- We are Sorted, a group of mates from London
exploring the newest and best in the world of food,
whilst trying to have a few laughs along the way.
(laughing)
We've got chefs, we've got normals,
(bleep)
and a whole world of stuff for you to explore,
but everything we do starts with you.
(upbeat music)
- Today is the day you've all been waiting for.
Mike is going up against the 1914 cookbook.
- And fear not, we're not going easy on him.
- In front of Mike is "La Repertoire de la Cuisine",
a book released originally in 1914,
which isn't quite so much a cookbook,
more a reference guide
that expects you to know what the recipes are.
- We've cooked from it several times before,
and last time we did it dawned on us,
Mike has never had a go at this,
and if that video got 20,000 likes, we'd put him in solo.
So, we've put our heads together,
and we found a lovely recipe for him to cook on his own.
- How are you feeling?
- Nervous.
- The recipe we've chosen is on page 222.
- Toot toot toot.
- We would like you to cook omelette norvegienne.
- Genoise, oval shape, on same shape.
Hang on.
(laughing)
Genoise, oval shape, on dish same shape.
Heap some ice cream, aw, to taste.
Cover well with meringue italienne
or preparation omelette souffle.
Decorate quickly in oven.
What?
(laughing)
I mean, I know this has been translated, but by who?
(tranquil music)
- This is omelette norvegienne, a baked Alaska.
So, three components and we want them layered
in the right kind of ratios.
On the bottom, genoise sponge.
So the key to a genoise sponge
is it's kind of similar to Swiss roll sponge,
except it's got added melted butter at the end,
and the method is very different.
It's cooked over a bain-marie.
That traps in air, which is the raising agent,
and then it's baked in a sheet
so it's only a couple centimeters thick,
but golden all over.
- We give him the ice cream,
and then he just has to make the Italian meringue.
Very simple.
Sugar and egg whites,
and you take the sugar up to 115 degrees on the hob,
and then you pour it into stiff peaks of egg whites.
It's all about precision, and it's all about timing.
- Cooled sponge, obviously frozen ice cream.
Even the Italian meringue has to have cooled down
so that you can pipe it neatly
and get nice lines that will color evenly in the oven
and insulate the ice cream in the middle
despite the fact it's in a really hot oven.
Easy, right?
(tranquil music)
- Are you somewhat happy with what you have to start doing?
- No.
- Do you know what you're gonna be presenting to us
in one hour and 45 minutes?
- [Mike] No.
- Well, let's find out.
Cook!
- So, let's find out, firstly, what a genoise is.
Okay, one pound of sugar.
Oh, there's actually a recipe.
16 eggs, whipped on slow fire.
(laughing)
It sounds like a sponge.
- This is also for a professional kitchen,
so for your benefit today
you actually only need to do
a quarter of those measurements.
- You're making it sound like you're doing him a favour,
but actually that includes maths, so you've made it harder.
- [Mike] You have done, you have done.
- He's not Barry.
- I'm rounding down, so 112 grams of everything.
Do you cut it in an oval after it's baked?
And also, that's gonna be a very thin sponge.
So, it's like a baked Alaska.
(cheering)
- Omelette norvegienne is another name for baked Alaska.
- Baked Alaska doesn't even explain better what it was.
(laughing)
Right, let's make this genoise whipped on a slow fire.
So, this is gonna be my slow fire.
Do I whip it in the pan, do I whip it beforehand?
- I think you whip and then you nae nae.
- Sugar's in.
Four eggs, I'm gonna whisk those together.
- [Jamie] He's whisking some sugar there, so.
- Yeah, there's lumps in it, mate.
- I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't.
- So I'm just gonna crack eggs in.
I'm gonna do it one by one,
'cause that's the type of thing that you would do.
- Now Ben, you have previously accused Mike
of unnecessary process.
- At the moment, it's just very organized,
and if you're doing something you don't know,
I think having an organized process is good.
I would also have cracked all four in at once,
but the fact that he hasn't enables him to think through
and make sure he's not rushing into things.
I don't think it's a bad thing.
- Nice Ben, (bleep) sandwich.
Classic (bleep) sandwich there.
(laughing)
- Sugar and eggs, whipped on a slow fire.
- What's a nice gentle way of heating things up?
- Like a simmer.
- Do you simmer eggs?
- Oh I see, like in a bain-marie.
Yes, gotcha, okay cool.
Basically, heating that up so the egg doesn't scramble,
I guess, and melting the sugar.
- And what do you look for from a sponge?
You're beating what into it?
- Air.
There's no raising agent.
- There is.
- Eggs.
Oh, you mean me.
I'm the raising agent.
- You raise me up.
- No, I don't.
(laughing)
I bring you down.
I've been bringing you down for 10 years,
I do not raise you up.
This is knackering.
Oh my goodness.
- Mike, if you want, I'm happy to take over some whisking
whilst you carry on with anything else
that might need doing.
- Yes, okay.
Thanks mate.
- Whoever thought I'd be brought in to help
because of my muscles?
- It's 'cause you offered, mate.
- I'm completely under your direction though,
so you tell me when you want me to stop.
- Can we see a figure of eight in that?
Oh yeah, yeah.
Lovely, thanks mate.
- That's all right.
You let me know if there's anything else you need me to do.
- Oh, I will.
Straight in we're folding in flour and butter, I assume.
Oh, do I whisk it, do I fold it?
I wanna fold it, don't I, but without losing any air.
I hate this bit.
It's going in.
- [James] Would you have gone eggs into flour,
or would you have done the same thing?
- Same thing, but sift to make sure there's no lumps.
- And melted butter, how melted is this.
Jay. - Yes, mate.
- Could you pop this in that microwave
for a little bit, please?
There's loads of flour pockets.
(upbeat music)
I think that's all combined.
What's your problem?
- No problem.
- Vanilla, okay.
That's quite a lot.
- [Ben] Vanilla, full stop, that's all the book says.
- And I did exactly that.
Vanilla.
I'm gonna do it.
- [Ben] What temperature did you preheat your oven to?
- 180, 'cause that's what you bake everything at.
- [Ben] Excellent.
- [Jamie] It's looking smooth, mate.
- Thanks, mate.
So we're in, and it's going in.
Okay, Ebbers.
Set timer for 10 minutes.
- Consider it done.
- Okay, what if I ignored Italian meringue
and made a Swiss meringue,
or what I think is a Swiss meringue?
Which I know is egg whites, whisked up,
and then slow pour sugar.
- Why don't you have a look at the recipe in the book?
- Oh mate, I got it right.
That's an Italian meringue that I know how to make.
- [Jamie] Good.
- Okay Ebbers, what's 16 ounces in grams?
- 450.
- Thanks, Ebbers.
- Okay, Ebbers, stop.
(laughing)
- Okay, Ebbers, volume down.
(laughing)
- I haven't got a spoon here, have I?
- Ladle.
♪ Ladle ladle le hoo hoo. ♪
- [James] I like your vessel.
- [Mike] It's good, isn't it.
- [Jamie] Ladling sugar into a measuring jug.
- To be honest, it's not a science is it?
that you can just cover this.
- Oh, it's all coming back to you.
- I just know that if you wanna make a proper sugar syrup,
from espresso martinis, which I myself as Mike
discovered how to make on my own
by looking them up and then mastering them,
nothing to do with being taught by two chefs,
I know that you make a perfect sugar syrup,
one to one, with a dash of vanilla.
- Simple.
- Well, these two chefs will take a step back
and we don't need to help you at all.
What does the recipe say?
- The recipe says, eight egg whites, beaten stiff,
work in slowly, 16 ounces of sugar cooked to Grand Boulet,
hard ball grade.
Out of interest, what does that mean?
- So Grand Boulet literally means big ball or hard ball,
and that's when you, if you were to dip a little bit of it
at that temperature into cold water,
and set it quickly, it would form a hard ball.
Soft ball means it's malleable in your fingers.
- Is that how they make marbles?
(beep)
- I think that's probably the only bit of information
that's not in that book, that is difficult to measure.
- Whoa, nearly did that the wrong way around.
Egg whites.
- [Jamie] You are separating eggs.
- I know, I like to live on the edge, guys.
Oh!
Oh, that was close.
- [James] Come on, one more, aw.
- Okay, over there, we're leaving it there.
The other thing I think I know
is that it doesn't matter how whisky these get.
- Correct, after you add the sugar.
- [Ben] That's 10 minutes on genoise.
- Oh, lovely.
I was gonna say, I could smell something.
Thank you.
- Are you happy it's done?
- Oh, I don't know.
Here we go.
So I don't want any stuff on my thing.
I don't know, so I'm gonna say that's done.
(exciting music)
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
- [Jamie] What's he doing, what's he doing?
- [Mike] Come on.
- [James] Ebbers, that is unacceptable.
- He's the cake police.
- I feel violated.
- Yeah.
- Beautifully even,
'cause the melted butter is laced through it
you get a wonderful even golden brown color.
- It's starting to get a bit of a caramel-y smell,
but not a huge amount.
Sugar's going in there,
trying to avoid the side of the bowl.
A really slow trickle.
We're looking good, this is looking good.
I always went by the fact that you keep it going
until the side of the bowl is no longer hot.
It's still warmish, but I think that's nearly done now.
Okay, big reveal.
- [Jamie] Oh, yeah.
(exciting music)
- Okay, now what.
Decorate, quickly, in oven.
And I know that decorating means,
it means get a lovely char and a colour on the meringue.
What if I just didn't bake it?
- Just made an Alaska?
- Yeah.
That's baked.
It's got ice cream in it, so it's gonna melt.
- And that's the magic.
- How long does it go in the oven?
Oh, this is so hard.
- [James] I think it says in the recipe.
- It says in the recipe.
It does say in the recipe.
- It does say in the recipe.
Quickly. - Quickly.
- Well maybe I just push it down,
create an imprint, and then go round that with a knife.
This is the bit that probably will go wrong.
(James exclaiming)
- [Jamie] James, that was noise.
What was that noise?
- I like the idea.
He was trying to template it.
However, he just squeezed all the air
out of his lovely sponge.
- All right, let's go for this.
It's oval-ish.
We're keeping this sponge, by the way.
- [Ben] Trifle.
- No food wastage here.
- [Ben] It's come away from the paper perfectly.
- [Mike] Yeah.
Here you go.
- Thank you.
- [Jamie] That was very genoise of you.
(laughing)
- Can I have an ice cream baller?
- [Jamie] He's busy.
- What, munching through bits of dry flour?
- No, it's really nice.
(laughing)
- [Ben] You asked for a baller.
- I can't do that.
- [Ben] I've given you options.
- [Jamie] Yes, yes, yes.
Oh.
(laughing)
- Spread it on, mate, just spread it on.
(upbeat music)
- I mean this is doing nothing,
so I wanna slop.
(laughing)
That is violent.
That'll do, here we go.
Layers, it's all about layers now, isn't it.
- This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen.
- It wasn't accidental that I bought an oval shaped pot,
and I thought if you just cut it that way,
the whole thing would sit on.
- There you go, lovely.
Okay, here we go.
How does this happen, like this.
Bang, on we go.
- [Ben] In theory, the meringue
will insulate the ice cream.
- I just wanna seal it in, then.
Does it need to go into the grill?
I would put it in the grill,
because I think you get a quicker, directer heat.
- [Ben] Direct on which bits,
the top bits or the round bits or all of it?
Very spiky meringue choice,
as opposed to piping bag as provided.
But, it looks like it's worked.
- So I'm gonna bake this in the oven.
It's going in.
- How long is quickly?
- Two minutes.
- Right, it needs to, get out of here, stop tidying down.
I appreciate it, thank you very much,
but this needs to come out.
That can actually do with a little bit longer.
- [Jamie] Get back, clean up, clean up, clean up, clean up.
- Ben, clean up.
- I can't give it any longer than that.
- Like a souffle, it's such a time-y dessert.
At that point it's taken to the table and celebrated.
- It looks great.
- That was stressful.
(applause)
Thank you for all of your help.
- That's all right.
(laughing)
(bleep) I helped more than they did.
I melted butter, I whisked eggs.
First things first.
(applause)
- Fair play.
- [Jamie] You've made a baked Alaska, mate.
- I'm also going in quick. - I'm so nervous.
- [Ben] 'Cause it is so time-sensitive.
Is there still ice cream in the middle of this?
There absolutely is.
- [Mike] Oh, yes!
- [Jamie] Yes, you put something in the oven
with ice cream in it,
and there is still ice cream inside it.
- [Mike] Here goes.
- Cheers.
- That's cold.
- And yet the meringue is a little warm,
and a little toasty, with those lovely caramelized bits.
- You can taste the different parts
of the toasting of the meringue,
which I'm very happy about,
and I'm mostly happy about the fact that this is solid.
- I know you might not want to use this as a benchmark.
- No.
- But if I had made that,
(laughing)
I would be so proud of myself.
- I am really proud.
- You've absolutely nailed the vanilla, full stop.
It has got good vanilla flavour,
not just the ice cream but the sponge as well.
- Could have done with a little bit longer, couldn't it.
And I should've sieved the flour,
because there are pockets of flour in it.
- [James] I think the sponge is good.
- [Mike] How about my meringue?
It's a bit airy, like it's got a funny texture.
- I think what you did was start whipping the whites.
- And then stopped. - Too early.
- Oh.
- You over-whipped the whites,
so by the time you had put the sugar in,
I think the white were a little bit over-whipped.
- I didn't think you could that.
Interesting.
- You can't do it once you put the sugar in.
- Right.
- You can't over-whip it once you put the sugar in.
- Oh yeah, I got that confused.
- But you were bang on on the whole kind of,
I only wanna start whipping it when the temperature's near.
It was just a little bit off.
- [Mike] Damn.
- [Ben] It's a classic.
- Well, thanks for making that happen, everyone.
I am actually glad it did, actually.
Yeah, I'm proud.
I am proud, and I'd like to do it again better,
but not in this format.
(laughing)
- Well, I think the big question is,
have we used every part of the 1914 cookbook?
- [Mike] We've exhausted it, haven't we?
- Have we done it?
Is there something else we can do?
Is there another cookbook that might be similar?
- Comment down below, what do you want to see next?
More of 1914?
Or a completely different cookbook,
in which case, which one?
- Let's go older.
- No, let's go Modernist cuisine, newer.
You're classically trained, now.
(laughing)
- That's the nicest lie anyone's ever told me to my face.
- You're a classically trained pastry chef.
- Thanks guys.
- Good job.
- Well done, mate.
(applause)
- Thank you.
- See, he can do it when he thinks about it.
If you think Mike deserves a like, give this video a like.
- Otherwise, we'll see you on Sunday at 4:00 p.m.
for another remote controlled special.
It's gonna be mayhem.
- [Ben] Fun, fun, fun.
- [Mike] As we've mentioned,
we don't just make top quality YouTube videos.
- [Jamie] Lol.
- [Mike] We've built the Sorted Club,
where we use the best things we've learnt
to create stuff that's hopefully interesting
and useful to other food lovers.
Check it out if you're interested,
thank you for watching, and we'll see you in a few days.
(beep)
- Baz, we've done the maths, mate.
We don't need you this side any more,
yeah no, we're good, we're good.
(laughing)