Kiera Wright-Ruiz Transcript
Kerry Diamond:
Hi, everyone. You are listening to Radio Cherry Bombe, and I'm your host, Kerry Diamond, coming to you from Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center in the heart of New York City.
Today's guest is Kiera Wright-Ruiz, the delightful and intrepid author of “My (Half) Latinx Kitchen: Half Recipes, Half Stories, All Latin American.” Kiera joins me to talk about her debut cookbook, a deeply personal work that reflects the cultures in which she was born and raised. We also talk about Kiera's big decision to relocate to Tokyo during the pandemic. She's still there, by the way. Learn how she did it, why she did it, and what makes life a little easier in Japan compared to here in the U.S., things like $10 dentist appointments. How's that for an example? I loved catching up with Kiera. She is a special talent and I enjoyed getting to know her more as will you. Stay tuned for our chat.
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Speaking of Jubilee, it's taking place Saturday, April 12th in New York City. We have so many inspiring speakers for you, including Gloria Steinem, an absolute icon and personal hero of mine. Also, Chef Asma Khan, another hero of mine, all the way from London. Asma is a fierce advocate for women. You can learn about the other incredible creatives, chefs, writers, and trailblazers speaking at Jubilee over at cherrybombe.com. Tickets are on sale now and we would love to see you. If you're new to Jubilee, I'm hosting a special Jubilee pregame on Zoom along with our community director, Donna Yen. You all love Donna. We'll share everything you need to know about Jubilee, tips on networking, and more. We might even have a special guest or two. It's taking place Wednesday, April 2nd at 3:00 p.m. If you bought a ticket, check your inbox for the signup link. It's free to join, but for ticket holders only.
Now let's check in with today's guest. Kiera Wright-Ruiz, welcome to Radio Cherry Bombe.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Thank you so much for having me.
Kerry Diamond:
I love your first book.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Thank you so much.
Kerry Diamond:
Was that your actual first book? I feel like you have a few books.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
“I Want To Be Spaghetti” was your first book.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yep, my first child. Thank you so much.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, and now you have a fabulous new book that we're going to talk all about. I guess that's why you're in New York.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I am.
Kerry Diamond:
What brings you here?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Well, I took a flight from Tokyo and here I am. I'm actually based there, but I'm here to promote my new cookbook, “My (Half) Latinx Kitchen.” It just came out. It's a cookbook all about me being half Ecuadorian and how I've learned more about Latinx culture and how food has been the main vehicle in which I've done so.
Kerry Diamond:
So it's part memoir, part cookbook.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
And you worked on it for two and a half years. Did I read that? Well, actually I think you've been working on it for a lifetime.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
That's true. It's been like maybe since the day I was born. It was actually sold the same week I moved to Japan. So like the entire time I've lived there I've been thinking and working on this book, but maybe Tokyo is not the number one place I would choose to develop a Latin American recipe, but I made it work.
Kerry Diamond:
Clearly, you did. You have a whole cookbook dedicated to it. I remember us talking, was it during the pandemic and did I have like some crazy dream that we were going to have a Tokyo correspondent and it was going to be you?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
We were like discussing this. Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
God, I would have loved to make that happen.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah, well, you know it's never too late.
Kerry Diamond:
That is true, that's true. The pandemic turned everything upside down, like true. It's interesting when we do our speed round at the end, one of the questions is about dream travel destination and I think 99% of our guests say Tokyo or Japan. So tell us why you up and moved to Tokyo.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Tokyo, in my opinion, is just the best city. It was really hard not to want to drop everything and move there. The first time I went was in 2017. I was in tears leaving heading back to the airport and I was like, I need to make sure I move here. Like I can't not live here.
Kerry Diamond:
Why did you visit? Was it as a tourist?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Just as a tourist. Just for fun. For most of my life, I have felt like kind of out of place in the U.S., definitely being half Ecuadorian and half Korean. It's kind of hard. I didn't really see myself represented anywhere except for my brother who also is the same. But it was challenging growing up at different times and then around when I was like 15, 16 was the first time I went abroad I guess more formally and then I just realized, wow, there's like this whole other world of course outside of the U.S. This is so exciting and it just completely changed my life view and basically from then I just knew I wanted to live abroad. So for a long time, especially as an adult, it was kind of about what city I wanted to move to. And like as soon as I went to Japan I was like this is, it is everything needs to stop and I need to make this my number one priority.
Kerry Diamond:
So interesting when you go to a city and it just feels like home and you are not entirely sure why. I feel like that sometimes when I go to Paris. Yeah.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I mean, Paris is also wonderful, so totally makes sense.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, and Ireland a little bit and you have to wonder, you're like, am I feeling this way because this is my heritage or is the air different? What's making me feel this? Were you fluent in Japanese before you moved?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Oh, no. Or in Japanese. Basically as soon as I went afterwards I was like, well I should probably try to learn some Japanese. So for like a couple of years in the city until I moved, I was taking Japanese classes. Your life is surrounded in English and one to two times a week for two hours. Each class is kind of not enough. Duolingo can only get you so far.
Kerry Diamond:
Is that the app you recommend?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
No, actually my recommendation would be to go to a class. Duolingo, it's just a good intro to hear sounds but not more than that in my opinion. Yeah, when I first moved to Japan, actually I did already have a small base but five days a week and every class was four to five hours.
Kerry Diamond:
Damn.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Plus homework.
Kerry Diamond:
So that's 20 to 25 hours just of class time?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yes. And then homework and studying on top of that. Yeah, you can say it was a crash course for sure. Just jamming as much possible Japanese into my brain.
Kerry Diamond:
Were you heavily caffeinated? How did you stay awake?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Oh, yeah. It was interesting because like so many people in my class were not from the U.S., a lot of them were from different parts of Southeast Asia and I realized actually in many ways this kind of touches on the book as well. During breaks in class I would run to the Konbini to get like the biggest coffee I could and I was like, well yeah, like we're all studying like I'm exhausted and I would look around and I was the only person drinking like iced coffee and I was like, oh I'm definitely American. No one else is doing this. And I was like, okay, interesting.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, you can spot us in all different countries.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yep, exactly.
Kerry Diamond:
So you moved there, how did you think you would make a living or are you independently wealthy? Tell us.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Oh, I mean I surely wish I was a trust fund baby, you know? So if anyone would like to trust this baby to fund me, that would be great. I had worked in social media for a long time doing social media for different brands and publications. In 2020 when like everything was collapsing of course for everybody, I actually went freelance. Doing that allowed me to work remotely, which was really great. In 2020 is when I first got my book agent and when I started doing literary stuff, my picture book, my first one called “I Want to Be Spaghetti,” came out in summer of 2023.
Kerry Diamond:
The sweetest book.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Thank you. And then now this cookbook. So that's basically how I'm able to make ends meet there.
Kerry Diamond:
We'll be right back with today's guest. Hey listeners, if you are New York City this week, I have a fun event to invite you to. It's our Alex Mill Spring Fling at their Rockefeller Center shop happening this Thursday, March 27th, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Meet up with team Cherry Bombe and the cool folks from Alex Mill. Check out the Alex Mill Spring collection and enjoy bites and sips from Cherry Bombe faves like Ghia and Elbow Bread. You can register to win a $200 gift card from Alex Mill and two tickets to Jubilee. I'll be at the event and will be available for any personal shopping needs. Admission is free and all are welcome. RSVP at cherrybombe.com.
Are you finding you're getting assignments because you occupy this unique role, you're an American over in Japan?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I do get some assignments because I am there. I'm sort of happy that they're coming around now because in so many ways I still feel like I'm getting my bearings of just the landscape of Tokyo because it's so hard to even compare it to New York because it's just literally not New York. We're talking about a population of Tokyo of like 33 million people. That is a lot more than New York City.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah, we have about 8 million.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah, just not a fair comparison of like a one to one thing, but basically what that means from like a food perspective is that it's very, very dense and every day I'm discovering new places that are stacked upon each other. I always use this example of just within a 20-minute walking radius from my house, if I were in Brooklyn, maybe I would have like 10 places I would really, really love. Literally on my Google Maps right now where I live in Tokyo, I have over 200 saved. So we're just talking about like a different universe.
Kerry Diamond:
Amazing. And are you still doing social media work?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
A little bit, yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
For other brands. Yeah.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
So that's also been nice to be flexible with that as well.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh my god, we could talk about Japanese food forever, but you're loving it. You feel like you made the right decision?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
100%. Every day just is so exciting. If I'm not exploring Tokyo, just even like the quality of life stuff is like a lot nicer. Insurance for example is really different there and like a lot more affordable. I don't need to work full-time. They have nationalized health insurance, which is a huge change. It's just weird to go to the dentist and be like, oh, I only have to spend $10. It's just very different there. So I've been really enjoying it and it's just been really lovely and meeting new folks, getting to know lots of food people there and I actually have my first Tokyo restaurant pop-up coming up soon.
Kerry Diamond:
Wait, that's so cool. Tell everybody, when is that?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
That will happen on March 29th. I'll be actually cooking like a course dinner from the cookbook and that will be really fun. It's like my first time doing that, but then also just doing it in Japan feels like really special and like a kind of cool way to introduce folks there that might not have even heard of certain Latin American dishes to get to show them what it actually tastes like and stuff.
Kerry Diamond:
What's the location?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
It's going to be at a restaurant called Cafe RoJean in Shimokitazawa. So that's like a neighborhood that often is compared as the Williamsburg of Tokyo filled with lots of thrift shops and cool secondhand stores. But yeah, this restaurant is really lovely. It's owned by a brother and sister, they're half Japanese, half American and the whole restaurant is an homage to their grandmother from Kansas so they just serve tomato soup and grilled cheese and it really felt like a nice kind of way to tie in my book, which is so much about my family. Obviously not from Kansas, but still a really cool tie in that sort of compliments, especially in Tokyo.
Kerry Diamond:
When I worked for a French company it was hard making friends in Paris because the community was a little insular I found. But I made friends with a lot of expats, not French people. Has your experience been different?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
It's definitely very similar. A lot of my friends there are people from the U.S. or if they're Japanese, I'm not fluent in Japanese so unless they want to talk to me like a five-year-old, probably speaking English is a little bit easier. So yeah, I've met a lot of people there, but luckily Tokyo is such an international city. There's just so many different kinds of people that are there for different reasons and it's been like a cool way to get to know folks.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay, and how's your Japanese?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I would say like a confident five-year-old and in a true way a five-year-old can speak. It was enough to buy a car. So you know, turns out you don't need a very complicated Japanese to be like, I'll take the old cheap one please.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you go there with a partner or did you go by yourself?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yes, I went there with my husband and my dog.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay, and what's your dog's name?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Chopper.
Kerry Diamond:
And Chopper is a Shiba Inu, right?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
I love those dogs. Did you have Chopper before you went over?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah, I had him actually he's
Kerry Diamond:
How do you get a dog to Japan? That's got to be a whole thing.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
That's a whole other podcast.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you have an apartment or a house?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I actually have a house.
Kerry Diamond:
Wow.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
That's another big difference between here and Tokyo. I feel like there's a perception that it's very expensive, but compared to New York it's way, way, way more affordable.
Kerry Diamond:
So you have a house, a car, a dog, and a husband.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah, and I'm paying literally the cheapest I've ever paid for rent in my entire life.
Kerry Diamond:
And $10 dental bills.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
We're all moving to Japan with you. What's the house like and what's your kitchen like?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
The kitchen's great. Like one major thing about Japanese kitchens, well, one of them compared to us kitchens is there's no oven. Actually that was one of the biggest challenges about the book is what do I do if I don't have a western style oven? I did get like a microwave oven, which is the alternative. The only problem is it's like a much smaller space. One of the failed recipes that did not make it into the book was I was trying to develop a take of chocoflan, but instead the base was going to be tres leches, but literally it just meant that it could never circulate the hot air enough to actually bake the cake where it wasn't a gooey disaster. Yeah, that never made it beyond falling apart in my kitchen, but that's okay.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you have to have some friends test recipes here in the U.S. because of ingredients and things like that?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah, so like actually for part of the book process, I did come back to the U.S. to test because the book is sort of structured loosely chronologically following my life, beginning me as a child learning about Ecuadorian food and the end chapter is actually my life now in Tokyo and like how I view culture at large. And in between are chapters dedicated to key culinary figures in my life. So one's about my Ecuadorian grandpa, another one's about my Mexican step-grandma, another one's about my aunt. Actually in between there's a chapter also about my Cuban foster parents. During that process I really wanted to capture the actual recipes that I grew up with. So within my first year of living in Japan, I flew back to cook with my grandparents for like a week and my aunt for a week. During that time I also squeezed in a couple of oven recipes to make sure I could check the box.
Kerry Diamond:
I feel like you have a memoir in you eventually.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Oh, I mean maybe. Maybe a little break first and see where I'm at.
Kerry Diamond:
Sure. Can we talk about your tattoos for a second?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Because I'm sitting right across, I'm like two feet across from you and I'm dazzled. I mean I love that one with the little cherry that looks like a heart. What is that?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
It's a little flan topped with whipped cream and a cherry. I also recently got a shrimp cowboy.
Kerry Diamond:
That's cute. Wait, go back to the cherry flan though. Do you know the cherry looks like a heart?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I guess I never really thought about it that much, but you're right.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
And I enjoy it even more.
Kerry Diamond:
And your shrimp cowboy is adorable.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
I feel like he could be the subject of your next book.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yes. I call him my caballero camarone. So like shrimp gentleman.
Kerry Diamond:
I see more food. Do I see a pickle?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I have a “Very Hungry Caterpillar” tattoo that is the scene where the caterpillar eats a bunch of junk food and at the bottom it says "And that night he had a stomach ache."
Kerry Diamond:
That's a great series of tattoos. You've got a lollipop, a pickle, a slice of pie, the caterpillar. Very cool.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yes. And this is a Bento box from Totoro.
Kerry Diamond:
And what does it say on that side?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
It says "That boy ain't right," from King of the Hill. So yes, we're really representing multiple cultures here.
Kerry Diamond:
And that does not refer to your husband?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
No, it does not. It has to do with Hank Hill referring to his son.
Kerry Diamond:
All right. Tell us about “I Want Spaghetti” first because I feel like that gave us a little insight as to why you decided to do “My (Half) Latinx Kitchen.”
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah, “I Want To Be Spaghetti” is about an instant ramen packet who wants to become spaghetti, but realizes being ramen has been wonderful all along. Their whole world takes place in a grocery store and while they're just living on a shelf, they see a bunch of advertisements about spaghetti, they see that spaghetti aisle is really popular and they're wondering why are we not as popular? But it's just not a real narrative. So like a lot of other ramen packets are like, what are you talking about? And so once ramen is purchased, ramen gets to meet other ramen ingredients like narutomaki, chashu and just starts to embrace its ramen-ness and realizes that being ramen has been perfect all along.
Kerry Diamond:
And it's a children's book?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
It is. It's a picture book, yes. Illustrated by Claudia Lam. It was just a really wonderful way for me to kind of talk about sort of the hardships I faced as a child and honestly even as an adult working in companies facing discrimination. It's not a, oh, it all ended once I grew up. Definitely things continue to be hard in different ways and still do. I have this really vivid memory of when I was around like three or four years old looking in a mirror right at the peak of when like Britney Spears was popular and thinking to myself, I wish I had lighter skin, I wish I had blue eyes, I wish I had blonde hair because because that was the imagery that I was seeing of what beauty meant and I just couldn't look further from who obviously Britney Spears is.
But these sort of narratives are not things that are just inherently developed. They're often pushed upon us by society, which is why the spaghetti advertisements in the store was a very subtle but important message in the book. I believe in the book flap description, my editor, you know like when they give a little description of what the book is, my editor wrote it as spaghetti propaganda and I think that's like a perfect way to describe and capture what we're all experiencing all the time. Of course, luckily it being 2025, things that have definitely improved, we have such a long way to go still. So that book is all about self-acceptance, highlighting diversity, and just really trying to encourage children to love themselves at whoever they are right now.
Kerry Diamond:
That's beautiful, Kiera.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
I love that you wrote that book. It definitely feels a little bit like the prequel to your current book.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah, I guess so in a lot of ways.
Kerry Diamond:
How did that book come about? Was it like a lightning flash, you came up with a concept or did you work with an agent to develop it?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
For “My (Half) Latinx Kitchen,” I was working at New York Times doing social. I was thinking about food and stories of food and even before that I had been working in food in some capacity for a while. Just thinking about how food is reflective was something I was thinking a lot about. But it really bothered me looking along bookshelves that Latin American cuisine was just not represented. And if it is represented, even oftentimes now it feels like this precious thing that is done in such a traditional way. There's just very, very little representation of what being Latin American means.
Whether that means as a person on TV portrayals to movies, to books, but especially from a cookbook perspective too, this idea of oh, if I'm not standing in the kitchen with my abuelita with a wooden spoon and we're cooking on this clay pot, it's not Latin American food and it's just such a limited way to view culture and it was just something that really frustrated me because that's just not my experience. I am half Ecuadorian, I am a part of this culture and it just felt like there was an opportunity to kind of shed light that this is not what my story is. Hopefully showcases that stories like mine and all the other stories in between can exist.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you get any pushback on the title? I know you had to do it years ahead, but you know this, the term Latinx has come under fire over the past year or so.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah, I definitely got pushback for the title on a couple of different fronts.
Kerry Diamond:
From whom?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Actually lots of different people from different aspects, whether it was editors but also some feedback on social media because the term Latinx was actually created by the queer Latinx community in the early two thousands. It replaces the A and O of Latino or Latina, which are genderized ways how Spanish is literally built and it replaces it with an X to make it more gender-neutral. But to me like it does so much more than that because kind of going back to these portrayals of what being Latino and Latina mean, literally in the nineties if you just thought of who Latina is, I was like, that's not me at all.
So when I started to become familiar with the term Latinx, I just really saw myself in it because the X felt like it gave me so much room to define the experience for myself, which you know is something I've like really leaned into, not just for this title, but like literally for my identity. There is a common misconception that Latinx literally by the Latin American community in the U.S. that people think it was made by white people for this idea of erasing culture and it being imposed, but it's just literally not true. And like the other arguments around it are often just like truly grounded in like discrimination towards the LGBTQIA+ community. Know both of those, to me bad reasons to be against it. So I felt really strongly that I wanted to keep it in the title. I actually think it might be the first cookbook to use it in the title. So that's cool. I hope that others follow but beyond anything else, it's just something that like I truly identify with. So it just felt important to represent it.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, I'm glad you persisted with the title and I'm glad to hear it's a word that you found comfort in.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
I think it's so bold on your part and also folks like Zaynab Issa who has “Third Culture Cooking,” her book will be out in a little while. I'm just happy to see books like that that are kind of pushing not just culture forward, but the culinary world forward.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Thank you so much. I mean, I think oftentimes right now with food writing. Sometimes it's great that there are diverse stories even being told because before that wasn't even happening. So like okay, great, we've moved forward a little bit, but now I felt for a while we've kind of been stuck. We are limiting to ourselves of like what is a first-generation American story? Of course all of those stories and cookbooks are totally valid and like I don't want to discount those experiences, but when we just like... This is not just on the writer perspective, but like publishers and readers and society at large, if we limit ourselves to just stories like that, we're not even giving the chance for the other stories to exist.
And they already do, they're just not being told. I feel like in a lot of ways, like sometimes this idea of like, oh yeah, my family came over from blank country, we moved here and, oh, they love making this immigrant food, but like they had to actually replace it with like American cheese and isn't that crazy? And I'm like, okay, that was cool like maybe the first couple of times. But it's so limiting that kind of narrative, it reminds me a lot of like the lunchbox trope where it's like, oh you know, these are foods from my motherland and like it's so embarrassing because they smelled crazy when everyone had pizza slices or ham sandwiches next to me.
But to me that idea on both a typical first-generation story, it being applied all to everyone's experience, just like the lunchbox story is broken from the beginning. Because even with a lunchbox trope, me being half Asian, half Latinx, in theory someone might assume that was my experience, but like I didn't even have my parents cooking in the first place, literally from the beginning of the idea it's just not true. I just really wanted to challenge people with my book. A story can be so hyper-specific and it be valid in sheer space on a shelf with any other story. I hope that's something that people can take away from it.
Kerry Diamond:
We'll be right back with today's guest. Today's show is also presented by BEM Books, the online bookstore inspired by the food and culture of the African diaspora and founded by sisters Gabrielle and Danielle Davenport. Visit bembrooklyn.com to shop and learn more. They've got lots of books we love, including “For the Culture” by Klancy Miller and “Bodega Bakes” by Paola Velez. Be sure to sign up for their newsletter to stay on top of any events they're hosting and new releases they love. The BEM founders are official Cherry Bombe members. If you'd like to be an official Bombesquad member, visit cherrybombe.com for all the details and perks, like discounts on Jubilee tickets and invites to our monthly member meetings. We just had one the other day and Carla Lalli Music was our guest. The Bombesquad is an amazing community and we would love for you to be part of it.
Have you seen the book on shelves in bookstores yet?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I actually haven't because I've been-
Kerry Diamond:
Got to visit some bookstores.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I know, I got to go.
Kerry Diamond:
There's a great cookbook author tradition of taking your book off the shelf and like facing it out.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
That's true. I got to-
Kerry Diamond:
Rearranging the shelves.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Got to do some takeovers for sure.
Kerry Diamond:
See your benefit.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Because I've just been running around this week, I've gone to like a couple, but it was before the book was out so like of course it wasn't out yet. But maybe after this I'll run around.
Kerry Diamond:
If anyone sees Kiera's book in a bookstore and it's not facing out, take it out of the shelf and face it out for her.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Thank you so much.
Kerry Diamond:
But it's so exciting, like you're on bookshelves with Julia Child, with Ina Garten, all these people.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah, it will be like really crazy. It was picked as one of Amazon's best cookbooks this month, which was really awesome to see. And it was literally the next book after Alton Brown's. I literally started crying on the train and I was like, I can't believe it.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, did you grow up watching Alton Brown?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah. On Food Network like a lot of people do.
Kerry Diamond:
Before we talk about some specific recipes, how did your food life begin?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Oh man, great question. My food life? I mean, I definitely grew up with these Ecuadorian dishes, but also like a mix of different Latin American foods. Even though I'm half Korean, my mom was adopted from Korea so I did not grow up with Korean food in the traditional sense. She has some memories of candied anchovies and like rice cakes that occasionally she might pick up for us as little tiny snacks. I feel like people have this idea when I tell them my ethnicity, that literally there's a line in the middle of the table and they're like, well, this side is the Ecuadorian side and this one must be filled with Banchan. Well, no. Yeah, so I grew up with that but I also grew up partly in New York City. So to me, coming back on this trip, all I'm trying to do is eat Jewish deli food. I'm just searching for egg creams, trying to get my hot pastrami, eat my latkes because to me that is as nostalgic as a lot of this Ecuadorian food is for me as well. So that's really scratching my itch. And then-
Kerry Diamond:
The bagels are longer since you've been gone.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
It's been crazy. Yeah. But a good tuna melt really scratches the itch for me here. When I was in high school, I really wanted to become a chef. My high school, despite it being a terrible high school, had like special culinary program where like a local culinary school teacher actually taught. They worked us through this week we're all cutting onions a million times and next week we're doing julienne cuts of carrots. It was kind of a little baby version of what someone experiences in culinary school. That was like my first formal introduction into cooking and I was like, this is kind of too hardcore for me for like working at a restaurant. So it was actually really helpful to sort of realize that's not the exact direction I wanted to go. I knew I liked writing and went to school for journalism. So like basically from high school to now I knew I wanted to do food writing.
Kerry Diamond:
So let's talk about a few recipes. Which recipe would you say is the most personal?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I mean, they're all personal in so many ways, but definitely one of my most personal recipes is a tamale soup in the book. That recipe in particular was created by my grandmother while me and my brother were in foster care and they came to visit us one weekend and we were living in Miami at the time and just went to like a random Cuban restaurant. So it's based off of actually a traditional Cuban dish that does take ground corn and make it into a soup.
But since my step-grandma who's Mexican was like, you know, this kind of tastes like tamales. She sort of made it her own by like using Masa herina as the base. And in a lot of ways the flavor profile is very, very similar to regular tamales except there's a couple other twists. So you take some leftover pernil or roast pork shoulder, you fry it up so you add like a carnitas effect on top. You take some marinated lime and pickled onions on top so it adds a ton of like vivid neon fuchsia streamers and then give a shower of cilantro. So it's this really, really delicious, hearty stew. But it's a story that this recipe was so much born out of heartache as it was about resilience for my family.
Kerry Diamond:
Which recipe do you think is going to be the most popular?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I have no idea.
Kerry Diamond:
You know how that works. Something always bubbles up and takes over Instagram and TikTok.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I have no idea. I really love the pandan coconut flan. I also just like the idea of people making flan a lot. So that's my secret wish is that everyone just bust out their water baths and make some flan. So yeah, that's what my hope is.
Kerry Diamond:
I love flan so much. Any tips on making great flan?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Man, I've made so much flan for this cookbook.
Kerry Diamond:
You're flanned out.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah, I'm flanned out. There's no limit with flan. My tip is to not rush it. It's so much about making the protein rising the heat equally with the water bath if you like rush it too quickly or take it out too soon, either it won't fully set yet or you'll overcook it. So you kind of have to find that sweet spot, which of course is listed in the recipe of my cookbook, but also a lot of other recipes online as well. You just don't want to go too fast. And another part that's really great for flan is getting like that rich caramel sauce in the beginning. That's what gives it that distinct color with like the brown on top, but it adds so much depth to flavor for a good flan.
Kerry Diamond:
We have a recipe in the new issue of the magazine. We have your Mexican hot chocolate cookies.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
Because we were obsessed with the photo of the cookies. Where'd that recipe come from?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
That one was just because I was like, what if I made Mexican hot chocolate into a cookie form? So it wasn't crazy math there, but when I was in middle school, probably younger, like my grandma would make Mexican hot chocolate for us that was spiked with tons of cinnamon, tons of vanilla. She would often use like abuelita bars that you can get at grocery stores. You just literally toss it in. But has all the spices and things already in it. But I just remember making it and being like, this is so delicious. It feels like you did something special. But like you only added a few things. And especially if you use the tablet, you just like literally throw it in with milk.
But when I was like 12, that was one of the first things I started making for it with my family. And I like would put marshmallows on top and roast them in the oven. So it looked fancier to me. It felt so elevated and like I kind of just wanted to capture the spirit and the excitement I felt for that recipe. But also Mexican hot chocolate is just very delicious. This cookie is sort of like that version of that memory in those flavors, but in a soft tender cookie sprinkled with a little bit of salt of course.
Kerry Diamond:
A few questions before we get to the speed round. Are you good at trusting your gut?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I don't know. Sometimes, but also it depends how loud the voice is in my head. Which one's louder? Which one's screaming at me is the one I'll listen to sometimes more, which can get me into trouble.
Kerry Diamond:
And do you have a motto or a mantra?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Oh, good question. I feel like it's so cheesy but I have to remind myself that everything will be okay because so far in my life, even if things feel so out of control and spiraling, eventually they were okay. I guess that's not always the case historically. Also, one could argue eventually it was okay. So I try to think about that a lot because it's a way to help alleviate any anxiety sometimes because often they're like a little bit more exaggerated in my head. So it is helpful to as like a little reality check.
Kerry Diamond:
You still seem very much an optimist.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Oh yeah, thank you. You got me on a good day.
Kerry Diamond:
Is everyone telling you that they want to move to Tokyo?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
They're saying that and they're saying can't wait. This is when I'm coming to Tokyo. So that's the other big part right now.
Kerry Diamond:
I forgot to ask you, did you have to get a visa to move there? Because lots of us are thinking like what country would I need a visa to go to?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah, you do need a visa.
Kerry Diamond:
Was it hard to get?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah, it's definitely complicated. Japan loves paperwork. So it's so dependent on like someone's situation and what they want to do. But yeah, so it took a lot of research but we were able to figure it out.
Kerry Diamond:
All right, let's do a speed round.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
What beverage do you start your morning with?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
There's this green powder that's ground wheatgrass that I buy in bulk in Japan and I put it in water because then it forces me to drink water. That's my real answer. But when it's cold and I want something cozy, probably like Cafe de Olla. Cafe de Olla is a Mexican coffee that's spiced with a variety of things. But the way I like to do it is with cinnamon, allspice, berries, anise, and cloves. It's really cozy, it's really warm. It's just like a lovely way to start the morning. So if I am not trying to drink wheatgrass water, I will drink that.
Kerry Diamond:
What's always in your fridge?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Frozen cookie dough.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, you're my kind of girl.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah, definitely now too because I think since I've left the U.S. there's these certain comforts I need and just knowing that there's always a fresh baked cookie just 10 minutes away is just so comforting and grounding for me. Especially there when the cookies in Japan, they're not American cookies, they're like weird to me, not soft and tender. They're like just big for the sake of it being big. But I want that classic Mrs. Fields experience with cookies, so it's nice to have that sort of comfort around.
Kerry Diamond:
What was your favorite food as a child?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I actually love the Seco. It's an Ecuadorian stew. I have one recipe in my book, Seco de Pollo specifically. Lots of different ways to make it, but I just always grew up with the chicken one because it was just easier for my family to make. You blend sofrito in like a blender. You brown the chicken, so you help build the layers of flavors for this stew that slowly cooks. Then you saute the sofrito and you add tomatoes, you add the chicken back in and you add beer. It becomes this very flavorful stew. You let the liquid evaporate, the sofrito becomes really visible on the top. Seco actually means dry in Spanish, but this dish is literally just nothing but the opposite. Often it's served on like a plate, not in like a bowl individually, but a plate alongside rice, avocado, and plantains. And it was just something I always craved when I was a kid. And now too.
Kerry Diamond:
What's your favorite snack food today?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Tuna mayo onigiri. If I had a penny for every onigiri I have eaten, I would have many. It's just like the default. If I'm getting a little hungry, I just pop into a Konbini really quick and grab one. So definitely that one.
Kerry Diamond:
You're in everybody's dream travel destination, Tokyo. What's your dream travel destination?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I really right now want to go to Vietnam, crazy bad. All I want to do is drink coconut coffees and eat rice noodles and have unlimited amounts of banh mi. So that's where I'm itching to go.
Kerry Diamond:
My favorite food is Vietnamese food.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Ooh, nice.
Kerry Diamond:
What are you streaming right now?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I'm watching this Japanese show called “Solitary Gourmand” and it's about this salary man who just goes on wonderful extravagant self-care lunches and sometimes dinners, but they're all based off of real places in Tokyo. So it's a great way to learn more about the food dining experience there, but then also for me to practice my Japanese because it's the perfect level for me.
Kerry Diamond:
Self-care lunches.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
I think we need to delve into that a little bit more. Now that you are a newly minted cookbook queen, what's a treasured cookbook that you own?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
I love Marcella Hazan's “Essentials of Italian Cooking.” I just think the fact that there's a chapter that tells you the best pasta with the best sauce pairing and based on whether it's dry pasta or fresh pasta is like mind-blowing to me. It's something like I cook with all the time. It's just such a comfort, but also so exciting to go back to.
Kerry Diamond:
All right. And if you had to be trapped on a desert island with one food celebrity, who would it be and why?
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Anthony Bourdain, just because you would need someone that could actually cook to survive on a desert island. But I feel like the stories, the conversation would be really lovely as well.
Kerry Diamond:
Absolutely. I'm sure it would be.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
All right, Kiera, very proud of you. Congratulations.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
On this beautiful project.
Kiera Wright-Ruiz:
Thank you so much for having me.
Kerry Diamond:
That's it for today's show. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out past shows with superstars like Ina Garten and Caroline Chambers. You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Our theme song is by the band Tralala. Joseph Hazan is the studio engineer at Newsstand Studios. Our producers are Catherine Baker and Jenna Sadhu, and our editorial coordinator is Sophie Kies. Thanks for listening everybody. You are the Bombe.