The third installment of the Odd Duck Almanac, a multivolume cookbook project I spent most of last two years working on, was just released to the world. It’s the last in a trilogy featuring stories and recipes from the Odd Duck family of restaurants back in Austin, and I had the great privilege to write and oversee the last two books.

While working on it, I had the pleasure of getting to know Frida Silva-Carreira, the leader of the bakery program at Sour Duck Market on Austin’s East Side. At just 25 years old, she channeled her drive, ambition, and raw talent into this impressive leadership role. She’s featured in one of the main centerpieces of the book, telling her story, and sharing her recipes, including the recipe for her signature conchas.

The conversation you’re about to hear was originally released back in November as exclusive content for my Patreon subscribers. Now that I’ve suspended that subscription service for the time being, and the book is available, I thought this would be the perfect time to let the whole world hear from Frida. We talk about her upbringing in Monterrey, Mexico, Kentucky, and Ohio; how she made it up the ladder so quickly in some of Austin’s best restaurants; and her experience coming into awareness around her Mexican-American identity during the racial reckoning our country went through in the summer of 2020.

If you want to order a copy for yourself, head over to oddduckaustin.com/merch. The two volumes I wrote are both available there — the new Resilience Issue, and last year’s At Home Issue.

I first met Frida during the initial lockdown of 2020 when I was working on that first Almanac. I was granted special access to the bakery where she tried to teach me and my big awkward hands how to boule sourdough. Go to the Road Hungry Instagram to see a video of her doing it the right way. Here’s Frida SIlva-Carreira talking to me last summer at Sour Duck Market in Austin.