Your Mama’s Kitchen

How Pyet DeSpain Won Next Level Chef By Embracing Her Roots

Your Mama’s Kitchen

Show Notes

Chef, cookbook author, and winner of Next Level Chef, Pyet DeSpain, shares how her Mexican and Native American roots shaped her extraordinary culinary career. Pyet talks about growing up on the Osage Reservation in Oklahoma, debunks misconceptions about Native culture and cuisine, and pulls back the curtain on what it’s really like behind the scenes of a cooking competition show. Plus, she shares her recipe for Blue Corn Strawberry Tamales with Coconut Horchata Sauce! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More from Your Mama’s Kitchen

Oct 20, 2026

This week, we're welcoming Murray Hill to the mic - beloved NYC nightlife emcee, comic, actor and now author, of the new memoir, "Showbiz!" From a tough New England childhood to an expansive life onstage, Murray shares stories of resilience, hope and Rhode Island red strips (the best snack you've never heard of). That's showbiz, kids!

Oct 13, 2026

Chef Marcus Samuelsson joins Your Mama’s Kitchen to reflect on how his Ethiopian roots and Swedish upbringing shaped his relationship with food, culture, and home. He shares how his personal experiences inform his approach to hospitality at Red Rooster, where he’s made it his mission to ensure everyone feels welcome, represented, and like they belong at the table.

Oct 6, 2026

How do you share a house, a kitchen, and a week with 60+ relatives and still want to do it again next year? Award-winning actor Tony Shalhoub and his daughter Josie Adams, co-authors of the upcoming memoir "We Thought They'd Never Leave", share their family's rules for curating the perfect family week under one roof. It's a primer for anyone with a beach house, a holiday crowd, or a family that wants to stay close. Tony also takes us back to his childhood kitchen in Green Bay, with his nine siblings, and a basement stove where his aunties baked Syrian bread for the whole neighborhood. Plus, we learn to make warm stuffed grape leaves and a Lebanese green bean dish called Loubieh.

Sep 29, 2026

Your Mama’s Kitchen is back! We’re kicking off our new season with best-selling author Min Jin Lee (“Pachinko”), whose latest book, “American Hagwon,” hits shelves on Sept 29. In today’s episode, Min Jin takes us inside the kitchen in Elmhurst, Queens where her family built a new life after immigrating from Korea. Around the table, food became a language for everything they were carrying: pride, sacrifice, exhaustion, and the weight of starting over in America. It’s an intimate story of immigration, and how the kitchen table shaped her writing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sep 22, 2026

Your Mama's Kitchen is cooking up a whole new season of stories - and it all starts with one simple question that opens the door to so much more: "Tell me about your mama's kitchen." Every week, acclaimed journalist Michele Norris (NPR's All Things Considered, MSNOW) invites guests to explore the complexities of family, and how their earliest culinary experiences shaped their personal and professional lives. Your Mama’s Kitchen is a podcast about cuisine and culture, ingredients and identities, and the meals and memories that make us who we are. New episodes drop every Tuesday.

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