Hi, everyone. Welcome to Pot Luck Food Talks,
the show where we talk about food and kitchen
from a cooked perspective. We're recording live
from the North Pole. My name is Eric the Viking,
and I'm here with Phil the Power Tailor. Today,
we're diving into jingle bells, red -nosed reindeer
with questionable allergies, and Christianity's
most cherished evening. You know, the one that
smells like cinnamon and last -minute decisions.
But first... You're listening to Heritage Radio
Network. So, Phil, what's your most memorable
Christmas service in a restaurant? You know,
I feel like I blanked out most Christmas services
that I've had. Just out of sheer traumatic...
experience um i feel like most because i've worked
a few christmases you know like quite a few in
my life i can barely remember any of them because
why is it that the christmas service is always
one of the fucking worst of the year it should
be so easy everybody comes in almost at the same
time pretty much everybody usually gets the same
menu ideally if you're smart about it So, like,
it should just be fucking nice. You're cooking
fucking beef. You're cooking scallop. You're
cooking, you're making, you're dolloping caviar
on top of dishes. It should be fucking nice.
Yet it never is. I also have, like, bad memories
about Christmas services in kitchens. I remember
one place where I was a head chef. Like, there
was a special menu for the evening. And then
in the middle of rush hour, you know, the owner
walked in. And for some reason, I didn't have
the, you know, like, at that time. the guts just
to tell her to fuck off and she walked in and
started like i'm going to help because she started
like plating and messing everything you know
like everything went to hell like all the preparation
everything like was completely fucked up i really
couldn't take it you know like i really i was
really really upset for a long while for that
you know like yeah absolutely because there was
a lot of thinking and preparation and everything
just to you know just to walk into the most in
the most important moment and screw it up you
know like and i also remember one in a very like
top level restaurant where nobody was happy about
being there you know like every and there was
this mood of not being like everybody wanted
just to be somewhere else of course it's christmas
they made us uh walk through the dining rooms
you know with our tops or chef's hats and it
was really a shame walk i totally get that i
totally get that you're like i'm the idiot who's
here because of my poor life choices while you
guys are enjoying yourself here look at me Yeah,
exactly. I felt like, I don't know, like in a
Roman circus being, you know, exhibited to the
Roman aristocracy. You know, Christmas is one
of those days where you make good business in
a restaurant. I am of the opinion that you should
just fucking close for Christmas. You know, the
year is long. When are you going to close? Right?
Like, which holidays are you like, oh, I'm not
going to open? There's none, really. There's
no, you're not going to say like, oh, I'm not
going to open today. New Year's Eve. Fine. Fuck
that. Fuck New Year's Eve. Nobody cares. But
Christmas? There's a lot of people. I know a
lot of people that think exactly the other way
around. Yeah? Really? No, not me. I think it's
because we're German. Because, you know, we,
I think the German Christmas is taken more seriously
than other Christmases. You know, like. Yes,
I guess so. I have that feeling. Like, I mean,
in Venezuela? I think if you ask, nine out of
ten people will tell you New Year's Eve is more
important than Christmas. Oh, really? Yeah. I
think it's a very common thing. I mean, and here
in Spain, they don't give a shit about Christmas.
The thing here is the Holy Kings, 6th of January,
you know? Yeah, I mean, for me, it's kind of
like, you know, I don't mind being in a restaurant
at New Year's Eve because, I mean, first of all,
I don't give a shit about New Year's Eve. I don't
give a shit about... going out and getting pissed
and watching some fireworks i really i couldn't
care less but what i do care about is spending
time with my family like this is the thing you
know it's kind of like christmas is like it's
like the celebration of like togetherness you
know and like hey we all come together it's very
sort of mindful and very peaceful and i mean
not for everybody I suppose. Christmas also is
often a stage for family drama and chaos. Ideally,
in my mind, it's that, you know, it's like we
come together, we sit down, we shut the outside
world out for just a night. We're grateful for
being here together and we just appreciate. We're
giving each other presents and sort of like,
hey, I got this for you, you know, because I
love you. You open your own press. It's sort
of like, oh, you got this for me because you
love me. That's so nice, you know? And then the
bubble bursts and you're in the kitchen and you
realize that this is all what you've been imagining
the whole time. And actually all the tickets
are away at the same time. Front of house is
completely understaffed and unorganized because
nobody had a fucking briefing. And you need to
fire the main course because the tenderloin is
going to overcook. And you realize that this
has all just been a really wonderful dream. You're
back in your horrible reality. That's what cooking
Christmas service is for me. I thought about
a game to play today. Yes, tell me. The game
is we're going to write a menu, a Christmas menu,
five courses. We're cooking for Juan Mari Arzak.
Vegans. Juan Mari Arzak and his 25 -year -old
vegan girlfriend. Okay, okay. I like that. Very
close to reality. The Amish bush, first course.
What would you say? What would you start with?
Are we talking at home or in a restaurant? Home.
You're cooking yourself. Maybe someone's helping
you, but that's it. Okay, if I'm cooking at home,
I would start with buying very nice potato chips.
Right? Bought, not self -made. Fuck that. Potato
chips. I would make some sour cream that's seasoned
with a lot of vinegar, a lot of salt, a lot of
black pepper, some chives, and then a nice big
tin of caviar on the side. You take the potato
chips, you dip it in the sour cream, you put
some caviar on top, you eat it. Okay. And also
some nice breakfast radishes with some whipped
salted French butter on the side for you to dip
inside. You didn't thought about the vegan girlfriend?
She can eat the radishes. Okay. Be grateful for
the radish. That's the only course you'll have
with me. By the way, something I forgot asking
you about the... Have you ever done anything
with carrot greens? Well, you know, carrot greens,
man. I feel like, you know, I love the idea of
using carrot greens to make a pesto, to make
a gremolata, whatever it is, to make a fucking
puree, to make a green oil. I really like the
idea. The thing is that it's always shit. Exactly.
I have the same, you know, like I'm like, oh
yeah, I'm so hippie and sustainable and I will,
you know, cut it and eat it into a salad. And
I feel like I'm literally eating grass, you know,
like a cow. Dirt. Yeah. It's like, I love the
idea, you know, and like, but it's just always
fucking horrible. I don't know if there's like,
dear listener, if you have a carrot green recipe
that is actually good. Please send it to us,
and we'll feature you. We'll give you a little
shout -out. Not that you care, but... Please
leave it here in the comments, so we can have
a discussion here in the comments section about
carrot greens. What would you do with it? Why
is it so difficult? I guess fermentation can
maybe... Why is it difficult? Because it has
this extreme bitterness and extreme grassy profile,
right? Yeah, it's just, it tastes like carrot,
but in a very unpleasant way, I would say, you
know, like it's, I don't know, you know, if you
take a carrot green leaf and you rub it between
your fingers and you smell it, you think to yourself,
oh, that doesn't smell too bad. Like I could.
do something with this, but then everything you
make with it is just too much. It's too green.
It's too carrot -y, but also it has this like
weird texture. It's like, it's tough. Nah, man.
And I'm just not a fan. I mean, I don't know.
Maybe you could blanch it and this and that and
blah. Maybe you could make a powder of it and
it would be okay. But like. An amuse -bouche
for me, I would do something with crab, you know,
maybe like a, like a crab salad, something like
that. the whole crab roasted in the oven then
broken and flesh taken out making a salad with
maybe not too tropical because it's christmas
because my first idea would be like something
like i don't know avocado and grapefruit but
maybe something milder and yeah with those potato
chips i could add it to the potato chip party
if you allow me i love that you can take a little
bit of the the crab and put it on a potato chip
and just like munch it it's amazing super nice
So, starter, first course, soup, salad, something
unexpected. No soup for me. I mean, if I was
in a restaurant, I would probably send out, you
know, you know what I would wish that would make
a comeback? Little espresso cups of foamy soup.
I was thinking something like, I would do exactly
that, a celeriac potato truffle. There you go.
That's exactly what I, that's exactly what I
was thinking. Also like a chestnut thing or something,
but very light, very velvety, like little foamed
up, you know, super nice. And you slurp it. It's
buttery. It's warm. It's satisfying. Nothing
better in life. Well, first course, you know
what I really like? Very good quality smoked
eel. Okay. Good quality smoked eel. Forger. The
eel. tempered right so it's like a little bit
warm the fat starts melting a little bit you
know and then a really really bright cherry compote
on the side with some parker house rolls you
know parker house rolls no you know the bread
from saison okay um Imagine like a Hokkaido milk
bread and you make like little balls and you
make them into like a, into like a shape in a,
in a round thing, like a monkey bread, you know,
monkey bread where you have like different pieces
and you can like pull it apart. Okay. Yeah, I
get it. Yeah. Something like that so that you
can just kind of like, you know, tear it. You
have like warm, fluffy bread, you know, something
that I've been thinking about a lot is also,
and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm
kind of over sour though. If I was to open a
restaurant tomorrow, I wouldn't put like a piece
of toasted sourdough. Okay. You know what? I'm
bullshitting. I love sourdough. Sourdough is
amazing. But what I would like to see more in
restaurants is away from the sort of like crusty
sourdough bread, just embrace the soft bread
a little bit more. You know, like if I get like
a fluffy roll like that, that's not too sweet,
freshly baked, I'm going to be so happy. And
you take it, it's pillowy, it's doughy, it's
bouncy. You know, like those videos that you
see out of Japan where you're sort of like, what
the fuck is that? It's like a little Kirby, Kirby
bread. um you tear it open it's like feathery
inside and white like give me a break with all
the sort of like ancient grain whole wheat thing
i yeah like i'm thinking about something like
that yeah like a like a toast with foie gras
yeah like a cherry compote would be nice and
maybe also some chestnuts there somewhere like
a spread on the toast under the foie gras Yeah,
100%. I mean, you can't go wrong with that. It's
so nice. I would add some like the real balsamic
kind of, you know, like balsamic vinegars, but
like the real expensive ones to that compote
to add some acidity. Yes, very nice. And you
know what else? On the side of that plate, a
soaked prune, soaked in tea and ammonia. Just
like a really fatty, yeah, like a really fat,
soaky, juicy, deep prune. Armagnac. Yes. Armagnac?
Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Phil, do you recommend
podcasts to your friends? All the time. The best
way of showing friends that you care is recommending
a great podcast to listen to. I agree. If you're
listening right now, you should show your love
by recommending a show to all your best friends.
It will make them happy. It will make us happy.
PopLock Food Talks. Tell your friends. It will
make the world a better place. A main course.
Main course can be a lot of things, you know.
So for me, traditional roast duck or roast goose.
Yeah, or game, you know, like deer, something
like that. You know, like a little Rudolph. A
little Rudolph, yeah. It's very, very nice, you
know, like a roast. Really, really good is also
a Wellington. A well -made Wellington for Christmas
is phenomenal, right? But it takes a lot of work
if you're not in practice of like making it.
Like if you have practice making it, it's still
a lot of work, but you can kind of smash it out.
You know, you sear it the day before, you smear
it, you make the faras, like easy peasy, you
wrap it in bacon and blah, you make a pancake
if you want to or not. And you just wrap it tightly,
make a torchon, you just put it in the fridge,
it's done for the next morning. And then the
next day you just basically take it out, wrap
it, puff pastry, glaze it, and it's ready to
go. It's actually not that much work. I also
really like doing a whole fish. A whole fish.
And I like to like butterfly it. I like to debone
it completely so that you can just eat it from
the head to the tail without worrying about it.
You can stuff it, you can do whatever. But you
know, one of my, not my dishes, but the dishes
that I like to make, which I think is very underrated,
but it needs to be made extremely well. Otherwise
it's super underwhelming, is a chicken blanket.
You get a really, really good chicken, but it
has to be the best chicken that you can find.
You poach it until it's super juicy, you know,
like a Cantonese chicken. You take it out. You
make a super intense stock, like a super clear.
It needs to be like a golden chicken consomme.
You make, you know, the roux. You make the sauce.
You add extremely good quality cream fresh to
it. You season that all. Salt, pepper, whatever.
Lemon juice, fresh lemon juice at the end. And
then on the side, you make a beautiful medley
of vegetables, you know. carrots peas sugar snap
peas you know whatever you have some parsnips
maybe maybe even some like blanched sort of like
tornado potato pieces just like very beautifully
glazed and then at the end you put the chicken
back into the sauce you put fresh herbs on top
maybe even some lemon segments with the skin
everything you know just like thin slices of
like quarter lemons put that on top and if you
do that right it's one of the most luxurious
and most satisfying dishes ever. It's fucking
amazing. But you need to, like, you can't compromise
on any step. You have to get the best ingredients,
the best chicken, the best cream fresh. You have
to get really good vegetables. You have to cook
the chicken really beautifully and gently to
get this intense stock and to keep the chicken
juicy. But it's super simple, right? And if you
know how to do it, it's very, very easy. And
it's very low effort, which I think is an underrated
aspect in cooking for Christmas also, because
if you have... You know, it used to be the moms
stuck in the kitchen in Christmas. Now it's us.
And we get out and we're sort of like, you know,
like rings under our eyes. We've been cooking
for two days. We just want a fucking glass of
wine. And we're done. We're done with the fucking
day. We get to the table. All the food's already
half eaten. We're like, fuck. You know, on the
last episode we were, I was just about to say
something, but I said, I'll save it for the Christmas
episode about how important it is to describe
stuff in a certain way and that the predisposition
and the anticipation towards what you're going
to eat, it really plays a role, you know, like
on my food tours, I always, it's usually. cock
planche you know i choose i decide we're having
this here and this that and i don't even ask
i ask at the beginning if they have any restrictions
and i go you know like here we're having this
year also with the drinks but i learned to ask
just with a specific drink i i have at the very
end a glass of pacharan oh yeah And I went through
many descriptions of Pacharan. You know, it would
be like, yeah, it's slow berries. And then people
would be like, oh, so it's like a slow gin. And
I'm like, no, it's the same ingredient, but it's
something completely else. So both people that
like it and people that don't like it at all,
they say it tastes like cough syrup. And I think
that's kind of like an accurate description.
Fair enough, yeah. But yeah, like I would have
this, you know, I'm always observing if people
are finishing or not, because it's a way to measure
if they're full or not, or if they're liking
it or not, right? And interestingly enough, I
came up with a description that suddenly everybody
is drinking their fucking pancharán to the very
end so far. I think the rate of people finishing
it from the moment I changed my description changed,
and I started saying, it's like a Christmas Negroni.
Oh, that's really good. I totally get that. That's
really good, actually. Because at the end of
the day, it's kind of like a Negroni without
the bitterness. And you have this Christmas spices
situation of, you know, like cinnamon, anise,
even some coffee beans in there, you know, like.
For me, that's also like a key thing in a Christmas
dinner. That's to be cinnamon somewhere or star
anise, you know, like, or ginger. For me, those
things have to be somewhere there. Or a little
spice, you know, like this kind of sweet spices,
stuff you would find on a Glühwein, you know,
like that, that kind of stuff. It's part of the,
you're like any other moment of, of the, or Lebkuchen
spices, you know, like. I love that. Any other
moment of the year, you would say, ah, this tastes
like Christmas. But that moment is the moment
to have those, those things. Yeah, I totally
get that. That's really good. What about. Veggie
sides. Veggie sides. What are your Christmas
veggies? There has to be a winter salad, right?
With like bitter greens, bitter leaf greens,
a really just bright, sharp vinaigrette with
loads of chives and very, very thinly sliced
onions. Very thinly sliced, you know? You mean
like kale, for example? No, like Treviso, endives,
you know, radicchio, those sorts of things, you
know? I like with walnuts, something like that.
Yeah, yeah, maybe, not even. Just like I like,
you know, I love it when there's like a salad
that's just leaves and like a really beautiful
dressing. There doesn't need to be too much in
there. What else? I love roasted pumpkin. If
you get a pumpkin that's good and it's like a
little bit aged, so the water content is reduced
a little bit and you roast it, even like whole,
just roast the whole thing. And then you cut
it open when it's like piping hot, you know,
but you let it rest a little bit also. It's so,
the texture is amazing. The flavor of a good
pumpkin when it's cooked nicely, it's almost
like melon, like cantaloupe melon is so nice.
And, you know, I actually just made a new dish
for the restaurant for autumn. which I'm kind
of thinking is actually a really nice dish to
make. So you get a sweet potato, but obviously
there's different types of sweet potato. I'm
getting the Asian sweet potatoes. They're a little
bit more firm. You bake it like you would do
an oven potato. And then after baking it, I let
it cool down a little bit. I wrap it in tinfoil.
I let it cool down. And then I make an incision
on the top and I kind of press it a little bit.
So it like opens and I scoop all the inside out.
So basically then I have like a potato skin pocket.
All right. I put that aside. The flesh I seasoned
with truffle butter. pickled vegetables, as in
like pickled daikon, pickled cucumber, herbs,
a little bit of ponzu, a little bit of creme
fraiche, chives, a little bit of chili, like
a little bit of chili powder, a little bit of
aji amarillo. And I mix it. I make this like
potato salad and it's like sweet, savory, like
crunchy, sour. And then I make this like mix,
a little bit truffle -y and I put it back in
and then I bake it again, right? Just like mix
inside the skin. And when it comes out, like
in our restaurant, you know, we like, I top it
with like this usual kosher cream and bonito
flakes and like crispy, crispy rice and stuff
like that. And then you just get the thing and
you like basically like scoop the stuff out of
the potato. But it's a really nice dish to make
because it's so easy. It's actually, it sounds
a little bit complicated, but it's so easy to
make. It's so easy to prep. And if you get these
like beautiful, big sweet potatoes where every,
all the work is done for you. You don't need
to peel it. You don't need to do anything. You
just need to stick your spoon in. And just take
it out and it's like perfectly seasoned all the
way through. Super fun to eat. It's really, really
nice. I love these sort of like festive centerpieces,
you know, where you're kind of like, oh, it looks
nice, but it's also super comfortable to eat.
If you need to have a fresh salad, just like
a julienne raw pumpkin, you know, marinating
it with honey, lime, ginger and chives as well.
Simple, just that, you know, and you have like
this little fresh. Sounds really good. I've done
this a couple of times for Christmas, and every
time I do it, a lot of people tell me, I've never
had raw pumpkin before. You know, it's very common
to assuming you can't do that, right? That's
very true, yeah. Brussels sprouts, I think they're
also very Christmassy for some reason. Very true.
I don't know why. Very true. I do like them.
I do like them, especially when they're like
roasted, you know. Yeah, like butter roasted.
You can also like quickly deep fry them. At home,
it's not so nice, but deep fry them and then
just like toss them with a bit of fish sauce.
Ah, nice. It's really good, yeah. I have another
side dish that is amazing. It's also very undervalued.
And that's pommes boulangeres, the bread baker's
potatoes. Traditionally... potatoes that are
sliced. They're called boulanger because supposedly
people used to use the residual oven heat after
baking bread for making this potato dish. You
slice potatoes, you lay it up with like raw onions,
sliced raw onions, and you add some stock and
then you just bake it all together. The stock
reduces, gets really thick and really velvety.
The potatoes get really like, you know, all the
way cooked through, but really silky. I do a
version that is inspired by one of my favorite
chefs. uh james henry who's got an incredible
restaurant in the french countryside called little
yin basically potatoes really thinly sliced you
take a nice sort of presentation pan ideally
it's like a copper pan you know like a rondelle
that's not too high you rub that with butter
and what i do is like i peel a big potato i cut
it in half i cut it like at an angle very thinly
all the way down and then i press it so it fans
out And then I put that fan into the thing and
I just repeat that until I have this rose pattern
going all the way around into the center. Then
I add some caramelized onions on top that I just
caramelized down in a pot. And then I add a very
nice either like a chicken stock or like whatever
it is. Chicken stock works perfectly. If you
have a brown chicken stock, it's very good. Amazing.
If you have some collagen in it, it's even better.
And then you just put it in the oven and you
just forget about it. Until the top is really
crispy and caramelized. Oh, sorry, I forgot a
really important step. You need to add some flakes
of butter on top also. And if you make it right,
the potatoes are crispy on top, super tender,
meaty, juicy on the bottom. Everything is glazed
by this like reduced meat stock butter mixture
with these like pockets of sweet caramelized
onions. And you bring that out onto a table.
It looks gorgeous. It's beautiful. But at the
same time, it's so much fun to eat because I
love making this because it's so visually stunning.
But at the same time, the texture of the potato
with this flavor is really special. And it's
just potatoes and onions in stock, you know.
But yeah, if you haven't made it, give it a try.
I think it's probably one of my favorite potato
dishes there is. By the way, you saw the pumpkin
bushi from normal projects? Looks pretty cool.
I did. I did. I'm really curious to try it, actually.
There was something else, right? It was like
a pumpkin seed praline. Was it that or something
similar? Yeah, there was a pumpkin seed praline
also. I also haven't tried that, but that sounds
fucking delicious, man. That sounds so good.
I can really imagine the flavor of a pumpkin
seed praline. It makes so much sense also. And
for me, that would also be like a very Christmassy
thing. Oh, yeah. Maybe for dessert, maybe for
a cheese interlude. Would you? Cheese at Christmas
is a must -have. What kind of cheese are you?
Are you sort of like a blue cheese guy? Are you
more like a Gruyere guy? Yeah. What's the name
of this super orange cheese? You know, the one
that... No. Same color, but French. French? Orange?
Yeah. Mimolette. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Very nice.
The one that you, like, slice down. Like a mimolette
with pumpkin seed praline on a toast. Amazing.
I wouldn't complain with something like that.
Amazing. Yeah, I also love, you know, like I
love just like a very good blue cheese, some
like nice toasted bread and some like walnuts,
you know, some, some embryo maybe, you know,
just on the side. You just crack the walnuts
there on the table, you know, you eat. Amazing.
Like a quince jelly. Yeah. Quince. We haven't
said anything about quince. I think it's also
very... Very Christmassy. I know a lot of people
who don't know what quince is. A quince compote
with your foie gras at the beginning. That's
a killer. I think quince is so underrated. It's
one of my favorite fruit, honestly. Like cooked,
it's just unparalleled. The flavor of quince
is amazing. You know, there is a whole obscure
category of fruits in that domain. like in the
apple, quince, pear family, that are underused,
you know, that you wouldn't find normally like
in the supermarket or in markets because nobody
consumes them. But there are like these crossovers
with pear and quince that are also hard that
you can't cook. 100%. I've heard one that in
Spanish is called pero. which is like the male
of pear. And it's something like that. It's like
a very, like a quince pear kind of thing. Super,
super nice. You know, yeah, absolutely. That
makes me think of something that I love and that
I've only really seen in Germany and in the UK,
but also not like in, not very commonly. That's
crabapple. You know crabapple? No. They're these
like tiny apple looking like fruit. And you can't
really eat them raw. I mean, maybe you can, I
don't know. But they're like also kind of hard.
And you can make amazing pickles from them. You
can make amazing compotes. And more commonly,
you can make a really amazing jelly. And it has,
just like quince, a very, very particular flavor.
Like, I mean, if you had to describe quince to
somebody, you'd be like, well, it's kind of like
this. It's kind of like pear, kind of like apple,
kind of floral. But you wouldn't really be able
to describe it because it's just so specific.
Same with crab apple. Sandy. kind of quality
that it has, you know? Yes, true. It's like when
a cat licks you, you know? Yes, true. Like kissing
a cat, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course,
that's an experience that we've all made. That's
a completely normal thing to say or think about.
Okay, let's talk about desserts. I feel like
for some reason, you know, I'm not a pastry chef,
but for me, Christmas is almost more about the
pudding than it is about the main meal. Hey,
Phil, have you subscribed to our newsletter yet?
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of Phil's grandmother's secrets. Would you have
like a palate cleanser? Do you know what is super
common here in Spain? Mixing like cava with like
a lemon ice cream. Yeah, I was going to say that.
I was going to say like vodka with a little bit
of like a yuzu sorbet or something is amazing.
Yeah, exactly. That is super nice. Cava is super
common here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can see that.
I would smash those, honestly, on Christmas Eve.
Fuck. Frozen margaritas before dessert. I wouldn't
make it to dessert, I don't think. Yeah, but,
like, what kind of pudding do you go for? Like
I said, like, for me, something important is
it could be anything, but I need those Christmas
spices. You know, those cinnamon, lemon, orange,
ginger, allspice, star anise kind of thing. So
it could be like, you know, like a simple ganache
with those things or an ice cream with those
things. Or, you know, like those would be easy
bets for me. Even a cheesecake with that, you
know, like. Yeah, very nice. Christmas cheesecake.
Hmm. Christmas cheesecake. Christmas cheesecake.
Yeah. That's, I think that's a, that's a good
market idea. Christmas cheesecake. Hmm. Yeah.
For me, it's like, I don't know. Christmas Negroni.
Yes, exactly. A perfect combination. Um, for
me, it's like, I don't know, like desserts and
Christmas are very nostalgic. Like for me, the
first thing that I think of is, uh, Riz Alamon.
Um, Like a nice arroz con leche. Oh, really?
Sort of like merengada. That's really nostalgic.
That's really like childhood kind of thing. Oh,
a hundred percent, man. With like some almonds
in there, like nice, a little bit of lemon zest
inside the mix, like cinnamon, vanilla, good
quality vanilla, and then cooked really nicely.
Fuck, man. There's like few things that I'll
enjoy eating more than that. Have you seen, you
know, Daniel Calvert of Cezanne in Tokyo? I know
who he is, but... oh you don't know him personally
you don't go playing golf with him every sunday
no okay no no no not this time but man he made
this like he's got this new dessert that he's
like i saw it on instagram and it's basically
rice pudding risa lemon that's baked inside of
a puff pastry so you Like he makes this like
long pastry with this like homemade puff pastry
and it bakes the rice pudding inside of the puff
pastry. So you have this crispy dome that's like
domed up and then like a layer of rice pudding
in pastry. It looks insane. It looks absolutely
unbelievable. But like just like a normal rice
pudding with like poached cherries, you know,
amazing. And then maybe something like a buttermilk
ice cream with like poached apricots, apricots
with some star anise. Some white wine. Yeah,
like I was thinking about that also. Like a roasted
apple or pear or something. Some of these fruits
we mentioned. And again, there you have like
the spices I was saying also. You know what is
very common in Venezuela? We have our own version
of what in Germany is called Aya liqueur. Which
is basically a creme anglaise with rum. Basically.
What more do you want? Honestly. What more do
you want to completely finish yourself off towards
the end of the year? No, I'm serious. It's fucking
amazing, that stuff. It's so dangerous. But yeah,
having one of those, which brought me to... I
remember when I was in Bolivia, there was this
really talented... bartender mixologist and he
did a cocktail he called it he called it like
part of a song that was related to arroz con
leche like rice pudding but yeah he had the flavors
of a rice pudding like where you would feel the
lemon zest and the cinnamon and the rice but
yeah it was like a thick cocktail and it was
kind of like this kind of like a creme anglaise
with yeah with rum Man, that sounds amazing.
That's so intense. Honestly, I think one of my
favorite times to cook and to eat is Christmas
time. It's just, there's just something so, so
warm and so like nostalgic about it, you know.
Also like, you know, the days before, like baking
cookies and like that sort of stuff. You know,
in Germany, obviously like Lebkuchen, roasted
chestnuts. If you're like on a walk, you know,
and somebody's selling roasted chestnuts on the
street, you get a little paper bag of roasted
chestnuts. Simple pleasures, you know, but really,
really nice. Oh, yeah. Like also doing desserts
with marron glacés. You know, like I remember
this dessert from a chef that was my teacher
in culinary school. And he would do a crème pâtissière,
a pastry cream, and turn it, like blitz it with
the marron glacés. So you would have this chestnut
pastry cream. And basically that was the dessert.
Then he would do this two wheels and forma in
the shape of a tube and fill them. But you would
have this canutillos, you know, like, and then
crotch with the chestnut. That was amazing. It
can't be so simple, you know? Yeah. What else
do you want? And that concludes our year. Thank
you very much for making that really amazing
year for us. Thanks for listening up to this
point. Unless this is your first episode, then
go back to the beginning and start all over again.
And I'll see you here in a year's time. Wishing
you all a very Merry Christmas. Happy cooking.
Try not to kill the family members that you only
see one time a year at this sacred day. And yeah,
don't forget to love each other.