Sohla El-Waylly on Girl Dinner, Erewhon, and Food Influencers

Sohla El-Waylly has lent her glowing likeness and cooking chops to four different series, but she doesn’t want to be a food influencer. The chef, video host, and culinary producer got her big break on Bon Appetit’s Test Kitchen and broke the mold when she spoke out against racial discrimination at the publication and in the industry writ large, to much backlash. After parting ways with the company—and thriving in stints at Food52, with Off Script with Sohla, The History Channel’s Ancient Recipes with Sohla, and The Big Brunch on Max—she’s set her sights on her debut cookbook. Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook, out tomorrow, is a universal manual for home cooks, and in its honor, she gave us all her unpopular opinions on girl dinner, MSG, diversity officers, and finding a seat at the table.

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ROTISSERIE CHICKEN

“One of my go-tos, especially now that we have a newborn. [My baby’s] a month now. I shot a bunch of content in my last trimester that will be coming out over the next six months, so I’m going to look like I’ve been pregnant forever.”

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HOT ONES

“You can buy all the hot sauces in Chelsea Market. One day, when my husband and I are prepared to spend an afternoon using the bathroom, we’re going to play a Hot Ones game of our own at home.”

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PUMPKIN SPICE

“I don’t know why people hate it so much. It’s just American chai spice.”

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GORDON RAMSEY

“I think his anger is just an act. He’s one of the few celebrity chefs that are so legit.”

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 GIRL DINNER

“It’s just busy people dinner. Girls are busy people. Sometimes you’ve just got time for cheese and crackers, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

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THE BEAR

“I haven’t seen it, but everyone keeps telling me it’s incredibly stressful and I’m not mentally prepared for that. I’m only in the state for comedy and Pixar movies right now.”

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CULINARY APPROPRIATION

“So much of the discussion of it has been on the internet, and depending on who’s talking, it can be a little stupid. It’s a real thing when we’re talking about big companies or huge people with platforms taking something with a lot of history behind it and stripping it of its culture. But everyone at home should cook whatever the hell they want.”

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THE CARNIVORE DIET

“It just makes me think of constipation. That can’t be good for your colon.”

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POTLUCKS

“They’re amazing, and the best thing to do for Thanksgiving. Take the pressure off and have everyone bring a dish.”

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HELLOFRESH

“I’ve never used it, but it seems like a great way to learn how to cook because it’s low-stakes. You can try something new and you don’t have to buy a bunch of stuff you’re not going to use. Not sponsored.”

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DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

“Something that I think about a lot these days, because once something’s online, it just never dies. Be careful about what you put out there, kids.”

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BUTTER CHICKEN

“Delicious. Far superior to chicken tikka masala. It’s a very basic order, but when I want comfort food, that’s my go-to.”

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BUTTER BOARDS

“Disgusting. I think you should just have your butter on bread.”

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PREGNANCY CRAVINGS

“For me, it was my childhood favorites that I hadn’t eaten in a really long time, so I had a sudden burning desire to eat a lot of breakfast cereal. Lucky Charms were a staple. I had Eggo waffles and Pop-Tarts for the first time in a really long time.”

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ASKING FOR A RAISE

“Really scary, but you’ve got to do it at least once a year.”

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ZERO PROOF

“I was known for drinking a lot of whiskey and then, during pregnancy, I quit drinking. Now I’m breastfeeding, so I still can’t drink. I’m really excited for when I can have 100 proof again.”

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EREWHON

“I haven’t been because I live in New York, but I really want to find out what these $30 Hailey Bieber smoothies are all about. And I want to people watch.”

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DIVERSITY OFFICERS

“I’ve only experienced one at one place I’ve worked. All they did was make us do this two day training where we looked at photos of people and guessed their jobs. So we’d see a white guy and they’d be like, ‘What do you think his job is?’ Then you see a Black guy: ‘What do you think his job is?’ And it turns out the white guy is a serial killer. I don’t know what these officers do in other places, but my personal experience with it was like The Office.”

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A SEAT AT THE TABLE

“I think we need to make a new table and stop trying to get a seat at this old table that doesn’t work for so many of us.”

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MSG

“It’s a staple in my pantry, and I have a whole ode to MSG in my cookbook. The whole backlash against it is a little bit racist, and we need to get over it and use it because it makes all of your food taste better.”

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FUSION CUISINE

“I think it’s an outdated term because we live in such a globalized world that all food is fusion now. Calling something fusion others it in a way that I don’t like.”

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HATE MAIL

“I’m getting less of it these days, which is nice.”

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BURNING MAN

“Not really my scene, but I heard that there was a riot there. But isn’t that what Burning Man is? Just a contained riot?”

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PERPETUAL STEW

“It doesn’t seem like a good idea from a food safety perspective. You just need a little bit of bacteria to make yourself sick. Let’s just do fresh stews.”

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FOOD INFLUENCERS

“I guess there’s an influencer for everything now. I hope I’m not a food influencer.”