Padma Lakshmi said the US is in a “very dark period” that may worsen before improving, speaking at an Asia Society conversation hosted with The Culture Tree.
She hopes her new cookbook sparks curiosity about diverse American communities, using food as a bridge to understand people and their stories.
Emphasising shared human values, Lakshmi said connection—not confrontation—is key to combating division and bringing people closer.
Padma Lakshmi: Very Dark Period in US Right Now
Author says curiosity and connection can counter division in the US
Summary
Padma Lakshmi, an Indian-American TV celebrity and culinary expert, expressed concern about the present "dark period" in the US and voiced hope that her new book would inspire people from every community to connect during these trying times.
She added that before the light eventually returns, this time would most likely "get darker."
"Padma's All American: Tales, Travels, and Recipes from Taste the Nation and Beyond," Lakshmi's most recent cookbook, honours the rich culinary and immigration diversity of America.
Chronicled through personal stories and recipes brought together from a spectrum of immigrant and Indigenous communities. The book’s chapters contain profiles of individuals from various backgrounds whom she met while travelling across the country.
Lakshmi expressed optimism that her new book will spark people's curiosity about different communities and help them connect with other cultures and fellow citizens during a period of rising anti-immigrant sentiment in the US and other areas of the world.
"We’re in a very dark period in our country right now, and I'm afraid to say that it's probably going to get darker before the light finally comes back,” Lakshmi said during a conversation hosted here last month at Asia Society in partnership with The Culture Tree, which promotes South Asian culture through educational and enrichment programs and celebrations.
When asked what she wants people to take away from her new book, Lakshmi voiced hope that the book would make people "more curious about your fellow Americans, your Cambodian Americans, your Peruvian Americans, your Nigerian Americans." "We all live, especially in New York, in a very diverse country where people across the street will be speaking a different language, eating different kinds of foods, praying to a different God, but oftentimes, because of those differences, we don't walk across the street or get to know them.”
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The Emmy-nominated food expert, television producer and bestselling author hoped that through the diverse recipes and food chronicled in her book, “I'm enticing you with the food, if you like the food, that you'll be curious about the people from which that recipe comes.” “I hope you take the time to read all of the profiles because I met some extraordinary people, everyday people, but extraordinary stories. And I want us to know each other more, so that we hopefully talk with each other more,” she said in the conversation moderated by Founder and CEO of The Culture Tree, Anu Sehgal.
At a time like this, Lakshmi said that if through her cookbook, she can do anything “without wagging my finger at people or standing on my soapbox" to help "combat that darkness and bring us closer.
“Because in the end, we all want the same things. We all want to take care of our elders when they age. We all want our children to flourish and be safe and healthy. We all want a roof over our family's head where we can all thrive. Those aren't Chinese values or Colombian values. They're just human values,” she said to a round of applause from the audience.
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Lakshmi got married to India-born author Salman Rushdie in 2004. The pair got divorced three years later.
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