Show notes
This week on The Library with Tim Einenkel, Chef Aarón Sánchez. Aarón talks lessons learned from watching his mother cook, lessons he's learned from Hip Hop music and culture and why cooking is an art. He tells Tim:
"I asked Sade and Maxwell, why it took so long for them to put out their most recent albums and they said I didn't have anything to write about; I needed to live life. How about I going to put out albums, if I don't have anything to if I don't have anything that influence it or inspire it. Same thing with us, I find inspiration through food, through cooking with grandmas, going to markets and traveling."
Quotes from the interview:
A lot of chefs are conflicted about cooking being an art form because it's a need. It bugs me when people say “oh, I can't cook,” well, that's like saying I can't breath...
When I saw my mom cooking I understood it was a direct link to my culture and the way of preservation. The way of identity through food.
I was blown away with how much he [Tech N9Ne] controlled the room...It was a show.. I was very impressed with the theatrics of his show.
For me what defines great artists are people like Chuck D, people like Gang Starr; all the old, like the Native Tongue guys. That's the era I grew up in. I grew up in New York City. Going to Brooklyn. Listening to Rakim, listening to Chuck and listening to all those people. I think what defines a good artist like that is that they were doing it for love because that's what they wanted.
TIM: Hip Hop is not just about having fun but represents a social movement, artistic freedom and expression, as a chief, can you tell us if there are any lessons you've taken from hip hop culture, and brought them to the culture of food?
Chef Aarón Sánchez: The idea about being conscious of ingredients. Hip Hop music and its consciousness. It really makes you wake up and understand what's happening in the world. Through points of view that not necessarily have a great narrative. People grow up hard; people grow up with adversity and hip hop in away for them to free themselves. It's away to glamorize a little bit of a bad situation at times. The food , for me, now I make good decisions. Now I understand that I can't order this kind of fish because it's not sustainable. I got to shop locally because that's what people have been doing since the dawn of time. I got to hire people legally and pay them accordingly. Hip Hop informs me to do that.
I asked Sade and Maxwell, why it took so long for them to put out their most recent albums and they said I didn't have anything to write about; I needed to live life. How about I going to put out albums, if I don't have anything to if I don't have anything that influence it or inspire it. Same thing with us, I find inspiration through food, through cooking with grandmas, going to markets and traveling.
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