(oil bubbling)
- [Mike] Go on Ebbers.
- [Jamie] Tryin' to work out.
(glass breaking) (gasping)
Hi, we are SORTED.
- [Ben] And we've been eating and traveling together
for well over eight years
and we reckon we've worked out a formula or a set of rules
to help us uncover unique, incredible experiences,
that aren't just at the top of a web search.
- [Jamie] We have 48 hours in Puerto Rico,
so we need to make it count.
- [Mike] And to make things interesting,
at the end of our trip, Jamie and Baz will go up against Ben
in a Beat the Chef Puerto Rican cooking challenge.
- [Barry] And we don't know what dish we'll be making.
- [Ben] So, we need to learn as much as possible
about Puerto Rican food and culture beforehand.
- [Jamie] And we'll be using our lost and hungry rules
along the way to try and find those experiences
we'll remember forever.
(upbeat dance music)
- [Mike] Ben and I were definitely behind on points,
and in Ben's case, research for the Beat the Chef Challenge
later that day.
So, we hatched a food-crammed plan.
- [Ben] The day begins well.
Strong coffee and water bread, Puerto Rican style.
Me too.
(laughing) How did that make...
That was just for your viewing pleasure.
That was not supposed to make the edit.
No pleasure, no pleasure.
- [Ben] So this is new to me.
This is Pan de Agua, a kind of local bread.
Apparently they prove it in a cold oven
with water in the bottom and as the oven warms up,
it starts to prove and then bake,
you get a very kind of thin crust.
It tastes like normal bread, baguette like.
But it has a different textured crust.
(slurps coffee)
Great, gaw, you need con leche, don't you? (laughs)
- [Mike] And then it was quickly on to another suggestion.
- [Ben] Very excited for the next location.
We are doing suckling pig on the Pork Highway.
- [Mike] The Pork Highway is a long stretch
of food kiosks surrounded by forest,
serving Puerto Rico's famous suckling pig.
At weekends, it's packed with local families
eating, drinking, and dancing.
Today was Wednesday.
So, it's a Wednesday, and it's not even lunchtime.
Not particularly busy, but that doesn't stop the food
looking and smelling delicious.
That is one hell of a plate.
Straight off chunks of big pork been hacked
with a machete, straight through the bone.
Some of it's on the bone.
You've got a wonderful, crispy skin.
And obviously, it's the whole pig so different cuts of meat.
So you get all the different textures and tastes.
I kinda like that.
And plantain, a whole plantain.
Looks awesome!
So, it is salty.
It's well-seasoned, but it's also surprisingly sweet.
You know when you put applesauce on pork?
The two compliment each other.
It sounds stupid, but this almost tastes sweet enough
to have had the sauce on it already.
It obviously hasn't, but the meat is so sweet and tender.
(crunching)
You can hear that.
That is excellent.
Wow!
That is the crispiest thing I've ever eaten, ever!
And then, in true Puerto Rican style,
within 10 minutes, there was a crowd building
and live music.
(upbeat dance music)
Which inspired Ebbers to make a purchase.
Something has caught my eye.
(upbeat dance music)
Gracias. - [Shop Keeper] Thank you.
Mission accomplished.
(upbeat dance music)
Ta, ta, tahhh, I want maracas (laughs).
- [Mike] Whereas Jay and Baz look to recover
from their rainforest hike the day before.
- [Jamie] Right, we've come to the beach.
The beach is just the other side of these buildings.
But these buildings are important, they're kiosks.
All of them have lots of different snack foods.
They have full-blown meals if you want them.
Great place to have a drink, have a beer.
Just relax and I feel like we need
some relaxation time, so...
- [Baz] We've worked hard.
- [Jamie] We have worked hard.
- [Baz] Yeah. - [Jamie] Yeah.
(upbeat music)
- [Mike] Wow! (laughing) Ebbers!
- [Ben] Buckle up.
It's worth a drive out of the city for that.
- [Mike] By that, do you mean your hat?
Well the hat is also worth driving out of town for, yeah.
- [Mike] Which brings us on to our next destination...
Now obviously, when someone recommends an ice cream
in a town that's a three hour round trip away,
you say, "Yes".
So, off we set for Ponce.
(upbeat rock music)
- [Ben] Almost like a film set.
- [Mike] Yeah, it's like Universal Studios made it.
(laughing)
Just a little bit older and a little bit more real.
When I heard how far we were driving for an ice cream,
I thought, "Say Yes," that's the rules.
Could be an adventure.
Internally, I was thinking, "Mike, you're crazy."
But actually that drive was awesome!
- [Mike] It was nice. - [Ben] So scenic, I loved it.
Okay, ice cream.
(upbeat rock music)
Tamarind, tamarindo.
It's like no ice cream you've ever had.
It's like a cross between gelato,
in it's kind of density.
And yet, sorbet-like in the way that it
dissolves and melts, it's ice like.
Ahhh! I've got brain freeze. (laughing)
- [Mike] Ebbers managed to reduce
a stunning fountain to a sink.
The prettiest hand-washing facility for King's Cream.
- [Mike] And another quick stop before heading
to the big challenge.
Always follow where the locals eat.
Pineapple and grape.
Pina aluve, very sweet, very syrupy.
Unlike King's Cream, which is like natural fruit.
More syrupy but on a hot day like today,
you've gotta go for it.
(upbeat rock music)
Well, given that I have no idea what the challenge is,
the only thing I have to fear is normals.
(grooving guitar music)
(can opens)
(cash register chings)
- [Baz] Yeah!
I wanted to say I'm having a terrible time,
but I can't.
- [Baz] Yesterday, we were on top of that.
- [Jamie] We hiked for almost an hour
to get to the top of that.
- [Baz] Yeah, hard work. - [Jamie] Hard work.
In a rain forest, a mountain.
- [Baz] Yeah. - [Jamie] We've earned this.
(cash register chings)
(upbeat dance music)
- [Baz] You alright?
I'm having a very lovely time, Barry Taylor.
A very lovely time.
- [Mike] But, would that lovely time last
now that the final scores were in?
Turns out yeah, not even close.
And here's how they celebrated.
(splashing water)
Can I point out, we didn't choose those shorts.
The short, shorts chose you.
No!
(upbeat dance music) (camera clicking)
Whew!
Right, can you set the camera to slow motion?
Why? (dramatic bluesy rock music)
The worst thing is, they're prescription sun glasses,
so I couldn't actually see where I was going (laughing)
once I took them off.
- [Mike] But the fun was over for now.
It was time to try and beat the chef.
The time has come.
Ebbers is ready to loose.
That's not gonna be the case.
(laughing)
We're here with Chef Jen.
Hola!
And she's going to show us how to make an authentic
Puerto Rican dish, but then we're going to go up against
each other to recreate
and Jen's gonna pick which one's best.
Sound confident, we've got this.
And Jen's gonna pick ours as the best.
Yeah!
So today we are making the dish of mofongo!
How many mofongo have you had in the last 48 hours?
- [Ben] Just the one.
- [Jamie] Us too.
- [Ben] A delicious one, yep.
Alright, so we're going to first start off
with the actual protein base.
We're doing camarones a la Creoria.
So first we are creating aromatic olive oil base
with a bit of garlic.
To this fragrant oil, we're going to add a bit
of our adobo, our Puerto Rican spice blends.
We then gonna add mixture of fresh veggies.
We're just going to caramelize it a bit.
We're gonna make sure that you have a very aromatic oil,
that you will then baste the shrimp with.
So when it gets to this point, this is where I like
to throw in my Creole sauce.
In this Creole sauce you have a blend
of tomato sauce, paste and capers.
Following guys?
- [Jamie] Got it.
I think so. Got it.
- [Jen] Any questions?
I'm gonna finish this off over here
with a little bit of cilantro.
And that's it guys.
This is camarones in salsa Creoria,
and this is going to go around our beautiful mofongo.
So, for our plantains, for the mofongo,
you want to deep fry the plantains.
Keep them nice and crispy.
And we're just going to blend and layer as we go.
Make it nice and smooth, a little creamy.
From here, I'm gonna add a bit of that manteca.
From here I like to have fresh, raw garlic,
the crispy chicharron.
And then add a little bit of the adobo again.
This is something that you have a la menu.
This is something that you cannot have like minutes later,
it's something your mom just pops into the saute pan,
smashes it and it's like bon appetit.
Here's your meal. All right!
Just like a good sandwich, see?
(laughing)
(upbeat dance music)
And there you go, guys.
That's the mofongo.
(upbeat dance music)
Any questions, guys?
- [Jamie] What are you looking for from the winning dishes?
- [Jen] Precise technique and flavor.
I wouldn't mind having your own twist to it.
Oh, yes!
We've got this, we've got this.
I'd be open to that.
I'd be open to that, to an extent.
Alright, guys, the sun is setting,
so you guys only have a few minutes to do this.
Ready, set, go!
Leave the hat out of it. (laughing)
We've already got our plantains frying.
- [Baz] Come on, don't forget, this is the star of the show.
We can't screw this bit up.
Says the guy standing there doing nothing.
I'm also keeping an eye on my frying plantain.
Got some gorgeous shrimp here.
They just need peeling.
I'm getting ahead on that.
Whilst I'm doing this, you can peel some shrimps.
Okay.
Ope, oh no, Jamie.
My twist, because the mofongo is served with shrimp,
I'm gonna add all of this wonderful shrimpy flavor
into the oil to cook out with the plantain.
Oh, I'm so chefy.
Our twist comes later.
As we wait for the plantain, enjoy the last golden hour.
- [Mike] Ain't no amount of magic gonna make that hat
look good, mate.
(laughing)
So hey, shhh, oy!
- [Baz] Let's do a tester.
- [Jamie] Do a tester.
It's done, mate, a guarantee that's done.
(upbeat electronic music)
Ope, the garlic.
Adobo. Flavor, pow!
- [Jamie] Chicaronnes.
Add in a really good pork.
- [Baz] Every bit matters, mate.
There's some panic going on.
I know, he's overcooked his plantain.
- [Jamie] He thinks he's got it.
The plantain's fine.
What you wanna do, mate, is wait for that pan to cool down
before you put the garlic in.
- [Ben] It's super hot.
Or otherwise it will burn.
I think it's good, I now gotta loosen up the edges.
Can you pass me a knife?
(thumping)
You hit the bottom, haven't you?
- [Jamie] Hit the bottom, make a wish,
abracadabra, Bob is your uncle!
(high five slap)
Come on!
So, plantain, when it's still hot,
I need to get it mashing.
In the meantime, I'm gonna start off the shrimp, so.
In with the garlic, get that wonderful infused flavor.
As soon as you can start to smell it, then the adobo spice.
I got that wonderful, fragrant oil and into it goes
the trio of peppers, duo of onions.
Well then we've got our garlic smelling amazing.
We've added in our onions and our peppers.
They're starting to cook, we went them to go nice and sweaty
but not get to the point--
Nice and sweaty.
- [Jamie] Just like me!
Our twist is coming up now.
Prawns, they're going in.
Get them cooking off.
A tomato vodka sauce is a thing.
What about a tomato rum sauce.
Yeah! Whoo!
We're cooking!
Yeah, blow it out!
All right, guys.
(glass breaking) (gasping)
(laughing)
Right, luckily, blue beater bed,
we got another one of these, made earlier,
let's try this one.
Ta da! (laughing)
- [Jamie] Just gotta rip some cilantro into mine.
What are you doing?
Jamie, we agreed I was gonna be in charge of plating.
(laughing)
All right, guys.
Three, two, one, stop cooking!
Whatever happens, at least we didn't break a bowl.
Whatever happens, at least I've still got
chicharron left. (laughing)
All right, great try, guys.
Great pacing. Great try.
Yes. Great try.
Great attempt, very exciting and exhilarating version
of making mofongo with camarones con salsa Creoria.
So this is the benchmark, guys.
Get the sauce, get the shrimp.
Oh, the crunch of that chicharron.
Wow. Wow, that is sensational!
That hit of raw garlic is awesome.
And then the picante of the caper and the tomato
with the prawn, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, yum!
Isn't it?
All right, Ebbers, now we're going to you.
I've eaten a lot since I've been in Puerto Rico,
so I did a slightly smaller portion.
Nothing to do with the plate shards--
Oh, yeah, sure. In the plantain.
Love the texture of the shrimp, the acidity in the sauce.
J-Baz it's your turn now, let's give this a shot.
I got a nice bite of cilantro.
Well, you didn't hold back on the flavor.
(laughing)
- [Ben] Is that the first time you tasted it?
Yeah! (laughing)
Bring it, bring it, bringin' it, bringin' it.
You guys all brought it.
All right, and the 2019 winner
for the best mofongo goes to...
(chill music)
Barry and Jay!
(cheering)
We beat the chef!
Bam, bam, bam. Come on!
So the reason why I decided to choose Barry and Jamie's
is based on flavor.
I just felt Puerto Rican soul in your dish, I did.
Look, Jen, I owe you a plate, I'm sorry.
(laughing) I'll post it back.
(smooth guitar music)
We sat and ate with Jen, overlooking the beautiful views,
and spoke about, how in our short time in Puerto Rico,
we'd been overwhelmed by the kindness,
friendliness and hospitalities of the locals here.
Despite recent tough times, you could really see
how caring for your fellow human was second nature
to Puerto Ricans.
And they pass it on at every opportunity they can.
(smooth guitar music)
(upbeat dance music)
- [Camera Man] He can't decide who's leading.