Gaby Melian Transcript

 Gaby Melian Transcript

Kerry Diamond:
Hi everyone. You are listening to Radio Cherry Bombe and I'm your host, Kerry Diamond, coming to you from Rockefeller Center in the heart of New York City. Today's guest is Gaby Melian, the much loved home cook who many of you know from her days at Bon Appetit. Gaby joins us to talk about her new book, which is out tomorrow. It is called Food-Related Stories, and it's part of a Penguin Book series called the Pocket Change Collective. It details Gaby's journey and life lessons.

Gaby will join us in just a minute to talk about her book, her family, what she's cooking, and what's up with her beloved dog, Pucho. Today's show is presented by Territory Foods. Territory Foods delivers healthy meals right to your door. So if eating well is a priority for you, Territory Foods can help. Eating well is always a priority for me, but my problem is time. I can get so busy, I wind up skipping meals or grabbing what's easy, and that doesn't always equal healthy.

But with Territory, you can easily order a whole week's worth of healthy and delicious meals right on their website. I ate lunch just before writing this and I enjoyed a beautiful salad from Territory, with lemon chicken, Napa cabbage, red and yellow peppers, and almond satay dressing. Yesterday I had red bean chili with quinoa, topped with cashew cream and sprinkled with some chopped parsley. And the day before that, sage beef bolognese over gluten-free corkscrew pasta.

It's all been delicious. I feel great. It's made it easier to concentrate on all the 2022 planning and organizing I am supposed to be doing. If you'd like to try Territory Foods for yourself, head over to territoryfoods.com. Whether you're plant-based, paleo, or somewhere in between, there are some delicious, nutritious dishes waiting for you at Territory Foods. Be sure to use code Cherry75 for $75 off your first three orders, plus free shipping. Now let's chat with today's guest, Gaby Melian, welcome to Radio Cherry Bombe.

Gaby Melian:
Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here once again. Happy new year, by the way.

Kerry Diamond:
I should say welcome back and happy new year to you. Let's jump right into things, Gaby. You are always cooking up something. What is going on in your kitchen today?

Gaby Melian:
Well, there was yesterday. I made a huge batch of lentil stew, my well known lentil stew. And today I'm eating the leftovers.

Kerry Diamond:
You know what? We're going to talk about that lentil stew, because you write about it in your brand new book, and I wanted to find out how you make it. So save that. But I have to ask, all your fans know and love your dog, Pucho. He's had some health scares. So tell us how he's doing.

Gaby Melian:
He is doing amazingly well today. But it's been a month exactly, was pretty scary. They found some stones in his bladder and he had to have an emergency surgery. Then he had some more complications. So I literally spent sleepless nights and I was at the hospital all day. I was the crazy person with the computer sitting, and they only let me see him a little bit in the morning and a little bit in the afternoon.

All the nurses came, "You can go home." And I was like, "No, I'm going to stay here with my dog." But thank God, he's much, much better. He's recovering in an amazing way. So I'm so happy.

Kerry Diamond:
Pucho is like your baby. How old is Pucho?

Gaby Melian:
Pucho is 12.

Kerry Diamond:
What kind of dog?

Gaby Melian:
He's a mix of a poodle and miniature pinscher. He's a Jersey city boy, because he was born one block away from my house, at someone's couch. I have him since he was seven weeks. In his mind, I'm his mother.

Kerry Diamond:
Do you cook for Pucho?

Gaby Melian:
Yes. Pucho had never had dog food. It was complicated in the hospital because they were like, "He's not eating the food we are offering." I'm like, "No, he doesn't eat dry food." So yeah. He eats pretty well with a mix of vitamins, some minerals that I buy and I add to his food. Yesterday, we tested for the first time... We both had a little taste of bison. I got a steak of bison from my friends in New Jersey. I cooked it and we both loved it. Apparently, bison is a little more sustainable and it was pretty yummy, I have to say.

Kerry Diamond:
Well, Pucho is one pampered pooch, I guess. But I'm super happy Pucho is recovering. You also launched a GoFundMe for Pucho. I mean, my cat had some health issues in 2021 and I know how expensive it can be when your animal is sick. So if anybody wants to kick in, if you've enjoyed-

Gaby Melian:
Thank you.

Kerry Diamond:
... everything Gaby has put out into the world, definitely go check out the GoFundMe.

Gaby Melian:
Thank you.

Kerry Diamond:
We'll put that in the show notes.

Gaby Melian:
Yeah. My friend did it and I really appreciate it because, I mean, it's tough. It's a hard decision. He's my child and-

Kerry Diamond:
Yes.

Gaby Melian:
... you have to. Yes.

Kerry Diamond:
Do you have pet insurance? I'm going to sound like an insurance salesman right now.

Gaby Melian:
You know what? This is an amazing question. Are your cats young?

Kerry Diamond:
My cat is six years old.

Gaby Melian:
Right. I never got pet insurance for him because everybody always like, "Oh, it's not worth it. It's not worth it. It's not worth it." And now I wish I had. But guess what? Now I find out that the pet insurance won't take him because he's too old and he has pre-conditions. So it will be more expensive. Also, all the money that I already spent, they don't give it back to you. So there is a mix of opinions on that. So I decided to... Like for now, we're going to keep going. Luckily, knock on wood-

Kerry Diamond:
Got it.

Gaby Melian:
... this will be the one scare in his life. And from now on, we'll be okay. But yeah, it's a complicated thing.

Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. If I can pass on some motherly advice to everybody out there listening, if you are getting a pet, pet insurance is expensive, but what is really expensive is pet surgery. So-

Gaby Melian:
Yes. Yes.

Kerry Diamond:
... even though I had paid the pet insurance year after year and I was like, "Oh, this is so much money," last year, it actually paid off because we had several emergency-

Gaby Melian:
Oh, good.

Kerry Diamond:
... vet visits. Anyway, okay. As much as I would love to have a pet podcast one day, I'm not going to turn this one into a pet podcast just yet. So we are going to move on to what Gaby is cooking and what Gaby is writing, because Gaby has brand new book out. Congratulations, Gaby. It's out tomorrow. This is not a cookbook. Tell us, what is this book and who is it for?

Gaby Melian:
This is a book of stories, Food-Related Stories, which is the title. And thank you so much, the book comes out tomorrow. This book, I like to say, it came to me. I was lucky enough to come across some of the books from the Pocket Change collective. My book is part of them. My book is number nine in the collection. When I was back in the test kitchen, they showed up at my desk and I read them and I love them. I remember posting about it.

The editor, Rachel Sonis, reached out to me and she say, "We want you to tell your story." And I was like, "What story? What do you want me to tell?" I mean, I'm known for a storytelling. My text messages and my voice messages are usually a podcast. So I was so excited to tell this story to young adults about how through love and patience and strength, related to food, I survive. I always like to say food saved my life. So that's it. It's a tiny, tiny but powerful book.

Kerry Diamond:
How will you be promoting the book?

Gaby Melian:
Well, starting on January 18, which is the date of book launch, we're going to have a launch event online at Word Bookstores, which is the bookstore near my house. I'm going to be talking with my dear friend, Brad Leone, at 6:30 PM and people can join and be part of the conversation. That's the first kickoff for the book.

Kerry Diamond:
How can people sign up to be part of that?

Gaby Melian:
I put a link of my link tree. You can go to Word Bookstores and sign in the link right there. I'm sure we're going to have a link under this podcast too. It's free, so you have to just reserve a spot.

Kerry Diamond:
Great. Hopefully everybody will go sign up and check it out. I'm going to sign up. It'll be fun to see you two together. Next question, what is going on with your cookbook?

Gaby Melian:
I am writing a cookbook for children, which is a dream of mine that I have ever since I created Gaby's Kitchen because Gaby's Kitchen was created with the idea of teaching children cooking in grade school, a dream that is still pretty live. The book is coming out this year in October, and I'm writing it along with America's Test Kitchen, Kids, which they are the experts of everything related for cooking books for children, and is super exciting.

We're almost done with recipes. I'm actually on a deadline today. We already took some photos and I'm already seeing the book together. It's amazing. The most amazing part, for me, it's the fact that I've been working with these teams of people remotely. I never met these people in person and I love it. So if I can make a book remotely, anyone can do it.

Kerry Diamond:
That's so interesting. Walk us through that a little bit more. So you haven't met anybody working on the project. How are you doing all that?

Gaby Melian:
We have a lot of meetings online. And when we had a shoot in my house, everybody was on a zoom call watching what I was doing in my kitchen. It was myself and one photographer. Nobody else. No assistance, nothing. So basically I did the shopping of the food, the prepping of the food, the cleaning up after the cooking of the food, which... I wear mini hats, as usual. I'm used to it. And it was fantastic. I think it was a great, great experience.

The photographer who helped with the cover, he's a dear friend of mine. We know each other for so many years, Armando. It always working out like you think it's not going to happen, and then, poof, something magically happens. At the end of the day, it's done. I love that. It's almost as exciting as working in the kitchen, the adrenaline

Kerry Diamond:
Gaby, you were the food stylist and the prop stylist then, if it was just the two of you. So you did all of that for the shoot?

Gaby Melian:
Yes.

Kerry Diamond:
Okay.

Gaby Melian:
Yes. We did it together. My friend, Armando, knows a little bit of food styling too. We were together and there were people on zoom telling us, "Move to the left. Move to the right." It was a bunch of people, but in person, it was just the two of us, which is fun. You guys will all see it when the cover comes out. Pucho was part of the shoot also.

Kerry Diamond:
I would hope so. I would hope so. That's so interesting. I'd never heard of a photo shoot being directed via zoom. But I guess you could do anything today, right?

Gaby Melian:
It's the times we leave now.

Kerry Diamond:
It is the times we live in. It's so interesting how it's changed things for cookbook authors, between the production of the book, to the promotion of the book, as your book's coming out right now, and we're in the middle of another surge. So it's tough to promote a book at a time like this.

Gaby Melian:
Especially because the book is for children. So that's why they wanted to do it online. Yes.

Kerry Diamond:
Would you say children or teenagers? I feel like this is definitely a teenager book.

Gaby Melian:
It's teenagers, it's young adults. But at the bookstore, they consider it on the children's section. They have it divided out like young adults, and then... I mean, children, youth. But it's [inaudible 00:12:42] all these children.

Kerry Diamond:
Got it.

Gaby Melian:
But anyone can read it.

Kerry Diamond:
That's true. I read it last night and I enjoyed it very much.

Gaby Melian:
I know, right? You can read it in one night. I love it.

Kerry Diamond:
You can read it in one night. I really loved it. You know what I thought, Gaby, as I was reading this, you know how much we love the students at Food and Finance High School, which is New York City's only culinary focused public high school. I was reading this and I was like, "Oh my gosh, every student over there needs Gaby's book." I was like, "I need to tell them." I'm going to work on that.

Gaby Melian:
Oh my God. I would love to go and sign them. Can we do it like with social distance or something?

Kerry Diamond:
You know what, let me talk to them. It would be fun to try to make something happen with the school, because I think the students would love your story. How did you decide what to include in the book? I mean, obviously, it's a snapshot of your life. It's not a memoir.

Gaby Melian:
I know. I'm pretty lucky to have a literary agent and an editor, which constantly were reminding me that I didn't have to write my memoirs because I can go on and on with a story. I can go like to the store and back and be here 30 minutes telling the story, what happened just at the store. I'm a storyteller. I grew up a storyteller. I don't have brief. I can't brief you. So it was hard because I wanted to include everything.

It was shaping as I was writing it. But the first manuscript was probably three times what the book is right now. There was a whole process of ripping parts and deciding which part was the one that we really wanted to showcase. I don't want to say anymore, but the fact that each chapter is related to some sort of food, helped me plan that and helped me shape, for a better word, shape the chapter around it. So yeah, it was pretty interesting. I could write seven of these.

Kerry Diamond:
And maybe you will, one day. Maybe you will. One thing that comes through loud and clear, and anybody who knows and loves you already knows this, is how important your grandmother and your mother have been in your life. Can you tell us a little bit about each woman?

Gaby Melian:
Yes. First my mom. This book got postponed twice. This book originally was going to come out in November and then it got pushed to the end of November because of all the delays that we all know. And we are familiar with the printing of books right now. Surprisingly... Well, not surprisingly. I think it's happening for a reason. My book comes out in January 18, which is the anniversary of my mother's death.

Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I didn't know that.

Gaby Melian:
Yes. It's going to be six years.

Kerry Diamond:
Did you pick that date or was that a coincidence?

Gaby Melian:
Nope. When they sent me the email, I was just like, "That's my mother's death," and I couldn't keep writing. They offered me to change it and I was just like, "Nope, I don't want to change it. I just feel that it's so meaningful." Oh, sorry. I'm crying.

Kerry Diamond:
No. That's okay.

Gaby Melian:
It's so meaningful that the day that my first book, it's coming out, it's coincidentally six years.

Kerry Diamond:
Wow. Do you feel like that's a sign from her?

Gaby Melian:
Oh, yeah. Definitely. She's everywhere.

Kerry Diamond:
Wow.

Gaby Melian:
She's everywhere. There is no doubt that I am my mother's daughter. No doubt about it. She was strong and independent and very vocal. Also, her stories could take hours, and very feisty and very opinionated. I think I inherited a few of those.

Kerry Diamond:
I was just going to say, "Gaby, I feel like you're describing yourself." You actually followed your mom to the US. She moved to the US a few before you did.

Gaby Melian:
She moved to the US a few months before, and I follow her idea of just staying here for six months and practicing my English and finding a job as a journalist, which is my... This is my major in journalism in Argentina. But then, you've got to read the book.

Kerry Diamond:
Right. I don't want to give away too much. But tell us a little bit about your grandmother and then we'll move away from the book to save something so people can read it, yeah, and learn more about your story from the book.

Gaby Melian:
My abuela, oh, she was tough. My mother was tough, my grandma was like, "Forget it."

Kerry Diamond:
How so was she tough?

Gaby Melian:
You couldn't mess around with her. Her parents were very open minded like French. My grandma was allowed to go to high school, which was weird for that time. She wanted to be a teacher. Then she got married and have three girls and never did it again. But she was very opinionated, and yeah, her political views and everything. What she said was the rule.

Kerry Diamond:
A lot of girl power in that family.

Gaby Melian:
Yes. Oh yeah. Only women. Yeah. We say matriarcado, all women

Kerry Diamond:
Gaby, you've mentioned a lentil stew in your book, and it sounds like the perfect food for this cold weather. You mentioned that you made it yesterday, which I loved.

Gaby Melian:
Yes.

Kerry Diamond:
Can you describe the stew and walk us through how you make it?

Gaby Melian:
Lentil stew. It's basically the one food I made the first time when I moving with my boyfriend when I was 19 or 20. It's the one right of passage food that I remember, feeding all my friends. As you might know, when you cook lentils, you can start with just one cup and they grow so much. You can feed a lot of people. My lentil stew has potatoes, sweet potatoes, sausages, spicy sausage, pancetta, kielbasa sometimes.

So it's very hearty. It's very wholesome. It's delicious. It lasts for a week. You just throw it in the stove and go set the table. There is a great story in the book about one of these times that I made the lentil stew, and I want everybody to read it. But I love it. I always made it never the same way. It all depends on what you have because you can put meat or not. You can make it vegetarian if you want, and it's delicious. Yes, it's perfect for this weather.

Kerry Diamond:
This is a classic Argentinian stew?

Gaby Melian:
It's very classic in Argentina. Every family has a version of their lentil stew. Yes.

Kerry Diamond:
Have you published a recipe anywhere for this?

Gaby Melian:
Not yet. Not yet. But I'm making a recipe for children, for the book next year. It's a little similar. It's a lot less steps and things. But no, not really. Not the one that comes out in this book.

Kerry Diamond:
I will sit tight and wait for that then.

Gaby Melian:
Yes.

Kerry Diamond:
All right, so more food stuff. One of your earliest jobs in New York was at a bakery in Queens called Buenos Aires Bakery? What did you do at the bakery?

Gaby Melian:
Oh, everything. You started working in the coffee shop and it got so busy because it's right next to the 7 train. So every time a train showed up, you would have a long line and it was like coffee and pastries, coffee and pastries. You get to learn the back of the bakery. Was my first time seeing the back. Oftentimes, when it was down time, not really. There wasn't a lot of down time.

But they will send you to the back to package things. They make their own empanada dough there. So I learned a lot looking watching the bakers create these masterful things. I talk about it in the book, about the manager, which she have retired and I find out she moved to Florida. I'm going to try to send her a book. It was fun. I get to meet a lot of people. I was able to eat a lot of pastries.

Kerry Diamond:
Coffee shops are fun, aren't they? I used to own a coffee shop, as some of our listeners know. I still miss it to this day. I found some keys. I was doing some organizing of my apartment over the holiday, because we had a break at Cherry Bombe. I know you are the queen of organizing.

Gaby Melian:
Yes.

Kerry Diamond:
I am not the queen of organizing. But I found so many old keys from the coffee shop days. Anybody who's owned a business knows that you eventually feel like one of those old school superintendents who walks around with a million keys. I got kind of sad. I got a little teary eyed. I can tell you this because I know you've been very vulnerable with me over the years. But yeah, I just, all of a sudden, was overcome with a little bit of sadness.

Gaby Melian:
Emotions. We put so many emotions into things. Yeah, owning a coffee shop or a bar... I mean, isn't it amazing to have people coming over, talking? I mean, I grew up with a culture of a coffee shop. Like in Argentina, you go for a coffee and you have five and you're there three hours talking to your friends, which I miss. But yeah, I had a wonderful time at the bakery, which didn't pay a lot.

But then I moved back to Manhattan and I was still working in Queens. I lived in Manhattan and I work in Queens, the opposite. I mean, I haven't in a while, but I still go and say hello once in a blue moon. And I love it there.

Kerry Diamond:
Especially when you become part of the community. The people who work there become part of the community. Now I have tears in my eyes, Gaby. We can't seem to have a... I can't seem interview you without both of us crying. Did you ever promoted to baker or did you stay front of house?

Gaby Melian:
I didn't stay there that long. Yeah. And then, I ended up moving back to my aunt's loft in Soho. The commute was impossible because it was backwards. I got an opportunity to work as an assist teacher in a little preschool in Soho. And I started working as a nanny. I was making more money, obviously, in Soho than in Queens, so I quit the bakery.

Kerry Diamond:
One more bakery question though. You mentioned the empanadas. What other pastries were they known for? What was popular?

Gaby Melian:
In Argentina, we-

Kerry Diamond:
At Buenos Aires Bakery.

Gaby Melian:
They made all the pastries that we did in Argentina, we are famous for. We call them facturas, which is a weird word. But it's like these pastries are very heavy influenced by European pastries. There is a lot of puff pastry and croissants, and pastries with fruits, and membrillos, dulce de leche, obviously. Lots and lots of dulce de leche. And so, I remember seeing the humongous like five kilos of dulce de leche tubs, that they came from Miami. Some other Argentinian produces the dulce de leche in Miami and it was shipped to New York. At the baker, we have these dulce de leche tubs that I dream of diving in.

Kerry Diamond:
I was going to say that, but you beat me to it. You became known for your empanadas eventually, and even wanted to open an empanada spot. I'm curious, what is the secret to your empanadas?

Gaby Melian:
A lot of love.

Kerry Diamond:
A lot of love. Okay.

Gaby Melian:
A lot of love. Well, I call my empanadas, the beef ones, which are my favorite. I try to use the best ingredients. I use the recipe, the same recipe, which is published by BA, that my grandma taught me. The style is because in Argentina, we have different styles. I can be here talking hours of all the styles from the South to the North, to... Each state has its own, provincias, we call them, its own type of empanada.

And then, inside each state, each family has its own version of empanada. There is always a fight for which one is the best. The ones I made are called…, because Buenos Aires, when you are from Buenos Aires, you are called a porteno, because it's a port city, which they have ground beef, lots of cumin, onions, red peppers, olives, raisins. Some people like to put hard boiled egg. I don't, because I had a boyfriend who didn't like them, and I also feel like you are cheating on the meat when you put hard boiled eggs, which is probably the reason why they use hard boiled eggs.

Kerry Diamond:
To stretch it out a little more. Right.

Gaby Melian:
To stretch it out a little bit more right. I mean, I found a lot of recipes that have bread or eggs, is to stretch it out. They are a little bit sweet because they have raisins and you know I love raisins.

Kerry Diamond:
Raisins in savory food. Very divisive subject.

Gaby Melian:
Love them. Love them. I'm big fan of raisins. So yeah, I think that's what makes my empanadas special. I make them fresh. And why not, to have an empanada store? Maybe one day.

Kerry Diamond:
Oh yeah. Will we ever get to try your empanadas?

Gaby Melian:
I hope so. One day, maybe get back to the empanada empire that I wanted to build.

Kerry Diamond:
Okay. I would love that. You said you can find the recipe on and Bon Appetit for Gaby's empanadas?

Gaby Melian:
Bon Appetit has my recipe for my beef empanada and my chicken and empanada. There is also a recipe for ham and cheese empanadas, which are fried. That's another thing that most people, when you think of empanada, you think of fried foods. But the empanadas that I'm talking are baked. Most households in Argentina, they will bake the empanadas. Empanadas are so vegan in Argentina that there are stores completely dedicated to just sell empanadas, like pizza stores but for empanadas.

Kerry Diamond:
Did I ever tell you I went to Buenos Aires years ago?

Gaby Melian:
I know. You did, yes.

Kerry Diamond:
I would love to go back. It was really such a great city. Let's jump to how you're making money today.

Gaby Melian:
Which I don't.

Kerry Diamond:
Sorry to put you on the spot. Okay, which you don't. Okay. We need to talk about that.

Gaby Melian:
I don't, and that's the funny thing. People think that because you have a YouTube channel and two hundred and something thousand followers, you roll in the dollars of rolling. I'm not. I personally decided to stop doing ads on Instagram, which is how you can make a little bit of money on Instagram, because I wanted to really concentrate and dedicate this past six months into the cooking book for next year.

I was lucky enough to have some savings. Ideally, when the books start selling, I will start making money. That's how it works. You know. Well, I have a YouTube, and for a minute, couple months ago, I was really enamored about the idea of having a Patreon. People have always asked me, "Why don't you do a Patreon? Why don't you do a Patreon?"

But you know how life always has a different idea for you in store? I was already signed up, find amazing people. I really love Patreon. I do support people in Patreon. I follow Carla and Molly while she moved out. But I follow the minimalists-

Kerry Diamond:
Just for those who don't know who those are, those are two of your former colleagues from Bon-

Gaby Melian:
Yes. My former colleagues. I follow them minimalists, which I love, and I gladly pay for it. My editor, unfortunately, had a little bit of health issues and I didn't have anybody to edit my videos. I felt a lot of pressure because I was like, "All these people are going to start paying and I don't have anything to offer." So I retraced my steps back. But hopefully, starting next week, I'm fully back in YouTube and I hope everybody can go on YouTube and support me.

Kerry Diamond:
Gaby, let me ask, if you're producing all this content for YouTube, why not put it on Patreon and grow your Patreon where you can maybe make a little bit more money? Because so many people love you.

Gaby Melian:
Thank you. That's the idea. I just want to give YouTube a chance one minute and then-

Kerry Diamond:
Okay.

Gaby Melian:
I will eventually get on Patreon. Yes. Yes. I didn't discard the idea of Patreon. I just put it on the back burner, like we say. All of a sudden, I was juggling too many things at the same time, like writing a newsletter. I should be writing a newsletter for tomorrow, which I am not ready yet. I let tell people that I am my own boss and that comes with a lot of... It is exciting, but at the same time, it's a lot of responsibility and a lot of sudden... You get all these lemons thrown at you, and I don't have enough juices to make the lemonade.

Kerry Diamond:
I certainly understand that.

Gaby Melian:
So it's getting there, little by little. But yes, the Patreon is still floating in the air. Not for now.

Kerry Diamond:
Okay. No, this might be me just not understanding how a Patreon works. I mean, I support some Patreons, but I don't have a Patreon. If you're already writing a newsletter, why aren't you writing it for a platform that people have to pay for? Because you purposefully want to make it free?

Gaby Melian:
I wanted to make it free in the beginning. In some things, sometimes I get... I want everybody to have equal opportunity in terms of like... I mean, it might be five bucks, but not everybody has five bucks.

Kerry Diamond:
Right.

Gaby Melian:
I, myself, had times in my life when I didn't have five bucks to support someone. I can repost and talk about it. Patreon also has different prices that you can pay, and I was just like, "No, I want everybody to have the same rights to it." I know I should be better at being my own... It's hard for me to sell myself. It's true.

Kerry Diamond:
No, it's hard for a lot of people. That's why I'm asking these questions because I think there are a lot of folks out there who are trying to figure out this new food world. I mean, one of the biggest questions we get at Cherry Bombe, Gaby, and I'm sure you get the same question all the time, is from people who want to break into food media. I always say to them like, "First you have to tell me what you mean by food media," because food media is so many things today.

It's not necessarily magazines and newspapers. Everybody is food media. If you have an Instagram and you're putting your food pictures out there, congratulations. You are now part of food media. But how do you make a living without going through one of the traditional channels? That's why I'm especially curious about Patreon and platforms like that.

Gaby Melian:
I get that question asked so many times. A lot of the students from my culinary... Where I graduated, reach out to me, "How did you made it? How were you there?" They're really young, so they don't even know about my whole past. They don't know I've been on this for 20 years. They don't know I had to go back to the drawing board and start again when I started at the BA test kitchen doing dishes. I was already a graduated chef and I was washing dishes, which I don't care.

So it's a lot of perseverance. It's a lot of thinking outside the box. It's sometimes a little bit of luck. Learning, learning, learning from mistakes, burning yourself and keep going. And like I like to say, keep cooking, be happy.

Kerry Diamond:
Gaby, I think the big difference today, though, between when I was starting out and you were starting out, is no one has to wait for permission from a gatekeeper anymore-

Gaby Melian:
No.

Kerry Diamond:
... to be part of food media. There are so many avenues now that you don't have to wait for permission. You don't have to start at the bottom. You can do your own thing. Anybody who has a TikTok or Instagram, that's your personal food magazine, if you want it to be. I think it's the waiting for permission part. I like to remind people of that because if you want to do something today, you can do it.

Gaby Melian:
Correct, which is scary and great at the same time.

Kerry Diamond:
Yeah.

Gaby Melian:
I also reminding everyone I'm 52. I learned to type in a typewriter, not in a computer. I mean, I see some of these young adults or even youngsters, which are 16, and they can do things in social media. I don't know if you ever heard about this whole Twitch, which is this thing that you can be one hour and people are watching you. In my mind, it's like, "What?" Just do it. Just do it. This is not an Nike commercial, but you just have to do it.

Yeah. Make mistakes and learn again. Maybe after a while, you realize it wasn't for you. Then there is another niche for you, maybe writing. I never, in a million years, when I went to study journalism, I thought I was going to be writing or working in a food magazine, and it happened.

Kerry Diamond:
It did happen. Then you went to culinary school and that's why people should pick up Food-Related Stories and they can read your entire story. We're going to run out of time, so I've got a few more questions for you. I know you are tired of talking about Bon Appetit, but there was another food media incident recently where some individuals, sadly and unfortunately, were subjected to racist and sexually inappropriate behavior, among other things. And you know this.

Often, people say, "Just quit the job. Why are you staying there?" But that's not always an option for everyone. Do you have any words of advice for anyone trapped in a work situation that is intolerable?

Gaby Melian:
Yes. And to follow on your words, yes. Sometimes that's not an option for some people. They can't just quit their job. It's not that easy. My words, it's found your allies and stay strong. If you're in doubt, just talking or not talking. It's better to say something than to keep it inside. It will hurt you to keep it inside. So I'm glad there are outlets nowadays where can people just post all this about it, because 20 years ago, you couldn't do this.

Kerry Diamond:
No.

Gaby Melian:
We're lucky to have social media or things like that, that you can just post and people can repost about it. My word will be keep going. For every horrible person out there, just remember there are some great, amazing people on the other end. So there are good people also. Just keep thinking about that.

Kerry Diamond:
Thank you, Gaby. Did you make any resolutions for 2022?

Gaby Melian:
I don't make any resolutions anymore. That's my resolution.

Kerry Diamond:
That's your resolution. Why don't you make resolutions anymore?

Gaby Melian:
We used to do this thing of writing it on an envelope and put it in the envelope and then open it. And then we never did. Literally, I never remember what my resolution was. So I changed them as... Like, "Oh, this was my resolution." So I just don't anymore. I am embracing life and let it guide me.

Kerry Diamond:
I like that. Well, I always make resolutions and then break all of them. But so far, we're two weeks into the new year, I'm doing pretty well. You will approve. One of mine was to keep my pantry more organized. So I reorganized my entire spice drawer and I put it into one of the drawers that pull out instead of putting it in the pantry, so I can see everything you would definitely approve.

Gaby Melian:
Nice.

Kerry Diamond:
But I do need to go back to your YouTube channel and watch all your organizing videos.

Gaby Melian:
Spices is the hard one. Spices is a real, real hard way to keep them organized. I get that question asked a lot.

Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. I also learned to start to put a little piece of tape on the spice and mark when I bought it, so that way... Because spices don't last forever. I mean, we would like to think that you can keep this jar of something around for years. But yeah.

Gaby Melian:
If something is moving inside, you have to get rid of them.

Kerry Diamond:
Exactly. Okay, Gaby. Speed round time.

Gaby Melian:
Okay. Ready.

Kerry Diamond:
Coffee or tea.

Gaby Melian:
Matte, which is a tea.

Kerry Diamond:
Treasured cookbook.

Gaby Melian:
I always say my favorite is Joy of Cooking because it was my first cooking book written in English. So I treasure that book. It's all stained and I still keep it.

Kerry Diamond:
Favorite kitchen tool.

Gaby Melian:
Spoon.

Kerry Diamond:
Any one in particular?

Gaby Melian:
My Kunz spoons, which I have six.

Kerry Diamond:
What kind of spoons are they?

Gaby Melian:
Like serving spoons, saucing spoons, soup spoons. I have a bowl full of spoons. I have a slotted spoon that I got from Chris Morocco, which I love. I should take a picture and send it to you.

Kerry Diamond:
Okay. Spoons for the win. Kitchen footwear.

Gaby Melian:
I lately have this special New Balance that are for standing up, because I have plantar fascitis and I've been having tremendous pain in my feet.

Kerry Diamond:
Oh, the kitchen is tough on chefs.

Gaby Melian:
Yeah. I've been witching and switching and switching. Actually, if anybody knows a better one, I try three different brands this summer and I'm having a lot of trouble with my feet. Yes.

Kerry Diamond:
Being a chef is tough on your body. That is for sure. A song that makes you smile.

Gaby Melian:
The content music for The Office. I love it.

Kerry Diamond:
That's funny. That probably makes a lot of people smile.

Gaby Melian:
When I was in the hospital, because we watch one episode every night. Everybody knows that. In the hospital, I will play it for him-

Kerry Diamond:
Oh.

Gaby Melian:
... when he was up. Yes. Because we watch one episode every night before we go to sleep.

Kerry Diamond:
Oldest thing in your fridge.

Gaby Melian:
An open jar of red peppers that I open before the end of the year. I was looking at it yesterday. I don't keep old things. Everybody knows me. I compost or throw out if it's old or open or smelly. So yeah, not too old.

Kerry Diamond:
Okay. Nothing old and smelly in the fridge.

Gaby Melian:
No. Nothing weird in this fridge.

Kerry Diamond:
Okay. Last pantry purchase.

Gaby Melian:
Pasta. I got this Sfoglini pasta that I love, and I bought like three boxes. That was the last thing I bought to have pasta.

Kerry Diamond:
Dream travel destination.

Gaby Melian:
Since I was eight, Greece.

Kerry Diamond:
And you haven't been yet?

Gaby Melian:
No.

Kerry Diamond:
You've been dreaming of this since you were eight years old, you need to make this happen.

Gaby Melian:
Never made it. Yes.

Kerry Diamond:
Last question, Gaby. If you were trapped on a desert island with one food celebrity, who would it be and why?

Gaby Melian:
I know. That's too hard. This is going to sound so weird, but I always wanted to like... Let me think. Oh my God. Does he have to be alive?

Kerry Diamond:
No. No.

Gaby Melian:
Oh, I know who. I know, because he'll know what to do with anything. Jacques Pepin. I will go with him.

Kerry Diamond:
I love that.

Gaby Melian:
Yes.

Kerry Diamond:
I love that.

Gaby Melian:
Yes.

Kerry Diamond:
He's such a great guy.

Gaby Melian:
Yes. I love him. I met him. Yes.

Kerry Diamond:
Why Jacques.

Gaby Melian:
So resourceful. So knowledgeable. He give him a piece of bark and he will make you stew. I have a lot of respect for him.

Kerry Diamond:
He's a resourceful guy.

Gaby Melian:
I will love to listen to so many stories, and I'm sure he has.

Kerry Diamond:
All his Julia Child stories. Everything.

Gaby Melian:
Yes. Yes. All the stories.

Kerry Diamond:
Yeah.

Gaby Melian:
It will keep us entertained until someone rescues us.

Kerry Diamond:
I love it. I love it. All right. Well, Gaby, I also love you. Thank you so much for coming back on the show and sharing more of your life. It's good to see you via video and good to hear you. Congratulations on the book.

Gaby Melian:
Thank you so much. I love you too, and I love Cherry Bombe. Thank you again for having me. I can't wait for everybody to read the book.

Kerry Diamond:
Wonderful. Well, you're the bombe, Gaby.

Gaby Melian:
Thank you.

Kerry Diamond:
That's it for today's show. Thank you so much to Gaby Melian for joining me. Be sure to check out Gaby's new book, Food-Related Stories, as well as her Instagram and her YouTube account. Thank you to Territory Foods for supporting today's show. Learn more at territoryfoods.com. Radio Cherry Bombe is a production of Cherry Bombe Magazine. Our theme song is by the band Tra La La. Thank you to Hassan Moore, studio engineer for Newsstand Studios. And thank you to our assistant producer, Jenna Sadhu. Thanks you for listening. You are the bombe.