AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Every week, a guest draws a card from NPR's Wild Card deck and answers a big question about their life. Former top chef host Padma Lakshmi has always seen food as a vehicle for learning, not just about cooking, but learning about people and about life in general. In her new book, "Padma's All American," she offers stories and recipes from people she's encountered all across the U.S.
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PADMA LAKSHMI: There's sacredness to everything if it's done with care and intention. We're such a fast culture now. We just breeze over everything to get to the next thing. And I hope that this book inspires people not only to slow down and cook but also to get to know their neighbors.
CHANG: Lakshmi talked to Wild Card host Rachel Martin about her early experiences learning life lessons through food.
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RACHEL MARTIN: Where would you go when you wanted to feel safe as a kid?
LAKSHMI: My grandmother's house. Every summer. I was a latchkey kid in New York. My mom was a single mother. And every summer, right after school let out in June, I was sent back to India for three months. And I loved it there. My grandparents were retired. We lived in a seaside town in Chennai. And I remember being very happy, not really having a lot of toys but playing with these wooden dishes, which in Tamil are called choppu. And, you know, just play cooking. (Laughter) It's really interesting. If I look back now, it's no surprise.
MARTIN: Right, started early (laughter).
LAKSHMI: Yeah. And, you know, she used cooking as a way to teach me about life and saying, you know, everything, just like life, everything has its time. Everything has its moment. You know, there's a time for every vegetable to get dropped into the curry. And, you know, I learned so much at my grandmother's elbow. She just had the touch. In Tamil, there's a saying, (speaking Tamil), which means her hand has an aroma. So then everything you touch or that person touches becomes something that smells good, is aromatic and delicious.
MARTIN: Yeah.
LAKSHMI: And, you know, my grandmother worked very hard.
MARTIN: Like the Midas touch except for flavor. I love that.
LAKSHMI: Yes, exactly.
MARTIN: Do you still have her in your life or...
LAKSHMI: I don't. You know, she died during COVID, unfortunately.
MARTIN: Oh, I'm sorry.
LAKSHMI: And I was able to somehow swing a visa and run to her bedside at the hospital. And she died 8 hours after I saw her.
MARTIN: Yeah.
LAKSHMI: So she waited for me. And, you know, she lived a really long, beautiful life.
MARTIN: Yeah.
LAKSHMI: She was 89 years old. She came from a family of 16 siblings.
MARTIN: Oh, lord.
LAKSHMI: And she was one of the oldest, so she took care of a lot of people over the course of her life. And I think it taught her patience. My grandmother was not a cuddly person. She was a nice person and a kind person, but she wasn't very warm or cuddly. But I really loved her, you know, and she was very matter-of-fact. And I remember asking her once, you know, paati, are you happy? And she would answer by saying, you know, for her, happiness wasn't a thing to be. It was a verb, you know, that if she had finished...
MARTIN: Yeah.
LAKSHMI: ...All the things on her mental list for that day, when she went to sleep, she went to sleep happy.
MARTIN: Yeah.
LAKSHMI: Because she had gotten done everything. And she's just a very practical, pragmatic woman. And I think I learned so much from her that had nothing to do with cooking but also everything to do with cooking.
CHANG: And you can watch a longer conversation with Padma Lakshmi by following NPR's Wild Card on YouTube. Her new book, "Padma's All American," is out now.
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