is my son and his love of octopuses my oldest my oldest yes uh his love of octopuses is the inspiration for the book it's a uh a journey into his imaginary world and he goes on this adventure and um and it's just you know i tried to envision a place where he was just safe and free to, you know, play out all of the things that, that, and play with all of the things that delight him.

1:51And it was an incredible experience writing this book and, and a dream come true. I know you are an actor, you're, you know, a musician, you're doing all the things, clearly now an author, but what are you like in the kitchen? Let's hear it. Oh, I love cooking. I actually love cooking. I love baking. um what's your what's your go-to recipe my go-to recipe baking um I mean I don't know I do all kinds of things whatever the kids see and they they want you know whether it's cupcakes or like there's like an um olive oil um like uh bundt cake that I would kind that I used to actually do now that I have little kids there it's a little grown-up flavors for them I was gonna say Olive oil bungee.

2:38Their favorite things are like drop biscuits and banana bread and, you know, chocolate muffins and like things like that. But I enjoy. Yeah, I love baking. Baking. There's something about baking that I feel like is like it's not cooking. To me, it's like very I find baking to be more therapeutic than cooking. Cooking for some reason I can feel feels very stressful. But baking to me is like a therapy. You know what? I never thought about that. It's true. But you know why? Because cooking, it's like you have to figure out what to make every single day. But then when you decide to bake, you wake up on a Sunday morning or a Saturday in the weekend and you plan it ahead of time.

3:17You're like, oh, I'm going to do this thing. And it is. It's just fun. It's not like people need nutrition in this house or they're going to start. I have three kids and I mean, my kids are generally good eaters. But I would say that, you know, when you're making dinner, there's always the like, oh, that again, like chicken. but baking you're like i'm making cookies and everybody gets excited so banana bread is like that's the go-to i mean that to me i'm like you say banana bread like we're kindred spirits oh i love banana bread we we that's one of our favorites also because i try to get them to eat fruits and then they just sit there and so that's that's really what it's about no a hundred percent And I also love that we're like, I am always like banana bread.

4:07It's healthy. But I'm like, it's cake. It's like as cake as cake is, you know, it's not, it's got bananas in it. But I don't, I feel like once I add in 12 cups of chocolate chips, I think we've sort of, we've moved beyond health. We're not there anymore. All right. I want to talk about, you know, I'm, I'm blah, blahing too much. Tell me, I want to go back to your childhood. First of all, where did you grow up? I grew up in New York, Long Island, North Belmore, Long Island. What was the food experience like when you were growing up? Oh, so my parents are immigrants. My mom is from Panama. My dad is from Trinidad and Tobago.

4:46Great food cultures. Yes. And yes. And so that is, those foods are what I grew up with. plantain and rice and peas and stewed chicken and lots of ground food like yams and eddos and long beans just all these kinds of things and also with a little bit of spice so I remember you know inviting friends over for like to have you know like after school and then it's dinner and then being like, oh, everything's so spicy. Not to me, it wasn't, but, you know, it was a little different from, you know, other friends that lived in the neighborhood when I went to their homes. And so very like Caribbean foods.

5:40And even, and my grandmother loved to bake and she lived with us. She was a really great cook also. And my parents also always had a garden in the summertime. So we were always growing things in the backyard and bringing them in. But very like kind of a foodie house, like, you know, you come home and everything, something smells good on the stove and. Yeah, food was a big part of it. How much of that do you still maintain? Do you still cook a lot from, you know, the recipes that your parents like passed down to you, your grandmother's baking? Are those still core to your culinary universe? Very much so.

6:19Very much so. I wish, you know, when I think about my grandma and my mom, and even my dad, my dad's a very good cook also. He cooks a lot. My dad is known for, it's called doubles, bakes, roti, like a lot of bread dishes. Doubles are almost like two kind of like fried flatbreads with this chickpea kind of sauce that goes inside. And it's called doubles because you need two pieces of bread because it's so saucy. Yum. And bakes and what else? Oh, stewed eggplant and all kinds of, like, delicious. He's a really good cook. I mean, you have a sophisticated palate. I mean, I'm really impressed, too.

7:02Like, I mean, that all sounds so, like, sumptuous, but also, like, what an incredibly beautiful mix, right, of, like, food cultures to get to experience at such a young age. Yes. Yes, it's true. Especially the Caribbean has, you know, Asian influence, African influence. Then you throw in some Spanish with with with Panama. And they were always talking about food, too. Like, oh, you call this this? Well, back home, we call this that. And yuca and cassava. Oh, you call it yuca? No, we call it cassava. And, you know, we're always talking about the different foods, bread, fruit. And I try to keep that alive for my kids, you know, and so that they can taste some of those flavors.

7:52And luckily, you know, my parents get to they visit with us quite a bit and they the kitchen is theirs when they're here. Yeah. No, I'm sure that that's really meaningful. I was going to say, though, too, like, you know, you said like when your friends come over and everything gets spicy, I'm sure it was exciting for them. I don't know. I'm trying to imagine what that experience must have been like for your friends to get to sort of dive into these cultures in such an incredible way. But also, like, I mean, it was the time of, like, fruit roll-ups, I'm sure, you know. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We were doing that, too.

8:26I mean, oh, yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Fruit roll-ups. And then also I remember, like, the rainbow milk at the end of Flintstones was, like, my jam, like, to be able to drink that milk afterwards. Tang? Tang. Wow, you're throwing me right back. I just so love Tang. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. You're like, that is, remember, and they, like, that, like, the astronauts trying Tang, and that was, like, a big deal. Like, you're like, yeah. Oh, my God, astronaut ice cream. I don't know where my friend's mom worked, but she always had astronaut ice cream, and she would bring it to school for me. Why is it so good?

9:06By the way, I did talk to, I did have a conversation with Gayle King, who has been to space, and she said there was no astronaut ice cream in space. So I was very sad to hear that. I was like, I need to know. I'm like, did you eat astronaut ice cream? She's like, no, we didn't eat anything. I was like, how could they? What's the point? Do you think you're a good snack mom? Like, do you have good snacks in the house for your kids? Or are you like, let's do it. Fess up. I'm not a great snack mom. I have one shelf of rotating snacks. Okay. And what's on it? Like they're like popcorns. They're chips.

9:44You know what it is? It's hard to keep up with like what snacks are not filled with poisons. I know. And that's really what I'm thinking. That's why it's like. I know. What am I? And so I tend to make some, you know, make things like plantain chips. I'll make them, I'll fry them up or I'll, you know, have, they hate this, but I have, I'll have like fruit cut up and ready for them. I love that you're like, they hate this. I love it. I like love that you're like, I know. My kids are the same way. It's funny because my, I would say you're a hundred percent right. it's impossible to keep up with like what's not gonna like poison people all and like every day especially at delish like we're constantly you know have news stories about this die and that man this we call blah blah but i also feel like too i feel that pressure of you know when kids come over you want the house to be fun you know and you want the kids to like enjoy stuff um i bake a lot for that reason because i'm always like okay like all right well then at least i know what's like going you know exactly what's in it yes yeah yes mini muffins i guess those are snacks too yeah yeah those count that counts i mean you sound like a pretty cool you you sound like a pretty cool snack i try i mean i know i mean listen we're never we're never we're never gonna reach peak i my kids are always like the snacks are better at so-and-so's house i'm always like oh no i'm like i get it i get it i don't know what to tell you then go live there obviously you know, Fresh Prince was such a huge part of your young life.

11:27Tell me about your trajectory a little bit, too, because I want to get into the like, the shifting culture of that and being on television and what that was like for you as well. Yes, I auditioned for Fresh Prince in New York. I actually usually there's a screen test that happens in California. They fly you out, they do a whole, you know, especially back in the day, it was like, weeks and weeks of auditioning and rounds and rounds of network tests and all this stuff. I was doing a play at the time in New York. And so I couldn't be there for any of that. And it was almost like, well, we'll see, you know.

12:02But it just so happens, whatever we had taped in New York was enough. And so they hired me from that. First, it was my mom and I just traveling for the pilot. I have two younger sisters, you know um then it was oh wow this is gonna they're they want us to come back and it's for a longer period of time so then it was my mom and my sisters and me for a little while and then we came back and it was like our family kind of like did this do-si-do for as long as we could until it was like okay around the third season of the show it was like i like we had like we have to like Like everybody's moving.

12:41We all moved. Right. But, you know, my parents had jobs. They had, they weren't really like stage parents. We moved to California and just everything, yeah. Then we lived in LA. What was that culture shock for you like? Was that crazy? It was crazy. I went from, you know, being in a, I was in a public school in New York to being on a soundstage in a classroom with a tutor. What do you remember about food in LA? Like when you moved there, did you, like, were there things that you were like what are they eating here like what do you know your food places or one of my earliest memories driving through la was there are fruits everywhere on the trees i and it's true like you you drive the highways like hanging off the highways nopales cactus oranges lemons even you don't know no northern california olives so that's like my earliest and then the snack table on set oh craft services yes I mean I can't I like I can I've never known I can turn every conversation into a craft services conversation I just like I can't get enough of hearing about it tell me what that was like it was just everything you could ever want for a kid that must have been a dream I can't imagine bagels and cream And, you know, I'm a Long Island kid, so that's what we had for lunch at our public school commissary.

14:09It was like bagels and cream cheese and sweets and M &Ms. I mean, anything. It's Coca-Cola, ginger ale, ginger beer, water, anything you want at any time during the day. That understanding that is so wild to me, that there's just this food in abundance that you could just have at any given moment of the day. but I can't imagine that experience as a kid because nowhere else in the world do you get to just have anything your heart desires at your fingertips. Yes. Not even at all. I remember actually after the first season being like, I've been eating all year long. Not in necessary, you know, I didn't have like a body image thing, but it was like, like, because everything was so accessible.

15:00I remember Alfonso and I, he played Carlton on the show. I remember us having fights over M &M's on the set because the prop people told, hot sets, you're not supposed to eat anything. But I was a kid and the prop guys were like, you can have them. Go ahead, it's fine. And they looked up at my mom. She was in the bleachers. She's good. She could have the M &M's and I'm eating the M &M's. And Alf and I got to do a huge fight. He's like, it's a hot set! Total big brother. he's all business eat those yeah that's so professional I was like they told me I could oh my gosh I am dying but also yeah that's what M &Ms do to people I don't know what to say like what happens I've been in more than one fight over M &Ms I literally I don't know what to tell you all right so I need to stay oh my god I'm like I die but I also am too am like what a great experience what a great bonding experience too to have that there you know because I'm sure that must have been overwhelming for you.

16:00You know, you're a girl from Long Island. You're moving out there. There's all these, I mean, Alfonso was a star. Like he was like, you know what I mean? Like that, and also that was like stars, like lots of really big names. And so I'm sure, you know, to be able to come together around food was really meaningful to you. Oh yeah. What's another, oh, and the food trucks that used to visit the studio. What was your favorite? What do you remember? There was one food truck in particular. their breakfast burritos were just insane. And like coming from Long Island, I don't know. I just never, I never, New York wasn't like that then.

16:36Yeah, exactly. Now there are food trucks and it's so cool. Like you can get, it wasn't like that. And it was very much an LA thing. And oh gosh. Breakfast burrito, like I don't think I knew that existed until like in my first place. I like didn't have that growing up in New Jersey. Like you didn't have breakfast burritos. Yes, right. No, but like LA. It was so good. And we'll be right back. Amazon presents Jeff versus Taco Truck Salsa. Whether it's Verde, Roja, or the orange one. For Jeff, trying any salsa is like playing Russian roulette with a flamethrower. Luckily, Jeff saved with Amazon and stocked up on antacids, ginger tea, and milk.

17:23Habanero? More like habanero, yes. Save the everyday with Amazon.

17:57My kids love like pancakes and cereals, like hot cereals and stuff like that. So that's like morning and their lunches are usually like leftovers from dinner. What do you make for dinner? That's like something that's like a go-to favorite. Like a crowd pleaser? Yeah. The kids love Taco Tuesdays. We're a plant-based home for the most part. So we do, I make my fillings out of like, sometimes I'll do sweet potatoes, sometimes like bean tacos and bean burritos and different kinds of rices and Spanish rice and stuff like that. Tell me about some of your go-to places in the Bay Area. What are your like top five?

18:40It could be In-N-Out. You tell me, what are your, what are your go-tos? Well, a go-to California place is actually In-N-Out. And I know that sounds crazy, but all my friends from the East Coast, when they come to California, they need to stop it in and out. They love it. It's really kind of one of a kind. It's just a West Coast thing. We're also like, this is good. I'm just like, I go. I've been. Every time I go, I mean, I'll walk in and out if they're listening. It's like fine. It's fine, but it's fresh. It's like the potatoes are like being sliced and diced and fried in that moment. So it's like it's the freshness part.

19:18I love, yes, I know that Phil's has kind of, is kind of making its way around the country, but I really didn't find it until I came to the Bay Area. I don't even know what Phil's. Oh, girl. Joe, the coffee is so good. It's a coffee shop, but they also have pastries and, you know, little food items and stuff like that, but that coffee. Okay. All right. I'm going to have to try it. I order mine sweet and creamy. I mean, their coffee is really amazing. Phil's is a Northern Cali thing. But I also think, too, you guys have some of the best. And not just in the city. There's so many good little towns around the Bay Area, too, that, like, people from, editors from Delish have grown up in and gone back to.

20:11But, like, you also have, like, great little communities. So many good little restaurants. So many good bakeries. like it's a very community driven sort of food scene which I love. Yes, yes, old school downtowns with your local restaurant. Yes. I got one last question for you. The most memorable meal you ever had.

20:34No pressure. You just have to tell me the most memorable meal you've ever had. No pressure at all. It's just like this is everything's riding on this Tatiana you can't okay I'll tell you I'll tell you but it for a lot of different reasons but I'll be sure I'll be quick about it it was this it's and I can't remember the name so I'm sorry but it's it's it's not dirty laundry or something like famous like that but it's a it's a or French laundry right although I will eat a dirty laundry I love the woman who plays called Dirty Laundry. Yeah, I do. Honestly, you could open it across the street from French Laundry.

21:12It was like a French fusion and it was like a million courses, like 12 courses. A drink with every course and my husband, we were dating at the time.

21:27But the drinks that came with the courses were like full drinks. and so and it was gastronomy so the little pearl and the things and it's and and then it's a full drink with the course but the course is this big and by the end I'm glad we're still together after that dinner actually because I I tasted everything and I kind of at some point the night shift you know it was just it was some too much of a good thing almost um what is that what's that line from friends where it's like i woke up there's something on my face and i realized it was the floor it's the best line ever it's the best line ever yeah pretty much i know that's not what she meant by memorable but the food was incredible too i mean it was just a lot going on i love a pairing like that and I love a um I love a meal that like takes a long time I actually really do sometimes I get antsy as long as it's coming out but it's beautiful but you also have to be I guess I wasn't ready no I know well a full drink for every course is like that's asking for trouble that's not that does not feel fair like it wasn't a taste it was like and at first three courses in And you're like, wow, they're really, you know, not cheap.

22:51Like, they're giving us the stuff. And then he was like, yeah, yeah. I mean, I can't. I can't. But also shame on them. But I'm glad you enjoyed that. I'm really proud. You've been a delight and a joy. And I've loved spending time with you. When you're in New York, you need to come visit us at the Delish Kitchen and make us your banana bread. Promise me. Oh, I would love that. Well, that's our show for today. Thanks so much for joining Snacks. And definitely follow us wherever you get your podcasts. And make sure you check out our social channels at Snack Podcasts.

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