WEBVTT 00:00:03.829 --> 00:00:07.150 Hi, everyone. Welcome to Pot Luck Food Talks, 00:00:07.150 --> 00:00:09.990 the show where we talk food, fire, and the beautiful 00:00:09.990 --> 00:00:13.509 chaos of kitchens, all from the cook's side of 00:00:13.509 --> 00:00:16.649 the pass. I'm Rocky Bilbao, the eye of the tiger, 00:00:16.809 --> 00:00:20.890 and I'm here with Ivan Draco, cold as your walk 00:00:20.890 --> 00:00:24.769 -in fridge, sharp as your slicer. And today we're 00:00:24.769 --> 00:00:29.350 talking conflicts between cooks, silent wars. 00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:32.840 shouted orders, and all the spicy tension that 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:43.140 doesn't make it onto the menu. But first... What 00:00:43.140 --> 00:00:52.439 would you say about emotional control in kitchens? 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:55.799 Does that even exist? Or are kitchens more about 00:00:55.799 --> 00:00:58.929 emotional suppression? I think cooking is a very 00:00:58.929 --> 00:01:02.950 emotional thing. Cooking, man. Cooking. I mean, 00:01:02.990 --> 00:01:06.730 Hoffman was a very emotional guy. It's a weird 00:01:06.730 --> 00:01:09.450 combination, no? It's like emotion in the kitchen. 00:01:09.469 --> 00:01:13.150 You have so many kitchens that also we've experienced. 00:01:13.819 --> 00:01:16.700 are so high in emotion but like so much you know 00:01:16.700 --> 00:01:18.299 it's like something goes wrong somebody comes 00:01:18.299 --> 00:01:20.120 at you and goes like you fucking piece of shit 00:01:20.120 --> 00:01:22.599 you're worthless and then like five minutes later 00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:24.120 they'll explain something to you it's like you 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:25.920 see how beautiful the fish is you see if you 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:28.200 lay it in a pan like this oh my god it's fucking 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:30.659 amazing it's like it's everything at like 150 00:01:30.659 --> 00:01:37.519 all the time you know and cooking is so emotional 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:42.689 like food is so emotional And so is the pursuit 00:01:42.689 --> 00:01:45.950 of perfection, which is what a lot of people 00:01:45.950 --> 00:01:49.689 are trapped in. Ivan Bram, he did a comment in 00:01:49.689 --> 00:01:54.730 one of our reels and he said that our reels are 00:01:54.730 --> 00:01:57.510 starting to become like a chef gossip column. 00:02:00.150 --> 00:02:04.310 I love that. We bring something out of a chef 00:02:04.310 --> 00:02:06.909 and we make like a gossip shit show about it. 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:10.139 And this week I wanted to bring to the table 00:02:10.139 --> 00:02:15.439 a video I saw of Xavier Pellicer. You know, Xavier 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:17.659 Pellicer is probably one of the best chefs in 00:02:17.659 --> 00:02:21.580 Spain. He's a Catalan chef. He was chef at the 00:02:21.580 --> 00:02:24.500 Racon de Canfabas. Then he opened a back and 00:02:24.500 --> 00:02:27.199 he made two stars there. And then he returned 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:31.740 to Racon de Canfabas as an executive chef until 00:02:31.740 --> 00:02:35.199 Santi Santamaria died. So, and he trained in... 00:02:35.770 --> 00:02:38.330 in France with Jacques Maximine and some top 00:02:38.330 --> 00:02:42.770 names of the French old school. Anyways, like 00:02:42.770 --> 00:02:46.389 recently he was talking on a podcast and they 00:02:46.389 --> 00:02:50.009 asked him, no, he was just saying like, you know, 00:02:50.050 --> 00:02:53.289 like I've changed back in the days if I would 00:02:53.289 --> 00:02:57.569 see the pastry chef throwing half an orange to 00:02:57.569 --> 00:03:02.060 the garbage, to the bin. I would say, fuck you, 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:05.539 you don't have a day off this week anymore. So 00:03:05.539 --> 00:03:09.039 he would take the day off because of that. And 00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:10.580 then he would say, yeah, you know, but this was 00:03:10.580 --> 00:03:12.680 back in the days. Everybody was doing it. You 00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:15.240 know, it was the old school. Now I take the orange 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:17.879 and I eat it myself. And, you know, like, so 00:03:17.879 --> 00:03:20.900 I've changed. I'm a better person now. For me, 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:24.620 there has always been like limits, lines that 00:03:24.620 --> 00:03:28.219 you don't cross, one of them. I mean, in that 00:03:28.219 --> 00:03:31.039 place, people would work there like 16 hours 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:33.300 a day, you know, like, and then taking the day 00:03:33.300 --> 00:03:37.599 off just to rescue half an hour from the trash 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:41.039 bin. One is messing with people's spare time, 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:43.879 especially in a place where you have these hours. 00:03:44.219 --> 00:03:47.099 Another one would be taking money. from people, 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:49.520 you know? Like, for example, there's things like, 00:03:49.539 --> 00:03:53.020 ah, you're not getting tips anymore or like that. 00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:54.960 Unless it's something like really established. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:57.659 I work in a place, if you came late, there was 00:03:57.659 --> 00:03:59.960 not the tip of the day. And that would be like 00:03:59.960 --> 00:04:03.539 50 bucks a day just in tips. So nobody was ever 00:04:03.539 --> 00:04:05.599 late, you know? And if you came late, you knew 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:08.000 that was the rule of the place. And the other 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:11.680 one is, of course, personal, you know, like curses. 00:04:11.860 --> 00:04:14.409 Like, it's not the same saying... this food is 00:04:14.409 --> 00:04:18.810 shit and saying you're shit but i mean like taking 00:04:18.810 --> 00:04:22.850 spare time i think that's too much man i don't 00:04:22.850 --> 00:04:24.810 know what are what are your thoughts about this 00:04:24.810 --> 00:04:28.529 episode i um yeah you sent it to me um a while 00:04:28.529 --> 00:04:30.949 ago and i thought it was very interesting because 00:04:30.949 --> 00:04:35.089 you can see i thought the the reply from the 00:04:35.089 --> 00:04:38.209 interviewer was very interesting and then the 00:04:38.209 --> 00:04:40.699 shift What did the interviewer said? I don't 00:04:40.699 --> 00:04:42.519 remember what he was saying. It was like, I'd 00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:44.699 see him like very cocky, you know, like I'd see 00:04:44.699 --> 00:04:46.579 him throw away half an orange. I'd take away 00:04:46.579 --> 00:04:50.160 his, like his day off with like the subliminal 00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:52.540 message of sort of like, I care so much about 00:04:52.540 --> 00:04:57.540 the produce that I would punish. the person if 00:04:57.540 --> 00:05:00.220 they disrespect the produce and then the interviewer 00:05:00.220 --> 00:05:02.100 says to him sort of like and you you're just 00:05:02.100 --> 00:05:04.360 saying this like so calmly like like it's the 00:05:04.360 --> 00:05:06.620 most normal thing that you're like taking away 00:05:06.620 --> 00:05:08.800 his day off you think that's like normal and 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:11.019 then he's like no i mean let me tell you because 00:05:11.019 --> 00:05:13.620 he realizes like in what what room he is in and 00:05:13.620 --> 00:05:15.939 those people are the most scummy the ones that 00:05:15.939 --> 00:05:19.079 like they they start talking they realize they're 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:20.860 not talking to the right audience so they fake 00:05:21.209 --> 00:05:23.029 Right. And they're like, no, I've changed. You 00:05:23.029 --> 00:05:25.029 have to understand it was the old day. Kind of 00:05:25.029 --> 00:05:27.329 like fucking mansplaining to her, you know, sort 00:05:27.329 --> 00:05:30.529 of like you wouldn't understand. Actually, this 00:05:30.529 --> 00:05:33.750 thing that seems really horrible in any scenario, 00:05:33.810 --> 00:05:36.589 it was actually quite OK and normal. It doesn't 00:05:36.589 --> 00:05:39.350 matter if you think that it's like you wouldn't 00:05:39.350 --> 00:05:41.889 get it. So let me explain it to you. But at the 00:05:41.889 --> 00:05:43.829 same time, I've changed now. Now I just eat the 00:05:43.829 --> 00:05:46.389 orange myself. Kitchens are such a weird little 00:05:46.389 --> 00:05:49.970 microcosm. Because now it's getting a little 00:05:49.970 --> 00:05:51.670 bit different, but for such a long time and still 00:05:51.670 --> 00:05:53.769 today, kitchens have been this closed off little 00:05:53.769 --> 00:05:58.389 microcosm where you are a little bit apart from 00:05:58.389 --> 00:06:01.149 reality. So things would happen and like rules 00:06:01.149 --> 00:06:03.410 were in place, attitudes were in place, treatment 00:06:03.410 --> 00:06:05.949 was in place, that if it would happen in many 00:06:05.949 --> 00:06:08.750 other scenarios, it would be an absolute scandal. 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:11.540 And somehow, because you're locked away in this 00:06:11.540 --> 00:06:14.139 windowless cellar somewhere and you're there 00:06:14.139 --> 00:06:17.100 day in, day out, from the morning to night, it's 00:06:17.100 --> 00:06:19.920 almost like Lord of the Flies, you know, where 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:22.319 the children get stranded on the island and this 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:24.740 weird fucking hierarchy starts forming. It's 00:06:24.740 --> 00:06:26.879 exactly like that. And it's shocking what it 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:28.980 does to people. It's shocking also what it does 00:06:28.980 --> 00:06:31.439 to people when suddenly the wrong person gets 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:35.649 a little bit of pseudo -authority. Crazy. Absolutely 00:06:35.649 --> 00:06:38.329 crazy. Phil, do you recommend podcasts to your 00:06:38.329 --> 00:06:41.430 friends? All the time. The best way of showing 00:06:41.430 --> 00:06:43.569 friends that you care is recommending a great 00:06:43.569 --> 00:06:46.589 podcast to listen to. I agree. If you're listening 00:06:46.589 --> 00:06:49.470 right now, you should show your love by recommending 00:06:49.470 --> 00:06:53.009 our show to all your best friends. It will make 00:06:53.009 --> 00:06:56.170 them happy. It will make us happy. PopLock Food 00:06:56.170 --> 00:06:58.829 Talks. Tell your friends. It will make the world 00:06:58.829 --> 00:07:04.240 a better place. Yeah, and there's also this thing 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:07.720 in play. I know this because I worked at that 00:07:07.720 --> 00:07:13.860 restaurant. I wouldn't say the name of the place 00:07:13.860 --> 00:07:15.980 when we did the line episodes about it because 00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:21.220 I didn't want to generate some bad name for the 00:07:21.220 --> 00:07:23.220 place because at the end of the day it's a place 00:07:23.220 --> 00:07:25.620 that I respect its cuisine and its influence 00:07:25.620 --> 00:07:28.560 and everything. But, I mean, like, he did it, 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:30.639 like, normally, like, ah, yeah, I would do this, 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:32.560 you know, like, and another thing that I think 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:35.160 is that this guy was executive chef there, like, 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:39.120 10 years ago. This is not like, ah, it was old 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:42.120 school, back in the 80s, with Marco Pierre White, 00:07:42.300 --> 00:07:44.579 and, you know, like, no, no, no, we're talking 00:07:44.579 --> 00:07:47.360 about 2010, something like that, you know, like, 00:07:47.420 --> 00:07:50.920 it was not so long ago. And when I was there, 00:07:50.980 --> 00:07:53.899 we would get those kind of punishments. For me, 00:07:53.939 --> 00:07:57.920 that's definitely too much. How much do you think 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:01.860 these conflicts in the kitchen are actually about 00:08:01.860 --> 00:08:07.660 food? Or do you think it's about ego, fear, insecurities? 00:08:07.699 --> 00:08:10.279 What do you think are the main drivers for something 00:08:10.279 --> 00:08:13.540 like this? It's a lot about ego, I think. And 00:08:13.540 --> 00:08:18.279 what I feel like is one of the main reasons for 00:08:18.279 --> 00:08:20.720 these situations to happen is the loss of control. 00:08:20.920 --> 00:08:24.800 I feel like when people... If you think of a 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:27.860 really good manager, right? For me, if I picture 00:08:27.860 --> 00:08:30.339 like the perfect manager in the kitchen is a 00:08:30.339 --> 00:08:34.480 manager who never gets loud. He's just exacting 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:38.820 discipline and order and teaching people just 00:08:38.820 --> 00:08:41.960 by being super straight and calm. You know, like 00:08:41.960 --> 00:08:43.779 sometimes you have to be stern. You have to be 00:08:43.779 --> 00:08:47.879 direct. Sure. But punishing people like I mean, 00:08:47.899 --> 00:08:49.779 it depends what you mean by punishment. Sometimes 00:08:49.779 --> 00:08:51.580 like things are so bad that like you have to 00:08:51.580 --> 00:08:54.289 say like, hey, look, man, you. You know, you're 00:08:54.289 --> 00:08:55.549 not going to get tips today or like whatever, 00:08:55.669 --> 00:08:58.309 because I don't like whatever. Right. I think 00:08:58.309 --> 00:09:00.710 it's the lack of control. I think, you know, 00:09:00.710 --> 00:09:02.769 when I look at myself, I am by no means a perfect 00:09:02.769 --> 00:09:05.809 manager. Very, very far from it. You know, the 00:09:05.809 --> 00:09:09.110 times when I find myself get loud is when I lose 00:09:09.110 --> 00:09:12.629 control, when I feel like the situation is slipping 00:09:12.629 --> 00:09:16.129 out of my hand and I can't direct it anymore 00:09:16.129 --> 00:09:18.710 by just talking to people and like being normal. 00:09:18.789 --> 00:09:21.009 But that's not the fault of the people necessarily. 00:09:21.230 --> 00:09:25.080 It's my fault. You know, I think that as a manager, 00:09:25.179 --> 00:09:28.240 you should always look at yourself. You should 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:31.399 always consider yourself the cause of the problem 00:09:31.399 --> 00:09:33.580 in one way or another. Of course, you're going 00:09:33.580 --> 00:09:36.340 to have people who make stupid mistakes and they 00:09:36.340 --> 00:09:38.379 make and they hide things from you. And you told 00:09:38.379 --> 00:09:40.620 them maybe a million times already. You cannot 00:09:40.620 --> 00:09:43.320 put all the blame on those people, even though 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:45.320 what they're doing is wrong, because you are 00:09:45.320 --> 00:09:48.039 failing. Like you need to find a different angle 00:09:48.039 --> 00:09:52.299 to solve the solution. And the angle cannot be, 00:09:52.379 --> 00:09:54.259 I'm going to give you so much shit that you break. 00:09:54.779 --> 00:09:57.600 Maybe it's just removing that person from the 00:09:57.600 --> 00:10:00.419 team. Calmly sit down. Because what is the point 00:10:00.419 --> 00:10:02.299 of like getting loud? At some point, you know, 00:10:02.299 --> 00:10:05.879 if I have a chef who repeatedly comes late, smokes 00:10:05.879 --> 00:10:09.460 in the walk -in, steals, stealing is a big offense 00:10:09.460 --> 00:10:12.700 now, kind of hides things that he knows he should 00:10:12.700 --> 00:10:15.799 rectify and it causes a big problem. After a 00:10:15.799 --> 00:10:18.100 couple of talks, like you should sit down with 00:10:18.100 --> 00:10:20.090 that person, maybe say like, hey, I don't think 00:10:20.090 --> 00:10:21.789 this is the place for you. Maybe you should move 00:10:21.789 --> 00:10:24.509 on. Because at the same, also, you're sacrificing 00:10:24.509 --> 00:10:26.970 so much of yourself. You're not doing yourself 00:10:26.970 --> 00:10:30.009 a favor. I see so many chefs that are going like 00:10:30.009 --> 00:10:33.389 150 miles per hour every single day. And they 00:10:33.389 --> 00:10:35.350 kind of love it, you know? They kind of, they 00:10:35.350 --> 00:10:37.269 make this like, they've convinced themselves 00:10:37.269 --> 00:10:40.370 in their head that this is good, but it's not, 00:10:40.490 --> 00:10:43.090 you know? We've somehow managed to convince ourselves 00:10:43.090 --> 00:10:48.159 that working 12, 14, 15 hours every day without 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:51.419 a stop is good. It's not. There's nothing good 00:10:51.419 --> 00:10:53.600 about it. You're going to burn out and you're 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:55.120 not going to do a good job. You're not going 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:56.500 to do a good job cooking. You're not going to 00:10:56.500 --> 00:10:58.279 do a good job managing people. You're not going 00:10:58.279 --> 00:11:01.419 to do a good job having a relation to front of 00:11:01.419 --> 00:11:04.519 house or the guests because you're tired. You're 00:11:04.519 --> 00:11:08.200 worn out. But do you think like that there are 00:11:08.200 --> 00:11:11.519 some like high level things that can be achieved 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:14.259 with only eight hours a day? You know, I think. 00:11:14.889 --> 00:11:16.850 It depends what kind of compromise you want to 00:11:16.850 --> 00:11:20.009 make, you know, but if you say that one of the 00:11:20.009 --> 00:11:22.450 things that is important to you is to take care 00:11:22.450 --> 00:11:25.070 of people, then I generally don't think they 00:11:25.070 --> 00:11:27.090 should work more than nine, 10 hours a day. And 00:11:27.090 --> 00:11:29.049 nine to 10 hours is still a lot for a lot of 00:11:29.049 --> 00:11:31.610 people. For me, it's like, it's an okay workday, 00:11:31.649 --> 00:11:35.309 you know, nine hours is like very fine. And if 00:11:35.309 --> 00:11:37.909 you say, look, I genuinely believe that I want 00:11:37.909 --> 00:11:43.549 a team that has a good life and a good job, then. 00:11:44.250 --> 00:11:48.389 If you come up with things that require more 00:11:48.389 --> 00:11:51.389 than that, then you need to rethink that thing. 00:11:51.470 --> 00:11:53.389 Or you need to hire another person if you really 00:11:53.389 --> 00:11:55.289 want to do that thing. You know, I feel like 00:11:55.289 --> 00:11:58.350 often we only see a couple of solutions. We see 00:11:58.350 --> 00:12:00.049 sort of like, okay, just fucking power through. 00:12:00.250 --> 00:12:02.190 It's kind of like, well, maybe don't power through. 00:12:02.690 --> 00:12:05.230 Maybe if you keep having a conflict with this 00:12:05.230 --> 00:12:08.889 person, for example, going against it again and 00:12:08.889 --> 00:12:11.149 again and again and clashing again and again 00:12:11.149 --> 00:12:14.070 and again is not the way forward. You see you're 00:12:14.070 --> 00:12:16.970 not progressing. So maybe you need to take a 00:12:16.970 --> 00:12:19.970 few steps back, detach, and rethink the whole 00:12:19.970 --> 00:12:22.289 thing. Think like, okay, hold on a second. This 00:12:22.289 --> 00:12:24.649 is clearly not working. And I know it's clearly 00:12:24.649 --> 00:12:26.429 not working because I'm not getting the result 00:12:26.429 --> 00:12:30.409 that I want. And at the same time, I am so worn 00:12:30.409 --> 00:12:34.370 out. Like, this is only a limited amount of time 00:12:34.370 --> 00:12:36.250 where you can keep that going, right? And ideally, 00:12:36.250 --> 00:12:37.870 you want to keep going forever and enjoy what 00:12:37.870 --> 00:12:40.679 you're doing. So I think that a lot of people 00:12:40.679 --> 00:12:42.440 are sort of like, oh, no, you have to, you can 00:12:42.440 --> 00:12:43.879 only achieve this level. It's kind of like, well, 00:12:44.019 --> 00:12:47.000 maybe this is exactly one of those things that 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:49.399 we just think is like that, but that actually 00:12:49.399 --> 00:12:51.299 we just have to think about from a different 00:12:51.299 --> 00:12:54.019 angle. Have you ever caught someone stealing? 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:56.779 Oh, yeah. I mean, I caught people doing everything. 00:12:56.860 --> 00:13:00.419 No, I caught people stealing. I've caught people 00:13:00.419 --> 00:13:03.759 physically abusing others. I caught people stitching 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:06.320 other people up. I caught people extorting money 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:10.419 from staff. I caught people drinking at 10 o 00:13:10.419 --> 00:13:12.960 'clock in the morning in the changing rooms. 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:15.480 I remember in Hong Kong, man, like there was 00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:17.000 this one guy and he was a fucking nightmare. 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:20.279 And then at one point I was, and this is a good 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:22.120 example, actually. So there was this one guy 00:13:22.120 --> 00:13:25.639 and he had only been working there for like a 00:13:25.639 --> 00:13:28.100 couple of weeks. And I had taken on that job 00:13:28.100 --> 00:13:31.240 like very, very recently in that time. And he 00:13:31.240 --> 00:13:33.220 was not performing really well. I was getting 00:13:33.220 --> 00:13:35.419 angry at him. I was giving him shit. I was being 00:13:35.419 --> 00:13:38.090 very strict. I was being very stern. hey this 00:13:38.090 --> 00:13:40.429 is shit you can't do this you can't do that and 00:13:40.429 --> 00:13:42.710 he was like spiraling out one day he would be 00:13:42.710 --> 00:13:44.549 like oh i'm sorry chef i'll do better and the 00:13:44.549 --> 00:13:46.730 other day he would be like super aggressive i 00:13:46.730 --> 00:13:49.450 was just doing my thing i would be like no bullshit 00:13:49.450 --> 00:13:52.990 like either you either you're here or i don't 00:13:52.990 --> 00:13:56.649 want to accept it and then one morning i like 00:13:56.649 --> 00:13:58.509 i'm in the kitchen i'm looking for the sky and 00:13:58.509 --> 00:14:00.309 i go into the changing room and in the changing 00:14:00.309 --> 00:14:02.409 room usually after a certain time nobody goes 00:14:02.409 --> 00:14:04.070 in there after you changed you in the kitchen 00:14:04.070 --> 00:14:06.610 nobody goes back in there and i go in there and 00:14:06.610 --> 00:14:09.620 he's kneeling in front of his locker and i'm 00:14:09.620 --> 00:14:10.980 like hey what are you doing here and he turns 00:14:10.980 --> 00:14:13.399 around and he's got like a liter can of beer 00:14:13.399 --> 00:14:17.720 in his hand and he's just chugging like and i 00:14:17.720 --> 00:14:21.019 realized like oh fuck this guy has a real problem 00:14:21.019 --> 00:14:24.759 this guy is really like he has a he has an issue 00:14:24.759 --> 00:14:28.340 he's an alcoholic and then it's kind of like 00:14:28.340 --> 00:14:31.500 i like took him aside and i was like hey i felt 00:14:31.500 --> 00:14:33.580 really stupid in that moment you know because 00:14:33.580 --> 00:14:35.710 i feel like man i should have I should have felt 00:14:35.710 --> 00:14:38.830 that something's wrong. But I just went like 00:14:38.830 --> 00:14:41.309 a fucking train, no? Like a bull. I just kept 00:14:41.309 --> 00:14:43.490 going forward and forward and forward. I realized 00:14:43.490 --> 00:14:45.330 that this guy is actually dealing with something. 00:14:45.490 --> 00:14:48.129 Now, I'm not his therapist, nor his kindergartner, 00:14:48.129 --> 00:14:51.789 nor his mother. But as a human being, the least 00:14:51.789 --> 00:14:53.190 thing that you can do is sit down with him and 00:14:53.190 --> 00:14:55.230 be sort of like looking. Listen, obviously this 00:14:55.230 --> 00:14:57.669 is not okay what you're doing. What can we do 00:14:57.669 --> 00:15:00.549 to make this better? Do you need something? Do 00:15:00.549 --> 00:15:03.710 you need some help? Can we facilitate something 00:15:03.710 --> 00:15:06.399 for you? Obviously, you can't be hurting the 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:08.100 business like this and I can't let you work when 00:15:08.100 --> 00:15:10.320 you're drunk. This is not OK. But at the same 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:12.379 time, like, how do we move forward from this? 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:14.539 And this happens a lot. You know, I've had a 00:15:14.539 --> 00:15:16.559 lot of situations where I was so caught up in 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:21.100 my own head chef like mania. And I was like, 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:23.039 I take somebody to the office and I sit them 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:26.179 down and I start giving them shit. And they start 00:15:26.179 --> 00:15:28.679 crying. And I'm like, what's happening? And then 00:15:28.679 --> 00:15:30.659 they open up about a personal problem. And they 00:15:30.659 --> 00:15:32.539 say somebody in their family passed away and 00:15:32.539 --> 00:15:34.000 stuff. And you sit there and you think to yourself. 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:37.440 what the fuck am I doing here, you know? Like, 00:15:37.480 --> 00:15:41.740 this is really not that important. It's really 00:15:41.740 --> 00:15:44.379 not. And these are all people who are all dealing 00:15:44.379 --> 00:15:48.039 with shit. Most of them are trying. Some will 00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:51.860 not try, like, sure. But I think it's important 00:15:51.860 --> 00:15:53.460 to get away from this mania because at the end 00:15:53.460 --> 00:15:54.879 of the day, we're just fucking cooking food, 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:57.559 you know? It's not that deep. It's not life and 00:15:57.559 --> 00:16:00.639 death. I also had one in a place that I work 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:02.460 that suddenly we started realizing that there 00:16:02.460 --> 00:16:05.169 were drinks disappearing. But, you know, like, 00:16:05.269 --> 00:16:07.490 in the middle of the morning, you know, and suddenly 00:16:07.490 --> 00:16:12.070 we would go to the bathroom for staff. And in 00:16:12.070 --> 00:16:14.169 the trash bins, there would be, like, four cans 00:16:14.169 --> 00:16:17.929 of beer. Fresh. Freshly drink. You know, like, 00:16:18.009 --> 00:16:21.169 this person would, you know, like, go to the 00:16:21.169 --> 00:16:24.809 bathroom and drink two beers and go back to work 00:16:24.809 --> 00:16:27.929 like nothing. And she would, like, really normal. 00:16:28.110 --> 00:16:33.169 Was, like, a super nice to deal with person, 00:16:33.250 --> 00:16:37.220 you know, like. But yeah, it had like this compulsive 00:16:37.220 --> 00:16:41.919 drinking problem, you know, like, can you imagine 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:44.740 like at 10 a .m. you already had six beers, you 00:16:44.740 --> 00:16:48.820 know, like you're just starting your day. Yeah, 00:16:48.919 --> 00:16:51.259 I mean, some people need that to function normally, 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:54.639 you know, like, and that's the crazy thing. I 00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:56.600 mean, when it gets to that point, then it's really, 00:16:56.659 --> 00:16:59.519 really serious now. And you're like, wow, I had 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:03.379 no idea. And also still in a place where I worked, 00:17:03.539 --> 00:17:05.700 you know, like suddenly there were these two 00:17:05.700 --> 00:17:08.119 bartenders that were really, really good, you 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:11.319 know, like they were even competing in bartender 00:17:11.319 --> 00:17:14.680 championships and everything. And they were preparing 00:17:14.680 --> 00:17:16.720 because they were going to represent the restaurant 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:19.599 for this thing. And one day the head chef sees 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:23.000 that they were like going to like a storage room 00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:27.700 too often. So she felt something weird. So she 00:17:27.700 --> 00:17:32.259 went there. to this storage room, opens it, start 00:17:32.259 --> 00:17:34.720 looking around, looks like behind something and 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:37.920 finds like, you know, like 20 sous vide bags 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:42.579 of lamp and everything, you name it. Like, so 00:17:42.579 --> 00:17:46.319 they were having a dinner party that night and 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:50.039 they were just stashing everything. Crazy. And 00:17:50.039 --> 00:17:53.000 they got immediately fired, of course. Of course. 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:54.799 And it was a shame because everybody liked them 00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:57.339 and they were really talented and they fucked 00:17:57.339 --> 00:18:00.759 up like that, you know? yeah it is a shame right 00:18:00.759 --> 00:18:03.380 like sometimes you know you're kind of like man 00:18:03.380 --> 00:18:06.140 some you see somebody in a difficult position 00:18:06.140 --> 00:18:09.319 and at the same time you're like yeah but like 00:18:09.319 --> 00:18:12.839 i cannot let you put other people in danger and 00:18:12.839 --> 00:18:15.660 like steal money because that is money it's pure 00:18:15.660 --> 00:18:17.759 money like you know i cannot let you do that 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:22.339 um because i'll also be liable for that so sometimes 00:18:22.339 --> 00:18:25.319 it is it does get tricky yeah What about when 00:18:25.319 --> 00:18:28.680 you have like a fucked up situation, like a personal 00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:33.079 constant disagreement that scales up with somebody 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:35.640 across weeks, you know, and it's something, it 00:18:35.640 --> 00:18:38.400 already becomes like a war, you know, like an 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:42.119 open war. And it's like, either you fuck me or 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:44.660 I fuck you. Let's see who's next. And, you know, 00:18:44.680 --> 00:18:47.420 like sometimes those kind of dynamics build up 00:18:47.420 --> 00:18:51.519 on some, until somebody clashes first, you know, 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:56.559 like snaps. Yeah. Yeah. So have you had those 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:59.700 ones? Yeah, unfortunately, way too much. I feel 00:18:59.700 --> 00:19:02.099 like you have that almost everywhere, you know? 00:19:02.680 --> 00:19:04.900 That's very interesting, right? And it's pretty 00:19:04.900 --> 00:19:07.559 much, you know, I was recently, I had like a 00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:12.279 course on handling conflicts and these kind of 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:15.039 things. And it's very interesting because, like 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:18.019 you say, this is extremely common in kitchens, 00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:20.619 yet at the same time, nobody has the tools to 00:19:20.619 --> 00:19:23.460 deal with it. Everybody's dealing it from an 00:19:23.460 --> 00:19:28.299 absolutely ego kind of either you fuck me or 00:19:28.299 --> 00:19:30.359 I fuck you, so I will fuck you. And the other 00:19:30.359 --> 00:19:33.460 one seems exactly the same. And you never sit 00:19:33.460 --> 00:19:37.240 down to actually take your pride away and reach 00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:41.000 a consensus just to make it a win -win instead 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:47.059 of a lose -lose situation. Yeah, exactly. but 00:19:47.059 --> 00:19:49.019 that never happens i've never seen it you know 00:19:49.019 --> 00:19:51.299 like it's always like okay we hate each other 00:19:51.299 --> 00:19:53.799 we're going to hate each other all the way through 00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:56.960 for it right and 10 years from now we will still 00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:00.359 hate each other oh this is my corner of the kitchen 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:02.980 go away yeah i think it's because of this weird 00:20:02.980 --> 00:20:04.940 dynamic you know because you have a kitchen with 00:20:04.940 --> 00:20:09.779 a brigade system and you have ranks right so 00:20:09.779 --> 00:20:12.559 we're not like we're all equal but we're not 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:16.099 all equal you know because i'm i am a senior 00:20:16.099 --> 00:20:20.960 cdp and you're just a cdp and it's you know and 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:24.519 like that really gives people um the feeling 00:20:24.519 --> 00:20:26.579 like they get the like little senior in front 00:20:26.579 --> 00:20:29.940 of their cdp title and they feel like now i have 00:20:29.940 --> 00:20:33.440 some sort of authority on you and if you don't 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:36.279 do what i say i will come after you and it's 00:20:36.279 --> 00:20:39.680 so fucking silly you know and As you like progress 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:41.859 through those ranks, you have that everywhere, 00:20:42.059 --> 00:20:44.579 you know. You're an apprentice or a commie like 00:20:44.579 --> 00:20:46.359 everybody. There's not really that much because 00:20:46.359 --> 00:20:48.180 you're a commie, you know. But then when you 00:20:48.180 --> 00:20:49.920 become a demi -chef, it starts getting tricky. 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:52.160 And then a CDP. And then between sous -chefs 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:56.480 and CDPs, ah, tricky. But, you know, like, I 00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:00.440 mean, now it's like it's a little bit more comfortable 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:03.000 because I've been a head chef for so long. And 00:21:03.000 --> 00:21:04.920 you start dealing with things differently also, 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:07.259 I think. Like, if you become a head chef and 00:21:07.259 --> 00:21:09.819 you start becoming competent, you start dealing 00:21:09.819 --> 00:21:13.480 with it differently. Because if something like 00:21:13.480 --> 00:21:15.160 this happens, it's kind of like, what are you 00:21:15.160 --> 00:21:19.619 trying to do? Like, there's no scenario in which 00:21:19.619 --> 00:21:24.420 you will somehow win this conflict. Like, let's 00:21:24.420 --> 00:21:27.319 just not have a conflict. How about that? Yeah, 00:21:27.420 --> 00:21:29.859 but I was also saying like when they're between 00:21:29.859 --> 00:21:31.859 the same ranks, because for me, though, those 00:21:31.859 --> 00:21:34.900 are, those have been the more violence in my 00:21:34.900 --> 00:21:37.420 case. You know, like you remember this guy, Max, 00:21:37.579 --> 00:21:40.700 you know, like. Yes. The first person I thought 00:21:40.700 --> 00:21:43.200 of actually. You know, like, and we would have 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:46.039 like this, this thing. And at the end of the 00:21:46.039 --> 00:21:50.200 day, somehow the chef realized something like 00:21:50.200 --> 00:21:52.539 this was going on and he fired him. So he was 00:21:52.539 --> 00:21:54.759 out, you know, and that's how he solved the conflict. 00:21:54.819 --> 00:21:58.890 Like this guy. It's becoming a problem, and he's 00:21:58.890 --> 00:22:02.089 not a good leader, he's not a good chef, yet 00:22:02.089 --> 00:22:06.230 he believes he is all of those things, and he's 00:22:06.230 --> 00:22:09.549 not by far. That's what I think, because it was 00:22:09.549 --> 00:22:13.009 really, you know, like, also you build this carcass, 00:22:13.150 --> 00:22:16.069 you build this thick skin around you, you know, 00:22:16.109 --> 00:22:20.150 like, and you don't allow, you know, like, the 00:22:20.150 --> 00:22:23.289 conflict to get inside you, but, I mean, it's 00:22:23.289 --> 00:22:26.240 not that easy, you know, like, sometimes. Ideally, 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:28.660 ideally you do, you know, because it's so silly. 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:31.279 It's really, it's really so silly, but yet we 00:22:31.279 --> 00:22:33.200 get carried away by it so much. I mean, this 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:35.759 guy was a very particular example because like 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:38.859 the way that I remember him, he was picking a 00:22:38.859 --> 00:22:41.259 fight with everybody. Like he didn't make friends 00:22:41.259 --> 00:22:43.779 with anybody. He also took a lot of liberties, 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:45.819 you know, he wasn't like, he was still in his, 00:22:45.819 --> 00:22:48.240 he was only there for a few months. He would 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:51.240 take this authority and talk about this from 00:22:51.240 --> 00:22:55.960 this. um superiority in knowledge and also in 00:22:55.960 --> 00:22:58.539 the way to do things i think that's very very 00:22:58.539 --> 00:23:02.599 crazy you know like entering a a team with that 00:23:02.599 --> 00:23:05.500 attitude and expecting it to go well it just 00:23:05.500 --> 00:23:08.740 speaks of how dumb you actually are you know 00:23:08.740 --> 00:23:12.059 yeah it's crazy i think that um it's a good reminder 00:23:12.059 --> 00:23:15.920 to to stay humble you know as i remember a few 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:18.640 situations with him where he like came in And 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:20.359 I had been an apprentice there, like on the same 00:23:20.359 --> 00:23:22.940 section for about a year, I think. And we had 00:23:22.940 --> 00:23:25.279 to make the celery puree, which sounds very simple. 00:23:25.400 --> 00:23:27.640 But the head chef, he had a very specific way 00:23:27.640 --> 00:23:29.759 that he wanted it done. You make a stalk with 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:32.400 all the offcuts of the celery root. It had to 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:35.420 be very intense and clear. And then you sweat 00:23:35.420 --> 00:23:37.420 the celery not too much with not too much fat. 00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:40.200 You add just enough broth. You cook it with a 00:23:40.200 --> 00:23:43.140 cartouche, like very gently. And then you may 00:23:43.140 --> 00:23:45.220 have no dairy, basically only a little bit of 00:23:45.220 --> 00:23:48.349 butter. And that's it. And then I remember this 00:23:48.349 --> 00:23:50.210 guy at one point, he looked at me and he was 00:23:50.210 --> 00:23:51.930 like, what are you doing? That's not how you 00:23:51.930 --> 00:23:54.670 make a puree. And then he just like took it away 00:23:54.670 --> 00:23:55.869 and started, he's like, I'm going to show you 00:23:55.869 --> 00:23:57.549 how to make a puree. And he starts like sweating 00:23:57.549 --> 00:24:00.930 onions and garlic and celery, like browns it, 00:24:01.089 --> 00:24:03.750 you know. And like adds like, I remember he adds 00:24:03.750 --> 00:24:06.869 a fuck ton of cream. And would reduce it like 00:24:06.869 --> 00:24:10.869 a dulce de leche. Exactly. And I was like, oh 00:24:10.869 --> 00:24:15.390 my God. Like, you know. I didn't really want 00:24:15.390 --> 00:24:17.210 to say too much, you know, because this guy was 00:24:17.210 --> 00:24:19.670 my chef at the party and I was like, hey, but 00:24:19.670 --> 00:24:21.769 I was already sick of his shit. So I was like, 00:24:21.849 --> 00:24:25.329 hey, chef actually has a very specific way that 00:24:25.329 --> 00:24:27.630 he wants this done. And he's like, ah, he doesn't 00:24:27.630 --> 00:24:29.069 listen to me, you know, because who the fuck 00:24:29.069 --> 00:24:31.569 am I? I'm just an apprentice. Makes this fucking 00:24:31.569 --> 00:24:36.269 puree, blends it, tastes it. He's like, mm, it's 00:24:36.269 --> 00:24:39.839 amazing. And it would taste like shit. It tasted 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:42.059 like it was horrible. This guy would do this 00:24:42.059 --> 00:24:44.099 kind of things and he was so proud of whatever 00:24:44.099 --> 00:24:47.819 he did and it was just not good, you know? No. 00:24:47.900 --> 00:24:50.339 And then like an hour later, the chef came and 00:24:50.339 --> 00:24:53.599 he tried the puree and he freaked the fuck out. 00:24:53.640 --> 00:24:56.079 He was like, who the fuck made this puree? He 00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:58.220 started giving me shit and I was like, well, 00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:02.420 here we fucking go, you know? And the guy, but 00:25:02.420 --> 00:25:04.660 then that's also a sign of character, you know? 00:25:04.700 --> 00:25:07.559 He didn't say anything. He wasn't like, chef, 00:25:07.619 --> 00:25:10.230 I'm sorry, it was me. I wanted to make it like 00:25:10.230 --> 00:25:12.750 this. I'm sorry I didn't realize my bad, you 00:25:12.750 --> 00:25:16.569 know. You just let me take the shit. He saw you 00:25:16.569 --> 00:25:20.710 taking shit and he kept quiet. You know, I also 00:25:20.710 --> 00:25:23.589 remember once, you know, like that the chef gave 00:25:23.589 --> 00:25:26.269 me a lot of shit and I was like really, you know, 00:25:26.289 --> 00:25:30.470 like in that moment of what did just happen here, 00:25:30.609 --> 00:25:33.349 you know, like and I would look at him and he 00:25:33.349 --> 00:25:38.160 would be laughing like. You don't know, I was 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:45.240 like, wow. Oh, really? Yeah. Jesus. Yeah, he 00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:47.490 was really toxic. He was really, really toxic. 00:25:47.769 --> 00:25:50.430 I was very happy when he got fired. Hey Phil, 00:25:50.609 --> 00:25:53.430 have you subscribed to our newsletter yet? We 00:25:53.430 --> 00:25:55.990 have a newsletter? What's a newsletter about, 00:25:56.130 --> 00:25:59.069 Erik? Every month we share one cool thing from 00:25:59.069 --> 00:26:01.269 the world of food and restaurants and occasionally 00:26:01.269 --> 00:26:04.990 a recipe we swore we'd never share. Like your 00:26:04.990 --> 00:26:08.089 secret boiled egg lemon tart recipe. But Erik, 00:26:08.289 --> 00:26:11.779 that was my grandma's secret recipe. Not anymore. 00:26:12.140 --> 00:26:15.200 Subscribe to our newsletter where we unveil all 00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:21.720 of Phil's grandmother's secrets. This idea that 00:26:21.720 --> 00:26:25.740 a recipe, the more you do, is better. You know, 00:26:25.779 --> 00:26:31.200 you can do a killer celery puree by just taking 00:26:31.200 --> 00:26:33.900 puree, water, and butter, and salt. These four 00:26:33.900 --> 00:26:36.200 ingredients, and you can make an insanely good 00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:41.140 celery puree. Absolutely. You know, like you 00:26:41.140 --> 00:26:45.680 just mandoline it, cook it just until it's puree 00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:48.700 consistency. Not more than that. A little bit 00:26:48.700 --> 00:26:51.180 of salt, a little bit of butter, maybe just a 00:26:51.180 --> 00:26:55.799 little bit of the water you added to cook it 00:26:55.799 --> 00:26:58.880 with, to sweat it. And that's an amazing celery 00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:01.720 puree. You know, you don't need to do much. And 00:27:01.720 --> 00:27:04.339 I'm saying this because recently I found the 00:27:04.339 --> 00:27:09.920 recipe of the mushrooms of tamburil. And I actually 00:27:09.920 --> 00:27:14.019 replicated and it came out exactly like the way 00:27:14.019 --> 00:27:18.599 you get it in the bar. Nice. Something so stupidly 00:27:18.599 --> 00:27:21.759 simple that it feels like a cheat code. You know, 00:27:21.779 --> 00:27:23.940 like I couldn't believe what it was, you know, 00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:29.160 like basically like 99 % of Basque recipes, you 00:27:29.160 --> 00:27:32.220 start with some sliced garlic that you throw 00:27:32.220 --> 00:27:36.039 to olive oil, right? Like, and a little bit of 00:27:36.039 --> 00:27:39.859 dry chili, right? In this case, you would throw 00:27:39.859 --> 00:27:47.559 like some parsley stems, right? Like three fingers 00:27:47.559 --> 00:27:52.319 of water, salt. You throw the mushrooms inside, 00:27:52.539 --> 00:27:55.339 you put a lid on it, and you leave it for 10 00:27:55.339 --> 00:27:57.779 minutes. That's it. That's crazy. You know, when 00:27:57.779 --> 00:27:59.380 somebody told me about that dish for the first 00:27:59.380 --> 00:28:03.339 time, I was like, that sounds shit. That sounds 00:28:03.339 --> 00:28:06.599 horrible. You know, champignon mushrooms boiled 00:28:06.599 --> 00:28:09.039 in water. And then you eat it on a soggy piece 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:12.000 of bread. I was like, that does not sound good. 00:28:12.680 --> 00:28:14.680 And then I ate it for the first time and I was 00:28:14.680 --> 00:28:17.140 like, Jesus fucking Christ, that is so tasty. 00:28:17.299 --> 00:28:21.160 That is such an amazing dish. Yeah, I think like 00:28:21.160 --> 00:28:23.240 what you're saying is totally true. I think it's 00:28:23.240 --> 00:28:28.740 a sign of experience and maturity of craft if 00:28:28.740 --> 00:28:32.420 you do less. There was this really nice cooking 00:28:32.420 --> 00:28:35.380 show on Netflix, Culinary Class Wars. Everybody's 00:28:35.380 --> 00:28:37.910 talking about it. Second season has come out 00:28:37.910 --> 00:28:40.509 fairly recently. And there's one contestant in 00:28:40.509 --> 00:28:42.309 there. I highly recommend you to watch it. It's 00:28:42.309 --> 00:28:44.069 really cool. All the contestants are like really, 00:28:44.130 --> 00:28:46.529 really good chefs. There's one contestant in 00:28:46.529 --> 00:28:49.710 the second season who is a master of temple food. 00:28:49.809 --> 00:28:54.269 She's like this nun, 70 years old. And she cooks 00:28:54.269 --> 00:28:57.009 in a way like she doesn't care. She doesn't give 00:28:57.009 --> 00:28:58.849 a shit about what anybody else thinks or any 00:28:58.849 --> 00:29:02.230 trends. She only cooks vegetables. And she's 00:29:02.230 --> 00:29:04.009 like, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. 00:29:04.650 --> 00:29:07.309 no care in the world right but she cooks in such 00:29:07.309 --> 00:29:10.569 a beautiful way so simple and like i remember 00:29:10.569 --> 00:29:13.470 just like one thing where she's like julienning 00:29:13.470 --> 00:29:15.769 carrots and she's like i'm going to cook the 00:29:15.769 --> 00:29:17.829 carrots without any seasoning for this because 00:29:17.829 --> 00:29:20.049 i want the natural sweetness of the carrot to 00:29:20.049 --> 00:29:23.269 really come out and she's like cooking and the 00:29:23.269 --> 00:29:26.250 judges were eating like different dishes from 00:29:26.250 --> 00:29:28.710 like michelin star chefs and blah and they're 00:29:28.710 --> 00:29:31.250 eating it and they're like oh wow this is really 00:29:31.250 --> 00:29:34.960 nice you know And I thought it was like such 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:37.119 a beautiful, she had such beautiful moments in 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:40.140 that show because this is something that I realized 00:29:40.140 --> 00:29:42.359 first time I went to Japan also. The first like 00:29:42.359 --> 00:29:44.579 two weeks I was like, man, everything's under 00:29:44.579 --> 00:29:47.440 seasoned. And then after a while you start realizing 00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:50.700 the like deep flavor of ingredients, the natural 00:29:50.700 --> 00:29:54.980 flavor and not just salt and acid and this, which 00:29:54.980 --> 00:29:57.539 is also nice, you know, but everything in balance. 00:29:58.700 --> 00:30:00.799 Especially, I think, especially in German cuisine, 00:30:01.059 --> 00:30:03.440 like German fine dining, you know, Germans will 00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:07.700 be like, yeah, let's add some cream and some 00:30:07.700 --> 00:30:11.680 white wine and some vinegar and some butter and 00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:14.039 some black pepper and, you know, like, and all 00:30:14.039 --> 00:30:16.420 of that for whatever, you know, like, and it's 00:30:16.420 --> 00:30:19.359 like, sometimes you cannot just salt and water 00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:22.359 and get something really, really nice, you know? 00:30:23.359 --> 00:30:25.619 Absolutely. I had this one dish in Italy one 00:30:25.619 --> 00:30:28.930 time that blew my mind. I'm not a big fan of 00:30:28.930 --> 00:30:33.150 zucchinis in general, right? Sometimes I like 00:30:33.150 --> 00:30:35.029 them. Sometimes I don't too much. They're kind 00:30:35.029 --> 00:30:37.869 of like whatever, you know, eggies. And I ate 00:30:37.869 --> 00:30:40.490 a dish in Italy one time and it was super nice. 00:30:40.569 --> 00:30:43.309 And it was just like big chunks of zucchini quickly 00:30:43.309 --> 00:30:46.230 boiled in very heavily salted water. Just throw 00:30:46.230 --> 00:30:50.650 them in, boil, take them out, put them on a plate, 00:30:50.730 --> 00:30:53.329 let them steam off a little bit. And then little 00:30:53.329 --> 00:30:55.289 squeeze of lemon juice and a bit of Parmesan 00:30:55.289 --> 00:30:59.039 on top. And it was the... best zucchini the texture 00:30:59.039 --> 00:31:02.259 and like the juiciness and man it was amazing 00:31:02.259 --> 00:31:06.220 um and that like these things make me realize 00:31:06.220 --> 00:31:10.460 how deep cooking is you know and how we as people 00:31:10.460 --> 00:31:13.799 we like over complicate what ingredients are 00:31:13.799 --> 00:31:15.279 and what you have to do to them to make them 00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:28.460 shine so hi everyone This is our favorite section. 00:31:28.799 --> 00:31:38.900 Go fact yourself. You should peel ginger. And 00:31:38.900 --> 00:31:42.019 I've heard from someone that actually all the 00:31:42.019 --> 00:31:45.079 nutrients and the good stuff is in the skin. 00:31:46.420 --> 00:31:54.640 So then when microplaning a ginger, It's better 00:31:54.640 --> 00:31:59.779 if you do it with the skin. I would say you don't 00:31:59.779 --> 00:32:04.359 have to. I very often don't. And I 100 % believe 00:32:04.359 --> 00:32:06.759 that the skin, just like in apples or other vegetables, 00:32:06.859 --> 00:32:11.319 contains a ton of nutrients and fiber. And especially 00:32:11.319 --> 00:32:15.259 with younger ginger, for sure, just use it. With 00:32:15.259 --> 00:32:19.059 older ginger, when it gets really woody, maybe 00:32:19.059 --> 00:32:21.720 peel it. But in general, I don't think that you 00:32:21.720 --> 00:32:24.420 have to at all. Yeah, actually, you know, as 00:32:24.420 --> 00:32:27.839 long as it's clean and does not have like strange, 00:32:28.140 --> 00:32:32.140 whatever, dirt or whatever. If that's the case, 00:32:32.180 --> 00:32:34.940 I will take it off and I would, you know, grate 00:32:34.940 --> 00:32:37.799 it with the skin. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Actually, 00:32:37.839 --> 00:32:41.839 I just Googled it and Fuxia Dunlop, Fuxia Dunlop, 00:32:41.880 --> 00:32:45.859 Chinese cooking expert, says, for maximum flavor, 00:32:46.059 --> 00:32:49.720 do not peel. So there you go. There you go. Bam. 00:32:50.490 --> 00:32:56.069 Bam. Go fact yourself. Go fact yourself.