Joy and Walker are back with the seventh season of the Joyous Health podcast to bring another dose of joy to your day! On this week’s episode, they’re talking with Philip Lago and Mystique Mattai, the husband and wife duo behind the popular food blog Chef Sous Chef and co-authors of cookbook Eat With Us. Philip and Mystique aim to empower home cooks to get into the kitchen and create, sharing delicious contemporary recipes and mindful cooking tips made to inspire. Just as they connected by cooking together, their philosophy encourages a slower, more mindful approach to cooking and eating so that we can enjoy and elevate our experiences with food.

 

The show kicks off with the story of how Philip and Mystique found their groove in the kitchen while they were dating, with Philip playing chef and Mystique becoming sous chef (and designated stirrer!)—hence the title of their blog. The pair then talk about their backgrounds with food and how, in their own ways, family dinners taught them to appreciate and interact with cooking. Next, they move on to talk about mindfulness in the kitchen and how it extends beyond savoring your meals to being aware of the quality and sustainability of your ingredients and supporting your local food community. Via some tips about making good tzatziki, they then discuss recipe inspiration and eating out vs. dining in, before Mystique describes some of her stranger pregnancy cravings and she and Philip trade stories with Joy and Walker about how to cook when you have young kids. Finally, they wrap things up with the serendipitous story of how they got their book deal and some details about their new web series.

 

Episode Highlights:

 

•   Philip and Mystique’s respective roles within their business 
•   Their home life
•   The story behind the name of Philip and Mystiques’s blog
•   Their histories with food
•   The key to making delicious food
•   Being passionate and mindful chefs
•   Mindfulness and how Philip and Mystique have embraced it
•   Perspectives on building mindfulness into eating habits
•   Tips for making tzatziki
•   Where Philip finds inspiration 
•   Mystique’s unique pregnancy cravings
•   Adapting cooking for kids
•   How Mystique’s artistic and writing skills are brought together in her current work 
•   The story behind getting their cookbook published
•   Dining In, Philip and Mystique’s recent web series with Food Network Canada

 

Resources:

Chef Sous Chef Homepage

Chef Sous Chef Instagram

Chef Sous Chef Facebook

Chef Sous Chef Pinterest

Eat With Us, Philip and Mystique’s debut cookbook

Dining In, Philip and Mystique’s web series

 

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