Dolly Parton is known for her quick Southern quips. But during a recent interview promoting her Duncan Hines collaboration, she threw a funny jab at goddaughter Miley Cyrus that may be her most Southern yet.
The Queen of Country sat down with Insider earlier this week to share some insights on her down-home cooking, and she got on the topic of Cyrus’ kitchen skills, which Dolly claims are non-existent.
“I doubt I’d eat much of anything that Miley cooks ’cause it would have no taste,” she laughed.
Miley was an outspoken vegan for many years. Recently transitioned to pescetarianism, which means she doesn’t eat meats, E.g. pork, beef, or chicken. But she does eat fish. Her cooking habits follow her adult diet. And Dolly, who loves lard and fried everything, isn’t remotely interested in giving her food a try.
“Even if she cooked me something, I’m sure I’d have to doctor it up a little for myself,” she noted before throwing in a classic Dolly zinger. “I would have to have some bacon grease.”
Dolly Parton Shares Her Favorite Comfort Foods
The freshly turned 77-year-old is proud of bringing all the Southern flare into her home-cooked meals. The songstress learned her skills while growing up in the Appalachian Mountains. And because of the wholesome memories that come from the hobby, she still spends hours in her Nashville, TN, kitchen.
However, her busy schedule keeps her from being too experimental. So, she relies on tried and true recipes.
“My food is not pretty but it is good,” she told Yahoo! Life. “I kind of do that Southern thing my mom and my aunts did where it’s about tasting good and cooking for the multitudes. I still love to cook but my sister Rachel does most of the serious cooking.”
Dolly Parton considers her meals “comfort food.” And some of her favorite dishes are potatoes, “whether they be baked potatoes or mashed potatoes, whether they be french fries,” and chicken and dumplings.
In a separate Insider interview, the Grammy winner shared that she tried to instill her cooking wisdom into Miley Cyrus when Miley was younger. And she noted that they used to make some mean meatloaf together.
But now that the 30-year-old is more health conscious, they’ve drifted away from the tradition.
“I haven’t cooked for Miley in a long time because she’s a little more picky now than I am,” Dolly admitted. “I can’t eat it as often. But I’ve still never been on a diet that I didn’t break by wanting to eat something like potato salad or meatloaf or some fried chicken — any of that good stuff that you love to cook in the South.”
