Pod Insights The Sporkful What's In Taylor Swift's Signature Cocktail? About this episode Are chicken tenders having a renaissance? Are lit candles in restaurants worth the risk of a few people’s hair catching on fire? And when Taylor Swift designs a signature cocktail…what’s in it?
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Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
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1:12 Dan Pashman? Please note, this episode contains explicit language and some mature subject matter.
1:19 Dan Pashman? This is the Sporkful. It's not for foodies, it's for eaters. I'm Dan Pashman. Each week on our show, we obsess about food to learn more about people. And today, we are back with another edition of the Solid Spinner, our rapid-fire roundtable discussion of the biggest, strangest, and most surprising food stories of the moment. And joining me here in the spinner are two friends of mine who you've heard here on the show before. First up, coming to us from her home in Deep Run, North Carolina, she's a chef, cookbook author, and host of several excellent PBS shows, including A Chef's Life, Somewhere South, and her new show, Kitchen Curious, which premieres this very week on PBS stations and online. Hello, Vivian Howard.
1:57 Speaker 01 Hi, Dan Pashman.
1:59 Dan Pashman? Hey, thanks so much for joining us. And joining me here in the studio in New York is another friend. He's the New York Times bestselling author of Jewish and I Could Nosh, as well as the host of Jake Makes It Easy on FYI. His new cookbook Dinner Party Animal just came out. Welcome back, Jake Cohen. Good to be here. Now, both of you, before we start spinning the salad spinner, let's just like take a minute and visit with each other. Vivian, you first, I'm very excited about your new show Kitchen Curious, and not just because I got to come down to Charleston and be in an episode with you, which comes up next week, a little promo for that. But like, tell us about Kitchen Curious.
2:34 Speaker 01 It's like a food variety show, if you will. Every episode is around a question that we all have if we have kitchens. So what fats are good for you, what fats are not, and why? We have an episode on pasta, which you're the star of, may I add. We have an episode on why your freezer is the best preservative that you have.
2:57 Dan Pashman? I love the concept of this show, Vivian, because I feel like it combines your storytelling, which you're great at that, and like there's beautiful visuals, with also a lot of practical information. And to me, I feel like too many food shows are one or the other. This is beautiful and engaging and also practical. Viv, one more thing I want to cover with you. You've been expanding your restaurant empire. In addition to Chef and the Farmer in eastern North Carolina, you now have Lenore in Charleston and Theodogia in the Outer Banks. So like, give me the quick headline on each of these newer spots.
3:26 Speaker 01 So Lenore stands for Lenore County, which is where Deep Run is in North Carolina where I live. And it focuses on hyper-regional eastern North Carolina cuisines. So lots of vegetables, lots of grains, lots of meat as a condiment, as we talk about in the pasta episode. And we also have a biscuit and hand pie shop there next to Lenore called Handy and Hot.
3:47 Dan Pashman? I had an egg and cheese biscuit from there, Jake, and that was killer. What a great name. That was my nickname in college.
3:55 Speaker 01 Don't look up hot and handy on the Urban Dictionary because it was gonna be bad.
3:59 Dan Pashman? Oh, trust me. I know. Jake's like a habit bookmark. Don't worry.
4:05 Speaker 01 But then Theodosia is in the Outer Banks, all the way near the end. If you go seven more miles past Theodosia, you drive on the sand and there are no more roads. It's focused on the seafood and the culinary traditions from that region. Because like you, I really love to get to the reasons why we cook the things that we cook.
4:24 Dan Pashman? All right. I love that. All right, Jake, let's check in with you here before we get too far along. The new book is Dinner Party Animal.
4:31 Speaker 02 Yeah.
4:32 Dan Pashman? You call this a self-help cookbook.
4:34 Speaker 02 I do.
4:34 Dan Pashman? What does that mean?
4:35 Speaker 02 I'm a big believer. I've gotten, I've gotten pretty woo-woo, like, in general. I'm sure that'll come out in this episode. But the main thesis of this book is, is you could buy any cookbook and learn a recipe. But if you're choosing a cookbook with the intention of dinner parties, then you're really actually looking to build community. And I have found the most joy and happiness in my life through cooking, not as an art form, but as a conduit for bringing people together. In the same way that so much of my work has empowered people to like, feel like they can make a brisket for the first time, or bake a cake for the first time. Now I want it to be like, I'm terrified to host a dinner party.
5:18 Speaker 02 JK, I'm just gonna open up this book and I give you your grocery list, your timeline, your recipes, so you can just like, do it and start to kind of build that relationship with hospitality.
5:28 Dan Pashman? I love that also because I do think that, right, like, people who might be a little bit insecure about their cooking abilities, it's one thing to cook one thing. Like, I'm cooking dinner for my family, I'm gonna roast a chicken or whatever it is. The whole idea of inviting people over and cooking for them is a whole other level of intimidation for a lot of people.
5:45 Speaker 02 And a whole other level of intimacy. And I think, the intimidation, it's kind of bullshit. Like, I just think, like, I think of cooking, much like yoga, it's this practice. And the only difference is, you go to yoga, you start beating yourself up when you can't touch your toes. You know you're there doing the work to make yourself more flexible and get you towards a goal. In the same way, the only way that you will become good at throwing dinner parties is by...
6:09 Dan Pashman? Throwing dinner parties.
6:11 Speaker 02 Got it.
6:14 Dan Pashman? So you got all kinds of dinner party menus, like you said, with very detailed the the time, here's when to start this, here's the order, which is also that is, even I've thrown a number of dinner parties, I feel like only in the last couple of years have I really nailed the timing.
6:27 Speaker 02 Yeah.
6:27 Dan Pashman? Which is so crucial, what to put in when and all that.
6:30 Speaker 02 Exactly.
6:31 Dan Pashman? You get dinner party menus like grills gone wild, bagel bonanza, and ride or pie.
6:36 Speaker 02 Yeah.
6:37 Dan Pashman? Tell me about ride or pie.
6:38 Speaker 02 I ride hard for Dominique Gonsal. I worked at Danielle right after he left, so like-
6:44 Dan Pashman? He's the inventor of the cronut, most famously.
6:45 Speaker 02 Yeah, most famously, but what he really invented was the chocolate coulant, which was like the dish, the dessert at Danielle. I think it was like a brownie base with a sablé round and then it was filled with molten chocolate cake and floured cell caramel. And so it's this little silo of chocolate and it's all different textures and you got the sweet and the salty. It was like that, my Ratatouille moment where I bit into it and I was like, oh, dessert is, I'm like, I'm a dessert person. I, I, I've luckily do have become quite close with Dominique over the years and at his kitchen, he would throw these pie nights and it was unlimited pie. You got, it was an hour time slot and you go and they had sweet and savory pies and you could have as much pie as you could eat in an hour.
7:29 Dan Pashman? Oh my god.
7:29 Speaker 02 And I just always became obsessed with the idea of that kind of theme. And so it's a menu where you start off with these caramelized onion date and brie hand pies and then you have a veg heavy shepherd's pie and a chicken and biscuits pot pie.
7:43 Dan Pashman? Wow.
7:43 Speaker 02 Which is really great because of the crust.
7:44 Dan Pashman? That sounds like the kind of thing should be on Viv's menu.
7:46 Speaker 02 I mean-
7:47 Speaker 01 Yeah, I know. I'm like, we're taking that.
7:49 Speaker 02 And the filling is very much just like, it's like a chicken soup, but I added white beans and kale. So it's a super hearty, pretty healthy, sorry, because it's like on top of biscuits, I actually leave cream out from the actual filling.
8:00 Dan Pashman? Right.
8:00 Speaker 02 And then the crust is just biscuit dough that you roll out and crimp into the pie and you bake it. And then we obviously finish it off with a speculous crust banana cream pie.
8:10 Dan Pashman? Oh, man. All right. Well, I'm so glad to have a chance to catch up with both of you. Are you ready to spin the salad spinner?
8:17 Speaker 02 Let's do it.
8:17 Dan Pashman? All right, let's spin it.
8:21 Dan Pashman? Our first story comes to us from the Wall Street Journal. McDonald's is escalating the restaurant industry's fight over tipping. So in most states, restaurant workers who earn tips have a lower minimum wage than everyone else, the idea being that the tips they get make up the difference. Of course, this saves restaurants money because they don't have to pay those workers full minimum wage, customers cover the difference. But for a place like McDonald's, they don't have tipped employees, so they have to pay the full minimum wage. And they're getting more competition from places like Chili's and Applebee's who have servers and they're selling burgers for almost the same price as McDonald's, which they can only do because they're paying their employees the lower tipped minimum wage. Now McDonald's has gone so far as to withdraw from the National Restaurant Association,
9:05 Dan Pashman? the industry's main US trade group, in protest of what they say is an uneven playing field. They say all restaurants should have the same minimum wage, which actually puts them on the same side as labor groups and many activists who say the tipped minimum wage leads to income volatility and higher poverty rates. So I want to hear from both of you on this, but Vivian, first, as someone who owns several restaurants, how do you feel about the tipped minimum wage?
9:29 Speaker 01 You know, it's tough for me as someone who has restaurants that are like on the, you know, higher price point. You know, Danny Meyer has tried to build in the service wage into his prices and, you know, I think he had lukewarm success with that and no longer does it.
9:45 Dan Pashman? Right, Danny Meyer, who owns a number of upscale restaurants in addition to Shake Shack.
9:49 Speaker 01 Yes, you know, I think we would all like to do that. We would all like to build in the price of service into our menu price, but people just are not ready for it. For whatever reason, we like this like separation from reality, like this is the menu price and then I'm going to leave, you know, 30% on top of that. But that's just what we've been, you know, trained.
10:13 Dan Pashman? Right, but if they see an entree that costs $45, they're like, what? $45? Even though you don't even realize you ended up paying that same price, just in a roundabout way.
10:22 Speaker 01 Yes, and I will say like between McDonald's and let's say a Chili's where the prices for the food are virtually the same. A lot of people at McDonald's go through the drive through. And at Chili's, you are paying for this like extensive dining room and all of the things that go along with that. And so in some ways, it's more expensive for Chili's to operate, even if their food quality is no better than McDonald's. And so it's harder for them to not rely on tips for their servers.
10:54 Dan Pashman? Jake, you've worked in a number of restaurants.
10:56 Speaker 02 Girl, I'm not talking, I'm not talking about tips, but I will say as the reason this unfortunately, I have nothing to say on that because I just don't know enough on it. What I will say, and this is the new side of why things like this are happening is a place like Chili's is like relevant right now. The relevancy of Chili's in terms of its presence on social media, on TikTok, there are these like two crazy things, one being just their mozzarella sticks. People just see how far they could pull them because God knows what's in them. And you could pull them pretty much across the room. And then also there's this, it obviously because I'm a sick pervert, like one of the things I get constantly, there are all these videos where it's people that are just like digging
11:38 Speaker 02 into like the malted chocolate cake or the app trios, but they're using audio from like, like very, uh, very a specific type of gay porn. And so it's just the most disgusting audios over people destroying these foods. And every time I'm on it, I'm like, oh, I miss Chili's. I should go to Chili's. And I really do think that social media has pushed this new Gen Z obsession with let's get the gang together and go to Chili's. And at the end of the day, it's like, I'm on board. I don't want to go to McDonald's, but I want to go to Chili's tonight.
12:13 Speaker 01 I haven't been to Chili's since I was in college until two months ago. And now I've been three times.
12:18 Speaker 02 It's so good.
12:19 Speaker 01 Because I, well, no, I don't, I mean, I mean, because I have two 14 year olds.
12:25 Speaker 02 Got you.
12:26 Speaker 01 And they both have, it's come to them and they're like, I'm like, where should we go? They're like, let's go to Chili's.
12:30 Speaker 02 They're being filled with this content.
12:33 Speaker 01 Yes, yes.
12:34 Dan Pashman? What I'm hearing from you Jake, is that McDonald's should focus less on the tipped minimum wage and more on using gay porn to bring in new customers.
12:41 Speaker 02 I mean, that's what I'm saying. That's what I've been saying. That's what I've been saying. It's what I'll continue. It's the hill I'll die on.
12:51 Dan Pashman? All right, let's spin the spinner.
12:56 Dan Pashman? Drama in the world of micro influencers. Listen to this.
13:00 Speaker 02 Love it. Bring it on.
13:02 Dan Pashman? Recently, a TikToker who goes by It's Carla BB posted a video about a restaurant collab that she says went off the rails. She was supposed to go to a wine bar in San Francisco called Kiss Cafe and make a video about it. But she says when the chef found out that she only has 15,000 followers, he said that wasn't enough to justify this shoot. He then started, according to her, he started pulling up her videos on his phone and criticizing them in front of her. Carla left and made a video about what happened. Here's a clip.
13:30 Speaker 03 He goes on to say that my audience and my followers are not the kind of people that are going to be at his restaurant. Then he says, not to be snobby, but do you know who I am? And I say, no, because I don't know who he is. He says he's a James Beard Award recipient or finalist or something. And I'm like, great, I don't know what to say to that.
13:53 Dan Pashman? OK, so Carla's video goes on to say that micro influencers like her deserve respect for the work they do, even if they don't have a huge following. And that video she made about what happened, that went viral. It now has close to 30 million views. The backlash against the restaurant was so intense that the chef was let go and the restaurant closed.
14:11 Speaker 02 Why?
14:12 Dan Pashman? Jake, as an influencer yourself.
14:13 Speaker 02 Oh, my God. I don't, yeah, I do.
14:16 Dan Pashman? I do, sorry, sorry.
14:17 Speaker 02 And that's the issue. I'm a two-time New York Times bestselling cookbook author. And yet, for many people, I'll still just be reduced to influencer because I got some clout on social media. The difference is, is I would say influencer are people that are not from the food world, are not classically trained, are not having a pedigree of experience in restaurants and media, and utilizing just social media to create some package of influence of grasping people's attention. They're not writing their own cookbooks. They're not doing any of the stuff. They have a whole team behind them. Anyway, I digress. My main thing with this is everyone needs to shut the fuck up a little more. I just, I think that if this was something that the PR team, whatever was set up,
15:01 Speaker 02 you treat everyone with respect and you then communicate to them like, hey, moving forward, I don't want this. If this is the line of work she's going into in terms of talking about restaurants, to not be familiar with what the James Beard Awards are or who the chef is of the restaurant you're going into.
15:17 Dan Pashman? Right.
15:17 Speaker 02 It's disrespectful. I think everyone's wrong and everyone's right.
15:21 Dan Pashman? Viv, what are your thoughts on this as a restaurant owner?
15:24 Speaker 01 Well, I think that these people are both behaving very badly. And like, it's really icky. And I'm with you. Like, if I'm gonna follow someone's recommendations, they need to have some credibility, some earned credibility. Like, I look to chefs for restaurant recommendations, not an influencer.
15:43 Dan Pashman? Also, what's a micro influencer?
15:44 Speaker 02 Micro influencers, again, and here's the thing. This is coming from someone who works with, like, selling product.
15:51 Dan Pashman? Right.
15:53 Speaker 02 It's very common within this brand space of, we're moving away from people like me who have so many followers, because guess what? You gotta pay for that, and it's expensive. So they're going for people that have small followings, but dedicated communities. And typically, these are people that are within a specific community, a specific...
16:14 Dan Pashman? Demographic or whatever.
16:16 Speaker 02 Yeah, but even more so, interest.
16:18 Dan Pashman? Right.
16:18 Speaker 02 So like, they have an obsessive community about something that's a little more niche.
16:22 Dan Pashman? Got it.
16:22 Speaker 02 And/or a local community where it's like, they're telling whatever town they're in. It's like, they are the ones that everyone's looking to.
16:28 Dan Pashman? That's actually a little more legitimate than I thought. Because I was like, how can you, like, if you want influence, don't you kind of need to be macro? But I guess what you're saying does make sense.
16:36 Speaker 02 Yeah.
16:37 Speaker 01 No matter what, macro, micro, like, just interested diner, you should know where you're going. And if you're gonna, like, the chef and his or her story is just as important as the decor. So if you're gonna go in there and wage any kind of influence, shame on her for not knowing.
16:56 Speaker 02 And shame on him for just... That's the thing. Everyone, and everything would be, if everyone just shut the fuck up, and there wouldn't be an issue.
17:07 Dan Pashman? So one thing I do want to say in Carla's defense, she said that this restaurant was very new when she went. The website wasn't up yet. So she didn't have a ton of information to go on. Does that change your opinions?
17:19 Speaker 01 Well, I'm assuming if she was an influencer, she was brought there by a PR company that should have given her all of the information she needed to at least know who the chef was.
17:33 Dan Pashman? All right, we're gonna take a quick break. Coming up, a cocktail designed by Taylor Swift, Starbucks is adding protein to their drinks, and a mayonnaise-themed wedding. Will you two stick around for all that?
17:43 Speaker 02 Of course.
17:44 Speaker 01 Yes.
17:45 Dan Pashman? All right, we'll be right back.
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20:57 Dan Pashman? Welcome back to The Sporkful. I'm Dan Pashman. Hey, I really hope you'll check out this episode we did a couple of weeks ago. It's called "What's a Jewish Tavern and House of Learning?" I went to Somerville, Massachusetts to go to Lair House, which is, like the episode title says, a Jewish tavern and a house of learning. So what does that exactly mean? Well, those two concepts have never been combined before, according to its founders, Rabbi Charlie Schwartz and Josh Foer.
21:19 Speaker 07 I think we were both sort of contemplating what was missing in our own Jewish lives and in what feels like missing from the Jewish community at large. We wanted something that felt like a place that we would want to hang out in. And it's hard to walk into a synagogue. And like, then what do you do? And it's uncomfortable. And like, what am I supposed to wear? You come into a bar. Everybody knows how to walk into a bar.
21:41 Dan Pashman? A lot of people do it at the beginning of jokes.
21:43 Speaker 07 It's true. Sometimes a rabbi walks into a bar.
21:45 Dan Pashman? While I'm there, I take a tour of Lair House's magical Jewish objects, check out where they host events and everything from religious texts to the secret Jewish history of punk music, and I eat and drink. I think what they're doing at Lair House is really interesting and new and different. And I think whether or not you're Jewish, you're going to find this episode a great listen. So check it out. It's up now where we got this one. And also, stay tuned to the end of this episode for a special bonus segment brought to you by the National Pork Board. All right, we are back with the salad spinner edition of The Sporkful with Jake Cohen, whose new cookbook, Dinner Party Animal, is out now wherever books are sold, and Vivian Howard, who has a new TV show on PBS and PBS Online called Kitchen Curious. Welcome back to you both. Thank you. Do it. All right, let's spin the spinner.
22:28 Dan Pashman? Kansas City Chiefs stars Travis Kelsey and Patrick Mahomes are opening a restaurant in Kansas City. It's a steakhouse called 1587 Prime. 1587 because their jersey numbers are 15 and 87. Most of the food is typical upscale steakhouse fare, although there will be a ketchup flight because Patrick Mahomes loves ketchup. I love that. I love that. I'm obsessed. I am over fancy food people shitting on ketchup. Girl, we just, I just raved about Chili's. Like, we're, we're, we're good. So they're gonna have a ketchup flight. Travis has a bourbon cocktail on the menu called The Big Yeti. But I'm burying the lead here, you guys, because Travis's soon to be better half, Taylor Swift, has her own cocktail on the menu.
23:11 Dan Pashman? According to TMZ, it has vodka, Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao, aronia berry, cranberry, strawberry, lime, and oolong. It's called the alchemy after Taylor's song of the same name. Now, let's take a minute and unpack the ingredients of this cocktail. We all know what vodka is. Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao. Now, this is not blue curacao, which a lot of people may know. Blue curacao is just dry curacao with blue food coloring added. Have either of you had Pierre Ferrand curacao or any sort of more upscale curacao?
23:46 Speaker 01 I've only had the blue curacao, like, when I was 15.
23:49 Dan Pashman? Right, like out of a shot class in Cancun or something. Yeah, when I was 15.
23:52 Speaker 01 So what's the flavor of it?
23:55 Dan Pashman? The traditional way that curacao is made, and this is true of the blue one and this one, that involves infusing the Lahara bitter orange peels. The, from, from the curacao islands. This specific one, they use a 19th century blending technique that infuses the spirit with vegetals like prune and walnut shell. They age it in some kind of special barrels. It's a lot. Can I give my hot take? Please.
24:18 Speaker 02 And I'm sure it's a wonderful cocktail. I just don't think that we should be talking about it. I just don't think that anyone should be talking about TMZ should be covering it. And I get it because it's Taylor and she's an incredible icon, the songwriter of a generation. This is late-stage capitalism and it works. I just, I have nothing else to say on it. We're discussing the history of the curaçao in one cocktail in a restaurant in Kansas City. I just feel like I'm losing my mind.
24:44 Dan Pashman? I think the history of curaçao was actually interesting.
24:46 Speaker 02 I think you should do an entire show on it. I don't think it has anything to do with Taylor Swift. There is the point.
24:52 Dan Pashman? All right, should we talk about Travis's cocktail instead?
24:55 Speaker 02 I think we should talk about the ketchup flight. To me, that's, that's the thing. Like, that's the thing I heard. I was like, I want to go to this restaurant for the ketchup flight. I want 15 types of fries. I want waffle, I want curly, I want, and I want all the kachups.
25:08 Dan Pashman? I do like that idea, too. I'm not sure what's in the ketchup flight. I don't know that's been revealed yet.
25:12 Speaker 02 Okay.
25:13 Dan Pashman? More on that. Viv's thoughts on this cocktail?
25:15 Speaker 01 I'm with Jake. You know, I love, no one loves Taylor Swift. Well, probably a lot of people love Taylor Swift more than me, but I'm a big fan, a Swiftie. But I don't care. I mean, if I win, I'd get one.
25:28 Speaker 02 No, and I think, I'm sure it's probably a delicious cocktail. Because I can promise you, the two of them have a team behind them to make sure that this is of the utmost.
25:37 Speaker 01 And if her name is on it, it is going to be like perfection. It's probably made in batches in her bathroom or something. And then they just shake it up, you know? Not really, but you know what I mean.
25:47 Dan Pashman? That would sell very well.
25:49 Speaker 02 It's true, it's true.
25:51 Speaker 01 That's where I stand.
25:51 Dan Pashman? I'm gonna hard disagree with both of you. I absolutely care what's in Taylor Swift's cocktail, because to me-
25:56 Speaker 02 Because of your daughters.
25:57 Dan Pashman? Well, I'm a Swiftie too, Jake, I'll have you know. But it's more just like, you know, I can't help but be curious about what's Taylor Swift like beyond her songwriting. And to have a cocktail that I know that she really likes makes me feel closer to her. It makes me feel like I'm like almost hanging out with her, all right?
26:18 Speaker 02 I, but that's the, that's the, that's the issue and it's-
26:20 Dan Pashman? It's parasocial. Absolutely, it is. But like, parasocial to a point is nothing wrong with that. I'm not, I'm not going through her garbage.
26:28 Speaker 02 Is that we you don't
26:30 Speaker 01 If you could, you would.
26:32 Speaker 02 People are like, oh, my God, what are they like? They're just like people.
26:35 Dan Pashman? A hundred percent.
26:35 Speaker 02 And there's some celebrities that you meet and you love them. And there's some celebrities you meet and like, you know what? They're not for me.
26:40 Dan Pashman? A hundred percent.
26:41 Speaker 02 Just like you meet regular people.
26:42 Dan Pashman? I agree with like, and I've interviewed a number of celebrities and I feel the same way. Some of them we hit it off, some we don't. They're all just human beings.
26:48 Speaker 02 Exactly.
26:49 Dan Pashman? Taylor Swift is just another human being.
26:50 Speaker 02 An incredibly talented one.
26:51 Dan Pashman? Yes, but I'm very curious to know what she drinks.
26:53 Speaker 02 Oh, now that's the point.
26:56 Dan Pashman? Okay.
26:56 Speaker 02 We can be curious about what she drinks.
27:00 Speaker 02 I don't know that this cocktail is necessarily representative of that.
27:03 Dan Pashman? What did she drink?
27:03 Speaker 02 I'll do some digging.
27:05 Dan Pashman? Okay, alright. Find out for me, report back.
27:07 Speaker 02 I promise you I will.
27:08 Dan Pashman? My only concern about this cocktail, aronia berry, cranberry.
27:11 Speaker 02 What is aronia berry?
27:13 Dan Pashman? I looked that up too. It's like a choke berry. It's very bitter and tart.
27:16 Speaker 02 Amazing.
27:17 Dan Pashman? Yes, sure, but aronia berry, cranberry and strawberry, like that sounds like one too many berries.
27:21 Speaker 01 Because they're trying to make it red. Because her signature color is red.
27:25 Speaker 02 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
27:26 Speaker 01 And so they've got a sweet berry, a tart berry.
27:29 Speaker 02 Anything with cranberry, sign me up.
27:31 Dan Pashman? Okay, alright.
27:32 Speaker 01 Yeah, they're balancing it.
27:33 Speaker 02 Yeah, yeah.
27:34 Dan Pashman? Well, Jake, let's, you know, Vivian, let's all meet up in Kansas City. You can get the catch up flight. I'll get Taylor's cocktail.
27:40 Speaker 02 I'll get the cocktail.
27:40 Dan Pashman? Viv, you can have Travis's big Yeti.
27:42 Speaker 01 Oh, yeah.
27:47 Dan Pashman? Alright, let's spin the spinner again.
27:52 Dan Pashman? Alright, time now for me to turn it over to the two of you. Cause you've each brought a news story or hot take. Viv, what do you got for us?
27:59 Speaker 01 The other week I read something about how 7-Eleven was bringing more food to their locations here to reflect what they do in Japan. And like, I've never been to Japan, but everyone I know who has gone comes back and talks about the food at 7-Eleven. I think that's part of a trend that I've seen based on my kids who are 14. We're driving through a city that we don't live in and they're like, oh, my God, we got to eat at that gas station. Or, oh, my God, we got to go to Buc-E's or Sheetz or the food at gas stations is just as present to them as any fast food out there. And I don't know what the trend means, but.
28:41 Speaker 01 I'll be going to the 7-Eleven with those egg sandwiches that I've seen from Japan, if they have those.
28:46 Dan Pashman? Right, on that bread, right, the egg salad sandwich, absolutely. It's funny you say that, because just yesterday, someone was like, have you been to that gas station in Manhattan that's famous for its burgers?
28:55 Speaker 02 Yeah.
28:56 Dan Pashman? Have you heard about this, Jake?
28:57 Speaker 02 Of course.
28:57 Dan Pashman? Have you been?
28:58 Speaker 02 I have not.
28:59 Dan Pashman? But you've heard about it.
28:59 Speaker 02 I have, I have.
29:00 Speaker 01 Historically, like, at least in the American South, like, the corner store or the, you know, corner gas station was a place for gathering and eating, like, you would often get your morning biscuit there, they would always have boiled peanuts, and it was, you know, every place kind of had their specialty.
29:18 Dan Pashman? We did a whole episode earlier this year about southern gas stations, I did a road trip from Birmingham to Memphis and stopped at five different gas stations on the way, which was super fun and very delicious. All right, now Jake, what about you? What's your hot take?
29:30 Speaker 02 I think we're entering a chicken finger renaissance, and I think what I mean with that is that we're entering in this age of not highbrow fried chicken, but we're going back to nuggets and tenders. You have, like, mommy pies, the new chicken finger spot that just opened from the Thai diner team downtown, you've got Kokodak, I would just was very blessed to be invited for two nights at the US Open, and every single person and celebrity was having those Kokodak, um, chicken nuggets, and they were delicious, I will say. Everyone's like, the bougie, because you can get it with caviar, wrong. Their honey mustard, amazing. Their gochujang barbecue sauce, divine.
30:09 Dan Pashman? Yes.
30:10 Speaker 02 That's where it is, save your money. Get the condiments, this is what I'm talking about, they had a flight of condiments.
30:15 Dan Pashman? Oh, maybe that's also a trend we should watch out for, condiment flight. I feel like we can't talk about this without also talking about Raising Canes.
30:23 Speaker 02 100%. I am now a Raising Canes convert, I leave the club, I leave anything, I, the first thing I do is I order chicken fingers to come to my apartment to be waiting for me.
30:34 Dan Pashman? I love that.
30:34 Speaker 02 And I think everyone's catching on, to me, I think this is going to be the next version of, like, the adult Happy Meal of the french fries and martini, it's going to be chicken fingers and, I don't know, and, and the Taylor Swift cocktail, naturally.
30:47 Speaker 01 Yes, exactly.
30:48 Speaker 02 Yeah.
30:49 Dan Pashman? Viv, what are your thoughts on chicken fingers?
30:51 Speaker 01 So I think that the craze around them is also an example of late-stage capitalism.
30:57 Dan Pashman? Here you go, check me.
30:59 Speaker 01 We're so detached from our food source that the idea of gnawing on an actual bone is off-putting. So I do think that that is part of it. That being said, I like a chicken finger and a nugget. And I love the sauces. And I love the idea of flights. And I'm actually, I'm getting ready to do the food at a wine bar in Raleigh, and I'm doing a flight of cheese balls.
31:22 Dan Pashman? I love that. I love that. Viv isn't just on trend, she is setting the trends. Now, I gotta say, I have not had many chicken fingers or chicken tenders that I didn't like. It's like, you know, my kids are a little older now, but like, one of the classic kids' menu foods that kids, my kids are likely to order, whether it's mac and cheese, cheeseburger, hot dog, chicken fingers are the one that I will always eat some of.
31:44 Speaker 01 And a chicken finger or a chicken nugget holds up beyond being warm in the way, it's different than a French fry.
31:52 Dan Pashman? Exactly. Yes, they have good shelf life, absolutely.
31:55 Speaker 01 Yes.
31:56 Dan Pashman? All right, let's spin the spinner once more.
32:00 Dan Pashman? Time now for our lightning round, where things need to start moving a little bit faster. First up, Starbucks has a new line of high-protein drinks, which will contain as much as 36 grams of protein. You can get a Protein Boost in your cold foam drinks, or ask for Protein Boosted Milk in your drink. And yes, you can order a Protein Boost in your pumpkin spiced latte. Jake, will this increase your Starbucks consumption?
32:26 Speaker 02 So, no, because I don't drink Starbucks, really. But if I am stuck at a Starbucks, yes. My number one thing every morning I wake up is I have cold brew shaken with protein powder. So protein plus coffee is like my go-to. So I think it's brilliant. I think everyone needs more protein. I'm struggling to get 200 grams a day. It's a tough market out there.
32:48 Dan Pashman? Viv, Starbucks with protein?
32:50 Speaker 01 Well, you know, clearly I'm very impressionable because before Jake said anything, I was gonna say disgusting. But now, I was gonna say disgusting, but I might still try it. I just, I'm more like, I'm gonna try to find my protein in.
33:05 Speaker 02 As you should. You're 100% doing the right thing. I'm not saying I'm also drinking Diet Coke. Like, come on.
33:11 Speaker 01 Well, I do that too.
33:12 Speaker 02 Not in the house.
33:15 Speaker 01 But yeah, I'm on the fence, but Jake has convinced me.
33:19 Dan Pashman? This will not increase my Starbucks consumption, but I would say if I was in there and if it was like the afternoon when I'm more apt to get one of their sweeter drinks, I would be like, yeah, sure, throw some protein in there. Why not? Like, so I would like that. And I think it's a very smart business move.
33:34 Speaker 02 There we go.
33:35 Dan Pashman? Anyway, let's keep it moving. A new Girl Scout cookie is coming in 2026, you guys. It's called Explore More's. That's one word. It's a sandwich cookie inspired by Rocky Road ice cream. So according to their site, Explore More's are filled with the delicious flavors of chocolate, marshmallow, and toasted almond flavored cream, and reflect the spirit of exploration at the heart of every Girl Scout. To be clear, they're not taking away any of the classics. They're just adding the Explore More's. Vivian, thoughts on Explore More's?
34:04 Speaker 01 I mean, I think it's a great marketing, sales move for them to have something new because people are always gonna get their Thin Mints or their whatever that they love and try the new one. But I doubt that it's gonna, I mean, I don't know, the Girl Scouts are full of surprises. I mean, I can't really see it competing with some of the favorite flavors.
34:27 Dan Pashman? Jake?
34:27 Speaker 02 Disagree. I love it. I love it. My big issue with Rocky Road, I don't want nuts. I don't want to be crunching into the nuts. That's why I love fish food, because it's all the best kind of aspects of Rocky Road without the nuts. But I do love almond flavored anything.
34:41 Dan Pashman? Yes, especially toasted almond flavored.
34:44 Speaker 02 Sign me up. I'll try it. I mean, what's the, I mean, the only good one is, what's the new term for it? What? I love the Samoas.
34:52 Speaker 01 It used to be the Samoa.
34:52 Speaker 02 Yeah, it's not Samo anymore. Now it's.
34:54 Dan Pashman? Caramel delights?
34:55 Speaker 02 Whatever it is.
34:56 Speaker 01 Caramel delight.
34:56 Speaker 02 Delicious. Give me, give me a box. A hundred percent. Everyone's like, oh, put thin mints in the freezer. Gross. Don't want it. I want Samoas. Give me the full box and I'll try these. I will say, my roommate just bought a box of everything for like supports some kid. And so we've had them in the apartment and all in all, they're, they're fine. They're fine. It's a, it's what, what a good deed to support such a great cause.
35:21 Speaker 01 Yes, yes.
35:23 Speaker 02 I will say.
35:24 Speaker 01 It's really hard to say no when you're walking past it.
35:26 Speaker 02 And you shouldn't. You should always say yes to the Girl Scout cookies.
35:29 Dan Pashman? I agree with you. Samoas are my number one, AKA caramel delights. It used to, they used to be, have two different names. In some parts of the country, they were always called caramel delights because there were two different bakers who baked the Girl Scout cookies. So some of them, the same cookie would go by two different names.
35:43 Speaker 02 See, that's the episode I want to hear. I want the deep dive on the history of Girl Scout cookies.
35:47 Dan Pashman? What makes the Samoas special to me is that they, I believe they're the only Girl Scout cookie that is chewy.
35:52 Speaker 02 Yeah.
35:53 Dan Pashman? Most of them are hard and brittle, which is not my favorite thing in cookies. One of the things that also frustrates me about Girl Scout cookies, if I'm going to be the one here to take on the Girl Scouts.
36:01 Speaker 02 Please.
36:02 Dan Pashman? And they also did this with these new Explore More's is that the cookies have names that I can't remember which cookie is which. Which ones are Dozy Do's? Which ones are Samoas?
36:10 Speaker 02 I have no idea what a Dozy Do's is.
36:11 Dan Pashman? It's very hard to keep it straight. This is, I think this is the only reason why thin mints are number one.
36:16 Speaker 02 Cause you know what they are.
36:16 Dan Pashman? Cause you know what they are.
36:17 Speaker 01 Yeah.
36:18 Dan Pashman? Right. So, you know, truth in advertising, don't call it Explore More's.
36:21 Speaker 02 I'm sorry, caramel delight? It's coconut is the dominant flavor.
36:24 Dan Pashman? That's true. All right. But at least it's close.
36:26 Speaker 02 Okay.
36:26 Dan Pashman? It's telling you something.
36:27 Speaker 02 All right.
36:28 Dan Pashman? Anyway, all right, I'm off my high horse. Sure, fine. The Girl Scouts are fine.
36:32 Speaker 02 That's fine.
36:35 Dan Pashman? Next in the lightning round, the New York Times has a story about candles making a comeback in restaurants. No more of these LED lights or those fake candles with the light bulb and the little flickering thing. We're talking real life candles on fire. Some of these restaurateurs are saying, you know, there's just nothing quite like the ambiance and the romance of candlelight. But there are downsides. They're high maintenance. You've got to keep changing the candles. They often go out in the middle of dinner and you have to relight them. And then sometimes, things catch on fire. Like the sleeves of customers. A restaurant in New York called Ulysses uses candles, and they say every year, there are a few sleeve or hair fires in the restaurant. Viv, do you use real candles in any of your restaurants? Why or why not?
37:16 Speaker 01 We used to, and I agree with what they're saying in that there's that live flicker is really hard to replace. But we eventually stopped because our, like, servers just complained, and you would see them, like, getting the wax out and just, oh, like, it was just, you know, going up a hill or something. And, you know, then, yeah, the LED lamps became very fashionable, and I have those now. But they're also a little bit of work. Like, every night, you gotta, you gotta charge them. You gotta have a designated space for that. And they're, they're not cheap either. It's hard to replace the flicker of a real candle.
37:57 Dan Pashman? Jake, pro or con candles?
37:58 Speaker 02 You have two options. You can do real candles, or you could do the other, I mean, The Times did the piece also about the fancy table lights. You know, the ones that you'd sit at the table on your tapping.
38:09 Dan Pashman? It's sort of like a cone. It's like a thin stick and a cone, and there's a button on top.
38:13 Speaker 02 Those are your options. You can either do the light, or you could do real candles. Fake LED candles, gross.
38:18 Dan Pashman? Okay.
38:19 Speaker 02 It's just tacky. I'm, I'm like going for ambiance. If I wanted tacky, I'd stay at home. Like, I got plenty of tacky. We got tacky at home.
38:25 Speaker 01 Yeah, you're talking about those little flickering, like, Christmas.
38:29 Speaker 02 Exactly, exactly.
38:30 Speaker 01 Okay, that's not, I was talking about the lamps. I would never put the LED flickering lights in my restaurant.
38:35 Speaker 02 I want to know what.
38:36 Dan Pashman? I think you're, I think you're talking about the same lamp, right, Viv?
38:38 Speaker 01 Yeah, yeah, like you touch the top.
38:40 Speaker 02 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We're talking the same thing.
38:42 Dan Pashman? Right, right, right. I, I don't mind the lamps. I like having the control over the light. Like, maybe I want to turn up the light when I'm looking at the menu. Maybe I want to turn down the light. What I don't like about the lamps is that they have different shades of light. So they have like a blue light option, and then they have like a yellow light option. There should only be yellow. Light in this scenario. Blue light is for like hospitals and big box stores. Yellow light is softer. It's for ambiance. So there should not be an option for blue light because I don't even want to see your blue light on the table across the restaurant because it's already going to be hurting my eyeballs. Because it's just, it goes against every kind of ambiance that you want in a restaurant.
39:14 Speaker 02 Let's eat in the dark. I'm ready, I'm ready. Bring it back, bring it back, eating in the dark.
39:18 Dan Pashman? All right. One more for the lightning round. Bon Appetit has the headline, "I Didn't Want A Big Wedding Until A Mayo Brand Paid For One." Heather Shoring entered a contest where Hellmanns would pay for your entire wedding as a promotion for their new line of chicken tender dips. More chicken tender setting.
39:34 Speaker 02 There we go.
39:35 Dan Pashman? The wedding, which was in Vegas, of course, featured a four foot tall. That was such a read.
39:42 Dan Pashman? Featured a four foot tall chicken tender tower with a mayo-based wedding cake. The officiant of the wedding was Manny Mayo, the Hellmanns mascot, who ended the ceremony with the line, "You may dip the bride."
39:55 Speaker 02 Late. The title of this episode is Late Stage Capital. So that's it. If you're willing to sell out your wedding to a mayo brand for money. Well, A, God bless. If you could use the money and you don't care about memories, like, then why not?
40:11 Speaker 01 I was gonna say.
40:12 Dan Pashman? That's a fun memory. Yeah.
40:14 Speaker 01 Yes, that makes it fun.
40:15 Dan Pashman? Everyone gets married in a catering hall or some sort of whatever. Like, even if your wedding is really great and quote unquote special is probably at a place that 10 million other people got married, who else?
40:26 Speaker 02 That's because people are sheep. But like, I'm like, I'm not doing that.
40:29 Dan Pashman? But even if you got married like by a beautiful lake in the countryside, like, you're probably not the first person to get married there, Jake. Who would be the first, to be the first person for a mayo wedding? That's, that's a story you can tell your grandchildren.
40:41 Speaker 02 I love it.
40:42 Dan Pashman? Viv, would you have a mayo-based wedding?
40:44 Speaker 01 Absolutely. Yep. And if it were offered to me, I'd find someone to marry.
40:50 Speaker 02 I got you. I got you, girl.
40:53 Speaker 01 You know, I think that weddings are really expensive affairs. And I don't know anyone who was like, wow, that was worth all that money. Like, if you earn your own money.
41:03 Dan Pashman? Tea.
41:04 Speaker 01 You know?
41:04 Dan Pashman? That is the truth, 100%.
41:06 Speaker 01 I think, yeah, it creates a memory. You feel like you've really won because you didn't spend any money and...
41:12 Speaker 02 You know, the only thing I'll take away from that is I will definitely be having a four-foot chicken finger tower at my next wedding, if it happens. Yeah, I love that. I think the idea of a mascot marrying me is my nightmare. I'm all about a brand, I'm all about a brand integration. I'm no stranger to a brand integration, girl. If I've done, I've done it before, I'll do it again. It just has to be done tastefully.
41:39 Dan Pashman? I see. Final question. If you could have one food brand sponsor your wedding, not Hellmann's, any other one, who would it be?
41:47 Speaker 01 Well, I almost said Rancho Gordo, but I'm like, that would be terrible. All those beans.
41:52 Dan Pashman? Yeah, seriously. You would need to do it outside.
41:58 Speaker 01 Well, you know, if my kids are coming, maybe Raising Canes.
42:01 Speaker 02 Okay, okay. Wow, that's a really excellent question. I would say it's a very hard question. I would probably say it would be a tie between Jenny's Ice Cream.
42:14 Dan Pashman? Oh, yes, Jenny's.
42:15 Speaker 02 Like, I just love the idea of having, like, crazy, crazy, crazy ice cream.
42:19 Dan Pashman? That's a really good one, yes.
42:21 Speaker 02 Or even just getting married at an ice cream factory.
42:23 Dan Pashman? I love that.
42:24 Speaker 02 There we go, talk about unique. Now that's unique but not tacky.
42:29 Speaker 02 Or it would be something, something good.
42:33 Dan Pashman? Jenny's.
42:33 Speaker 02 I'll stick with Jenny's.
42:35 Speaker 01 What would yours be, Dan?
42:36 Dan Pashman? I think, actually, I mean, probably, when you get right down to it, my favorite food in the world is flour tortillas.
42:43 Speaker 02 Love that.
42:43 Dan Pashman? A really good flour tortilla. And my favorite flour tortilla is this company, Caramello, in Kansas. They make flour tortillas, they ship them around the country. Please don't order from them because it already takes me long enough to get them. It's already like a four to six-week back order. But okay, fine. You can order them. They're insanely good. You can put them in the freezer and have them whenever. And I would have a caramello flour tortilla branded wedding.
43:07 Speaker 02 Oh, I remember.
43:08 Dan Pashman? What?
43:08 Speaker 02 It'd be manischew. That's.
43:12 Speaker 02 That's definitely, definitely, definitely.
43:13 Dan Pashman? Yeah, that would be fun. Or, uh, gefilte fish, matzo balls.
43:18 Speaker 02 All of it. The wine. Yeah, the macaroons, the whole, like a whole croquembouche of the macaroons.
43:27 Dan Pashman? All right. Well, this has been super fun. The salad spinner has been spun. I think we have shared a lot of hot takes, a lot of good opinions and food wisdom. So I want to thank both of you for joining me. Jake Cohen, your new cookbook is Dinner, Party, Animal. It's out now wherever books are sold. Thank you, Jake.
43:42 Speaker 02 Thank you.
43:43 Dan Pashman? And Vivian Howard, her new TV show Kitchen Curious debuts this very week. Check your local PBS station to see when it's on. You can also find it online. And be sure to tune in next week because I will be a guest hanging out with Viv in Charleston. Vivian, thank you so much.
43:57 Speaker 01 Thank you all.
43:59 Dan Pashman? Next week on the show, man, you're gonna love this one. People who put recipes on their tombstones. I talk with Rosie Grant, who has gone around the country cataloging gravestone recipes. Rosie shares the story of how she got into this, as well as some of the folks who have put recipes on their tombstones. And I talk to a woman who's still alive, who already knows what recipe's going on her tombstone. That's all next week. While we're here for that one, check out last week's show. I talked with Dr. Marsha Chatterlain about the role that McDonald's has played in black communities since its founding in the 1940s. In a lot of places, McDonald's has been a community hub and a pathway to business ownership for black entrepreneurs. But it's also been a tool for those seeking to preserve segregation. We dig into the chain's complicated legacy. Plus, I take my family to a very special
44:44 Dan Pashman? McDonald's on Long Island. That one's up now. Check it out. And hey, did you know you can listen to The Sporkful on the Sirius XM app? Yes, the Sirius XM app, it has all your favorite podcasts, plus over 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, plus live sports coverage. Does your podcasting app have that? And there's interviews with A-list stars and so much more. It's everything you want in a podcast app and music app all rolled into one. And right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the Sirius XM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful.
45:15 Dan Pashman? This episode was produced by me along with managing producer. Emma Morgenstern. And senior producer. Andres O'Hara. It was edited by. Camille Stanley. Our engineer is. Jared O'Connell. Music help from Black Label Music. The Sporkful is a production of Sirius XM Podcasts. Our executive producer is Camille Stanley. Until next time, I'm Dan Pashman.
45:33 Speaker 08 And Diane Kelly from Indianapolis, reminding you to eat more, eat better, and eat more better.
45:50 Dan Pashman? This segment is brought to you by National Pork Board. Taste what pork can do. Jimmy, we're getting ready to grill up some bratwurst.
45:57 Speaker 09 Mm hmm. I love bratwurst. Lots of fat, lots of flavor, spices. I can't wait to get that on the grill.
46:03 Dan Pashman? I'm with my friend, Chef Jimmy Chinis. He owns two restaurants that I love in Green Lawn, New York. Swallow Kitchen and Cocktails and Lucello Pizza. We've gotten together to grill up some bratwurst, a sausage that's got a special place in my heart. I lived in Chicago for three years and I ate a lot of brats. Walking distance to Wrigley Field.
46:19 Speaker 09 Amazing.
46:20 Dan Pashman? And many Saturdays and Sundays, we were eating brats at 11:00 in the morning for a 12 or 1 o'clock Cubs game. I got really good at like parboiling them in beer and then finishing them on the grill.
46:30 Speaker 09 Perfect.
46:31 Dan Pashman? I, you know, love that on a nice roll. Flavor wise, so much happening.
46:35 Speaker 09 No comparison. I agree.
46:36 Dan Pashman? It's so juicy, like so juicy. You know, there's so many sausages out there, but it really is a distinct flavor.
46:42 Speaker 09 Agreed. You know, the grind, the level of grind and that fat. So it melts inside. When you cut into it, the juices run out. It's unbeatable.
46:49 Dan Pashman? What makes a great sausage in general?
46:53 Speaker 09 Well, I think it's the spices, the level of garlic and the grind. You don't want it too fine, but you don't want it too big. And the fat content is the most important thing to me, I think.
47:01 Dan Pashman? We're cooking these sausages for a little party we're throwing at Jimmy's house. And what are we doing with these sausages?
47:06 Speaker 09 So we're going to grill them and then we're going to rub them with some garlic butter.
47:10 Dan Pashman? Oh, man.
47:11 Speaker 09 It's going to be really good. So butter on top of fat. Are you kidding me?
47:19 Dan Pashman? We're also doing these sausages with some veggies on top.
47:22 Speaker 09 Yeah, we got some grilled peppers from the farmer's market. And we also have some local corn, so that's gonna pair beautifully with this.
47:28 Dan Pashman? A little sweetness.
47:29 Speaker 09 Yeah, the peppers will add sweetness to it, exactly. And the corn is gonna add that nice, sweet earthy flavor as well.
47:33 Dan Pashman? I love the pops of the kernels in there.
47:35 Speaker 09 Oh, me too. And we're gonna spice rub the corn as well to add just a little bit of depth of flavor to that as well.
47:39 Dan Pashman? Ooh.
47:40 Speaker 09 It's gonna be good.
47:40 Dan Pashman? All right, let's do it. We grab our ingredients and head out to the grill.
47:46 Dan Pashman? All right, we got sausages on the grill, corn, peppers, it's all happening. Jimmy, what are you looking for when you're grilling sausages?
47:53 Speaker 09 Well, you wanna look for color. You wanna keep picking them up and see you're starting to get a little color marks on them, so we're gonna rotate them as well. Want to make sure they're all the way cooked through. It's very important to cook these through. You don't wanna eat these undercooked, but they shouldn't take too long. All right, grill's nice and hot.
48:08 Dan Pashman? These sausages are already looking phenomenal, but I also love what Jimmy's doing with the peppers. So, the peppers that go with the sausage you have up here on the top rack, what are those sort of getting a little smoky?
48:19 Speaker 09 Yeah, getting a little smoky, and at the last minute, we'll throw them down here to finish them off.
48:22 Dan Pashman? I like that technique. I'm gonna steal that.
48:25 Speaker 09 It's yours.
48:25 Dan Pashman? All right. While the sausage cooks, we head back into the kitchen, and I asked Jimmy for more tips for grilling sausage in general.
48:32 Speaker 09 I like when you parboil it first and then you bring it right to the grill. You don't wanna put it on the grill, it's too hot, it'll burst. Sometimes people will put little pin pricks in it to let the steam out, so it doesn't burst. You wanna cook it kinda low and slow as well, because they can look like they're done on the outside, but then when you cut it into the center, it's still pink. So you wanna make sure it's cooked for a decent amount on the grill, and you always wanna let meat rest, even your sausages, pork chops, whatever meat you're using, let it rest for five minutes at least, and that way the juices will redistribute, so when you cut into it, it doesn't leak all over your plate, and it helps keep, you know, your meat very juicy and flavorful.
49:05 Dan Pashman? After 15 minutes, the sausages are fully cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit. It's time to add the pièce de résistance.
49:13 Speaker 09 Garlic butter.
49:15 Dan Pashman? Yes, garlic butter. By the way, we got this excellent recipe right from the Pork Board website. You combine salt, garlic, parsley, and of course, melted butter. Now Jimmy's gonna brush it on. Oh, boy.
49:26 Speaker 09 Here it goes.
49:30 Dan Pashman? Oh, it is glistening. We got garlic butter going on the peppers, on the corn, on the sausages. I'm not sure that there's anything that you can't put garlic butter on.
49:40 Speaker 09 Exactly. I think we're ready to go.
49:43 Dan Pashman? All right. We take our platter of grilled sausages and veggies to the patio where we have a party of professional eaters just waiting to judge the results. This is great.
49:52 Speaker 04 It's delicious. The bratwurst are delicious.
49:55 Dan Pashman? Bratwurst is so flavorful.
49:56 Speaker 04 Oh, my goodness.
49:57 Dan Pashman? You grew up eating bratwurst?
49:58 Speaker 04 Yes, I ate bratwurst once a week. I loved it so much and it's even better than it's ever been tonight. So delicious.
50:06 Dan Pashman? I gotta say, when you bite through that sausage casing and the juice and the flavor just bursts into your mouth, I mean, it's magic. And the garlic butter was a chef's kiss addition. Check out the National Pork Board website for more great recipes for just about any cut of pork. And look, I mean, bratwurst, it's just the tip of the pork burger, really. Okay, there's pork chops, there's ribs, there's baked ham, there's pork butt and pork shoulder. I mean, if you love the crunch of bacon pepperoni, it's time to bring more flavorful moments to your everyday life. Because that same rich savory goodness that you love from bacon is actually available for a million more meal occasions in a million more ways. You want a flavorful upgrade for Taco Tuesday? Pulled pork carnitas. And then what about guanciale? I mean, you can't make carbonara without guanciale, right?
50:52 Dan Pashman? Those salty, smoky, meaty little slabs inside your pasta dish? I mean, that's what makes it. Pork can provide all the flavor nuances and taste tones you could ever want. Sweet, salty, acidic, umami, whatever you need, pork is here. Grill it, bake it, braise it, roast it, sear it, whatever you do, just taste it. Head to tastewhatporkcando.com to discover all the incredible flavors in every bite of pork.
51:19 Speaker 10 One thing casual fans don't understand is how Good pro wrestling is. Think you know wrestling? Join us on the Busted Open Podcast every single day. The biggest stories, the biggest debates, no filters. If you're a wrestling fan, this is your daily stop. Wrestling is better when the fans are as excited as I am. Seven days a week, breaking news and interviews with the biggest names in wrestling. Every episode is waiting for you in the podcast feed, wherever you get your podcasts.
51:49 Speaker 06 Time for a quick break to talk about McDonald's. It's the tangiest time of the year. For a limited time, head to McDonald's and get a McRib sandwich. Make it a meal by adding a medium fries and a soft drink like an ice cold Diet Dr. Pepper. So grab a McRib sandwich and embrace the tang. Save time by ordering ahead on the app at participating McDonald's for a limited time. Dr. Pepper is a registered trademark of Dr. Pepper, 7-Up Inc.
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