Padma Lakshmi Does Standup: Extended Cut

but we also want to hear from your kids and maybe grandkids about their adventures in food.

So please record your kids talking about eating new foods. To share your kids story, please leave us a voice mail at 617-249-3167-617-249-3167 or send a voice memo to [email protected]. [Music] On Christopher Kimball in this is a special episode of Milk Street Radio. Today it's an extended cut of my latest interview with Padma Lakshmi. Padma does it all. She has a new book,

Padma's All-American, she's the creator of the new culinary competition series, America's Culinary Cup, and every now and again she does stand up comedy. Padma, welcome back to Milk Street. Thank you. I'm glad to be here again. I've read a lot since our last chat about what you're doing now and there seems to be

“and I think you've said this yourself sort of a changing view of who you are.”

Comedy and new show. So what is this new version of yourself or is it a new version? It's just another part of yourself you want to explore. I don't think it's a new version of myself.

I think I'm who I've always been. Perhaps it's just an evolution in the public facing version of

myself. Sometimes when we're young and I don't want to generalize but I can say it was true for me. I, you know, thought against what the perception of me was or what people wanted me to be or I thought to be what people wanted me to be as well. You know, there was modeling or acting or writing, all of this things together made up my living and I didn't really have any choice in the matter for a long time. I think I was struggling to come out from under that. I think I had a lot of

imposter syndrome for many years, you know, seven, eight years of doing top chef. I really

felt at a disadvantage and then at some point I just decided I was going to be okay with me

even if anybody else wasn't and if, you know, I was a walking contradiction then so be it. You know, well, yeah, I would say being a host of a cooking show for 17 years in the doing stand-up comedy is a pretty, you know, let me just, well, I'll get to that later, but I just imagine doing stand-up is people who do it often comment it's one of the most frightening things in the world to do. Oh, yeah, I mean, it's excruciating and exhilarating but mostly excruciating and sometimes

“exhilarating. Yeah, I mean, I think after so many years on top chef, I think I was a little burnt”

out and so I really just wanted something to shake me up intellectually, something to jolt my creativity and challenge me in a way that I hadn't been challenged before and so, you know, I'd been leading up to the comedy stuff for a few years starting out which is hosting a show live show here twice a year for charity in Brooklyn and it just sort of ballooned from that. I wouldn't call myself a stand-up comedian, I think this is something that I'm just dipping my toe into.

The terror of the audience, I did a stage thing for years so, and what I remember is backstage right before I went on. Sometimes there was a burbling and a bubbling and the audience was really excited. You just knew you were going to have a good outing and then once in a while, the audience was definitely quite before you went out and you just knew that either it was going to be a complete disaster or you would have to just work here whatever off to bring them around. But it's that uncontrollable

audience, right? This beast that sometimes is for you and sometimes is not, but I think that's the for me, that was the fear factor, what's the audience going to do? Yeah, I mean, silence can be

“very frightening. You have to be okay with the silence and that can be really unnerving because you”

don't know, are you penetrating? Do they like it? Are they focused? Are you bombing? And you're thinking all of those things while trying to be in the moment when you shouldn't be thinking about all those things. So it's very exciting to say the least. But when it's a good outing, it's a great outing, right? Yeah, and I think you learn, you know, you learn from all of your experiences. I mean,

years ago, you were on a live variety show in Italy called Dominican Inn. Yes. That was a crazy show.

“I mean, you said the Italian analogue for the day show didn't look anything like the”

day show to me. People were dancing, doing also some nutty things, and the quote is, "Locked Me's job was to play a caricature foreigner, exotic and fun-loving, who's not quite fluent grasp of the Italian language was exaggerated for laughs. So when did you learn to speak Italian?" In Italy, I mean, I had a semester of Spanish under my belt and then I started modeling. I went to Europe, I lived between Milan and Paris, and in sort of four or five

years of being there, I learned to speak Italian quite well. So it wasn't that exaggerated, it wasn't that much of a caricature to be honest. I, you know, I did speak Italian in a kind of irregular way. I learned from the cap drivers, you know, and I had a little segment in the show that, you know, was sponsored by an encyclopedia company, and it was on Sundays, and so we had a lot of school children right to us, and so I would pick a name out of a fishbowl, and I would call

them, and they would have to guess the meaning of a very difficult word, and I would also guess, it was sort of like match game. They could either disagree or agree with me, and if they won, they got a whole set of reference books for their school's library, and the show was on from

two to eight PM with no five second tape delay. But, you know, everything I used today, I learned

on that set in Rome, because it was live, because you had to think on your feet, and I still use a lot of what I learned from that experience in television today. It was a great, great training ground. Yeah, I was going to say that being a host of top chef would be much easier than doing what you did in a long, long, long Italian today show format, which was very loose. So, when you host the top chef for all those seasons, what's the job? I mean, a lot of it is just being a traffic cop.

A lot of it is keeping things moving, making sure you get opinions from every judge on the panel. A lot of it is just being a good host, like you would have to dinner party, make sure the food come down at the right time, make sure everybody meets everybody, everybody gets to talk,

“you know, all of that stuff, and it was grueling. I mean, the biggest thing you need to be the host of”

top chef is endurance, and an ironclad digestive system. You're listening to a special episode of Military Radio with Pot and Miloxby coming up the secret to being a great judge on top chef will be right back. This is most straight radio. Now let's get back to my interview with Pot Miloxby. So, when you have the judges, the best possible type of comment from a judge would be what? Are you

looking for anxiety, looking for humor? Are you looking for personality and something warm? Sort of originates from who's a good judge and not. The best judge is somebody who knows their profession well is season, but can also speak about it in a descriptive and informative way,

“because honestly, it's a miracle that our show top chef has been successful for so long because”

you can't taste the food, right? You're really relying on Tom Gail and myself and whoever those guest judges are to tell you what the experience of eating that food is like. So first and foremost, you want, you know, you want to have judges who can describe what they're eating in language that

is evocative. And then you want their criticism always to be constructive. You know,

the comments that I don't like are when, or I, you know, don't give me much to work with. I should say, or when people say, "Oh, that, that wasn't good. I don't like it." That doesn't tell me anything. All it tells me is that, you know, this person made something that failed for you, but doesn't tell me how and doesn't tell me why they're not going to move forward or doesn't tell the chef how they can make it better. I mean, if you really are passionate about your work, whatever it is,

you want feedback. And you want that feedback to be honest and constructive so that the next plate of food you make can benefit from it and your work gets better. And so if that person has

concise, informative, and descriptive. Yeah, I did once on Rachel Ray, I did a, there was a cooking

“competition that I was the judge of. And it was really hard because you had three people,”

very different personalities. I mean, the cooks, home cooks. And you feel like you're taking their life in your hands, you know, a little bit. Yeah. And I didn't think I would be. I thought it would be sort of cut and dry and I could just go, oh, this is definitely the best dish. But it wasn't just about the dish. It was sort of about the people and it was more of a people thing that I thought it was. Yeah, it is because, you know, any creative endeavor comes out of who you are

inside and what you're thinking about or your personal history or your experiences. And so it is

so subjective and personality dependent that you can't not factor that in. You said, you came here when you were very young. You went back to India a few years later. Yeah. But that there's a little quote, I just want to read. We lived in a seaside town with my uncle and aunt and all my cousins in the same house. There were eight or ten of us at a two bedroom flat. And I remember being very

“happy. Well, I mean, yes, I think I was happy because there were a lot of people there, you know,”

not in spite of it. I mean, the way I lived was not uncommon for middle class Indians at the time. I mean, we all lived in multi-generational households. But, you know, what I, what I may not have had in material possessions, I had as far as input and influence and love and care and, you know, I just felt part of something and I didn't feel lost. I felt like I was where I belong. I mean, I missed my mother who was in America, you know, but I have this very bifurcated childhood

where in America I was basically, you know, the child of a single parent who was a nurse and worked full-time. I was a latch key kid in the 70s and 80s. And in India, you know, we had no personal space, whatsoever. And I slept on the floor with my aunt and my grandparents bedroom. And we had no

privacy, but there was a lot of love, a lot of stimulation, always somebody to play with or fight

with, you know, I had a lot of cousins there. And I hung out in the kitchen and I was very joded on by my grandmother. I was the oldest grandchild and I didn't, I didn't feel like I was lacking in any way. You know, a lot of people have said one of the problems now in America at least is that lack of sensitive community and we're all, you know, nuclear families and, you know, people aren't sitting on their front steps at night and having a beer and talking, etc. So I can

understand why that would be incredibly satisfying because you knew you belonged. Is that something you're able to recapture somehow through your career or with your daughter or, or is that just something that was part of your childhood that's not ever going to come back? I do miss that. I mean, I tried to create that in my home in ways that I can, you know, I'm also single parent, but I have a very deep well of friends and family who live in New York and also in Connecticut.

And so I tried to create that for me and my daughter. The more you can enrich your child's life with different points of view from different generations from people who've had all different experiences, culturally and life experiences too, the more broad-minded, hopefully, that is the goal. That child will be the more exposure they'll have to, to different points of view, really. In your new book, Padmas All-American, you talk about going to the San Carlos Reservation

Arizona. And that's where you learn a lot about indigenous food ways. So there's a lot of discussion about what exactly constitutes American food. So how do you reconcile food ways that are native to a place and a culture versus, you know, the mishmash of cuisines that we see so commonly today? Can you hold those two things in your head at the same time? Absolutely. I hold them all in my head and it's about celebrating the indigenous food that existed and still

exists in this country, but also learning from it and then adding to it with all of the wonderful flavors and ingredients that generations of immigrants have brought to this country. And that also

“is our heritage now. That also is such an incredibly important part, not only of our food ways,”

but of the very tapestry of what our culture is. You know, both things can exist. All things can

We are all eating everything all the time. And I think that is really what makes American food so

“exciting. You know, I want everybody to cook Indian food and Chinese food and Jamaican food.”

I just want us to give credit where credit is due. That's all. I mean, how boring would life be if we all just stayed in our own cultural silos rather than exploring this wonderful vast world of flavor and ingredients that we're so lucky and, you know, to have an abundance. I'm Christopher Campbell. You're listening to an extended cut of my interview with Padma Lakshmi. After the break, Padma's new show, America's culinary cup.

This is Milk Street Radio. Now, here's the last part of my interview with Padma Lakshmi. So let's talk about America's culinary cup for a moment. So this is your new TV series, which is kind of an Oscar's of the food world, right? Yeah, but I read somewhere. It's a crew of

“350 people. Yeah, I'll tell. Really? We do a TV show with like eight people. I'm trying to”

figure out in my head what you do with 350 people. Well, we had to build everything from scratch and I wanted to custom design the kitchen. So it wasn't a television set, but an actual working high-end kitchen. It's a sound stage of some kind of... Yes, yes. And, you know, electricians, plumbers, fire safety people, engineers, carpenters, lighting techs, you know, all those people, the art department, it adds up. I mean, also I had a lot of fully formed opinions about how I

wanted to do things. And I'm very happy with the way that set came out. You know, it's, it looks nothing like any other TV show you've ever seen. How is it different? Well, most sets are rectangular, and this isn't. It's oval. It has a lot more curves to it. You know, there have been studies done that people feel happier and are more productive in an environment with more curves, like that's not just rectilinear. And I wanted something that was almost theater in the round,

or in the oval. And every decision we made was in order to support the shaft doing their best work.

“I think the ethos that I wanted to start with was different in that I'm not throwing obstacles”

at the shaft. You know, I just wanted to do things differently because I thought that my genre of competitive cooking needed a refresh. Just not only for the audience and the, you know, people at home, but for myself, I wanted to be stimulated again. I wanted to be challenged. I wanted to see what

I could do when I held the reins. And the winner gets a million dollars, is that right? Yes, yes.

The winner gets a million dollars. So you had no trouble finding contestants, I guess. No, well, that's the thing. You'd be surprised how many very, very well-known chefs, a million dollars brings out of the woodwork. You know, it's a lot of money. And so right away, it catapults everyone's game to a higher level. I will be watching the first episode intently. Yes, and please let me know. So I'm going to touch back and comedy again. So you get out on stage.

You said them laughing at something you said is like sex without touching.

Which I know is another great Padma quote. So just tell me about that first minute. So you

get out there, applause has stopped, then what? What's going through your head? Well, a lot of it is also, you know, there's got to be like a mini preamble still because as I said, I'm so new at it that I have to, you know, kind of say you guys are probably wondering why that lady from top chef is standing here, you know, trying to make you laugh. But usually nowadays, I mean, my material is mostly about very quotidian things like what is like to, you know, be a single mom and date at my age,

or, you know, a lot of it is about being an immigrant and how, you know, there's a real cultural divide or a communication lapse between generations as well. Can you give me an example of

that? Well, like a big one was, I was doing a guest spot at Second City here in Brooklyn and,

you know, the audience has to give you one word and that has to inspire a story from your life. And so they, you know, they said a couple things and they said puberty and I said, well, my daughter

wars and then I just tell them real stories from my life that are kind of absurd and, you know,

“my comedy is sort of nascent, as I said, but it's also liberating because I say things”

and my stand-up, I would never say, in a press interview or on social media or, you know, a

network cooking show because it's not being recorded and it's a pact that you make with the audience, like we're going to have an open conversation here and it's all going to be in the interest of making you laugh and it's just something I enjoy. It's not, you know, I wouldn't make more of it. Unfortunately, it was outed in the 7,000-word profile in New Yorker about it, but it was really

“something that was just sort of off to the side, you know, kind of low-fi hobby that I enjoyed”

doing that was just for me, not really for everybody. And now, you know, it's sort of blown up into

this thing that it really shouldn't be, you know, honest. It makes you even more interesting of that's possible. A lot of things. It's something you're particularly grateful for that's unexpected in your life. I mean, obviously, they're unfortunate, but it's just something small you're particularly grateful for. Yeah, I mean, I just like sharing things with people and I like listening to people's lives. I think maybe I'm just craving connection in a world that is more and more isolated,

but I like that human exchange. I like it, preferably live, and I think that's also why I like stand-up. You just, if you're willing to listen, if you're willing to scratch at the surface of someone's life, and hear what makes them who they are, you will be changed for it. Something will seep into yourself conscious and, you know, months or weeks later, I've like, oh yeah, that thing was

“said to me. And now I really understand it in a deeper way. I think that's what I'm trying to do,”

and that is what guides my career. I think that is the only compass I can point to. Paima, this has been not unexpectedly a fabulous conversation. Thank you. Pretty usual. Thanks so much for being on the show. Thank you so much. That was Pad Malach. Thanks for listening to the special extended interview. To hear all of our episodes, please head to motestreetradio.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can also find us on Facebook or Christopher Kimbles, motestreet, on Instagram at 177

Milk Street. We'll be back later this week with more food stories and thanks as always for listening.

Christopher Kimbles, Milk Street Radio, is produced by Milk Street, an association with GBH. Co-founder Melissa Baldina, executive producer, Annie Simseba, senior editor, Melissa Allison, senior producer, Sarah Clap, producer, Caroline Davis, assistant producer, Mari Arosco, additional editing by Sidney Lewis, audio mixing by Jay Allison at Atlantic Public Media in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, theme music by TubeBub crew, additional music by George

Bremel Agloff. Christopher Kimbles, Milk Street Radio, is distributed by P.R.X. From P.R.X.