- I'm just gonna slap that in, slap it again.
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
- Hi, my name is Joyce.
- Hi, my name is Tatiana.
- And today we're gonna be making Southern mac and cheese.
So Tati, what's your relationship with Soul Food?
- We're married, actually.
- Oh wow.
- I love watching my grandmother cook all the time.
I really love cooking and especially Soul Food.
- Is mac and cheese one of your favorite dishes?
- Mac and cheese is one of my favorite dishes.
Would've done collard greens but
I don't think you're ready for that one.
- Because you know, I'm Haitian.
I haven't really had a chance to eat a lot
of soul food that doesn't have a lot
of Caribbean remix to it. - Yeah.
- So I'm really excited to try this Mac and Cheese today
'cause Haitian mac and cheese is very different.
It's hard a rock on top. - Oh!
Your teeth crack, but then the middle
is so gooey and delicious.
- Ooh. Maybe after this we can-
- I got a root canal so we can't do that.
- Okay.
- Six months from now, - (laughs)
- then we can have some Hait...
I'll make you some Haitian mac and cheese.
- Okay. Bet. I'm ready for it.
- Okay. So let's get started.
Okay. So now we got the ingredients
for the Mac and Cheese.
So first we have our kosher salt, black pepper,
whole milk, our elbow pasta, sharp cheddar,
our Colby-jack, two eggs, and some melted butter.
Are you excited?
- Yes. I'm so excited.
- I actually haven't had mac and cheese in a while,
and the last time I did,
I lost the cooking competition, so...
- Awe. (crowd voicing sadly, "Awe")
But no, this is gonna be really good.
I like my Mac and Cheese, extra, extra cheesy.
- Okay.
- Really cheesy. - Extra cheesy.
- And I like a little bit of sugar in mine.
I don't know if you hip for that.
- Sugar?
- Yes. Sugar.
- Okay! I already learned something new.
- It's good.
- So first we're gonna salt bathe that water.
Tatiana, I'm gonna need you to give it. Ooh, ooh, ooh.
(sexy trumpet music)
- Wow. You really know how to salt some.
(Tatiana laughing)
- And then we're gonna put the elbow macaroni inside.
It says to cook for 10 minutes,
but we want it to be a little bit al dente,
So we're gonna cook it for eight.
- Okay.
(noodles clanking)
- (Joyce sings) Ooh! - Ooh! It's popping. (laughs)
- [Joyce] I know, I'm scared I'm gonna burn you.
I was trying to be cool.
- And give it a little stiry, stir, stir.
- [Joyce] You gonna stir it?
- [Tatiana] Yeah.
Look at the flick of the wrist.
- [Both] Look at the flick of the wrist.
- Okay. Let's put the top on it.
- Let's start with your trauma.
- For trauma dumping?
(girls laughing)
- Okay. So let's check this pot cause it's getting
a little steamy up in here. Ooh!
- Facial.
- Facial. Open my pores. After last weekend,
I need anything open up these pores.
- [Joyce] Okay. So this is looking pretty done.
- [Tatiana] Yes.
- Ooh. A little hard at the...wait, mm. Okay.
She done. She done.
- [Tatiana] Al dente, just like we like it.
- Ooh. What does that even mean, al dente?
- I think dente means dense? (laughs)
- And with that, we gonna go strain it. Heavy as hell.
- Macaroni is ready.
- The macaroni is cooked al dente.
- Ella dente,
Al dente. - Which means,
[Both] "To the tooth."
- To the tooth, what I said previously ignore.
(girls laughing)
- So first we're gonna whisk the eggs.
- [Joyce] You better whisk, whisk, whisk, whisk the girl.
You better whisk, whisk, whisk, whisk the girl.
Woo!
- The eggs are whisked.
- So next we're gonna put in the milk.
- [Tatiana] This is whole milk.
- [Joyce] For the lactose intolerant-
- [Tatiana] Use almond.
- [Joyce] Yes.
- [Tatiana] Now we're going to add in-
- The macaroni cheese.
- [Joyce] Eee!
- Oh, ooh. Okay.
It's been a while since I sounded like that.
- Yes
- I was gonna slap that in, slap it again.
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
That was probably the messiest way
a person could have done that.
[Joyce] Mix it on up!
- I think you can make this recipe for yo man.
- Which one?
You know it's hot girl summer. - All of 'em.
- Hot girl, summer!
- All of 'em.
- So half the cheese.
- This is four cups and we're gonna add
(girls laughing)
- two cups.
- Okay. You confident with that cheese.
- Oh, I'm really good at eyeballing.
- You really are. It says half right there.
- [Both] A little bit more.
- [Tatiana] I was looking at the wrong side.
I am not good with math. Sorry.
- [Joyce] So you said you got most of your recipes
from your mom or your grandmother?
- My grandmother, yes. I think she actually,
may have like a recipe book,
in her cabinets or something that she left,
and I really want to find it.
My daddy haven't told me anything.
I think he tryin' to hide it from me.
- Okay. Well we might have to roll up on your daddy-
- Yeah. I need to roll up on him.
- Okay, so next we're gonna put the melted butter,
melted butter.
And we're also gonna put the salt and the pepper.
- [Joyce] Every time I see melted butter
I immediately think of crab legs.
- [Tatiana] Mm hm.
- You know what they say, "A touch on the lips,
a lifetime on the hips."
- They say that?
- I got it from "Sister, Sister."
(girls laughing)
- So we finished making the macaroni,
and now we're gonna pour into whatever this is called.
- Baking dish!
- A baking dish.
And then we're gonna put one and a half cups of
Colby-jack cheese on it.
- Ooh, it's kind of heavy.
- It is.
- I did arm day, yesterday, so I'm good.
- You trying to do everything by yourself, Scorpio.
Maybe a helping hand is what you need, baby.
- [Tatiana] I do need a helping hand.
I'm livin' a soft life.
- I know, you deserve a soft life.
- Yummers! Let's spread it out evenly.
- [Joyce] So I put the whole cup?
- [Tatiana] No, half.
- So now we're gonna put the rest of the mac and cheese
on there, and then we're gonna bake it.
And now we're just gonna spread it out,
spread it out, Bae.
- [Tatiana] Spread it out!
- [Joyce] Spread it out.
Then we're gonna put the aluminum foil.
- Make sure you seal these edges.
- Yeah.
- You have to seal them.
- [Joyce] And then we're gonna bake this.
Would you bring this to the cookout? (laughs)
- And then we're gonna bake this (laughs)
for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
If I was at the cookout, I'd be wearing booty shorts.
Fresh out the oven. Fresh out the oven.
- I feel the sting.
Can I do the honors?
- You can.
(girls singing "aahh")
- [Joyce] She's looking good.
She's looking healthy.
- She's she's looking thick
- But she needs way more cheese.
- Which cheese we starting off with?
- I think we should layer that since there's more it.
[Joyce] Oh yeah. We like it cheesy.
- Oh yeah. Just add it all on.
- [Joyce] You know, I just want a little color
on top, you know keep it, you know, colorful.
- [Tatiana] Mmm hmm.
- [Joyce] A little color theory.
See we've given her a brand new, fresh coat of cheese.
[Tatiana] Mm Hmm.
- We're going to put her in the oven
to broil for about five minutes.
So it gets that beautiful gold and brown-
- And cheesy, ooey, gooeyness.
- [Both] Mmm!
- [Joyce] I'm gonna go put this back in the oven.
The Mac and cheese is done. How are we feeling?
We did it. Ooh.
- Ooh. Wait that cut.
- [Joyce] Ooh, she thick.
- (laughs) Okay.
- We made mac and cheese!
- Is it good?
- Way!
- It's actually good?
- It is! (laughs)
- We actually, we might of did something.
I'm gonna try a piece without it,
- Without sugar?
- and then I'm gonna try it with sugar.
- Okay.
- God, our Father, who art in heaven,
thank the universe for us coming together
to make this beautiful mac and cheese.
- Amen.
- Hallelujah.
Oh, right in the Judy?
- Right in there. Mmm.
- Okay. This is good.
- I wish we would've added Paprika.
- Yes, definitely needs a little bit more of a kick.
- Yes.
- I'm gonna try it with sugar.
- [Tatiana] And mix it all around.
- Mix it all around.
- It's just perfect.
- Whoa. This actually works.
- It does sugar and spaghetti. Do you do that?
- No. Now you're gonna tell me you put sugar in your grits.
- Sugar in my grits. (record scratching)
- Sugar in my grits.
- Okay. Thank you guys so much.
- It's a black thing. - Nah uh uh.
- Thank you guys so much.
- It's a black thing.
- No, I am a black thing (laughs).
My last question for you is, how are you gonna
celebrate your Juneteenth this year?
And what does Juneteenth mean to you?
- We gonna turn up. We gonna barbecue.
We're gonna drink. We go have some fun.
Do some, um, dancing on the grass. Just turn up.
Juneteenth means like celebrating my freedom
as a black person.
How you celebrating your Juneteenth?
- I'm shaking that ass, I'm praying to God,
and I'm eating other people's food.
- Period.
- And I feel like Juneteenth for me is celebrating blackness
and knowing that we can overcome anything.
- Anything.
- No matter what.
So that's it for the video.
Thank you so much, Tati, for coming
and doing this with me. You're amazing.
- You're amazing.
- I love you so much. - I appreciate you.
I love you.
- Is there anything you wanna plug actually?
- Follow me on Instagram, and TikTok, on all platforms,
@therealtati. Thank you.
- And thank you guys. And I hope you have
a wonderful beautiful and enriching Juneteenth. Bye!
(soft rock music)