Da'Vine Joy Randolph on her favorite foods and cooking obsessions

I had a well-developed palate at a young age. I was lucky to grow up in a place like Philadelphia — it has so many good food options. There were tons of outlets: Italian, Chinese, Jewish — I remember being obsessed with corned beef specials [a type of sandwich]. I even had sushi at a young age. My parents made sure I tried them all.

Food has always been a cornerstone of our family. Both my parents cooked: my dad would make epic brunches, and my mom would [go all out] for the holiday meals. I loved her fried cabbage and her eggplant parmigiana. She also made this dish that was a quiche mixed with a soufflé — it was predominantly spinach, mushrooms and various cheeses. I wasn’t vegetarian or anything, but I remember really enjoying vegetarian dishes.

What gives me the most joy is cooking for other people. I look up five different recipes from five different sources to compare. I study them for hours and pick my favourite things from recipe to recipe. For example, recently I’ve been obsessed with spaghetti al limone — if one recipe says use egg yolk, I’ll do that, but counter it with less heavy cream or cheese. That way, I create my own version of that dish. I think creating a recipe that tastes good is art.

I’m obsessed with fish and chips. When done right, it’s absolutely amazing. I don’t know how they do this, but The Mayfair Chippy [in London] has this dehydrated malt vinegar powder. It’s perfect because it doesn’t make anything soggy, but when you bite into it, you get that nice acidity, which is just delicious. I think the food scene in London is always improving, and it’s getting creative and trying new things with classic dishes.

On the Amalfi Coast, the lemons were ridiculous and the tomatoes were insane. I’ve never had bad food in Italy. I went to this amazing restaurant, Ristorante La Torre One Fire [in Massa Lubrense] where the ‘mama’ was so warm. She let me cook with her and taught me how to make limoncello. She told me to come back and I did — every single day. It was truly the best food of my life. I think it was due to a combination of skill set, technique and produce — it was next level.

I cooked for real when filming The Holdovers. Reading the script, it felt very quiet and intimate — like when you’re snowed in. For me, the cooking is very intentional and I really like to take my time. It’s special and it matters, so I wanted that level of detail. When they see her [Mary Lamb, Da’Vine Joy’s character] cook a chicken or a turkey, I wanted people to have a very visceral experience. If I faked it, it wouldn’t have read authentically. And, selfishly, I love to cook, so I thought this would be great for me to be so grounded in that character. I also wanted to show that Mary was good at what she did — she was a great cook.

After flights and accommodation, I look at restaurants. I get recommendations months in advance, and sometimes I’ll use Anthony Bourdain’s. I don’t like touristy places, unless it’s touristy because it’s so fantastic.

I love all the different flavour profiles of Thai food. The sweet and the savoury, the sour and the spicy. I’d love to know more and get better at cooking it. Especially here in the States, you’d have to go to a proper speciality store to get all the correct seasonings and spices. You can’t really substitute with Asian food; I’ve tried, and it tastes completely different.