Home Cooking – “Happy Tangsgiving!” (with Camila Cabello)

Hosts: Samin Nosrat & Hrishikesh Hirway
Guest: Camila Cabello
Air Date: November 16, 2021

Overview

This lively Thanksgiving episode reunites Samin and Hrishi as they tackle holiday cooking dilemmas, invite international pop star Camila Cabello to the table, and—as always—fill the kitchen with warmth, laughter, and practical wisdom. The duo fields listener questions about bringing more excitement to Thanksgiving spreads, vegan and vegetarian dinner options, the essentiality of acid, knife recommendations, and ways to use up those extra green onions. Amidst the advice, there’s a running thread of playful teasing and endearing confessionals, making the episode both useful and deeply entertaining.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Best Things the Hosts Have Eaten Lately

• Samin’s Take: Carmelo’s Sonoran-style flour tortillas from Kansas. She ordered them by mail and extols their “diaphanous”—delicate and see-through—quality, suggesting everything from quesadillas to simple butter & cinnamon options.

  “They are so good. Papery thin, like diaphanous. You can see through them if you hold them up to the light.” (Samin, 01:29)

• Hrishi’s Cooking Adventure: Hrishi recounts his attempt at vegan sweet potato coconut biscuits (from Bryant Terry’s “Black Food”), helped and heckled by Samin. He admits to overhydrating the dough, learning the importance of a practice run before big meals.

  “The lesson here is actually, you didn’t even tell me how it turned out.” (Samin, 05:44)
  “For things like this that are going to be a new recipe for a big, important meal, it’s great to do a practice run through.” (Samin, 06:22)

2. Making Thanksgiving Less Boring: Texture & Crunch (07:13)

• Listener Q: How to add texture and crunch to the typically soft and brown Thanksgiving table?
• Samin’s Solution: She developed recipes for the NYT to add “crunch, flavor, and excitement.” Her favorite trick:
  • Fried Shallot & Herb Breadcrumb Mix: Learned from chef Nite Yun, fry shallots in cold oil gradually, yielding crisp shallots and aromatic oil. Then, fry breadcrumbs, add crunchy fried herbs like sage and rosemary, finish with fresh herbs for a bowl of “dry, crunchy, crispy, golden, magical” stuff.
  • Applications: Use as a topping for casseroles, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, eggs, or even just eat by hand.

  “[It’s] this, like, shalloty, crunchy, light, herby perfection... I have been eating it by the handful, secretly at night.” (Samin, 10:21)

• Notable Quote:

  “There have been studies that have been written that show that...people derive pleasure from variability. And variability comes from contrast in texture and temperature, in flavor, in taste.” (Samin, 08:11)

3. The Science and Joy of “Krumkroom” (12:26)

• Hrishi’s Story: His dad adds “shave” (fried chickpea flour snack) to tamarind rice for “krumkroom” (onomatopoeic for “crunch”)—demonstrating the key role of texture in elevating food.

  “The tamarind rice is delicious, but it is kind of homogenous in its texture. And like you said, the brain craves variety. And so you put a little shave on the tamarind rice, and you get this extra hit of saltiness and flavor and spice, but also the texture of krumkrum.” (Hrishi, 12:59)

• Samin: “I need to write krumkroom in my article now.”

4. What to Do with a Surplus of Green Onions? (14:45)

• Listener Q: Leigh has too many green onions—what to do?
• Samin’s Suggestion: Inspired by Catalan tradition, grill them (like calçots), and serve with a peppery, nutty romesco sauce (bread, peppers, nuts—often hazelnuts, though substituting with peanuts is fine).
  • “You could even grill your bread if you didn’t want to fry it...the sauce is going to be delicious on your turkey and your vegetables as well.” (Samin, 15:10)
• Romesco's Value: Introduces crunch, acid, and excitement—breaking up the monotony of the Thanksgiving table.

5. Acidity Beyond Cranberry Sauce (16:37)

• Listener Q: Sonia loves “vinegary and lemony” foods—how to bring more acid to Thanksgiving beyond cranberry?
• Samin’s Extensive Tips:
  • Always serve a bright, crunchy salad—use a high-acid vinaigrette (citrus + vinegar).
  • When making gravy, add a fresh splash of wine at the end to “perk it back up.”
  • Use sourdough bread or wine-soaked dried fruits in stuffing.
  • For creamy dishes like mashed potatoes: Opt for sour cream, crème fraîche, or yogurt instead of butter (“cultured dairy”).
  • Toss roasted veggies in a vinaigrette or make Italian/Venetian “agrodolce” (onions, pine nuts, vinegar, currants).

  “You can make a really light and vibrant vinaigrette for your salad. Make a pretty high acid vinaigrette, maybe with layer…your acids: do like a citrus and a vinegar.” (Samin, 17:01)

• Playful Banter:

  “None of this uncultured dairy.” (Hrishi & Samin, 18:47)

6. Knives: The Only Three You Really Need (22:14)

• Listener Q: Essential knives for home cooks?
• Samin’s Top Three:
  1. Chef’s Knife (big, not serrated, ~8-10 inches): For almost everything.
  2. Serrated Bread Knife (12-14 inches): For bread, tomatoes, tender cakes.
  3. Paring Knife (“bird’s beak” is her favorite): Great for small or precise tasks.
  • Splurge: Boning knife for meat-eaters.
• Samin’s Wisdom: It’s less about money or prestige; thrift-store cheap knives can be cherished treasures if maintained.

  “A lot of the best cooks who I’ve known in my career are not the kind of people who spend a gajillion dollars on their knives. They take care of the knives that they have, but they don’t have the most expensive knives in the world.” (Samin, 25:12)

7. Camila Cabello Calls In: Vegan Thanksgiving Options (27:07)

• Starstruck: Camila is clearly a genuine fan—enthusiastic and nervous to speak with her “idols.”

  “I talk so much about you guys to my friends. You guys are my idols.” (Camila, 28:43)

• Her Dilemma: What are vegan/vegetarian main dishes that both vegans and nonvegans will love? Needs (a) something not too hard to cook solo, and (b) accessible in Miami.
• Rishi’s Suggestion: Inspired by his vegan wife’s family—a veganized version of the “stuffed eggplant with lamb and pine nuts” from Ottolenghi’s “Jerusalem,” substituting Beyond Burger for the lamb.
  • Tip: Don’t skimp on “warming spices”—cumin, cinnamon, etc.—to make plant-based meats feel rich and craveable.

  “I think the key to plant based meat alternatives is definitely the seasoning.” (Hrishi & Camila, 30:51)

• Other Vegan Mains:
  • Vegan mac and cheese or lasagna (cashew milk béchamel, nutritional yeast).
  • Stuffed honey nut or butternut squash (breadcrumbs, pine nuts, herbs).
  • Black bean and mushroom chili.
  • Stuffed mushrooms.
• Notable Moment: Hrishi’s “Cuban the squash” pun, which Samin groans at before Camila gets the joke. (33:53-34:04)

8. Thanksgiving Desserts: Mango Pie & Homemade Cool Whip (34:21)

• Rishi challenges Samin: Will she make his family’s signature mango pie?
• Samin’s Upgrades: Homemade crust, homemade Cool Whip (“stepping up my game”). Rishi prefers the no-frills version with premade graham cracker crust and tub Cool Whip, as per his mom.

  “Someday you’re gonna come here for Thanksgiving and I will make you the real mango pie, not your bougie cultured mango pie from The New York Times.” (Hrishi, 35:13)

9. Banter, Merch, and In-Jokes

• A new batch of Home Cooking merchandise (shirts, tote bags, etc.) is announced, complete with inside jokes (“Shrimp Jenga Forever” becomes “Shrimp Jungle Forever” for legal reasons).
• Ongoing riffs between the hosts on each other’s culinary righteousness and open mocking about who’s really providing the emotional labor in the kitchen.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On variability:

  “…People derive pleasure from variability…you’re just eating, like, sweet thing after sweet thing, after soft thing after brown thing…” (Samin, 08:11)

• On fried shallot mixture:

  “I have been eating it by the handful, secretly at night. Like, it’s so delicious and exciting.” (Samin, 10:21)

• On krumkroom (crunch):

  “The onomatopoeia of krumkrum was enough.” (Hrishi, 12:58)

• On knife acquisition:

  “My favorite knife was $6. I got it at the thrift store, and it has a broken handle. And I’ve still used it just as is.” (Samin, 24:59)

• Camila’s fangirl moment:

  “You guys are my idols… I feel like I know you without knowing you.” (Camila, 28:55)

• Pun Off:

  “If you cut (the squash) so it’s like perfectly square on all sides…so then that way the squash is, you know, your Cuban. The squash.” (Hrishi, 33:53)
  (Samin: “Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.”)

• Show’s enduring value:

  “It was really bananas how quickly and how many of you submitted questions and voicemails and just responded.” (Samin, 39:08)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Best things eaten / Biscuits story: 01:21 – 06:55
• Making Thanksgiving less boring (crispy shallot/crumb topping): 07:13 – 13:35
• Hrishi’s “krumkroom” story: 11:38 – 13:26
• Green onion ideas / Romesco sauce: 13:44 – 16:30
• Adding acid to Thanksgiving: 16:37 – 19:53
• Knife essentials: 22:14 – 27:02
• Camila Cabello vegan Thanksgiving question: 27:07 – 34:12
• Mango pie & dessert banter: 34:21 – 35:29

Suggested Recipes & Takeaways

• Bread & herb topping: Fried shallots + breadcrumbs + herbs; sprinkle everywhere.
• Romesco sauce: Grilled green onions or scallions with nutty, tangy romesco for variety.
• High-acid vinaigrette salad: Offset Thanksgiving heaviness with fresh, sour greens.
• Vegan mains: Stuffed eggplants/squash, mac & cheese, chili, mushrooms—don't forget robust seasoning and nutritional yeast for that “cheesy” flavor.
• Three knives: Chef’s, serrated bread, and paring knife—no fancy sets required.

Final Thoughts

“Happy Tangsgiving!” is an effervescent mix of food nerdery, culinary encouragement, audience Q&A, and the sort of running, affectionate banter that’s made Home Cooking a quarantine-era staple. Even with the burst of pop star energy from Camila Cabello, the episode never loses its homey, welcoming vibe—one that reassures: whether you burn your biscuits or cube your squash, you’re in good company.

For recipes, transcripts, and more, visit homecooking.show.