Ep 393: Food, Love, Family, and Creative Courage with Suzanne Barr

For Suzanne Barr, one of North America’s most respected chefs, food has to be about more than just an incredible tasting dish; food is joy, it’s happiness, it’s comfort, it’s healing, and understanding where it comes from is part of being an active participant in the human experience. 

Suzanne’s book, My Ackee Tree is a book that looks back on the forty plus years of Suzanne’s life including being raised in Plantation, Florida and studying in places like New York, Hawaii and The South of France. 

Writing this memoir was a deeply personal experience and in episode 393, Suzanne explains what it was like to accurately recall her past while also allowing space for big feelings, both during the writing process and then again once the book was released. 

This episode is one big intimate conversation about food, love, family, and creative courage that covers topics like: communing with our ancestors, understanding where our food comes from, how difficult it is to write a book and why we can all be great cooks when we remove the pressure to be “good” and allow inspiration to lead us. 

Listen to episode 393 now! And then read My Ackee Tree for more from Suzanne including Jamaican recipes and proverbs in the native Jamaican dialogue. 

In episode 393 of the Embodied Podcast we discuss:

• [1:35] Suzanne’s favorite way to commune with the universe through meditation
• [4:00] What it looks like to commune with our ancestors
• [4:30] The cultural experience of burying family members in Jamaica
• [7:45] Elizabeth’s decolonization process
• [11:19] How Elizabeth and Suzanne met
• [11:39] The powerful emotional effect food can have individuals
• [14:00] Responding to the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas
• [16:32] Suzanne’s journey with food - what got her so passionate about it
• [18:57] Food as more than just an incredible dish
• [20:10] The importance of understanding where food comes from and the effect it has on the body
• [23:10] Suzanne’s culinary education in Hawaii
• [29:12] The different names of farmer’s markets around the world
• [29:40] The future of our world’s food supply chain
• [32:00] Prayer of gratitude Elizabeth prays over her meals
• [33:52] Suzanne’s book writing experience
• [39:48] Suzanne’s memoir, “My Ackee Tree”
• [41:40] An interview question Suzanne did not expect to receive on her book tour
• [46:09] Why and how proverbs were included in “My Ackee Tree.”
• [50:19] Challenges of writing memoirs that include relatives and painful experiences
• [54:13] Where inspiration can be found for all creators, whether or not their chefs

For full show notes and resources, head to https://untameyourself.com/podcasts/393

About the EMBODIED Podcast with Elizabeth DiAlto 

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