Comida y Cultura with Chef Ariel Fox

a purge in your pantry. There's a lot more Mexican restaurants in New York, more Puerto Rican restaurants, So I think now that these restaurants are kind of popping up, there's definitely a lot more space for a lot and chefs. Happy Monday. If this is your first time listening to Cheeks and Chill podcast, welcome If you're one of my incredible subscribers, welcome back. I'm your host, cheek Ease, and today we're going to be talking about one of my

favorite topics food. We have the most amazing guest for you today, so let's hop right into this week's episode. This is Cheeky Ease and Chill. I'm really looking forward to today's show because if you know me, you know I love food. I've always loved food, and I love to cook as well. Many people don't know that, but I like to cook, as you guys know. I have a chickie keto book. It's called Cheese Ketto and it

is a book about keto. But when I started doing Keto lifestyle, I couldn't find any like you know, Like I'm Mexican, I want spice, I want flavor, you know. So I did it with my friend Sarah. I love cooking Mexican food. I love cooking American food. I'm really good at also like quote unquote diet food. But anyways, I think now is a good time to welcome our guest, chef Aerial Fox. You might know her from the hit

show Hell's Kitchen, hosted by chef Gordon Ramsey. She was a contestant on season six and came back on the show to compete in season eighteen, which she won. By the way, She's currently the regional vice president of culinary at Del Friscos and Dulls Caminos restaurants. She also has a new cookbook called Spice Kitchen, Healthy Latin and Caribbean Cuisine. Sounds interesting. I love that. Chef Ariel, Welcome to the show. How are you good? Good? Thank you for having me.

I'm excited to be here, okay, Ariel. So, like I said earlier, we are talking about like my one of my favorite subjects food, and I can't remember like when I was little at my grandma's house. I was raised by my grandma. There were always always like beans on the stove. The house always smells like yeah, with a little bit of pine sulk because my grandma, which is clean all day, but I would always smell the beans and that's what we would eat almost every single day.

It was like beans with potatoes, and there was always right some type of protein. So what are your earliest memories being in the kitchen? Well, I grew up with, you know, a couple of grandmothers, as a lot of us do, and I had my grandmother on my Latin side and my grandmother on my Irish and German side. It's funny because I have mixed memories very South American cuisine and then very European cuisine. But my grandmother on

my Irish and German side, it's really interesting. She started to dabble in a lot of ethnic foods as well, so it kind of all got intermingled. When I was

growing up. I mean, you know, we would go down and visit my father's family in Columbia, so I had very early memories of conk stew and everything was very sweet and spicy and very fattening in the in the Colombian Islands is actually from Andreas, so it's very kind of the Caribbean, and they had some East Indian background as well, So I mean I just grew up with like this intense variety of spices and flavors, and I think my mom sort of took pieces of all of

that and it was really cool because you know, I didn't realize how special it was growing up, but it was like the night of the week was a different cuisine. And you know, she will tell you she's a great cook and she's afraid to cook for me now, but my mom killed it. Every night of the week. It was like a different something from my background. And it was awesome because I got to kind of go around

the world. We had a Talian night, we had curry night, we had you know, we had everything, So it was amazing. That's so cool. Yeah, Like that's one thing like a lot of people would think my mom doesn't know or didn't know how to cook, but it's just like she really did, and she would She was the type of mom that would go into the kitchen or go into the refrigerator and find literally I felt like there was

nothing there. I was like, there's nothing I eat, you know, and she's like, of course there is, and she'd pull out all kinds of ship and she'd make something so delicious, and I'm like, oh damn, I guess there's just like you just gotta look and you have to use your imagination and all those all those things help me now because I wish I could cook a little more. I mean, I'm not chef like you, of course, but I'm like

I can hold my own. I have good saso and you know, but it's awesome because you have so many different backgrounds that it's just I think you can bring all of that when you're cooking. I think that's amazing. It's like I love Caribbean food two oh my god. Like I feel like it's very similar to Mexican. They love a lot of cards on their plates, right, and there's a lot of mix of like savory and sweet

like in the meal. So it's like you have to have It's funny because everyone talks about mommy now and I'm like, okay, well that was around like forever mommy was. That's there's like Latin mommy too, right, you have the spice, sweet, little savory, and then you had like all the different allspice and human and you know, all of those flavors together. So god, I just I love talking about food. I just me too, me too, which is why I'm like,

I'm so happy that you're here. I just started using human. Actually, my to go things are, of course, salt, pepper. I love garlic powder. You guys like, I feel like I use garlic powder on everything. I love onion. I think like those are for me, my basics. But I just started using like, I don't know, how do you pronounce it? Okay,

always say papa, but what is it the real? How do you really We just called paprika and you know, but but you could say it in the Spanish because there's Spanish smoked paprika, so it's you know, either way, it's fine. I haven't tried the smoked paprika. It's so yeah. A friend of mine just started users, like you have to use it. I can't remember what she was cooking. But anyways, acumen, you guys and Paprika are also really good. I'm trying to expand my sissoning and like my herbs,

so I'm getting better. I'm getting better at that. Um. So Arie'll tell us how old were you when you started cooking? Like, do you remember like the first time you cook something on your own? I was very young. I think my grandmother and my mother were very cool about letting me be in the kitchen. I think I was a mature kid, and I think I was responsible. I don't really remember the point when I like learned

how to use a knife. I think that they let me help, like in their way, you know, was stirring and needing if we were making some kind of dough. But I definitely remember my mom teaching, like you said, that kind of lesson of figuring out how to make something. Was very little in the house. I feel like we never had anything in the house, and so I would get home from school and I would be and my mom will should be so mad at me for saying that,

But it just felt like we didn't have anything. But we also just had very healthy things in the house. You didn't have a pantry full of like Doritos and whatever. Like my friends would all have these crazy snack a bowls and lunch a bowls and pizza pockets, and I would get home and I'd have like avocados and green beans and you know, just stuff. Oh my gosh. My mom was the same way. So I was like, this

is so unfair. We never have any food. My Mom's like, we have lots of food, just have to make something. So I would, you know, make myself like an avocado and sprouts and cucumber sandwich with like Chilian lime, and you know, I just learned at a young age how to kind of start throwing things together with fresh kind

of seasonal ingredients. And I didn't even realize that was, you know, valuable to learn at that wars And I'm sure like as a kids who were like, oh my mom is so boring, but now you think her, I'm sure if it wasn't for her, And that's how I feel as well. So like my mom was the same way. I did not have a fun pantry or anything fun

in the house, you know. And I was that kid that would pull out the lunch cell and I had like aburto wrapping like the wuminum foil, and I'm just like I was the only one, and all the kids had their lunchables and their little cute little juices, the ones that come what are they called the little packs, Yes,

the caprisa. And my mom would squeeze grapefruit juice for me, okay in the morning and put it in this little like thing that wasn't I think it was like a like water bottle, and she would just like drink the water and put it in there. My mom was so resourceful. She was like, you're not gonna be fat when you

grow up. And and that's why I have in my head, you know, because I think she grew up overweight and she wanted to always like instill in us, eat healthy, non fat milk all the time, egg whites, like all those things. That's funny that you mentioned that, because it's like totally took me back, and I'm like, oh my goodness, And now I thank her. I know, I'm thankful for it now because I'm able to embrace that healthy lifestyle and it's you know, it's so much easier for for

some people. And that's what part of writing the book is, you know, that's not an easy start for some people to clean up their lifestyle. They don't really know where to begin, and that was important for me to just kind of help. This is how you can start, you know, yeah for sure. And when did you find out you wanted to be a chef? Like when when was that? Like?

How old were you? I don't think I necessarily knew at the exact time, but I did work on an organic farm in Watsonville, California, when I was a nice school. It's a migrant Mexican town, a big farm working town, um where a lot of this country's produce comes from

that area in California. So it was really cool. I got to work on that farm and grow organic vegetables when they were like, you know, farm to table wasn't even a word yet, you know, people didn't really have that slogan, and that we used to sell all vegetables at the San Francisco Farmers Market to a lot of really famous chefs. And I think it definitely planted a

seed for me. I don't think. Um, you know, I was going to school for math and science and halfway through I told my mom, I'm like, so, yeah, I don't want to go to regular college. Anymore, I want to go to culinary school. Nice. I think I kissed my parents off pretty bad. I think it took about ten years at least after graduating culinary school for them to be like, oh, I guess this is this is gonna stays the thing. So yeah, And I think that happens a lot in our Latin culture. I mean, correct

me if I'm wrong. They want us to be doctors or they want us to go to school to be like like this like and it's great. But then when you do something like I want to be a makeup artist or I want to, you know, be a chef, They're just kind of like, well, I guess, so I want to say why, But then it's you've proven yourself, you said after ten years, they were like, oh, okay, she's great at it. It's working out. You were on that show on Hell's Kitchen, which that was freaking awesome,

by the way, thank you. How was that experience? I was wild, I mean the first time. I think I was a little young and a little shy. I definitely didn't push myself, you know, to the limit. But I always told myself, man, if they ever called me back, I am so walking in there and taking this thing and literally like ten years to the day from the first time, not to the day, but like to the It was like the same month they must feel, you know, cast and film in the same month, but it was

like ten years later. They said they were doing All Star seasons and I'm like, absolutely, I'm gonna gonna go in there and this time I'm gonna win it. And you did. That's awesome. That is so great. How is he actually? I was gonna ask you that too, m Ramsey. Is he cool? He's cool. He's he's definitely rough. He's very intimidating. When he's looking at you, it's like he's staring at your soul when he asks you a question. So it's very like, be honest, don't bullshit him if

you mess up in your mistakes. I mean, he doesn't really yell like that normal life, but he's intimidating. If he walks into a kitchen, you straighten up, you pay attention, and he definitely listen to what he tells you to do. He knows what he's doing. He's the real deal. He knows how to cook. Like you wouldn't believe I was gonna ask you because I'm sure this is my take on it or what I've noticed that there are. It's a very also like culinary culinary industry is very male dominated,

is that right? Absolutely? I mean my whole career, I've been the only female in the kitchen in pent of the time, and if there is another female, it's a pastry chef, which there's nothing wrong than I absolutely respect all of my fellow pastry chefs, all my girlfriends in the kitchen or pastry chefs. But I always told myself, I want to be a savory chef, a chef, and it's been a it's definitely been a male dominated industry.

Why do you think that is? I mean, because there are always women in the kitchen, especially us growing up. It's funny. I went to a French culinary school and one of the things they taught in food histories a lot of cultures when it came to chefs in hotels and kitchens. It was just like Japanese culture where they would not train women how to make sushi, where it was a privilege. It was the same in the cuisine

of France. It was like women weren't allowed in the kitchen, which is so funny because at home, it's predominantly women in the kitchen, so it's really interesting. It became sort of like this I don't know what the word is I'm looking for, but it was like, once it became industry or a money making situation, it was like, Okay, well we don't We're not going to train women how to do this. And it's like, wait a minute, we trained you how to do this exactly, you how to cook.

Have you ever walked into a kitchen and error? And do you feel like intimidated or anything like that? Have you ever felt that? Maybe my first six months, but after that it was like you either got to just you fake it till you make it, Like how many different metaphors fake it till you make it? Uh, sink or swim? You gotta like roll with the boys. I hate to say it that way, but I had to

had to show them. I'm sure I acted in ways that I if I'm looking back on it, I would say that it's unfortunate I had to be that way as a young woman in the industry just to be accepted. Looking back on and it's like, wow, that was kind of not cool, you know, Yeah, And did you ever feel like you wanted to quit, like you're like, not forget this, I'm not going to do this, or did you feel like this is what I want? Probably a million times, but I knew it's what I wanted. I

just I couldn't quit. But there were days where it was like what am I doing? Man? You know? Yeah, no, I feel you. I feel you because even in my industry, it's still like, you know, we're in the regional Mexican space, and I think all music it's very difficult for women to be accepted completely. You know, it's very male dominated. So it's just you have to have that fire within and say, Okay, I'm just gonna keep on trucking. I'm

gonna keep pressing forward. Um. And of course you just want to like throw in the towel, but thank goodness you don't, because it's right when you're like you want to give up, something happens and it's like boom, why when you almost give up? Right? Yeah, I think I got my first break. You know, people always say, oh, was it the show? I'm like, no, I am where I am today because I worked my butt off together. It was great, but that wasn't what propelled my career.

I remember getting my first real chef position, you know. From there, I just never really looked back, you know, and I had taken a couple steps sideways. I think one of the things that women really do well in whatever field is they know when it's appropriate to take a step down or take a step to the side in order to get to the next step. And I did it, and I finally realized when it was the last time, like now I'm only taking this position and up.

But I did, you know, I played it right and I made some good moves, and I think that was very a key was just knowing what moves to make in your career. And sometimes I took big pay cuts, but you know what, it paid off in other ways. And you know, twenty two years later, here we are. You know, I'm not I'm not a cocky person. I very hard on myself. Um, but it took until very recently to say I'm good at what I do and that I can you know, on the business side too,

you know, it's not just the chef side. There are a lot of different types of chef jobs, and more power to the chef that's working on the line every day and a small mom and pop place. That's if that's what their goal is and their dream. But I've always been kind of more on the big business side as well. That's a part that I definitely feel proud of that, you know, I know how to run this culinary business, this hospitality thing. That makes me so happy. It makes me proud, It makes me so proud. As

a fellow Latina. I just to be like, she's a woman, she's Latin, She's made it this far. You love what you do. And I'm sure there are many people or women that are listening to us out that also want to go to culinary school. Is it hard? It's culinary school hard, you know, I don't know how it is these days. I know when I went, it was tough. I mean I went to a two year program. It

wasn't like a easy, breezy uh. You see the ads all over for different trades now where it's like get out in six months and make this starting salary, and I'm just like, WHOA. I had to like go through food history and nutrition and all the courses, and you know, it was a full on thing. But it's funny because it's now twice as expensive and you get less schooling but I think the most important piece of advice i'd give anyone going into culinary school just tune out all

the I mean, now, it's tough. You got the Food Network, you got all these famous chefs. It's got to get you a little jaded on like not really wanting to put in the hard work right like I want to be I want to be that now. I want to get there now, And you just have to tune that stuff out because it's a process, even if you're a natural good cook, it's a process to get through this industry and you've gotta you gotta put in the time. Yeah, there you have it. Anyone that's listening that um wants

to follow in chef arials footsteps, just be patient. I think it's just be patient and just know they're gonna be moments that you're gonna be like if this all but look, we all go through it and it's always just I always say, this guy's keep your eyes focused on the light at the end of the tunnel. So talking about we already talked about women. Are there a lot of Latin even men as chefs? Have you met

more a lot more Latin chefs out there? Growing up in California, I think there was definitely a lot more Mexican chefs, not necessarily like at the top, but definitely working their way. Almost every Sux chef I ever worked with in California was Mexican. Most of the cooks for Mexican as well. I'm a little different on the East Coast. When I moved here. It's just a different Latin culture here,

a lot of Puerto Rican trade off. You know. I left the West Coast and it was you know, Salvadoran and Mexicans in the kitchen, and then here it was a lot of mostly Puerto Ricans and and some Patians, and but I think, I don't know. In New York anyway, there's definitely a lot more Latin male chefs for sure, still not that many women, There's a few. I think the space has opened up in general, a lot more Mexican restaurants in New York. There's a lot more Puerto

Rican restaurants. So I think now that these what I guess people would call niche restaurants, which is just funny to me because it's it's not a it's not a trend, it's just is there ethnics who it's been around a long time. Now that these restaurants are kind of popping up all over the place, I think there's definitely a lot more space for a lot and chefs, for sure. That's awesome. Do you feel like any pressure having to represent Latins are especially women? And then you know some

people are also, you know, not very kind. You know that I'm not a hunt of percent. You know, I have a very white mum, you know, with a very European background. It's always been tough to fit into either space for me because it's I'm not one thing and I'm not the other. But I feel comfortable in both, and I think that's okay. It's funny because I try to stand up for and represent Latin people in the food industry and sometimes I don't get received, which is unfortunate.

You got to just take it and stride and stay positive and continue doing what you're there to do. And everything I do is coming from a good place. I just hope that people know that. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean those people that make it hard, it's just you know, it's cool, It's all good. Like I try my best to be like, Okay, I'm just gonna breathe. There's obviously something wrong with you, not with me, but do you know keep doing me exactly. Okay, I have two questions.

So what are like some easy tips that you can give people to just make more of like healthy choices, like you know, things that people use every single day or the thing that you recommend. Yeah, I mean, I think the number one tip is if you're gonna make a decision to make a change, you really got to do a purge in your pantry because if it's not there, you can't use it. That's my number one rule. If it's not there, you can't eat it. There's definitely go

to ingredients. I mean, I'm big on only using natural sea salt and malayan salts, avocado oils, I use all different types of oils. I use olive oils for certain things, coconut oil, avocado oil, grape seed at oil. There's different oils for different things. Is your go to avocado? Yeah, I think. So. It's got a high smoke point, it works nicely all around for searing, you can use it for salad dressings, you can use it for a lot

of stuff. Okay, So it's super versatile. I think the salts, the fats and the sugars are the number one things that you want to start with. I know the flowers are important too, but if you can start there and then move on to the flowers, because the flowers can be a little tough to navigate, because coconut flour works very different than almond flower versus you know, arrow roots starts. So some were good for baking, some were good for breading. And I talked a lot about that and what to

use wear and in what substitutes. But I think, like I said, the salts, the oils, and the sugars are important. Coconut sugar is huge one for me. It's kind of an in between. I use monk fruit sugar along, Yes, the monk for sugar. You guys, I have no cane sugar in this house, so good you gotta purge. Yeah, if it's not there, you can't use it. That's my number one week. I think it's very important to just

make that decision, guys. You know, like when I've tried so many different I don't even like to call them diets anymore, but I tried so many different diets and keto was the thing, and it just becomes making that switch of it's a lifestyle change. I want to just be healthier. I want to feel better more than anything. Was like, I want to feel better, I want to have more energy. So I just did exactly what you said.

I purged. I was like, I am removing everything that I know is not good for me and try to find other things like instead of cane sugar, you know, the month fruit sugar, which I was introduced to that late, like maybe like glass ear barely and I really like it, you know, So just little things like that. But anyways, how do you feel about buying organic proteins poultry and organic fruits? I do you feel like it's absolutely necessary? Do you highly recommend that? I think that there are

some things that you really should stick to. I don't think it needs to be a let's be honest, A fully organic lifestyle is not cheap, right, right, So you kind of have to pick and choose what you're gonna do. I'm particularly strict when it comes to where my chicken comes from, only because I know the huge swing between what you're getting with a commodity bird versus a organic bird, and and what they're said, there are some things that I don't think are as important, but I would say

a lot of meats. I mean, I only grass fed beef. I work with regular beef in my staurant, so obviously I have to taste it. But when I'm at home, it's it's mostly grass fed. UM. If I'm eating pork products, I try to eat nitrate free um. You know, just no additives and just natural chickens. I know it sounds funny, but I'm a little less weird about fish because right now the whole farm raised industry has totally changed and there's a lot of actual quote unquote farm raised, and

it's almost like wild farm raised. They're building farms out in the ocean, so you're getting a much more natural product than the old school farm raised, which was in these weird pins like land locked salinated water. So farm raised is really kind of change. Where fish I'm I'm a little depends on what fish I'm getting back. I'm a little bit less crazy about that. As far as vegetables, for me, anything you're gonna eat raw, go organic. If you're gonna cook, it's at the end of the world. Okay,

you know, we grew up eating non organic food. We're gonna cook. It's it's gonna be fun and it's what you can have forward. If it's more about the type of ingredients that you can change when you can't afford a full organic lifestyle, I don't think that anyone should beat themselves up for that. You do what you can when you can. That's another wolf thumb for me. I love that. I absolutely love that because there are times when I'm like, Okay, I can go to I don't know,

whole foods right, and I'm like, and it's expensive. It does get expensive, So there's yeah, I cut back on other things that are not necessary to make sure I'm investing in in myself, which is the things that I'm eating here at home. So when I'm traveling, that's one thing where I'm like, Okay, I try my best not to have any chicken outside of the house. I'd rather do fish, because you know what you are cooking in your own home. You don't necessarily know what you're eating

in a in a restaurant exactly. Yeah, So that's just my only thing, but I want I was curious to see what you thought about organic because there are people there there don't believe in it, but I'm like, dude, it's out there. It's real. Yeah, So my other question was actually asked you probably five questions in one so I'm so sorry. But my other question, and I'm very curious to ask you this because I don't know. I feel like it's browned upon and certain chefs feel that way.

But I want to know what you can be honest. Sure, I'm the type of person that I don't measure. I have a sister who's really good at cooking, and she measures everything. I've never measured. I grew up watching my grandma cook and she never measured, even with the beans. Like sometimes I'm like, oh my, she would put all kinds of salt, like oh, that's gonna be salty, and it wasn't. It's like now I'm like, I find myself doing the same thing where I don't measure salt anything.

I just feel it in my heart. I swear to you, I like to feel it. And I'm like, okay, cool, I'm gonna stop you. Yeah, but do you what do you feel about that? Like? Should we measure? Is it better to measure? I don't measure when I'm cooking savory food. Okay, I almost never measure. Obviously, my recipes in a book are going to have measurements, which is hard, by the way, when you need to quantify things that you didn't actually measure for a very long time. I was like, oh,

I got this. Took a really long time to turn this into an actual recipe. But baking, you can't mess around with it. To measure in baking, it's just it will work. It just doesn't work if you don't measure in baking as far as I know. But every day cooking, like, no,

I don't measure anything. Yeah okay, yeah, because even when in my book I did, I added, of course, like for measuring, because there are a lot of people prefer to measure, which is totally fine with savory food, but for sure with baking, there's no way, like you said, like I have to like I don't even like to bake too much, to be honest, I let my sister do it. Yeah. Yeah, so okay. I was just curious because I was like, oh, no, you know there, I've

heard before. It's kind of like, no, that's not right. You have to measure in a certain amount of saults. And of course if you're watching you know, like cholesterol and all that stuff, and I would suggest, yes, measure, but I shouldn't say a disclaimer because, like my bosses are out there and the restaurants, we measure because obviously we have a standard we need to, you know, like a guest is coming to order that dish, they always get like it has to be the same. So like

there are measurements in the kitchen for prep recipes. I don't measure at home, is what. Okay, yeah, when you're cooking at home and stuff, But in the I mean we're it's a completely different thing. Yes, So now tell us a little about your book. Yes, so it's for me now in August, towards the end of August. Very exciting. You know, it's not one culture, it's a lot of different cultures. Again, I married my husband. He's Puerto Rican

and Ecuadorian. Now I've got this plathora of Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian influences to so we sort of take a journey through everywhere. There's some recipes in there for gatherings, There's some recipes in there for mornings on the go, entertaining. There's cocktails, some of my favorite desserts that I really had to talking about science. I really had to work hard on because I do love certain things like a

rum cake Jamaican rum cake or cake. And I wanted to not, you know, have to deprive myself of these things in my life because they're so good. Like whoever doesn't like I don't know seriously, I'm just saying, but like, I've found a recipe that works for me. Obviously I can't sit and need a whole trade of it. But there's a cepika is you know, at least seven to eight times healthier than you know, the original. Oh my god,

I'm excited. I love there's such just but yeah, it's I always think I'm like, it's not healthy, but oh my goodness, I know. Well you've got to be all the spurge and there's ways where you know, there's some things that are more healthy and there's some things that are Just like I said, you do what you can when you can. Every recipe in the book, I make a note there's a story about my life. There's an intro to every recipe that tells you where it came

from in my life. Some of these recipes are I make notes say you know how to sub in regular flower or how to subend regular butter um, so that you know it can be accessible to folks that aren't living that nutritional life style. That's freaking awesome. I love that you added for gatherings because that's I think one of my biggest things is that I can cook for one to or three people, but when people are coming over, I get overwhelmed. I don't know, I feel like I

forget everything. So that's awesome that you added that I don't. I haven't seen personally a cookbook that has that. You know, it's like, oh, for gatherings for parties, you have the cocktails, which is so awesome as well. You have one a coconut lime margharita, you guys, which I'm so excited try now. Okay, that's one coconut lime margharita and cake. I'm so excited for it because you know, I like, I'm not gonna lie. I like my cocktails, guys, So you guys know that.

So you have how many recipes? Are hundred? Right? Nice? Okay, Well, what's your favorite, like go to cocktail? You know, on a regular basis, I don't really drink mixed drinks. I did come up with the cocktails that are in the book because when I do want one, I want to help your version. But I'll be straight with you. I'm a Scotch drinker. I like whiskey and I like scotch, so that's my and they do it straight up, straight up while on a large I love it nice. Now

that's sexy. I love that. I'm like, I'm not gonna lie. That's but if I'm going to have a mixed drink some of my favorites through what I included. For sure you also have a Michila in there as well. Absolutely one of my favorite drinks when I'm on vacation. I'm excited, you guys. It's called Spice Kitchen, healthy Latin and Caribbean cuisine. You guys, I'm for sure gonna buy. I like to buy two of everything. Someone to buy two just in case one gets dirty, because you know, when you're cooking,

one gets dirty. So I'll just keep one where it looks pretty and the other one where I could just get dirty with my fingers. So love it. Yeah, well I'm cooking, so no, that's awesome. I'm very happy for you and I feel like we have a lot in common. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. And seriously, like we should throw a Latin food party sometime and cook some stuffs. Go. I would love that we should do it.

And if you could, just before you go and before I share my motivational one day quote you guys, can you share with us chef Arial like where people can find you? Social media, website, anything like that. Absolutely you can find me on Instagram chef Arial Fox or on Facebook chef Arel Fox. And uh you can buy Spice Kitchen pretty much anywhere books are sold. Pre Orders are on sale now, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, wherever you buy.

But love it. I'm a guys, I really am. I'm excited and you know I always share my motivational um quote with you guys every Monday, same thing. So here it is so the motivational Monday quote is one of the happiest moments in life, is when you find the courage to let go of what you can't change. So thank you so very much for listening. Like always, I'll be here every Monday. Los Amo again, Chef Ario, Thank you so much. I'm so grateful and I'm really looking

forward to your book. Do you need advice on love, relationships, health emas. I'm so excited to share with you that my Cheekies and Chill podcast will have an extra episode drop each week. I'll be answering all your questions. Just leave me a voice message. All you have to do is go to speak pipe dot com, slash Cheeks and Chill podcast and record your questions. I can't wait to hear from you. This is a production of I Heart

Radio and Michael Dura podcast Network. Follow us on Instagram at Michael Gura Podcasts and follow me chick ees That's c h i q u i s. For more podcasts from my heart, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.