November 7, 2025 • 37 mins
Chef Ciji Castro imparts invaluable insights into the art of transforming humble ingredients into delectable comfort food, emphasizing the critical need for resourcefulness in the face of escalating food insecurity. Throughout our dialogue, she shares her expertise in crafting a traditional puerco guisado, a slow-cooked pork stew, while ingeniously demonstrating how to stretch this dish to nourish a family of five for under ten dollars. Furthermore, Chef Castro elucidates the significance of culinary traditions, not merely as recipes but as vessels of resilience and community connection, inviting listeners to engage with their own familial narratives through food. She also provides practical tips on reducing kitchen waste, showcasing the importance of creativity in meal preparation. Our conversation ultimately serves as a poignant reminder of the power of food to unite and uplift individuals during challenging times, as well as the importance of seeking assistance without stigma.
Takeaways:
- Chef Ciji Castro emphasizes the importance of resourcefulness in cooking, especially during times of food insecurity.
- In this episode, we discuss how traditional recipes can be adapted using modern techniques without losing their authentic flavors.
- The conversation highlights the significance of community support in addressing hunger and food insecurity issues in Tampa Bay.
- Ciji shares practical tips on turning affordable staples into delicious meals that can feed a family while keeping costs low.
- We explore the cultural significance of dishes like pasteles and their role in preserving family traditions and history.
- The episode stresses the need for open-mindedness when it comes to food sustainability and making the most of available ingredients.
Mentioned in this episode:
Citrus America
Citrus America – Commercial-grade juicing systems built for speed and yield.
Aussie Select - Fully cooked, premium Australian lamb
Fully cooked, premium Australian lamb—ready to serve and packed with clean flavor.
RAK Porcelain USA -Tableware
We use RAK for all in-studio tableware—clean, durable, and designed for chefs.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:31):
You've just stepped inside theWalk and Talk podcast, number one
in the nation.
For food lovers, chefs and storytellers.
I'm Carl Fiadini, your host,shining a.
Light on the flavor, thehustle and.
The heart of the industry.
We're the official podcast forthe New York, California and Florida
restaurant shows, the PizzaTomorrow Summit, the US Culinary
Open at Napham, and the NorthAmerican media platform for the Burnt
(00:53):
Chef project recorded.
At Ibis Images Studios, wherefood photography.
Comes alive and I get thefirst bite.
Find out more info at the walkand talk.com with SNAP benefits being
cut.
And food insecurity on therise, more families are learning
to stretch what they've got.
And chef CG Castro is showinghow it's done.
(01:14):
Today we're filming a pastelesmaster class for central Tampa Bay,
featuring her puerco gardo, aslow cooked brush pork stew built
on Del Encanto foods sofrito.
Along with family tradition,CG is blending the old school grind
it by hand style with thequick, modern version anyone can
tackle.
This episode is about cookingsmart and turning affordable staples
(01:36):
into comfort food.
CG pairs her stew with Harinato show how real flavor can feed
a family of five for under 10 bucks.
She's also sharing no wastetips, kitchen hacks, and the spirit
of making more with less.
We're shouting out feedingTampa Bay and the world central kitchen
both fighting hunger where itmatters most and to close it out,
(01:57):
a sweet bite fried dough,fresh berries and a drizzle of pasta.
Honey, honeycomb.
Simple, beautiful, and fromthe heart.
Because today's story isn'tjust about food.
It's about resilience,resourcefulness, and the people keeping
culture alive one plate at a time.
Chef, welcome to the program.
Well, thank you for having me.
(02:18):
Listen, let me tell you something.
The Burko.
Oh, my goodness.
You say that every time I cookfor you.
I love it so much.
But it's not just that thefood is great.
Your personality in deliveringthe food is phenomenal.
You remind me of.
You remind me of the femalesfrom my family growing up, and they're
just like, you want a plate?
(02:38):
I'm going to make you a plate.
Do you want to?
Okay, what's a good.
You want to?
I love that because it remindsme of growing up.
And it is.
Anyway, the food is fantastic.
But more importantly, or atleast equally as important, your
personality when you're here.
Thank you.
I love being here with you guys.
You guys are kind of like cousins.
It's what it feels like.
Yeah.
It is what it Feels like.
And, well, so it's full circlebecause my cousins do this stuff
(03:02):
for me.
Oh, that reminds me of mycousin Dany in Miami.
He's gonna get such a kick outof this.
Yeah, he thinks the same thing.
It's fun.
We have a lot to unpack today.
We had a long two weeks, andthe reality is we just came off of
Savor St. Pete, and that was a banger.
Tammy, you're awesome.
Alexia, Chef Lee the Gang.
(03:26):
Chef David Johnston fromKinders, Ethan Holmes from Rao's.
I mean, so many people.
And J Rod over at Felipo Badio.
My boy.
Chef David Reyes.
All y'.
All.
It was really great, John.
I mean, the photography at the event.
My boy, my bro.
(03:47):
Fantastic.
I was really impressed withyour mobile studio Setup at Savor
St. Pete.
I saw it on Facebook or Instagram.
John shaking his head, yes.
Be happy with that.
He acknowledged you Save orSaint Pete.
Last weekend was a banger.
Can't wait for next year.
Let me tell you what happened yesterday.
(04:10):
The chef Putre Vera, myself,and the amazing Jordan Fontenot went
to Atlanta.
Flew into Atlanta in the morning.
We recorded video and film fora podcast with.
Wow, this guy's awesome.
(04:31):
The chef Freddie Money fromAtlas Restaurant, Michelin rated
recent winner of the USCulinary Open.
And let me tell you something,this guy is no joke.
But more importantly, cool asice, nicest guy on the planet.
And what a team.
(04:52):
We got to hang out while theywere doing family meal.
Wow.
I mean, first of all, being inthe kitchen at a Michelin restaurant
while they're doing theirprep, doing the things that they
do to hold that title, Amazing.
And then to hang out with themduring that special moment.
Priceless stuff.
(05:12):
Nick, Polly, you guys are amazing.
Appreciate you setting that upfor us.
So many more things to comebetween the US Culinary Open, Walk
and Talk media and everybody else.
Not to mention we ran intochef Nikolai Tram, also a Michelin
chef who was just having to be there.
Going to say hello to Freddie.
(05:34):
What a great.
What a great day for culinaryin terms of what we're doing out
there for production.
Really great day.
Lastly, we met.
We were introduced to LeeWilson from Creative Loafing.
This is over at save us St. Pete.
What a cool gal.
Number one, right?
Like, we were.
The introduction was made and,you know, she was like, walk and
(05:56):
Talk podcast said, yeah, she.
She looks.
She looks.
She looks back at me.
She goes, are you the host guy?
I said, yeah.
She's like, oh, my God.
I listened to your show.
That's.
That's really terrific.
I was like, so for me, whenother people in media follow what
we do, it's the mostflattering thing in the world.
It's really an amazing feelingbecause there's some, you know, peer
(06:18):
to peer, you know, respect or whatever.
A hundred percent, totallydigging it.
And the other cool part of thestory is she had mentioned how she
was on Bubba the Love Spongelike a week or two prior or whatever
it was, and she brought us upon his show.
I am floored.
Like, she threw me over the edge.
(06:38):
Anyway, it was great to meet her.
She's really, really cool.
And I think she's going toprobably come in over the next week
or two.
She's going to sit in with uson the show.
So keep your.
Keep your eyes open for that.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
I met her years ago.
We turned a bowl together forthe nonprofit Bowls for Good, her
and the editor at James Howard.
I love Creative Loafing.
I love the work that they do,and I love the staff.
(06:59):
They do a lot of big stuff atthe culinary.
Man, they're great.
But let's talk stew.
Let's do it.
All right.
Let's talk puerco.
Let's do it.
What did you do to me today?
I fed you guys.
You fed up?
You're in practically a food combo.
I am right now.
I mean, I don't know how I'mactually, I don't know how I'm speaking
with you at this moment.
(07:20):
Between the food coma, twohours of sleep.
You know, we basically.
We shot yesterday.
We filmed yesterday, flew in,shot, got on a plane, flew back,
got ready for this morning,and we did this whole thing.
Pretty amazing.
Impressive.
That was awesome.
In a fedeza, A fed us all forunder $5.
(07:40):
So let's talk about that.
Well, before we do, what elsedid you cook today?
So I made the puerco guisadowith arena, which is just kind of
an ode to my grandparents andsomething that my grandmother would
make my grandfather with, youknow, the leftovers.
Right?
You're stretching your leftovers.
So if we had a little bit of puerco.
(08:01):
Guisado is basically just pork stew.
So if we had a little bit ofthat, she would just make arena,
which is cornmeal, and mix it in.
And, you know, a little bitgoes a long way and it's very filling.
So I made that today.
And then I also.
We did pasteles tutorial,because we have heard you guys, everyone's
asking, do you have a tutorial?
(08:23):
And I didn't.
We had a couple B rolls thatwe did months ago, my very first
walk and talk.
But, you know, we didn't havean actual, like, A to Z.
So we did one today in Englishand in Spanish, so no one gets left
behind.
Step by step, how to make those.
And that was the request of myfriends, Carolina, who's also the
(08:46):
editor of Central Tampa Bay,the sister paper to the Tampa Times.
And you're welcome, Carolina.
I hope you love it.
And then we did a play onsopapillas and beignets, kind of
combining the two.
Fried dough topped withpowdered sugar, a little drizzle
(09:07):
of honey, and some freshberries to kind of balance it out.
And I think that's it.
That was a lot of food.
It really was.
It's a ton of food, and I'mhere for it.
In the opening monologue, wetalked about food insecurity on the
rise with snap cuts andeverything that's kind of coming
(09:29):
on board.
It's even affecting theairports and everything.
I'm glad we got our stuff doneyesterday, and I'm not flying out
next week.
I saw something in the newsthis morning about how they think
everybody's just gonna do awalk out or whatever.
I hope that doesn't happen.
Susie, what's the first thingfamilies should remember when money
gets tight?
I think that the first thingthat I would tell maybe another mother
(09:51):
or someone that is struggling,you know, filling their pantry, is
the first thing I would say isnot to panic.
Right.
The second thing I would saywould be to seek assistance.
Because one thing I can say isthat Tampa Bay is awesome.
Like, I have seen so manyorganizations, restaurants, even
(10:14):
just people in the communityrallying to feed our hungry neighbors.
So, you know, there is that.
And then also, you know,during this time, it's important
to have an open mind, right?
Like, you know, there's a lotof these keywords like sustainability
and organic and.
(10:34):
And all that's great and good,but right now we need to just focus
on survival.
And if that means, you know,canned meats like Vienna sausages,
which I have to admit, I stillmake arro conacha on the regular,
which is like a one pot mealof yellow rice and these little Vienna
hot dogs cut up, or if I don'thave that and I'm digging into, like,
(10:57):
my hurricane supply, you know,could be spam or whatever's on sale.
At the end of the day, allthat matters is that you are satiated.
And also, you know, thinkingabout how to make that happen is
maybe buying whole grains inbulk, right?
So like, one pound of driedbeans cooked equals about four cans
(11:22):
of beans if he were to buy it,but at a fraction of the cost.
So be creative, and I hope weget through this.
We're definitely going to getthrough it.
It's going to be challengingshort term, you know, so back in
2005, when Florida had, like ahurricane every weekend for a month,
(11:46):
I was out of power for threeand a half weeks.
And what I did have was,believe it or not, Chef Boyardee
raviolis.
And it was like pop top cans.
You have to heat it up.
Now, I'm not saying that'sawesome, right?
But it fills you up, and youdon't need to heat it, and all you
need is a spoon or a fork andyou're good to go.
(12:08):
Just saying.
And it's a couple of dollars acamp just throwing that out there.
It was sustained.
Sustained us for almost a month.
Someone said that food hasalways been the great uniter.
What does that mean to youwhen you're cooking for people who
might be struggling?
You know, when I hear that, Ithink that no matter who you are,
(12:29):
where you come from, what youhave, what you don't have, the fact
of the matter is, is I feellike everyone can understand and
gain comfort from a shared meal.
And, you know, in times likethis, if you have extra, you know,
maybe send some home, youknow, I mean, I don't know.
(12:51):
In Spanish households, evenwhen there wasn't a lot, there were
always like to go packs, right?
And, you know, and we canstill make that a thing if we have
to give and do it and acceptit, you know, because it has to go
both ways.
You have to accept it withoutshame, and you have to just give
if you have.
(13:11):
So then growing up, for you,what was the.
What was the process?
You know, growing up was.
Was tough.
You know, we had some, youknow, financially difficult times.
And my mom was incrediblycreative and she kept us fed.
So, you know, it's kind of afunny story, you know, growing up
(13:34):
at the time, you know,picadillo was one of the cheapest
cuts of meat.
And so she would buy, like, apound of picadillo and she would
make it, and that's what wewould eat every day for, like, a
week.
And now, you know, as anadult, picadillo is one of my comfort
meals.
And my brother hates it.
He'll never eat picadillo everagain because we've eaten it every
(13:56):
day.
But, you know, it.
It just goes to show that, youknow, the struggle foods is what
my Husband and I call them, right.
You know, your rice and tuna,your rice and egg, although eggs
are now astronomical.
But you know, your arro consachica, like all of these dishes
that we were eating becausethey were affordable, are now comfort
(14:17):
meals.
So, you know, that's how mymom did it.
My mom would purchase producethat might be close to expiration.
So this is another thing thatI will say like a pro tip.
Go to your farm stand.
And I still do this.
And so I go to my farm standand there's always like a table out
(14:37):
front with like bags.
Whether it's peppers or maybea pineapple that's like literally
needs to be eaten that day.
And these things are quarters,maybe a dollar.
And I will say that thosepineapples are always my favorite
because it tastes like candy.
But my mom, you know, she didthat and she would come home, she'd
cut off the bad parts and shewould make a soup like you can be
(15:00):
creative and, and, and that'sone of still one of my favorite hacks.
What people forget is justbecause there's some blemish on a
piece of fruit or veg, it'sprobably the perfect time to eat
that, that fruit.
Don't forget that.
A hundred percent.
You know, being a home, youknow, home gardener, which I have
(15:23):
to say, life has been a little busy.
So my garden is completely neglected.
But when you have realproduce, it's not pretty.
It's not like what you find inthe store.
It's going to be odd shaped,it's going to have brown spots.
It's.
But yeah, I agree with you, pasteles.
They carry a lot of history.
And what are they representingto you beyond just a dish?
(15:44):
And I know we're doing thisfor centro Tampa Bay.
And I don't care what Johnsays, I'm saying Tampa Bay like that.
You know, for me it's, youknow, they mean resilience to me,
you know, so my favorite partabout making pasteles is, you know,
(16:08):
the women gathering.
And you know, that's the timeof year where you get, there's a
lot of chatter, right?
So you get a lot of oralhistory, right?
You get a lot of the stories.
You know, we're always so busyand everyone's like scattered all
about but one time, you know,this is like one of the few times
out of the year, maybe once ortwice a year, if you're lucky that
(16:29):
you know, you're having aslumber party.
It's that quality time where Ireally feel like it has gifted me.
The.
Privilege of actually gettingto know.
And I'm specifically thinkingof, like, my Titi Lucy, who I inherited
when I married my husband.
You know, I love her, I admire her.
And, you know, but you haveyour aunts, your favorite aunts,
(16:52):
and you have your favoritecousins and, you know, the older
ones, but you do, you don't,you don't really know them.
You don't know the struggles,you don't know, you know, what they
overcame.
And I find in those timeswhen, you know, even with my mom,
during Thanksgiving, that'sour holiday, you know, you get the
stories where you see your,your parents or, you know, your elders,
(17:15):
instead of seeing them as,like, your aunt or your mom, you
see them as women.
And, and for me, like, that'smy favorite part of coming together.
And also I take theopportunity of, like, hey, I've always
wanted to learn how to make this.
Can you, you know, teach me?
Or, you know, because eventhough we're making pasteles and
we are eating, you know, wewill eat them, you know, we're still
cooking other things.
And so I take that opportunityto learn the family recipes and learn
(17:41):
the family history.
So for me, that's, you know,my favorite part of our pastele tradition.
How are you deciding whatyou're going to change or how you're
going to adapt?
Well, you know, ease, youknow, you know, grading them.
(18:01):
You know, like, for instance,the pasteles were typically milled
by hand and graded by hand.
And then that's really, really nice.
But that's also because foodprocessors weren't around, right?
And now they are.
So, you know what?
Why not?
You know, for me, if the endresult is still a bite that will
(18:21):
take someone back to theirchildhood, then how I got there and
if I took a shortcut, like afood processor, doesn't matter.
So that's how I decide.
But I'm not going to be like,serving some deconstructed pastele
because we got to draw theline somewhere.
Like, you talk about no wastecooking, like, a lot.
(18:43):
What's one habit you wish morehome cooks would start doing right
now and not just, like takingpictures of their food and posting
it on social.
No, I, you know, for me, Iwish more people would think about
all the different ways theycan stretch a single ingredient,
right?
I wish that more peoplethought about all the different ways
(19:05):
they can stretch a singleingredient, right?
So one of my favorite no wasterecipes, and it's one that I push
a lot out there, is a no wastevegetable stock.
So you think about yourvegetables Right.
You buy them, you might cutthem up, and you throw away the stems,
you throw away the seeds, youmight throw away the skins, depending
(19:27):
on what it is.
Like if it's an onion and thenyou just use part of it, right?
But you can actually make itwork for you in three to four different
ways.
Okay?
So you can keep a freezer bagin your freezer.
Freezer bag in your freezer.
But you can keep a bag in yourfreezer and you can freeze those
scraps to make vegetablestock, right?
(19:48):
So now you've used a majorityof the vegetable.
Now you're freezing the scrapsto make stock.
Then, you know, if you are ahome gardener, you can compost that,
turn it into soil, and have itcome back for you.
But that liquid gold that youmake from stuff you were going to
throw away anyway is somethingthat can fortify your meals.
(20:10):
So when we talk about foodbanks, there's a lot of boxed foods,
right?
Instant rice or, you know,instant mashed potatoes, which are
typically made with water, right?
You can use this stock tofortify it and bring in nutrients
and just, you know, be more creative.
You know, I think about, youknow, one of the things that I make
(20:32):
during the holidays is a candymade out of grapefruit peels, right?
And it's.
It's like, I brought thegrapefruit marmalade, right?
One of my very first walk and talks.
We made the Elena Rus with theAussie select, that grapefruit marmalade.
(20:53):
I. I got those grapefruits tomake the candy out of the peel.
But then I'm like, okay, whatam I going to do with all this inside
stuff?
What am I going to do with allthis juice?
And he turned around and hemade it marmalade.
And I had marmalade for, like,six months.
I gifted you guys some.
I gifted some friends, some,like, you know, so be creative, because
what was gonna go in the trashliterally just became homemade gifts.
(21:15):
And that's something else tothink about during the holidays.
You know, it is a time forgiving, but we need to take away
the pressure.
I long for times gone past.
I mean, all the stuff you justsaid is really.
That is old school.
And I'm hoping that there'sgonna be like a circle back around
(21:35):
to that.
I mean, people need to get offtheir phones.
I hate to say it, it's the truth.
You know, it came back aroundduring COVID and I thought it would
stay, but, you know, it is.
You know, the memory is short, right?
What is it?
Something is Long andsomething is short.
But I don't know, something'slong, short.
(21:57):
We got TikTok out of COVIDThat's what we got.
Second reels and, you know,just brain into the neck.
We're highlighting groups likeFeeding Tampa Bay and World Central
Kitchen.
I mean, that's where thingsneed to kind of start from, from
the ground up.
Why is it important to havethis particular conversation?
(22:19):
First of all, I have been along time volunteer with Feeding
Tampa Bay going on like 15years, and they operate on 2%.
So for, you know, every dollaryou donate, 98 cents of that goes
to feeding your hungry neighbor.
And that alone gives me goosebumps.
(22:41):
And as far as World CentralKitchen is concerned, like, what
an incredible organization.
So I don't know if I sharedthis story before, but after Hurricane
Helene, my daughter had.
She was in kindergarten, had aclassmate stranded on Clearwater
beach, and they were runningout of food, they were running out
(23:01):
of water.
They were trapped because, youknow, all the cars were dead.
And I emailed, like, WorldCentral Kitchen, and I'm like, I
need to help these people.
And I kid you not, I was onthe beach the next day.
You know, what people don'trealize is every dollar that you
donate to an organization likeFeeding Tampa Bay or World Central
(23:22):
Kitchen.
So for World Central Kitchen,they will pay the chefs.
Like, they will buy the foodfor the chefs to be there.
And they hire local.
Local talent.
Like, I know she's so crispy,used her food truck to.
I think she was in Treasure Island.
But, you know, they will putthe money back in the economy to
(23:42):
help feed that community.
And their response and theirorganization was so impressive because
I was.
I just kept thinking, like, ofthat mom and of my kid and.
And it was so hard not to putmyself in that situation and know
that that day that I gotthere, she had sent him.
(24:04):
She found a ride.
So I don't know if she hitchhiked.
I don't know how she got himto school, but he went to school
with their very last granolabar, you know, and I was there.
I got there, and I was ableto, you know, deliver meals to people
in their homes.
And it was just hugging herthat day.
From one mother to another.
(24:25):
Oh, my God, it breaks methinking about it.
So that was my firstinteraction with World Central Kitchen
up close.
And they have my utmost respect.
And as far as Feeding TampaBay is concerned, they have done
such incredible work in our community.
They have cafes now where, youknow, they hire people and teach
them culinary skills to Sendthem out into the world and help
(24:47):
them, you know, get jobs.
And I mean they have marketswhere you can go and shop with dignity.
And they've got, you know,their social media is on fire every
day.
There's pop ups all overHillsboro, Pinellas, PASCO.
They service 10 counties andyou know, they are making the resources
available so you know, youhave to give it to them because they're
(25:11):
a well off, you know, oiledmachine and they're run by passionate
people.
Chef Jose Andres and what hedoes with his organization is fantastic.
I do want to shout out ChefAmy Sins out of New Orleans with
fill the needs.
She is everywhere when itcomes to feeding people disasters,
(25:36):
just anything possible.
She gets tractor trailers onthe road, gets people evacuated out
of places.
She's a real one.
So is Stan Hayes too fromOperation Barbecue Relief.
All these people are fantasticand these are the sort of programs
that you need to follow andsupport 100%.
(25:56):
And that's, you know, I'm gladthat you bring up the support because
let's, if I can just give onelittle quick plug, you know, as soon
as these SNAP benefits wereannounced that they were going to
be cut, not coming in onNovember 1, I saw a lot of people
going out to grocery storesand donating to food banks and people
have maybe might have somehesitancy in donating money.
(26:19):
But let me tell you, they canbuy way More with your $1 than we
can on our own.
And that's because they havespecial relationships with these
large grocery chains likePublix and Walmar, which I have to
tell you, they have full onlike 18 wheelers pulling up full
of food.
And that's because they get itlike 10 cents on the dollar.
(26:40):
So if you're going to go tothe grocery store and you're going
to spend 20, $25 buyinggroceries, give it to, you know,
feeding Tampa Bay or WorldCentral Kitchen or you know, some
food organization, a food bank.
Right.
We've got feasts in Palmharbor because they can turn around
and make that 2500.
When you look at the foodindustry, do you think we're doing
enough to make cultural foodsaccessible and affordable?
(27:04):
No, I don't.
You know, as a CPG brand, Isee it firsthand.
Between the tariffs and thetaxes and the inflation, you know,
I want my food to beaccessible to everyone.
I think about, you know, my,you know, the elders in my family
(27:24):
on Social Security and I knowthat, you know, if my product was
in a store, they might not beable to afford it.
And.
And I don't want that.
But the fact of the matter is,is that, you know, it was shocking
how expensive fresh producewas just to make my own powders.
So, no, I don't think that asa country, we're doing a good job
(27:47):
of making food accessible, period.
You know, and as far as, youknow, making cultural food accessible,
you know, I think it dependson how you look at it.
You know, are the recipes accessible?
Yeah.
Go to domestic gourmet.com andyou can learn how to make Puerto
Guisado or pasteles.
Right.
But in order to afford themright now in this day and age, I
(28:12):
don't know.
I'll tell you this.
I've got a couple of youngkids, and do they love Cinnamon Toast
Crunch?
Absolutely.
It's loaded with all sorts of stuff.
The alternative, the healthyalternative to that particular flavor
profile that, like, is almosttriple the price.
(28:33):
I know.
I know exactly what you'retalking about.
Yeah, it's crazy.
So when you want to eathealthy, they stick it to you grossly.
You know, what people don'trealize and what I learned the hard
way was, you know, and I hateto bring it back to the tariffs,
but, you know, I paid a reallyhefty price on cardboard.
(28:54):
You know, my tubes, my spicetubes are made out of cardboard.
Right.
So you think about that, thatthat translates to cereal boxes,
and then you've got adifferent tariff for plastic.
Well, that's the bag.
And then spices.
Where do you think cinnamoncomes from?
Most often it comes from Asia.
And now there's taxes andtariffs on that.
So it's compounded.
(29:16):
When I saw that, you know, forcardboard and, you know, exporting
from China was like 20, I waslike, oh, okay, good.
Because back in April, it was 157%.
Right.
But then I learned thatthere's a formaldehyde tariff.
And I'm like, how does thatapply to me?
Like, you know, I'm not apharmaceutical company.
And then there's some sectionthree or something, you know, and
(29:38):
at the end of the day, itended up being like a 55% tax on
top of all my taxes.
And I was like, oh, my goodness.
Like, you know, it's hard.
I genuinely believe in theend, this tariff thing is going to
be good the short term,because they said it even in the
(29:59):
beginning, the short term isit's not going to be pretty.
It's not like they said it wasgoing to be roses.
Things are going to shift andit's going to get ugly.
But I think in the Long runthat's going to turn.
I really, really believe that.
Just the nature of it.
And we're experiencing somestruggles, man, and it affects everybody,
it affects everybod body.
(30:21):
But at the end of the day, wewere getting taken advantage of pretty
badly.
And I know it's like it hurtsus in the pocket now.
So you want to like kind ofkick the can down the road.
I get it.
But man, it's going to happen sometime.
This was going to happen insome fashion one way or the other,
but.
It'S kind of like not savingenough and then you know, an emergency
(30:42):
happens and now you're bankrupt.
Right.
So you've got the tariffs andthat's hurting us.
And now you've got thegovernment shut down and there's
no snap benefits.
You know, I mean they say thatthey're coming but you know, right
now people did not receivethem on the first.
So you know, you just reallyjust kicked a man while he was down.
And it is very painful andvery scary for me to see.
(31:04):
Cg, you've launched your ownspice line, started publishing recipes
again.
You're also the ambassador forendofound, the Tampa Bay.
I really do say it's not.
You even heard it in themonologue that was natural for me.
The Tampa Bay Latin Chamber.
(31:25):
And you're also a finalist forthe philanthropist of the Year award
via Tampa Bay Business andWealth magazine.
I don't know how you are doingall these things, but how are you
balancing entrepreneurship and advocacy?
And advocacy.
You know, I'm very fortunateto have a strong team around me to
(31:46):
kind of help pick up the slackwhen I feel called to a cause.
But one of the ways that I tryto balance the two is I try to incorporate
my advocacy work which fillsmy cup with, you know, the business.
So for instance, March is, youknow, endowareness.
(32:07):
You know, I'll still be outdoing cooking segments and recipes
and all that, but I'm going totie them into maybe an anti inflammatory
or you know, something endorelated or like right now a lot of
my recipes are geared towardslow cost, you know, cooking.
So you're talkingendometriosis, right?
I am talking about endometriosis.
(32:28):
Okay, just want to be clearfor the audience.
Yeah, so endofound stands forthe Endometriosis foundation of America.
I am a stage 4 endowarrior.
I've been fighting this sinceI was 9 years old.
Multiple surgeries.
So it is a cause close to my heart.
Same thing with food insecurity.
You know, I'M very fortunatethat my mom was super crafty and
(32:50):
my brother and I never went hungry.
But that's not to say that Ididn't see the impacts of that.
And so that's why it's like,it's important to me, too.
Especially, you know, I thinkabout 16 million children that have
lost their SNAP benefits.
And now with the governmentshutdown, programs like Head Start
are also shutting down.
(33:11):
And that's a program wherechildren were being fed breakfast
and lunch.
You know, they're losing twomeals a day.
So, you know, in times likethis, it might not always be.
Be good for the business, butI feel like it's part of my core
values.
It's just part of who I am.
If, if my family, you know,anytime there's a crisis, I check
(33:31):
my kids, I check with myhusband, we're okay, then you know
what?
We've got it in us to go outand help someone else.
Amen to that.
By the way, audience, if youwant to learn more about CG's story
with endometriosis, go toHospitality Bites by Colleen Silk.
Terrific episode.
(33:52):
She's another podcasteraffiliated with Walk and Talk Media.
And it was a terrific,terrific episode.
Go check that out.
Cgf.
Somebody hears this episodeand can only take away one thing
from it.
What do you hope that it is?
(34:39):
I hope that we can shed theshame that maybe some of us might
have surrounding asking forhelp and seek assistance.
You know, there it's, I see itall over Facebook.
Who needs help with groceries?
You know, it's not easy to sayI need help, but please do that because
(35:02):
if it's out there, it, youknow, take it.
And so that's what I, that'swhat I really hope.
I hope that people come awayfrom this inspired to be crafty with
what they have to stretchtheir ingredients and to ask for
help.
I mean, so that was well said,obviously, and I concur 100%.
(35:22):
Thank you.
You know what?
I wanted a new too.
John Rosana Rivera and theempanadas from Savor St. Pete.
Girl, I love you.
I love her, too.
Yeah.
Ricardo from ta.
Babe from TA Ba Bay Bang.
I love you too, bro.
Cg, how are people finding you?
Domestic Gourmet everywhere.
(35:43):
Domestic gourmet.com for thoseno waste recipes and spices and Annada
oil.
And speaking of girl, let metell you something.
The, the donut, the, the frieddough, oh, my gosh.
I'm gonna like.
I, I'm craving it now.
I, I'm up to here, and I stillwant Moss.
I'm just saying.
(36:04):
All right, John, as always,baby Sam.
You've just stepped inside theWalk and Talk podcast, number one
in the nation.
For food lovers, chefs and storytellers.
I'm Carl Fiadini, your host,shining a.
Light on the flavor, thehustle and.
The heart of the industry.
We're the official podcast forthe New York, California and Florida
restaurant shows, the PizzaTomorrow Summit, the US Culinary
Open at Napham, and the NorthAmerican media platform for the Burnt
(00:53):
Chef project recorded.
At Ibis Images Studios, wherefood photography.
Comes alive and I get thefirst bite.
Find out more info at the walkand talk.com with SNAP benefits being
cut.
And food insecurity on therise, more families are learning
to stretch what they've got.
And chef CG Castro is showinghow it's done.
(01:14):
Today we're filming a pastelesmaster class for central Tampa Bay,
featuring her puerco gardo, aslow cooked brush pork stew built
on Del Encanto foods sofrito.
Along with family tradition,CG is blending the old school grind
it by hand style with thequick, modern version anyone can
tackle.
This episode is about cookingsmart and turning affordable staples
(01:36):
into comfort food.
CG pairs her stew with Harinato show how real flavor can feed
a family of five for under 10 bucks.
She's also sharing no wastetips, kitchen hacks, and the spirit
of making more with less.
We're shouting out feedingTampa Bay and the world central kitchen
both fighting hunger where itmatters most and to close it out,
(01:57):
a sweet bite fried dough,fresh berries and a drizzle of pasta.
Honey, honeycomb.
Simple, beautiful, and fromthe heart.
Because today's story isn'tjust about food.
It's about resilience,resourcefulness, and the people keeping
culture alive one plate at a time.
Chef, welcome to the program.
Well, thank you for having me.
(02:18):
Listen, let me tell you something.
The Burko.
Oh, my goodness.
You say that every time I cookfor you.
I love it so much.
But it's not just that thefood is great.
Your personality in deliveringthe food is phenomenal.
You remind me of.
You remind me of the femalesfrom my family growing up, and they're
just like, you want a plate?
(02:38):
I'm going to make you a plate.
Do you want to?
Okay, what's a good.
You want to?
I love that because it remindsme of growing up.
And it is.
Anyway, the food is fantastic.
But more importantly, or atleast equally as important, your
personality when you're here.
Thank you.
I love being here with you guys.
You guys are kind of like cousins.
It's what it feels like.
Yeah.
It is what it Feels like.
And, well, so it's full circlebecause my cousins do this stuff
(03:02):
for me.
Oh, that reminds me of mycousin Dany in Miami.
He's gonna get such a kick outof this.
Yeah, he thinks the same thing.
It's fun.
We have a lot to unpack today.
We had a long two weeks, andthe reality is we just came off of
Savor St. Pete, and that was a banger.
Tammy, you're awesome.
Alexia, Chef Lee the Gang.
(03:26):
Chef David Johnston fromKinders, Ethan Holmes from Rao's.
I mean, so many people.
And J Rod over at Felipo Badio.
My boy.
Chef David Reyes.
All y'.
All.
It was really great, John.
I mean, the photography at the event.
My boy, my bro.
(03:47):
Fantastic.
I was really impressed withyour mobile studio Setup at Savor
St. Pete.
I saw it on Facebook or Instagram.
John shaking his head, yes.
Be happy with that.
He acknowledged you Save orSaint Pete.
Last weekend was a banger.
Can't wait for next year.
Let me tell you what happened yesterday.
(04:10):
The chef Putre Vera, myself,and the amazing Jordan Fontenot went
to Atlanta.
Flew into Atlanta in the morning.
We recorded video and film fora podcast with.
Wow, this guy's awesome.
(04:31):
The chef Freddie Money fromAtlas Restaurant, Michelin rated
recent winner of the USCulinary Open.
And let me tell you something,this guy is no joke.
But more importantly, cool asice, nicest guy on the planet.
And what a team.
(04:52):
We got to hang out while theywere doing family meal.
Wow.
I mean, first of all, being inthe kitchen at a Michelin restaurant
while they're doing theirprep, doing the things that they
do to hold that title, Amazing.
And then to hang out with themduring that special moment.
Priceless stuff.
(05:12):
Nick, Polly, you guys are amazing.
Appreciate you setting that upfor us.
So many more things to comebetween the US Culinary Open, Walk
and Talk media and everybody else.
Not to mention we ran intochef Nikolai Tram, also a Michelin
chef who was just having to be there.
Going to say hello to Freddie.
(05:34):
What a great.
What a great day for culinaryin terms of what we're doing out
there for production.
Really great day.
Lastly, we met.
We were introduced to LeeWilson from Creative Loafing.
This is over at save us St. Pete.
What a cool gal.
Number one, right?
Like, we were.
The introduction was made and,you know, she was like, walk and
(05:56):
Talk podcast said, yeah, she.
She looks.
She looks.
She looks back at me.
She goes, are you the host guy?
I said, yeah.
She's like, oh, my God.
I listened to your show.
That's.
That's really terrific.
I was like, so for me, whenother people in media follow what
we do, it's the mostflattering thing in the world.
It's really an amazing feelingbecause there's some, you know, peer
(06:18):
to peer, you know, respect or whatever.
A hundred percent, totallydigging it.
And the other cool part of thestory is she had mentioned how she
was on Bubba the Love Spongelike a week or two prior or whatever
it was, and she brought us upon his show.
I am floored.
Like, she threw me over the edge.
(06:38):
Anyway, it was great to meet her.
She's really, really cool.
And I think she's going toprobably come in over the next week
or two.
She's going to sit in with uson the show.
So keep your.
Keep your eyes open for that.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
I met her years ago.
We turned a bowl together forthe nonprofit Bowls for Good, her
and the editor at James Howard.
I love Creative Loafing.
I love the work that they do,and I love the staff.
(06:59):
They do a lot of big stuff atthe culinary.
Man, they're great.
But let's talk stew.
Let's do it.
All right.
Let's talk puerco.
Let's do it.
What did you do to me today?
I fed you guys.
You fed up?
You're in practically a food combo.
I am right now.
I mean, I don't know how I'mactually, I don't know how I'm speaking
with you at this moment.
(07:20):
Between the food coma, twohours of sleep.
You know, we basically.
We shot yesterday.
We filmed yesterday, flew in,shot, got on a plane, flew back,
got ready for this morning,and we did this whole thing.
Pretty amazing.
Impressive.
That was awesome.
In a fedeza, A fed us all forunder $5.
(07:40):
So let's talk about that.
Well, before we do, what elsedid you cook today?
So I made the puerco guisadowith arena, which is just kind of
an ode to my grandparents andsomething that my grandmother would
make my grandfather with, youknow, the leftovers.
Right?
You're stretching your leftovers.
So if we had a little bit of puerco.
(08:01):
Guisado is basically just pork stew.
So if we had a little bit ofthat, she would just make arena,
which is cornmeal, and mix it in.
And, you know, a little bitgoes a long way and it's very filling.
So I made that today.
And then I also.
We did pasteles tutorial,because we have heard you guys, everyone's
asking, do you have a tutorial?
(08:23):
And I didn't.
We had a couple B rolls thatwe did months ago, my very first
walk and talk.
But, you know, we didn't havean actual, like, A to Z.
So we did one today in Englishand in Spanish, so no one gets left
behind.
Step by step, how to make those.
And that was the request of myfriends, Carolina, who's also the
(08:46):
editor of Central Tampa Bay,the sister paper to the Tampa Times.
And you're welcome, Carolina.
I hope you love it.
And then we did a play onsopapillas and beignets, kind of
combining the two.
Fried dough topped withpowdered sugar, a little drizzle
(09:07):
of honey, and some freshberries to kind of balance it out.
And I think that's it.
That was a lot of food.
It really was.
It's a ton of food, and I'mhere for it.
In the opening monologue, wetalked about food insecurity on the
rise with snap cuts andeverything that's kind of coming
(09:29):
on board.
It's even affecting theairports and everything.
I'm glad we got our stuff doneyesterday, and I'm not flying out
next week.
I saw something in the newsthis morning about how they think
everybody's just gonna do awalk out or whatever.
I hope that doesn't happen.
Susie, what's the first thingfamilies should remember when money
gets tight?
I think that the first thingthat I would tell maybe another mother
(09:51):
or someone that is struggling,you know, filling their pantry, is
the first thing I would say isnot to panic.
Right.
The second thing I would saywould be to seek assistance.
Because one thing I can say isthat Tampa Bay is awesome.
Like, I have seen so manyorganizations, restaurants, even
(10:14):
just people in the communityrallying to feed our hungry neighbors.
So, you know, there is that.
And then also, you know,during this time, it's important
to have an open mind, right?
Like, you know, there's a lotof these keywords like sustainability
and organic and.
(10:34):
And all that's great and good,but right now we need to just focus
on survival.
And if that means, you know,canned meats like Vienna sausages,
which I have to admit, I stillmake arro conacha on the regular,
which is like a one pot mealof yellow rice and these little Vienna
hot dogs cut up, or if I don'thave that and I'm digging into, like,
(10:57):
my hurricane supply, you know,could be spam or whatever's on sale.
At the end of the day, allthat matters is that you are satiated.
And also, you know, thinkingabout how to make that happen is
maybe buying whole grains inbulk, right?
So like, one pound of driedbeans cooked equals about four cans
(11:22):
of beans if he were to buy it,but at a fraction of the cost.
So be creative, and I hope weget through this.
We're definitely going to getthrough it.
It's going to be challengingshort term, you know, so back in
2005, when Florida had, like ahurricane every weekend for a month,
(11:46):
I was out of power for threeand a half weeks.
And what I did have was,believe it or not, Chef Boyardee
raviolis.
And it was like pop top cans.
You have to heat it up.
Now, I'm not saying that'sawesome, right?
But it fills you up, and youdon't need to heat it, and all you
need is a spoon or a fork andyou're good to go.
(12:08):
Just saying.
And it's a couple of dollars acamp just throwing that out there.
It was sustained.
Sustained us for almost a month.
Someone said that food hasalways been the great uniter.
What does that mean to youwhen you're cooking for people who
might be struggling?
You know, when I hear that, Ithink that no matter who you are,
(12:29):
where you come from, what youhave, what you don't have, the fact
of the matter is, is I feellike everyone can understand and
gain comfort from a shared meal.
And, you know, in times likethis, if you have extra, you know,
maybe send some home, youknow, I mean, I don't know.
(12:51):
In Spanish households, evenwhen there wasn't a lot, there were
always like to go packs, right?
And, you know, and we canstill make that a thing if we have
to give and do it and acceptit, you know, because it has to go
both ways.
You have to accept it withoutshame, and you have to just give
if you have.
(13:11):
So then growing up, for you,what was the.
What was the process?
You know, growing up was.
Was tough.
You know, we had some, youknow, financially difficult times.
And my mom was incrediblycreative and she kept us fed.
So, you know, it's kind of afunny story, you know, growing up
(13:34):
at the time, you know,picadillo was one of the cheapest
cuts of meat.
And so she would buy, like, apound of picadillo and she would
make it, and that's what wewould eat every day for, like, a
week.
And now, you know, as anadult, picadillo is one of my comfort
meals.
And my brother hates it.
He'll never eat picadillo everagain because we've eaten it every
(13:56):
day.
But, you know, it.
It just goes to show that, youknow, the struggle foods is what
my Husband and I call them, right.
You know, your rice and tuna,your rice and egg, although eggs
are now astronomical.
But you know, your arro consachica, like all of these dishes
that we were eating becausethey were affordable, are now comfort
(14:17):
meals.
So, you know, that's how mymom did it.
My mom would purchase producethat might be close to expiration.
So this is another thing thatI will say like a pro tip.
Go to your farm stand.
And I still do this.
And so I go to my farm standand there's always like a table out
(14:37):
front with like bags.
Whether it's peppers or maybea pineapple that's like literally
needs to be eaten that day.
And these things are quarters,maybe a dollar.
And I will say that thosepineapples are always my favorite
because it tastes like candy.
But my mom, you know, she didthat and she would come home, she'd
cut off the bad parts and shewould make a soup like you can be
(15:00):
creative and, and, and that'sone of still one of my favorite hacks.
What people forget is justbecause there's some blemish on a
piece of fruit or veg, it'sprobably the perfect time to eat
that, that fruit.
Don't forget that.
A hundred percent.
You know, being a home, youknow, home gardener, which I have
(15:23):
to say, life has been a little busy.
So my garden is completely neglected.
But when you have realproduce, it's not pretty.
It's not like what you find inthe store.
It's going to be odd shaped,it's going to have brown spots.
It's.
But yeah, I agree with you, pasteles.
They carry a lot of history.
And what are they representingto you beyond just a dish?
(15:44):
And I know we're doing thisfor centro Tampa Bay.
And I don't care what Johnsays, I'm saying Tampa Bay like that.
You know, for me it's, youknow, they mean resilience to me,
you know, so my favorite partabout making pasteles is, you know,
(16:08):
the women gathering.
And you know, that's the timeof year where you get, there's a
lot of chatter, right?
So you get a lot of oralhistory, right?
You get a lot of the stories.
You know, we're always so busyand everyone's like scattered all
about but one time, you know,this is like one of the few times
out of the year, maybe once ortwice a year, if you're lucky that
(16:29):
you know, you're having aslumber party.
It's that quality time where Ireally feel like it has gifted me.
The.
Privilege of actually gettingto know.
And I'm specifically thinkingof, like, my Titi Lucy, who I inherited
when I married my husband.
You know, I love her, I admire her.
And, you know, but you haveyour aunts, your favorite aunts,
(16:52):
and you have your favoritecousins and, you know, the older
ones, but you do, you don't,you don't really know them.
You don't know the struggles,you don't know, you know, what they
overcame.
And I find in those timeswhen, you know, even with my mom,
during Thanksgiving, that'sour holiday, you know, you get the
stories where you see your,your parents or, you know, your elders,
(17:15):
instead of seeing them as,like, your aunt or your mom, you
see them as women.
And, and for me, like, that'smy favorite part of coming together.
And also I take theopportunity of, like, hey, I've always
wanted to learn how to make this.
Can you, you know, teach me?
Or, you know, because eventhough we're making pasteles and
we are eating, you know, wewill eat them, you know, we're still
cooking other things.
And so I take that opportunityto learn the family recipes and learn
(17:41):
the family history.
So for me, that's, you know,my favorite part of our pastele tradition.
How are you deciding whatyou're going to change or how you're
going to adapt?
Well, you know, ease, youknow, you know, grading them.
(18:01):
You know, like, for instance,the pasteles were typically milled
by hand and graded by hand.
And then that's really, really nice.
But that's also because foodprocessors weren't around, right?
And now they are.
So, you know what?
Why not?
You know, for me, if the endresult is still a bite that will
(18:21):
take someone back to theirchildhood, then how I got there and
if I took a shortcut, like afood processor, doesn't matter.
So that's how I decide.
But I'm not going to be like,serving some deconstructed pastele
because we got to draw theline somewhere.
Like, you talk about no wastecooking, like, a lot.
(18:43):
What's one habit you wish morehome cooks would start doing right
now and not just, like takingpictures of their food and posting
it on social.
No, I, you know, for me, Iwish more people would think about
all the different ways theycan stretch a single ingredient,
right?
I wish that more peoplethought about all the different ways
(19:05):
they can stretch a singleingredient, right?
So one of my favorite no wasterecipes, and it's one that I push
a lot out there, is a no wastevegetable stock.
So you think about yourvegetables Right.
You buy them, you might cutthem up, and you throw away the stems,
you throw away the seeds, youmight throw away the skins, depending
(19:27):
on what it is.
Like if it's an onion and thenyou just use part of it, right?
But you can actually make itwork for you in three to four different
ways.
Okay?
So you can keep a freezer bagin your freezer.
Freezer bag in your freezer.
But you can keep a bag in yourfreezer and you can freeze those
scraps to make vegetablestock, right?
(19:48):
So now you've used a majorityof the vegetable.
Now you're freezing the scrapsto make stock.
Then, you know, if you are ahome gardener, you can compost that,
turn it into soil, and have itcome back for you.
But that liquid gold that youmake from stuff you were going to
throw away anyway is somethingthat can fortify your meals.
(20:10):
So when we talk about foodbanks, there's a lot of boxed foods,
right?
Instant rice or, you know,instant mashed potatoes, which are
typically made with water, right?
You can use this stock tofortify it and bring in nutrients
and just, you know, be more creative.
You know, I think about, youknow, one of the things that I make
(20:32):
during the holidays is a candymade out of grapefruit peels, right?
And it's.
It's like, I brought thegrapefruit marmalade, right?
One of my very first walk and talks.
We made the Elena Rus with theAussie select, that grapefruit marmalade.
(20:53):
I. I got those grapefruits tomake the candy out of the peel.
But then I'm like, okay, whatam I going to do with all this inside
stuff?
What am I going to do with allthis juice?
And he turned around and hemade it marmalade.
And I had marmalade for, like,six months.
I gifted you guys some.
I gifted some friends, some,like, you know, so be creative, because
what was gonna go in the trashliterally just became homemade gifts.
(21:15):
And that's something else tothink about during the holidays.
You know, it is a time forgiving, but we need to take away
the pressure.
I long for times gone past.
I mean, all the stuff you justsaid is really.
That is old school.
And I'm hoping that there'sgonna be like a circle back around
(21:35):
to that.
I mean, people need to get offtheir phones.
I hate to say it, it's the truth.
You know, it came back aroundduring COVID and I thought it would
stay, but, you know, it is.
You know, the memory is short, right?
What is it?
Something is Long andsomething is short.
But I don't know, something'slong, short.
(21:57):
We got TikTok out of COVIDThat's what we got.
Second reels and, you know,just brain into the neck.
We're highlighting groups likeFeeding Tampa Bay and World Central
Kitchen.
I mean, that's where thingsneed to kind of start from, from
the ground up.
Why is it important to havethis particular conversation?
(22:19):
First of all, I have been along time volunteer with Feeding
Tampa Bay going on like 15years, and they operate on 2%.
So for, you know, every dollaryou donate, 98 cents of that goes
to feeding your hungry neighbor.
And that alone gives me goosebumps.
(22:41):
And as far as World CentralKitchen is concerned, like, what
an incredible organization.
So I don't know if I sharedthis story before, but after Hurricane
Helene, my daughter had.
She was in kindergarten, had aclassmate stranded on Clearwater
beach, and they were runningout of food, they were running out
(23:01):
of water.
They were trapped because, youknow, all the cars were dead.
And I emailed, like, WorldCentral Kitchen, and I'm like, I
need to help these people.
And I kid you not, I was onthe beach the next day.
You know, what people don'trealize is every dollar that you
donate to an organization likeFeeding Tampa Bay or World Central
(23:22):
Kitchen.
So for World Central Kitchen,they will pay the chefs.
Like, they will buy the foodfor the chefs to be there.
And they hire local.
Local talent.
Like, I know she's so crispy,used her food truck to.
I think she was in Treasure Island.
But, you know, they will putthe money back in the economy to
(23:42):
help feed that community.
And their response and theirorganization was so impressive because
I was.
I just kept thinking, like, ofthat mom and of my kid and.
And it was so hard not to putmyself in that situation and know
that that day that I gotthere, she had sent him.
(24:04):
She found a ride.
So I don't know if she hitchhiked.
I don't know how she got himto school, but he went to school
with their very last granolabar, you know, and I was there.
I got there, and I was ableto, you know, deliver meals to people
in their homes.
And it was just hugging herthat day.
From one mother to another.
(24:25):
Oh, my God, it breaks methinking about it.
So that was my firstinteraction with World Central Kitchen
up close.
And they have my utmost respect.
And as far as Feeding TampaBay is concerned, they have done
such incredible work in our community.
They have cafes now where, youknow, they hire people and teach
them culinary skills to Sendthem out into the world and help
(24:47):
them, you know, get jobs.
And I mean they have marketswhere you can go and shop with dignity.
And they've got, you know,their social media is on fire every
day.
There's pop ups all overHillsboro, Pinellas, PASCO.
They service 10 counties andyou know, they are making the resources
available so you know, youhave to give it to them because they're
(25:11):
a well off, you know, oiledmachine and they're run by passionate
people.
Chef Jose Andres and what hedoes with his organization is fantastic.
I do want to shout out ChefAmy Sins out of New Orleans with
fill the needs.
She is everywhere when itcomes to feeding people disasters,
(25:36):
just anything possible.
She gets tractor trailers onthe road, gets people evacuated out
of places.
She's a real one.
So is Stan Hayes too fromOperation Barbecue Relief.
All these people are fantasticand these are the sort of programs
that you need to follow andsupport 100%.
(25:56):
And that's, you know, I'm gladthat you bring up the support because
let's, if I can just give onelittle quick plug, you know, as soon
as these SNAP benefits wereannounced that they were going to
be cut, not coming in onNovember 1, I saw a lot of people
going out to grocery storesand donating to food banks and people
have maybe might have somehesitancy in donating money.
(26:19):
But let me tell you, they canbuy way More with your $1 than we
can on our own.
And that's because they havespecial relationships with these
large grocery chains likePublix and Walmar, which I have to
tell you, they have full onlike 18 wheelers pulling up full
of food.
And that's because they get itlike 10 cents on the dollar.
(26:40):
So if you're going to go tothe grocery store and you're going
to spend 20, $25 buyinggroceries, give it to, you know,
feeding Tampa Bay or WorldCentral Kitchen or you know, some
food organization, a food bank.
Right.
We've got feasts in Palmharbor because they can turn around
and make that 2500.
When you look at the foodindustry, do you think we're doing
enough to make cultural foodsaccessible and affordable?
(27:04):
No, I don't.
You know, as a CPG brand, Isee it firsthand.
Between the tariffs and thetaxes and the inflation, you know,
I want my food to beaccessible to everyone.
I think about, you know, my,you know, the elders in my family
(27:24):
on Social Security and I knowthat, you know, if my product was
in a store, they might not beable to afford it.
And.
And I don't want that.
But the fact of the matter is,is that, you know, it was shocking
how expensive fresh producewas just to make my own powders.
So, no, I don't think that asa country, we're doing a good job
(27:47):
of making food accessible, period.
You know, and as far as, youknow, making cultural food accessible,
you know, I think it dependson how you look at it.
You know, are the recipes accessible?
Yeah.
Go to domestic gourmet.com andyou can learn how to make Puerto
Guisado or pasteles.
Right.
But in order to afford themright now in this day and age, I
(28:12):
don't know.
I'll tell you this.
I've got a couple of youngkids, and do they love Cinnamon Toast
Crunch?
Absolutely.
It's loaded with all sorts of stuff.
The alternative, the healthyalternative to that particular flavor
profile that, like, is almosttriple the price.
(28:33):
I know.
I know exactly what you'retalking about.
Yeah, it's crazy.
So when you want to eathealthy, they stick it to you grossly.
You know, what people don'trealize and what I learned the hard
way was, you know, and I hateto bring it back to the tariffs,
but, you know, I paid a reallyhefty price on cardboard.
(28:54):
You know, my tubes, my spicetubes are made out of cardboard.
Right.
So you think about that, thatthat translates to cereal boxes,
and then you've got adifferent tariff for plastic.
Well, that's the bag.
And then spices.
Where do you think cinnamoncomes from?
Most often it comes from Asia.
And now there's taxes andtariffs on that.
So it's compounded.
(29:16):
When I saw that, you know, forcardboard and, you know, exporting
from China was like 20, I waslike, oh, okay, good.
Because back in April, it was 157%.
Right.
But then I learned thatthere's a formaldehyde tariff.
And I'm like, how does thatapply to me?
Like, you know, I'm not apharmaceutical company.
And then there's some sectionthree or something, you know, and
(29:38):
at the end of the day, itended up being like a 55% tax on
top of all my taxes.
And I was like, oh, my goodness.
Like, you know, it's hard.
I genuinely believe in theend, this tariff thing is going to
be good the short term,because they said it even in the
(29:59):
beginning, the short term isit's not going to be pretty.
It's not like they said it wasgoing to be roses.
Things are going to shift andit's going to get ugly.
But I think in the Long runthat's going to turn.
I really, really believe that.
Just the nature of it.
And we're experiencing somestruggles, man, and it affects everybody,
it affects everybod body.
(30:21):
But at the end of the day, wewere getting taken advantage of pretty
badly.
And I know it's like it hurtsus in the pocket now.
So you want to like kind ofkick the can down the road.
I get it.
But man, it's going to happen sometime.
This was going to happen insome fashion one way or the other,
but.
It'S kind of like not savingenough and then you know, an emergency
(30:42):
happens and now you're bankrupt.
Right.
So you've got the tariffs andthat's hurting us.
And now you've got thegovernment shut down and there's
no snap benefits.
You know, I mean they say thatthey're coming but you know, right
now people did not receivethem on the first.
So you know, you just reallyjust kicked a man while he was down.
And it is very painful andvery scary for me to see.
(31:04):
Cg, you've launched your ownspice line, started publishing recipes
again.
You're also the ambassador forendofound, the Tampa Bay.
I really do say it's not.
You even heard it in themonologue that was natural for me.
The Tampa Bay Latin Chamber.
(31:25):
And you're also a finalist forthe philanthropist of the Year award
via Tampa Bay Business andWealth magazine.
I don't know how you are doingall these things, but how are you
balancing entrepreneurship and advocacy?
And advocacy.
You know, I'm very fortunateto have a strong team around me to
(31:46):
kind of help pick up the slackwhen I feel called to a cause.
But one of the ways that I tryto balance the two is I try to incorporate
my advocacy work which fillsmy cup with, you know, the business.
So for instance, March is, youknow, endowareness.
(32:07):
You know, I'll still be outdoing cooking segments and recipes
and all that, but I'm going totie them into maybe an anti inflammatory
or you know, something endorelated or like right now a lot of
my recipes are geared towardslow cost, you know, cooking.
So you're talkingendometriosis, right?
I am talking about endometriosis.
(32:28):
Okay, just want to be clearfor the audience.
Yeah, so endofound stands forthe Endometriosis foundation of America.
I am a stage 4 endowarrior.
I've been fighting this sinceI was 9 years old.
Multiple surgeries.
So it is a cause close to my heart.
Same thing with food insecurity.
You know, I'M very fortunatethat my mom was super crafty and
(32:50):
my brother and I never went hungry.
But that's not to say that Ididn't see the impacts of that.
And so that's why it's like,it's important to me, too.
Especially, you know, I thinkabout 16 million children that have
lost their SNAP benefits.
And now with the governmentshutdown, programs like Head Start
are also shutting down.
(33:11):
And that's a program wherechildren were being fed breakfast
and lunch.
You know, they're losing twomeals a day.
So, you know, in times likethis, it might not always be.
Be good for the business, butI feel like it's part of my core
values.
It's just part of who I am.
If, if my family, you know,anytime there's a crisis, I check
(33:31):
my kids, I check with myhusband, we're okay, then you know
what?
We've got it in us to go outand help someone else.
Amen to that.
By the way, audience, if youwant to learn more about CG's story
with endometriosis, go toHospitality Bites by Colleen Silk.
Terrific episode.
(33:52):
She's another podcasteraffiliated with Walk and Talk Media.
And it was a terrific,terrific episode.
Go check that out.
Cgf.
Somebody hears this episodeand can only take away one thing
from it.
What do you hope that it is?
(34:39):
I hope that we can shed theshame that maybe some of us might
have surrounding asking forhelp and seek assistance.
You know, there it's, I see itall over Facebook.
Who needs help with groceries?
You know, it's not easy to sayI need help, but please do that because
(35:02):
if it's out there, it, youknow, take it.
And so that's what I, that'swhat I really hope.
I hope that people come awayfrom this inspired to be crafty with
what they have to stretchtheir ingredients and to ask for
help.
I mean, so that was well said,obviously, and I concur 100%.
(35:22):
Thank you.
You know what?
I wanted a new too.
John Rosana Rivera and theempanadas from Savor St. Pete.
Girl, I love you.
I love her, too.
Yeah.
Ricardo from ta.
Babe from TA Ba Bay Bang.
I love you too, bro.
Cg, how are people finding you?
Domestic Gourmet everywhere.
(35:43):
Domestic gourmet.com for thoseno waste recipes and spices and Annada
oil.
And speaking of girl, let metell you something.
The, the donut, the, the frieddough, oh, my gosh.
I'm gonna like.
I, I'm craving it now.
I, I'm up to here, and I stillwant Moss.
I'm just saying.
(36:04):
All right, John, as always,baby Sam.
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