Jake Gabbard: Freshly ground horseradish root.
Plump black tiger shrimp.
Refreshing tomato sauce.
All combined to make -
[coughing]
Spiciest shrimp cocktail in America.
[rock music]
Shoot!
Today, I'm in my home state of Indiana
to try the legendary shrimp cocktail
from St. Elmo Steak House up in Indianapolis.
Food writer Alison Stein Wellner
actually wrote in an article
that the shrimp cocktail at St. Elmo Steak House
is the spiciest dish in the world.
According to her, it beat out currywurst in Germany,
spiced sardines and chicken curry in India,
and red chilies in Honduras.
So she really does mean the spiciest in the world.
It has been featured on shows like "Man v. Food"
and even "Parks and Recreation."
Ron: Gentlemen, welcome to the steakhouse of St. Elmo!
[men cheering]
Tonight, we eat something's flesh!
Jake: So I'm here in my home state of Indiana
to answer the ultimate question:
Is this spicy dish really worth the drive?
[rock music]
To find out a little about
what goes into this shrimp cocktail,
here's St. Elmo Steak House owner Craig Huse.
Craig: Yeah, that St. Elmo shrimp cocktail.
It starts with
just four black tiger shrimp in the bowl.
It's a iced bowl.
Those shrimp are sweet.
They have a nice salty bite to them.
They're really crisp on the bite.
And then on top of that shrimp cocktail
is just a big ladle of our famous cocktail sauce.
[dynamic music]
We're not gonna divulge all the secrets to the sauce.
It's loaded with tons of horseradish in there.
So those are large pieces of the root,
and we grind them fresh every day.
There's a tomato element to it.
There's vinegar element to it.
There's quite a few ingredients.
Jake: A 51-mile drive to Indianapolis
might take a second, so I thought I'd call
my favorite athlete in the entire world.
Hey, Siri, call Joey "Jaws" Chestnut.
[phone ringing]
Now, Joey holds the world record
for the most Nathan's hot dogs eaten,
and luckily enough for us,
he also holds the world record
for most St. Elmo shrimp cocktails eaten.
Joey, you hold the world record
for most St. Elmo shrimp cocktails eaten.
How many did you eat?
Joey: Oh, my God. I think my record's, like,
19 pounds, 6 ounces.
It's up there.
It's a huge record.
Jake: And how on earth did you eat that in eight minutes?
Joey: I'd take the shrimp,
and I knew it was gonna hurt.
The sauce was, all the shrimp were covered in sauce.
And I'd just eat, eat, eat,
drink a little water, get it down.
The one good thing about that contest
is the contest takes place in December in Indianapolis.
So it's pretty cold outside.
So my hands were numb; my face was numb.
So all of my feelings were a little bit deadened already
and numb from the cold.
But it was still burning.
Jake: OK, now I have a real question.
And you can be as honest as you want.
I'm driving around claiming that this is
the spiciest shrimp cocktail in America.
Is it actually?
Joey: Oh, yeah.
This shrimp cocktail is definitely the spiciest.
But when I say spicy, it's,
the horseradish spice isn't like a pepper.
And the peppers, they stay with you,
and they upset your stomach.
The reason why I could do, like, 19 pounds of this
is because it goes away.
It's just this really intense heat,
but it goes away.
Jake: Do you have any advice or tips for me
before I go try this thing?
Joey: Oh, my God, don't panic!
Your first reaction is gonna be to panic.
The people who panic,
I think they don't get to enjoy it as much.
So just breathe, and it's gonna be hard.
Jake: All right. I feel good now. I feel prepared.
I'm nervous.
Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.
Joey: Awesome. Great talking to you.
Jake: Talk to you later. Buh-bye.
[phone chimes]
Being told not to panic minutes before
I'm supposed to eat this food is terrifying.
And, honestly, it's giving me a lot of panic.
Before we get to the steakhouse,
I wanted to take a second to hype up Indy.
It doesn't get nearly enough respect,
and there's a lot you can do in just a day.
So I went down to Monument Circle
and downtown to take in the sights.
And then I went over to the Motor Speedway,
where the Indy 500 happens.
And, finally, it wouldn't be a trip to Indiana
if I didn't swing by a cornfield.
OK, so here's a bit of a tip for you.
The shrimp cocktail at St. Elmo Steak House
is only offered for sit-down dining,
but if you go right next door to their sister restaurant,
Harry & Izzy's, you can get it for takeout.
And that's what I'm gonna do.
The Canal Walk in Indianapolis is a 3-mile loop
that serves as a hub for Indy's vibrant community
to go paddleboating, running,
or even just experience the outdoors.
And it's gonna be the perfect place
for me to have this shrimp cocktail.
[funky music]
This is a beautiful view of Indianapolis.
Well, you have a view of the entire skyline.
But the real reason I'm here is to try
the spiciest shrimp cocktail in America.
[coughs]
Here we go. Look at that.
First, I'm just gonna try it.
I'm just gonna have a little taste.
All right, just a little bite.
[relaxed music]
[coughing]
That was a little bite.
That's good stuff.
That is super, super good.
Here's what I'm tasting with that shrimp cocktail.
I'm getting, like, electrocuted in the brain.
[sniffs]
And, like, my brain kinda goes numb.
Like, you know those moments in your life
where you just completely stop functioning?
Every single bite of this,
your body kinda stops functioning for a second.
And I'm taking little bites.
I'm not even loading it up.
I think what surprises you is that
it's, like, not even a second.
As soon as it enters your mouth,
before it even hits your tongue,
you're already just getting, like, overloaded.
God, it's so good.
You know what's weird?
Normally with the shrimp cocktail sauce,
it's very tomatoey.
With this, it's really light.
Like, you get the tomato, it's there,
but it's not, like, in your face.
It's very, like, lemony, citrus, light.
But flavor-wise, it's really well balanced
and kind of refreshing, honestly.
I think it tastes great.
Try it. Give it a try.
Victoria: Oh.
[coughs]
You were being a little dramatic.
Jake: OK, if this truly is
the spiciest shrimp cocktail in America,
there's only one way to test it.
And that is to go way extra
and put way too much of this on a shrimp
and eat it all in one bite
and see what happens.
I might throw up. I might throw up.
Joey: Don't panic!
Jake: Sorry.
[energetic music]
[coughing]
Spicy. [coughs]
Spiciest shrimp cocktail in America.
I think that holds up.
And now it's time to add up
how much money I spent
to get to this shrimp cocktail
overlooking the canal like this.
I spent $15 on gas.
I spent $8 on parking.
The canal is completely free; you just walk up.
The canal's yours. It's beautiful.
I spent $15.95 on America's spiciest shrimp cocktail.
And the bottle of Tums I'm gonna have to buy
to get over this burn, about $4.
So when you add that all up...
[buzzes]
Bing, bing, bing, graphic, graphic.
And,
$42.95.
That might seem like a lot of money,
but it bought me a chance to try
America's spiciest shrimp cocktail
that delivers on that promise,
a scenic skyline view,
and a vibrant city experience.
So, to answer the ultimate question,
was it worth the drive?
Hell yeah it was! It was awesome!
Indianapolis is a great place,
and everybody needs to come here and check it out.
[upbeat music]
St. Elmo sells their cocktail sauce in grocery stores.
This stuff was so good I'm gonna grab a couple bottles
and take them on the road with me.
Also, Joey Chestnut has his own line
of incredible sauces and condiments
found in stores all around the Midwest.
[coughs] That's good stuff.