About this episode

Catherine Smart interviews chef Ham El-Waylly about his journey back to home cooking and the impact of his multicultural upbringing and personal loss on his culinary creativity.

On this episode of Not From Concentrate , Catherine Smart talks with chef and cookbook author Ham El-Waylly about the surprising journey that led him from fine dining back to the food that first shaped him. Raised between Egyptian, Bolivian, and Qatari cultures before building a career in New York restaurants, Ham shares how the sudden loss of his mother caused him to distance himself from the recipes he grew up with—and how reopening her handwritten recipe notebook during the pandemic helped him reconnect with his family, his creativity, and himself. They talk about: How home cooking became part of healing after grief 90s Nostalgia and how it shaped this book Making global flavors feel approachable for everyday cooks Balancing restaurant life, parenthood, and feeding a family ADHD, creativity, routines, and learning to work with a busy brain Why comfort food is about memory as much as ingredients Ham also shares recipes from Hello, Home Cooking , including his Cinnamon Pita Crunch, cheesy tapioca garlic buns, and toasted spaghetti with black beans.

People in this episode

Host: Catherine Smart

Guest: Ham El-Waylly

Topics covered

• home cooking
• grief and healing
• 90s nostalgia
• cultural influences
• ADHD and creativity
• comfort food

Keywords

• home cooking
• grief
• 90s nostalgia
• ADHD
• comfort food
• recipes
• cultural influences
• family
• creativity

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Hello, Home Cooking

More episodes of Not From Concentrate

• Overcome Garden Overwhelm with Jess Zander of You Can Do It Gardening · September 8, 2026 · 51 min
• Grill Time and Letting Go of the Perfect Family Dinner with Noah Galuten · September 1, 2026 · 49 min
• Back-to-School Lunches, Sheet-Pan Dinners, and Finding Joy in the Kitchen with Hillary Dixler Canavan · August 25, 2026 · 41 min
• Building a Better Local Food System with Erin Baumgartner · August 18, 2026 · 41 min
• The Radical Act Of Cooking at Home with Trinity Mouzon Wofford · August 11, 2026 · 54 min
• How to Turn a Busy Brain Into a Creative Advantage with Chef Will Gilson · August 4, 2026 · 41 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Not From Concentrate podcast page.