What better way to get into the Christmas spirit than enjoying a Twixmas meal with Big Zuu and Google Gemini? The London Rapper, TV personality and culinary expert spoke about the importance of reducing Christmas food waste by using Google’s AI to seek inspiration for recipes to use up your leftover food. With a meal comprised of Brussels Sprouts Elote, Lebanese Potato and Cheese Fatayer, Turkey and Stuffing Pinwheels and Christmas Pud Bread Pudding (v) with Cranberry Sauce Ice Cream, he demonstrated the reach of Gemini. After the meal, we caught up with Big Zuu to talk Sierra Leonean and Lebanese Christmas food, his best “struggle” Christmas meal and being kind to your AI…

You’re spending Christmas in Sierra Leone, tell us what a traditional Christmas meal is there?

In Sierra Leone around that time, there’s Jollof rice and stew. People in Sierra Leone make whatever they like for Christmas; whatever their favourite food is. My grandad’s side is Lebanese, Lebanon is more synonymous with monotheism because they have jews, christians and muslims. When it comes to Christmas, the Lebanese spend it a little bit differently. My grandad would get us all these stuffed things, like dolmas, stuffed tripe which is quite similar to haggis; a lot of stuffed stuff. He made a big deal out of it, I spent Christmas with my grandad once and I just remember eating all this food and I was like “bredda, why is there so much stuffed stuff? And he was like, “this is what you do, we’re from Lebanon. This is the Christmas we have.” Alright big man, I don’t know if it’s a natural thing; he might be lying.

But Christmas food is a lot of stuffed stuff here too, we’ve got stuffing, stuffed chicken, stuffed stockings…

It’s true, how dare I question my grandad!

We’re celebrating Christmas inspired by Gemini and very importantly how to use leftover food. How did this whole campaign and this collaboration tie into your personal morals around Christmas?

Well, I’ve worked with companies before about battling food waste, where we looked at best before dates. I think with Google and Gemini, it’s launching in a new space. They’re promoting the new app but they’re also using the times to intertwine with how the app can really help people. More people are moving away from tradition and having a Friendsmas, linking up with their friends for Christmas dinner. Using Gemini is a great way to combat food waste because when it comes to the stats, around half of Brits overshop in fear of running out. That’s something you can recognise in every family at Christmas. I look at people’s Instagram and I’m like, “that’s a lot of food! If you see the tables, you’re like, “I know you ain’t finishing that! Nine times out of ten, what do we do with our leftovers? If you ain’t bothered on Boxing Day to turn it into something else, you’re gonna dash it in a bin. It’s a big waste and food waste is something we have to combat together as a society, finding innovative ways to recreate food. Christmas leftovers are a big thing that’s been pushed within the food industry in the past few years. But combating that with AI is something I never thought I’d see, so it’s cool to be part of it.

How did you come up with these amazing meals that you made with Gemini?

Literally just prompts, saying, “I’m at home, I’ve got this food left over from these countries. I love these kinds of foods, what can we do?” I told Gemini I love Mexican food and it made the brussels sprouts. I told Gemini I’m from Lebanon and it made the fatayer. What I love is that it’s able to draw from culture and heritage in a way that’s just super plain. AI hasn’t got a lens, it’s not racially motivated, it just tells you what it thinks is right and I like that.

When you look at London, where we do have so many cultures coming together, what are the limitations when it comes to these prompts? 

I think the only thing that you have to be mindful of is how you word your questions with Gemini. So it’s understanding how you’re communicating with Gemini and that it’s going to give you what you give it. So if you ask a badly worded question, it’s probably going to give you a badly worded answer. Understanding how to communicate is super important but also use trial and error because it’s a new app. AI is a new space, so learn how you can get into it. I’ve gone back and forth with it and I’ve used it over time to learn. It’s going to be like any app or any bit of technology. Once I get to that place, I know how I’m gonna get the best out of it and I genuinely do. It’s fun but I was a bit skeptical when it first came out. As a musician, I thought it was going to take all of our jobs. Then you slowly realise that’s not actually gonna happen, so how can I use this tool to make it work with me within my life? Not just when it comes to planning recipes but when it comes to genuinely important things in my life, I use AI. Things like paying tax, buying a house, I never thought it would be intertwined into my daily life. Also speaking about ADHD and how if I have no one to speak to, I go on my app and ask “how are you?” Which is mad, but I genuinely think it helps sometimes. If I have a random thought that I can’t get out of my mind, so now I’m procrastinating more, then I can get it out and get the answer. I get to the root problem of how many cows are in the world. I don’t know why I thought of that, but now I need to know. 

When it comes to pre-AI cooking, is there a struggle meal that you made specifically around Christmas with leftovers? 

Yeah, I’d always make Turkey Ramen.

That doesn’t sound like a struggle though.

It’s a struggle, you get the £1 Indomie [pack of noodles]. We’re not talking about oyster sauce and soy sauce, making the ramen and adding the tofu and bean sprouts. No, I’m talking about packets of £1 noodles, getting some turkey breast, putting it in a pot, waiting five minutes and voila. That and bare sandwiches, I genuinely love sandwiches. I’m addicted to sandwiches, I love a Christmas leftover sandwich, I’m serious. 

Before this whole Gemini experience, that was the limitation in my mind.

Yeah, that was the furthest that leftovers went, the options were either to boil the leftovers as a soup or make a sandwich with it. I never thought I’d be doing Christmas Bread and Butter pudding. That was mad, with Cranberry Ripple ice cream.

Which was your favorite of all the courses today?

Probably dessert, I’m a sucker for dessert. You wouldn’t think to use Christmas pudding as Bread and Butter pudding, never. I usually just put it in the bin. But the cranberry sauce used in an ice cream, Raspberry Ripple but Cranberry Ripple. That was quite random but it also worked.

Would you ever use the Gemini prompts to suggest sandwich combos?

I didn’t think of that but now I must do it. There was a toastie suggested by Gemini but I don’t like the obvious ones, I like going left. I love telling Gemini and AI apps like “try again. Think harder. Great idea but go again.” And it says, “okay, Zuu, sorry.” It never answers back or tells me no. “Should I try again? Okay, I’ll try again.” “Thank you. Nope, not good enough.” [Laughs] I’m not saying be a prick to AI, I’m not saying be rude, I’m saying use it for, what is.

Do you thank your AI?

On my mother’s life, I thank Gemini; I have manners. Just because AI is not a human being, doesn’t mean it has to be treated disrespectfully. “Thank you, Gemini. I appreciate you.”

I thought it was a bit crazy saying, “thank you for that response” to my AI.

No that means, you’re kind. 

Gemini allows you to upload a photo too, do you use this tool a lot? 

I live at home with my boy D and we’re both creatives, we’re hardly home. We don’t shop a lot so sometimes that fridge is dire. Sometimes I look at the fridge, like “what can I actually do?” I feel like that’s where the photo tool really helps. Even someone like me that’s not home, that’s not got a packed fridge full of produce. You might just have some cheese and juice. [Laughs] That’s all we have for some reason, we always have cheese, juice and salami. So, let’s make a cheesy juicy salami toastie. We’ve got salami, juice and Babybel. 

What are the three seasonings that you need at home in order to use Gemini in an exciting way?

Seasonings that you must have, Maggi cube because if you’re from Sierra Leone, that is level one. And paprika and black pepper, I love cracked black pepper. I bought a pepper grinder, that’s when I knew I was growing up; I’m definitely 29. I felt joy when it came to my house. Like, why am I so excited? Then I was like, how do you get these bloody peppercorns in the ting? So, I had to unscrew the ting. It’s bare hard and I got peppercorns everywhere. But now, you know when a waiter comes and says, would you like some black pepper sir? That is me to my own food. I put olive oil on top of food now too, that’s when you’re actually grown up. I am an adult. Olive oil at the end? How dare you! 

What advice would you give to a home chef that’s looking to bring Gemini into their cooking?

I would say learn how to prompt it right to get the best out of it. So asking Gemini questions is gonna force it to think. Instead of saying, “how do I season this chicken breast?” Say, “I really love Spanish flavours, how do I incorporate some Spanish flavours into this chicken breast?” Magic words. It’s about using your experience to create an experience rather than relying on it for guidance. You can do that but I don’t think that’s the best way to use the app. If you’re a new chef and you’re trying to use Gemini, just lean on the stuff that you love. Like, “I love Italian cooking, how do I make this more Italian?” Rather than just saying, “Can I get an Italian dish?” Essentially it’s always going to answer the question you ask. The more you’re willing to test it and push it, the more it will give you. I see my AI as a young Michael Jordan trying to make it and I’m his coach like, “come on, you can work harder.” 

You taught me that “Twixmas” is the time between Christmas and New Year. So in Sierra Leone, are you cooking or is it another family member cooking? 

When I’m in Sierra Leone, my uncle is the chef. He lives in a village but he comes down to the capital, Freetown and stays with us just to cook for me. Because he’s a chef, he gets a lot of joy from me eating; I obviously pay him very well. But, let’s not talk about the paying part. He loves to cook for me and I cook because I like to show my grandma that I can cook. Because when I tell my granny, I’m a TV chef in England. She’s like, “yeah, you’re lying.” I’m like “I’m not lying, it’s literally my job.” She’s like, “your job is to do what?” I said, “to cook on telly.” She said, “you cook on TV?” I said “yeah,” she said, “No.” She doesn’t believe me. So I cook for her to prove to her that I can cook.

She’s not a fan of the sandwich? 

Oh no way! My granny, the only sandwich we know – because we’re Lebanese – is the shawarma. My granny loves shawarma, falafel wrap. They love wraps, Lebanese people die for a wrap. My granny is obsessed.

Would your ultimate Twixmas meal be a Lebanese wrap for your grandma? 

It would be leftover turkey, falafel, salad, brussels sprouts in a wrap, toasted; I just made it up. My auntie gave me turkey last year in Africa, I couldn’t believe it. She bought me half a turkey, she’s like “Merry Christmas.” Just gave me half of a roasted turkey, I didn’t want to eat it. I was like, there’s no way this is real. I said, where did you get this turkey from? There ain’t no turkey in Sierra Leone. 

What are some of the common mistakes that people make with their Christmas leftovers that you would like them to avoid?

One, throwing them away. Because you think, after one day, they’re not good – they’re great. I would say, throwing away the turkey bones because the carcass makes a great stock. Throwing away all your food waste like the onion skin, the carrot heads, the skin of the potato, that stuff can all get used for incredible stock. Another thing is not talking to your neighbours. We come from such a multicultural society, knock on your neighbour’s door and they might have the wickedest side you’ve ever had. Say, “hey guys, we make these sprouts for Christmas every year, would you like some?” And they go, “Oh hi we make these carrots every time, why don’t you take some?” Tapping in with your neighbours is really important because on Christmas Day it’s kind of foreign to speak to your neighbours. Christmas, Boxing Day, I’m with my family but I feel like having more conversations with your neighbours is a cool thing to do. I’ve got neighbours from India, from Poland, from Africa. I know on Christmas, they’re gonna have some dishes. 

How do you use Gemini, not just with food and cooking but also with your other projects that you work on?

Well I think sometimes it’s just about streamlining your thinking and making your weird thoughts make sense. Sometimes with ADHD, because you lack dopamine you find ways to not focus on what you’re doing and sometimes you get lost in that rabbit hole. So let’s say I’m building a table, then I go, “that’s a nice chair and start building the chair. You know what? That’s a great floor. How do I do floors?” You start getting into flooring and you look up and there’s a great ceiling and suddenly, you’re building all these things. You never knew how to build in the first place. I feel like using AI can steer you in the right direction. Like “Hi, I’m sitting here making a chair, but right now I’m thinking about making a floor.” Then you get a second opinion. “Maybe you shouldn’t make that floor. Maybe we should focus on the chair, after you’re done with that chair, here’s a great way to make that floor while using your time correctly.” I feel like it’s great at staggering your thoughts. In your mind sometimes you’ve got all these thoughts and ideas but you don’t know how to put them onto paper; AI does that for you sometimes.

​​Big Zuu’s Festive Tips

1. Plan Smart, Shop Smart: Stress-free Christmas dinner planning? Sorted! Use Google’s AI, Gemini, before you hit the shops. Tell the app what you’re cooking and for how many people, and it willI work out exactly how much you need – so you don’t waste time… or food!

2. Don’t Skimp on the Spice: Christmas leftovers don’t have to taste boring. Spice things up with a raid on your spice rack, like chilli powder and cumin to transform leftover sprouts into spicy elote. Boom!

3. Mix up those Festive Leftovers: Bored with leftover turkey and sprouts? Remix them into something delicious with the help of Google Gemini. Take a picture of what you’ve got left in the cupboard or fridge and Gemini will deliver original and tasty meal inspiration. Genius. Think turkey tacos, cheesy potato fatayer, or festive veggie fried rice!

4. Veggies are King: Make your festive leftover veggies the star of the show in post-Christmas meals. Roast them, fry them, or blend them into a hearty soup for those cold winter mornings. A little love can transform even humble sprouts into something straight fire.

5. Use Gemini to be a Friendsmas Planning Pro: Need help planning a festive celebration with your mates? Gemini is your secret weapon to assist you. Create a killer leftover menu, plan your table décor, and even get festive cocktail ideas through a few prompts in the app. Party pro status achieved.

Read more about the Twixmas meal by Big Zuu and Google Gemini.