Kamala Harris conquered Americans with her culinary skills: what dishes she bragged about online

Kamala Harris is a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination. Joe Biden has high hopes for her. Each of the leaders and contenders has been involved in the culinary arts in one way or another, but no one has been as close as Kamala.

The New York Times, a well-known American publication, wrote about the woman's culinary skills. The article also mentioned the skills of other political figures.

Several politicians showed a keen interest in cooking. Dwight Eisenhower used to grill steaks directly on charcoal. Jimmy Carter considered himself a master of country cooking. Abraham Lincoln always wore an apron when he cooked.

But no candidate so close to the White House has the kitchen skills of Vice President Kamala Harris, who is vying for the Democratic presidential nomination. Just as Donald Trump uses the golf course as a source of relaxation, Ms. Harris uses the kitchen.

"I don't think there's been anyone who has understood the power of cooking as well as Kamala," said Alex Prudhomme, who wrote Dinner with the President: Food, Politics, and the Story of Breaking Bread at the White House.

Ms. Harris discussed cooking in a political context. She is particularly interested in food issues such as hunger and farm work. But she also turns to cooking as a meditation.

"Everything else can be crazy, I can be on six airplanes in one week, and what makes me feel normal is cooking a family dinner on Sunday," she told The Cut in 2018, when she was a senator. "If I cook, I feel like I'm in control of my life."

A president's affinity for food can influence both diplomatic efforts and agricultural policy, and even help define the president's personality. Ronald Reagan made jelly beans a status symbol. Mr. Trump has embraced fast food. Joe Biden relied on his love of ice cream. If Ms. Harris becomes president, she may make bolognese her dish of choice.

In a 90-second video from 2019 that recently resurfaced on social media, she tells a reporter how to cook a Thanksgiving turkey during a sound check before it was shown on MSNBC. Ms. Harris advises that a dry marinade is better than a wet one: "Salt and pepper everything," she said.

Ms. Harris first learned to cook from her mother, Shyamala Gopalan. "My mother used to say to me: 'Kamala, you obviously love to eat,'" she told Glamour magazine when she first sought a nomination in 2020. "You should learn to cook."

Ms. Harris scrolls through cooking websites and relaxes at the end of the day by reading cookbooks. (Her favorites are by Italian chef Marcella Hazan and California chef Alice Waters.) Her culinary skills can be seen in her short YouTube series Cooking with Kamala, filmed during the 2020 campaign. She breaks an egg with one hand and does it so well that even Chef Tom Colicchio praised her.

The woman's home kitchen has enameled pans, a gas stove and a pot near the stove, a variety of spatulas and spoons - the arsenal of any competent home cook.

Cooking and political connections

Ms. Harris combined cooking and politics during her first presidential bid. In one YouTube video with six million views, she visited the kitchen of actress Mindy Kaling. The two compared notes about growing up in South Indian families, making masala dosa and being surprised that their parents kept spices in empty jars.

Ms. Harris also baked monster cookies with a teenager who was planning to host a caucus for her in Iowa, and visited her Iowa campaign chairman's kitchen to cook apples and bacon, making sure both the apples and bacon were from Iowa.

During the pandemic, she took to Instagram Live to receive an egg cooking lesson from Jose Andres and showed Mr. Colicchio how to make Moroccan meatballs while discussing the impact of restaurant closures. She mocked Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, for his viral video of a microwave melted tuna sandwich, showing off her better version.

"Of course, if she does make it to the White House, there's probably not going to be a lot of time to cook," said Sam Kass, who was the White House chef during the Obama administration. But this does not mean that she will not find time.