Eat My Globe

Interview with Award-Winning Chef,

Ippy Aiona

INTRO MUSIC

Simon Majumdar (“SM”):

Chef Philip “Ippy” Aiona, for those of you who watch the Food Network Star, you will remember Ippy as the youngest person to get on the finals, I believe, in season eight. He also appeared on Forbes 30 under 30 and has appeared on Food Network’s Canada International Iron Chef. He's followed in his parents' footsteps. His father owned an Hawaiian plate lunch shop while his mother owned an Italian restaurant, both, I believe on the Big Island. And Ippy has followed along by opening two restaurants in Hawaii, “The Koa Table” and “Ippy’s Hawaiian BBQ,” both of which have had superb responses. I've yet to eat at them yet, so I'm coming over to make sure I do. But today I brought him along because he has, and this is from your website, “a deep respect for and a connection to the island. Chef Ippy’s cuisine reflects his cultures, but also his own notoriously playful imagination.” So, who better to tell us about the history of Hawaiian cuisine. Ladies and gentlemen, chef Philip “Ippy” . . .

Ippy Aiona (“IA”):

I bet.

SM:

. . . Aiona. Before we start on to talk about everything else, tell us what you are doing both in your own business and let's talk about Maui now. . .

IA:

Okay.

SM:

. . . and what you are doing to help there. And then we can move on to the questions before.

IA:

Yeah, so, in my own business, so actually right now I have “Ippy’s Hawaiian Barbeque.” We sold “The Koa Table,” I want to say about a few years back, and we opened our second Ippy’s location. So, that's like plate lunch. It's a. . . it’s a, it’s a, you know, it’s, it’s owed to my dad's Hawaiian plate lunch restaurants. So, it's all their recipes.

SM:

Tell people who don't know about what a plate lunch is. . .

IA:

Yeah.

SM:

. . . what a plate lunch is.

[Laughter]

IA:

Okay, well, this is a big subject now. I don't know if you want to start it now. So that is a big part of Hawaiian cuisine is the difference between traditional and plate lunch, you know.

SM:

Why don't we talk about that then later when you can. . .

IA:

[Laughter]

I agree. Perfect.

SM:

Talk about your dad, what he did, and how that impacted you.

IA:

Got it.

SM:

So, you've got that. But let's talk about Maui, which is, you know, as I said to you earlier, Maui is very, very close to people's hearts throughout Hawaii. And so, I would love to know your feelings, what you're going to do, what you're trying to do, and the ways that people, even now when we play this in October or much later, they can still try and help.

IA:

Um-hm. Yeah. So, obviously Maui, as while we're recording, this is very recent, and so this is going to be years of rebuilding. Billions of dollars and just an enormous rebuild. What's happening now is we're creating, here in Hawaii, what we always do is we create huis, which is little groups, right, and they come in and help. So obviously there's the big organizations and stuff that jump in and, you know, and supply the necessary things, but this is bad. This is probably. . . This is the biggest natural disaster we've had in Hawaii, and we've had whole towns, you know, volcanoes take over whole towns and everything, but nothing this fast moving and this catastrophic when it comes to loss of life. So, you know, we’re still. . . . So, at this point, we're only 30%, they've only searched 30% of the area, and we're already up to 110, 115 deaths. So, it's really, really bad. Now, that being said, there's also been this huge movement. People have come together like never, ever before. I mean, we're talking about people are taking boats over to Maui with supplies. People are flying things over. People are, I mean, they're doing things that guys, I've seen guys taking containers over and building homes. I've seen. . . . There's a bunch of chefs, fellow Food Network alumni that me and you both know Leanne Wong. Sheldon. Kitchen Assassin. All these guys that are out there. Leanne lost a restaurant and it's still, they're doing everything they can with Chef Hui, which is another big group. If you guys get a chance, that’s who. . . who's really feeding everybody right now. 10,000 meals a day. They're just pumping food out.

SM:

Amazing.

IA:

Unreal. And unreal what they're doing. It's almost like a. . . . It's not even like a question, right? They just responded. It's kind of like, even though they’ve lost everything, they just still responded. So, it's hard. It's really difficult for me. You know, I'm a Native Hawaiian. I was born and raised here. My dad's, you know, we've been here forever, and it is hard not being able to help, right? So, we're doing as much as we can from this island. But again, the people of Maui, they're, they’re, they’re strong. They're resilient. And, and the people of Hawaii are coming together. So, this is going to be, this is going to be a super long. . . a really long fix, and I don't know how it's going to play out, but what I do know is it's created, it's showcased the aloha spirit to the whole world. I mean, it's shown exactly what we do. And I think that's something that's important because you see a lot of natural disasters, and it's happening here too. I mean, you see a lot of natural disasters, and inevitably there's so many negative things that come out from it.

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

But this has had such a, aside from the negative stuff, this has had such a positive impact with the people coming together because I've never, I mean, people are dropping everything. They're dropping their whole lives. They're dropping everything to help, help each other, and that's a, that’s a beautiful thing to see sometimes. You know. It really is. So yeah, unfortunately what's happened is horrible. And this is going to be. . . . We're going to have to work on this forever. And in a few weeks when the cameras are gone, we'll still be talking about it. We'll still be dealing with it. And I'll still be reminding people. I know you will, so it’s. . . . But it's just one of those things. It's just going to be a long fix. And Maui’s. . . . Maui it’s. . . .  I always tell everyone, it's like Oahu and Maui, right? Those are the two most popular destinations in Hawaii. I mean, people come to the Big Island, but not like they do to Oahu and Maui. So, you're right, people have a special love for Maui. There's something special about it. And my whole thing has just been like, look, if you've been to Maui or you’ve been out there, you've been to Hawaii, look at what you can do. Anything. Give a few bucks, you know, spread awareness, whatever it is. But if you have a connection to Hawaii, which I know millions of people do, it's just do what we can.

SM:

Well, I want to mention one of my people that I work with, which is called Convoy of Hope. They travel all over the world and they travel around the United States dealing with all of the disasters that we've got. And I know they're going over to Maui and are in Maui right away. And they work with the churches and they work with everyone, and they go and they deliver, you know, really great food and everything else that goes to the people. So, I know they're there as well. So, if you could give us, I'll talk about Convoy of Hope and people should just check those out. But if you could give us the connection for Chef Hui, that would be a great. . . .

IA:

Definitely.

SM:

If you could give us that, that would be fantastic. And then we'll move on to my history questions. But this is more important than anything else.

IA:

Yeah. So, Chef Hui. It’s ChefHui.com, and it's super simple. Just jump on the website and it's all right there. It shows all the transparency. Everything goes strictly towards cooking for these people. They've opened up offshoots. They started a Chef Hui here on the Big Island where we're actually able to cook for them and send food over as well. And they're doing that with the other islands. So, it's now branching out to the other islands. And Chef Hui is becoming. . . . It's becoming, basically, the. . . the. . . . It's the plate for the people right now. Their who's feeding everybody. It's crazy.

SM:

Fantastic. Well, thank you for that.

IA:

Of course.

SM:

That's really important. And the same with Convoy of Hope. Go to ConvoyOfHope.org. You will see everything that they're doing, not just in Maui, but across the world. So, thank you very much.

But, you were here. . .

[Laughter]

IA:

Yes.

SM:

. . . before all of this to answer some questions.

IA:

Yes.

SM:

So, I'm going to start asking you those now.

IA:

Right.

SM:

And I know that you're probably not as ready to do it now with everything else, but let's talk about. . . . So, let's talk about the history of Hawaii, because it's got this kind of pre-contact when you start talking about it. This is a Polynesian side of it. It’s so. . . . I find that so fascinating, the Polynesian style. So, I mean, what can you tell me about what that pre-contact life was before all these other groups came in, you know, to, to Hawaii since then?

IA:

Yeah, I love that. So yeah, pre-contact. Hawaii, a lot. . . . Most people do know, but not everybody understands that Hawaii is a culture. It's a people. So, Polynesians are, you know, Caucasians, Asian American, Asians, Caucasians, Polynesians. It's an actual group of people. It includes Tahitians, Samoans, Hawaiians, Fijians. We have a group of us. They say that the real big distinction is we have an extra bone in our foot. That's what I've heard, but. . .

SM:

[Laughter]

I didn't know that.

IA:

I don't know if it's true or not, but it's what I've heard from a lot of Polynesians. So, I don't know. But they say that's what makes a Polynesian a little different. But anyway, here in Hawaii, we're actually the last Polynesians to become, I don't know what you. . . .  I guess, basically we went from island to island, right.

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

They sailed with these big canoes, these outrigger canoes that they would navigate with the stars and the ocean. And it's a lost art that there's a few people out there now that are still trying to perpetuate this navigation. But anyway, we came from Tahiti to Hawaii. So, basically, you had Samoa, Tahiti, and the last place to become part of the Polynesian Triangle, I guess if you will, is Hawaii. So, they came from Tahiti to Hawaii. The Tahitians came here and created what we know as Hawaii. That's why the languages are so similar. You know, in Samoan, it's Talofa. It's Aloha in Hawaiian, you know. It's very, very similar. So, our cultures are all intertwined. So, that's how Hawaiians became Hawaiians. They came over from Tahiti, settled in Hawaii, and we started creating our own culture. Now, the actual Hawaiian story is that we were born from taro, the kalo, the root, which is what we make poi out of. That's like. . .

SM:

Which you're going to have to explain to people as well, because they won't know. And I've mentioned that later on. So, when we get to that, yeah, you must mention that because we're talking about the food here, and I know you are interested in that. So anyway, carry on.

IA:

Yeah, yeah, poi. It’s. . . . If you've been to a Hawaiian luau, you definitely know what poi is. . .

SM:

[Laughter]

IA:

. . . because it's that purple sticky stuff that everybody's like. . . [sound], you know. So, I love it, but it's an acquired taste, you know. So, I always tell people, it's like potatoes. Potatoes with water wouldn't be good either, you know. But when you flavor it and you add things, it can be tasty, you know. So, anyway, that's where the Hawaiians believe that we were born. The first Hawaiian was born from the taro root came out of the ground, and that's where, you know, Hawaiians were created, right. And that’s, that’s pre-contact. So, then we created this amazing, beautiful culture. Now, there was, you know, just like any culture back in the day, there was some of the most beautiful parts, and then there was also, you know, there was parts that we might not understand nowadays, but that was part of our culture, you know. And so, we had kings and queens and chiefs, and we had this beautiful monarchy that was, you know, it’s what created our culture. And so, if you listen to the Hawaiian language or the music, or you watch the hula or all of these stories that we tell, the food and everything, it comes from. . . most of it comes from pre-contact, which is the Native Hawaiian. And that's why I was saying earlier that we have two distinct different types of food. We have traditional Hawaiian food, and then we have a plate lunch. And that's because we had pre-contact, which is, you know, before anybody came. The Hawaiians only had what they had here, and we didn't have pigs and all of those things here, that was all brought to us. So, it was fish.

SM:

What did you have?

IA:

So, we had. . . ,Yeah, so we had what we call canoe plants. So, there was. . . . When the Hawaiians came from Tahiti, they brought essential things in these outriggers with them. And we call them canoe plants. So, they were ‘ulu, which is breadfruit. ‘Uala, which is purple sweet potato. And kalo, which is taro. So, those are the essentials that they brought with them. They brought plants and everything so they could cultivate them here in Hawaii. The animals they brought with them were dogs, believe it or not. That's actually what the meat that they essentially, before pigs got here, that was the meat that they would use aside from fish and things like that also. So, that's what the actual ones brought with them. And if it wasn't for ‘ulu, like the breadfruit and the taro. . .

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

. . . they probably wouldn't have had a culture. I mean, we're talking hundreds and hundreds of thousands of acres of ‘ulu plants and ‘ulu trees, and that's kind of the ‘ulu and the bread. . . or the ‘ulu and the sweet potato and the taros. It's really what started the culture and they brought it with them.

SM:

That sounds unbelievable. I mean, I know a bit about that from other Polynesians in kind of people I've spoken to, but that’s. . . ah. I get terribly, as you can see. . . . I've done a lot of these recording. I think we've done a hundred of them now. These recordings that are some interviews and some I write, and I still get so excited about it. I know.

Well, let's talk about the post contact as well, because let's see how those came in. Perhaps you could talk about the way that they came in, the Chinese, the Filipino, all these different ones and the order. And for each one, talk about how those kind of fell into the Hawaiian kind of dishes, because a lot. . . . I don’t know if you know, but my wife is Filipino.

IA:

Yep, I know.

SM:

So, I . . . And I love Filipino food.

IA:

You eat good, you eat good. I know, I see it.

SM:

Love Filipino food. But tell us about all the order with which they came in. I've got a list here, but obviously you tell me.

IA:

Well, Filipino food is kind of like, I always compare it to Mexican food in California, right. In all the restaurants here in Hawaii, it's usually Filipino workers. And growing up in the restaurant business here, you know, Nana was always making me all my lunches.

SM:

[Laughter]

IA:

So, Filipino food is kind of what you grow up with in the kitchens here. But yeah, so post-contact. So, Hawaii, actually, you know, before anybody got here, there was all different. . . Right, there's chiefs and villages and all these different, and then King Kamehameha came and united everything. There was one guy who came and conquered everything and united everything and created Hawaii as we know, you know, the group of islands. And then as he passed and his children and things started taking over, we started getting more and more. . . . You know, we would sail. . . . Our kings and monarchy would sail to England. . .

SM:

Yep.

IA:

. . . and became really close with the English monarchy. And, there was. . .

SM:

Very close.

IA:

Very close.

SM:

Queen Victoria.

IA:

Yes.

SM:

I know we'll talk about that later.

IA:

Very close with the monarchy. And we had kings. . . some kings that were much more into it than others and some, so, we. . . . They kind of created. . . . If you look at some of our clothing, you know, after Kamehameha the third, fourth, fifth around there, it's very British, you know, buttoned up, and we have all the little things all. So, yeah. They took a lot of influence from that.

SM:

And still has the British flag. . .

IA:

Yep. Exactly.

SM:

. . . on the Hawaiian flag.

IA:

Yes. Yes, sir. You're right. A lot of people don't realize that. I mean, a lot of people don't notice that, which is weird not to notice it ‘cause it’s right there in the flag, you know.

SM:

[Laughter]

IA:

But yeah. So, once that happened, you know, that's how people started kind of discovering. . . . Now, that being said, the first person in the history books to discover Hawaii was Captain Cook, right?

SM:

Yes.

IA:

I mean, I shouldn't say discover, but the first westerner to come to Hawaii was Captain Cook. He came over during a very special time. The only reason Captain Cook actually lived and was able to do what he did, and was because he came during our time of peace. So, Hawaiians would have war, right, and they would have these times of Ku and Lono, like these two different types, war time and peace time. And when it was peace time, nobody was allowed to fight. Everybody came together. It was one of those weird, and nobody did fight, you know.

SM:

I did not. . . . I did not know this.

IA:

Yeah. So, it's the Makahiki, which is a time of peace and all of these. So, it's only a short little time during the year, but it's very, very important and it's a big part. Anyway, so, Captain Cook just so happened to come to Kealakekua Bay when we were in the middle of this time of peace, this Makahiki thing. And so, he actually got really lucky because when he came onto shore, normally he would've just been killed. Right away. I mean, it wouldn't have been a question, right? But when he was coming onto shore, they were like, wait a second. They're like, is this. . .  They didn’t. . . . First of all, he didn't look like them. He was much, much whiter than them.

SM:

Yep.

IA:

So, they were like, is this a God? This man doesn't look like us. He looks. . . . They thought he was brought or sent from, you know, the gods.

SM:

Yep.

IA:

Within a few days or within a week, they realized that he wasn't. . .

[Laughter]

. . . you know. And. . .

SM:

And he truly wasn't.

IA:

Yeah, and they started getting diseases and things that their people brought that we just weren't used to. So, after a real short period, it was found out, they tried to make it back to their boat, but they were killed before they could make it back. And that was the story of Captain Cook. So, that was actually here on this island. It happened here in Kealakekua on the other side of this island. So that was supposedly the first, you know, discovery of Hawaii. And then from there, we had America came in. Afterwards, you know, years later, America had come in and we had the whole. . . . This is the one dirty part about it. Just like a lot of American history, right. It's kind of, you got to take the good with the bad, right. They basically took the queen, put her in the basement of her palace and told her, you can sign the treaty and be part of America, or we can kill your people. You can pick.

SM:

Wow.

IA:

And so, she decided not to go to war because her people had spears and I mean, America had guns, you know. . .

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

. . .and it was just. . . . So, it was a very, very famous song and that she wrote during that time. It's kind of like the story and her telling people not to fight, and that all of these, excuse me. So, that's kind of the. . . . And unfortunately, we always have those little bits right in there that’s. . .

SM:

Of course.

IA:

But. . .

SM:

My father is from India, and they had lots of those little. . .

IA:

. . . a lot.

SM:

So.

IA:

Yeah. And, and, and it's tough, right? Because, you know, there's still to this day, people that fight it. People that sovereignty, and they're all about not being part of America. And there's something to be said to understanding where they're coming from. And so. . . . But with history, as you know, ‘cause you study it, history is always changing and evolving. And we tend to always make the same mistakes, but it’s always. . . we're always trying to, you know, evolve. And I think that's what Hawaii did really well, because again, once we became part of America, the number. . . . Now, all of these things, aside from the fact, you know, with everything, the one thing that did come out of it that was amazing is the food, right. Because. . .

SM:

Absolutely. And that's, yeah, what I really wanted to. . .

IA:

Yeah, exactly.

SM:

. . . get out.

IA:

So, that's what came out of all of this was the food.

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

So, what happened was once we became part of America, our biggest export, and it was actually one of the biggest exports in the world at the time, was sugar. Sugarcane.

SM:

Okay.

IA:

And C & H Sugar – California and Hawaii – C & H Sugar. It was a huge, huge operation. I mean, the sugarcane plantation boom was massive.

SM:

Oh.

IA:

It's what I attribute the Hawaii sugarcane plantation to about 80% of the people that are here today is because of this plantation. I'll explain why. Because for example, myself, like me, my dad's Native Hawaiian, right? But my great-great-great grandma was a Native Hawaiian, and my great-great-great grandpa was from Canton, China. Now on my dad's other side, my great-great-great grandpa was from the Azores, from Portugal.

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

And he married a Hawaiian lady. And so, we have all of these different cultures. What happened was when the sugarcane plantation became so big, we needed workers, we needed to bring people here, and we needed them to work the fields. So, they brought people from, for example, the Philippines, Japan. . .

SM:

Ah, okay.

IA:

. . . China, Korea. I would say, at the time, the biggest groups that came were the Japanese. . . and, and the Japanese, the Chinese and Portuguese, in the beginning, were the biggest groups that got came. Then we started bringing in the Koreans. Then the Philippines started coming in a little bit later. But the first big groups that came in were Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese.  And they. . . . What happened was when they came to Hawaii to work the plantations, the people that owned the plantations, they were smart, right, and they were businessmen, and they were brutal. And so, they were like, listen, you don't want anyone that can speak the same language. We don't want too many of the same cultures working together in plantations because they were afraid of strikes and. . .

SM:

Yep.

IA:

. . . and all these things. So, they would kind of split the cultures up. And what happened was when they split the cultures up, they couldn't talk to each other, right, so they couldn't communicate. Well, how does everybody communicate? The one way that you don't have to talk to somebody, but you can share something with them. Food, right? I mean, that was one thing that. . .

SM:

That's really fascinating.

IA:

Yeah, nobody could talk to each other. No one could. So, what ended up happening was we created. . . . Well, it was already part of the Japanese culture, but we brought it here. It's called the Bento box, right?

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

So, the Bento box was created. It's basically a tin that had different layers, different levels, and you would have your rice on the bottom, your meat, your vegetables. It kind of would stack up.

SM:

Is that almost like the Indian, like, tiffin?

IA:

Um-hm.

SM:

They had a. . .

IA:

Very similar. Yes.

SM:

Right.

IA:

Pop the top. And you have almost different levels. So, you have your different. . . . And it keeps it hot. It keeps it. . .

SM:

Yep.

IA:

. . . it's really smart little, but it was basically what happened was these people were thousands of miles from home. They're sitting here in the middle of the Pacific. Literally a speck in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. They miss their home, they miss their family, all of this. And so, they start searching, right, for things that bring them comfort.

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

And so, it's their food. It's the food that always brings 'em comfort. So, they start making their dishes that, as much as they. . . not some ingredients, they couldn't get right, because they're here. So, they start making dishes based on what we have here, and then they take it with them to the plantation. So, now, you have a guy from Japan coming to, you know, the plantation, and he has his omusubi, which is the little cone, the little triangular musubi with just rice, and. . .

SM:

Oh.

IA:

. . . and he has his yakitori. And he has his pickles. And he has his namasu and whatever he has. And then you have the, you know, you have the Portuguese, the Portuguese guy. The Portuguese were usually the. . . were usually the guys in charge, the foreman kind of, because they were already island. . . . They were very good with. . . . They were natural fishermen already because of the Azores and everything.

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

So, they kind of came out and anyway, so then the Portuguese had vinha d’alhos. . . and they had. . . .

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

. . . Oh, I mean, some amazing, amazing food. And then the Koreans came in. The Koreans had. . . Koreans had kimchi, and they had. . . you know, they had even the pickles, like the. . . . My favorite, not pickled cucumber, but it's like a pickled herb that’s a. . . . Anyway, the Koreans come in with their side. And basically what happens is everyone starts sharing their food. Now as things start progressing, we don't have certain ingredients here, right. So that's why, for example, teriyaki. Teriyaki is so different here in Hawaii compared to different places.

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

And some people even say that that type. . . . Yakitori is a thing in Japan.

SM:

Yes.

IA:

But teriyaki is something that was started around the time here in Hawaii where basically we didn't have. . .

SM:

Really?

IA:

We added pineapple juice and sugar to create because we had tons of sugar. . .

SM:

[Laughter]

IA:

. . . to create this teriyaki. Musubi. Another good example. Now, musubis, which is a little block. . . it's a little block. . .

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

. . . with rice spam and nori. Musubi. . .

SM:

Much Spam.

IA:

. . . were a little bit later in I want to say around the late ‘70s, musubis came into play. And that was because a Japanese man, we. . . they have these things, like I told you, it's called omusubi. It's a triangle.

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

Nori wrapped around. It has a piece of ume, like a salty sour plum that stuck right into the middle.

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

And they wanted to create this omusubi, but they didn't have too much of the umeboshi, the plum that you put into the middle. So, what did they have that was salty and an abundance of? Spam, right? So, it was like. . . .

SM:

Hey, I love the musubi. It’s fan. . . . I absolutely love it. And I've wanted to come over for the Spam festival. . .

IA:

Yes.

SM:

. . . which is going to be. . . . But I haven't been able to for the last. . .

IA:

If you do it Simon, I'll come, I'll go with you. If you come out here for that, I'll meet you. We'll go do that, you know.

SM:

You know, I promise you that I've wanted to go forever and ever. And I've done work for Spam where I've been a judge on Spam competitions.

IA:

Yeah.

SM:

I've done, and I actually love Spam. And Sybil, my wife is a Filipino, and of course they love Spam.

IA:

That’s dope.

SM:

And so, I will tell you now, I'm definitely. . . . Me and the missus, we're going to definitely come up.

IA:

I’ll be there.

SM:

We've wanted to go to that festival for as long as we can imagine.

IA:

I'll be there with you. No, I'm serious. If you come, I'm joining you. That's it. That's it. I met the owner of Spam when I was in college. Mr. Hormel himself.

SM:

Yep.

IA:

I remember it was so funny because he doesn't eat meat. He was older. He was, you know, probably in his 80s, and he didn't eat meat. We went to. . . . It was his birthday party, and it was like all undercooked vegetables. He doesn't even cook his vegetables past a certain temperature ‘cause it’s like. . . he doesn’t. . . it’s all raw diet. And I remember showing up to the house. I was like 300. I was a big kid in high school. I remember showing up to the house being like, oh, yeah, I'm going to Mr. Hormel's house. We're going to have Spam. . .

SM:

[Laughter]

IA:

. . . we’re gonna be. . . . And I get there and we had like, we had this squash, squash lasagna. And the only Spam thing I got out of it was a t-shirt, like a Spam t-shirt. But that being said. . .

SM:

[Indecipherable]

IA:

I love spam.

SM:

No, I do actually really love spam. So, we have that in common.

IA:

Yes, we do.

SM:

And so, tell me about all of these then. So, you've got the Chinese, the Philippines, the Koreans. How did that. . . like when you start seeing people coming together, often, they're very kind of, you know, what's the word I'm looking for? They're a little feared by other people's food.

IA:

Yeah, very cliquey.

SM:

Yeah. So, so how do they go and look at. . . . How did that happen in Hawaii because they. . . they loved what they got there.

IA:

Um-hm. Yes. And also keep in mind they're here. When they came here, there was already a big culture here. I mean, the Hawaiians were already living here, and that was a big part of it too. I kind of think of it as, and you would totally get this, but I think of it in terms of food competitions, right.

SM:

[Laughter]

IA:

So, there's certain things in life that bring you closer together. And I can only imagine being thrown into a plantation with horrible work environments that you're struggling every day and having a fight to feed your family. And I just feel like certain things like that bring you closer together. It breaks barriers beyond your religion. And I mean, most times it's, right. . . . . Tragedy brings people together. Not just tragedy, but anything that's intense. Same thing as cooking competitions. I'll tell you what. I was just talking to my cast of BBQ Brawls a couple of days ago, and I was telling all of them, it's weird because we've only known each other for such a short period of time. . .

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

. . . but it always seems like the crews that I cook with and things like this, I get super close with super fast. We're talking. . . . I was only with them for two or three weeks, and I'm already telling a lot of 'em I love ‘em, you know.

SM:

[Laughter]

IA:

It’s like one of those. . . . Because when you're put into situations where your back's against the wall, you guys put your backs together and you fight it together. So, I think that's kind of what happened. They're all far away from home. They're all here. They're kinda. . . . They're stuck on this plantation, and they just. . . they decided, look, we got to make the best of it. Keep in mind, a lot of the people that came here were trying to escape parts of their country, and they were looking for something better, right. So, it’s. . . . maybe the grass isn't always greener back home, you know what I mean? It was one of those situations. So, I think it was just the way. . . what they were put into and what they were done, and that's how they were able to come together. ‘Cause you’re totally right. Normally, it's very cliquey, it's very. . . you stick to your culture. I mean, my mom's from New York and her growing up, she'd always tell me about, oh, the Italian neighborhoods and the Jewish neighborhoods. And you know, it’s. . .

SM:

And that's what I was thinking it was like. So, let me talk about this. I mean, you talked about BBQ Brawls, which is, you know, you are now, you’re a barbecue person. But how is your barbecue, and how do these other areas that happened there, you know, all these different cuisines, how do they come into your cuisine then?

IA:

I would say my biggest influence when it comes to my barbecue cooking is Korean and Japanese.

SM:

Okay.

IA:

That would probably be the biggest things I pull from when I cook. . . when I do my actual hibachi style or barbecue or teppanyaki or any of that stuff. I'm normally pulling from Korean and Japanese. I do. . . I will admit I will pull also from my Hawaiian side, we do imus, which is the underground earth oven. . .

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

. . . which I have a few videos about.

SM:

Oh yeah.

IA:

And so good, the smoke and the, it's so good. It's actually funny. Our last episode was, we had to do a suckling pig on the last episode of BBQ Brawls, but we had a rotisserie and everybody was so stoked about this rotisserie, and I was like, I wish I could just bury my pig. . .

SM:

[Laughter]

IA:

. . . and throw some coals in there ‘cause I know it would come out perfect. But yeah, so I pull from when it comes to that. But I've noticed when it comes to the barbecue competitions, I tend to pull a lot from the Korean and Japanese side.

SM:

Yeah, I love. . . . And that was interesting, obviously, what, obviously where we are right now, LA, we have the best Korean food here. It's just amazing.

IA:

Unreal.

SM:

So, I know that, and obviously we know Japan very well. So, that's really great to be able to see you taking for those.

And what I wanted to know as well, is it something that's still developing now? You’re getting, you know, people bringing their cultures in. Are you getting more Mexicans? Are you getting more people from India, you know, Latin America, from different countries? And how are they coming in as well? Because there's always new people coming in from countries that are maybe poorer than us. So, they come over to Hawaii or they come over to wherever. And how are you finding that? Are they just joining part of this culture that's already there?

IA:

Well, one, I'm married to a Mexican girl, and I have. . . I created two little Mexican babies here too. So, I'm helping to perpetuate spreading the culture here, you know. So.

SM:

[Laughter]

Which is great.

IA:

Yeah. But, no, actually I would say our. . . . our. . . the culture that is growing the biggest in Hawaii is Micronesian.

SM:

Oh.

IA:

So, Micronesia, a lot of people don't even know Micronesia is a country. I mean, it's a tiny, tiny little country kind of by the Philippines, but right under. It’s not. . . It's far enough away from Hawaii where they're not technically part of the Polynesian Triangle. The Polynesian Triangles, you know, it has. . . it's New Zealand, Easter Island and Hawaii and everything in between. But Micronesians are actually one of the biggest populations gro. . . one of the biggest cultures that are growing here. So, now when you go into the grocery stores and stuff, you see betel nut and you see certain things, which is something that they chew. It's almost like a tobacco product.

SM:

We have it in India.

IA:

Exactly. So, that’s. . . that. . . betel nut, it's betel nut, a little bit of lime and a piece of cigarette, I think is what they chew on. And the leaf, it's really gross. But hey, I don't judge. They sell it in all the stores here. But what happened was the Micronesians, again, they're allowed to come to America and they get citizenship because we did some testing in the waters, and so the waters aren't that safe. So, now we allow them to come over and become American citizens. And because Hawaii is the closest to them, they tend to come to Hawaii the most. And so, we have a huge Micronesian population here in Hawaii. It's getting massive.

SM:

And what else do they have in their cuisine?

IA:

You know this one thing they eat that, and I don't know if this is actually part of their cuisine, because this is something that they've just made up, and I see them eating it all the time, but they take the takuan, which is like pickled radish, and they put Kool Aid powder in it, and it's something that they all snack on. But it's something that a lot of 'em eat and the actual food though, that they have the actual food, and it's a lot of. . . . It's seafood and very, very ocean based because they come from such a small island.

SM:

Of course.

IA:

So.

SM:

Wow.

IA:

It's part of the Marshallese, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Marshall. They're kind of all grouped together. When I was a child, when I was a kid, we didn't know who the Micro. . . I mean, we didn't even know what a Micronesian was. And now I have probably 50% of my employees right now are Micronesian.

SM:

That's fantastic.

IA:

Yep.

SM:

And for me, I knew it existed, but I just didn't know what you are telling me. I didn't realize that. That's a. . . really interesting.

Now, I am sure, and I can never re. . . pronounce this lady's name. She was the one who was very close to Queen Victoria. Her name is Liliuokalani.

IA:

Liliuokalani.

SM:

Liliuokalani. Did I get that right?

IA:

Liliuokalani. Yeah, because there's that U in there. It's Liliuokalani, but it's just pronounced Liliuokalani. Just like how you said.

SM:

Liliuokalani. I got it right.

IA:

There you go.

SM:

I'm very impressed. But I know she did this kind of world tour and she brought back, I know she was so popular and she loved Hawaii, and she wanted to bring things back to Hawaii. And did she do that with food too? Is that something that she saw?

IA:

Yes, she did.

SM:

Would you tell me who she was first, just in case people don't know her?

IA:

So, Queen Liliuokalani was one of our queens, a monarch. She was, I don't know who's the daughter, who her parent was. But she was one of the most revered, as you're saying, one of our most popular queens because she really took the culture to a whole ‘nother level. She was very close with the monarchy. She would travel to Europe a lot and kind of integrated Hawaii into, you know, mainstream, I guess at the time, what mainstream would be considered, you know.

SM:

And she was a friend of Queen Victoria, wasn't she? That was a very, very close relationship.

IA:

Very close. There's actually documentations of, again, of them traveling up there and being very close and bringing back a lot. Like you're saying, they would bring back a lot of things, right. Now, here's the thing with Hawaiian culture and Hawaiian food and a lot of these things. We. . . Up until a certain point, it was before Liliuokalani, so that's a good thing because we were able to share the stuff she brought back. But, you know, there was a lot of things that people couldn't eat, normal people weren't allowed to eat, right. So, for example, when cows were first gifted to Kamehameha, it was kapu. Most people weren't allowed, normal people couldn't eat cows. It was only reserved for the kings.

SM:

Wow.

IA:

And same thing with certain fish and certain things. Liliuokalani, by this time, those practices were no longer in place. So, when she was bringing things back or when she was sharing things, it was kind of able to share with everybody. And that's actually where the first luau, which we know as a luau, is technically called a pa‘ina. The first one actually started because men and women and children couldn't eat together back in the day. It was, you had to eat separately. And so, when we created this pa‘ina, it was the first time that was all abolished and that we all came together and started eating as a family.

SM:

Wow. Let's talk about some of the other things, because when I think of Hawaii, I always think of feasts.

IA:

Yes.

SM:

I always think of celebrations. I always think of everyone coming together. And in a way, that’s. . . it's not a bad thing to be thinking about an island where they all come together. I mean, what. . . . I know you do a lot of feasts where you go to people's houses and you recreate what you do. So, tell me about these feasts. Tell me about some of the dishes that. . . and I think this is where poi might even occur, where lots of things. And tell me about that. Because I think for most people listening now, that's going to be one of the first things they think of. . .

IA:

Yeah.

SM:

. . . the Hawaiian feast.

IA:

So, as we were talking about Liliuokalani and King, so we had a king called Lunalilo, who we called the Merrie Monarch. And the reason we call them the Merrie. . . . And we actually have a big. . . . Every year we have the world's biggest hula festival, and it's still called the Merrie Monarch. And it was built after this king, because another guy who had a fascination with English royalty and that style of glamor, I guess, if you will.

SM:

[Laughter]

IA:

There's that, you know what I'm talking about?

SM:

I do.

IA:

It's this prestige that comes. I think at that point it was like. . . . So, he was really into that. So, we called him the Merrie Monarch. He was known for his parties and his extravagance and his over the topness, you know. And he threw a party once. It was famous where they cooked some 300 pigs and some. . . I mean, I we're talking few hundred pounds of taro and poi and fish. And they had this huge, huge party. And like I said, it was. . . . That kind of created this idea of a luau. Now luau is the word for the leaf of the taro. So, the taro that grows, the leaf of the taro is called luau leaf. The reason they call it a luau is because it's an easy word to pronounce and it's kind of. . .

SM:

[Laughter]

IA:

. . . you know, it’s like something like that. So, the technical word for party is pa‘ina. That's what we would normally have here. We'd have a pa‘ina, which is like a party or a get together. And then Lunalilo turned it into these big luaus and extravagance with music and dancing. And again, back in the day, you couldn't even eat with your husband or wife, you know. I mean, it was all separate. So, now all of a sudden you have all these people coming together and celebrating. And it was definitely that time in Hawaiian culture.

SM:

Wow.

IA:

That was a cool time because we still had our culture, but we were still strong in our culture, but we were also, you know, we were including more people, and we were being a little more, you know, expanding our horizons a little bit.

SM:

I just love. . . I’m getting. . . . You can tell how excited I am.

IA:

I love it.

SM:

The food of Hawaii because, you know, we get to come over there fairly irregularly. And so, when we go over there, we want to go to all these different restaurants or people's houses and just enjoy it.

IA:

And I can tell you the food I didn't even mention, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry to cut you off.

SM:

No.

IA:

I didn't mention the food that you have at a luau, which is probably the most important thing.

SM:

Please. That’s. . . . You go ahead. Don't worry about disturbing me. You go ahead.

IA:

No, I was like, gosh, I told them about the luau but I didn't tell 'em the most important part, like what you eat at a luau, you know.

SM:

People want to know what's at a luau, and that's going to be, oh, yeah. So don't worry about disturbing me. You carry on talking.

[Laughter]

IA:

Aside from the hula dancing and the mai tais and those things, what you get is a lot more traditional food, as I was telling you. So, you're going to get taro or kalo poi, which is the root vegetable that we pound with a little bit of water to create this paste-like texture, and it's full of nutrients. So that's poi, right?

SM:

How is the poi? You've pounded it. Do you add sugar to it? Do you add salt to it?

IA:

Nothing.

SM:

Do you add nothing?

IA:

Nothing. So, it's steamed. It's steamed and then pounded. And that's it. And that is why I always tell people traditional poi, I understand when people don't like it because it's like if you took a potato and pounded it with water. It wouldn't taste the best, you know.

SM:

[Laughter]

IA:

But here I'll do fried poi where we take the poi and I add a little bit of sugar and some flour and we fry it. That's delicious. We'll add it. . .

SM:

Oh.

IA:

. . . into chowder and we'll do like a taro chowder or something, you know.

SM:

I’m so hungry already.

IA:

But when you do that, it tastes a lot better. But traditionally it's just, it's steamed, pounded out and that's it. And just a little bit of water. It's supposed to be really, really, really good for you. It gets you really big and fat real fast. That's what we give the babies, you know. So, yeah. So, you get poi, and then you would have some type of dried fish, whether it's aku, ahi, some type of dried fish you would always have. And then once. . . . Again, we didn't have pork. So, Kalua pig was kind of post-contact, you know. And same thing with lomi salmon, which is something you always see, which is salted salmon with tomatoes and onions and everything. But then here we would have hō'i'o, which is fiddle fern, which is something that was native to Hawaii. So, we would have a hō'i'o salad, fiddle fern salad, pipikaula, which is dried beef. Again, once the pipi came once the. . . . We still have wild cows here all over the islands that they're just up in the forest all wild and. . . . . But that was another one, pipikaula.

SM:

Oh.

IA:

I mean, these are just they. . . you know, your haupia, which is coconut, you know, ground up coconut. These are all things that what. . . . What our biggest thing then and what we still eat to this day is what we call laulau. So, you take the taro and you take the leaf, which is a big, big leaf. You take the stem off and you wrap pork and fish and Hawaiian salt into this leaf. You tie it up, and then you steam it and it creates this. . . . I call it the purse of the gods. It's so good. The outside. . . . the taro becomes almost like spinach. It has this delicious texture, and it has this earthiness that. . . and then the saltiness from the pork, and then the fish is usually super soft. . .

SM:

[Laughter]

IA:

. . . because we usually use cod like the butterfish. It is really. . . So, that's our most popular, the laulau. You've seen those. Those are those little green balls. . .

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

. . . that you see. Those are like. . . . Oh, man, I can get into that for sure. So those are some of the more traditional luau stew, which is the leaf of the taro leaf actually stewed down for hours with a little bit of coconut milk. It’s a. . . . These are the traditional stuff. And then as time goes on, now, when you look at Hawaiian food, you know, you'll see more of what I have at my restaurant, which is plate lunch, which is teriyaki beef, chicken katsu. . .

SM:

Oh.

IA:

. . . cow beef ribs, orange chicken, even. We do a delicious ginger, like, Chinese ginger chicken, all of those things.

SM:

It's all the things from your different. . .

IA:

The cultures.

SM:

. . . areas that. . . Ah. I've got to. . . . I mean both the original and this new kind of plate. Both sound absolutely phenomenal.

IA:

But what’s so funny about it is the new, it’s. . . . I always tell people what's so funny because the original was what? You know, the new stuff, like the plate lunch. That's what I crave. Like, when I am homesick. . .

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

. . . and I'm thinking of Hawaiian food, it's always plate lunch. And that’s. . . . I always think it's funny now that that's how it is with us locals now, you know.

SM:

What do you kind of describe a plate lunch as when you describe it to people from anywhere, if you come from Britain, you're like, well, what's a plate lunch?

IA:

Yes, thank you, Simon. That is a beautiful question. I love that.

SM:

[Laughter]

IA:

What is the anatomy of a plate lunch? So, anatomy of a plate lunch always has two scoops of rice, right? Two scoops of white rice and a scoop of mac salad. Now. . . .

SM:

Is it before? Now, before we go on, my wife and I get into arguments because she likes rice that is short grain and sticks together.

IA:

Yeah.

SM:

And I'm Indian that likes grain. . .

IA:

Yes.

SM:

. . . that have bigger. . . . Like basmati. So, which one is it?

[Laughter]

IA:

I mean. . . . I mean, if you're a smart man, it would always be whatever your wife says, right?

SM:

Yes.

IA:

But no, we're with you. . . we're with your wife on this one. Because that's how similar, just like in the Philippines, it's the same thing here. We like our sticky short grain white rice. We like to be able to ball it up in a ball. You can throw it against the wall if you have to, you know.

SM:

[Laughter]

IA:

We like our sticky rice.

SM:

To be honest, I love, love, love the short grain, sticky rice too.

IA:

Sushi rice.

SM:

But I like to give my wife. . . . I like to give my wife a bit of. . . . If I’m cooking curry, I made a methi chicken yesterday or day before, and that’s. . . I'm going to use the basmati. Most of the time I'm cooking for her, I'm going to cook a short grain, whatever she wants.

IA:

Basmati has, and jas. . . . They're more fragrant, right? So. . . .

SM:

The aroma of a basmati is. . . .

IA:

Yeah, so fragrant. Where white sushi rice, the sushi rice, and short grain rice is designed to absorb flavors, you know. It's not really this like. . . where basmati has a nutty. . . of natural flavor. I feel like white rice. . . . Sticky, short grain rice is designed to absorb soy sauce or absorb, you know. . . . It's just like. . . It’s you know. . . . But again, I'm biased. We eat rice with just about every single meal here. It's just how it is, you know.

SM:

We just about do in this house, but we just changed between them because we, we both love rice. And actually, we're fine with it. But we like to have a little row about it every now and again. I have to say, that is just a perfect place to end. The fun questions about Hawaii. They're really, I mean, I hope all the people who are listening to this will get how excited I am, because I love Hawaiian food, and everything you've told me makes me more and more happy to. . . . Oh, I just want it.

But now I thought quickly we'll have some. . . just some fun questions as well. I mean, hopefully the rest of it was fun.

IA:

Yeah, it was a great time. We had some great questions.

SM:

[Laughter]

But I wanted to ask you just some real kind of fun questions at the end. And then I just wanted you. . . to give you a chance to talk about, you know, I dunno what Twitter and all of that, or whatever they can call, whatever he wants to call it.

IA:

I don't have a Twitter, but I do have an Instagram. So.

SM:

Okay, so here's some fun questions. So, I think you've probably told me, but if Ippy was a meal, what would it be? Any meal. But you've got to tell me that. No, and you can't keep it for more than two seconds.

IA:

Oh man. If I was a meal, I would prob. . . . Oh, that's so difficult. That's a tough one. If I was a meal. . .

SM:

[Laughter]

IA:

. . . I would probably be. . . I'd be a mixed plate. I would be, which is a plate lunch where we always mix everything, right?

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

It would be really tough. I guess I'd be a Teri loco moco. Teriyaki loco moco.

SM:

Oh.

IA:

Which is two hamburger patties over easy egg, rice, and teriyaki sauce all over the whole thing. That would be a. . .

SM:

Oh. I love loco moco. I love it. But for people who. . . yeah. . . who don't know it, just again, describe what a loco moco is.

IA:

Traditionally, it's rice, hamburger patty, over easy egg, and brown gravy. That's the traditional. . .

SM:

Yeah.

IA:

. . . loco moco. And I always eat mine with teriyaki sauce instead of gravy. Oh. That's probably what. . . . It's a blend, right? It's a blend of all kinds of cultures. It's all things. That's probably what I would end up being. It's hard being half Italian and Hawaiian. I have so many things I love, you know.

SM:

That is. . . . I have to say that's, oh, you've got me going at it now. I'm so happy about this one.

Okay. If you could go to any meal, any meal in history, or at a part in history, wherever you wanted to go, what would it be?

IA:

I think it would be Lunalilo’s plate that we were just talking about. I think that party I was telling you with the world famous 300 pigs and dancing and music, and it lasted for days. I think that's the party I would want to go to. That's the dinner I would want to go to.

SM:

Oh. Again, it all sounds great. Now, and here's the final one of this before we go on to what you've got on. If you could choose any great invention in history, what would it be?

IA:

My favorite thing. . . . My, my. . . . What I use more than anything in my. . . is, is a Chinese cleaver. It's probably like. . .

SM:

There you go.

IA:

. . . something I use. I use it. I use it for every. . . . I use it to cut sushi. I use it for everything. I use it as my tenderizer. I use it as a table. I use it. . . I use it as a weapon. I use it, you know, for. . .

SM:

[Laughter]

IA:

. . . when I was. . . when I was in the third grade, this old. . . the lady that ran my dad's restaurant, she's an old Japanese lady named Masaio. She gave me a cleaver and she basically told me, she was like, alright. She's like, oh, you're going to be a chef one day, use this, and you know. . . . So, since then, I kinda. . . you know, so that. . . I would say a Chinese cleaver is probably my favorite invention.

SM:

I've got one right here, and I do use it. I, I use some other knives, the ones that they've sent me for various stuff. But the Chinese cleaver is fantastic.

IA:

Everything. You can do everything with it.

SM:

I use it as a bench scraper. I use it for everything. So that is a really good answer, you see.

IA:

Alright. I was going to say flying, because I was going to say without flying on the [indecipherable], it was very hard to get off of this island.

[Laughter]

SM:

[Laughter]

Well, I think this has been fantastic. Now, before we say goodbye to you, we've got a few minutes at this. Anything, you know, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Threads. I mean, who knows how many there are now.

IA:

That’s a lot of them.

SM:

I'm on all of them thanks to my lovely wife.

IA:

I know. I'm working on it. I'm working on it.

SM:

But you tell me which one you're on and tell us how we can find you?

IA:

So, I’m on. . . . I have Facebook, Instagram at, you know, Chef Ippy, and I also have a YouTube channel, Chef Ippy YouTube channel where me and my daughter do cooking videos and. . . .

SM:

Oh, okay.

IA:

Yeah, she's four years old. So, we have. . . . It's called Chef Daddy and. . . Chef Daddy and Goose. Goose is her nickname. And so, yeah.

SM:

Chef Daddy and Goose.

IA:

Yeah.

SM:

Just to mention to everyone. Chef Daddy. . . .

IA:

But the YouTube channel is just Chef Ippy, so you could just type in Chef Ippy. . .

SM:

Okay. Chef Ippy.

IA:

. . . and it will be right there. Yeah. And so, I do that. That’s. . . . I love it. It's part. . . It’s kind of one of those things where it's like a perk of being able to do what I do and do it with my daughter. So. But other than that, yeah, I'm on Instagram and, you know. . . . Food Network's been really good about making me get on that stuff and do that, so I have all those things. And Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

SM:

Okay. Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Chef Ippy. And just mention again that you are on BBQ Brawl.

IA:

Yep. We're on BBQ Brawls. Yesterday was episode five already. I think there's nine total episodes, you know, so, or six. I don't know.

SM:

I'm just going to let you, I'm not going to mention, don't mention what happened, but I know you've been having a lot of fun.

IA:

I wouldn't even talk about it if I didn't do good, you know.

[Laughter]

Barbecue Brawls. What's Barbecue Brawls?

[Laughter]

SM:

I know. Whatever you did. Whatever you do. . . we're very, very grateful.

IA:

Thank you.

SM:

Particularly, with you coming on to tell us about Maui, which is very, very special to anyone because it's just. . .  I don't even want to talk about it. I know, I know. Everybody I know. Leanne, who is just fantastic. Yeah.

IA:

She’s on Tournament of Champions with you guys this last season.

SM:

Yeah, yeah. Oh no. She’s. . . I've known her for a long time. I mean many, many, many years ago I judged her in a playoff competition to get into Next Iron Chef.

IA:

Oh wow.

SM:

I've known her for a long, long, long time and I was judging her on Tournament of, well, not judging her, I was doing the commentary.

IA:

Um-hm.

SM:

And she's just a great person and I know she will be so perfect about taking all those people in Maui. Making sure they eat well.

IA:

Yes, she is.

SM:

But secondly, I just want to thank you for coming on. This has been, I have to say, just a really great interview.

IA:

This is fun. This is fun.

SM:

It’s just. . . We, we, you know. . . . I just want to ask, I just want to ask lots more questions, but we are only trying to keep it to an hour. I just want to say a huge thank you, everyone out in the listenership, which is quite a few. Now, we just want to say thank you to you for coming on and from all of us here, goodbye.

IA:

Thank you, Simon.

SM:

[Laughter]

He's giving us the old. . .

IA:

Yeah, the shaka.

[Laughter]

SM:

Hawaii sh. . . What’s it called?

IA:

Real shaka’s like this. This is how tourists do it. This is how tourists do it. This is how locals do it.

SM:

Like that. Oh, is this like. . . .

IA:

Just like that. Nice and loose. You got to keep it nice and loose, you know.

SM:

I'm, I’m British. We don't go loose. I've never been loose in my life.

IA:

[Laughter]

No. All tight. No, all tight.

SM:

But. . .

[Laughter]

IA:

You’re the best, Simon.

SM:

It has been fantastic.

IA:

Thank you.

SM:

Thank you so much.

IA:

I had a great time. Thank you.

OUTRO MUSIC

Simon:

Make sure to check out the website associated with this podcast at www.EatMyGlobe.com where we will be posting the transcripts from each episode, along with all the references and resources we used putting the episodes together, in case you want to delve deeper into each subject. Theres’s also a contact button, so please do let us know if there are any subjects that you would like us to cover.

And, if you like what you hear, please don’t forget to join us on Patreon, subscribe, recommend us to your family and friends and give us a good rating on your favorite podcast provider.

Thank you and goodbye from me, and we’ll speak to you soon on the next episode of EAT MY GLOBE: Things You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know About Food.

CREDITS

The EAT MY GLOBE Podcast is a production of “It’s Not Much But It’s Ours” and “Producer Girl Productions.” We would also like to thank Sybil Villanueva for all of her help both with the editing of the transcripts and essential help with the research.