Pot Luck Food Talks: Kitchen Stories From Behind the Pass

🎙️ EP203 — What should every cook actually know? Culinary fundamentals, who decides what they are, and whether they have changed? 🎧 In This Episode: 🧪 Why Nobody Makes Stock Anymore 🧭 Who Decides What the Fundamentals Are 📋 Having a Plan and a Clean Section 🍳 What a Trial Shift Really Tests 🥬 Cleaning Vegetables and Picking Salad 🥗 Making a Dressing and Seasoning It 🍶 The Japanese Order of Seasoning 🌡️ How Heat Changes Texture 🐟 Cleaning Fish, Poultry and Whole Animals 🥩 Chasing the Maillard Reaction 🍲 The Five Stocks to Master 🍮 Pastry, Doughs and Writing Recipes 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🍷 Enjoy

🎙️ EP202 — Tasty is NOT enough: push the salt, push the acid, push past the point where you'd normally stop. 🎧 In This Episode: 🥋 What Chefs Spend Years Perfecting 🔥 Cooking Fish Over Fire by Feel 🔍 Spotting What a Dish Is Missing 🍋 Balancing: Acidity, Salt & Sweetness 🧂 How Far to Push the Seasoning 🥄 Tasting and Adjusting as a Sauce Reduces ✨ Is MSG Cheating? 🌿 Fish, Vegetables and Underused Herbs 🐟 Grilling a Whole Fish Over Charcoal 🎶 What Plays in the Kitchen Before Service 🍲 Chef Flex: Keeping the Sides of Your Pots Clean 📺 Food Content Worth Watching 💿 Phil's "Work Hop" Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2lrYhrNDzYzAgISjqMBRg5?si=CBeS4LaeSqmz62qPRnFT9A&utm_source=whatsapp&pi=UAI8g7J2TcK60 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🍷 Enjoy

🎙️ EP201 — Bourdain said cooks are done after 37: does a cook expire, or does kitchen culture expire them? 🎧 In This Episode: ⏳ The Expiration Date of a Cook 🧑‍🍳 Stepping Back from the Line 🩹 Injuries as a Badge of Honor 🧊 What to Do When Someone Cuts Themselves 😐 Gallows Humor in a Kitchen 🔥 Knife Scars and Hot Oil Burns 🗣️ Saying Behind and Meaning It 🧱 Floors, Footwear, and Heavy Lifting 🤒 Being Afraid to Call in Sick 💪 Bragging About 16 Hour Shifts 💶 Who Pays for Kitchen Injuries 🥋 Cooking into Your 50s and 60s 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🍷 Enjoy

🎙️ EP200 — We review The Menu and trace it back to the real kitchens behind it: Willows Inn, Lummi Island, Noma, Mugaritz, and more. 🎧 In This Episode: 🎬 Why The Menu Feels So Familiar 🏝️ The Real Restaurant Behind the Movie ⭐ The Restaurants the Director Cites 🔪 Who Designed the Food on Screen 🛏️ Bunk Beds and Staff Housing 🕯️ When a Kitchen Becomes a Sect 🏅 Chasing Recognition, Not Perfection 🍞 The Bread Course With No Bread 📱 Instagram Food Is the New Bullshit 👨‍🍳 The Foodie Who Couldn't Cook 🍔 Never Forget Why You Started 🎞️ Should Cooks Watch The Menu? 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🍷 Enjoy

🎙️ EP199 — The day you get promoted is often the day you stop doing the thing that got you there: More responsibility, more time, and a raise that can still leave you poorer per hour. 🎧 In This Episode: 👨‍🍳 A Promotion Means Getting A New Job 🚀 Getting Promoted Before You're Ready 🧠 Learning to Read Your Team ⏰ When Turning It Down Makes Sense 🙅 The Cost of "That's Not My Job" 💰 How to Actually Earn a Raise ✈️ Taking a Pay Cut to Learn More 🔪 Why Fundamentals Beat Titles 🙋 Admitting What You Don't Know 💷 Learning the Business Side 📍 Which Kitchens, and How Long to Stay 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🍷 Enjoy

🎙️ EP198 — Cooks sharpen it, name it, refuse to let anyone else touch it. 🎧 In This Episode: 🔪 The Three Knives Every Cook Needs 🗡️ Gyuto, Bunka or Nakiri? 🚫 Never Touch Another Cook’s Knife 🩹 The Worn Blade as a Badge of Honor 💔 Stolen Knives and Lifelong Tools 🍞 The Most Underrated Kitchen Knife 🐟 Deba vs European Fillet Knives ✋ Grip, Calluses and the Right Fit 💸 Sharp and Cheap Beats Expensive and Dull 🪨 Sharpen First, Buy Japanese Later 🇯🇵 Knife Brands That Last a Lifetime 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🍷 Enjoy

🎙️ EP197 — How restaurants set expectations and why cooks who get the setup wrong can make people dislike a taste they'd otherwise love. 🎧 In This Episode: 🍽️ Restaurants Are Serving Expectations Before the Food Arrives 🎭 Fine Dining is Theater, Whether You Like It or Not 🍹 The Patxaran Story: How the Wrong Description Kills a Taste 🏺 Raising the Price Doubled the Orders 👟 The Nike Example for Cooks 🌮 Pujol vs the Street Taco: When the Brand Costs More Than the Food 📸 When a Restaurant Is Built for Instagram and Falls Apart on the Plate ⚖️ The Line Between Staying Humble and Underselling Yourself 🪞 Look Behind the Veil: When the Story Outgrows the Food 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🍷 Enjoy

🎙️ EP196 — Some innovations only happen when cooks build them together. 🎧 In This Episode: 🌐 Building a Chef Network 🗳️ Chefs Worldwide Vote On Their Best Idea 🥤 Turning Toxic Wastewater Into Soft Drinks 🍌 The Winning Idea: Zero Waste Database 🤖 Chef-Verified, Not AI-Generated 📸 How a Chef Network Solves Problems Instantly 🤫 Why Chefs Are Finally Sharing Their Secret Recipes 📚 Bullipedia: Why Ferran Adrià's Culinary Wikipedia Failed 🧠 Why Human Experts Still Matter, Even With AI 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🍷 Enjoy

🎙️ EP195 — Why Nouvelle Cuisine's rulebook banned fermentation for decades and how an enzyme can make milk taste like eight-month pecorino in two hours. 🎧 In This Episode: 🧫 Meet John Regefalk: BCC Innovation & The Fermentos Book 📜 The Rulebook That Banned Fermentation For Decades ⚖️ Rotten or Fermented? Where's the Line? 🔬 Fermentation Isn't Luck. It's Science! 🌍 Did Noma Actually Start the Fermentation Movement? 🌾 Koji Goes Local: Pearl Barley Instead of Rice 🍚 Koji: Nearly Impossible to Get, Now One Click Away 🧀 Funky Milk: Aged Cheese in Two Hours 🕺 The Bouncer, the Pathogen & the Pink Pepper 🧊 A Styrofoam Incubator & the Birth of an Obsession 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🍷 Enjoy

🎙️ EP194 — Fire that doesn't taste smoky, why fat shouldn't touch the flame and the precise color that signals an ember is ready to go! 🎧 In This Episode: 🔥 Fire Cooking vs. Backyard BBQ 🇪🇸 The Basque Grilling Philosophy 💨 Embers vs. Charcoal 🌍 Robata, Asador, Parrilla & Churrasco 🍢 Yakitori and the Art of Timing ⚠️ Why Flame Shouldn't Touch Fat 🟦 Blue Smoke vs. White Smoke 🪵 Choosing the Right Wood 🟠 Reading Embers by Color 💰 The Real Cost of Fire Cooking 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🍷 Enjoy

🎙️ EP193 — Ernesto R. Vecilla, R&D chef at Nourish Ingredients, breaks down how fermentation is engineering plant fats to nail the taste, texture, and mouthfeel of real animal meat, plus what pushed him to trade the line for a lab coat and chase flavor through food tech instead. 🎧 In This Episode: 🔬 From Restaurant Line to R&D Lab 🧪 What Precision Fermentation Actually Is 🥩 Making Fungi-Derived Fat Taste Like Meat 🧀 Cracking the Code on Dairy Alternatives 📅 A Day in the Life of an R&D Chef 🌍 Why Cows Can't Feed 10 Billion People 🍺 The Bioreactor Is Just a Beer Vat 🦠 The Cheesecake That Grew Its Own Mold 👨‍🍳 Growing Up in His Father's Michelin Kitchen 🇯🇵 Narisawa, Discipline, and Kitchen Chaos in Tokyo 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🍷 Enjoy

🎙 EP192 — Some chefs leave the brigade behind. Others never join one at all. So who earns the title "chef," and who actually lives the better life? 🎧 In This Episode: 👨‍🍳 Who actually gets to call themselves a chef? 🔪 Private chef life: escape or career upgrade? 🏃‍♂️ Leaving the brigade behind 🚪 Skipping the restaurant kitchen entirely 🎓 Culinary school doesn’t make you a chef 🔥 Why the apprenticeship still matters 🌟 The self-taught chef exception 📱 Social media shortcuts and fake expertise 💸 Why private dining can make serious money 😬 Talented chefs who can’t sell themselves 🧢 The problem with inflated chef résumés 🍬 Gummy bears, art catering, and empty concepts ⚠️ When private chef work becomes a scam 🏠 Cooking inside someone else’s home 🚁 The billionaire’s sandwich before the helicopter ⛓️ Service vs. servitude 🧱 Why shortcuts damage the craft 🍽️ Private dining as the anti-restaurant model 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🍷 Enjoy

🎙️ EP191 — Who decided pasta must be al dente? Who said risotto needs a bite? Do cooks really need to follow every rule they inherit? Breaking kitchen rules and questioning culinary dogma. 🎧 In This Episode: 🍝 Pasta that crunches like glass 🐟 Baked flour that tastes like fish 🧫 Why fermentation feels lazy nowadays 🤌 The al dente lie 🥘 Spain's impossible paella timing 🍚 Pulling rice off the heat early 👨‍🍳 A new cook in tears 🫘 Chickpeas should never have a bite 😤 The cocky sous chef and his rice book 🍚 The rice method that never fails 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🍷 Enjoy

🎙️ EP190 — When food makes you cry, puts you back in that place or that moment. Can cooks create emotions on purpose? Can we hack nostalgia in the kitchen? 🎧 In This Episode: 🗺️ Forget about cuisines 🍽️ Cooking through someone else's lens 🇨🇴 Building a concept around your identity 📋 Fixed menu vs specials and why both matter 🎷 The saxophone analogy 🧠 Food puts you back in a place. No other art form does. 🌾 Hay ice cream and the guest who cried 🥘 When an unknown dish feels like authentic home cooking 🔥 A two-component dessert that broke a table at Etxebarri 🎯 Can you hack nostalgia on purpose? 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🍷 Enjoy

🎙️ EP189 — Curing meat with ash. Charcoal cooking renaissance. Berries replacing butter. Everything we learned about trending techniques pro cooks are testing right now. 🎧 In This Episode: 🌬️ Ramón Perisé: when terroir becomes your mood 🥩 A poetic name made the same dish taste different 🦗 A grasshopper is basically a shrimp ⚠️ Big Mac garums, 24-hour koji "aging": the gastro-cringe 🍽️ Bring back plain white plates 🔥 The charcoal cooking renaissance 🌫️ Ash to wrap and cure meat 🫐 Berry butter, berry cheese, berry fats 🛸 Jules Verne vs. Josh Niland 🐟 Aponiente grows its own fish in a 3-year salt marsh 🐑 Marsh lamb tastes like the marsh (The Sportsman, Kent) 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP188 — Dutch fermentation specialist Christian Weij on why Koji works on any ingredient, why salt selects rather than kills, why rushing your miso is leaving 391 flavors undeveloped. Oh, and why the best Koji incubator he ever built was a sauna. 🎧 In This Episode: 🔥 Fermentation came before fire. 🧂 Salt selects bacteria, it doesn't kill them 🔬 9 flavors vs 400: the miso data ⏳ No shortcuts: wooden barrels, full fermentation 🚗 Driving miso an hour to a Michelin kitchen mid-service 🌽 The exclusive corn miso 🍄 Koji works on any substrate 🛁 A sauna turned 150kg Koji incubator 🌍 African fermentation: 900 cultures, zero coverage 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP187 — If done right, it's one of the best salads there is. Sweetheart cabbage. Sharp vinegar. Dressed à la minute. Everything we've learned and haven't learned about coleslaw. 🎧 In This Episode: 🥬 One of the best salads there is ⏱️ Dress à la minute (or it weeps) ✅ Sweetheart cabbage, not Napa 🧪 Kimchi and food-as-medicine? 🥄 The dressing: mayo + yogurt + acid 💥 Sharp distilled vinegar hack 🧅 Cut the onion the right way 🌶️ Pitt Cue's green chili coleslaw 🍏 Green apple, kohlrabi, carrots 📋 Phil's full coleslaw recipe 🍍 Arturos and Venezuelan pineapple coleslaw 🐟 Brussels hearts & kimchi-juice beurre blanc 🥟 Forgotten German cabbage cooking 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP186 — Smash your cloves. Wait 10. Then cook it. Everything we've learned and haven't learned about garlic. 🎧 In This Episode: 🧄 Can there be too much garlic? 👨‍🍳 Ben Morgan's nixtamalized garlic at Mugaritz 🔬 Dani Lasa taking the soul out of a clove 🇱🇧 The original alioli had no egg 🍅 Stop drowning your pan con tomate 🥒 The tiny-garlic-big-umami pickle rule 🫒 The methodical Basque way 🍜 Mayu: The black garlic oil 🖤 Why we're over black garlic 💙 What makes garlic turn blue 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP185 — Great dishes have no unnecessary BS. Just good craft stripped down to the essentials. This episode gets into restraint, confidence, quiet technique, and the kind of cooking that has nowhere to hide. 🎧 Topics Covered in This Episode: 🍽️ What Makes Food Good 🧱 Substance Over Style 🐓 The Problem With Chicken 🍝 Why Cooks Avoid Pasta 🔥 Restaurants That Get It Right ⭐ When Michelin Is Worth It 👨‍🍳 The Chef’s Chef 🇬🇧 British Produce Done Well 🔪 Classical Technique ⏸️ Food That Stops Time 🧠 Confidence in Cooking 📝 Menu Writing Mistakes 🤫 Quiet Food, Loud Skill 🏛️ St. John & Restraint ⚖️ Elegance Without Bullshit 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🔥 Enjoy!

🎙️ EP184 — An IBM data scientist wrote harsh truths about performance. We went through the list one by one. 🎧 In This Episode: 🔥 Fear Signals Importance 🍽️ Cooking Other People's Food 🧠 The First Draft Is Always Shit 💪 Discipline Is Self-Care 🎯 Take More Pressure, Less Inspiration 👂 Your Ego Blocks the Best Feedback ⚡ Inaction Costs More Than Failure ✂️ Strength Is Restraint 🌊 Struggles Don't End 📩 Follow & Support Us: 🍽️ Everything in one place: https://linkin.bio/potluckfoodtalks/ 📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/potluckfoodtalks ▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@potluckfoodtalks 🗞️ Newsletter: https://www.potluckfoodtalks.com/start/ 📢 Want to advertise with us? http://potluckfoodtalks.com/advertise-on-the-podcast 🔥 Enjoy!