![](https://stufflovely.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Simmer20Down20with20Sophia20Roe-20social-800x400.jpg)
When is a stew more than a stew? When it’s a conduit for creativity and self-acceptance. Sophia Roe, chef and host of Vice’s Counter Space (about the role food plays in culture and politics), cooks as a means of catharsis and advocates for equitable access to healthy food — always with a perfect flick of eyeliner.
On timid cooks: “Chefs aren’t showing you every time their bread doesn’t rise. Cooking isn’t necessarily intuitive. It’s practice. You need to practice.”
On food as a form of healing: “I don’t have the best childhood memories. There’s a chapter in my cookbook called ‘I Don’t Know My Grandma,’ because I don’t. I used to feel so ashamed of it, not having a family special [food]. I could give a rat’s ass [now]…. Cooking is my coping mechanism. It’s how I deal with pain. It’s safe. The good moments I remember with my mom were with food. Full transparency: All of the culinary work I do comes from a trauma space. As a codependent person, I want to make people happy. I want to feed folks.”
On involved recipes: “What makes me feel calm in the kitchen are long, labored recipes no one wants to make, like a stew, or things you have to strain five times, like a broth. When I’m stressed or sad, it’s something to put my feelings into.”
On giving back: “I take at least 60 percent of my income and redistribute it. When I was a kid in foster care, I got one new pair of shoes every year. I’m 33 years old and I’ve been wearing these Keds my whole life. I grew up without a lot, so as I make money I’m fine not having it…. You have to be prepared to lose something, right? Lose money, lose time, lose resources. That’s what real advocacy is about.”
On the power of scent: “My partner wears Vio-Volta by D.S. & Durga, and I am obsessed with it. It’s like electricity in a smell. It is insane. It smells like lightning.”
On washday: “I blow-dry about 50 percent of the way, and then use Aveda Brilliant Retexturing Gel. Let the record show, the back three or four inches of my head are shaved. You’ve got to do the undercut.”
Shop Roe’s favorite beauty and kitchen products, below:
More activism stories here:
Now, watch this chef’s entire routine, from waking up to dinner prep:
Follow Allure on Instagram and Twitter, or subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on all things beauty.