Let's Eat!

Whether Sunday dinner is a warm but fuzzy memory or the glue that holds your family’s week together, there’s much to love about this home-cooked meal. PARADE’s Joanna Prisco asked three top chefs--Food Network star Paula Deen; Lidia Bastianich, host of PBS’ Lidia’s Italy; and the Cooking Channel’s Daisy Martinez--to talk about their approach to making the occasion special--and keeping it real.

PARADE: You represent three of the most popular cuisines in America right now: Southern, Italian, and Latin. Why are Americans so drawn to these foods?
 
PAULA: Personally, I think all three bring comfort. Anything that reminds you of Mama, when you had her feet under your table, is a good thing.
LIDIA: Absolutely. I think the common denominator is that these cultures still sit at the table and have dinner and eat with their families. That’s sometimes missing out there in America. People want that gathering together. The table is magical. When you’r e at the table, you’re open and your defenses are down.
DAISY: I’ve been married to the same man for 30 years. My husband’s a doctor, and his schedule is insane. Insane. And when we started having children I told him, What I need you to do is at 6 o’clock, when I serve that meal, you sit at the head of that table holding yourself responsible to your children. Then you can disappear. I don’t care if you come back at 5 the next morning!
 
PARADE: Do you sometimes feel like short-order cooks for your family, or is it one-dish-suits-all?
 
LIDIA: It’s a combination. You want to make what they love, and you want to introduce them to new things. 
DAISY: Because you’re creating memories for your kids.
PAULA: I have a 4-year-old grandson now. And when he comes into the kitchen and says, Gammy, would you fix me such-and-such? absolutely I will.
DAISY: Food is love. The thing in my house was--and I say this to my kids--you don’t have to finish everything on your plate, but you have to taste everything on your plate. When we went to Mexico, we got a make-your-own-taco platter. It was delicious, with fresh little tortillas and guacamole and onion and this little plate of something that looked like saffron threads. So I asked the waiter, What is this? He said, Those are lime chile-toasted grasshoppers. And my daughter, who’s 9, saved me. She was like, All right, I’ll take one. And she takes the tortilla, sticks the chapulines on top, takes a bite, chews, and goes, You know, they’re not bad. But the legs are kind of getting stuck in my teeth. [laughter]  After that, I eased up a little bit.

Try Daisy's recipe for Puerto Rican Roast Pork

PAULA: One of my pet peeves is people who are picky. I don’t have time for picky, picky people. Because you think of the people out there who would kill for a roasted Brussels sprout…which I can’t get my husband to touch.
DAISY: Listen, try to sauté them with a little olive oil and fennel seed.
PAULA: Fennel seed, hmmm. He is a stubborn thing…
LIDIA: Take all the leaves off and then deep-fry them and they become like potato chips. He won’t know the difference.

PARADE: What message would you most want to give busy moms struggling to find time to cook with their families?

LIDIA: Food does not need to be complicated. If you can’t make the whole meal, make a side dish. Cook something, because smells in the house are what teach the children. That’s the first thing. If you cook cauliflower, and you’ve cooked it in the house since your children were young, that becomes a friendly odor. At some point, they will taste it.
PAULA: They associate it with everything that feels safe. I know that we live in a two-income society--everybody works. I don’t care if all you make is a peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich fried in butter! The important thing is that you sit down and share time. Food gets us into situations we want to be in with our family. As you were saying, Lidia, everybody’s guard is down. And they will tell you just about anything--sometimes more than you want to know!

Try Paula's recipe for Spicy Black-Eyed Peas

DAISY: Girl, I’ll tell you what. When you have them sitting there at the table, they can’t go anywhere. They have to look you right in the eye, you know?
PAULA: Yes, and they’ve done studies on children who are required to sit down at the family table and those who are not. And the ones who are score higher academically; they’re more well-adjusted.
LIDIA: …And less likely to use drugs--all those issues. But in the past, tables were trans-generational; grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles all came. I remember sitting at tables, I remember crying at tables, I remember arguing. That’s all part of it--at least at the Italian table.

Try Lidia's recipe for Linguine with Mozzarella, Tomatoes & Basil

DAISY: That was my experience, too, growing up. Sundays you knew you went to abuela’s--your grandmother’s--house. You got to see your cousins. That was the experience. You don’t see that anymore.
LIDIA: Well, you have to value it. It’s not easy to nurture a continuous relationship with everybody. Something’s got to give. And you’ve got to give of yourself.
PAULA: Daisy’s been married to the same man for 30 years. She’s fortunate--
DAISY: That’s debatable. [laughter]
PAULA: That is not true in many homes. And when you have to work with blended families…c hildren have to fulfill obligations to this parent, and then to that parent. It’s very, very hard.
DAISY: One of the things that I found as a young mother was that whether you’re cooking for six or 600, the secret of being able to do that with as little stress as possible is organization, organization, organization. And so on Sundays, if I make a big pot of marinara or sofrito, I make twice as much as we’re going to have that day, and then I freeze the other half. So for me the trick is prepping once, cooking twice. 

PARADE: Is there one moment during the holidays that you look forward to the most?
 
PAULA: When it’s over. [laughter] No, I adore Thanksgiving because I can embrace my family and just cook.
LIDIA: I love when the main course is finished and the kids are beginning to leave the table, running around. You hear them playing in the background. I sit back and savor that moment when everybody’s contented.
DAISY: We call that sobremesa--over the table. Your tummy’s full, your heart is full, and that’s when you linger over maybe a little grappa or sherry.
LIDIA: Then you look around the table and people have paired off. They’re having discussions about family, or achievements, or plans. They’re talking about life and it’s beautiful.

Watch Paula, Lidia, and Daisy share their best kitchen memories.