What do Maui, HI and the snowy mountains of Jackson Hole, WY have in common? They're two of the eight places where Food Network stars including Giada, Cat Cora and Duff find their favorite foods ... served cold.
What do Maui, HI and the snowy mountains of Jackson Hole, WY have in common? They're two of the eight places where Food Network stars including Giada, Cat Cora and Duff find their favorite foods ... served cold.
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Find episode transcript here: https://the-best-thing-i-ever-ate.simplecast.com/episodes/chilled-perfection-ft-giada-de-laurentiis-duff-goldman-and-cat-cora
[MUSIC PLAYING] SPEAKER 1: People ask me all the time.
SPEAKER 2: Where do you like to eat?
SPEAKER 3: What's your favorite food?
SPEAKER 4: What's the best thing you've ever eat?
SPEAKER 1: That's why we're here now.
SPEAKER 2: Not only to tell you what we love to eat.
SPEAKER 4: But where you can go get it.
SPEAKER 5: Now, let's talk about all this cold stuff. It's a party.
SPEAKER 6: This is the best-chilled sandwich I've ever had.
SPEAKER 7: It is a slice of lemon heaven.
SPEAKER 8: It's frozen and chocolaty, and that's what makes it extraordinary.
SPEAKER 9: The flavors are crisp, fresh. It's absolutely fantastic.
SPEAKER 10: It doesn't get any better than that. It just doesn't.
SPEAKER 5: The best!
SPEAKER 8: I'm tasting it now. This desert encompasses everything that I adore. It's frozen and chocolaty, with a side of hot caramel. Doesn't get better than that. The best incarnation of something chilled is an Eskimo bar, and this Eskimo bar lives at the Snake River Grill in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It's quite wonderful. It really is.
I used to spend as a child my Summers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Over that time period, I found these Eskimo bars that I fell in love with.
SPEAKER 3: It has a retro feel to it. It's melting, it's running down your arm, and you're loving it.
SPEAKER 8: Eskimo bar is something that you used to get from the ice cream truck when you were a kid. But the Snake River Grill does it a little differently, and that's what makes it extraordinary. Every component of this Eskimo bar is homemade. So they've made the brownies from scratch.
SPEAKER 3: By melting Scharffen Berger chocolate. It's an American-produced chocolate out of San Francisco.
SPEAKER 8: One of the best dark chocolate out there.
SPEAKER 3: Sugar, eggs and flour. So while the brownies are cooking, we're going to go right ahead and spin our old-fashioned vanilla ice cream.
- The best vanilla ice cream you've ever had. Lots of vanilla bean in it. Like the way they used to make vanilla ice cream when we were kids, and then they stick whole thing in the freezer, and then they cut it.
SPEAKER 3: What we love to call piano keys, ready to be dipped in warm Scharffen Berger chocolate.
SPEAKER 8: It's that hot chocolate that hits the cold vanilla ice cream that just kind of freezes up and creates this thin, delicate gourmet layer. But the best part is the whole thing gets dipped in this hot gooey, rich caramel. They come served on the side. And it's homemade caramel sauce added on to the dark chocolate and the vanilla ice cream, and the chewy brownie. I mean, I'm sorry, but if that doesn't pique your interest, I don't know what will. Mhm, I'm tasting it now.
The caramel starts to melt the chocolate and slowly melt with frozen inside. And that's why you start to drip and ooze vanilla ice cream in your hands and on your face. Brings you back to your childhood, and, boom, they got you because that's all it takes, really. They make the best Eskimo bar I've ever, ever had.
SPEAKER 10: Now it's time to take a trip to the tropical island paradise of Maui. I mean, what better place is there they have something cold? You're in hot Hawaii. It's the islands. It's tropical. You want to cool down? Don't get a drink. Get the passion fruit creme brulee. And you get it at Mama's Fish House. You know if it's got the name mama's in it, it's got to be good, right?
First time I went to Mama's Fish House, I was working on a show, and we had a travel expert. And he said, you want to go to lunch, and I said sure. Where do you want to go? He said, come with me. Let me tell you. There is no other creme brulee I've ever had it that can come close to the passion fruit creme brulee at Mama's Fish House.
SPEAKER 12: For our creme brulee custard, we're going to add our heavy whipping cream or Hawaii Find King sugar and fresh Tahitian vanilla beans.
SPEAKER 10: There are vanilla beans, and there are Tahitian vanilla beans.
SPEAKER 12: And we're going to temper our hot liquid into Oreos.
SPEAKER 10: And then you have the passion fruit. Passion fruit is this sweet, tangy tropical fruit. It is the best flavor ever put on this Earth.
SPEAKER 12: Fresh local passion fruit, which is lilikoi cool in Hawaii.
SPEAKER 10: Lilikoi. Can we say it all together? Lilikoi. And they don't just drop a little bit of passion fruit on top. Every spoonful of this creme brulee has passion in it.
SPEAKER 12: After it's chilled, we're going to have it cook in a water bath.
SPEAKER 10: And then they put pure cane sugar from Hawaii on this creme brulee, and then they take this torch, and they go
[IMITATES SPRAYING NOISES]
And they burn the top.
SPEAKER 12: Add some fresh lilikoi sauce, and then we're going to top it with our fresh lilikoi growing right outside our back door.
SPEAKER 10: Now you take the spoon, and you have to crack through it. It's like you've got to go
[IMITATES CRACKING NOISES]
You have this warm sort of crusty burnt flavor, cold, cool custard. And this passion flavor is so amazing. It doesn't get any better than that. It just doesn't. It is the best thing ever.
SPEAKER 7: I've had good pie before, but this is the best. It's calling to you eat me, eat me. I'm talking about lemon ice box pie from the Crystal Grill in Greenwood, Mississippi. It is a slice of lemon heaven. You're going to finish that pie even after a big meal, and you might even take a bite of your neighbors. When I go to Mississippi, I know I'm going to hit the Crystal Grill, so I go there, and I dig out. But I always save room for this lemon ice box pie.
Ice boxes that's what refrigerators were. It's literally just this lemony, whipped creamy, Graham crackery three yumminess.
SPEAKER 14: Raise my power and be so good. I always put 1 cup of love.
SPEAKER 7: I had lots of lemon ice box pie over the years, and this is absolutely, to me, the best around. It just tastes like grandma's back in the kitchen making this pie.
SPEAKER 14: Anybody can do it. Oh, they just got through on a good lemon ice box pack. I'm going to pour one cup of condensed milk.
SPEAKER 7: Anything with condensed milk is going to be good.
SPEAKER 14: Six eight, yo, real lemon juice.
SPEAKER 7: Poured into a Graham cracker crust, baked for 8 to 10 minutes and then it's chilled overnight. That's where the ice box car comes in.
SPEAKER 14: Now that you're ready for that quick tap. Now just like creamy and beautiful, that is.
SPEAKER 7: About 2 inches of just super white whipped cream.
SPEAKER 14: Here it is, the lemon ice box pie.
SPEAKER 7: So it's really nice and chilled, super lemony. The crust is kind of crunchy and hard like a cookie. And when you have a bite of that and the whipped cream together, I mean, hello, there ain't nothing better than that. Period. You know what, I just happen to have a piece of that pie right here. I'm going to rise like, you guys like about to attack me. Back! Get back! Security!
Look at this. Look at this yumminess. Mhm, so good. See you in a moment. It's truly chilled perfection.
SPEAKER 9: I love of ceviche. Good, cold ceviche, nothing can beat it. I've made my own ceviche in the past, and I thought I had a winner until I tasted this. The best ceviche age. I've ever had is from OLA in South Beach, Miami. The flavors are crisp, fresh. The fire and ice is my favorite. It's just absolutely fantastic. Ceviche it's basically raw fish. You marinate it in some sort of pegylated liquid, usually lime juice, lemon juice, some kind of fruit juice. It's really high in acid. Douglas Rodriguez is a master when it comes to ceviche. He gets it.
DOUGLAS RODRIGUEZ: We try to come up with different garnishes to put on the ceviches.
SPEAKER 9: And I'll tell you what it is knock out at his restaurant. The first time I went to OLA, I was taken there by a friend, and she said you've got to come to this place for the ceviche. It's killer. So I was like, it's off the strip, but do we really need to go? Everywhere serve ceviche. After I went there, I went back three times in one week. It's so good.
They do this one called fire and ice. The beautiful thing about this ceviche is he uses a local fish which, of course, is good because it's super fresh.
DOUGLAS RODRIGUEZ: It's called cobia. It has a very firm texture.
SPEAKER 9: It's sliced really thin.
DOUGLAS RODRIGUEZ: The generous amount of salt.
SPEAKER 9: And then it's marinated in sour orange juice
DOUGLAS RODRIGUEZ: Marination time is very little. Even one minute is good enough. So now I'm going to sprinkle the number one ingredient.
SPEAKER 9: They use really spicy Thai chilies but then jalapenos as well.
DOUGLAS RODRIGUEZ: This is the playa part of the ceviche.
SPEAKER 9: Now, the ice comes from an Asian pear granita.
DOUGLAS RODRIGUEZ: This is not a very traditional way of serving ceviche with the granita, but this really takes it to another level.
SPEAKER 9: That granita keeps the fish super, super cold.
DOUGLAS RODRIGUEZ: Granita is flavored ice. It's a palate cleanser. We found out that the colder the ceviche is, the better the texture of the fish is. What's nice about the fire and ice? You have the heat of the Thai chilies, and you have the cold granita. It's like a yin and yang. So I'll put that in the freezer. Once the fish is laying on the granita on the ice, can't get any colder.
SPEAKER 9: It allows that crispness to come through in the flavor. It's just so good. As soon as you put it into your mouth, you're like, wow, this is what a ceviche should really taste like. And the combination of the temperatures, the heat, the saltiness, the sweetness, the freshness of the fish, it's almost like everything is in contrast, but it's all in perfect balance. That's out of this world. You've got to go.
SPEAKER 2: When we talk about cold stuff, you have to talk about gelato, and this is the mother of all gelatos. Wedged between a big slab of brioche, it's so decadent and good. I'm talking about the Brioche Can Gelato Palatini in Brooklyn, New York. Sicilian ice cream bread together. Unbelievable. I'm not a big dessert fan, and I think what I love most about this dessert is that it's sandwiched between this luscious red. After the first time, I had this ice cream, I had to go back every day of the week to try every flavor.
One of my favorite flavors is pistachio.
SPEAKER 15: Everything [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH] and everything takes time. That's why it comes so good.
SPEAKER 2: Gino Camerate is the master behind this great gelato sandwich. He is the crazy chef speaking in Italian. Even though you don't understand the word that he's saying.
SPEAKER 15: [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
SPEAKER 2: And he's like in Sicily, we put everything between bread. Why wouldn't we put ice cream between it? There you go.
SPEAKER 15: Basically, this dish, you're going to have brioche.
SPEAKER 2: And it's not one of those dainty ice cream cookie sandwiches. This is a big, thick, fluffy, buttery, hot bun.
SPEAKER 15: And the gelato has going to be very smooth. I use sugar.
SPEAKER 2: Pistachios from Sicily.
SPEAKER 15: Milk and cream.
SPEAKER 2: But I think Gino's real secret is the antique machines he uses to make this luscious gelato where you can't even buy parts for anymore. When people make ice cream, they add a lot of air to it. There's very little air incorporated into gelato. It's all cream. It's good. He takes the brioche right out of the oven, slice it open while it's still hot, puts the gelato on a big nice portion.
I'm going to have to hit the treadmill after this, but I don't care. It is worth it. Get ready to get dirty and to lick your fingers, and beware of the brain freeze. I always get it because I bite into it too quickly. I mean, look at this creamy perfection. I'm feeling the hot bread and then the cold ice cream and then the hot bread and the cold ice cream. The next thing I know, it's gone. I think I'll have a little espresso now, picture myself on the beaches in Sicily. Cheers.
This is the best gelato sandwich I've ever had in my life. It's so good.
SPEAKER 5: When you think of cold foods, a lot of times, you think of desserts. But I actually prefer savory chilled foods like cold sandwiches. This is the best sandwich I've ever had, cold. My personal favorite in the Pantheon of salad sandwich is the egg salad sandwich from Europane in Pasadena, California. I love this sandwich because it's egg salad taken to the next level without becoming too fanciful. I mean, you could put this egg salad in a donut, and it would be good.
Oh my God, I think I just had a genius idea. I know what you're thinking. Adam, it's egg salad. Is there really nothing left? Trust me. This egg salad is worth being on the list. It's unlike any other egg salad that I've ever had. And it's still very simple. If you've had an egg salad sandwich, you probably had it with hard-boiled eggs. What they do with the Europane is they medium boil the eggs, so the yolk is still soft and creamy.
SPEAKER 16: Time it would change depends on how many eggs you cook. In this case, we put five eggs. We're going to make it 7 minutes.
SPEAKER 5: So the egg salad sandwich breaks down like this. The best bread to have this sandwich on, in my opinion, is their Rosemary current wheat bread. They just toasted, so it's crackling crisp. And then they pushed a little bit of a sun-dried tomato pesto on top, some greens, but it's just brought together with a little bit of mayonnaise.
SPEAKER 16: Salt, pepper.
SPEAKER 5: Just sprinkle it with just a little bit of chive, lemon juice, I mean, that's it. And it is perfect. Thank you, Sam. This is not your mother's egg salad, OK? Mom, nothing against your egg salad. It's great. But Europane's egg salad is egg-cellent. Pure egg-stacy. You have to try this. What came first? Egg or the egg sandwich? Until you had this egg salad, you don't know egg salad. It's in eggs-capably good.
Now let's talking about all this cold stuff. I want to talk about lobster. Now when you say lobster, first thing to think of is steamed lobster. When you get a lobster roll, it's cold. They're out there, and they're in PJs, and they're awesome, and there's usually girls they're. It's the best!
If you're on Cape Cod the summertime, go to PJs in Wellfleet and get a nice cold lobster roll. They're right off the boat, onto the bun into your mouth. It's a party. The reason why the lobster rolls at PJs are the best is not only because they're well cooked, their bun is grilled, and everything is great. But it's like a quest to get there. I've endured hours of summertime Cape Cod traffic to get from sandwich all the way to Wellfleet. You've got to drive and drive and drive and drive, and drive and then boom, lobster rolls.
SPEAKER 18: The rolls are hot and the lobsters cold.
SPEAKER 5: All right, first of all, it's lobster. If it comes out of the ocean and it's shaped like a lobster, it's going to taste good.
SPEAKER 18: The first step in making our lobster rolls is getting a lobster. We'll take it over and put it in the steamer.
SPEAKER 5: It's as fresh as it gets.
SPEAKER 18: Now that it's done, we'll head over to the cutting board.
SPEAKER 5: Then it's chilled.
SPEAKER 18: And we just need to cut it into size. There's no fillers. It's just Hale clawing knuckle.
SPEAKER 5: It's good. It's very good.
SPEAKER 18: Now we're going to put the mayonnaise in the lobster meat. Double egg. It's very thick.
SPEAKER 5: Take a hot dog bun, yet slather it in butter, and you throw it on the grill to get the nice Brown caramelized edge.
SPEAKER 18: And then duff like this with lettuce.
SPEAKER 5: Mhm, filling up with lobster meat.
SPEAKER 18: And there you have it.
SPEAKER 5: The difference between the warm grilled crispy bun with lots of butter and chilled, really sweet lobster meat it's really what makes that thing awesome. I mean, the lobster roll itself is the best lobster on the Cape, but it's the whole experience. When I have lobster, all it means I'm on vacation, outside sunshine and shades are on, and then you're biting into this lobster meat. And you get that awesome lobster texture. It's so good. Go eat it. Get in the car and go to the Cape and get a lobster roll. Go.