The Art of Mindful Hosting

(soft music) I'm from Egypt. When I was a kid, I started being more curious about what we were eating and I started poking around a little bit in the kitchen. (gentle music) My name is Laila Gohar. I'm an artist and I live in New York City. I come from a part of the world where hosting is considered like a high art and people take a lot of pride in having people over and welcoming people into their home. So, we eat with all of our senses. You know, you're not just eating with your mouth, but you eat first with your eyes 'cause you see the food and eat, you know, you touch things and I think it's important to experience food with all of your senses. Produce that smells good, has a taste. It can be like the reddest tomato, but if it smells like nothing, then it's gonna taste like nothing. There's a lot of things that connect and it's part of the reason that I really enjoy food. So, at the market, I usually buy two things mostly, produce and flowers. I think it's important for people to have that connection with where their food comes from and to understand how it gets to them and who they're buying it from. Hosting is more than just about cooking, so the other elements matter just as much, what the room looks like, what it smells like, what it feels like. So, I would spend a little bit of time considering those things as well. I also would encourage people to think outside the box a little bit in terms of the table. It's nice sometimes to use things that you have at home. Use something as a vase that's not designed to be vase or pick some flowers from a garden. But I think when you think that way, your tables won't look like everybody else's. They're gonna look like your own. The most important thing about hosting is to remember that people are there to spend time with you. People get so obsessed about making the perfect roast or the perfect 25 step thing, it's not necessary to do the most complicated recipe or something that takes a lot of your time. I think it's best to do something simpler, a little bit more manageable so that you free yourself. Some days, like the cooking gods are not on your side. Usually, the way I think to overcome that is just keep doing it. If you do more of it, you get better at it, like almost everything in life. I think when you trust your instincts, you're most likely to do something that is unique to you because your sensibilities are different than everybody else's. The end of the day, cooking is one of those instincts. (gentle music)...