Do you know Snoop Dogg’s favorite sort of weather? Drizzle. Snoop’s favorite kind of tool? A chizzel. His favorite food to eat (possibly when afflicted by the munchies)? Cornbread made by Malachi “Spank” Jenkins and Roberto “News” Smith of Trap Kitchen in Los Angeles — and that’s no joke.
Childhood friends who started selling food from a home in Compton and marketing it via social media to underground fanfare and viral success, Jenkins and Smith, who will be releasing their second cookbook Trap Kitchen: Mac’N All Over The World, had their first interaction with Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr., aka Snoop, after Real 92.3 radio host Big Boy took to the air and announced that the 50-year-old rapper was looking for the Trap Kitchen cooks. Snoop then took to Instagram and recorded a video asking the guys to get in touch.
“That’s where we hit it off. We went to his compound to meet with him and just vibed. He had us do a couple of different dishes. Fried chicken, barbecue ribs, our famous pineapple bowl, cornbread and mac and cheese,” Jenkins tells InsideHook. “He loves our cornbread. He would call us up for about two years straight every week.”
During one of those weekly trips back to Snoop’s compound, the late, great Kobe Bryant was in the house. “He already had knowledge of us and knew who we were and was excited to meet us. It was the best moment in my whole career, man. Had to be,” Jenkins says. “We made him a pineapple bowl. He ate it right there on the spot and asked for two more to take home. It was just like, ‘Wow, we made it.’”
Another “made-it” moment for Jenkins and Smith was appearing on Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party on VH1 and meeting Snoop’s co-host Martha Stewart. “That was awesome after growing up watching her,” Jenkins says. “She was really down to earth and really cool. It was a great experience.”
Enjoyable as that experience was, the best part of being connected with Snoop is continuing to head over to his compound, with orders of cornbread, pineapple bowls and Trap Kitchen’s Trap Mac, a dish that calls for four different kinds of cheese as well as Campbell’s cheddar cheese soup and Kraft Cheez Whiz.
“I took certain things from my grandma’s recipe and perfected it over time,” Jenkins says. “The different blends of cheeses go into the sauce and we take time to make it. I see a lot of people make mac and cheese and they really don’t put any effort into it. They don’t season their noodles and don’t make sure that it’s consistent. We want it to be cheesy and we use pepper as the main seasoning. It helps offset the sharpness of the cheese.”
Snoop can handle the Trap Mac’s pepper, but Jenkins and Smith have learned to leave the hot sauce at home — and not to forget the cornbread.
“We love hot sauce. Snoop doesn’t like it at all. He doesn’t like anything spicy. He’s kind of random with his calls and his menu options are random too, but he always wants pineapple bowls and he always wants cornbread. That’s Snoop, he’s always high,” Jenkins says. “Don’t let that skinniness fool you, he puts food down and eats a lot of carbs. You would think he would be big. He probably has a high metabolism. But you can’t forget that cornbread, man.”
And you can’t forget to try Trap Kitchen’s recipe for mac and cheese.
Trap Kitchen’s Trap Mac
Ingredients
- 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 1 tablespoon seasoned salt
- Hella black pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
- 2 dollups of sour cream
- 2 (12-ounce) cans Campbell’s condensed cream of mushroom with roasted garlic soup
- 2 (10.5-ounce) cans Campbell’s cheddar cheese soup
- 8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar
- 8 ounces shredded Colby-Jack cheese
- 8 ounces shredded Monterey Jack
- 8 ounces shredded mild cheddar
- 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup Kraft Cheez Whiz (from a jar)
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Boil the noodles up, then drain them, of course. Put them back in the pot.
- Season the noodles with your butter to coat them and add your onion powder, seasoned salt, and lots of pepper.
- Add your dried parsley flakes and sour cream. Add your mushroom soup, then your cheddar cheese soup.
- Add your sharp cheddar, Colby-Jack, Monterey Jack, and mild cheddar (but save some cheese for later), and mix until you hear that gooey noise. Add your evaporated milk and Cheez Whiz and mix all that shit in together.
- Take a baking pan or sheet, spread the mix in, make it even in the pan and top with the rest of the cheese blend. Make sure all the edges are covered so there are no holes!
- Once you’ve topped it with the cheese, top it with some more pepper and parsley.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges start browning and crusting. Then ya done, cuz.
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