Your Mama's Kitchen Episode 5: José Andrés

TRANSCRIPT:

Jose Andres My father and mother loved to eat and loved to feed and I think I have the same thing. My wife always tells me Did you see how much we spend this month in eating? I say, I'm researching. And I'm learning. But, because nothing gives me more joy than to send food to friends or to share with anybody. And I think all of that comes from my mom and my dad, which it could be a curse, but I see it as a, as a blessing.

Michele: Welcome to Your Mama's Kitchen, the podcast that explores how we are shaped as adults by the kitchens we grew up in as kids. I'm Michele Norris. Today, I caught up with a man who is always out in the world globetrotting for good and got him to slow down enough to spend time with us in HIS kitchen. Lucky me! I got to spend a day with Chef Jose Andres at his home in Bethesda Maryland. Jose is a longtime friend, I’ve known him for years, and I always like visiting his house because it is filled with good smells, interesting objects from all his travels, and the constant gurgle of laughter and something bubbling on the stove. It’s like life is a party and he is the host.

But Jose is a celebrity chef known also for his big heart as well. You have probably heard of him because of his philanthropic work. He and his team are always running toward disaster to feed those in need. It started with the DC Central Kitchen in the nation’s capital and grew into the WORLD central kitchen after a massive earthquake in Haiti in 2010. Jose’s team has fed thousands of people after the hurricane in Puerto Rico, the wildfires in California and more recently in Maui. And they are a fixture in Ukraine feeding towns ravaged by war.

And of course Jose Andres, who originally hails from Spain, is also known for his great food. His mother and father who were both nurses were also talented cooks. He made a name for himself in the U.S. by introducing innovative, avant garde cuisine that featured foam and smoke and deconstructed dishes. In today’s episode, you’ll learn how Jose developed his relationship to food, how his father influenced his cooking and how improvising when ingredients were scarce made him the chef that he is today. And when we get to the kitchen to explore the simple country Spanish food that he grew up with – together we make a special meal that was one of his mother’s favorites when she wanted to make something that was just for herself. Roasted red peppers that are cooked down a second time on the stovetop with garlic and then paired with a simple fried egg and a thick slice of toasted country bread. It is for him a taste of home – and we’ll share how you can make it in your kitchen.

Michele Norris When I thought about doing a podcast built around that question, tell me about your mama's kitchen. You are one of the people I always had in mind because I've heard you talk about your mama's kitchen, and I know you have such wonderful stories. I'm so glad that you joined us. And so here we are. Tell me about your mama's kitchen. Close your eyes. Take me back there. What did it smell like? What did it look like? What do you remember?

Jose Andres We were, I guess, immigrants inside the Spain since I was very young because I grew up in Asturias, northern part of Spain. But I have very faraway memories, um, of those moments. The moment I began having memories was moving to Barcelona. My father was a nurse opening a new restaurant, and in five years we changed homes, I would say, three times. From the suburbs, these kind of inner cities that they were growing as immigrants were moving into a big city like Barcelona, then we move inside Barcelona for a couple of years, and then we move to this little town called Santa Coloma de Cervelló, 30, 40 minutes north of Barcelona, into the mountains, into a very small village where you could see Barcelona far away in the distance, high up in the mountain and where farming land was everything you just saw. in that house, my mom and father were able to to buy— not house, but an apartment on the first floor. We had that very little nice kind of garden. That to me, it seemed like like, like a never-ending garden, but actually was such a small thing that we barely could put ten chairs and a little magnolia tree. And in that kitchen is where I remember obviously falling in love with, with cooking in more ways than one.

So imagine, a very, very small kitchen, but that in a way, my mother, Monday through Friday, mainly, and my father more on the weekends, will have the task of feeding my three brothers and I. And where I just remember my mom always making things out of nothing. The leftover chicken at the end of the month. I don't have any memory of the dishes at the beginning of the month. Were always the ones at the end when the fridge was totally empty. Because was nothing left. But will always be that, half piece of chicken that does, was dry, because we didn’t have paper film at the time. And my mom will get dad would chop it. She'll make a béchamel with olive oil and or butter. Maybe a little onion, chop. She'll cook it. And then she add flour to make what we call a roux. And then she add the milk and then she'll make these amazing, creamy, thick but saucy-like, milk béchamel sauce that then she'll add that chicken or that egg or little bit of ham, whatever was leftover, and then she'll rub them into flour, making little bowls. And egg wash use eggs that were whisk. If was any egg left. If not, it'll be water and then bread crumbs.

And the bread crumbs was fascinating because it was the bread that was old during the week. When it gets hard, she'll break it in little pieces and you'll put whatever. And you will grind meat or onion or carrots or bread. And she'll then roll it in the bread crumbs and then fry. The fascinating thing was that my brothers and I, we will—Oh, my God, We will die for those croquettes. We will be counting how many were coming out of the pan to make sure everybody was eating equally the same croquettes. But the fascinating thing was that usually she will make that the day before and usually at night, usually—

Michele Norris She made the croquettes at night.

Jose Andres The mix, the dough, the béchamel, the milk, and to rub them, the béchamel will have to get cold because they they are difficult to handle if they are as creamy as my mom made them. But when she put it in the tray in the refrigerator, at night, usually because I'm I was the oldest one, I will be the one waking up. And slowly and without making a lot of noise in the house, that every time you open the door, you could you you could hear—

Michele Norris It was a lil creaky.

Jose Andres The creaky of the door, I'm going to the kitchen. And yeah, maybe it's not the way, but with the fingers. So you will not leave anything behind. And I leave a little bit. But what I would do very quickly was push it with my fingers. So nobody will notice that—

Michele Norris No fingerprints.

Jose Andres No fingerprints. I was terrible. But the issue was that my brothers would do exactly the same. I guess they learn from the old brothers and my mom every morning would be the same thing. Who ate the croquettes?! So she began being tradition that she would make a big tray, and then she would always leave a little plate that then we could do whatever we wanted with a little plate, but we could never touch the big pan again. Why? Because then will be very difficult for my mom to roll the perfect croquette. Yes. But still to this day, those croquettes is one of those dishes that obviously I remember my mom making. And for me, to this day, it's been part of my life because I know my wife and myself, we made those croquettes for my daughters and in fascinating ways is one of the most popular dishes to, in my restaurants, you see is almost like life going all around 360 that sometimes it starts in a little kitchen that you can barely feed a family of five.

Michele Norris I love what you said that you remember the meals when your mom had to make do with what was just left in the fridge instead of the meals at the beginning of the month, where there was probably plenty, right where you'd probably have just gone to market and you had more ingredients. What does that say about you? Why do you think your mind goes to the moments where she had to improvise and use It was just left in the refrigerator?

Jose Andres I think what I'm describing and experiencing is something like... in a way, doesn’t matter where you come from, what culture and what country, what what tribe you belong, that I'm sure many of us have experienced. Millions, if not hundreds of millions. And it's hard to explain because it's not about the perfection of the dish. It's about intangibles that are important ingredients that you cannot put in the recipe.

Michele Norris Such as?

Jose Andres You cannot put love in a recipe. How do you write love? Because there's many ways to give love. Love is coming home after a long day of work. And still having the burden of having to feed your family. That's responsibility. But it has to be love.

Michele Norris And sometimes not knowing how you're going to do it.

Jose Andres Sometimes not knowing how to do it. I think those dishes shows you the human creativity shining through, where in the worst moments of humanity, humans saw how they've been able to make it through. And that's in the DNA of who we are. And I think this is something we all will have, is a talent is deep inside every one of us, but that we don't really realize. And that's why I'm describing my mom.

I remember another dish that probably is one of the moments I thought, Man, I like this thing of cooking. I'm guessing I was seven, eight. We were visiting a distant relative, an uncle, in a town called Rebus. And I remember we arrived there for one of the school vacations. I think this was during Lent. As we call it in Spain, Semana Santa. And there we go. And we arrive to see this family member, which we never met before, but was a distant relative of my father, there we arrive late at night. Sprinkles of rain.

And when we arrive, there is these old homes with very thick walls, with almost—the house with no electricity. But like, candles. Like it was medieval times. But then we go into this house. I remember kind of dark but in a way welcoming, not a place that you felt like you were a scared, but a place you felt like home. And there we arrive. And where he takes us, even before he show us our rooms into this big room that happens with the kitchen, with a very big table and with a beautiful orange-y light that kept changing because it was kind of a big fire he had in the back. And there he had these very big pot metal, like a cauldron. And he had on that wooden table in one edge, kind of a very big knife and a big piece of bread. Bread again. And it seems he was cutting, with the help of the knife, crumbs. And I say it seems, because I didn't see it doing it until there he sat himself and began cutting more of those bread crumbs. Like a big mountain of them. Then getting some water with the fingers and sprinkling the water on top of the bread and then putting a little tablecloth on top. And there he was in the fire with this very big pot of metal, with a big piece of bacon, with no meat, just pure fat, that he add in there to make sure it started melting.

And then all of the sudden using that same tablecloth, that all of a sudden was to cover the bread crumbs, putting it on the side of the bread crumbs, put in the bread crumbs on top of the table cloth and then using that table cloth to bring them into the pot where he will put them over that melted bacon fat and with a wooden spoon. And for the next 30, 40 minutes, he will be moving the breadcrumbs that will have the right moist, not Too much or too little. Because if they had too much, they will become become like a very big, clumsy kind of big bowl of bread. And if they were to dry, they will burn very quickly. So they had to be not too much, not too little. But the exact amount of water, not something you can write in a recipe. Only the wisdom of life.

And then he got the little pan that he put kind of in a little tripod metal triangle thing that you see the cowboys cooking the coffee in the movies, like will have I don't even know the name of, in Spanish or in English, he will put the pan more oil. He started frying an egg at the time. And then he'll get these metal plates and start putting one egg in each and then get in with a spoon covering them with the bread crumbs, the migas. And there you have all bread, bacon fat, olive oil and the eggs and a little bit of salt.

And I still to this day, remember that plate of bread and eggs as something extraordinary. That's not my mother's kitchen, but that's a kitchen of my life that show me that, Wow, sometimes we overcomplicate things and that simple, simple things are very astonishing.

Michele Norris Just listening to you describe that it was theatrical. It's a process that must have fascinated you as a as a child to see him. It sounds like he's scraping the bread.

Jose Andrew: Yeah.

Michele Norris: Creating these bread crumbs as you're describing it I can hear it. I can hear a knife chafing across—

Jose Andres *scraping noises* And one by one. Every crumb he cut by himself. Not too big, Not too small, but the right size. And it's many dishes of migas across Spain, so many different dishes. That one was probably the most simple one I've ever eaten in my life.

Michele Norris And it's called migas. Migas, which means—

Jose Andres Crumbs.

Michele Norris Crumbs. You fell in love not just with the food, but the process, what food represents.

Jose Andres And the smells and the looks and the light of the fire. A fire that, I told this story many times, but it was the story of my father is showing me to control the fire. Yeah, he would cook home, but nowhere He will be happier than cooking outside and you know, camp, in the mountain. And when we went camping and doing a big paella for friends and if he could, he would make a fire. place. And you have a little grill And when it's still you can make a fire in the open. There is still places with the right weather and the right permission, and we will make this fire and I will be in charge of making the fire.

Michele Norris You are in charge of that? Making the fire.

Jose Andres My father liked to cook with the fire. And I was Mr. Fire.

Michele Norris You were Mr. Fire.

Jose Andres We would gather—

Michele Norris Wood. Yeah. Get the twigs right on top of the wood.

Jose Andres Yep.

Michele Norris And keep it going.

Jose Andres And keep it going. And if he will make one, you know, with chicken or and or a rabbit more what we call the Paella Valenciana. You know, you have to start sauteeing the meat and it's in the middle because if not the outside of the paella burns and you don't want the oil demand because it will give a bad flavor. So the fire had to be with intensity, but only in the middle. Then the process would keep going and he adds the vegetables. And then the tomato and the tomato will reduce. And then you'll need to increase a little bit of fire in the moment. And then when everything is in the right moment to perfection, you’ll add the water.

Then you have to have a very heavy boil and the water will have to boil 20, 30 minutes because you want in the moment the chicken and the rabbit and all the flavors of the different ingredients to mingle and release the flavoring to the water that then has stopped being water. It slowly was becoming like one of the most beautiful savory meat chicken rabbit stocks ever. Thing about it, people say, You don't you don't add the stock? No, we add water. The stock is going to be made as we cook, and then the water will start reducing a bit because you put way too much for the quantity of rice you will need.

But then my father will know when is the right moment to add the rice, in the moment more fire we will have to increase then is the very super big fire will have to happen and that's it. He would put in charge of doing that. The process was almost like going to mass, going to church. Everything has its ritual, its moment, a movie without a script that, you know, the beginning and kind of, you know, the end, but would never happen twice in the same way or fashion. But making the fire was important.

Michele Norris When I hear you describe paella, I'm also thinking not everyone has been fortunate enough to have paella or a good paella. And when you talk about that big paella pan, just a minute to describe that for an audience that maybe not everyone knows what it is. It is a big, it's not a skillet. It's not a wok. No. But it has properties of both. It's a big round—

Jose Andres Very shallow.

Michele Norris Shallow shape kinda like a frisbee.

Jose Andres Would say like a 45 degrees angle on the sides with two handles. One is a small enough with four, six or eight as the paella keeps increasing.

Michele Norris Because you've had paellas as big as the table that we're sitting.

Jose Andres Bigger and bigger. We have one that we do 500 people. And also is very characteristic that you never fill them up to the top. Paellas are supposed to be... They need the space, the rice needs the space.

Michele Norris And it looks like it's almost in like a inverted spaceship.

Jose Andres It's inverted. Yeah. And it's funny, you mention a spaceship because. Yeah, it looks like a satellite, too, because when I ordered one that came from Spain many years ago, because I was cooking this very big event for the 20 year anniversary of Jaleo, or the 15th. And this thing is coming on is in customs not for weeks, but for months and will not clear customs.

Michele Norris The paella pan could not clear customs? What did they think it was for?

Jose Andres For weird reasons. And then one day they call me again. I'm like, what the– But what did this is is is a paella used for cooking rice. I've been saying the same story now for so often... Why you need something is a big tub of rice? I'm like, okay man, what do you want me to tell you? You know what, it’s a satellite? The FBI is across my restaurant and these— I used this is satellite to spy on the FBI. Well, let me tell you, we we got that call. I think we got that call, right.

Michele Norris They thought it was a big satellite?

Jose Andres Well, whatever it was, we got that that visit. The FBI was not too far. But anyway, I'm— We were talking about the paella and my father, but to try to end that story was the day I got upset because he will never let me cook it.

Michele Norris You want to cook the paella instead of doing the fire?

Jose Andres And he sent me away.

Michele Norris Huh.

Jose Andres Obviously they ate without me. But my father got me at the end. And and this is part of these romanticism I've been telling you about those moments of life. I don't know if my father again was so deep or not, I want to believe he was. And he told me, my son, every everybody wants to do the cooking. Now nobody wants to do the fire. Master the fire. Control the fire. Find it, control it, and then you can do any cooking you want. Obviously, this is a fascinating story for a young cook in the making now that I made it to be a cook. But this is a great metaphor for life itself. We are all trying to to cook when when didn’t even understood what our fire is. And I think that's important. And at least that's what I believe my father was trying to tell me.

Michele Norris Your mother and your father were nurses. If they had been bankers or real estate developers or insurance agents or any number of other things, do you think you would be different as a man and as a person? Do you think that one of the reasons that you are so focused in your own life on taking care of other people and nurturing other people is because that's what they did? Is it is it literally in your DNA in some ways because of their, Their work in their lives.

Jose Andres You know, I had a very complicated relationship with my mother. My mother was a very fascinating woman, loved by many, but at times was hard. And that's maybe one of the reasons why I always left home so early. Well, let me put it this way. I found creative ways to be away from home. I had to be creative. Was a complicated relation. And my father, you know. He was also very. Hands on. Hands off. Used to manage, but my mum had ups and downs and dad sometimes made that complicated. With that said I think we are all created, used to remember the amazing good times, right? Because they are the ones that keep you going. And we we have a tendency use to forget the bad ones. Which i think is healthy.

Michele Norris Put it on a shelf.

Jose Andres Yeah. And sometimes those demons of the past show up. I see myself in my mom, but i cannot blame her because I'm a grown up man. I have to control my own. But I think in a way, my mom made me in the good things who I am. Right. And she was persistent. She never took no for an answer. I know my mother and my father were not the best ones managing money because they worked so hard. But sometimes they were not good managing their money. Also, they will be big givers, meaning they’ll invite everyone for the paella. And you know, you are middle class, but you are working middle class. And, you know, every dollar counts in this case, Every peseta that counts. But my father and mother loved to eat and love to feed. And I think I have the same thing. My wife always tells me Did you see how much we spend this month in eating? I say, I'm researching. And I'm learning. But, because nothing gives me more joy than to send food to friends or to share with anybody. And I think all of that comes from my mom and my dad, which it could be a curse, but I see it as a as a blessing.

Michele Norris We always like to gift our listeners with a recipe, something that means something special to our guests. Something that tastes like home. Jose Andres is going to make the roasted red peppers that his mother used to make. But before we get there, he explains what that dish means to him.

Jose Andres Los Pimientos Asados de Mi Ma Marisa. These red peppers was probably one of the dishes my mother made for herself. Like if my mother could be greedy. That's the only way she ever show it. And still, she would share her with everybody.

Michele Norris She loved this that much. Yeah.

Jose Andres And I'm only telling you this and I'm thinking about it right now. I'm thinking about it. Because she will never make a big quantity. Not like the red peppers were expensive, but depends on season. They could be expensive. And she would roast those red peppers, pimientos asados. And... Oh my God, that was the most delicious dish. And the fascinating part was that I didn’t like peppers, especially the green peppers.

And before I realized that became one of my favorite dishes ever. My mom, one day, those green peppers. She put them up for dinner next to a piece of meat. And i didn’t want to eat them. My mom said, okay, it's fine, but you're taking them tomorrow to school and you will eat the green peppers. She sent them to school. The teacher told her He didn't eat them. She took the peppers back home for dinner. She gave me again green peppers. I didn’t eat them. Next day to school. Send me the green peppers.

Michele Norris She gonna make sure you ate those green peppers.

Jose Andres And that night I ate the green peppers. And now green peppers. Fried green peppers. It's one of my favorite things in the whole world, with a little touch of salt. But this takes me to the red peppers. Totally different flavor and totally different preparation. But were those plump, big, long, meaty, fleshy, beautiful, ravaged ruby color red peppers and she would put them in the oven with her hands almost like she will give them love and a moist, beautiful massage with the oil, she will make sure the skin will have a film of the oil.

Michele Norris Hmm. Olive oil on the outside.

Jose Andres Olive oil. And she'll put them in the oven. And roast them and you'll see how the upper part will get dry and easily brown but the part touching the metal pen. is the one that really will be cooking, So you'll have to keep turning them two or three times and in 40 minutes the peppers would be roasted and then you'll take them out and in the moment you will be able to peel them. And she'll peel them. And I remember peeling the peppers was something that I enjoy enormously because all of a sudden that dry, opaque semi-burn peel will give door and a window into seeing the flesh of the red peppers shiny and velvety. And they will lose part of their moist. That moist will end in the bottom of the tray. And she'll take the seeds and she'll get these kind of red pepper strips. She'll put that juice of the red peppers on the side and the skins and the seeds away. Then she'll get the terracotta pot and will cook them with olive oil and garlic. The garlic will brown, not too much not too little, use the right brown, as we call it, Dancing Garlic.

Michele Norris Dancing Garlic.

Jose Andres The garlic starts dancing. You can chop. But usually she like to slice. Then she put the peppers on. Then she add water. And then she’ll add also the use of the Red Peppers. And she'll boil them slowly until the water will almost evaporate completely. And then the use of the red peppers and the olive oil. Will be calm like these kind of emulsify sauce. And at the end she’ll add cherry vinegar to bring acidity and play against the sweetness that the peppers were showing you. Those peppers, hot, or even better, cold next to one fried egg and a piece of bread. That was heaven on earth.

Michele Norris Hmm. That sounds so delicious. And we happen to be in your house, so we can just take a few steps. Let's go and go in the kitchen and try to. Let's go try to capture this in the kitchen. Let's go.

Michele Norris We scooted over to Jose’s kitchen which is, in a word, SPACIOUS. I mean talk about a DREAM kitchen – but c’mon!! What else would you expect from a world-class chef? Of course his kitchen is amazing. Let me give you a quick scan of what it looks like in here. There is a massive picture window that looks out over the woods and gives the room a feeling of cooking inside while being outside. There is one central MASSIVE island with a cooktop, and a halo of practical cooking instruments of all kinds hanging from above.
There's several knife racks, juicers, a mortar, a pestle surrounding us. Little bowls of oranges and garlic. Multiple ovens. Multiple refrigerators. And next to the stove? Every kind of olive oil, vinegar, and sea salt you can think of. But what we’re here for is looking right back at us: Gorgeous, plump, ruby red peppers laid out as if slumbering on a sheet pan - just begging to be roasted in the style of Jose’s mother.

Michele Norris They look so relaxed.

Jose Andres They are relaxed. And look how beautiful they are.

Michele Norris Oh, these are. These are these from the farmers market?

Jose Andres They’re so big and so hard.

Michele Norris They're gorgeous.

Jose Andres And that that's very similar to the peppers—

Michele Norris But these are big these are like post nuclear. These are really big.

Jose Andres As big as, big as they can.

Michele Norris So here’s a quick run down of how to prep this dish. But this is not a quick dish. You’re going to need a little time, but... it’s worth it. Jose says you should massage the peppers with high quality olive oil, preferably Spanish olive oil and then spread them on out on a cookie sheet or sheet pan. Then pop them in the oven at 300 degrees and roast them for about 40 minutes turning often.

Michele Norris And you just rub this with a little bit of olive oil.

Jose Andres For these you can even get that way with peanut, sunflower oil works.

Michele Norris In the oven, the skins of the peppers will start to pucker and then turn brown and eventually blacken in some areas but that is okay. Just keep turning them often so they don’t stick to the sheet and cook evenly. When they appear to be cooked on all sides after about 40 minutes remove from the oven and let them sit for a minute. They may sink a little bit. It’s almost like they exhale...

Jose Andres So you see, we've got the peppers. They've been in the oven 30, 40 minutes. You know they are ready because they are telling you they're ready.

Michele Norris Now, to remove the stems and the seeds.

Jose Andres The skin separates. You see, It has all these pockets of air. You can sense that their skin has been separated from the flesh.

Michele Norris And they ... oh and It just comes out so easily. Can I just grab a little piece of this?

Jose Andres You should.

Michele Norris Mm. Mm! Oh, my goodness. It’s amazing. It’s so sweet.

Michele Norris Let me tell ya –My stomach was ROARING at this point. But we had more work to do because the peppers are cooked for a second round – this time on the stove. Remember the dancing garlic? Well it’s time for the garlic to shimmy in the pan.

Jose Andres This is what my mom will do. She’ll cut them in slices, me, sometimes i use to smash them. And then this is what my mom would do. Not too thick not too thin, she’ll cut them thicker, I remember. But anyway. You see?

Michele Norris The oil is getting hotter and the garlic is getting brown around the edges. You can just imagine the aroma as as he starts adding these roasted red peppers. Once the skin is removed Jose cuts the peppers into fleshy strips that have the weight of slices of flank steak.

Jose Andres And now is the moment that the moisture In The garlic is being released into the hot. Oil and oil and water.And now we're going to wait.

Michele Norris Its dancing already!

Jose Andres You see? You see the dancing?

Michele Norris Yes, I see the dancing. It's shimmy. Shimmy shimmy cocoa pop.

Jose Andres Pop pop pop. And if he's chopped even more, dancing...Everybody tells me, But Jose. When do I know is the right time? Just listen to the ingredients.

Michele Norris Watching him in his element, surrounded by all of his tools, making a dish so dear to his heart was truly special. Now, of course, we're skipping a few steps here and there, but hopefully you're feeling the deliciousness of this dish and as always, we’ll have the full description for you on Instagram.

Michele Norris It's beautiful. I almost don't. I don't want to dive in because it's so beautiful... Chin. Chin.

Jose Andres To you.

Michele Norris Thank you, my friend.

Jose Andres I cannot believe we are making my mom's red peppers. You know, it's been a long time since i made these peppers.

Michele Norris Well, and she's here with us today. She's right here with us.

Michele Norris: Well, that was fun. Thank you, Jose for sharing your story, and for sharing your heart.

Jose Andres is a wonderful chef, and an even better human being. I’ve known Jose for years but I learned all kinds of new things in this conversation and I LOVED getting to know more about his humble beginnings and how doing good is almost encoded in his family’s DNA. Jose reached back to Spain for this conversation, sharing memories that were both comforting and complicated. But isn’t that the nature of life in the kitchen? Sometimes

its salty...sometimes its sweet... Often, its less than perfect. Jose had a tumultuous relationship with his mother when he was young, he left home early to find peace, to find adventure, to find and grow his relationship with food. But time has a way of healing most things. Cooking those sumptuous peppers in his kitchen was a way to connect to his past and connect with his strong-willed mother Marisa, a woman with a heart of gold. You can experience those peppers, the pimientos asados, by heading to my instagram page. We’ll post a recipe and some pictures. But just be warned–pictures alone can never do these peppers justice. You might just try this in your own kitchen. I’m Michele Norris. Have a glorious day and come back soon for another episode of Your Mama’s Kitchen. Thanks so much for listening. Be bountiful.

CREDITS

This has been a Higher Ground and Audible Original. Produced by Higher Ground Studios. Senior Producer Natalie Rinn, Producer Sonia Htoon, and Associate Producer Angel Carreras. Sound design and engineering from Andrew Eapen and Ryo Baum.
Higher Ground Audio's editorial assistants are Jenna Levin and Camila Thur de Koos. Executive producers for Higher Ground are Nick White, Mukta Mohan, Dan Fierman and me, Michele Norris. Executive producers for Audible are Zola Mashariki, Nick D’Angelo and Ann Heppermann. The show’s closing song is 504 by The Soul Rebels.

Editorial and web support from Melissa Bear and Say What Media. Our talent booker is Angela Peluso. And special thanks this week go to Inez Andres, Satchel Kaplan, the team at Think Food group, Eli Turner. Thanks to Clean Cuts in Washington DC. Head of Audible Studios Zola Mashariki, Chief Content Officer Rachel Ghiazza.

And that's it. Goodbye, everybody. See what we're serving up next week.