Waffles + Mochi has released on Netflix introducing children and families to different food and cultures with each episode. During one episode, Chef Bricia Lopez shows Waffles and Mochi how to cook delicious Latin recipes, including her famous mole.

Note: I was invited as media to the series screening and interview. However any personal views expressed are always 100% my own.

To celebrate the release of Waffles & Mochi, I interviewed Chef Bricia Lopez about her episode, which highlighted using salt and her advice for families who want to cook more together.

How Bricia Lopez became part of Waffles & Mochi

The production team for Waffles & Mochi reached out and shared the show idea promoting cooking and healthy eating with children. They visited my home, I made mole and learned that my episode would focused on the importance of salt.

Which made me so happy. I was so excited because I absolutely love salt. To be able to represent salt with such an iconic Oaxacan dish like mole, was an absolute honor.

It was so much fun to have Waffles and Mochi here, to be able to cook with them and have my family a part of it. My son is so excited to see himself in the show. You have no idea.

How did you decide which recipe to highlight for Waffles & Mochi

In my episode, Waffles & Mochi had just come from making cookies for Mrs. Obama, and understanding the way that salt really enhances flavor. It's a flavor enhancer at the end of the day. So I just thought that chocolate and salt enhance the flavor of mole.

Mole is not a chocolate sauce, by any means. I think that's a misconception it has. So I really wanted to bring it out and represent it in a way that people would relate to.

The way that salt enhance flavor, so does chocolate. It's a balance of sweetness and savory, that make mole such an important dish in our culture. And really it's a combination of so many flavors to create something new. So that why we chole mole.

Tips for Sharing Culture and Cooking Together

I was so blessed to grow up in Oaxaca, in an atmosphere where my mom would make home cooked meals everyday. So I grew up watching her, learning from her and looking up to her. I think because of that, I just innately gravitated towards that.

For me, I think that I was able to transfer that knowledge to my children by being present in the kitchen with them every day.

Also I have a restaurant, where we focus on Oaxacan cooking. Being able to have those two things together, it allowed me to show that to my kid.

I look at the kitchen, like a sport. My child right now isn't involved in any sports, but he's involved in the kitchen. And I think the same level of excitement he'd feel making a goal or basket, that's the same feeling he gets when finishes a dish.

I let him be, I don't control anything. I don't say that's to much or that's to little. It was difficult for me in the beginning, because I wanted to that's to much, or your going to break something, or going to cut your finger.

But I let go and said, I can't control him. That's the only way he's going to gain self autonomy, and gain confidence. I'm having so much fun watching him.

Waffles + Mochi is now streaming on Netflix.

Synopsis

Once upon a thyme, deep in The Land of Frozen Food, lived two best friends named Waffles and Mochi with one shared dream: to become chefs! The only problem? Everything they cooked was made of ice.

When these two taste-buddies are suddenly hired as the freshest employees of a whimsical supermarket, they’re ready for the culinary adventure of a lifetime.

With the help of friendly new faces like the supermarket owner, Mrs. Obama, and a magical flying shopping cart as their guide, Waffles and Mochi blast off on global ingredient missions, traveling to kitchens, restaurants, farms and homes all over the world, cooking up recipes with everyday ingredients alongside renowned chefs, home cooks, kids and celebrities.

Whether they’re picking potatoes in the Andes of Peru, sampling spices in Italy, or making Miso in Japan, these curious explorers uncover the wonder of food and discover every meal is a chance to make new friends.

Puppeteers: Michelle Zamora (Waffles), Russ Walko (Mochi and Intercommy), Jonathan Kidder (Busy), Diona Elise Burnett (Steve the Mop and voice of Magicart), Taleia Gilliam (Shelfie), Andy Hayward (puppet swing), Piotr Michael (voice of Mochi), George Konner (voice of Intercommy)

Showrunners: Erika Thormahlen & Jeremy Konner
Executive Producers: Erika Thormahlen, Jeremy Konner, Tonia Davis, Priya Swaminathan, Barack and Michelle Obama

To learn more, visit - www.netflix.com/title/81035680