Questlove - Mixtape Potluck Cookbook A Dinner Party for Friends, Their Recipes, and the Songs They Inspire

Planted about two decades ago, back in Philly, was the seed that grew into the tree that forced open the floodgates of creativity, both artistically and socially. That seed was the original Black Lily Jam sessions. Back then, we sensedwe knewthat the thing that would unite us, that would help us make music and conversation, would be food. We hired a chef (thank you, Chef Terry!), and he cooked, and that cooking banded us together: We cooked as a band. Food is the oldest form of communication and community, and this is an attempt to replicate and renew that energy.

Food is also family, so I want to offer thanks to the people who provided the food memories that I hold near and dear to this day: to Nana and the Saturday pancakes at her house, which were a major event (sometimes it was Aunt Barbra or Uncle Junie); to Aunt Laura, who hosted the post-church soul-food gatherings; to my cousin Joanne, who is pretty much the best chef Ill ever know in this lifetime; to Mom, making her version of my fave arroz con pollo (translation roya ca poya); to Donn, making Jiffy Pop while we watched SNL and then Soul Train at 1 A.M. ; especially to Tariq and Richard for the surprise dishes theyd invent during our starving-artist days living in the UK. These memories live forever in my stomach, in my mind, in my heart. Thank you.

Martha Stewart

ric Ripert

Carla Hall

Tom Sachs

Fred Armisen

Martha Stewart

Dustin Yellin

Ardenia Brown

Ardenia Brown

Padma Lakshmi

Greg Baxtrom

Ignacio Mattos

Camille Becerra

Nyesha Arrington

Kelly Fields

Maya Rudolph

Shep Gordon

Tariq Trotter

Alex Stupak

Lilly Singh

Zooey Deschanel

Marisa Tomei

Edouardo Johnson

Flynn McGarry

Jessica Koslow

Amy Poehler

Haile Thomas

Kimbal Musk

Natalie Portman

Jessica Seinfeld

Ashley Graham

Mark Ladner

Humberto Leon

Tanya Holland

Kwame Onwuachi

Yvonne Orji

Jimmy Fallon

Carol Lim

Kevin Tien

Athena Calderone

Andrew Zimmern

J. J. Johnson

Mashama Bailey

Missy Robbins

Chris Fischer

Jessica Biel

Melody Ehsani

Dominique Ansel

Christina Tosi

Joey Baldino

Thelma Golden

Gabrielle Union

Kether Donohue

Dave Arnold

Matty Matheson

Stanley Tucci

Q-Tip

Jarobi White

Eric Wareheim

I was thrilled when Ahmir Khalib Thompsonaka Questloveasked me to write the foreword to his latest non-music venture, a cookbook titled Mixtape Potluck. Thrilled because the assignment was an opportunity to learn a little bit more about this apparently imposing musician who is always onstage leading the Tonight Show band when I do a skit on Jimmy Fallon. Thrilled because his interest in my food-related segments always intrigued me. Now, I can understand why he always stuck close during those segments, why he was so inquisitivehe is a foodie. And he is as truly involved with food as he is with music. He is eloquent about that interest, writing about food, caring about dishes, trying out recipes, and thinking about the effect that food, dishes, and recipes have on his friends and acquaintances.

For years, I was not a fan of potluck dinners. When I was growing up in the smallish town of Nutley, New Jersey, potluck connoted a buffet of random casseroles, most homemade, of varying goodness; big, somewhat ill-conceived salads; and Jell-O molds, box desserts, or bakery bought cakes. I always preferred making all the food myself, serving my guests my recipes and my creations, and leaving nothing to chance. But now that I have a show on VH1 with Questloves buddy Snoop Dogg, aptly named Martha and Snoops Potluck Dinner Challenge, of course I am interested in all things potluck, and especially in this new recipe book by Questlove.

I am curious about the types of recipes and music one would serve at a potluck designed by the inimitable Questlove. Of all the recipes hes been served on the Tonight Show, in restaurants, which would he choose to include in his collection of favorites? Which friends would he ask? How would he organize the dinner?

I was also curious how he would fit the potluck dinner into his larger set of activities. Questlove is omnipresent: He is in Puerto Rico one weekend DJing alongside a performance of Hamilton. The next week he might be at the Time 100 gala. And every night hes on TV with the Roots, providing music for the king of late night, Jimmy Fallon. Along the way, he eats, and pays attention to what hes eating, hobnobbing with chefs and cooks and cookbook authors. This book brings together not only a set of recipes from friends who have been invited to his dream potluck, but his unerring choices of what he calls Song Prompts for each recipe. When he asked Dominique Ansel to make a dessert, he had in his mind the Ohio Players Sweet Sticky Thing; the recipe turned out to be an amazing one, for cinnamon rolls. For my prompt, of course, he gave out Snoops Life of Da Party. The recipe I contributed should stay a secret until you get there. Hint: Its not that far into the book.

So thank you, Questlove, for this inspired book on a theme that is having a resurgence thanks to you, me, and Snoop, and all those other home cooks who want to treat their families, friends, and loved ones to something special, something personal, something homemade and good. I guess all of us want to be invited to one of Questloves potlucks. Ill bring something for any course you ask me to bring!

Martha Stewart

What Is a Mixtape Potluck?

Is it an idea? An event? A piece of performance art? A magic show? Does it involve dozens of people assembling in the same place at the same time? Is it capable of producing various kinds of satisfaction for the body and the mind?

The answer to all the questions except the very first one is yes, and the answers to all the others are the answer to the very first one.

For years now, I have been throwing dinner parties. I call them food salons. I have any number of people overnot any number, but the number variesand I invite chefs from the countrys top restaurants to cook for them. The chefs make dishes that can be eaten partly standing up, because thats what happens: people take their food on plates and walk around, talking, laughing, and telling stories. For the guest list, I try to draw on all the different worlds that Im lucky enough to be in: the music world, the TV world, the comedy world, the design world, the literary world, the technology world.