Journalist Natalie Morales discusses her globetrotting childhood, sharing culinary influences from Taiwan and Spain. She talks about her diverse family's cooking styles and the challenges of military life. Morales also touches on her cookbook and the importance of food in shaping identities.
Natalie Morales blends cultural experiences into her recipes from diverse military family background.
Natalie Morales emphasizes the communal aspect of cooking during special occasions, fostering sentimental value.
Deep dives
Culinary Influence of Natalie's Upbringing
Natalie Morales shares how her diverse background shaped her culinary skills and identity. Growing up in a military family across Taiwan, Brazil, Panama, and Spain, Natalie blends cultural experiences into her recipes. The impact of her Puerto Rican and Brazilian heritage reflects in her cookbook, creating a fusion of flavors and cultural influences.
Family Involvement in Cooking
Natalie emphasizes the communal aspect of cooking in her family. Her home was a hub for holiday feasts where everyone pitched in and cooked together. The collaborative effort in the kitchen, especially during special occasions, holds sentimental value in Natalie's culinary journey.
Favorite Signature Dish: Flan
Natalie's love for flan, a traditional dessert, shines through as a signature dish passed down through generations. She offers tips on crafting the perfect flan, from caramelization to serving. By making slight healthier adaptations like low-fat ingredients, Natalie preserves the essence of the dish while catering to modern tastes.
Identity Through Food
Food as an expression of identity resonates strongly in Natalie's narrative. Despite challenges in fitting traditional identity molds, her culinary heritage with flavors from across Latin America and Spain remains central. Cooking becomes a bridge to share stories and connect with others, emphasizing the rich tapestry of cultural influences in her kitchen.
Journalist and television news personality Natalie Morales takes us back to her globetrotting childhood as a daughter in a military family. She reminisces on living in Spain during her teenage years and food she ate in her Puerto Rican and Brazilian household. Plus, she teaches us how to make the perfect flan.
Natalie Morales co-hosts the Daytime Emmy award winning show, The Talk on CBS. Before this, she served over two decades at NBC News, anchoring the Today show and making appearances on Dateline and the Nightly News. She has a cookbook, Cooking At Home With Natalie Morales which was published in 2018.