26
FOOD CREATES FAMILY
For chef Carla Lalli Music, food brings people together.
by CRAIG HUBERT
“Food is a really important part of our family,” says
the Fort Greene chef and cookbook author Carla Lalli
Music. Before the pandemic, Lalli Music, her husband,
and children would have to squeeze in time for meals
between daily activities and responsibilities. It was
something that always nagged at her. When the pandemic
forced her family inside, like so many others, she
realized she could not take it for granted. “This was one
thing that felt really, really special,” she says. “There was
a lot to be grateful for, but this was one of them.”
That special feeling can be felt in Lalli Music’s new
cookbook, “That Sounds So Good: 100 Real-Life Recipes
for Every Day of the Week,” published by Clarkson
Potter, an imprint of Random House. The title comes
from a phrase repeated by her father, the journalist and
author Frank Lalli, when he approves of something they
are planning for a family meal. “But it really came out
of realizing that the most valuable and rewarding part
of helping people cook is what it does in their lives,”
she adds. “That's obviously where my love of food came
from and why I cook. It all started with that feeling.”
Aimed at both the beginner home chef and the more
experienced kitchen dwellers, complete with alternate
ingredient lists and encouragement to improvise, “That
Sounds So Good” is brimming with energy and fresh
ideas. Lalli Music, a former editor at Bon Appétit and
host of their popular web show “Back to Back Chef”
(and current host of shows via Patreon and Instagram
Live), spoke to Brownstoner about the ways cooking
has changed during the pandemic, being inspired by
the community around her, and why hosts should relax
when entertaining this holiday season.
FOOD
Carla Lalli Music.
Photos by Andrea Gentl
and Martin Hyers.