783: Dr. Ashanté M. Reese Would Love to Come to Your Family Reunion

29:15It is also a nearly universal tradition. And so they typically include things, lots of covered dishes that have been brought from people from the community, from the church community. In my experience, there's almost always been some form of chicken baked or fried, presumably because chicken, in terms of meat eating people, chicken is a pretty safe bet, right? That like, you know, more so than pork or, you know, not sometimes people don't eat beef. I think a typical repast in a church setting is often organized by people who are part of the church community in terms of kind of the flow. So in my experience, funeral happens, people have either set up in like a fellowship hall and they are serving food or they have already prepped to-go plates for people to take away if the family isn't staying or doesn't want to stay for a repass.

30:24My family, my personal family's tradition, there's always been two repass. one at the church and maybe some people from the family stay behind to say thank you for people to attending, et cetera. And then one at home. And the one that is at home, whoever's home, is typically where the best food is. And so again, there's labor involved in this. There's someone who's directing where food should go and where it shouldn't go. But I think the point here is that there's an outpouring of love from community that says, you know, we really can't take away your grief. That's probably going to be with you for a lifetime in some cases, but we can make sure you're fed.

31:12Yeah, it is such an interesting and universal tradition in some ways. My family is Jewish and like sitting shiva and having food after the funeral is like the most obvious thing that people do. And I think I really like that because I think often in grief, people don't, they don't know what to do with themselves, right? Or how they can be useful. And having this cultural practice makes it easy. You know, you get your covered dish, you bring it to the place, like, you know how you can show up. If you're going to stay around for a while, yes, you know how to show up. You brought your covered dish.

31:44And I'm curious how this plays out in your cultural traditions. But with Repass, It also, oftentimes people stay and then it becomes the site of sharing memories, often really good memories, right? And so it's also this beautiful way of bringing the dead back in the room with us as a living, breathing spirit entity and not just, you know, a body that has been laid in the ground or cremated. Yes, absolutely. And I think sometimes I've been at a Shiva where people have made the person who's deceased like their recipe, right? Or like a dish that they really loved. And then you can talk about how this came to be, why this is important.

32:29It's almost like social lubricant, right? If you like don't know what to say or how to act. Yes, I love that so much. Now that makes me wonder, I want to now, I want to go back and ask my mom if there's, has she experienced that in any case? Because the repast in our families, I have not experienced anyone bringing recipes like when my grandmother died and no one was maybe maybe they didn't want to dare try but no one was trying to like bring any of her stuff into her shoes exactly yeah I think is I'm sure you came across this in your research but people can be so particular about family recipes I remember reading about I believe it was one of the family reunions you went to where the family brought in food, but they still made their own greens to have?

33:19Yes. Yes. Did you have any moments of like, you know, I don't want to step on the way that this family is doing something or kind of like the kind of specific family quirks that everybody has? Yeah. I think it's really, I was always a little fearful that I was going to say or do the wrong things in both the reunions that I visited, but also in the writing, right? Because I think there's this line to toe between I'm writing about well-worn traditions, but there are a lot of variations in these traditions. And I don't want to come across as I'm saying, this is the only, only way. But in the reunions chapter, the one family that I read about that had their meal catered, everyone was worried about the food.

34:18And I had not been to a family reunion where the food was catered. So I wasn't sure what that looked like, et cetera. And it turned out to be fine. And it wasn't, it has some of the, I would quote unquote say traditional elements that I've come to associate with reunions. There were burgers and hot dogs. There was chicken, but then there were things like pasta salad, which doesn't really show up at reunions a lot because they're outside and it's hot. Right. But there were things like that that were interesting add-ons and not necessarily bad. I went to another reunion in DC, which was a weekend reunion.

34:59And in lieu of doing like a park celebration, et cetera, we went to the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. And everyone had their meal in the cafeteria there, in the cafe there. And I thought that was really unique. And I asked them about how did they feel about that, you know, given that the food part is such a huge, you know, huge part of the reunion experience. But everyone felt pretty good about the cafe. And the bigger issue for them was, we are a small group. They have regional family. Their family is so large, they switch regions every year. And the DC region was such a small contingent.

35:45There were two people really leading everything. And they were like, we can plan the events, but we can't plan the events and try to figure out food. So I thought that was like, not me stepping on toes, but it was a really interesting conversation with folks around how to keep a tradition alive, but also keep it sustainable. Absolutely. And I think you're using the term radical hospitality. And I think most of the time, maybe that has a connotation of like, how are the people who are hosting making the space for everyone else to show up into? But I also think as a guest, maybe you can practice some form of that by having maybe looser expectations or like being open to like other ways that people can be hosting you and that you can be showing up in that space as well?

36:28Oh, I think that's so beautifully said because one of the things that didn't show up in the book, and maybe I'll do some shorter form writing about it later, is I interviewed a number of people who had specific dietary needs or restrictions. And I wanted to talk to them about how did they feel at these gatherings and all of them said some variation of, I know what to expect when I go to a gathering like this. I will eat beforehand if I'm not sure if there's something there for me to eat. It's more important for me to be there than to complain about the food. Now that can be taken two ways. I think on the one hand, you would hope and want a host committee to be mindful and be aware of different dietary restrictions.

37:21But what I took from it, from the people I was interviewing, was that they just really wanted to be together with the people who they were gathering with, whether it was a family reunion or a special meal for the holidays, et cetera. And that may be, to your point, is also this other reflection of radical hospitality or grace or whatever you want to call it because they weren't expecting a complete menu change to accommodate them. Sometimes people said that they would volunteer to bring a dish that they knew they could eat rather than asking for a complete culinary change. I don't know. I just thought that was a really powerful way of thinking about being part of the we.

38:06Yeah, I agree. I like the phrase being part of the we. I feel like that's something that maybe folks don't think about often enough. Yeah. So I guess by the nature of this book, I imagine that you might be doing some or have been doing some fun gatherings around the book. Gather, what has that part of the book process been like? It's been very cool. Cool is the only word I could think of. You mentioned BIM at the start. I love them. I've been stalking them since their inception. And my book event was my first time visiting the bookstore. And they hosted a dinner for the book. And it was so lovely.

38:5125 people all sitting around a long table. I was in conversation with Nicole Taylor. And I got to consult with Chef Jessie around what the menu could look like. And she used one of my recipes. That was very cool. So they made a dream come true for me with that one, right? Because that's all I really wanted with this book is that it might inspire people to gather on their own in some kind of capacity, whatever that is for them. And I got to see that in real time. I got to watch people who didn't know each other leave exchanging phone numbers and wanting to gather. And then there was a couple of folks who were starting their own family reunions or trying to revive them.

39:32And they were able to talk to people who have longstanding reunion traditions to get advice. It was lovely. So that was beautiful. I've had wonderful conversation partners at all of the events that I've had for the book. And people have asked really great questions, which is, I don't know, maybe it's, I don't know if it's every writer's dream. It's my writer's dream that people ask great questions because it makes me think differently about even the thing that I have produced. So yeah, it's been beautiful. And every stop that I've gone to, I've either known someone or someone has come up to me and said, you know, such and such person.

40:19And so I wanted to come because of that connection. And I thought that was, yeah, again, that felt, that has felt like a true manifestation of the book itself. Totally. I feel like being able to put the ethos of the book into practice while gathering around the book itself feels like a very kind of full circle moment. I think so. And it's also inspired me to probably, no surprise to anyone who reads the book, I enjoy hosting. I enjoy gathering people. And life gets in the way and you kind of fall back from doing some of that. But I think in writing the book and then its current life has really inspired me to go back to some of those things that I really enjoy.

41:07And, you know, I have space constraints in Austin, which has been the main excuse I've used for not gathering folks. And then I'm like, and I just did all this research about family reunions and people being in parks and all these other places. There are lots of ways to gather people. And so I think it really lit a fire underneath me to get back to the power of that in my own life, which feels really, really important in this current political context. I think we need more togetherness and not less. Yeah, absolutely. I guess also in terms of how you're putting it into practice in your life, I was reading at the end of the book about how you've been cultivating a garden.

41:51And I was curious how the garden is going. I know it's probably hot now. It is always hot. But the garden is thriving. My friend Ashley's daughter, who is now four years old, you know, it kind of the garden kind of started because Ella was really interested in plants and growing things when she was very little at this point. And now she sees it as her garden. She picks out what's going to be planted. It's amazing. It's just amazing to see like we've been growing food, but Ella's curiosity has been growing through this process as well. And, you know, in other contexts, I always talk about how being somebody's auntie is my best job and my favorite job in the world.

42:40And so even being able to do this with her and for her, it's just been really beautiful. So no more okra, not growing okra anymore. There are cucumbers, tomatoes. The herbs are thriving. They have continuously thrived. And we haven't tried watermelon again, which I would like to. Not this year, though. Maybe next year. Nah, maybe next year. Like, watermelon is fun. I think we've got to get our rhythms down with the different seasons, too. Right. That's the other. You've been busy. Honestly, that's the main part. That's the main part. We're like, oops, there's stuff that should be growing by now.

43:21So we're always just a little bit behind. Well, you've been busy and you have time to try again. Yes. Yes, that's a great way of putting it. This episode is brought to you by Wayfair. I spend a lot of time in restaurants thinking about how the spaces work and sometimes don't work. One of my favorite dining rooms in New York City is Michael's in Midtown. It's so inviting. and there's all this incredible art on the wall from Frank Stella, Jesper Johns, and David Hockney. And here's the thing. When I went home to my own outdoor space, it was kind of the opposite. There was no atmosphere or vibe, just a boring table and chairs.

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45:50Okay, I want to play a rapid fire to close with you. So I'm going to have you play some favorites. You can just tell me the first answer that comes to mind. Okay. Okay, your favorite cookbook right now? Jubilee by Tony Tipton-Martin. A great book. Your favorite ice cream flavor? Ooh, strawberry cheesecake. Is that from a specific place or just in general? You know, I'm a Bluebell girly. I'm a true Texan in that way. So yes, Bluebell. Your favorite restaurant in Austin? Timmer and Rye. They have the best bread service. Your favorite kind of community gathering? Currently, I'm going to have to say on a boat gatherings because we do a lot of that here in Austin, which is fun.

46:34Oh, that sounds so nice in the summer. Your favorite song on the family reunion playlist that you made at the end of the book? Before I Let Go, Frankie Beverly Amaze. The go-to dish that you're bringing to the cookout or the occasion? If I am not the one hosting, I'm probably going to bring a cake if it's a cookout. Yes, I'm going to say I'm going to bring probably a pound cake. Nice. And finally, a fictional food scene from a book or a movie or something made up that you wish that you could magically eat in real life. Oh, this is such a good one. I have to go with the scene from Poetic Justice because that inspired so much of the book, the family reunion scene from that movie.

47:19Is there something specific in the scene that looks good to you or just all of it? The barbecue. So I associate family reunions with barbecue. Not every family reunion has it, but probably because my family always does barbecue for family reunions. And the scene where they're flipping over all of the meat, I was like, you actually prepared this properly. I can tell that whoever ate this after the scene really loved it. They had a good food stylist for that movie. Yeah, it was great. Well, you've inspired me to go rewatch that movie. And thank you for such a fun conversation. I know it was so great speaking with you.

47:56Alana Kaiser, welcome to This Is Taste. How are you doing? Oh, I'm great. So happy to be here. Excited to speak with you. We'll do this IRL next time you're in New York. Promise me? Yes, promise, promise. Let's do it. Can't say when that'll be. Because I know, you live in Hawaii, and it's a little bit of a schlep. I'm just a huge fan of your work. I loved your first book, and now with Aloha Veggies, you're back. And my dad went to U of H back in the 60s. And our producer Clayton lived in Hawaii for a number of years. So we love Hawaii. Oh, I love hearing that. Yeah, we try to cover it. We got to get out there one day.

48:35One day we'll cover it, Taste Travels. Yes. And maybe you'll be a part of it. Well, you live on Maui. I always like to ask guests, like, where have you been dining out recently? Let's see. There are limited options on Maui. So there is a very good Italian restaurant nearby that I go to for a plate lunch. I head down the hill and I go to Waikapu on 30 in Wailuku and then for Poke Kaohu store. And on the weekends, I have friends who have a really wonderful stand called Maui Kones and they specialize in mochiko chicken and like a panko fried fish. Great choices. And you're in L.A. right now, too.

49:17So when you're in L.A., do you have any spots that you like? I'm in the land of veggies. Yes. I had some kismet rotisserie for lunch today. We're going to hit Bub and Grandma's for breakfast tomorrow. I mean, like the list could go on for the whole show. Yeah, no doubt. And we got to get to the book because it's terrific. You've got a great tasting restaurant with that Bub and Grandma's. That's a good spot in L.A. All right. So the book opens with you returning to Maui in 2022. and seeing it through new eyes, I just wanted to get that, you know, this is not necessarily nostalgia. It's also there's agriculture related to it.

49:58What specifically hit you different about the food landscape when you returned after a decade in California? You know, when you spend so much time away from a place, you forget what it is to live there. And so for me, it really was like this wonderful homecoming where I got to see it through a new lens as an adult and hone in on the fact that we don't do sugar anymore and what does the landscape look like that way, but also just dining out. I got so used to all these veg-forward options living in California for over a decade that I almost forgot what it was to not have a lot of them day-to-day.

50:39And that was the biggest surprise for sure. Yeah, so you probably had to be a little more crafting the kitchen with that availability. And really, what's it been like living back there? It's been great. I think I cook, you know, 95 % of our meals, which wasn't the case when I was living in LA. But the lifestyle just is, it's so different. And I love it so much. We're on about an acre of land. And so we're outside almost every day tending to the land in some way. Oh, I mean, amazing to be able to have that space, which you probably didn't have in LA, and just be able to have your garden. What's right now, we're recording this in May, what's the garden looking like?

51:26The garden's looking a little rough. It took a backseat to the book, but currently we've got a bunch of colo, which you would know as taro. Apple bananas, we can't keep up with them, but we love them so much. are lily koi's in bloom right now. So in a few months, we'll have lily koi, which would be passion fruit. So yeah, just a lot year round that kind of gives without a lot of effort. We have avocados coming, a bunch of citrus trees. So those are like the easy crops. Really, really, really amazing to have those growing outside your door. Well, I like your book a lot for many reasons, But the structure is really interesting.

52:12It takes the form of the plate lunch and, you know, the components are the main, the starch and the side. And it's really cool to think of a vegetable cookbook in that way. Walk me through how you chose that structure and what it means for you cooking day to day. Yeah. So when I first started cooking vegetables for myself, I found that I didn't really know how to compile like a full menu to leave myself feeling full at the end of the meal. I really struggled with it. And so when I kind of tried to think what's the way to do that, I thought about a plate lunch and how you have a few different components and all together that creates like your full complete meal.

52:59And I thought it would lend itself really well to it. You know, you basically take a main, a starch and a side and then you have something that will leave you feeling full. And that's kind of how I cook nowadays. It's like I always have a main. I always have something starchy on the side. And then I like, you know, some kind of side that's interesting or adds a component that the main and the starch don't have. Give us an example of that trio. How would play out on the plate? So this is a weekly occurrence in my house. It's the tofu poke in the book. And I take that to be my main. I think it's in the sides, but I use it as a main in my house.

53:40And then we have a quickle, which takes like, I don't know, five minutes. I love that. My husband loves the mushroomy rice in the book. It's his favorite recipe. And so we usually have that. And together, all three of those really are easy to do and very filling. Oh, my gosh. I mean, mushroom rice, when it hits, it hits. It's such a good. What makes it like your mushroom rice? What's the technique or mushrooms? So, yeah, there's a trio of mushrooms. So you have the shiitake that you kind of soak in the hot, like a hot water just to get out all that good flavor. You put them into the pot with the rice, you cook it.

54:22Then you do some sauteed kind of, I like to do oyster mushrooms, but it's whatever mushrooms you have with some butter and shoyu, or I think you would call it soy sauce. And then you add nameitake, which is like this Japanese mushroom paste. and that whole combination really just packs umami and tons of flavor oh my gosh i mean it sounds incredible it's got some nice layering there and because you can find those products you know it's definitely possible especially that paste is i love that i love cooking with that i love that so much um well i think the book is cool because like you obviously have beautiful photography and these these really you know detailed recipes but they talk about the culture of Hawaii in a very, you know, you way.

55:09And you mentioned, you know, the Hawaiian food and culture, there's three main diasporas in Chinese, Japanese and Portuguese. And then it expands to Korean and Filipino to name a few. How does that all play out in terms of vegetarian cooking? Yeah, I mean, what's nice is that a lot of those cultures actually have a lot of veg forward dishes built into them. And while they didn't make it to Hawaii, the methods are so easy to adapt to the recipes that we do have. So it really made it a pretty seamless transition from like a very meat-centric kind of profile to veg forward. Yeah. I mean, of course, those cultures have these great vegetable traditions.

55:59It just makes you, I think it offers so many opportunities to use your spices and use in shoyu and different ingredients that may be paired with meat in other cookbooks, your veg forward. And I think that's cool. Yeah, I mean, the flavors really do lend themselves beautifully. And it's oftentimes a lot faster to cook with vegetables. So I found it to be really fun. No, no, that's a good point. You know, you're not like slow braising a cut of meat. You know, you can get these these meals out there fast. Well, I like that you are specific in that you're not like I mean, you you're not advocating for vegetarianism or claiming vegetables are healthier.

56:45You're not giving these like prescriptive just, you know, you're not writing introductions like that says you have to eat this way to be healthier. Tell me about that choice. Yeah, for me, it was really important to say this is veg forward cooking and it's exciting and it's easy to integrate into your life, but it's not vegetarian. I think that when you put a label on something like it's vegetarian, sometimes people are immediately turned off by it. And the idea here is to bring people in and to give them more choices and to make it feel exciting and fun. And so when you remove the label, you take away pressure really quickly.

57:25Agree fully. I think it's a really nice strategy. And I think people are compelled to follow you because you're not so preachy in some ways. It's smart. How do you engage with your followers? Like, are you shooting reels? Like, what's your favorite way to kind of stay connected? You know, I'm still kind of finding my footing. Social media has really changed. I used to love blogging and it's really just like very static, lots of photos. Now with, you know, Reels and TikTok being very popular, I'm just trying to have fun with it. So I'm trying not to take myself too seriously and also trying not to think about it too hard.

58:06Well said. That's probably the best mindset. Keep your head straight that way. Not try to overthink it. I love the Korean jeun, the vegetarian version with green beans. There's one with zucchini, oyster mushroom yuba. How are you seeing Korean cooking specifically play out in Hawaii? So I feel like there are a few really good instances on Oahu, which is one of the, it's the main island. I'm on Maui. And I think that you are kind of seeing a fusion, which isn't local Hawaii food all fusion, if you really boil it down. But I do see them kind of pushing the boundaries into like having a lot more vegetables on the menu than just like the meats.

58:55And so this was kind of my play on that. And I think it's cool to add the marination kind of component to the vegetables for the june, which is what makes it uniquely Hawaii. Oh, I see. That's cool. That's really neat. And I just love the integration of these vegetables into it. What's the batter binder for this june? I mean, egg, really. Yeah, totally. Totally. Not a hard question. Yeah, you're like, Matt, what are you saying? No, it is like an egg, small pancake, and I just love this technique. Is there a sauce at all with it that you recommend? Yeah. So there is a sauce in the book, and it's super easy to put together.

59:40It's essentially like something acidic, so it's vinegar, and then there's shoyu or soy sauce, some sesame oil, a little bit of sugar or honey, whatever you want, and then sesame seeds. I think that's it. It's super fast. Sounds great. What a great pairing. Tell me about your version of Locomoco. Yes, I'd love to. In the book, we have four. And with all of the kind of specific sub chapters that I have in the book, there are four variations. And so for Locomoco, we have a tofu burger. We have a breadfruit, which is called ulu in Hawaii. And it has white beans. There's a black bean. And then there's a black lentil.

1:00:24So there's really something for everyone. What an adventure to have four of those. That's really neat. That's cool. I mean, how did you come by those recipes? Because I know like veggie burgers can be challenging to develop those recipes. Yeah. I love a good veggie burger. For the lentil one, I leaned on Molly Baz's recipe. She has a really good one. Kenji Lopez, Kenji Alt Lopez inspired the black bean. I thought it was really genius to kind of bake them off to take out some of that stodginess. And then tofu burger, I riffed on that forever because it kept coming out soggy. And then once you introduce like a frozen tofu, it's magical.

1:01:13Whoa, whoa, whoa. That's cool. So you actually start with frozen. Yeah. Yeah, so when you freeze it, basically you freeze it ahead of time and then you defrost it in the fridge. And you're able to squeeze out so much moisture and you have this really beautiful kind of spongy texture that just absorbs everything flavor-wise. And that's the way to get a not stodgy tofu burger. Well, I'm glad you illustrated how difficult these things can be. because it's usually so moist and wet in the center when you're trying to make the own veggie bread. I mean, I did try. I tried to not do the frozen, but you have to.

1:01:52You have to. It's all good. That's a great technique. I see braised miso eggplant is in the book in a few spots, and I mean, I love that pairing. It's so great. Tell me about putting this in a few of the recipes. I think that braising eggplant in general is a really easy way to cook eggplant for especially people who think they don't like eggplant. I think when you use simple ingredients like miso does a lot of the heavy lifting because it's just packed with so much flavor. You don't have to work that hard. For me, I found that kind of squeezing on some brightness, in this case, it's like lemon juice, really adds, just it lifts the dish.

1:02:40Such a great point. Because I think it can be like when you put too much miso, you can like your ratios can be a little bit, I mean, I love miso, but like it can be a little overpowering. But adding the acidity to it with the lemon juice is really smart. And it's like we have so many eggplants in the summertime here on the East Coast. Oh, here too. I mean, everywhere, right? It just grows. It does. And like, you know, we're like sometimes thinking parm or thinking maybe stir fry. But like this braise with miso is such a great way. I love that addition. Well, one thing that's kind of sneaky about your book and sneaky cool, I think, for fans of cookbooks is that you photograph your own book.

1:03:17And, you know, you're really good. Like super, super cool. Like your style, like it's really well lit. Like I think it's and then also like the styling, too. So it's like you're doing everything. What's that process like shooting your own book, styling your own book? What's cool about it is that you get to get the dish to look exactly how you want it to look. And then if you don't love your photo, you can reshoot it. And I think that that's the beauty of it. But for me, it was really just styling it in the most simplistic way to make it feel like you can make this in your house. Like I'm not, you know, I'm not using tweezers.

1:03:58I'm just I'm plating it and making it look like how I'm going to serve it. Well, the styling is a good note. Like I love the way you style because it's minimal. Like you're not trying to like set up these like scenes and little whoopsies and all that stuff. Like I love this minimal styling. really makes the food really jump off the page. Smart stuff. Thanks. Yeah. Thank you. Huge fan. I think it's a really, that's why your books are great because it's like you control all those elements. And I mean, but tell me about it can be not as fun when you're doing the entire thing. It is just drag on longer and longer.

1:04:32It does take a little longer. Yeah. And you have to build that into your schedule when you're creating your manuscript. And so I did run over a little time just because I forgot how much time it takes to get all those shots in. Yeah, yeah. So are you thinking book three already? Oh, I'm not. The first time I did it, I thought like, this is the only one. And then I really believed that we needed a veg forward local Hawaii food cookbook. So then I thought, maybe I could do that. And for sure, right now, there are no ideas percolating that feel like they need to exist in the world. Hey, if you know that, that's like a secret.

1:05:15Basically, if you know that there shouldn't be another book, that's the way to do it. So with this book in the past, or you're releasing it now, are you cooking for others? What's your future like? Good question. I don't know. Yeah, we'll see what it holds. I don't think that far ahead. Maybe I should. No. I mean, would you ever do a restaurant? No, but you know what I would love to do is to dream up a restaurant and give that to someone else. Yeah. Someone who could do it really well. I have a lot of ideas of what I think could be cool, but I know in my heart I'm not the right person to do it.

1:05:57That's the best. Well, I love your book, and I really appreciate it. Zootopia 2 has come home to Disney+. Let's go! Get ready for a new case. We're going to crack this case and prove we're the greatest partners of all time. New friends. You are... Gary Death Snake. And your last name? Death Snake. Dream Team. New habitats. Zootopia has a secret reptile population. You can watch the record-breaking phenomenon at home. You're clearly working at it. Zootopia 2, now available on Disney Plus Rated PG. On This Is Taste, we ask guests about the discerning taste. So to close this interview, here's a little rapid fire.

1:06:37Fast and Furious taste check. Are you ready? The best fruit. Apple banana. Explain this for those who don't know. An apple banana is a smaller banana. It is a little bit tart. It has just like a slightly, it's not as soft as a normal banana. Right. A little more texture, a little more crunch. Yeah. It's great. That sounds great. I highly recommend finding it. Yeah. You have to answer this. I know you wrote a vegetable book, but the worst vegetable. Oh, hands down, red bell pepper. Yes. Can't stand them. Yes. I love it. Definitively. Yeah, I love it. It's the one. Not in your books. Nope. What is your typical breakfast?

1:07:29Soft scramble eggs, rice, and then usually some kind of like chili crunch. Oh, beautiful. Love that. The best dessert? The one you have. But I mostly have ice cream on hand. So I'd say a banana split. Oh, yeah. Nice. What about apple banana split? Have you ever tried? Yes. That's the only one we do because we have a million apple bananas. Oh, my gosh. That just transforms everything. Yeah. That's wonderful. I was just at a restaurant and they did the coolest thing with a banana. They put it into the base of a cone, like an ice cream cone. Oh, genius. Right, genius. And it was caramelized. And you fill it up with soft serve.

1:08:12So basically at the bottom of the cone base, you get this bite with a banana in it. I love that. Me too. I can't stop thinking about it. It was like the most genius thing. I thought of it right away when you said banana split. A few more. a restaurant you wish you could bring back from the dead? Kitara's. It's like, it was this iconic restaurant in Makoau Town on Maui, and they had Simon. I think that might have been all they had, but I missed them so much. Oh, man. Maybe you can bring it back. Maybe that's your restaurant. That'd be a dream. When you're craving fast food, and I guess when you're living in Maui, you just, you don't have like the LA fast food chains.

1:08:51Where do you, where do you go? I'm craving fast food on Maui. I go to Taco Bell. Oh, yes. Alana, what's the order? Bean and cheese burrito. That's it. It's such the classic. Oh, man. It's I love it. I love it. I love it. It's so good. Last one, your favorite sandwich. In this moment, because I'm in L.A., I'd say the Ira Glass from Wax Paper Co. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So good. Great call there. Alana, this has been so much fun. Thank you so much for joining This Is Taste. Oh my gosh, this was a blast. Thank you so much for having me.

1:09:33This is Taste is hosted and produced by Matt Rodbard and me, Eliza Abarbanel. The show is edited by lead producer Clayton Gumbert and supervised by Pat Stango, director of media production and development at Penguin Random House. Thanks to Shalia Harris and the production team at Penguin Random House. Theme music by Steve Rydell. Episode portraits by Louise Zergang Pomeroy. logo design by Ellie Skurzat and Ian Dingham visit Taste Online at tastecooking.com and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated on all cool things in the world of taste