How I Built This with Guy Raz

HIBT Lab! Yolélé: Pierre Thiam

Aug 25, 2022

Pierre Thiam, a celebrated chef and co-founder of Yolélé, shares his inspiring journey from Senegal to New York City after a life-changing mugging. He discusses the ancient grain fonio, its potential for food security, and the challenges in promoting it globally. Thiam highlights how he embraces his cultural roots in his cooking and the transformative power of community support in establishing Yolélé. He also reflects on sustainable agricultural practices and the importance of diversifying diets with nutritious options like fonio.

41:01

Episode guests

Pierre Thiam

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

3min

From Dakar to the Culinary Spotlight

13min

Rediscovering Culinary Roots and Phonio

5min

The Versatile Journey of Fonio

13min

From Vision to Partnership: The Birth of Yulele

1min

The Evolution of Fonio Processing

6min

Exploring Phonio: A Sustainable Culinary Delight

3min

Pierre Thiam was robbed within days of arriving in New York City. It was 1989, and he had just traveled to the U.S. from Senegal to study chemistry and physics. This chance incident, however, set Pierre’s life on an entirely different course. Today, he’s a renowned chef, restaurant owner, cookbook author, and co-founder of Yolélé – a company working to introduce the world to an ancient West African grain called fonio.

This week on How I Built This Lab, Pierre talks with Guy about his company’s work to circulate this nutrient-dense and drought-resistant food source. Pierre also shares how he overcame cultural norms to embrace his cooking career, and his take on the connection between colonization and the vulnerability of our global food systems.

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