Love Bite: All Mamrie Hart Thinks About Is Food (Girl, Same)

Words: Lauren O’Neill | Photography: Brit Perkins

As regular readers of Love Bite will know, I absolutely love party food. Some food is best enjoyed alone (a whole Dr. Oetker pizza for example), but the whole point of party food is fun with other people – it’s meant to be a conversation piece. It fills you up spiritually, as well as stomach-ally. There’s nothing better than sharing cute, delectable little morsels with friends – and on, that comedian, podcaster, bespoke cocktail YouTuber and chef, Mamrie Hart agrees with me.

For Mamrie, hosting is the peak of cooking, so of course, when it came to writing her debut cookbook, party food had to be the subject. From here, All I Think About Is Food: A Vegetarian Cookbook That'll Keep the Party Going was born. In the book, you’ll find over 100 food and drink recipes (all veggie) designed for showing your friends a good time, helpfully organised into themed menus, from “Southern Tapas” to fun spins on classic French recipes. 

I like this book so much that to show my appreciation for our kindred spirits when it comes to delicious, good-looking food to share, I asked Mamrie to be my first ever Love Bite interviewee. Below, we talk favourite recipes, the allure of party food and the similarities between being a good host and being a comedian (there are, surprisingly, quite a lot). Also, right at the end, find Mamrie’s recipe for a Pineapple and Black Pepper Mule, aka a sweet, piquant, and thirst-quenching cocktail.

Hi Mamrie. What inspired you to write a cookbook? 

I absolutely love cooking for friends. Call it the Virgo in me. The control freak. Or just the fact that as a vegetarian I can sometimes be relegated to two items on a menu and end up drinking more than eating! Throwing a dinner party at my house, I know that I can make something that everyone will like and keep the martinis flowing without a terrifying bill. 

You're a comedian and podcast host as well as a chef – are there any traits from your life as a performer that help out when you're a cook/host? 

Absolutely! What I’ve always said the most important part of doing live comedy is making your audience comfortable. They don’t need to have anxiety that you’re nervous.  And it’s the same with a dinner party. Making sure you do prep ahead of time so that way when people arrive it’s a chill environment with good vibes.  You never wanna see someone on stage stressed out and the same goes for your dinner party host. You know that episode of The Bear with the feast of the seven fishes? Don’t be that party host.  

As a seasoned party host, what's your ultimate party dish? 

Few things I love more than an abundance of sauces and dips. So my ideal dishes are ones that include lots of accoutrements with dips. That could be something like my Cheddar & Stout Fondue or Miso Bagna Cauda with lots of bread and crudites for dipping. I also love doing a huge cutting board filled with grilled veggies and halloumi, accompanied with a smoky romesco sauce, horseradish remoulade, baba ganoush. Anything that can get people using their hands and passing things to one another as opposed to a stuffy, mind-your-own-plate feeling. 

Which recipe in the book is most special to you? Why?

Don’t make me choose between my children! Probably my favorite chapter in the book is a dinner party called The Underdogs. It highlights ingredients that I feel like are absolutely underrated and deserve their moment of popularity on menus. We’ve got the carrot’s goth sister: parsnips. Those are roasted and served with a hazelnut salsa matcha, or my Sunday Celery Root which is pickle brined celery root fillet – deep fried to mimic a certain fast food chain that hates opening on Sundays and is kind of homophobic. 

How do you go about designing a recipe? What's your process?

I’m not gonna lie… seeing as it’s a dinner party book, looks are important! I want people to be excited when the food is set down! So I nail down the recipe itself and then go about thinking on tiny changes I could make that won’t change the flavour, but would ratchet up the aesthetic a notch.

Finally, who are your dream party guests?

Dolly Parton, Paul Reubens, Amy Sedaris, and my dog Beanz with the ability to talk (compliments only). 

Black Pepper and Pineapple Mule

Ingredients – Makes one cocktail

1oz Ginger Simple Syrup
(In a small saucepan over medium–low heat, combine 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, and a 2-inch knob of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped. Heat up and whisk till the sugar is dissolved, then turn the heat to low to continue cooking, 4 to 5 minutes. You do not want the syrup to reduce but just to give it time for the ginger to infuse. Take the pan off the heat and remove the chunks of ginger.)

2oz vodka

1.5oz pineapple juice

0.5oz lime juice

Seltzer / soda to top

Crack of black pepper

Your choice of garnish

To a shaker of ice, add the Ginger Simple Syrup, vodka, pineapple juice, and lime juice. Shake and pour into a serving glass with ice. Top with the seltzer, then the crack of pepper.