My good friend, Von Diaz, was born in Puerto Rico, and grew up in Atlanta.

She's an award-winning documentarian, food historian and cookbook author who explores culture, memory, and ancestry.

Today she joins us in the kitchen to share vibrant recipes that celebrate global island cooking.

Well good morning, my friend.

- Hi Sheri.

- How are you?

- I'm so, good.

- You know, I was thinking as I was getting ready this morning, you and I have known each other a little- over 10 years.

- Okay.

- We've had dinner, we've hung out.

You know what we talk about?

We talk about how we're both fascinated that recipes and cooking can tell the stories of people's lives, their community, their culture.

We have that in common 'cause it's a universal thing.

- It is, it is.

And I was so excited when you told me we were gonna be working with spicy peppers, which I call chiles 'cause this is an ingredient that I did not grow up using.

- [Sheri] Right.

- But I learned a lot about chiles when I was working on my book, Islas, and I have all kinds of things to share.

- Well, that's good.

- Yeah.

- [Sheri] What are we making?

- Okay, so we are gonna start with Pikliz, which is a Haitian, starts out as a slaw and turns into a condiment- as it ferments.

- Really.

- And then we're gonna be making gato pima, which are lentil fritters, beautifully spiced lentil fritters from the Island of Seychelles.

- That is great.

Alright, how do we get started?

- This is gonna be really difficult.

We're gonna start by combining all of these ingredients.

- [Sheri] Okay.

Sweet peppers.

- Mm mm, yep.

And then we're gonna add this beautiful cabbage.

[dish tapping] We're gonna add these beautiful carrots.

[soft music] We got some bread onions here.

And then now we're gonna start adding these spicy chiles.

So, this is a sliced Scotch Bonnet pepper.

Now, we got some scallions, we're gonna throw in there.

And then here and I'm just doing this in whatever order- I want.

- Okay.

- I got some peppercorns.

- Uh huh.

- Some cloves.

- And then, of course, salt.

So, from here- - Uh huh.

- [Von] I'm gonna add some lime juice.

- [Sheri] Okay.

- And a glass of red vinegar.

- Vinegar.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- So, traditionally, if I wasn't making this with you in your kitchen- - Uh huh.

- I might just actually toss this with my hands.

- Get your hands in.

- Do you crush it, just a little bit with- that salt in.

- Yeah.

- Little bit.

- You can kind of macerate it, you know.

- Uh huh.

- But basically it's ready to go from here.

- And you're putting it in a glass jar- - That's right.

- Because that's storage [objects knocking] and utility, right?

- Exactly.

So, now we're gonna finish up the Pikliz.

We're gonna [liquid pouring] just do it like that.

- Oh, that's smart.

- Get all those little- - And I'll get all those last guys in a moment.

[dish tapping] Just pour this on top.

And then- - So, that's gonna become a brine, almost like [object knocking] a pickling liquid.

- Exactly.

Exactly.

[top scraping] - Right, you wanna be sure it's good and secure.

[liquid shaking] - [Sheri] And give it the old shake.

- [Von] Yep.

That's it.

- All right, my friend.

Let me put this sit over side- - Okay.

- And then I hear fritters in our future.

- Yes.

- Alright.

[upbeat music] - [Von] We've got our lentils here.

[processor grinding] - [Sheri] Yep.

- And so now we're just gonna start adding little bits of water.

[processor grinding] - Mm mm, yeah.

[processor button clicks] - So, it will hold its shape.

- Mm mm.

- It's not too loose.

It's not too tight.

- Exactly.

[soft music] - So, we're gonna make these fritters now.

- Okay.

- I'm really excited for you to try them.

they're a bunch of really exciting ingredients, right.

We've got onions, we've got some cilantro that's chopped up.

We've got ginger, we've got garlic.

And then these are the aromatics, right?

- Okay.

- So, we've got cumin seed.

It's a lot of cumin.

It's actually very, very good.

Salt, of course.

black pepper.

This is minced curry leaves.

And then the last ingredient here is some red Bird's eye chiles.

So, we're gonna start mixing these things.

I'll give it an initial stir.

So, I just wanna get, in particular, the onions and, and the garlic and the ginger are the things that you wanna be really well combined - So, that everyone's gonna have a bite.

- Exactly.

And listen, this doesn't have to be perfect.

Let's just blend them up and then fry 'em in oil, because fried things taste good.

- I love the scoop idea, because they're gonna be more or less the same size.

- That's right.

- So, we'll just start- - [Sheri] Okay.

[scoop clicking] - Right about like that.

I think.

[scoop scraping] Like hummus ice cream.

- [Sheri] So, it looks we have enough to get started.

- [Von] Yep.

- I love that you've set up a fry station here.

- Absolutely, you gotta do it.

They're well formed, right.

- Uh huh.

- It's okay if they stick a little bit.

It's not a big deal.

And then just gonna set 'em right in- - the oil.

- I love how you're loading 'em in there.

You're not plopping them from on high.

- [Von] That is the number one thing that people do wrong with frying.

[soft music] - I like that you're spacing them apart, 'cause they're not gonna stick to each other.

They're not gonna stick to the bottom of the pot.

- [Von] That's right.

- [Sheri] And then what are we looking for?

- They are gonna brown.

So, this is a pro tip that I learned from a woman- in Curacao.

- Look at you.

- Instead of using a spatula, I just kind of move them around in the pan with these chopsticks, which do perfectly fine.

So, you don't want them to be too brown and then- - Want [indistinct] spoon.

- Yep, it's time to move these here.

[spoon tapping] - [Sheri] That's really fast.

Look how beautiful they are.

And there's no, I was interested, there's no dredge.

We didn't have to dust them in anything, they held together and made that gorgeous, even color, - They'll keep frying a little bit when they're off heat.

So, that's why I took them out when they were- - Okay.

- That color.

So, I'm gonna keep this here.

You can try one of these that are right here.

- Already.

- I think so.

- I'm gonna take the one that had personality.

Mm mm mm, alright, [fritter crunching] I'm getting ahead of the meal, I'm gonna do it later with the dipping sauce too.

[chewing] - [Von] Mm mm, yes, the theme of- - Oh my goodness.

- [Von] Aren't they tasty?

- Wow!

You know what it is?

It's like it's turned up the volume on everything.

I taste more cumin, more of the chile, more of the curry leaf.

It's all in there.

But that heat has just brought it all out, in the perfect level of crunch.

- I'm also seeing this in your hand right now.

It looks like a hush puppy.

- [Sheri] It does look like a hush puppy.

- Looks like hush puppy.

- Yeah.

Hush puppies wish they were this.

[Von laughs] Mm mm mm, these are so good as is.

But I hear there's a sauce, right?

- Yes.

Yes.

We're gonna make a spiced yogurt sauce.

- Oh gosh, let's do that.

- So, we're gonna make this super wonderful simple yogurt sauce.

That's to go with our gato pima.

The ingredients that are key to me are cucumber, lime juice.

We've got our spices here.

We've got garam masala, and then mint and cilantro.

So, yeah, here with my famous rotating bowl motion, [whisk scraping] I add the cucumber last.

And, and I like to let this sauce sit for a moment in the refrigerator.

- Look at our little tableau here.

- [Von] Ummm!

- I am loving this.

- I can't wait.

- Guide me through this.

If you were to walk up to this or serve this to friends, what would you tell them to do?

- So, depending on the level of comfort, so, we're friends, right?

I would start just right, right like that.

- Okay.

- [Von] That's the first thing I do.

- [Sheri] I would do that.

[fritters crunching] - Mm.

- That is so good.

- Mm mm mm mm.

- Mm mm mm mm.

- And they're like.

It's that lime juice, I think in the yogurt sauce that...

Okay, then I'm gonna do this.

So, even though these come from completely different parts of [indistinct].

This is from Haiti in the Caribbean.

This is from the Seychelles, which is in the Indian Ocean, tiny, tiny island near the Maldives.

But I believe that these things are gonna [spoon tinkling] go really well together.

- So, you're gonna put that right on top.

- I am.

- I'm watchin' friend.

- I think that the Seychellois would be down with this.

They love, love, love, love spicy food.

- [Sheri] This is hitting on all cylinders.

Mm mm mm, so good.

Just eat this and be happy every time.

- [Von] So, happy to feed you Sheri.

- Mm, thank you my friend!

We gotta do this again.

- Please.

- All right.

[soft music] [bright music]