Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - Gloria Estefan

Episode Date: October 22, 2025

We are truly honoured to host legendary music icon, Gloria Estefan this week. Fresh into London from Miami, Gloria joined us for lunch which we really wish could have lasted all day and night. We found out about her family escaping Cuba during the revolution, her legendary Cosmo recipe, working with her beloved husband Emilio, owning a hotel & restaurant in Miami and we discover what it is like performing to five US presidents (and who served the best food). I grew up listening to her music and was completely enthralled by everything she had to say. We could do this with Gloria every day and never get bored, she’s a superstar and the absolute perfect dinner party guest with endless fabulous stories! Mark my words Gloria, we will come and see you in Miami soon, thank you for popping round to Clapham. Gloria’s new album Raíces is out now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to table manners. I'm Jessie Ware and I'm here in Clapham in my mum's kitchen. Hi mum. It's been an eventful 24 hours for you. Has. What's happened? On crutches, darling. Crutch? No, I've got one upstairs and one downstairs. Why don't you just have both upstairs? I don't know, but I managed with just one last night. Why? What's happened? Just got a pain above my, in the middle of my knee that I couldn't work any weight on. but actually the physiotherapist was extremely kind and saw me but as I was walking from the car yesterday a man saw me in the street wintzing he said please take my arm

and he was Australian right that was very good and he actually held me and he said I'm really worried about this woman there was tears running down my face because the pain was so bad they had to put a chair out in the street but the show must go on I've rallied and from one diva to announce We have the formidable Gloria Estefan coming on today. I'm so excited.

And you've even made food. We've loved it for a long time. You used to play, well, we used to play anything for you, the album that I think came out in 87. So did you have it on tape? Is that why I know it so well because it was in the car? I don't know, probably. But I loved it so much.

We loved every side. She just made you feel good. We still do. Yeah, well, we just put it back on. I was like, bloody hell, muscle memory. Anyway, we have Gloria Estefan coming on and we're really excited to have her. Let's go through some of the accolades of Gloria Estefan before she gets here. Yeah. She's approaching 40 albums, I think. We've got a long way to go then, Jess. She has played the Super Bowl halftime show twice. I'm not surprised to get everyone going. People say she is the most successful crossover artist a Latina artist who

you know has paved the way for people like Shakira Jailo Ricky Martin Ricky Martin she is won infinite amounts of Grammys she has her own Hollywood star on the pavement she has made musicals

I think she's made a musical with her daughter Emily who is incredibly talented who just went on tour with Cindy Lauper but do you not her greatest achievement is what being a grandma apparently she loves being a grandma anyway i don't want to talk about everything about gloria before she gets here but she's coming straight from doing the conga in radio two with bob mortimer so what have you made today mum with your crutch with my crutch i stirred it with my no i didn't i made an old dealier recipe bass chicken which you love you used to make this in the 90s so i don't know

whether it's all this nostalgia of like listening to gloria in the 80s 90s and you always doing this for like a Sunday lunch. Well, it's kind of a Spanish twist to it because it's got a bit of chorizo. Yeah. And it's just... Are you going to say torrito? Torito. Okay. So it's just chicken with Brambas, marty rice, peppers, onions, garlic,

olives and oranges. Yum. And it's baking now in the oven. And I'm just going to have a check in a minute. And then when you were an emergency, I promise you, I did offer to help mum cook today, but she said she had it under control because that is the diva that you are. I have made Sophie Weiberg, who I love, who's a really great cook, put up a story recipe on Instagram the other day. It looked really yummy and seasonal.

It's a blackberry crumble yogurt cake. I have no idea what it tastes like, but I know what went into it and it all sounds quite delicious. And you do this kind of strucell, like, crumble on top. So one, two, three, four, come on baby, say you love me. Five, six, seven times. We're ready. We are so ready. Gloria Estefan coming up on Table Minas.

Gloria Estefan. So happy to be here. I'm thrilled. I'm sorry. This is, you also are the most glamorous. person i think we've ever had in clapham yeah really yeah that's not the word i would use for me i am like so chill and happy and just a t-shirt and and you know sweatpants well you're giving icon today it would be the hair and everything well i just have to say first up you've just met our gorgeous cameraman director

david who met his husband because of going to spain and and and learning yes and it's all so thanks thanks to you. But also, personally, for us, when I was kind of re-listening to your music in preparation to chat to you, I realized I know basically all the lyrics to anything for you, the album that came out in 87. And it was like something that, and it must have been on cassette, I think, because I don't know, CDs were albums. You're too young for a cassette.

No, I'm not. I'm 41. Well, yeah, my son saw some cassettes, but you saw the edge of it. the end of it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But we love the album so much. And actually, it's something, and I sing, and I'm really touching. I know you sing. I'm a big fan, I told you. This is so sweet. It's not sweet. You have a beautiful voice. I love that dance, that groove. My God, you've got great songs. You are the queen of groove. Well, I don't know about the queen. You are. The conga queen, that part, yes. I saw you have to do the conga this morning.

Oh, my gosh. Nobody told me. Nobody gave me the memo. And I'm in these heels, but it was fun. It was a lot of fun. It was radio, too. Jesse said we played the songs this morning to get us in the mood because we love you. And Jessie said, she loves a good intro. And I hadn't realized how fabulous the intros were. Yeah, you actually allow the music to breathe. And we're not really allowed to do that anymore in pop music. People's attention spans are very short now.

You have to have a single that's like two and a half minutes, two 45 tops. Who can say what they want to say in that, you know? But it's making a comeback because kids find. that nostalgic and they are kind of rediscovering what came in the past and that's a beautiful thing. Everything comes around. Do you feel like you're about to get a whole load of Gen Z's listening to you then? Or are they already, I'm sure they are. In different ways they are. And now I'm going to get a whole bunch of little kids because of Gabby's dollhouse. I'm already getting it. When they've seen the movie, they run up to me. Grandma Gigi, they hug me. And I love that.

I love being a grandma. I'm sure you do too. Well, let's talk you. There's a song on your new record. Yes. Am I saying it correctly? Raises? Perfect. Oh, okay, great. You're saying it, if now you can ask your director. But yes, that's perfect. What does it mean, Raises? It means roots. Roeses, those things that, you know, roots connect underground, the trees.

If there's a tree that's ill, another tree will send it love. And I think our cultural roots are that for us, and we can't lose that. So it was important for Emilio and I, for this full circle, I'm going to see 50 years. This is your husband. Yes. This is like your collaborator forever. Forever.

We've been married 47 years together 49 and working together 50 because he was my boss the first year. And now you're the boss, obviously. That's what he says, but it's a BS like, yeah. We're a partnership all the way. And, you know, so for us, our family, he's half Lebanese, half Spaniard from Galicia. My grandfather was Asturiano. and are my grandsons, the OGs, as I call them, the other grandparents are Italian. He speaks fluent Italian.

I think it just enriches the world all this, you know, like a tapestry of colors and cultures. And I find it fascinating. So this record is predominantly in Spanish. Yes, yes. But there is a song about your grandson. Yes. That's English, though, isn't it? My beautiful boy.

It was born in English. but when I I wrote it before I was even thinking of this album I haven't been thinking about doing an album because I was writing a musical with my daughter Basura, Emily. She is so talented. She's a beast. The percussion I've seen.

And wasn't she just on tour with Cindy Lawfell? Yes, and she was actually with Carol G in Madrid playing percussion. You know, she tries to stay away from me and that's why she never really sang until she was 18. But she can sing. Oh, she, when I, she came home from holiday the first semester.

She went to Berkeley College of Music because it came naturally, but she also wanted to be the best she could be at everything. She comes home and she goes, Mom, I have to do something, but you can't look at me and you can't cry. I go, oh, no, what's coming? So 1 o'clock in the morning, and we were alone at a beach house we have up there in Viro Beach. She makes me face the wall. She picks up my guitar and she sings, bed I made by Ellen Stone. And I always thought that she would sing one day because I could hear it. You know,

you can tell a baby with their ear and they can sing. But she would joke sing. She would never seriously sing. I go, it sounded like a 40-year-old heroin addict from the 20s that was singing because she was so, the pain, the loss, the soulfulness, the crazy, I never expected that. So when she went back, I please record this for your, you know, I want to play it for your dad. I didn't tell him. And when she sends me the thing, I took, babe, listen to this. I discovered this amazing new singer and he's listening and his hair standing. He goes, who is that?

And I go, your daughter, he freaked out. I did that to my mom as well. Well, she was afraid that she would open her mouth and I would come out of it. And the timbre is there, of course, for the family. But I wish I could do what she can do. Oh, my God, she's amazing. So did you not cry when you heard it? Of course I cried.

I cried and I've cried every time since. And, you know, it's beautiful to see your kids be better than you. And I know the measuring stick, you know, is there for her and my son. And that's rough, you know, when you have parents that have done so much different stuff. Yeah. And then everybody's always going to compare you. But I tell her, people watch you three minutes and I am out the window. There's, like, she's riveting.

She played with me in the show in Madrid and people were floored. Let's talk about this show in Madrid. So you're in Europe at the moment, but you went to Madrid. Can you explain why you were there? And how many people are you performed? Yes, oh my gosh. You know, I'm not touring. I've been toured worldwide since 2004.

You know how rough touring is for the singer. And I was touring 15 years straight. So I had the opportunity to go and celebrate Hispanic Heritage Week there and the day, which was the day that I performed. And I thought, okay, you know, this album's in Spanish. I really want to get back to the mother tongue. And we said yes. And it was free to the public.

But it's, they had to move it. because of the response I got in. We were 300,000 people in the audience. So where was it held? It was held in Plaza Colon. And then they had screens on all the streets. So I could literally see all the streets. The whole plaza packed, all the streets going down.

I could see people's eyes. I had fans from Britain that flew there. They flew from Australia, from Thailand, from all over. And I know them through, you know, Twitter. it'll always be Twitter to me and then Emilio brought them in and put them, there was a security area for the president and all this stuff

and Emilio brought the fans and put them in front row and they were trying to, no you can't do that he goes, try and stop me he goes, these are the people that deserve to be in the front row not a bunch of government, you know, people and it was, they were so happy

they came to see me on Graham Norton that we filmed last night So, Horton, you're like, These are, would we call them superfans? Superfans. And you will make sure that they have the front row seat. Absolutely. I'm kind of their mom now, you know.

You recognize them when you see them. Of course I do. You are mother. Absolutely. You are mother. And we talked through DMs on Twitter. They've told me their biggest problems. One of them was really ill.

And he told me before he told his mom because he wanted me to give him some ideas of how to do it and what to do. and yeah you don't i mean i think it's incredibly um unique that you do that and i think it's beautiful and i think it just shows this is why you have such a connection with your fans like you know david and and and and and and and so many but and such a legacy but is that not quite overwhelming sometimes well i wish i could do more and that i had more time but i realize you know that i can only do what i can do i studied psychology and communication so it's kind of like my way

way of being a therapist exactly i did it through the music but it's nice to do it in person when did the singing start oh since i talk that came with yeah but not the performing part because i don't like to be the center of attention believe it or not i had to get used to that part my mom was the diva she was a singer she was going to be shirley temples double in hollywood they had she had won an international contest and my grandma had her bags packed and ready to go and they said only one parent can come the other one has to give up rights to the child and my grandfather father said no way but my mom would walk into a room and light it up she was just so i that wasn't my nature but music was my catharsis what were you born in cuba i was born in cuba and how long were you there for to

the revolution my dad was a police officer and he was really good looking and very moral he wouldn't take free anything and so they chose him to be the motorcycle escort for the first lady and the night of the revolution he was at the presidential palace they were having a giant party and he came home and went into the bathroom locked himself in and my mom goes what's happening what's happening and he said president just left the country were in trouble. And she told him, don't go back. He goes, I have to go back. I'm a police officer, you know. You'll be arrested, yes, but I have to go back. And he was arrested, everybody that had anything to do with that government. And his dad was also arrested. His brother,

who was doing counter-revolutionary things. And when he, finally, when he was let out, because they had no charges. Two years later. No, that was the second time. So, He came out maybe four months later, and he told my mom, I have to get you out of the country. I have to. And she said, I don't want to go without you. He goes, I'm going to go first. How old were you then? I was two.

He took the ferry from Havana to Key West. He got a job thinking he was going to make $50 a week, and it was 15. He misunderstood because... Fifteen? Yeah, they told him 15, and he thought 50, but he made a lot of tips because he was very good looking. There's parking cars in a bar. And then we came, my mom and I, they only allowed us one suitcase.

And then he disappeared again and left my mom a note, I can't tell you where I'm going. You're going to receive a check from the U.S. government. Here's a doctor's phone number. And, yeah, he went to Bay of Pigs. It was his birthday, the day they landed in Cuba, April 17th of security.

I can remember that. It was such a dramatic moment in our lives. We thought there was going to be a full-scale war through the bear of pigs. And then he got jailed for the two years there. That was so hard for you and your mom and, of course. And him, of course. It was tough. And then he came back and the US government felt guilty about having abandoned them there

because they trained them in the best equipment and then they gave them broken down stuff to actually do the, invasion and they said any of you that know English, that learn English can come in as officers. And he was a military guy. So he did so. And then he went to Vietnam and got sick with Agent Orange poisoning. What is Agent Orange? Agent Orange was a defoliant that a big American company would like spread from planes so that the trees would lose their leaves and the guerrilla war warfare. They could see where the gorillas were. So they could see. But it got everybody.

And if it kills a plant like that instantly, got in their nervous systems and there was a lot of guys. So I spent my adolescence taking care of my dad because my mom worked during the day. And then at night she would study to get her teaching credentials, revalidated. She had a PhD from Cuban education. And she knew she had to get a better job

because now she was the pretty much soul supporter. She worked hard. Can we talk about kind of some food memories from your time? I mean, food's really important to you. And obviously, you were looking after your father. What kind of food were you eating around the dinner table and who was, what's a memorable kind of picture of who was around the dinner? Well, eventually my grandma came from Cuba.

When I left Cuba, she lost 25 pounds. She was so depressed. So we got her out finally when her parents passed. because she was taking care of them. And my grandmother had been the sous chef to her father, a chef to two presidents in Cuba. So she, when she came to the States, she thought, food is the only way we're going to be able to survive.

So she kind of started an illegal restaurant in her house that abutted a baseball field, and the Cuban men would bring their boys. And she was making $5,000 a weekend in the 60s in cash. She became famous in Miami for her croquettas and her tamales and the pork and she was an amazing cook and I helped her in the kitchen

I grew up with her in the kitchen so I can pretty much make up anything I have a beautiful chef though she's Dominican and it's delicious but yeah it was my grandma's cooking Cuban food we couldn't afford Is that your preferred cuisine? Everything is my preferred cuisine

which is a problem, yeah. I really love food. But when I was a kid, that's the only thing I tasted was Cuban food. And the first time we went to Japan, when we were promoting Dr. Beat, and they gave me sushi. My grandma would have turned in her grave me eating raw fish, first of all. Although I loved raw meat, she'd bring the raw meat, and I would eat it. And she goes, no, you can't eat that. It's not cooked.

But when I popped that in with that wasabi, I had never had a spicy thing in my life. and it was on camera. Oh my gosh, I remember it was so funny. My ears went like the cartoons, my eyes. Do you like sushi? I love it. I love everything now.

But back then, I mean, it was 22 years. What did little children eat when they were small and just growing up? Well, Cuban food, rice, the beans they would puree it to make sure. Well, when I was a baby, they would puree everything, and I got so bored. because I had teeth. Why aren't they going to give me chewing things? But they were so concerned about me being, you know, making sure I ate everything

that it was really detrimental. Now we know that babies can't even process anything other than fruit and milk or whatever for six months. And they were giving me black beans, rice, the chicken, all. And I would sit there like, chewing, trying to chew this thing. Then I loved mango baby food. So when we went to the States, they didn't have that. My grandma would send it to me, would smuggle it from Cuba.

She would go to the airport and saddle any pilot with a box of mango, baby fruit, and they'd knock on our door in our little apartment, and there'd be a pilot standing there with a box. And in that box, she'd smuggle my mom's records because we couldn't take anything with us, her record collection. Is your musical that you've made with your daughter about your life? No. what we're working on is there's a place Cateura in Paraguay, in Asuncione, Paraguay.

And it used to be a beautiful lake 45 years ago, and it is now the largest landfill in Latin America. And a lot of people live off the grid. So this environmental engineer went to try to make things better with recycling and all this. But the magnitude was impossible. It's a place that also has fires, ash storms from when they burn trees in Argentina, they come straight over floods, and he started a little music class with his violin. And the kids were so excited. So they started going to this music class.

He tried to get more instruments. It was really hard. They couldn't afford it. So they started making instruments out of the trash because one of those kids, they used to sleep in the street. He'd in her parents is on the spectrum and can speak to things, talk to him.

He would lay at night and the stars would speak to him. He would see musical notes in the astrological signs and the stars. So now the school, they have like 300 students. They built the school out of trash.

They've played for Queen Sophia of Spain. They've played for the Pope, the previous Pope, and I think even John Paul, because they've been around a while. And we met them. It's such an uplifting story about how music can lift you out of, and make even the most difficult situations palatable because they've had success, but they don't leave. They go back. They have a strong sense of community and love and family. So we've brought this to, I'm so excited. about that. Is it coming out in 2027? Well, it comes out May of 26 in a few months in Atlanta

in the Alliance Theatre because you always start off Broadway somewhere and then hopefully soon after to Broadway but we are so happy. We're thrilled. Plus secretly I did it so I could spend more time with Emily writing this thing. That's why you do the podcast, isn't it, Mum? Yeah. How was it working with her? I mean, was it testing with your relationship or is it quite a good partnership. I mean, I guess you work with your family all the time. Emilio is your long time, you know, he's your husband, but he's produced and written this record. Yes, he has. He has because I couldn't write. I was focused on Basura, which is the title. And except the song for Sasha that I had written before he even came to me with the idea. He brought me the song,

he says, and I fell in love with it, but I told him, baby, I can't, I'm not you. I can't do, you know, 50 things at once. I need to focus. And he says, will you let me write it for you? you. And I go, please do. And I had already written the Sasha's song because he had gone to our beach house with me. I taught him how to buggy board and we were doing all these things. How old is Sasha? He's 13 now. Okay, right. Yeah. 13. How many have you got? That's it. But that one is a good one. I need to get. I think his parents, my sin is afraid of having another one because this one's so good. He's going to go, oh, the next one's going to get me. And I would pray that it would be like him to get some

payback because he i didn't think i'd survive until he was 18 like i'm not quite young yeah yeah it was um but we we love each other we do things together all the time and we had when he left i was writing for basuta but he left and i was so nostalgic that i grabbed my guitar and i wrote this song and then i called him and i go baby look i finally wrote your song because i knew one day i would I don't like to push it. You know, how inspiration has to be natural. And his dad and his mom, which were also on the line, they all cried. And I promised him I'd record it one day.

So when we did this album, I wrote it in Spanish. And I included both versions. They each have their own magic. I would love to know. You've talked about being a good thing. You learned from your grandmother, your abuela. Is that how you say it, your abuela? But if we were coming over to yours,

And maybe you were rustling up a meal for Lenny and I. No kidding. What would be on the menu? What would you be cooking for us? Oh, I'd make a paella. Oh, okay. Really? Oh, God, now I'm scared that what we're eating today.

What are we eating? Well, it's not paella, but it's... Not paella. It's basque chicken with rice. I love chicken and rice. That's my favorite food. That is my favorite food. Great.

I think we'd work that out, and we adapted the menu. But tell us, okay, so Paella would be in there with the fish and the meat. Yeah, if you'd like, I mean, you can make it all seafood. My daughter and her partner are vegetarian, so I know how to make it that way too. How do you make a vegetarian pirela? With vegetables and vegetable broth and mushrooms and, you know, savory mushrooms. You can have so many different mushrooms in there that are great. Yeah, but seafood is usually the way to go.

Do you like seafood? I love seafood. What do you get that's really great in Miami? Is it... Is it... Crabbs, stone crabs. Is it conch? Is it conch?

Conc? Yeah, conch is more... The Bahamas. That's what... Yeah, conk is more from the Bahamas. Oh, okay. But, you know, it's delicious. I think I know about conk because when we went to Florida to see my cousins and they're from...

Key West. Well, they're from Bahamas. And I think he'd gone over to the, like, Bahamas and he'd gone and got them and then he made us conch. Yes. And that's why I thought it was... Yeah, they're very controlled because, you know, people will ruin everything. Just like the lobster in Miami are very controlled. I have, behind my house, which is on the bay,

we put all this keystone to create a reef. And we have over 150 species of coral behind my house. Wow. And the lobster have a blast because I won't pull them out of there. I'm not going to eat them. But I see people, they'll park their little boats over there and kind of sneak over and take. And when they're taking, I'll go, but that's Freddie.

Don't get it. Do you have a whistle where you go? Get off. Go. Leave Freddy alone. I can't stop them, but, you know, Florida, probably in the Keys would have con. Surely you can stop them, Gloria. No, they won't listen to me.

They'll just take a picture of me yelling at them. Do you feel the same about crabs as you do about... I love crabs. Oh, stone crabs in Miami. Joe's stone crab is the oldest restaurant. It's been there over 100 years, but they're seasonal. So you want to make sure you get them when they're good. Is it snow crab that you...

It's the crab claws. Yeah, the claws. And literally, they'll pull the claw off and leave the crab, it'll regrow it. Which is the crap that you can deep fry, the whole thing? Oh, the soft show crab. Yeah. I love that. That is so good.

But I also love crab cakes. Crab cakes, delicious. You would love, you like cod? Love cod. Okay, we make cod fritters in Cuban a lot. And Malanga, which is tarot root, make that into fritters. We'll make anything into a fritter. I've even had brain fritters.

Oh, my gosh. How was that? It was good. You can fry a shoe and eat it. It's sweet, isn't it? Not really, but a little bit. Yeah. The Malanga, the terroo, it gets a little sweet when you fry it.

But I love codfish and in the Spanish style. So is it Bacalao? Bacalao. Yeah, so the salt cod, yeah. Absolutely. Because you can't catch cod down. You must come salted. Yeah, it comes salted and prepped for that.

Yeah. Yeah, grouper, snapper. That's great. Florida fish that are from those waters you can get, there's a couple little places on the river that will bring in fish daily and my shelf will go and buy it whenever she's going to make fish

she'll buy it from the day. Mom is over there she's cooking away over there. She's doing it. You have beans? Well, no, green beans. Oh, green beans? No, I would, yeah.

I love green beans. So, so you're making a peyana. I would make you an avocado salad, sliced avocado and tomato. Okay. Always have to have salad. What's your dressing with that? I love to just olive oil and vinegar. Okay, which vinegar are you doing, balsamic?

Oh, balsamic is a little too sweet for that. And I love beets, so sometimes it will be just tomato and sliced beets. I like the, you know, tangy. But red wine vinegar. I like sherry vinegar. Yeah, that's what's it, manzanol, manzanella, anyway. Manzania? Manzania. That's my favorite.

You know what's a great thing for singers, a tea, where you can take your apple juice or whatever fluid you like and you, a tablespoon of red wine vinegar and a pinch of cayenne pepper. That's good for the voice? Very good. It brings a lot of circulation to your vocal cords. See, I would have thought that it would be really a brace. It's not at all. The cayenne, it just brings just a pinch. And honey, of course. And I, you know, you just, you just played to like 300,000 people. But you don't want to tour, really, because it's, it's taxing. But what about a residency?

Oh, that's even more taxing. Oh, is it? Well, if it's in someplace like Vegas, it's a desert. Whenever I played Vegas, we did a 10 days. at Saline's Theatre before she opened Caesar's Palace. I love that you call it Saline's theater. Yeah, it was. She opened that theater. And kudos to her because she spent like a long time in Vegas. And she does in lip sync because a lot of people that do Vegas will lip sync their show.

But I was in the room with 27 humidifiers the entire day just watching my voice. That's not fun. You know what I've done a lot of things and what I love about being this age is like I tell my husband I didn't work this hard to work this hard so I will pick and choose and it's really luxurious

and I love it because it's not one thing as you know touring is like boot camp for the singer you can't go to restaurants because you'll speak above the din you're not using technique and then you can ruin your voice like I have doing all

these interviews during these days. I did the whole show. It was fabulous. I was fine afterwards. And then we threw a little party. We were so celebrating. And the DJ was wonderful, but so loud. And I had let those fans in to take pictures and talking to them.

I was like screaming over this music. But yeah, it's hard. I'm going to figure out a way, like what they're doing with Abba over here. We're going to go see the show tonight. Oh, it's so good. You'll love it. Yes. I'm excited.

It's fantastic. You actually believe Thabha. Yeah, so Emilio is working with these people that created the show. And this makes total sense because you have so many albums. What album? How many albums are you up to you now? I believe, and I don't count it, but this is my 30th studio album. There's a lot of content there.

There's a lot of catalog to go through. And we have so much video footage that I've never even seen that Emilio documents and keeps everything. I wish I'd have done that. like room of library of in every format possible oh my god that looks delicious oh lord do you use you know we marinate a lot in Cuban food we do and we use bitter orange oh okay it's a wonderful marinade with the garlic yeah and the bitter orange and you you know like rub it into the chicken leave it overnight and cook it the next day.

Delicious. How do you get, which bit of the chicken would you like? Whichever one you want to give me. There's grass, there's thighs, there's leg. I can't like the dark meat. Oh, my God, that looks delicious. Oh, the sausages in there. Yummy.

Oh, my God. I think my team is salivating over there. They can have something. Wow. Don't do too much because you want to be shooting rice across the roof. I'll take it. Breast. It's good. Yeah, yeah, fine. Yeah. Emily, see, that's what's great. Emilio likes the breast.

I like the dark meat. Let's talk about Emilio a bit, because I thought he was maybe coming today. Is he in London? He's in London, but poor thing. First of all, he's exhausted. I don't know why, because I'm the one doing all the talking. But he gets up very early and we've been going to bed late. No, but the main reason was, well, we leave tomorrow back to Miami. And Sunday is my daughter-in-law's birthday. So I told him, please go out. and get her a gift. She will love it. Something from London.

He loves shopping. And he's going to buy another suitcase. So for sure, he's going to come back with clothes for me because I'm missing some hormone or gene. Yummy. That I don't like shopping. What's wrong with me? Your husband shops for you as well.

And he knows what looks good on me. He just brings me all this clothes and then I'll try it on at home. And if something doesn't fit, he'll change it for me. So this guy not only writes you an album when you don't fancy writing because you you're too busy, you know, writing a musical because you are incredibly capable. He also goes shopping for you. He does, and he loves it.

And he films you? And does he take a good photo of you, Gloria? He does. He's the only man in the world that takes a good photo of his partner. But he's a producer, you know, that's his bag that he loves that. And he's always watching up for my lighting and all.

I directed the two videos for this album. Yeah, it was part that... Since I couldn't see, they would bring me the monitor. And I'm checking all. Okay, I like this shop, but he was over there making sure I would like some beans. Thank you. Oh, so good. Amelia sounds too good to be true.

You know what? I wish I could clone him and sell him because everybody wants one. I wish you could. Yeah, mum's in the, yeah, needs a media. I'm in the market for him in a media. You are. Oh, well, he's a yen tattoo, so look how tender that chicken. Gloria's happy.

Yeah, this is my happy day. Gloria's dancing. For people that aren't watching this on YouTube, Doric. Gloria is dancing with her fork and swearing. People know that when I do this, I'm a happy girl. I love rice. Me too. I love all rice.

Just like there's not a potato I didn't like. The ground is naughty rice. Oh, I love it. That's very healthy. This is wonderful. Good. Do you have a sweet tooth? Emilio has a sweet tooth.

I would rather savory than sweet, but I love chocolate. I love of the Cuban. desserts flan my grandma was an expert and i love custard that kind of creamy thing you know flan is cram caramel oh okay yes when we come to miami where are we going to eat well you can come to my restaurant yeah let's talk about it what's on the menu we have we own the cardozo hotel we bought that like 30 years ago and on monday they're going to name the street 13th street which is my lucky number they're going to call it glorious stephan way oh which is really cool. That's amazing. That's so nice. But we have a restaurant in there called Call Me Cuban.

And the chef is Cuban, but he studied in France. Oh. So he does the most incredible mixes. Like, I love ox tail. My grandma would make the best ox tail ever. And he will take that and he'll stuff ravioli with the ox tail. Makes it easy to eat because, you know, oxtail. You got to get rid of all the slime and, oh, it's so good. My grandma was the best. And, for you. And, for you. And, Funny enough, that Cardozo Hotel, I have a picture of my dad and me and my mom and his sister and my cousin on the beach in front of the Cardozo when I was like three. And the day we closed on the hotel that we bought it officially, I tell my mom, Mom, you know, Amelia and I just invested.

We bought the Cardozo. And she says, oh, my God, that's the hotel that when we went to that beach outing, because my mom hated the beach, so it was her one and only beach outing. she goes you turned around and you told your dad and pointed to that hotel and said when I'm big I'm going to buy you that hotel no you didn't I did I did and there it is that's so romantic crazy that is crazy is there anything that you haven't done yet that you would like to do well our professional dream would be to sing in a free Cuba throw a celebratory concert there

but honestly what I'd love is just more vacation time with my family so we're going to ask you well you can start thinking about it your last supper not in the most bleak sense of the word you know but you're going off to a desert island for a very very long time I've already thought about it okay it would be chicken friccassine with rice and beans and avocado salad and flan for dessert I love it because it has the potatoes. You just get it done, Gloria, Stefan. You literally, you just gave us the quickest last supper. Just bang, bang, bang. What's your drink of choice? My drink of choice? You mean alcoholic drink? Yeah. I make a mean Cosmo. I know. Do you know this is Lenny's favorite drink?

It's my very favorite drink. I'm going to give you the recipe. You are going to love it. Every time I go to a party of my family, they will bring the Cosmos and I'll make them in A big pitch. Jugs like this, four gallon jugs. And we will go through them, like for my birthday weekend. I think that would just start me off, four gallon of. What's the, what is the secret to the Gloria Estefan Cosmo? I prefer Quantreau to Gramarion.

I've got a set there. So it's one part vodka. I like to use Gregoose LaRange. This is not a paid political thing. No, you're going to have to make one in a minute. You don't have to drink it, but you may have to make you us the Gloria. So what I do is I'll take that jug and I'll fill it with big ice cubes that don't melt easily. I keep the vodka in the freezer.

So then I'll fill, let's say you take two cups of vodka. It's a quarter of that of Quantreau. So it will be... Two cuts, not triple sex. Sometimes people use triple sec. I prefer Quintra. Me too. I prefer Quintra.

Then I will do equal parts orange juice. to vodka and equal parts, no, equal parts cranberry juice, but the juice, not the cocktail mix thing. Okay, proper cranberry juice. Yeah, in Miami I mean, in the States we have one called North Lynn and it's, it's we have ocean spray. Okay, that's fine or not. Yeah, but it's not the same. It's not the same, but you can use it in a pinch. That's what they use at bars. They don't spend the money. Yeah, but it's slightly sweetened. It's good for your

blood. Personally, I think, I think, think that's why everybody wakes up the next day fresh as a daisy yeah it rush it rushes through your kidneys yeah it's very good so it's actually you'll say it's good for you it's good for you yeah so then uh i also add half part of either seven up or a sprite or yes if you want to be you know healthy you can use perier yeah i don't waste my time on the peri i will do half of a seven upper sprite, then the juice of four, if it's the two gallons, it'll be the juice of either two very juicy limes or... Oh, you put lime in yours as well?

Yeah, you've got it. No, I've never put lime in line. Yes, lime. I take orange zest, squeeze the orange zest in and then put the orange pea in them. I use the juices and then a splash. If you're going to do the gallons, it'll be like an eighth of a cup of grenadine. I love it you're making for like... an army. I love this. It's not just like one... Does everyone love your cosmos? They love them.

Who taught you this, Cosmo? Well, I had tasted it. You know, did you ever watch Sex and the City? Of course. I mean, so I got... I got curious about it and I would taste it or we'd have that drink if we went somewhere and I felt so good the next day. I go, let me, let me see. So I tasted it. I looked at the recipe and then I thought, for me, I started tweaking it. and perfecting it took me a bit of time and everybody I send them the recipe they love it they make it but ideally what I do is I'll make it the day before and put it in the freezer so that when you serve it it's got that nice little you know icy thing on the top of the cosmos you must send us this recipe and we are going to film ourselves I have it in my phone I will give it to you

let me see again how delicious that was oh glorious Stefan loves you cooking mom I've got a bit of pud, it's like a cake you can have a tiny slither, you don't have to have it. Of course I can. Okay, I love you. I love you. No, I'm not going to say no. I actually don't know if the recipe, I'm really bad at baking, but it's a recipe, so if it's crap. You baked it?

I did. All right, let's see. But it's... Is it a cheesecake kind of thing? It's a blackberry crumble cake. So it's made with yogurt and oil. That's healthy? Yeah. Yeah, I did avocado. oil instead, but I'm worried the taste will be weird. But blackberries in season,

and then it's done like a little crumble on top. I don't know. It's not my recipe, so I'm kind of like, and I'm crap at baking. Do I slice, or are we going to let mum slice? Whatever you want. Do you want to slice? I'll take a sliver. I'll get you a slice. I want the tiniest slither, please, Laura.

Yes. You and I are in the same. Okay. Yeah, in the same industry, aren't we? Yeah, but you know what? At this point, I don't care. I don't care. That's the beauty of bleeding. Let them eat cake. So you have performed to six different presidents. I have. Can I ask who gave the best food?

Who did the best spread? Well, it's always the same. You know that when presidents come in and out, the White House staff does not. Because they're the ones that know where everything is. Emilio goes there and everybody knows him from all the times he's been in. Do you think you need a knife? Or can you manage?

No, I think I can. Well, let's see. No, let's open it up. I don't think this one in. Well, I don't know about this, though. Here we go. Don't worry if it's just, it's, I'm so scared. It's either not cooked or like.

I think it's fine. Okay, too cooked. No, no. Okay. Where are you assuming that you've been bad at something? No, I'm really bad at baking. Is that too? That's fine.

That's perfect. Let me just taste before you have to put it in your lips. No. Like, bit, yeah, bit better taste. Yeah, you got to taste your daughter's cake. Do you want crem fresh? It's not bad. No, thank you. It's not bad. So the White House, it's always the same food. It's the same food. They cook it. But the most fun we had was performing meatierra for Barack Obama, who also gave us the Medal of Freedom. First time a couple gets it, the highest honor that a civilian can get in the States. And my father took me to the States to be in freedom. So that day was so emotional.

for both Emilio and I and my mom was watching on television from Miami. That was a very special moment. And he had a giant party celebrating Hispanic music before that. How did you celebrate? Celebrate that medal?

Yeah. Did you celebrate with Barack and Michelle? Or did you go out after? No, we did a lot. There was a party afterwards. That day that I got the medal. Spielberg got one. Strysan got one

She said to me You know you're pretty young To be getting this medal And I go Well I'll take that as a compliment Because I'm not as young as you think I am Do you think she was a bit jealous? No

Oh fine Well she's just She's Barbara Is she? She's Barbara Okay What's Barbara Streis and like When you meet her

When two divas collide She's pretty insular Like she's not She won't go out of her way She's quite reclusive, isn't she? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I started listening to her audio book because I like to read.

I read very fast, but I wanted to hear her voice. But also, how far in, you know, because it's never ending. I'm doing the audio and it's really nice listening to her because she adds things to it as well. She's like, oh, yeah, I forgot about that score. And you're like, oh, yeah, I love it. I love it. But yeah, I just fell off because of work. I know.

But I will. Look, now you reminded me on the play. You've reminded me. Me too. You know, I don't sleep on any moving vehicles since I had that accident. My subconscious won't surrender, no matter how tired I am. For people that don't know, Gloria, on your way to a concert, and you were hit by a truck and paralyzed. Yeah, March 20, 1990.

I just sold out World Tour. We were at the top of our game, and from one moment to the next, boom. Back broken. The fear that I had, because my dad had been in a wheelchair. So that was one of my biggest fears. You were in a wheelchair for how many months? You know, until my doctor thought it was nothing short of a miracle, but I knew that it had to do with that's the first time I really experienced what prayer does

because there were so many people worldwide praying for me. And I felt it like an energy, like I felt like electricity. Like, I was plugged into the wall, and I would absorb it and imagine nerves reconnecting. I'm spiritual. I was raised Catholic, you know, nun school, the whole thing. But I do believe that, you know, I believe that everything is God, like, that we are all a peace of God. And God is going to express himself in every possible way, hence everything will happen. And that's why I think that we are collectively creating with our thoughts.

I think we're incredibly powerful beings are reality. And we can create for good and we can create not good. So since I don't believe that death is the end, it's almost like if you're in a play or a movie, if they kill you off in the movie, you're still alive. So you're living the life that you chose for the experience. and for the learning, and we're all doing it together. If we could realize this and accept each other as part of each other,

we could make this place so much better. But it's like school, I think. That's what I think. But I am spiritual in that way. Gloria, which song do people want to hear most when they go to a Gloria Estefan concert? Well, you'd have to ask my fans. But probably conga. It's such a mouthful, though.

I've tried. And I, you know, come my baby, it's such a mouthful. Duolipa just did it on her tour in Miami. I am so bummed because she invited me to do it with her on stage. And I was not in town. I was rehearsing for the show in Madrid. And I was so bummed.

But that is the sexiest conga I've ever seen in my life. The sexiest hands down. And I was really honored. that she would, you know... She did a good job. She did. She got all the words out. She's a pro that duble leaping.

She did it. But let me tell you, we have a tiny desk. You know where a tiny desk is? We have a tiny desk coming out. And the version, we did a very unique way to do conga, and it is even faster. Oh, my goodness. Just wait to you hear that. You have to do little snippets, and you have one, Mike.

There's no monitors. I did it and I really regret I did it 10 years ago and they never have people come back and I feel like I've got so many more songs that I could do on Tiny Desk now. But you know what? They're going to run out of people and they're going to have to start coming back. Did you have a good experience?

I did. I did. We did it because there's El Tiny because they highlight the Latin part for like a month for Hispanic Heritage. So these people have been trying to invite me to the show for years but I kept saying like but I don't have anything

new right now why would you know I'm going to wait till the right moment and boy was this ever the right moment it just everything clicked in and my 50th year it's it all worked great but it's a challenge for musicians you've got to cut everything down

you know you don't have monitors for the band it's not that bad but for singers like literally not even a little speaker Gloria Estefan, before we let you go, which I don't really want to, because I, it's a good, I'm taking no credit apart from, that I put it together. You made it. I did make it. You have good, right? I have three, yeah. How old do they? Nine, six and four. They'll love this. Yeah, they, actually, they would, yeah. Okay, I'll make sure that I bring some back for them. You've got to. Take it all, darling. I'll say Mother Gloria said. I just want to ask you before you go, what is an ostrac. nostalgic taste that can transport you back somewhere. Oh my gosh. Croquettas.

Yeah. Your grandma's croquettes. Croquettes, my grandma's croqueta. I will forever be judging everyone's croquettas, looking down my nose at them. Thank God we didn't do, they use, well, it depends. She would make them of ham and the bechamel sauce, which is to die for. She would make them out of cod, the salted cod, with chicken.

would make a lot of chicken, but she just, it was just perfection in a croquet and a tamal. You know, a lot of Latin American countries have their own version of tamales. In Mexico, certainly Venezuela has, we call it Ayakas. But the cube in tamal is corn, right? And I love tamal in Casuala. I think that even more so, which is tamal, but it's in a pot. it's almost like if you made a pudding out of the corn but not sweet just the corn and then you could either put lechong like the pork with it or crab or anything on top of it they eat it in new orleans it's delicious what language do you talk to your husband in spanish and yes Spanish absolutely he's so funny he changes words because he'll say whatever occurs in first okay like for example erytha franklin

adored him, right? But when he talks to me, he calls her Eurethra Franklin. Oh, my goodness. And I go, babe, that's even harder. I don't understand. And why is that word stuck in your head? Since when do you use the word erethra?

Like that kind of thing? It's constant. It is constant. He'll say, I had a night mirror last night. Night mirror. Nightmare. Nightmare. Not nightmare.

He's just so. funny even when he's not intending and that it's so endearing to me i have a list of emiliadas a miliades he's very absent-minded but for business because he's all business but for normal life oh my gosh and do your kids just talk to in spanish as well in english probably and with such i really had to make it a point to speak to him in spanish because english is easy for me i was two when i went to the States. So, and it depends. We talk in Spanish too. We go back and forth. It's Spanglish. We literally mix words in one sentence. When you say things in Spanish, it sounds so exotic, doesn't it? It's romantic. It's romantic. The love songs in Spanish. You know, you can't be

too sweet or too romantic in Spanish and English. You have to be careful because then they'll say, oh, it's saccharine. How could love be saccharine? But if you're too expressive in English, It's a problem. So I love to be able to live in both worlds, but for ballads and romance. Oh, the Spanish. The corathon. I was, the corathon. I was seeing a Spanish guy for a bit and he would like give me.

What should have to say that? When I wasn't with Sam. Okay. You were with Sam. Some other moment. No, we had like two years off. Okay. And he gave me Pablo Neruda poetry.

Oh, my God. They're so beautiful. Yeah, like, see, Spania's like, yeah. But you could say things like if I say, Arros con pollo. What's that mean? Chicken and rice. Gloria Estefan, you are amazing.

Thank you so much. Thank you. And thank you for that delicious meal. Oh my gosh. That really was wonderful. Good. You could have a restaurant if you want to. I don't think so.

Nor do you want to. We can't wait to see the new musical. Thank you so much. Can we come? Of course. And when you decide that you fancy doing your little gig, just let us know, okay? I'll do things here and there. Like, you know, I will be out there.

I like to connect with the fans and, you know, just say, hey. For Spain, it was wonderful because I literally went on Spotify. I checked all the charts for the past 25, 30 years, and saw what the top songs of my catalog, because I can't do every song, it's impossible. I love that you can just check where you were in the charts. We'll be doing, we'd be doing the backing on one, two, three. Yeah.

Exactly. Come on, baby, say you love me five, six, seven times. I love that Sesame Street used that as a counting game for kids. Oh, my God. I'm going to do it with the baby. Yes. And, you know, I love to do parodies of my own songs. And one that would go with this meal would be, anything for food.

Just bring it here. I haven't said I'm through. And where's my beer? I've been waiting for so long. All my appetizers gone. And still my hunger pangs are strong. That's just the big game. Fantastic.

Thank you for this. Thank you. think we may have just met the most warm, fabulous icon, pop star, mother, grandmother. She just stayed, by the way. She has a really busy day today. She's going to have a voyage later. She's about to go and do a junket at her label. She has been on the breakfast radio show this morning.

She is exhausted probably. And she still signed everything and talked and kept on talking. I just, you didn't hear me just talk. talking to her about all her pets. She has a parrot who mimics everyone in the house. She says that the parrot goes, then. Like, come on, puppy, then when the parrot's talking to her husband. She's amazing.

I'm sure we could do a part two if she ever wants us to come to Miami. We will have a part two. I love Gloria Estefan. And I actually feel like she's like an unreal icon. Because not only has she's been so successful, She's like the most down-to-earth woman. Jessie, I think you have to have one of her songs in your new repertoire. I'm going to do a cover.

Yeah. Of a Gloria song. Toy boy. It's called Love Toy. Oh, love toy. Okay. And mum just asked what Love Toy was about. Actually, I had you listen to all the way.

Gloria said, well, it's about, I said, a vibrator, a guy that's like a vibrator. You're my love toy, no battery's required. Wind me up and I'll start to move. Oh, my God. No. Anyway, she's amazing. Gloria Estefan just gave us everything that I needed and so much more. The stories. Yeah. She loved the meal. Good. Good idea, Jess. Thank you. Did it taste okay? Executed excellently, mum. Good, darling. And Sophie Weiberg's cake was really, I hate to use the word, moist, but delicious. It makes me feel a bit faint, but delicious. And I'm just absolutely reeling over that. And she sang. And she sang. Well done, Mum. I love her. Thank you to everyone who just listened to a completely gorgeous episode.

We'll see you next week for another round of table manners and more meeting of icons, I guess. Thank you for listening. Oh, no.