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With the countdown now on for the next US president to be revealed, we turn the spotlight on another of Kamala Harris‘s great passions: gastronomy. A sentiment she has demonstrated both through her culinary prowess and the cooking shows she has starred in, or the diet she follows; which differs diametrically from that of her opponent Trump.
Harris could represent the most precise intersection between food and politics, as the greatest gourmand and chef in US presidential history, who could very soon make it to the White House kitchen.Is Kamala Harris the most foodie presidential candidate in US history?
Cooking for Kamala
The Democratic candidate has turned her cooking videos into powerful campaign assets; while demonstrating a deep interest in food issues such as hunger and farm labour. Following that line of activist gastronomy, some of the world’s top chefs went online to prepare Harris’ roast chicken recipe as part of ‘Cooking for Kamala‘; which went on to raise more than $250,000.
From chef José Andrés to American Niki Nayama, they rallied around the figure of Kamala Harris to support the presidential candidate with the most culinary skills on the political scene. The ‘Cooking for Kamala’ programme would begin to cook in early August, just as Harris became the Democratic presidential candidate. That grassroots project would lead to a big Zoom event that would take place yesterday, 29 August.
The initiative, led by Congresswoman Eric Swalwell (CA-14), also brought together chefs of the calibre of Suzanne Goin, Susan Feniger and Stuart O’Keefe to raise funds for Harris’ campaign while celebrating his powerful figure and political legacy.
Meditative cooking
Beyond the political symbolism, Kamala sees cooking as a kind of meditative practice to escape and disconnect from her busy schedule. She told The Cut in 2018, when she was a senator. ‘Everything else can be crazy, I can be on six planes in a week, and what makes me feel normal is making Sunday night family dinner.’ ‘If I’m cooking, I feel like I’m in control of my life.’
The vice-president similarly glimpses her culinary passion through a collection of cookbooks. Not to mention her own cooking show titled ‘Cooking with Kamala’, which is set to premiere on YouTube in 2019. In one episode, Harris visits Iowa, where she cooks her mother’s recipe for bacon fried apples; while in another she bakes caramel-filled ‘monster biscuits’. Kamala has also shared a kitchen with stars such as José Andrés for an Instagram Live video share; as well as with actress Mindy Kaling in another clip in which they make the South Indian dish known as ‘Masala dosa’.