LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 26: Tia Mowry attends the premiere of Netflix’s “Swapped” at Netflix Tudum Theater on April 26, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Picture by Amy Sussman/Getty Photographs)
Summer time eating season is sort of right here! With Memorial Day approaching, it is time to put together your lodging necessities. To assist, actress, foodie and mother Tia Mowry talks summer season enjoyable, her dad’s legendary grilling sport and why Bounty has been a staple in her kitchen for greater than 30 years.
ESSENCE: Are you, or are you not somebody folks can confidently name on for barbecue potato salad?
Tia Mowry: Okay, effectively, I am going to simply hold it actual. Possibly not, as a result of I do not like potato salad. I do not know what it’s. My son loves it, however I do not. So do not name me.
That is proper! So, what’s your signature go-to when internet hosting a barbecue?
My wings. I am undoubtedly throwing within the Honey BBQ Wings, that are actually finger licking good, however you do not have to make use of your fingers as a result of we’ve got Bounty. That is undoubtedly important at any time when it involves one among my meals. Even when I am simply cooking within the kitchen, cleansing within the kitchen, internet hosting a yard barbecue, or simply handing out plates round a desk, Bounty is my go-to for any sort of cleanup.
Past wings, what makes your cooked meals really feel like yours?
Music must be a part of it. Simply have plenty of music within the background, every type, dancing – I would like folks to line dance, which is at all times quite a lot of enjoyable. My dad’s ribs, at any time when we’ve got a meal out, are at all times on the record. Video games, board video games, playing cards: at all times good for persevering with the enjoyable. After I consider a barbecue or another sort of gathering, it is about bringing folks collectively and getting them to attach, actually decelerate, and create great, memorable reminiscences. Every time I need to decelerate and simply join with my household and associates, meals is at all times part of it.
Is it your dad that you simply name out of your entourage to be on the grill in sandals?
After all. I had an unimaginable grilling reminiscence. I should have been between six and eight years previous. I used to be dwelling in Hawaii on the time as a result of that is the place I grew up and each my mother and father have been within the navy. We have been stationed there, however my mother and father at all times had these meals on the seaside. And what was actually cool was that my dad simply did not need to put the ribs on the grill – he would exit fishing himself. He would take a spear, exit and swim, catch the eel, throw the eel on the grill, the oysters on the grill, the ribs on the grill. It’s merely unimaginable on the grill.
I see your movies on social media, you do your factor and create your personal little music movies. What hits must be in your playlist for these gatherings?
“Summertime” by Will Smith is actually one among them. After which “California Love”. These are at all times enjoyable sounds. It brings everybody collectively, dances, grooves and has a great time.
The way to retailer your Bounty in the course of the barbecue in order that nothing is wasted?
It is only a matter of preparation. My favourite is the Mega Roll. It is 4 rolls in a single, and what I really like about it’s that it is one and carried out. Extra harm with fewer leaves. A single leaf can go a great distance.
As Memorial Day and summer season strategy, what does the season seem like for you past outside eating?
We’re an enormous seaside household. There’s simply one thing about being close to water. I really like packing our snacks – fruit, protein, chips, popcorn, Bounty, music and towels – and simply enjoyable by the water. My son was born in July, I used to be born in July, so we’re undoubtedly outdoors when it is heat. Final 12 months all of us went as a household to the Caribbean, to the Bahamas. It was the primary time they have been there and simply on the seaside, having that solar hitting our pores and skin and enjoyable, it was improbable.