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When my mom was visiting us, on any given day you could find her sitting on the couch, with her laptop on the TV tray, watching Chef Roger Mooking stirring up amazing meals.\u00a0 She is so proud to share his birthplace of Trinidad, and she loves his style of cooking.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sure she\u2019ll be pleased to know that Roger is returning to the Cooking Channel for \u00a0a new season of Man Fire Food<\/a> premiering Tuesday, June 3rd at 8:00pm ET\/5:00pm PT.<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger is always on the go, but he took some time out from his super busy schedule to chat with me about how he keeps his children connected to culture, and how he manages his busy life as not only a musician and celebrity chef with multiple shows, but as a husband and dad of four girls aged 8 months to 7 years.<\/p>\n Eva: We know that you are a recording artist, celebrity chef, TV personality, cookbook author, and just an all around multi talented guy.\u00a0 Tell us how you fit being a dad into all of that.<\/strong><\/p>\n Photo Credit:<\/span> <\/span>Roger Mooking Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n Roger: It is quite simple. The family is my key priority, so even though I travel a lot for work, it\u2019s really because I need to work, to pay the bills of the family.\u00a0 I am fortunate enough to love what I do in all these endeavors, so it hardly feels like work.\u00a0 Most importantly, when I schedule my year, the first thing I put on the calendar for the entire year are all the kids\u2019 birthdays, mother\u2019s day, the wife\u2019s birthday \u2013 everybody\u2019s personal landmarks land on the calendar first, and everything else is scheduled around that. So it\u2019s quite simple.<\/p>\n Eva: So you put in all of the big things first and everything else has to work around that?<\/strong><\/p>\n Welcoming Baby #4 – Photo Credit:<\/span> <\/span>Roger Mooking Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n Roger: You know the family things are the most important. I vowed to myself and my family, the kids, that as much as possible, unless it is extenuating circumstances, that I would never miss a birthday or any major landmarks like that. I make it a point to be able to be around for those times. Sometimes I fly in for 24 hours and then fly out, but I\u2019m there.<\/p>\n Eva: Tell us a little about your kids. <\/strong><\/p>\n Roger: I have four girls, ages 7 to 8 months.<\/p>\n Eva: Are there any sayings or traditions that your wife and children have had to become accustomed to with living with a Caribbean dad? <\/strong><\/p>\n Roger: (laughs) Right now my parents are visiting.\u00a0 They just came in for the summer months \u2013 they are retired \u2013 so right now they are visiting the house where I live in Toronto.\u00a0 When they get up in the morning, they say, \u201cHow yuh goin\u2019?\u201d\u00a0 All the kids and my wife are picking up, \u201cHow yuh goin\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n Eva: So one of my favorites is learning plurals from Caribbean parents \u2013 have they figured out \u201ca pants\u201d and \u201ca shoes\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger: (laughs) They think I\u2019m crazy anyways, so they just know.\u00a0 They get the gist of what I\u2019m trying to say and then they gather it all up, you know?<\/p>\n Eva: So they kinda translate\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger: \u00a0For sure, for sure.<\/p>\n Little Roger – Photo Credit:<\/span> <\/span>Roger Mooking Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n <\/a>Eva: You were born in Trinidad and you are raising your kids in Canada, how do you keep them connected to Caribbean culture?<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger and His Grandfather – Photo Credit:<\/span> <\/span>Roger Mooking Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n <\/a>Roger: \u00a0It is interesting because I have a very dynamic cultural background. My grandfather came from China, and ended up in Trinidad, from my dad\u2019s side. My mother\u2019s side is Dutch, Spanish, African, Creole\u2026 As you know, Trinidad is a very diverse island in terms of the cultures that are specific on all of the different islands.\u00a0 It is very common for us to have dim sum for breakfast, roti for lunch, and perogi for dinner. It is always different.<\/p>\n Dim Sum – Photo Credit:<\/span> <\/span>Roger Mooking Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n Roger: I love to take them out and show them the dim sum, show them the different kinds, when it\u2019s Chinese New Year.\u00a0 They go and the dragons are dancing in the restaurant. We go out for pholouri and roti.\u00a0 Now they are deciphering, \u201cYou know Daddy, this is a better roti skin than the other one.\u201d They kind of have their favorites and they understand what\u2019s going on. I just try to expose them to as much things in the world [as possible] because that\u2019s how I was raised. I also think that the world is becoming a small, dynamic place, and by the time they are older, and adults, their understanding, and appreciation, and acceptance for everything in the world is going to be of paramount importance.<\/p>\n Photo Credit:<\/span> <\/span>Roger Mooking Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n Eva: I love when I go visit my dad and he cooks for all of us, my kids, my husband.\u00a0 He cooked for us when I was growing up, and hands down, my favorite food that he makes on the grill is corn, and off the grill, fry bake.\u00a0 What are your kids favorite Caribbean inspired foods on and off the grill?<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong> Photo Credit:\u00a0Roger Mooking Instagram<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Roger: They definitely love corn on the grill.\u00a0 Off the grill? I made some saltfish bouljol the other day, they really liked that. They loved it \u2013 I didn\u2019t know if they\u2019d like it or not, but they loved it.<\/p>\n Starting to make saltfish – Photo Credit:\u00a0Roger Mooking Instagram<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Eva: Everyone knows that one of the best foods to come off of an outdoor grill in the Caribbean is Jerk chicken.\u00a0 Are there any other foods like fish or crab that we can throw on the grill and give it a Caribbean flair? <\/strong><\/p>\n Roger: Definitely, you know fish is a common thing \u2013 obviously the Caribbean [we are] surrounded by ocean so there\u2019s lots of fresh fish all the time.\u00a0 Fish is a really really good option.\u00a0 Sometimes I\u2019ll wrap stuff in banana leaves and put it on the grill.\u00a0 It gives it a little bit of that char, the smokiness coming from the banana leaves and from the fire, but also gives it that tropical element as well. You can do chicken like that, you can do fish like that, you can do root vegetables like potatoes like that, plantain, sweet potato, yams.<\/p>\n <\/a>Eva: So you pretty much will put anything on a grill, right? Because that\u2019s what it sounds like. You just named fruit, fish, chicken\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger: The thing is, inside of a packet like that, you\u2019re basically steaming it, but you are also roasting it with the direct heat permeating the leaves.\u00a0 It is a really nice way of accomplishing a couple of things at the same time. Really diverse.<\/p>\n Eva: I love spicy Caribbean food, are there any spices other than jerk that work particularly well on an outdoor grill?\u00a0 Are there any that we should steer clear of? <\/strong><\/p>\n Roger: I think spices are really great for grilling to be honest\u2026 smoking\u2026 grilling. Whether you are smoking, let\u2019s say, sausages, it tastes really good with the smoke.\u00a0 The flavors open up if it\u2019s on the grill, they get a little char that can change the flavor just a little bit. I can think of any spices that I would stay away from.<\/p>\n Spices – Photo Credit:<\/span> <\/span>Roger Mooking Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n Eva: So that means that I could put curry on the grill if I wanted to? I could just go for it.<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger: Absolutely! You have to be careful of the cooking temperature because curry could burn, so you want to \u00a0cook that over a low or medium temperature.<\/p>\n Eva: What is the best way to get strong spicy flavors out of the cast iron so that it can be ready and not interfere with the next item going on the grill?<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger: I just do different things.\u00a0 I put one thing on the cast iron and I\u2019ll have a pot on the side.\u00a0 I\u2019ll have something directly cooking on top of the grill surface, so that everything is happening independently, but on the same cooking area. Some people are vegetarian and they don\u2019t want their food to be cooked on the part where there\u2019s meat.\u00a0 I\u2019m fortunate. I have three different barbeques in my backyard, so I can cook different things on each barbeque.<\/p>\n Eva: So you can control your temperature and things like that.<\/strong><\/p>\n Photo Credit:<\/span> <\/span>Roger Mooking Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n <\/a>Roger: Yeah, so I can do chicken, let\u2019s say \u2013 low and slow on one barbeque. I can have another one that is really hot and I can be searing steaks, and another one that has a tray on it that\u2019s caramelizing onions on one side that\u2019s a medium depth, and on the other side of the grill I\u2019m doing something else like hamburgers and hot dogs. A little while ago for one of my daughters\u2019 birthdays, I had all of them going doing different things just like that. I keep it centralized to one line so that it is all very efficient and I\u2019m in one place.<\/p>\n Photo Credit:\u00a0Roger Mooking Instagram<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Eva: My husband is American, and in our house, the grill is Dad\u2019s domain.\u00a0 How do we let him relax on Father\u2019s day, and cook for him, when we aren\u2019t allowed near his precious grill?\u00a0 We share a lot around here, but that is one thing that seems to be off limits.<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger: I kind of eschew that whole notion of it being gender specific.\u00a0 I just came from a location and the woman I met, she\u2019s an archeologist, she\u2019s an author, she\u2019s a chef, and she loves food. So she\u2019s in the middle of a long history, 35 years, of cooking with fire.\u00a0 She does it professionally, she knows about the food history of cooking with fire.\u00a0 She has a long history of understanding from digs, okay this is how they did an oven in this region, and she has a whole backyard full of all cooking equipment that she\u2019s built based on different cooking techniques. There\u2019s twenty different barbeques and grills and fire setups there, and her husband doesn\u2019t touch anything. She controls the fire. Just get up in there! Kick him out! Strap him to the table (laughs)!<\/p>\n Photo Credit:<\/span> <\/span>Roger Mooking Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n Eva: So if something goes down, I can call YOU right? I can say, look, Roger said\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger: (laughs) A lot of times it is a bonding thing \u2013 really they\u2019re just standing in front of the fire drinking the beer and talking trash. You can get in there and talk trash! It\u2019s all good!<\/p>\n Eva: Okay, well I got the talkin\u2019 trash thing down to a science \u2013 I got that. Whether he wants me to talk trash near his grill? We\u2019ll see how that goes.<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger: (laughs)<\/p>\n Eva: It is evident that you really LOVE music.\u00a0 You love listening to it, making it, you really study it.\u00a0 What is your favorite music, other than your own, to listen to when you are cooking?<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger: I listen to music a lot – usually in the car.\u00a0 If I\u2019m cooking its always a different scenario. Sometimes I listen to the radio, sometimes I listen to news. I\u2019ll listen to my ipod on shuffle, which has everything from Duran Duran, to kids music, to Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre\u2026 I\u2019m kind of open with it when it comes to that. Sometimes it is just best to be quiet, especially if I\u2019m developing recipes. I need to focus [to be sure] I\u2019m documenting things properly, so I really need to pay attention.\u00a0 Sometimes the music is really distracting because unfortunately, after so many years of doing music, I can\u2019t listen to music passively anymore.<\/p>\n It is a very active, engaged experience for me and I\u2019m listening to how it\u2019s mixed, and the tones, and the performances, technical things as well as creative and artistic things.\u00a0 I\u2019m no longer a passive listener [when it comes to] music. I wish I could listen to music and just put it on like background noise or something like that, but it is a very active experience for me.\u00a0 Sometimes it is just too difficult to be working on recipes and listening to the music at the same time. A mind can only take so much.<\/p>\n Eva: You do so many things, I\u2019m just imagining that you are writing songs and writing recipes \u2013 doing everything.<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger: When I am just cooking, that\u2019s when a lot of ideas come to me.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be singing, and a verse will come \u2013 some words \u2013 a string of words will come. Usually when I\u2019m just cooking casually is when those kinds of things come \u2013 and yeah it is very dynamic.\u00a0 But if I have to do recipes for work, I want to make sure that when people do my recipes, they actually turn out \u2013 so I\u2019m really focused on that.<\/p>\n Photo Credit:<\/span> <\/span>Roger Mooking Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n Eva: Your show title is very telling, and it isn\u2019t too hard to guess what the show will be about, but you are always full of surprises.\u00a0 What surprises can we expect on this season of Man Fire Food?<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger: There\u2019s lots.\u00a0 Our premiere day is June 3 at 8 pm EST. It is really cool \u2013 we start out doing a location in Centerville, Tennesee called Papa Kayjoe\u2019s.\u00a0 This guy is a part time preacher, part time restaurant owner\/operator, and he makes these amazing pulled pork sandwiches on ho cakes \u2013 which are like griddled cornbread basically \u2013 cooked in lard. He sandwiches [the pulled pork] between that – so delicious.\u00a0 We also go to another place with an old fine dining chef who\u2019s decided he wants to make some really good simple smoked foods.<\/p>\n Roger: So he\u2019s doing a bunch of things \u2013 we featured a couple of sandwiches, one called heaven, one called hell \u2013 one\u2019s really spicy, one\u2019s really open with open flavors. It\u2019s really dynamic.\u00a0 We are traveling to the furthest reaches of America to make sure we find this batch of really good locations and interesting personalities, interesting contraptions, and cool ways of cooking with the wood – different types of wood, and really dive in.\u00a0 It is becoming increasingly difficult to continue to find super engaging places but the team does a really good job of [not only] being really picky about making sure that it\u2019s going to be a really spectacular, engaging episode, but also making sure that it\u2019s going to be fun as well.<\/p>\n Eva: Can the recipes be found on a website so that [the viewers] can duplicate them, or is it more of just the experience of watching the different people create meals with fire?<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger: We try to make it a very wholistic experience, especially in today\u2019s world where so much is online and on the internet \u2013 people are tweeting, and it\u2019s really dynamic in crossing the boundaries between online space and the traditional television space and interactive media as well – it\u2019s an experiential thing.\u00a0 We try to make sure that, for instance, right now you can go and look at season 1 and 2 episodes online on the Cooking Channel website. For every episode that we shoot, every recipe that we feature is posted on the website as well. Sometimes a secondary recipe is featured on the website, so you can go and get a lot of that information and it continues to live online. The home of [it is] on Cooking Channel.\u00a0 It\u2019s driving and feeding the whole thing. So if you want to see new episodes you\u2019ve got to tune in and check them out, but you can see old episodes online.<\/p>\n The third season of Man Fire Food premiers Tuesday, June 3rd at 8:00pm ET\/5:00pm PT.<\/span><\/p>\n Roger Mooking is the host and co-creator of his own internationally\u00a0broadcast television series Everyday Exotic and host of Man Fire Food on Cooking Channel. Over the course of thirteen episodes, Roger uncovers the most unique cooking contraptions that produce mouthwatering recipes utilizing the most ancient cooking elements \u2013 fire. Along the way he not only indulges in delicious grilled dishes and barbecue but also meets the individuals cooking up the innovative recipes. He is the co-host of the hit show Heat Seekers on Food Network. To add to his growing plate, Roger\u2019s highly anticipated first cookbook Everyday Exotic: The Cookbook hit shelves in 2011. Additionally, Roger is a Juno award-winning recording artist whose album \u201cFeedback\u201d was released summer 2013. For Roger, music and the epicurean world are seamless. One feeds the body, the other the soul; it is all food in all its various forms.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n Cooking Channel Website: http:\/\/www.CookingChannel.tv<\/a><\/p>\n Cooking Channel Facebook: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CookingChannel<\/a><\/p>\n Cooking Channel Twitter: http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/CookingChannel<\/a><\/p>\n Roger\u2019s Website: http:\/\/www.rogermooking.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n Roger\u2019s Facebook: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RogerMooking<\/a><\/p>\n Roger\u2019s Twitter: https:\/\/twitter.com\/rogermooking<\/a><\/p>\n Roger\u2019s Instagram: http:\/\/instagram.com\/rogermooking<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When my mom was visiting us, on any given day you could find her sitting on the couch, with her laptop on the TV tray, watching Chef Roger Mooking stirring up amazing meals.\u00a0 She is so proud to share his birthplace of Trinidad, and she loves his style of cooking.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure she\u2019ll be pleased to know that Roger is returning to the Cooking Channel for \u00a0a new season of Man Fire Food<\/a> premiering Tuesday, June 3rd at 8:00pm ET\/5:00pm PT.<\/strong><\/p>\n Roger is always on the go, but he took some time out from his super busy schedule to chat with me about how he keeps his children connected to culture, and how he manages his busy life as not only a musician and celebrity chef with multiple shows, but as a husband and dad of four girls aged 8 months to 7 years.<\/p>\n![\"Roger](\"http:\/\/socamom.com\/w\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/roger_mooking_socamom_16_small.jpg\" "\\"Roger")
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