Flavor Flav is hip hop’s most revered and celebrated hype man, point blank. Flav stays on everyone’s lips due to consistently staying active, forever maintaining his pop culture relevancy.
On the culinary side, Flav has an undying appetite for giving back and nourishing through food and cooking — sharing in our exclusive interview that in 1978 he received a culinary certificate in Institutional Cooking (cooking for over 400 people) and learned to cook through his family’s restaurant, the Soul Diner. Not only that, but Flav shared that his signature fried chicken recipe is a legend in itself.
We caught up with Flav recently to dish about his experiences dining abroad with his son. We got the down low on Flav’s salty-sweet creation involving potato chips and butter cookies, as well as his obsession with orange Tic Tacs. We also learned what packaged pastries made the cut when Flav goes on tour, what non-alcoholic drinks he takes from the minibar after being four years sober, and all of his other favorite top food picks.
What food and snacks are on your rider?
I have a lunch meat plate with cheese and all of that stuff. Red Bull, Gatorade, Flintstones vitamins. Usually, that’s about it. I don’t drink alcohol anymore, but I used to have Hennessy on my rider. But no more alcohol for yo boy, so I don’t get to see that anymore.
How about when you’re in the studio? What kind of food or snacks or drinks do you like to have on deck when you’re recording?
I like pizza and potato chips, Doritos, popcorn, all that great stuff.
Can you tell us a little bit about what you’re doing with Smartfood?
I am hyping up all the flavors that they have. They got these flavors of popcorn that they want to bring out to the world. I don’t feel like no other better ambassador to do that than your boy, Flavor Flav.
What’s your favorite flavor of Smartfood Popcorn?
I’ve tried them all, and I like them all. The one that really caught my attention most was the white cheddar. Like if you eat movie theater butter popcorn, it takes me back to being a kid, going to the movies again because it’s one of the most iconic flavors. And back in the days, that was the only flavor.
Before they started cheesing it up and everything. I mean, I like sweet and salty stuff, too. So, the sweet and salty kettle corn, man, when I eat that, man, my taste buds go crazy.
I’ve always been a big fan of Doritos. So, to be able to taste Doritos flavor on popcorn is incredibly-crazy. That’s why it’s hard to single out a flavor because I love them. I love them all. I’m just being honest.
Would you say that you’re 50-50 when it comes to sweet and savory snacks, or is it more one or the other?
No, I’m 50-50. I like to take a chocolate bar with some caramel inside of it, and I take a bite of that. And then, I put some pretzels and stuff in my mouth with salt. I take bite of that bar, that chocolate bar with the caramel inside of it, take some pretzels, put it in my mouth and chew it all up together. And man, the taste buds go crazy.
How about on the healthy side of things? As you’ve matured and age, are there any healthy snacks or foods that you really like to have around?
The only healthy snack that I really, really have out there that I do eat is the salad snacks. You get these little salad snacks that have the salami and cheese in it. You break it open, throw in your ranch, mix it all up. I like to have a few of those while I’m out on the road as well.
When you get to your hotel are you hitting the mini bars?
I used to hit the mini bars hard, man. I’ve been sober now going on four years. So, anytime I do hit the mini bars, usually, for a Coke or a Sprite. The little grapefruit drinks that they have in there.
Are there any cities or places that you really look forward to because they have great food?
I just recently came from a couple of cruises. Like I was over in Barcelona, they got good food over there. We went to Spain, we went to a place called Portofino. Oh my God, the food there was so incredible, man. Greece too, very incredible food. And also, when we were over in Italy, we were up in Rome. Oh my God. Man… It was great. And not only that, but there was a place that we went to while we were all in Rome, I even had to order seconds. And usually, after I eat my first, I’m out.
Well, let’s talk about your experience at the Olympics, did you like the food in Paris? What are some of things that you ate there that you really liked?
Well, while I was over in Paris, I kept it kind of simple. I’m a real funny-style eater. I’m not too big on experimenting with foods. I ate a lot of chicken dishes, a lot of steak dishes. I had my son with me, and his favorite was steak and fries. So, I did a lot of steak and fry nights. I did some chicken Parmesan nights, because we did find some Italian food while we were over in Paris.
Some people tried to get me to taste some caviar and all of that, and I’m like, “nah, that’s all right, I’m good.” No caviar, no anchovies for your boy. I’ll leave that to all of those that like it. I ain’t tried no escargot, no snails for your boy, man.
I did get a culinary arts certificate back in 1978, so when it comes down to escargot and all of that stuff, I know how to make it. I can make it for you. I’m just not eating it.
Since you just laid out that you have a culinary certificate, what made you get into that? What are some of your favorite things to cook?
My family, we used to own a diner called the Soul Diner a long time ago. I always watched my mom’s and my sisters cook. I came up with my own recipe for fried chicken. Fried chicken is my specialty. I call it FFZ, Flav Fried Chicken.
I ain’t going to lie, but my chicken is the best chicken. And I’ve been told this by people who’ve tried my chicken, they said, “Flav, I swear to you, this is the best chicken that I’ve ever ate”. I’m like, “Wow. Amazing”. I watch my mom’s and them cook, watching my dad and them cook. Then, I finally ended up going to school for cooking, and I took up institutional cooking. What institutional cooking is is when you make pans of rice pilaf or Fettuccine Alfredo, or Crêpes suzettes for 400 people at one time.
That’s called institutional cooking. That’s the cooking that I went and I took up. I ended up running some restaurants in my day.