- Hey guys, I know it's Thursday,
so you might be expecting an episode of "Basics,"
but I have a special surprise for you, instead.
I'm excited and honored to introduce
a new show on the channel, starring Sohla El-Waylly.
Where we put her considerable knowledge and skill set
to the test in a twisted cooking challenge.
This new show was made possible
by some recent sponsorships on the channel
and some amazing new additions to Team Babish.
And of course, your unending kindness and support.
It's thrilling to be able to grow the channel
in new directions with new people.
And today, thanks to you, the channel takes on a new name,
the Babish Culinary Universe or BCU.
So let's kick it off
with the first episode of "Stump Sohla."
The second episode comes out this Saturday,
I really hope you guys enjoy it.
And thank you from the bottom of my heart
for continually trying new things with me
over the past five years.
Hey, what's up guys? I'm Andrew Rae.
- And I'm Sohla El-Waylly.
- And today we're talking mac and cheese.
I love mac and cheese.
- Yeah, it's good.
- Yeah, it's pretty good. - It's good.
Cheese.
- Mac.
- What's not to like?
- So we're gonna make what different kinds
of mac and cheese today?
Ladies and Gentlemen,
it's time to stump Sohla! (audience applauding)
Sohla El-Waylly, are you ready to spin the wheel?
(upbeat jazzy music) - There's a wheel?
- Yes, there's a wheel.
It's right in front of you. (audience laughing)
This is the official Stump Sohla Wheel.
This is what's going to put a spin
on what you're cooking today.
Well, how about it audience?
Cheer her on! (audience applauding)
Give that wheel of spin! (wheel clicking)
Oh, 18th century.
That means you need to make mac and cheese
in the style it would be made in the 18th century.
What do you think?
- Did they have mac and cheese in the 18th century?
- I have no idea.
- There was no Kraft?
- I can't be sure, it is an old brand.
- Probably no Barilla elbow pasta?
- Again, this could be a legacy family Italian brand.
- Okay, so I'm gonna have to make my pasta,
make my cheese, and probably cook over an open fire.
- Probably.
- All right. Yeah, that sounds fun, yeah.
- Well, Sohla, as usual I can't wait to try it.
And I'm glad I don't have to make it.
We'll see you on the other side.
(footsteps shuffling)
(Sohla sighing)
(upbeat jazzy music)
- 18th century mac and cheese.
It's not gonna look anything
like the mac and cheese from right now,
but you know, it's the 18th century.
Okay. Let me write this down.
We're gonna do it over an open flame.
We'll make pasta out of some heritage stone-ground flour,
which is pretty easy to find these days.
I think I'm gonna use a lot of cheese,
because back then they died young.
There was no concern, long-term health.
People just ate all the cheese they wanted to eat
and then they died.
Was cow milk as common?
Maybe it needs to be sheep's milk?
I dunno, I dunno.
This might not be good.
Yeah, I'll look at some books. We'll figure this out.
All right, so 18th century,
I don't think they have an induction burner.
So I'm gonna try and cook everything over a fire.
I'm kind of worried about building a fire,
'cause I've not done that before.
(gentle folk music)
Let me gather my kindling.
I've not done any research on how to start a fire,
but I feel like I'm gonna put this in there
and then get that going.
And then put wood on top.
We've got a couple of rocks
and I feel like if I hit them together,
something will happen.
All right, we're just going in.
Huh. Huh.
Let me figure out my form.
I feel like I'm gonna, it's in my eye!
All right, maybe this isn't gonna work.
How do we lie?
I think this works, you know,
back then didn't have like communal ovens
that were just always on.
We borrowed some of that eternal flame
to light our 18th century fire.
Hey, it works!
This is a lot easier
when you're trying to make fire with fire.
Who knew?
Things are happening.
Okay, well, this is gonna burn down a bit
and I'm going to make my spaetzle batter next.
So I know we're doing mac and cheese,
but pasta today is made with really finely ground semolina.
And I don't imagine that they had flour ground that fine.
So I wanna go for more rustic shape of pasta.
And turns out spaetzle, some historians claim,
was invented in the early 1700s.
So it feels like a perfect way to go.
And some people say that the original mac and cheese
was made with spaetzle.
But it was just spaetzle with a whole bunch of cheese,
but we're still gonna do a cream sauce.
Should we? I don't know.
We'll see what happens.
There might be hotdogs in there.
(hot dog crashing) Oh God, oh no! (laughs)
Let's get in there.
Ah!
Cooking used to be a true labor of love.
Now we just turned on a stand mixer.
But look at that!
Okay, I barely have been mixing
but because we're using this high-protein flour,
it's already getting really nice gluten development.
Okay, so now I'm gonna let this rest,
we're gonna get our water boiling.
We're gonna start making our bechamel,
and I'm gonna grill another hot dog.
Oh God.
(fire popping) Oh my God. Why is it so loud?
It was so quiet this whole time.
This looks like an authentic 18th century torture device.
(fire exploding) Whoa!
(upbeat jazzy music)
Okay, so the last time we were here,
the concrete at the bottom of the pit started to explode.
So we got a little grill, filled it up with stuff.
And we're gonna just pretend
that this is a raging 18th century fire.
18th century, 17th? 18th century fire.
Oh, it's still scary.
(grunting)
Ooh! Okay.
All right, that feels secure.
I'm gonna just do a squat.
(gentle guitar music)
Yeah!
So what do I do now?
I'm gonna start working on bechamel.
Why the hell not?
Okay, I'm gonna start with some butter.
Look at her go.
(gentle classical music)
Look at that go, look at it melt.
I don't know what I'm doing anymore.
What a fun life, huh?
(groaning)
All right, so I want about equal parts flour and butter.
Perhaps that was a little too much flour.
There's no turning back now.
Hey guys, this is actually coming out okay.
That looks good.
I'm gonna start adding the milk.
The 18th century, you know,
they didn't know how to put lids with handles.
This is it. I got stumped.
Hold on, okay.
(laughing)
All I know that nobody help me.
I don't think that's gonna work.
- Somebody help her please. - No, no! (laughs)
- Yeah! - (laughs) I did it.
(crew clapping) Thank you.
Oh God, oh my God.
When I was a kid, I would start little fires
in these little holes that I would dig and I'd take.
(crew laughing) I would take,
hold on, hold on! (laughs)
I would take a walnut shell
and pretend the little walnut shells were my pots.
Then I'd put them in the fire
and I'd make a tiny, tiny bit of rice,
bake a little small cake.
I didn't have any friends.
You really did have to put a lot more
love and stuff into food before.
Oh God! This glove!
I'm really starting to feel the heat.
Corduroy apron was not the best choice.
I wanted to get overalls for this.
But denim wasn't invented until much later.
- Was corduroy around? - No.
(man laughing)
(groans)
The spelt gives it a really nice nuttiness.
And that's actually really tasty.
This is not as bad as I thought it was gonna be.
Let's boil some spaetzle.
Spaetzle, spaetzle, spaetzle?
(groans) Oh yeah, we have bubblage.
(sighs) I haven't done this before,
but I've seen it online.
We're gonna wet the board.
That's supposed to help it not stick.
Okay, so the goal is I want to have a line of dough
that I'm gonna cut.
And let's give it a whirl.
Hey!
Guys, I think it's working!
Look at that. Look at us go.
Look at that go, oh God, stickage.
Let me see, I'm gonna pull the nood out and taste.
I feel like these kinds of noodles,
usually when they float, they're done.
Spaetzle!
So I guess I'm just gonna do this for a while.
Until we have enough to fill up the skillet.
Look at that, I've come a long way
from just boiling water in walnut shells.
Okay, spaetzle, good to go.
Bechamel, cheese, now I'm gonna bring it all together.
That's it, guys. We did it!
So easy.
Why get this stuff out of the box?
Going to add some Gruyere from a basket.
So 18th century.
Okay, we're starting to smooth out.
Oh my God, my arms are tired.
Ooh, huh? You don't care.
Okay, now let's add some curds.
Cheese curds melt really easily and quickly.
That's why I'm adding it at the end.
So we get little stretch, little goo, little curd.
I feel like there's twice as much cheese
as there's spaetzle at this point.
Homestretch, buddy. (groans)
Oh yeah.
♪ Ooh, baby, I love my cheese. ♪
I don't know.
I thought this through,
you didn't think I thought this through.
I have a plan.
I don't know if it's gonna like pull,
but we're getting good bubblage.
So, it's nice and bubbly.
Cheese is nice and melty.
Everything's folded together.
I think we're ready to go.
Ready to eat!
It only five hours to get here, guys.
We did it. We did it, guys! (laughs)
- You made 18th century mac and cheese.
- Yeah. I guess so.
- Well, it looks unbelievable.
I was in awe the entire time, watching you work.
- I'm gonna be awe watching you trying to eat with that.
- [Andrew] It feels so medieval to me.
- There's so much cheese. I don't know where to go.
- There we go.
It's delicious.
It's so good.
- Cheesy? - So cheesy.
- Wheaty?
- Yes, the Gruyere brings all the funk,
but it's got this nuttiness to balance it all out,
thanks to the whole wheat everything.
I am just gonna say, I think you were not stumped by this.
Do you think you were stumped by this?
- No. I don't think I was stumped.
I think that the fire pit was stumped.
This was a big challenge for-
- Sohla stumped the fire pit.
- Yeah, I guess so. - Big time.
(fire pit exploding) - Whoa!
- This is truly an accomplishment and-
- It was fun. - An incredible way
to kick off your new show, "Stump Sohla."
And I'm looking forward to seeing
what you whip up next time.
Check it out. Stay tuned.
Will we stump Sohla?
This time, I will not look at you.
I'm going to stay confused until you tell me to stop.
- I'm actually confused, so.
(Sohla laughing) - [Man] Use that feeling.
- I'm afraid.
- You're afraid? I'm the one who has to cook this.
- I've peed my pants. - There's more pants.
- There's always more pants.
- I had a fire going like this in my apartment
with the flute shut.
- [Andrew] What does this have to do
with 18th century mac and cheese?
- This has nothing to do with 18th century mac and cheese.
Am I gonna eat it? - Yes. (laughs)
You just made me film the whole thing.
Yes, you're gonna eat it. (both laughing)
Yes, there's a wheel.
We got a wheel, guys?
(laughing) Is there a wheel?
He's home sick? The wheel has COVID?
Topical.
(gentle classical music)