When I did my soul food cookbook - and gosh it’s been two years ago that I was working on it - I had to fight for it. How have you been thinking about your job as an ambassador for Black culinary heritage at a time when this country seems to finally be acknowledging systemic racism? You are one of admittedly few Black chefs with a big platform. The cook had also made this simple grilled red cabbage with salt and lemon juice, surprising with the watermelon. I had seen pictures of grilled watermelon, but to actually eat it and to have that umami balance of spice and sweet and juiciness? It was crazy. The one that wowed me was this jerk watermelon. What was the most unexpected thing you were served? The dishes showcased are more extreme than what we’re used to seeing on other food shows. We all had that reaction, but I had it every single day that we filmed for three weeks. It’s like a Tim Burton movie, like no other set that I have ever seen. And then you open our eyes and you see all these plants. When you walk in, you smell the dirt and the soil. I videotaped myself stepping onto it for the first time. “OK, I’ll get on a plane!” I did that about-face so quickly.Ĭrazy Delicious has this bizarrely immersive set for a cooking competition. And then when I got the call, they said oh you can go to L.A. Production stopped after 30 minutes of shooting.Īre you happy to be back in a more normal work environment, or were you in a groove working from home? I was in New Orleans and we were going to do Best Baker in America first and then Halloween. Were you originally supposed to film in July or was it pushed back? The whole hair and makeup thing is going to be slightly different in how it’s executed, but this could possibly be a model for productions moving forward. (L aughs.) They had to make a few adjustments, but I think it’s going to work. People are staying here on-site, and we’re all sequestered in this beautiful place. They have built a tent so that the air can flow through. When we got here, we were all required to do a COVID test just to make sure that we can go on set. What’s set life like with all of the restrictions? I was in a mask, I was in a shield, I was in gloves, I was armed with hand sanitizer. This is the first time that I’ve flown since the pandemic. Your Instagram implies you’re actually in production on something right now. When Hall spoke with THR earlier in July, she talked about using that platform, the pushback she got when pitching and researching her 2018 book ( Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration), her dream job (a variety show) and the benefits of owning an air fryer during quarantine. The culinary ambassador for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, she is one of the conspicuously few Black Americans with “Celebrity Chef” status - and the platform that affords. But TV judge is a small piece of Hall’s career. She serves as a judge on Netflix’s Crazy Delicious, which bowed at the top of the summer. So it’s no surprise she’s among the first back to work since the pandemic halted production, filming the next cycle of Food Network’s Halloween Baking Championship on a closed and sterilized set.įans of the chef and best-selling cookbook author don’t have to wait until October to see her in something new. Carla Hall, with her winning zeal and perennial smile, has been a food TV fixture since first competing on Top Chef back in 2008.
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