Seven Questions + Class Tomorrow
I'm excited about a new Q&A interview thing I'm doing!
I’ve done a section in the back all of my solo cookbooks (Small Victories, Now & Again, and Simply Julia) called ‘Seven Lists.’ I’ve tried to make each of these lists practical (seven ways to use a can of chickpeas, seven things you can do with leftover buttermilk, seven things you can bring to someone’s house when they invite you for dinner and say you don’t need to bring anything but feel like you want to bring a little something, etc.). Each of these lists have included seven items. I get asked a lot about how I ended up on the number seven. I wish I had a good answer for you! It just felt…right.
In Simply Julia, one of the lists is ‘Seven Meaningful Conversation Prompts.’ I included the seven questions as jumping off points for things we can all ask each other while we’re eating together since the best part of any meal has nothing to do with food: it’s the way food can set us up to connect with each other.
I thought it would be really fun to bring the Seven Questions to life in this newsletter. I am going to start asking some great folks to answer the questions and I’ll share those answers regularly in this newsletter. There will be no set schedule for this— I’ll just share the answers as I receive them.
Take these questions into your life, if you’d like! They’re great for lingering meals or long car rides. And for paid subscribers, feel free to share with the Keep Calm & Cook On Community and answer any or all of the questions in the comments! (Comments are only open to paid subscribers— please consider becoming a paid subscriber if you’d like to join the conversation).
Before I jump into the Seven Questions, a quick reminder about my Sunday afternoon cooking classes. I teach them every Sunday afternoon at 2p EST live on Zoom. All of the information about them (including my class schedule, FAQs, etc.) is right here: juliaturshen.com/classes.
Tomorrow’s class is a simple, elegant Italian meal including the most delicious Olive Oil + Buttermilk Cake (one bowl, one pan). More info in the image below + you can sign up right here!!
Seven Questions
Today I’m kicking off ‘Seven Questions’ with illyanna Maisonet, the first Puerto Rican food columnist in the country. She’s a writer and a classically-trained cook that highlights the gastronomy of the Puerto Rican diaspora. Her work has been featured in Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Saveur, Eating Well, Food 52, SF Chronicle and The Takeaway podcast. Her debut cookbook, Diasporican: A Puerto Rican Cookbook is scheduled for release on October 18, 2022. Pre-orders available now everywhere books are sold (see here for various places you can pre-order and please, please consider shopping locally). Also check out illyanna’s Substack newsletter here! She shares so many great stories about her family, essays, lots of recipes, and more.
SEVEN QUESTIONS
1. What was your favorite thing to eat growing up? Did you request something special for your birthday?
I was a chubby kid, so everything was my favorite to eat. But, because we didn't have a lot of money, the weekly rotation of home cooked meals didn't have a lot of variety. And we didn't get a say in what we got for our birthdays. My little cousin and I share the same birthday, April 13th. There were several birthdays between the cousins in the month of April. So, our birthdays were combined for most of our childhood and we had to share a cake. There's actually a photo of my little cousin pouting over one of our birthday cakes because he had enough of the sharing business. Haha.
2. When was the last time someone surprised you with a random act of kindness? And/or when was the last time you surprised someone with one?
It happens in the Starbucks drive thru line more often than you think. Someone in front of me pays for my coffee. Sometimes someone in front of me recognizes me from the internet, which is disconcerting considering the disheveled pre-coffee state in which I look. The good news is that most people already place preconceived labels upon you based on nothing and most people already think I'm a mean ass bully. I seem to surprise people with random acts of kindness all the time just by having the manners and consideration that was instilled by me through my family.
3. What’s the most meaningful gift you’ve ever received? And/or the most meaningful one you’ve given?
I guess the most meaningful gift I've ever received is the support of my community. They helped me get to where I am. The followers have been with me since my columnist days, who get me, who respect my boundaries. The friendship I've made with other writing colleagues. That's priceless. Definitely the unwaning support of Jose Andres, how could you consider support from him not a gift?! He himself is a damn gift to the world. As for the most meaningful gift I've given, I don't know. I guess you'd have to ask the gift receivers.
4. What do you see when you close your eyes and picture your “happy place”?
My family in the 1990s before the crack epidemic swept through California. Us gathering every weekend, sports event, birthday, holiday. Cruising down the boulevard in my Nino's lowrider. An elephantine amount of illegal fireworks on Fourth of July. Playing dominoes, music loud, multiple kettle charcoal grills going at the same time, big pots of arroz con gandules. And my Nana is at the center of it, ready to deliver hugs and ass whoopings. It's a place I'll never be able to get back to or recreate. I am both spoiled and ruined by that close-knit relationship that once existed amongst my family.
5. What’s the most recent finish line you crossed?
My book! And it only took six-years to make it happen, she says sarcastically.
6. If you were in charge of a large sum of money for your community, how would you distribute it?
Neighborhood clean up; removal of abandoned vehicles, e-waste, makeshift dump sites at dead ends. Housing for the homeless, priority to those with mental health issues.
7. Who is someone you’d like to write a thank-you note to? What would you say?
To the people in my life! I make an effort to tell the people in my life that I appreciate them, I love them and I thank them all the time. I don't want to be one of those people that says, "I wish I would have spent more time doing this..." "I wish I would have said this..." to a person. Just say it now. Do it now. I know that I'm a difficult person to be around and to be in a relationship with; whether that relationship be romantic, platonic, business or whatever.
Thanks so much to illyanna for helping me kick off this series and hope to see some of you in my cooking class tomorrow!
Have a great weekend everyone and take good care.
xoxoox Julia
Super excited that you kicked off the series with Illyanna! Can't wait for her cookbook.
I love this idea. I have questions that fall under the heading of wanting to take good care of my guests. For example - how do you, as a host, graciously ask, in advance, if someone has special dietary needs OR as a guest, let the host know in advance that you can or can't eat certain things, without sounding like a burden. As a guest, how can you ask what they are serving because you'd like to bring an appropriate wine? When some one shows up with flowers or desserts, it is sometimes overwhelming to bring into the meal, or get the flowers into a vase. I don't like disappearing into the kitchen. What to do? Thank you for taking on questions.