1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,800 Hi everyone, welcome to potluck food talks. I'm here with my friend Phil and we're going 2 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:14,680 to talk about our new league of underground kitchen battles. 3 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,800 Yeah, who have you recruited yet? 4 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:22,400 I have a few warriors ready to get into a Killing Night Cage fight. 5 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:26,440 Wait, are we going to do this like we're two like boxing brokers and we're putting like 6 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:31,640 our guys up against each other like a sort of tech and tag tournament sort of thing? 7 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:38,040 Well, I think that that could be a way. I think it's important that the competitors 8 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:44,160 have like people at their corners like holding money in their hands, you know, and screaming. 9 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:48,640 Also have sort of like breaks, you know, sort of like like rounds and then they go into 10 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,280 that corner, they have somebody massaging their shoulders and be like, you're going 11 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:56,680 to dice that fucking apple finder, man, like, don't let him intimidate you with his chip 12 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:57,680 or not. 13 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:05,680 Do you like like kitchen competitions in general? 14 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:11,600 Dude, as if have you do we know each other for like 15 years or like? 15 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:16,520 I know, I know you, I know you love Iron Chef as I do, but there is much more than that. 16 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:21,480 You know, there is also like this kind of Master Chef, Top Chef, Bocuse d'Or and all 17 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:26,120 of this kind of competition, the Culinary Olympics. There's a lot, you know, like the 18 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:29,480 MOF in France, this kind of things. 19 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:35,160 Oh my God. Okay, I can already see, you know what, just as a listener, as a listener thing, 20 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:39,240 I think we wanted to talk about something else, right? But I think that this is a topic 21 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:45,480 now. I think this is the topic now, because I'm getting really excited. Honestly, I love 22 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:52,360 the, I love cooking competitions. And actually, in the last couple of weeks, I've fallen into 23 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,080 another black hole of watching cooking competitions. 24 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:56,080 Oh, really? 25 00:01:56,080 --> 00:02:01,560 Yeah. I've, I had a sort of break from watching anything cooking related. I don't really know 26 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:07,320 why, because why wouldn't I? And like you said, you know, Iron Chef, all that sort of 27 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:14,880 stuff. But like lately, I've been watching this new Netflix show called Culinary Wars. 28 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:18,480 It's set in Korea, and it's a super cool program. 29 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,080 I'll have to watch it. I haven't seen it. 30 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:26,120 You have to watch it because honestly, like the level is different. It's really, really 31 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:30,520 good. And it's not just sort of like casual competitors. A lot of the competitors that 32 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:35,920 they put up there are like seasoned, Michelin star chefs in Korea. And they're putting them 33 00:02:35,920 --> 00:02:36,920 up against each other. 34 00:02:36,920 --> 00:02:41,120 This is so cool. It's like the new Korean Iron Chef somehow. 35 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:43,800 Kind of like that. Yeah, kind of like that. So you have like two teams, you've got like 36 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:50,040 a black spoon team and a white spoon team. The white spoons are like the even more seasoned 37 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:55,000 chefs, but even the like black spoons, which are like the juniors, right? They have their 38 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:59,120 own restaurants and they have recognition. Some of them have like, you know, they've 39 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:05,760 worked in like Michelin star restaurants, etc. And the level is really, really cool. Like 40 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,800 it's really, really good. Obviously, it's kind of produced in a sort of Iron Chefy sort 41 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:15,760 of way. It's very dramatic. But I really like I found myself watching this and being like, 42 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:19,960 ah, that's really interesting. That's really smart. I cool. And kind of like being like 43 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:25,000 anxious, also kind of looking at what they have to do. It's really cool. I can highly 44 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:26,000 recommend it. 45 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:31,240 I never saw final final table on Netflix, but you know, Jess competed there. Jess Lurigo. 46 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:36,560 Yeah, I know she did. I've also not watched it. Actually, I've also not seen it yet. I 47 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:37,960 should really give it a go. 48 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:42,880 And what about other competitions? Well, I remember when I was a culinary student, I 49 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:49,160 would follow the Bocuse d'Or. But that's like a very specific competition. Do you know 50 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:51,880 like about the format and the rules? 51 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:56,520 I mean, not in detail, honestly. I mean, but like, you know, last episode, we were talking 52 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:01,400 about the Olympics a little bit. And Bocuse d'Or is really like the Olympics and cooking. 53 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:07,240 Yeah, like they have this very specific format where you have to prepare things and this 54 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:14,800 special trays. And well, I know the preparation is very difficult. Thomas Keller started being 55 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:21,440 like, I don't know exactly what role, but like a very executive role of the preparation 56 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:25,600 for the American team. And I know that I don't know if they won, but they made it to the 57 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:33,360 top three. I think this competition is always won by Scandinavians. Be Danish, Norwegian, 58 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:39,320 Swedish. These are the ones that always win the, all the, all the prizes. What's the name 59 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:41,760 of the chef from Geranium? 60 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:42,760 Rasmus Kofford. 61 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:48,880 Rasmus Kofford. You know, that guy, he won first bronze, then silver, and then gold. 62 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:54,560 Like, I don't know in how many years, but he has all of the three Bocuse d'Or statues, 63 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:56,560 you know, all of the three colors. 64 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:57,560 It's really crazy. 65 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:03,560 And the preparation for that, you have to build like a special preparation kitchen and 66 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:10,840 train there like the Olympics, you know, like for a whole year or even years to get ready 67 00:05:10,840 --> 00:05:15,760 for that competition. It's not something that you just can't just show up there and do whatever 68 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:22,040 you want. I remember back then when I was following this competition and Mario Sandoval, 69 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:28,400 which is like a Michelin star chef from Madrid, back then he was like a newcomer, someone 70 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:34,640 who was emerging. And he went to the Bocuse d'Or. Back then the big topic was Spanish 71 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:40,240 avant-garde. So he brought the Spanish avant-garde techniques to that context. And it was like 72 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:43,440 a super fail. You know, he was on the bottom hundred. 73 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:49,040 Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's the thing, though. It's like, it's a very specific thing. 74 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:54,640 It's not just like cooking in general. It has to be a very specific style that you have 75 00:05:54,640 --> 00:06:02,080 to form in with very, very specific, very French techniques, a lot of classic aspects, 76 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:08,200 you know, finicky little delicate things. It's very intense. It's very, very intense, 77 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,000 but it's definitely very French. Any other competitions? 78 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:16,960 Yeah. I mean, you know, you mentioned the moths earlier, you know. Oh, yeah. Yeah. What's 79 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:23,120 it stand for? Meliure ouvrière de France. Best craftsman 80 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:25,760 in France. Yeah. I mean, for anybody who doesn't know 81 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:32,560 what that is, it's a prize in France that can be awarded to many different craftsmen. 82 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:38,160 Yeah. Like a hair, a hair cutter or a gardener or whatever. 83 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:42,880 Arpinteria, et cetera, you know. Any craftsman. 84 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:52,880 Yeah. Sommelier, I think also. And but most well known for me anyway is the 85 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:57,120 chef's one is when you have, when you have these French chefs that have the French flag 86 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:01,920 on their, on the collar of their jacket, that means that they're a moth. And it's a very 87 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:07,960 rigorous exam. I think you can take part two times or three times maximum. And then afterwards 88 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,600 you're disqualified. Oh, no, no, no. I think that's not like that 89 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:16,960 because there is a documentary called the Kings of Pastry where they follow their role 90 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:24,400 to one competitor to the pastry MOF. And there was this character, you know, this guy that 91 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:28,560 was there that he has competed like for 20 years and he loses every year and he goes 92 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:33,920 again every year, which is very memorable. Really? Because I remember it differently 93 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:39,680 because I was trying to segue to that, to that documentary. And I remember, I don't 94 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:43,840 know, I'd have to watch it again. Maybe maybe I'm wrong. I thought that there was a part 95 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:48,080 where this guy he had competed because you can only compete. I think you have to leave 96 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:53,280 a couple of years in between. And he was, he was there and it was his last time. And 97 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:57,360 he was sort of like, well, if I can't make it now, then I'm not going to be able to compete 98 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:00,320 again. But maybe it was because he was like too old. I don't know. 99 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:04,000 Okay. Maybe I got it wrong. It's also possible. I don't know. It could be one or the other. 100 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:09,200 I don't know. But anyway, yeah, this documentary Kings of Pastry. Amazing documentary. 101 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:15,120 Fucking amazing. Yeah. Like also the, for me, my favorite is this, this guy that breaks 102 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:21,360 his sculptor, but he still presents something, you know, like that was very emotional for me to watch. 103 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:25,920 Absolutely. That was like one of the coolest parts of the whole thing, because just to 104 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:29,280 elaborate, they make these, they have to present all these techniques, right? But they make these 105 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:35,760 like a lab, this elaborate chocolate statue. All right. Which as you can imagine, even if 106 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:40,960 you have never worked with chocolate, which is a fucking nightmare, might I ask, I'm sorry, like, 107 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:45,600 do you not think that working with chocolate is just absolutely crazy? Absolutely. Yeah. I agree. 108 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:51,120 100%. And so he made this like big chocolate sculpture, right? And this is a man who was a 109 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:56,480 seasoned veteran of his craft, right? He doesn't really have anything to prove. He's already like 110 00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:02,320 a great chocolatier in France. And he makes this chocolate sculpture and something happens and the 111 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:09,200 sculpture breaks and this man just breaks down in tears. Yeah. Was it chocolate or was it sugar? 112 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:12,960 I'm not sure. I don't know why I remember it. One or the other. I thought it was chocolate. 113 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:19,120 But still, like also like sculptures with be it sugar or chocolate, both are very, very, very 114 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:24,080 difficult. Absolutely. And I remember like, yeah, yeah, it was, it was chocolate. Now that I remember, 115 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:30,320 but I remember like also it was stunningly beautiful. It was really something. It really 116 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:34,720 looked like modern art. That's like something you could see in a museum and it was really beautiful. 117 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:40,320 And, and then just falls down and breaks into a million pieces in the middle of the contest. 118 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:45,360 Yeah. And the guy starts crying, you know, like he really breaks down. It was really emotional 119 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:51,680 seeing like a, you know, a man like that, you know, being so emotional with his craft and, 120 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:57,760 and yeah, it's, it was really, really beautiful. Like you said, and then he still goes and presents 121 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:03,200 it, you know, in a way. Yeah. But also like the, so that the, as you mentioned, the, the people that 122 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:09,920 have this French flag colors, these are the ones that have won that contest and it's, it's illegal 123 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:15,280 to wear that without having that. So you can't be a fake. You can get like a big fine if you're 124 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:20,000 walking around with that color and not being a winner of the, of the prize. Yeah. So in the, 125 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:25,760 in the music, all of the judges in that contest have the color and sometimes even like a medal 126 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:31,360 and they're walking around with this medal, very, very chauvinistic French, you know, like, 127 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:35,760 and this guy breaks his culture and one of them takes a medal out and he puts it on the table, 128 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:42,960 like, and just watches him like, you want to go for it? And the guy goes like this adrenaline rush 129 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:50,240 and he started just like preparing something to present it, you know, like just to finish the race. 130 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:56,000 He actually wins it, doesn't he? He gets it. Yeah. He gets it. I mean, spoilers, but, um, 131 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:02,480 but yeah, like that's really cool because like at that point, you know, that's exactly the thing is 132 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:07,200 sort of like, well, he could have given up, but he doesn't, he like, he could just like give into 133 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:12,000 frustration when his like work shatters and be sort of like, well, now everything's ruined. 134 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:18,240 Everything's fucked, but no, he kept going. He kept fucking persevering. They pulled it together 135 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:25,040 and he won in the end. He got what he wanted to. I think for our underground kitchen battle league, 136 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:31,200 we should have like a slogan. I was thinking about the important thing is not competing, but 137 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:38,560 humiliating your rival. What do you think about that? That's the slogan? No. What? That's the 138 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:44,160 slogan for the show? No, it doesn't. No, that shouldn't work. Okay. We can think of something 139 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:49,680 else as well. We need to find something catchier, you know? So we had this idea when we were walking 140 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:56,480 and on Copenhagen, the idea was to find a venue where we can build like very simple, like just 141 00:11:56,480 --> 00:12:04,640 minimum viable equipment, a table, some induction, heat, cutting board, not much more than that. 142 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:10,480 Maybe an oven, maybe not, maybe something else. It depends on what we find for each edition. 143 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:18,320 Getting two Shaolin chefs, get some sponsors, buy some ingredients, put them in and doing like an 144 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:26,320 iron chef thing, but more like on a bootstrap kind of environment. Yeah, like a rap battle for chefs. 145 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:33,280 Yeah, I like that. I like that idea. I've also like recently fallen down these like really cheesy 146 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:37,920 cooking shows, like these Asian cooking shows. They're like a soap, they're like a telenovela, 147 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:42,640 but like centered around like restaurants and kitchens. And they're so fucking funny sometimes, 148 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:46,800 you know, but like at the same time, there's like these like details in there where I'm kind of like, 149 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:51,840 hey, that's actually kind of good, right? Like cooking wise, just I'm watching this thing right 150 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:59,040 now called La Grande Maison Tokyo. It's about this, like the plot is so funny. It's about this chef 151 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:03,520 who had two mission, like this Japanese chef who had two mission stars in Paris. And then he 152 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:10,000 supposedly, right, poisoned somebody with peanuts who has a peanut allergy, right? But obviously, 153 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:16,640 you're kind of thinking, ah, somebody must have set him up. And he gets disgraced. And now he tries 154 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:22,080 to get back like years later to open a restaurant in Tokyo, but nobody wants to work with it. And 155 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:28,000 it's just fucking hilarious. I think we should really go back to the original topic we were 156 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:33,600 going to talk about on this episode, which was breakfast. We went a little bit off topic on this 157 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:41,680 one. Sorry, I'm just so, I'm just so passionate about cooking shows. So I think the interesting 158 00:13:41,680 --> 00:13:48,320 thing about breakfast is that they have their own category because you could exchange like dinner 159 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:55,280 and lunch, you know, like you could have same thing you had for lunch, for dinner and vice versa. But 160 00:13:55,280 --> 00:14:02,320 breakfast, it's its own thing. And most restaurants don't offer breakfast and most chefs are not 161 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:09,600 trained in how to do breakfast at a professional level. And there is a lot to that. I remember 162 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:16,000 when El Budi closed and there was all of this speculation about what they would do. Now it's 163 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:23,280 a museum or even, they even did like an Airbnb thing experience. I don't know. But at some point, 164 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:28,480 they mentioned, yeah, maybe we could open just for a season and do only breakfast. And I said like, 165 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:35,840 wow, that's crazy. You know, like that's crazy. El Budi making only breakfast. Have you worked 166 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:44,880 in breakfast? Well, not really. I mean, as I am the head chef of a hotel, I do manage breakfast 167 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:49,120 and occasionally have worked in the breakfast service there. 168 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:55,280 I mean, depends like I, I really, you know, like breakfast is a sort of thing where back in the 169 00:14:55,280 --> 00:15:00,640 day, I would have as a young chef said, or like, why would I do breakfast, you know, like that seems 170 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:05,520 like, I don't know, you know, this seems, it seems kind of shitty, you know, working on that station 171 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:13,360 or whatever. Nowadays, I'm like, I think being a breakfast chef is a really nice job, honestly, 172 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:19,280 like I, especially like if you, if I look at the breakfast in where I'm working, we don't feel the 173 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:25,600 need to follow any like rules, what sort of like, oh, you have to have this, you have to do it like 174 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:30,400 this on every other hotel. It's like this, right? So we don't have the little like ratios with the 175 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:36,880 fucking cocktail sausages and stuff. Although, to be fair, if I'm at a hotel, I'm like, for visiting, 176 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:42,000 I love those fucking sausages, but I don't want to cook them. I don't want to cook them. 177 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:47,280 I don't want to take care of them. So there, it's kind of like, well, it can be whatever, you know, 178 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:51,680 and what do you do for breakfast? You make a nice buffet, you have nice bread from a nice local bakery, 179 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:57,520 beautiful sourdough local grain, you have fruits, you have nice pastries, you know, make some nice 180 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:03,920 cinnamon rolls, make some Belgian muesli, make this, make that, make that, you know, it's omelets and 181 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:08,640 omelet well made, you know, it's great. What do you do? You make some nice pancakes, you know, like 182 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:14,720 some oat pancakes, some freshly baked waffles. It's all nice stuff. It doesn't have to be shitty, 183 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:21,360 you know. And on top of that, I think the working hours are pretty great. I honestly, if I could make 184 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:26,800 a switch to starting work at six o'clock in the morning and finishing at, you know, two thirty, 185 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:31,920 three o'clock, I would fucking take it. I would love that. But is it really six o'clock? I remember 186 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:39,520 I worked at the breakfast station in a hotel when I was living in Alicante. And I remember I had to, 187 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:45,760 well, both things that were really a problem was if you didn't wake up. And I remember this is 188 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:50,880 something very natural to happen if you're like 20 years old, that, you know, the clock doesn't 189 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:56,240 sound, you don't wake up, you're already like an hour late, the dining room or the breakfast room 190 00:16:56,240 --> 00:17:02,720 is full of guests and you're like, that's the way your day starts. That's horrible. An absolute 191 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:09,520 nightmare, you know. Yeah. I remember having at least one or two of those. Yeah. And then I also 192 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:17,760 worked like in a breakfast, it was like a cafeteria in Berlin. And I would do the prep for the breakfast. 193 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:23,600 They would have like this takeaway couscous salads and this kind of things that I would do all the 194 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:30,560 preps for that. And same thing. I had to wake up at 4 a.m. And yeah, the cool thing is, as you say, 195 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:35,280 like it's one or two o'clock and you're done and you have the rest of the day for yourself. 196 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:42,480 But yeah, well, it's a different lifestyle. Yeah, for sure. I would rather work in a bakery, 197 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:48,720 you know, like I think it's more like a control environment. Yeah, absolutely. You know, like 198 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:54,960 there are not so many variables and I think it's very rewarding to work with doughs and bread. 199 00:17:54,960 --> 00:18:00,640 No, 100%. I 100% agree with you. Like the thing with what makes restaurants and kitchens so 200 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:09,440 stressful is these little time pressure pockets of tickets coming in and services coming in and like 201 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:14,480 and you have to constantly chase and chase and chase and chase like with a bakery, you know, 202 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:21,120 because I mean, I was like running a small bakery for a while. I remember. Yes. Was it in Scotland? 203 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:28,320 In England, Central England. Okay. Yeah, in Lincolnshire. And it was a very nice pace 204 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:36,320 because I was working in a way where I was fermenting the bread overnight. So I would always 205 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:42,880 come in in the morning, early in the morning, right, to bake the bread. I had the commitment 206 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:49,040 that I wanted all the bread that I sell to be baked freshly before it got delivered as close 207 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:53,520 to the delivery time as possible. So I wanted ideally when the bread gets delivered to be still 208 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:58,800 warm from the oven, right? That was my, my, my goal. So that would mean I would start as early 209 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:04,640 as I had to, to bake all the bread, which would ever fit in my oven. And then I would start making 210 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:10,400 the dough for the next day, which meant I could take as long as I fucking needed to, right? Like 211 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:17,920 I would give the dough the time it needed. Um, let the process kind of go drink coffee, listen to 212 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:23,600 music, shape the dough, put it in the baskets, put them in the fridge and they were ready to go for 213 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:29,200 the next day. And I knew exactly, I had exactly what I needed for that day. And I would only bake 214 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:34,800 what I had sold, right? Cause I didn't want any excess bread and fucking hell, that was a really 215 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:40,160 nice way of working where I'm not sort of like, Oh my God, Oh, I have, I have a walk in a foreign 216 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:47,600 and walk in five and fuck do I have an efficient. I mean, I'm a trained baker and I also, since I 217 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:55,760 was responsible for operations while in Bolivia, I, I remember, I don't know, it was the longest, 218 00:19:55,760 --> 00:20:00,880 the longest days without having a day off that I work. And I did that voluntarily, but I remember 219 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:07,200 I worked like six weeks or something like that without having a single day off. And I would work 220 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:14,720 in the bakery every day and we would do all kinds of things like croissants, this Danish, cinnamon 221 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:20,400 rolls, different kinds of breads and the whole process of preparing everything, smelling the 222 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:27,120 dough, smelling the freshly baked bread. I think that's just pure magic. You know, I love that shit. 223 00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:31,920 Absolutely. It was like, I actually really miss it. I remember there was this one bread that I 224 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:37,840 used to bake, which was a Danish rye bread. Right. And I made it in a very specific way where I would 225 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:44,320 like take all grains, rye kernels and barley and stuff and roast them really, really dark in the 226 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:49,280 oven and then put them in water to soak and the water would absorb all this great flavor. So you 227 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:55,440 make like a green tea, right? It's a really dark caramelized grain infusion. And then I would use 228 00:20:55,440 --> 00:21:01,200 that water to mix the dough and put all the grain into it. Right. And then ferment it with sour 229 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:07,280 dough, dark rye flour and you know, and all these like toasted grains and seeds, pumpkin seeds, 230 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:14,640 linseeds, et cetera. And when that bread would like come out of the oven, this like dark, 231 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:19,920 multi-caramelized seed flavor. Oh my God. It was like, honestly, that is like one of the 232 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:24,960 nicest smells in the world. You know, something that I just remembered, you know what I heard 233 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:29,280 about the other day, which I've never heard about before. There are, I don't know if you ever go to 234 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:37,680 like saunas or something. Ah, sauna. Okay. Yeah. There are saunas that are filled with the smell 235 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:42,480 of freshly baked bread. They're called bread saunas. Oh, wow. That's crazy. How nice is that? 236 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:46,480 Are you in there like an 80 degree sauna feeling like a loaf of bread that's just being baked? 237 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:51,600 And it's just kind of like, you know, how relaxing does that sound? I don't know why you remind me 238 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:57,840 of one of Anthony Bourdain's episodes where he goes to Russia and they're in this sauna and then 239 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:03,760 they jump into this water inside of ice. Oh yeah. You know, like in a hole and then they go out and 240 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:11,600 they're drinking vodka and eating smoked mackerel and sardines. Sounds amazing. Honestly. Yeah. Yeah. 241 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:16,320 So I mean, you know, I honestly think that like my perception of breakfast has shifted a lot. 242 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:22,400 You know, there's also, you know, really nice like also brunch. I mean, we hated on brunch the other 243 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:28,320 day. Did I mention this place the last time? Annalise? I think I did. No. Yeah, I did. I 244 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:32,960 already mentioned them. You did. Yeah. I also mentioned Simona here in San Sebastian is a 245 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:39,680 super nice breakfast and brunch place. Yeah. Well, okay. That's not, that's not included, 246 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:45,600 but like, for example, you know, like I like places that just do it right. You know, like there's a 247 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:53,360 place in London. I mean, obviously English breakfast is very, very famous and often it's really 248 00:22:53,360 --> 00:23:01,120 trashy, but there was this one place. What was it called? Something Cafe that is very famous for 249 00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:06,720 its full English breakfast. And like, it's just so nice to go there. Also, like in London, breakfast 250 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:15,040 places were booming when I was there. You know, you had a place called, what was it called? Duck. I 251 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:20,880 think it was just called duck egg and you would get breakfast, but cook with duck eggs. Okay. Right. 252 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:28,560 So duck egg, obviously larger than a regular egg with a much bigger yolk, which is crucial. And for 253 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:32,880 people who are not familiar with it, it might sound a little bit crazy in the UK, pretty normal, 254 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:37,600 honestly, duck eggs, really, really tasty. Then you get a eggs Benedict with a duck egg with like 255 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:44,080 an egg yolk. That's as big as a regular egg. It's fucking nice. I love duck egg is. Yeah, me too. 256 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:52,160 Me too. Really nice. I remember a place I was in New York and it was a Japanese breakfast place. 257 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:57,760 And I went there just to have breakfast. So, and you had like, yeah, you had fish. I remember having 258 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:04,880 like a, it was rice with like a liquid egg yolk and uni. And you would mix the whole thing. 259 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:13,440 That was really, really nice. And then there's yeah, like smoked fish and some pickles and stuff. 260 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:21,200 Like very similar to, there was also like a miso soup somewhere. Super nice. Super, super nice. 261 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:26,160 I do like, I think a miso soup is honestly one of the best breakfasts you can have. 262 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:32,240 I'm a big fan of soups for breakfast. Honestly, I think like my ideal breakfast would be like a, 263 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:38,880 like a intensely flavored chicken soup. Oh, nice. With vegetables and stuff like that, 264 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:44,080 maybe even some cabbage probably. Right. But I also have a very sentimental connection to miso soup. 265 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:53,680 Me and my friend, Jan, who was a star, not the young that you know, who was a star in Ryugin 266 00:24:53,680 --> 00:25:02,000 when I was in Tokyo, we went for a trip to Mount Fuji. And we had this idea that we would climb 267 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:08,960 Mount Fuji at night to then see the sunrise in the morning. And as we were walking up this mountain, 268 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:13,920 right in the evening, the sun was setting, all these people were walking past us with like big 269 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:20,640 parkas on like big jackets and like fucking hiking sticks. And we were just there like jeans and, 270 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:24,880 and trainers. And we were sort of like, look at these guys, like, what the fuck, you know, it's 271 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:30,160 like, it's like 18 degrees. It's not cold, like whatever. And we sort of like, man, they're just, 272 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:35,920 I don't know, whatever. The further we got, the more we realized that we were being really fucking 273 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:41,280 stupid. Also because we, because it was getting colder and colder. We also hadn't packed any food. 274 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:49,360 We had packed a rucksack. We hadn't packed any water either. We had packed two like cartons, 275 00:25:49,360 --> 00:25:56,480 you know, like milk cartons, but filled with cheap sake from the supermarket for 7-Eleven. 276 00:25:56,480 --> 00:26:03,440 And I think like maybe two onigiri or something like that. Long story short, we got almost to the 277 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:10,880 very top and it started storming like absolute crazy. The temperatures dropped like nuts and we 278 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:15,440 had to hide in like a little cave that was on the side of the mountain together with like other people. 279 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:23,520 And we were super far away from everything. And it was actually a little bit of a precarious 280 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:28,400 situation. Like it wasn't actually funny. We were caught on the mountain. We were super underdressed. 281 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:33,280 We had really underestimated the dangers of the mountain, which for Germans is really silly to do 282 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:38,240 because mountains can be really, really dangerous. But anyway, we kind of waited the storm out. 283 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:43,600 And it was like four o'clock in the morning and we started climbing back down and found a little inn 284 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:50,880 that took us in and gave us a miso soup, you know, and that miso soup, honestly, it was one of the 285 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:55,920 most in that moment, one of the most delicious things I had ever eaten in my entire life. 286 00:26:55,920 --> 00:27:02,800 It hit me in a way that I still remember to this day. And ever since then, when I eat a miso soup, 287 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:09,920 I just remember this like life-giving, life-saving, warm sort of nourishing quality of it. 288 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:14,240 And so, yeah, I think a miso soup is a really good start to the day. 289 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:18,240 Also Latin American breakfasts, I think they're super amazing. 290 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:24,800 Like having tacos for breakfast or in Venezuela arepas or having this, 291 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:32,000 you know, the national dish of Venezuela is something called pabellón, which is the like pulled beef 292 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:42,160 with like a black bean stew, white rice, fried plantains, and I'm missing something, rice, 293 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:48,880 beans, meat, plantains. That's it. Yeah. And there are even empanadas that have this whole thing 294 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:55,520 as a filling. There's this amazing place in Barcelona called La Poderosa, the powerful one, 295 00:27:55,520 --> 00:28:00,720 and they do this margarita. Margarita is an island in Venezuela and they do margarita-style 296 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:06,240 empanadas that are just killers, you know, like the best ones I've had outside of Venezuela. 297 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:12,320 Fuck, that sounds so good. That's also good. I love these like Latin American meals with like 298 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:18,640 rice, beans, plantain, and like protein. I remember when I was in Costa Rica, I was eating 299 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:23,840 cassado every single day. And I honestly, I think I never felt healthier. Cassado with fish, 300 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:32,640 cassado with meat. It was super, super nice. I remember when I was like, that was good. But 301 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:37,920 when I was in Mexico, for example, Mexican breakfast was a little bit tricky for me, honestly. 302 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:48,640 I remember my friend, Adelise, came to visit in Mexico City and she wanted to go to this like 303 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:56,640 famous breakfast place. So we went and it was pork in salsa verde, which was like really heavy, 304 00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:02,640 really fatty, really spicy. And then I ordered these like eggs with beans and they came as this like 305 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:09,600 canal of sort of like bean puree with eggs kind of like mixed into it. It was like really strange. 306 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:12,800 And I remember eating it and being sort of like, it was like eight o'clock in the morning. And I 307 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:18,480 was like, man, I'm ready to go back to bed. I cannot do anything after this. Like I'm super done. 308 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:25,760 What about Chinese breakfast? Dim sum? Oh man, I could have that every day, you know, 309 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:32,720 like having dumplings and tea for breakfast. Yeah. It's just like a dream. Absolutely. Absolutely. 310 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:36,640 I mean, that's the thing also, like dumplings, dim sum, I could eat every single day. 311 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:42,480 I don't know how long I would have to eat dim sum for before I say I've had enough, you know, 312 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:50,000 but this is like, it's the perfect meal, you know, I think like a good noodle soup where you have 313 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,360 everything. You have broth, you have noodles, you have a little bit of protein, whatever. You have 314 00:29:53,360 --> 00:30:02,240 an egg. I could eat that every day. No problem. That's it for this week's episode of potluck 315 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:06,880 food talks. If you like what we're doing, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never 316 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:12,960 miss an episode. You can also find us on Instagram and Tik Tok as potluck food talks. The show airs 317 00:30:12,960 --> 00:30:24,080 every Monday.