Meet Sally That Girl In The Kitchen (Sally V. Ojalvo Silber) | Youtube and Assorted Social Media Recipe Developer, Cook, and Teacher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sally That Girl In The Kitchen (Sally V. Ojalvo Silber) and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sally, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I am a Sephardic-Cuban-Jewish-American woman, born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised and educated mainly in Miami. Life has also taken me to Venezuela for 3 years, and to Puerto Rico for 15, so I have been exposed to, and learned to love, many different cultures and foods – but Miami has always been home.
My family’s history has strongly influenced my cooking style, and every aspect of who I am. My love for the Sephardic-Turkish recipes of the matriarchs in my family, combined with the pandemic lockdown and a need to keep busy and keep my family well fed, were the driving forces behind my Sally That Girl in the Kitchen Youtube cooking channel.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Creativity comes in many forms, and I truly believe cooking is one of them. When making any one of my specialties, such as an authentic Sephardic-Turkish Borreca, Bulema, or Tapada, or any one of my challah breads, desserts, main dishes, side dishes, or artisan breads, the right combination of ingredients is crucial, but to make something really magical, it takes focus, love, and lots of practice. Many of the wonderful dishes I prepare are not only delicious, but they are, at least to me, a work of art. We do eat with our eyes first, after all, so a dish not only needs to taste good, it needs to draw us in.
I cook and teach what I love to eat, and I get immense joy from seeing others replicating my dishes in their own kitchens. I’m especially proud of the fact that I’m sharing the food of my ancestors, even though I know that the generations that came before me were VERY secretive about their recipes. Many within my community still are, but I am of the philosophy that if I don’t share the recipes that I have learned from my family, their amazing dishes will be lost to the next generation. What I do is not easy; it takes a lot of preparation, time, and love, and many skills I’ve had to learn along the way, such as editing, filming, formatting, voicing, etc, But to me, it’s not work at all, because I love what I do. The biggest challenge is to not get discouraged, and to remember that slow growth is still growth, and that what started as a video log for my kids and the next generations, has already helped and inspired so many people around the world, and all I want is to be able to continue to do so.
And if you’re wondering why the name, it’s a nickname I got while in High School from a song that was very popular back then. It stuck, and whether I liked it or not, I became Sally That Girl, so my channel, social media presence, and my brand, could be named nothing else.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Miami is so diverse. It’s what I love about it, and what I missed during the few years I was away. Each area has a distinct feel to it, so the options are unlimited. From strolling around Lincoln Road and South Beach, to the amazing shopping and restaurants in Bal Harbour, Aventura, Midtown, and Brickell – there’s so much to see and to do. Food Halls are tons of fun and seem to be popping up all over the place, and of course, there’s the southwest area, for a distinct Cuban flair. We are also lucky enough to have great theatre and opera. And the beaches! Let’s not forget the beaches! We have a whole coast to chose from. I can think of not better city to visit.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My Sally That Girl in the Kitchen Youtube channel would never have come to life, if not for the encouragement from my friends and family, who would see me post pictures of the food I was cooking at home, and ask me to teach them how to make what I had made – many of them specifically saying that I should start a cooking channel. But the many years of exposure to the great cooks in my family, including my mother, Rosa, my step-mother, Julie, and my grandmothers Violeta and Rosa, were the true force behind my channel. Their example and delicious flavors, were and continue to be, an inspiration and an incredible source of information.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sallythatgirlinthekitchen/

Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/sallythatgirlfl

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sallythatgirlinthekitchen/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SallyThatGirlintheKitchen

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sallythatgirlfl?_t=ZP-8wGXB0kEoRT&_r=1

https://www.snapchat.com/add/sallythatgirlfl?share_id=NjYwQkNC&locale=en_US

https://pin.it/5Av917j

https://www.amazon.com/shop/sallythatgirlinthekitchen