Singer and chef Kelis opened up about the line of sauces she's launching and her very first cookbook! We'll eat anything this YBF chick cooks. Get all the juicy deets inside...
Fresh off the heels of her latest album FOOD, "I Taste Just Like Candy" singer Kelis is continuing to make a name for herself in the gourmet food realm with a new cookbook, My Life On A Plate, and a high-end line of all-natural sauces dubbed "Bounty & Full."
The 35-year-old songstress is a proud graduate of the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu (where she studied sauces) and now she's ready to bring forth her knowledge in print (via the cook book) and to your kitchen table (with the sauces). If you're a fan of Kelis, you'll recall that she's also dabbled in television with her own Cooking Channel Network show "Saucy & Sweet."
In the latest issue of EBONY, the singer chatted about her upcoming projects, offered tips for first-time cooks and shared some details about making food for her son Knight. Her milkshakes aren't the only thing bringing the boys to the yard..her sauces are too.
Here are the highlights:
On her knack for cooking:
K: I’ve been cooking all of my life. I think as we get older we start to focus on what brings us joy. Cooking has always been at the top of my list.Key pointers for new cooks and bakers:
K: Well there’s a difference than baking. Baking is very scientific. Cooking is emotional. It takes a lot of common sense. When people say that they can't cook, it’s because they're not thinking about it. If you start to think about it realistically and in common sense terms, people will realize that they are a lot better at it than they think. I think people just don't think. They'll say, “I can't cook.” And I'm like you’re not thinking about it. So many things are so obvious.On cooking for Knight:
K: I don't believe in raising children the way a lot of people do. I don’t do the I’m going to order food and you're going to get chicken nuggets type thing. I’m not that kind of mom. He eats everything that I eat. He’s definitely clear about what he does or doesn’t like, but it's not because he’s unaware. It’s because he just decided after tasting, that he doesn’t like it. If I’m eating quinoa, he's eating quinoa. If I'm having Peking duck, he’s having Peking duck. That’s how we eat. I don't believe in “ the children’s meal.”On living her life "Bounty & Full" (bountiful) like her sauces:
K: I give thanks to the Lord all the time. I am completely aware that everything happens because of him. That’s the first thing. The second thing is that I live with a certain quality standard, on everything. From the way I dress, to the things I eat. I am truly blessed. There is a way of living and there’s a way of looking at the world. Nothing is that bad, even when it’s terrible. There’s always tomorrow. I’m grateful that there’s always another chance to do things a little bit differently or better. That’s how I live.On her cooking style:
K: I think it’s the same thing. I’m really honest. I don’t try to duplicate anybody else. I’m not recreating the wheel. I just am what I am and I cook the same way. That is what resonates the most. I am genuinely who I am and I cook that way. The flavors that I cook from are what I know because I grew up with them. I can’t speak for somebody else. For instance, the reason why Chinese food and Latin food goes so well together for me is because my mom is Chinese and Puerto Rican. I can’t make that up. It just is what it is. It simply defines me. I really didn’t begin to learn who I was, ironically enough, not through music, travel or anything, but through cooking. That’s when you really have to dig out and think about stuff that was just constant throughout your life. I cook like that.On dabbling in different flavors musically and in the kitchen:
K: I like what I like. I don’t apologize for it because I don’t feel sorry. To each its own. I feel really blessed and I don’t feel like anybody gave me these blessings. They’re God-given blessings and that’s it. I do what I do because at the time it feels like the right thing to do. When I’m on to something else, I’m on to something else. I don’t feel like I have to appease anyone.
Ugh....we love her. Read the full interview here.
"Bounty & Full" is available at www.bountyandfull.com and Recipes From Around The World:My Life On a Plate is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com. Work Kelis!
Photos via Ebony Magazine Instagram/Kelis' Instagram
