MTV host calls father culinary master
Aliya-Jasmine Sovani says Thanksgiving dinner is her favourite meal of the year.
Aliya-Jasmine Sovani is the host of MTV Live. Before her job at MTV, she was a television producer for MuchOnDemand, as well as the tour correspondent for MuchMusic’s VJ search. Sovani is a former arts student. She has studied and lived all over the world including Los Angeles and New York. She speaks five languages and her hobbies include comic book collecting and painting.
Q: What is your fondest memory from your family kitchen?
A: I grew up in the restaurant business so my family kitchen was in one of my father’s restaurants. He is a culinary master! Ever since I was little he’d teach my sister and I little tricks about the presentation of a meal. My sister was always in charge of straining pasta and I got to pound down the dough.
Q: What kitchen aromas bring back fond memories?
A: When you walk behind a bar there’s this really musty smell of dirty water. It just reminds me of the bars in the restaurants I grew up in. I used to hate going back there when I was seven years old. Pressing the soda nozzles and making my own Pepsi/Orange Crush mixed drink was always worth it.
Q: What is your favourite food to cook?
A: I love cooking seafood, curried shrimp or salmon with a watermelon salsa. Seafood can taste a million different ways. I also have a spaghetti and meat sauce that I learned how to do when I lived in Italy. I can whip it up in about 20 minutes.
Q: How did the first meal you prepared turn out?
A: Amazing! I was 10 and it was my parents’ anniversary. My two-year-old sister and I surprised them with breakfast in bed.
Q: Is there a cultural dish that you prepare which ties into a holiday?
A: Every Thanksgiving my sister makes an amazing turkey dinner. We make homemade mashed potatoes and stuffing. Even my dog gets some. It’s my favourite meal of the year.
Marcy Cornblum
Marcy Cornblum is a freelance journalist. She began her career in radio. After 25 years of celebrity-filled adventures, she is using her experiences to enlighten others in understanding the media.
