WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.140 You're listening to Heritage Radio Network. Hi, 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:13.359 everyone. Welcome to Potluck Food Talks, your 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:17.140 favorite chefs and your mama's favorite food 00:00:17.140 --> 00:00:20.620 show, where we talk about food and life, smoke 00:00:20.620 --> 00:00:24.679 cigarettes on camera, and yeah, that's basically 00:00:24.679 --> 00:00:26.780 it. That's what we do. If you don't like it, 00:00:26.820 --> 00:00:33.009 you can fuck off. So today is going to be a question 00:00:33.009 --> 00:00:36.570 show. We have some questions from our audience 00:00:36.570 --> 00:00:40.070 and we're going to go through them. What do you 00:00:40.070 --> 00:00:42.689 think? I think that's great. I'm really happy 00:00:42.689 --> 00:00:44.590 that there's so many people interacting and sending 00:00:44.590 --> 00:00:48.229 us questions. So first one, Tamika's World is 00:00:48.229 --> 00:00:51.670 asking, to an aspiring chef, me, what is the 00:00:51.670 --> 00:00:55.060 best advice you can share or knowledge? To look 00:00:55.060 --> 00:00:57.899 out for in a kitchen. Wow, that's a very open 00:00:57.899 --> 00:01:02.140 one. Yeah, that's a lot. What's the best advice 00:01:02.140 --> 00:01:06.939 you could give in life? It's actually also a 00:01:06.939 --> 00:01:09.140 difficult one to answer, isn't it? It's a difficult 00:01:09.140 --> 00:01:11.840 one because there's different, it really depends 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:14.099 what you want, right? Like, why are you in the 00:01:14.099 --> 00:01:16.859 profession? Where do you want to go? Like, what 00:01:16.859 --> 00:01:19.000 is your goal, right? Your goal might change along 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:21.879 the way. We talked about similar topics already. 00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:26.079 I think a good approach is today, in today's 00:01:26.079 --> 00:01:28.879 gastronomic world, the tendency is to jump around 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:33.819 a lot. And it's because we're spoiled. We have 00:01:33.819 --> 00:01:37.200 this curse of too many options. Back in the day, 00:01:37.239 --> 00:01:40.379 you were in your town, in your country, whatever. 00:01:40.540 --> 00:01:43.200 You had what you had. You would maybe look for 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:46.599 the best restaurant that you could go to. Or 00:01:46.599 --> 00:01:48.560 if you were in Europe, you could travel somewhere. 00:01:48.739 --> 00:01:51.620 You could travel to France or whatever. Nowadays... 00:01:51.980 --> 00:01:54.540 And this happened to me, I think, after I was 00:01:54.540 --> 00:01:56.879 in Mugaritz. I got into Mugaritz. It was like 00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:59.459 a dream come true super early for me. And then 00:01:59.459 --> 00:02:02.040 after that, things just opened up for me. And 00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:05.239 suddenly, I was confronted with too many options. 00:02:05.739 --> 00:02:08.500 And I was like, what a great privileged position 00:02:08.500 --> 00:02:12.560 to be in, right? But I had almost sort of like 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:15.180 decision fatigue. because I was like well this 00:02:15.180 --> 00:02:17.280 path that I could go down that would lead my 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:19.539 life in a certain direction is really great but 00:02:19.539 --> 00:02:21.759 this path is also really great this path is all 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:23.219 different directions that my life could have 00:02:23.219 --> 00:02:25.580 taken and you need to make a decision and like 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:27.020 then suddenly you kind of like I don't know what 00:02:27.020 --> 00:02:29.800 to do because it's all so great so it's important 00:02:29.800 --> 00:02:33.039 to kind of like either you have a certain idea 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:35.460 where you want to head Or you need to find that 00:02:35.460 --> 00:02:38.400 out as two different like ways that you can sort 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:41.000 of like choose the place that you want to go. 00:02:41.099 --> 00:02:43.020 If you still need to find out kind of where you 00:02:43.020 --> 00:02:45.520 want to head, you know, I would choose a certain 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:47.159 sort of place. If you kind of have a general 00:02:47.159 --> 00:02:49.360 idea, for example, you say, I want to open my 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:51.379 own restaurant one day. And the kind of food 00:02:51.379 --> 00:02:53.120 that I like to cook is this and this, right? 00:02:53.219 --> 00:02:55.460 Then you have a general direction that you can 00:02:55.460 --> 00:03:00.240 go in. And then my advice is be patient. Carefully 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:04.990 choose the place that you work in. and the people 00:03:04.990 --> 00:03:07.069 that you work with it's a little bit hard in 00:03:07.069 --> 00:03:08.870 the beginning to understand that and it was hard 00:03:08.870 --> 00:03:11.889 for me also to realize that but you will in your 00:03:11.889 --> 00:03:14.650 journey you will work in places and with people 00:03:14.650 --> 00:03:17.849 that really nurture you that you come out of 00:03:17.849 --> 00:03:20.810 and you like while you're there you really resonate 00:03:20.810 --> 00:03:24.009 with the place and you come out of like two years 00:03:24.009 --> 00:03:27.090 or whatever three years maybe you it's almost 00:03:27.090 --> 00:03:29.939 like you're leaving your family And you close 00:03:29.939 --> 00:03:32.379 a great chapter and you're like, man, this was, 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:34.460 you know that this was a very impactful time 00:03:34.460 --> 00:03:36.960 in your life. Other places you work and it's 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:38.479 almost like you're just clocking in and clocking 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:40.780 out. You're not really learning anything. You 00:03:40.780 --> 00:03:42.460 don't resonate with the people. It's almost just 00:03:42.460 --> 00:03:44.460 like another day, another dollar. That's bad. 00:03:44.900 --> 00:03:47.020 You know, this is the wrong profession to be 00:03:47.020 --> 00:03:48.819 in, to have another day, another dollar, because 00:03:48.819 --> 00:03:51.379 you don't make enough dollar for the day, right? 00:03:51.539 --> 00:03:56.419 Do you remember Mugaric's admission letter? That 00:03:56.419 --> 00:03:59.719 it says, you should have, like, what was it like? 00:04:00.419 --> 00:04:03.800 You should formulate for yourself the reason 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:07.039 why you are here. And that's something you should 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:11.180 think while you're in the hardest moments. They 00:04:11.180 --> 00:04:16.040 would say that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember. 00:04:17.639 --> 00:04:20.399 And I think that's actually important because 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:24.449 there are moments that are hard. for sure and 00:04:24.449 --> 00:04:28.129 you should have like a pretty clear idea of what 00:04:28.129 --> 00:04:31.550 you why you're doing this right like yeah absolutely 00:04:31.550 --> 00:04:35.209 and then it's kind of like obviously i'm kind 00:04:35.209 --> 00:04:37.829 of imagining like a young a young chef or like 00:04:37.829 --> 00:04:39.889 i mean not young as in age but in experience 00:04:40.730 --> 00:04:42.629 wherever you are in your journey you know aspiring 00:04:42.629 --> 00:04:45.410 chef this like things are going to change right 00:04:45.410 --> 00:04:46.910 you're going to learn things you're going to 00:04:46.910 --> 00:04:49.029 see things you got your preferences are going 00:04:49.029 --> 00:04:51.430 to develop your own cooking style and what you 00:04:51.430 --> 00:04:53.970 like is going to develop further but for example 00:04:53.970 --> 00:04:57.449 if you say i like european cooking i like french 00:04:57.449 --> 00:05:00.430 cooking i like italian cooking you know that 00:05:00.430 --> 00:05:02.509 sort of style that's what feels the best to me 00:05:02.509 --> 00:05:04.829 that's kind of what i want to do and i want to 00:05:04.829 --> 00:05:07.389 be somebody who owns a restaurant that cooks 00:05:07.389 --> 00:05:11.279 that style of food one day then find a place 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:13.379 where you really learn how to cook. And I mean 00:05:13.379 --> 00:05:16.759 really learn how to cook. Honestly, Eric, these 00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:21.040 days I'm more and more against people learning 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:24.019 how to cook in Michelin star environments if 00:05:24.019 --> 00:05:26.199 that means that they cook tasting menus. Fuck 00:05:26.199 --> 00:05:30.420 tasting menus. You don't learn to cook through 00:05:30.420 --> 00:05:32.360 a tasting menu. I really, really am starting 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:34.740 to believe this. The more that I work with people, 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:36.439 the more that I work with chefs from all around 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:39.569 the world, I believe that in the beginning you 00:05:39.569 --> 00:05:43.110 need to suck it up and you need to not want to 00:05:43.110 --> 00:05:45.970 go to fucking Osteria Francescana. You should 00:05:45.970 --> 00:05:48.670 go to a really good restaurant that does a la 00:05:48.670 --> 00:05:51.589 carte and that does a large amount of covers. 00:05:51.730 --> 00:05:53.430 That's what you should do. You're going to get 00:05:53.430 --> 00:05:56.189 put through the fucking meat grinder. But you're 00:05:56.189 --> 00:05:58.569 going to come out at the other end if you choose, 00:05:58.629 --> 00:06:00.529 for example, a good one Michelin -star restaurant 00:06:00.529 --> 00:06:04.209 that does, I don't know, between 50 and 100 covers 00:06:04.209 --> 00:06:06.839 a night. And you work through the sections, you 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:08.500 work through the Garde Magie, you work through 00:06:08.500 --> 00:06:10.579 the Entremetier, you work through the Saussure 00:06:10.579 --> 00:06:13.300 and the Poissonnier at some point. Do three years, 00:06:13.379 --> 00:06:15.300 really stick it out. You're going to come out 00:06:15.300 --> 00:06:17.459 at the other end after three years and you're 00:06:17.459 --> 00:06:19.420 going to be better than 80 % of the chefs that 00:06:19.420 --> 00:06:22.060 are around in the world right now that are walking 00:06:22.060 --> 00:06:24.259 around with their flash jackets and their fucking 00:06:24.259 --> 00:06:27.459 tweezers and that, oh, I staged it normal and 00:06:27.459 --> 00:06:32.220 oh, I did this and who have... seen cool things 00:06:32.220 --> 00:06:34.300 and that's very very important i'm not trying 00:06:34.300 --> 00:06:37.220 to downplay that but your ability as a craftsman 00:06:37.220 --> 00:06:40.480 your actual ability and your sensitivity and 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:43.740 your jedi senses and your feeling that's going 00:06:43.740 --> 00:06:47.180 to be ahead of everybody on the curve um and 00:06:47.180 --> 00:06:50.000 i i i'm going to recommend this to anybody who 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:52.939 has a passion for cooking actual really cooking 00:06:52.939 --> 00:06:55.339 like not the superficial type of cooking but 00:06:55.339 --> 00:06:58.019 like i want to make things really really well 00:06:58.019 --> 00:07:01.259 i think that's one of the best ways to go because 00:07:01.259 --> 00:07:03.500 you're really going to learn everything from 00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:07.220 the ground up i would say do that and then when 00:07:07.220 --> 00:07:09.639 you have that basis the fundamentals the fundamentals 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:12.180 always it's like in martial arts the fundamentals 00:07:12.180 --> 00:07:15.579 are going to rule everything if your fundamentals 00:07:15.579 --> 00:07:18.300 are good you're going to excel you cannot be 00:07:18.300 --> 00:07:20.620 at the top and not and have shitty fundamentals 00:07:20.620 --> 00:07:24.620 but you can be at the top and only know fundamentals 00:07:24.620 --> 00:07:27.990 but extremely well like that's the thing Everything 00:07:27.990 --> 00:07:30.110 else that comes after that is going to enrich 00:07:30.110 --> 00:07:32.949 you and it's going to make it more and more complex 00:07:32.949 --> 00:07:34.889 and it's going to build on that. But if you don't 00:07:34.889 --> 00:07:36.790 have that, you might as well not even start. 00:07:37.410 --> 00:07:41.629 Create your own concept of understanding. Why 00:07:41.629 --> 00:07:46.029 should something be done like this or like that? 00:07:46.170 --> 00:07:49.790 Try for yourself. Try different ways and see 00:07:49.790 --> 00:07:52.930 what works best for yourself. Because in some 00:07:52.930 --> 00:07:55.870 cases you will discover, I don't know, let's 00:07:55.870 --> 00:07:58.009 say if we talk about mashed potatoes and people 00:07:58.009 --> 00:08:02.350 bake the potatoes with skin, some others boil 00:08:02.350 --> 00:08:05.509 them without skin. I wouldn't say that there 00:08:05.509 --> 00:08:09.389 is a definitive way to do things and that's the 00:08:09.389 --> 00:08:11.829 correct way and everything else is wrong. I would 00:08:11.829 --> 00:08:14.709 say it depends on what you're looking for. So 00:08:14.709 --> 00:08:17.410 just try different things and decide for yourself 00:08:17.410 --> 00:08:21.129 what works best for you, for your concept. Because 00:08:21.129 --> 00:08:25.250 also some criteria are not the same if you're 00:08:25.250 --> 00:08:28.170 in a kitchen with 40 people or if you're in a 00:08:28.170 --> 00:08:30.430 kitchen on your own and you have to do everything 00:08:30.430 --> 00:08:32.769 on your own. So you have to apply that criteria 00:08:32.769 --> 00:08:37.210 as well. 100%, yeah. You can't act out from a 00:08:37.210 --> 00:08:41.330 standpoint of just what you know. The game is 00:08:41.330 --> 00:08:45.669 too complex for that. I would add to that, maintain 00:08:45.669 --> 00:08:51.740 an open mind. learn things but like you just 00:08:51.740 --> 00:08:54.000 said eric like there are so many different like 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:57.320 approaches also that um that are very very valid 00:08:57.320 --> 00:09:00.440 a very very arrogant and stupid sous chef once 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:03.559 said to me at mugarets he looked me dead in the 00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:08.899 eyes with his thousand years there and told me 00:09:08.899 --> 00:09:11.879 there's only one correct way to cook rice and 00:09:11.879 --> 00:09:18.350 that is the way of cooking rice in like a Arroz 00:09:18.350 --> 00:09:21.710 a banda. Arroz a banda? Is that the one that 00:09:21.710 --> 00:09:26.990 is baked? No, that's like Valencian style. No, 00:09:27.009 --> 00:09:30.789 because there is a type of rice in Valencia or 00:09:30.789 --> 00:09:33.169 Alicante that is baked. And I remember I was 00:09:33.169 --> 00:09:35.570 working in a restaurant and they would do that 00:09:35.570 --> 00:09:38.870 often for staff meal. And there were lots of 00:09:38.870 --> 00:09:41.629 Latin Americans working in that restaurant. And 00:09:41.629 --> 00:09:43.350 all of the Latin Americans were really angry 00:09:43.350 --> 00:09:45.309 about this. Like, this shitty rice that is all 00:09:45.309 --> 00:09:47.370 stick that looks like a cake, completely stick. 00:09:47.929 --> 00:09:50.669 And I once said that in a staff meeting, and 00:09:50.669 --> 00:09:54.250 they went mental. Like, what? You're not going 00:09:54.250 --> 00:09:56.850 to teach us in the land of rice how rice should 00:09:56.850 --> 00:10:03.570 be cooked? Yeah, but I mean, hey, just adding 00:10:03.570 --> 00:10:05.970 to that, the Latin Americans need to be very, 00:10:06.009 --> 00:10:08.909 very quiet when it comes to rice. With their 00:10:08.909 --> 00:10:13.899 fucking, I'm going to mix in. uh like raw tomatoes 00:10:13.899 --> 00:10:17.460 into water and boil rice with it and you have 00:10:17.460 --> 00:10:20.799 this like soupy sort of like red rice it's like 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:24.019 jesus i i'm very sorry if i might offend some 00:10:24.019 --> 00:10:27.360 people but i have had the worst i've had the 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:32.580 worst rise of my life in latin america no i also 00:10:32.580 --> 00:10:36.500 i also it came to my mind i i i met this japanese 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:40.059 woman japanese american like her parents were 00:10:40.059 --> 00:10:42.950 japanese and she was american basically And she 00:10:42.950 --> 00:10:47.789 asked her mother, she told her, like, I want 00:10:47.789 --> 00:10:51.049 to learn how to cook Japanese food. And the answer 00:10:51.049 --> 00:10:59.929 was... She just laughed in her face. And that 00:10:59.929 --> 00:11:03.330 was it. Oh, no. She had a problem with that. 00:11:03.870 --> 00:11:06.509 That's terrible. I mean, the daughter. Yeah, 00:11:06.809 --> 00:11:09.850 I can imagine mine. Tule asks, what restaurant 00:11:09.850 --> 00:11:13.940 in Berlin do you recommend? Difficult question. 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:19.740 Do you have one before I go? Restaurant in Berlin. 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:22.600 Food is shit in Berlin. No, I'm kidding. I'm 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:28.059 kidding. Ständige Vertretung. That's one I like. 00:11:28.740 --> 00:11:33.320 Like proper old school German food. I like that 00:11:33.320 --> 00:11:36.980 one. Yeah, that's a good one. It's a classic 00:11:36.980 --> 00:11:40.970 one. Food in Berlin is difficult. Berlin has 00:11:40.970 --> 00:11:49.250 a certain sickness that is like superficialness 00:11:49.250 --> 00:11:53.789 over substance, where things are trendy and kind 00:11:53.789 --> 00:11:57.230 of hyped, but not very good. Places open up, 00:11:57.230 --> 00:11:59.809 they do something that stands out, but not because 00:11:59.809 --> 00:12:04.200 of its quality. just because of the newness factor 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:07.740 and people really buy into that and other people 00:12:07.740 --> 00:12:11.179 from the industry support that i saw a very renowned 00:12:11.179 --> 00:12:13.600 chef in berlin the other day recommend his favorite 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:16.399 restaurants and every single one that he named 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:19.879 i was like jesus fucking christ man really it's 00:12:19.879 --> 00:12:23.840 just a big circle jerk honestly it's like a group 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:27.139 of friends that are friends not because they 00:12:27.139 --> 00:12:29.240 like each other but because they're all like 00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:33.879 well known And that just keep recommending each 00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:37.399 other, you know. There's so few people that are 00:12:37.399 --> 00:12:40.259 actually doing something well. There's one restaurant 00:12:40.259 --> 00:12:42.720 I can wholeheartedly recommend without a doubt. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:44.919 And unfortunately, it's a Michelin star restaurant 00:12:44.919 --> 00:12:47.000 because it's not so accessible to everybody. 00:12:47.179 --> 00:12:51.879 But that's restaurant Horvat. Great owners. I've 00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:54.519 been there. Great owners, fantastic food, fantastic 00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:58.580 cooking. I loved it. I really, really liked it. 00:12:58.919 --> 00:13:02.600 Yeah, I think what they do is amazing. It's really, 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:06.279 really nice. There's a couple of casual places. 00:13:06.419 --> 00:13:09.259 I love Ming Dynasty. Ming Dynasty is great. Is 00:13:09.259 --> 00:13:13.019 that the one in... You mean Zoologischer Garten? 00:13:13.179 --> 00:13:15.460 Yeah. Is that the one around there? The one with 00:13:15.460 --> 00:13:18.840 the round tables? Yeah, exactly. That's really 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:21.620 good. There's a really amazing Thai place in 00:13:21.620 --> 00:13:27.059 Friedrichshain. called lap koi and uh like they've 00:13:27.059 --> 00:13:28.700 just recently like put on their menu sort of 00:13:28.700 --> 00:13:30.360 like hey it's not our fault if you can't eat 00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:33.820 spicy please don't complain um which i love because 00:13:33.820 --> 00:13:36.360 they just it's not because they're arrogant it's 00:13:36.360 --> 00:13:38.720 just that they they do their shit they do northern 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:41.460 thai food they're like if we change the spiciness 00:13:41.460 --> 00:13:42.980 it's not going to be the same it's not going 00:13:42.980 --> 00:13:44.840 to taste the same so please just like if you 00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:47.559 don't eat spicy just don't come um they have 00:13:47.559 --> 00:13:51.159 this octopus dish on the menu Where it says like, 00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:52.840 hey, if this is your first time eating here, 00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:55.139 you can't order the octopus because it's like 00:13:55.139 --> 00:13:58.620 so spicy. Because people just kept fucking themselves 00:13:58.620 --> 00:14:02.899 up. That's really good. Imren for dinner. I like 00:14:02.899 --> 00:14:05.200 that one. There was a really great brunch place, 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:08.019 which now just recently closed down, which is 00:14:08.019 --> 00:14:09.820 really sad, called Love Deluxe. It was like a 00:14:09.820 --> 00:14:12.779 Caribbean -led brunch place with amazing food. 00:14:12.820 --> 00:14:17.100 Super nice. Best cold brew coffee in Berlin also. 00:14:19.080 --> 00:14:24.080 I like that one. Yeah, I've not been. I can also 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:28.460 really recommend restaurant Remi by Lode van 00:14:28.460 --> 00:14:31.259 Zulien, who used to have a restaurant called 00:14:31.259 --> 00:14:34.779 Lode & Steen. It's near Rosenthaler Platz, and 00:14:34.779 --> 00:14:38.639 it's like a European brasserie with a lot of 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:40.840 Dutch influence. It's super cool, super beautiful 00:14:40.840 --> 00:14:43.639 dining room, good ingredients, amazing cooking. 00:14:45.059 --> 00:14:48.379 Yeah, and I would also recommend Halman & Klee. 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:51.720 Yeah, like, I can't come up with, because I'm 00:14:51.720 --> 00:14:53.720 seeing, like, many of the restaurants I was going 00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:56.399 to recommend, they're already closed. They don't 00:14:56.399 --> 00:15:01.860 exist anymore. Currently overrated and underrated 00:15:01.860 --> 00:15:08.139 ingredients. The question is by Robluje. Overrated 00:15:08.139 --> 00:15:12.179 and underrated ingredients. Underrated sardines, 00:15:12.200 --> 00:15:17.750 for sure. Oh, yeah. Yes. Pig's ear. Pig's ear 00:15:17.750 --> 00:15:20.450 is fucking underrated. Pig's ear is underrated. 00:15:20.470 --> 00:15:23.450 You don't ever see that anymore, right? Yeah. 00:15:23.690 --> 00:15:26.090 You don't see that anywhere. The anchovies, like, 00:15:26.129 --> 00:15:27.429 I mean, sardines and anchovies, I'm going to 00:15:27.429 --> 00:15:29.669 put them in the same category. The anchovies 00:15:29.669 --> 00:15:34.350 that we had at Mucha. One of the best bites I've 00:15:34.350 --> 00:15:37.049 had in such a long time. You know that the other 00:15:37.049 --> 00:15:39.210 day we were talking about this, like, time stop 00:15:39.210 --> 00:15:40.809 moment when you eat something and you're like, 00:15:40.909 --> 00:15:45.580 oh, this is amazing. That was definitely one 00:15:45.580 --> 00:15:48.320 of them. I ate them and I was like, how many 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:50.039 fucking anchovies have we eaten in our life? 00:15:50.179 --> 00:15:53.440 A lot, right? And for us to kind of like eat 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:56.679 one and be sort of like, man, Juan Vargas is 00:15:56.679 --> 00:15:59.019 doing magic in that restaurant. I'm super excited 00:15:59.019 --> 00:16:01.500 to see how that restaurant develops, honestly. 00:16:02.200 --> 00:16:10.220 And other rated, maybe caviar? Yeah, I mean, 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:13.840 I do like caviar. Caviar is very tasty. So obviously 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:18.440 it is kind of like overused and very, you know, 00:16:18.460 --> 00:16:22.539 it's very luxury. But it is a great product when 00:16:22.539 --> 00:16:25.500 it's good. Yeah, I agree. I wouldn't say that 00:16:25.500 --> 00:16:28.600 there is any overrated product because everything 00:16:28.600 --> 00:16:32.480 can be amazing, you know. Like if the product 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:36.639 is really like a top quality product, everything 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:39.259 is king. You know, there isn't anything where 00:16:39.259 --> 00:16:44.559 you could say, I don't know, Parsley is overrated 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:48.740 or whatever. These are just like controversial 00:16:48.740 --> 00:16:52.779 statements like when Grant Ackert said that wine 00:16:52.779 --> 00:16:55.759 is overrated. You know, it's just grape juice. 00:16:56.019 --> 00:17:00.360 Who cares about that? I'm sorry, but what a dumb 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:04.660 thing to say. No, I like your stance that you 00:17:04.660 --> 00:17:07.779 say nothing is overrated, you know, because it 00:17:07.779 --> 00:17:10.160 just depends of the context that you put it in 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:13.089 and the quality of it and like everything. I 00:17:13.089 --> 00:17:14.690 think there's a couple of underrated things. 00:17:14.829 --> 00:17:18.210 I think that, like you say, something like pig's 00:17:18.210 --> 00:17:20.329 ear, something like that is underrated. I think 00:17:20.329 --> 00:17:22.869 in the poultry world, a lot of things are underrated. 00:17:23.170 --> 00:17:28.130 You know, things like chicken, because chicken 00:17:28.130 --> 00:17:33.029 that we get usually is very, it's not, when you 00:17:33.029 --> 00:17:36.650 get a good chicken, you realize like how good 00:17:36.650 --> 00:17:39.009 chicken actually can be. I really think that 00:17:39.009 --> 00:17:42.539 a lot more restaurants that serve meat, and especially 00:17:42.539 --> 00:17:44.759 i serve chicken should put a focus on it's like 00:17:44.759 --> 00:17:46.940 with steaks we have this like grass fed this 00:17:46.940 --> 00:17:50.799 that wagyu um and even with pork you have sort 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:53.660 of like old breeds chicken is still like the 00:17:53.660 --> 00:17:57.839 you know the real underdog of the sort of like 00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:01.900 meat world and it really shouldn't be um in the 00:18:01.900 --> 00:18:05.740 same category things like quail quail is fucking 00:18:05.740 --> 00:18:08.200 amazing it's by far one of my favorite meats 00:18:08.980 --> 00:18:11.500 The problem is that it's kind of tedious to prepare 00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:14.140 and people don't really know how to cook it right. 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:16.900 But if you do it right, it's unbelievable. Also, 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:22.559 guineafowl is unbelievably good. I heard an interview 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:25.859 with Carlos Garcia, who is one of the best Venezuelan 00:18:25.859 --> 00:18:29.720 chefs there is. And he was talking about how 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:34.789 they built like a whole... you know, like a movement 00:18:34.789 --> 00:18:38.750 in Venezuela among chefs to cooperate with local 00:18:38.750 --> 00:18:43.789 producers and start that, like, same thing as 00:18:43.789 --> 00:18:46.049 what happened, for example, here in the Basque 00:18:46.049 --> 00:18:48.509 Country or in the Nordic countries, like reshaping 00:18:48.509 --> 00:18:53.569 a food identity with your own things, right? 00:18:54.670 --> 00:18:57.509 But this... got completely destroyed in the last 00:18:57.509 --> 00:18:59.930 years, mainly because of the massive migration 00:18:59.930 --> 00:19:04.730 and also this emergence of new rich. And then 00:19:04.730 --> 00:19:09.970 suddenly there was this whole snob scene where 00:19:09.970 --> 00:19:15.470 you would find wagyu and tomahawks and all these 00:19:15.470 --> 00:19:18.930 kind of things in Caracas instead of continuing 00:19:18.930 --> 00:19:22.710 working with local producers and enhancing or 00:19:22.710 --> 00:19:26.730 elevating. uh local traditions into fine dining 00:19:26.730 --> 00:19:29.789 instead of that just importing the most expensive 00:19:29.789 --> 00:19:34.009 wagyu the most expensive caviar or whatever and 00:19:34.009 --> 00:19:37.750 i think that's that makes Those products, for 00:19:37.750 --> 00:19:40.190 me, overrated, and at the same time, the local 00:19:40.190 --> 00:19:44.329 products underrated. You mentioned context, and 00:19:44.329 --> 00:19:46.230 I think that putting these kind of things into 00:19:46.230 --> 00:19:50.349 context, especially when you're developing the 00:19:50.349 --> 00:19:54.650 identity of a dining scene, I think that's key. 00:19:54.789 --> 00:19:59.430 And I think no strong dining scene, except for 00:19:59.430 --> 00:20:03.269 Dubai, of course, survives with only imported 00:20:03.269 --> 00:20:10.420 stuff. Yes, that's very true. That's very true, 00:20:10.500 --> 00:20:15.059 yeah. Cabezon Bob asks, what's your opinion about 00:20:15.059 --> 00:20:18.680 everyone doing the same at the same time? For 00:20:18.680 --> 00:20:23.099 example, deer in Berlin. So I read that question 00:20:23.099 --> 00:20:26.240 and I was like, okay, basically you're asking 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:29.160 us what is our opinion on your opinion, right? 00:20:30.910 --> 00:20:33.470 which is a little bit tricky because i don't 00:20:33.470 --> 00:20:35.809 know if everybody's doing the same thing at the 00:20:35.809 --> 00:20:38.690 same time i mean he is referring to berlin is 00:20:38.690 --> 00:20:42.490 a very small scene even so i don't think that 00:20:42.490 --> 00:20:44.779 everybody's doing the same thing at the same 00:20:44.779 --> 00:20:48.380 time what's really like noodled out is this whole 00:20:48.380 --> 00:20:52.039 sort of like ultra hyper local kind of thing 00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:54.539 where everybody's like i'm going to like you 00:20:54.539 --> 00:20:57.740 know like what uh what otto does you know it's 00:20:57.740 --> 00:21:00.299 like i'm going to use only ingredients that come 00:21:00.299 --> 00:21:03.059 out of like the the region right around it's 00:21:03.059 --> 00:21:05.380 kind of like yeah okay cool but it's it's very 00:21:05.380 --> 00:21:10.680 gimmicky you know um but deer like You can't 00:21:10.680 --> 00:21:14.140 bash it. It's kind of like deer is a local product 00:21:14.140 --> 00:21:16.740 and it's fantastic meat. And it's like you get 00:21:16.740 --> 00:21:20.240 amazing quality. And if it's there, use it. Nobody's 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:22.319 going to be like, oh, everybody in Italy uses 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:26.720 tomatoes. Nobody would do that. Also, if it's 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:29.359 in season, I mean, everybody will take advantage 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:33.720 of the season, I guess. Yeah, for sure. I will 00:21:33.720 --> 00:21:35.640 definitely always have like, I don't give a shit 00:21:35.640 --> 00:21:37.240 if the restaurant next to me has deer on the 00:21:37.240 --> 00:21:39.859 menu. At the end of the day, it's just the protein, 00:21:40.019 --> 00:21:42.380 right? Like what I do with it, how I prepare 00:21:42.380 --> 00:21:45.400 it, what I serve with it. I never like look at 00:21:45.400 --> 00:21:47.839 the menu and be like, oh, deer again. I'll never 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:49.700 look at the menu and be sort of like, oh, fish 00:21:49.700 --> 00:21:52.519 again. Oh, white asparagus. They're everywhere. 00:21:52.819 --> 00:21:57.400 This stupid bell eats asparagus, you know? Yeah, 00:21:57.480 --> 00:22:02.880 absolutely. I don't know. I can't jump on board 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:06.839 with that. Sorry. Next question from our beloved 00:22:06.839 --> 00:22:13.559 editor, Atrevio01. He asks, at what point do 00:22:13.559 --> 00:22:20.559 you add salt in a Robuchon potato puree? I have 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:22.660 a very direct answer for that one. I don't know 00:22:22.660 --> 00:22:27.349 about you. Go for it. Once you already mashed 00:22:27.349 --> 00:22:29.349 the potatoes and passed it through the thicker 00:22:29.349 --> 00:22:34.329 and then the finer strainer, I bring milk to, 00:22:34.369 --> 00:22:39.829 I heat it up and I add the salt there so it dilutes 00:22:39.829 --> 00:22:43.710 and I add that to the potatoes and mix it. So 00:22:43.710 --> 00:22:47.569 it's, I think you mentioned you add milk as a 00:22:47.569 --> 00:22:53.339 last thing. I added before adding the... I add 00:22:53.339 --> 00:22:58.359 it before adding the fat because I think that 00:22:58.359 --> 00:23:03.960 helps the emulsifying process. I used to do the 00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:07.500 same. Now I do it differently because now I add 00:23:07.500 --> 00:23:10.059 butter until my potato puree basically splits. 00:23:10.920 --> 00:23:13.559 And then I just bring it back with some hot milk. 00:23:13.619 --> 00:23:15.619 So the amount of milk that I add is very, very 00:23:15.619 --> 00:23:21.059 minimal. And I boil the potatoes in salted water. 00:23:21.480 --> 00:23:23.500 Unless I like bake them or whatever, but it's 00:23:23.500 --> 00:23:26.500 very rare. So they have a base seasoning kind 00:23:26.500 --> 00:23:28.700 of. I will add a little bit of salt into the 00:23:28.700 --> 00:23:34.200 milk. But I will kind of season as I go. I'll 00:23:34.200 --> 00:23:40.319 like add a good scattering of salt as I'm putting 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:43.960 the butter in. And then I just like adjust the 00:23:43.960 --> 00:23:46.180 seasoning in the end. First I get the texture 00:23:46.180 --> 00:23:48.440 right. And then at the end I adjust the seasoning 00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:50.740 and that's it. But I don't think it matters very 00:23:50.740 --> 00:23:53.420 much when you, I think if you had a perfect recipe 00:23:53.420 --> 00:23:56.319 and you had everything weighed out correctly 00:23:56.319 --> 00:23:58.880 and you do the same potato puree every day, same 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:01.420 potatoes, et cetera, and you know exactly, I 00:24:01.420 --> 00:24:05.940 need only 50 milliliters of milk. I, for this 00:24:05.940 --> 00:24:09.059 amount of riced, cooked potatoes, I need exactly 00:24:09.059 --> 00:24:11.539 this amount of salt, which would be pretty easy 00:24:11.539 --> 00:24:13.880 to do, actually. You just need like between two 00:24:13.880 --> 00:24:17.099 and 2 .5%, right? of the whole weight and then 00:24:17.099 --> 00:24:25.759 you'd be pretty golden. Then you could just mix 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:27.259 it all together. I don't think it makes any difference 00:24:27.259 --> 00:24:30.299 to the texture, honestly. Yeah, I do agree that 00:24:30.299 --> 00:24:34.039 it's not a big deal in a potato puree, but what 00:24:34.039 --> 00:24:36.660 do you think about adding salt in general? Because 00:24:36.660 --> 00:24:41.980 that's also a thing. For example, I would never 00:24:41.980 --> 00:24:45.309 add pre -salted steak, for example. but I would 00:24:45.309 --> 00:24:48.170 definitely pre -salt a piece of fish. You know, 00:24:48.210 --> 00:24:51.809 like there are these things that... What? Really? 00:24:52.170 --> 00:24:56.349 Wait. Hold on. Oh, yeah, this is very commonly 00:24:56.349 --> 00:24:59.329 done here, around here. No, no, and this is something 00:24:59.329 --> 00:25:02.410 I have seen also since I started cooking, like 00:25:02.410 --> 00:25:05.529 in my first restaurant in Café Atlantique. I 00:25:05.529 --> 00:25:08.930 remember seeing the station chef of the fish 00:25:08.930 --> 00:25:12.410 section. opening his drawer before service and 00:25:12.410 --> 00:25:14.490 pre -salting fish and having it pre -salted and 00:25:14.490 --> 00:25:17.089 then sending it to service or even like brining 00:25:17.089 --> 00:25:20.750 it and having it pre -salted. But I would do 00:25:20.750 --> 00:25:24.309 that with fish, but never with meat. Why I wouldn't 00:25:24.309 --> 00:25:27.069 do it with meat? Probably superstition. I don't 00:25:27.069 --> 00:25:31.849 know. But I like adding coarse salt on top once 00:25:31.849 --> 00:25:34.809 it's already grilled or whatever. It's not that 00:25:34.809 --> 00:25:37.349 I would never make it, but I would never make 00:25:37.349 --> 00:25:40.710 it too much in advance like I would do with fish. 00:25:41.410 --> 00:25:44.230 I could pre -salt a steak and throw it to the 00:25:44.230 --> 00:25:47.309 pan. Fine. But I wouldn't pre -salt a steak and 00:25:47.309 --> 00:25:50.490 leave it there for half an hour. but i could 00:25:50.490 --> 00:25:52.509 do that with a fish for sure i could you know 00:25:52.509 --> 00:25:54.930 that's interesting because for me it's kind of 00:25:54.930 --> 00:25:58.349 like the opposite oh really okay yeah yeah i 00:25:58.349 --> 00:26:03.250 always pre -season meat when i cook it always 00:26:03.250 --> 00:26:06.089 always always and like quite quite generous generously 00:26:06.089 --> 00:26:09.109 but like i said that you will only grill quickly 00:26:09.109 --> 00:26:15.170 as well yeah 100 100 always sometimes even if 00:26:15.170 --> 00:26:18.829 it's a very big piece of meat i will pre -salted 00:26:18.829 --> 00:26:21.970 like 15 -20 minutes before i start cooking it 00:26:21.970 --> 00:26:26.869 that's interesting okay yeah with fish i almost 00:26:26.869 --> 00:26:29.730 never do that oh that's that's so funny yeah 00:26:29.730 --> 00:26:32.960 yeah it's really funny but like i'm just kind 00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:34.740 of thinking about it now because it makes sense 00:26:34.740 --> 00:26:36.720 what you're saying and also with a lot of fish 00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:39.019 i can see the benefit of pre -salting it because 00:26:39.019 --> 00:26:41.119 it's kind of like curing it because some fish 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:43.559 i cure right like if i have like a cod or even 00:26:43.559 --> 00:26:45.839 like a turbot and i want to like poach it maybe 00:26:45.839 --> 00:26:48.259 i'll just give it like a light salt cure for 00:26:48.259 --> 00:26:51.480 like 30 minutes and then wash it off pat it dry 00:26:52.009 --> 00:26:53.769 It changes the texture, draws out some of the 00:26:53.769 --> 00:26:56.009 moisture. So I get it. Like for some fish, it 00:26:56.009 --> 00:26:58.529 totally makes sense. No, but also imagine, for 00:26:58.529 --> 00:27:00.569 example, if you have a service that you will 00:27:00.569 --> 00:27:04.910 be delivering 150 fish fillets, I definitely 00:27:04.910 --> 00:27:09.730 recommend like, you know, formulating a proper 00:27:09.730 --> 00:27:13.829 brine. so that you have your fish pre -brined, 00:27:13.829 --> 00:27:16.829 pre -salted, like a brine, you dip it in, let's 00:27:16.829 --> 00:27:19.029 say 20 minutes, whatever, you take it out, and 00:27:19.029 --> 00:27:21.190 everything is just properly salted, and you just 00:27:21.190 --> 00:27:23.569 throw it to the oven without even thinking about 00:27:23.569 --> 00:27:26.869 anything. It's like a good way of standardizing, 00:27:26.930 --> 00:27:29.470 something like that. that's very true that's 00:27:29.470 --> 00:27:32.670 very very true and it improves the texture and 00:27:32.670 --> 00:27:35.210 stuff on the juiciness and stuff if a lot of 00:27:35.210 --> 00:27:37.009 things that's that's very good like for example 00:27:37.009 --> 00:27:40.009 i do it a lot with chicken it makes it like the 00:27:40.009 --> 00:27:43.109 chicken is pre -seasoned you know like you can 00:27:43.109 --> 00:27:46.730 grill it it stays juicy um super convenient what 00:27:46.730 --> 00:27:53.670 about uh vegetables so completely different thing 00:27:53.670 --> 00:27:57.900 right like But for example, in vegetables, I 00:27:57.900 --> 00:28:02.859 would never, let's say, like doing a sofrito, 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:08.200 for example. Okay, it will reduce a lot, and 00:28:08.200 --> 00:28:11.559 then you have to calculate how much salt to add. 00:28:11.660 --> 00:28:13.819 But I would definitely add some salt at the beginning. 00:28:14.250 --> 00:28:17.549 I think it changes something. It's not like you 00:28:17.549 --> 00:28:19.849 do your sofrito, it's completely reduced, and 00:28:19.849 --> 00:28:21.529 then you add salt for the first time. For me, 00:28:21.549 --> 00:28:24.430 that's counterintuitive somehow. Yeah, it feels 00:28:24.430 --> 00:28:26.930 wrong. It feels like you can't get the... I think 00:28:26.930 --> 00:28:29.390 this is where I feel like I have superstition. 00:28:29.390 --> 00:28:31.990 I feel like I have to add salt, even if it's 00:28:31.990 --> 00:28:34.809 just a little bit in the beginning, to get the 00:28:34.809 --> 00:28:36.970 seasoning in there. even though that's probably 00:28:36.970 --> 00:28:38.970 not true at all, I don't know. But I feel like 00:28:38.970 --> 00:28:40.809 if it's not there from the beginning, it doesn't 00:28:40.809 --> 00:28:44.650 penetrate. But I also add salt, like if you're 00:28:44.650 --> 00:28:46.750 talking about sofrito, just to help it kind of 00:28:46.750 --> 00:28:50.549 release moisture, to draw out the liquid so it 00:28:50.549 --> 00:28:53.029 evaporates more quickly, cooks down more quickly, 00:28:53.150 --> 00:28:57.589 kind of for that. Yeah, exactly. I think it has 00:28:57.589 --> 00:29:01.029 a functionality that it dehydrates the produce, 00:29:01.210 --> 00:29:04.250 so it takes water out, it squeezes it somehow, 00:29:04.509 --> 00:29:08.910 and that water evaporates. 100%. That's what 00:29:08.910 --> 00:29:12.069 I think. Maybe a physical chemical will tell 00:29:12.069 --> 00:29:16.650 me, oh, that's bullshit. You guys are such idiots. 00:29:17.269 --> 00:29:20.809 Yeah, but even if a scientist would tell me. 00:29:20.869 --> 00:29:24.950 For the first time I heard a scientist. laughing 00:29:24.950 --> 00:29:30.549 at me because of preheating the oven. Like, why 00:29:30.549 --> 00:29:38.250 are you doing that? Why? Exactly. And it was 00:29:38.250 --> 00:29:41.589 like, yeah, it makes a fucking difference. And 00:29:41.589 --> 00:29:48.210 I was like, no, but the heat impact will keep 00:29:48.210 --> 00:29:51.619 the juices inside. And he was like, no. You fucking 00:29:51.619 --> 00:29:54.380 idiot. No, I don't believe that. That is nonsense. 00:29:55.460 --> 00:29:58.440 No, I will die on that hill. That is nonsense. 00:30:00.420 --> 00:30:03.039 That makes no sense to me at all. How could you 00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:08.099 say that? Anyway. Anyway, but you know, even 00:30:08.099 --> 00:30:12.220 if a scientist told me, hey, it makes no difference 00:30:12.220 --> 00:30:15.559 if you add this hold now or later, I would be 00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:18.839 like, okay, thanks for the information. I'd still... 00:30:18.990 --> 00:30:21.730 to it, you know? Yeah, no, of course, and I think 00:30:21.730 --> 00:30:24.589 that's perfectly valid, you know, like, because 00:30:24.589 --> 00:30:28.630 I think cooking is not only a scientific process, 00:30:29.069 --> 00:30:34.490 there's also, like, this ritual to it, this magic 00:30:34.490 --> 00:30:37.849 to it, you know, like, that science can't explain, 00:30:38.029 --> 00:30:40.569 you know, like, and I think that's also very 00:30:40.569 --> 00:30:46.970 relevant. That's it for this week's episode of 00:30:46.970 --> 00:30:49.450 Potluck Food Talks. If you like what we're doing, 00:30:49.569 --> 00:30:52.109 make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you 00:30:52.109 --> 00:30:54.589 never miss an episode. You can also find us on 00:30:54.589 --> 00:30:57.730 Instagram and TikTok as potluckfoodtalks. The 00:30:57.730 --> 00:30:58.869 show airs every Monday.