(bright music)
- Hello everyone, and welcome
to another "Pretentious Ingredients" episode.
- Now, today is a very special day
because we have both a normal and a chef
in the hot seats, which means we get all perspectives.
- Double whammy.
(upbeat music)
- Alright boys, number one, lift the cloche.
- Please.
- No, I feel like you're prince
of pretentious. - Fine.
I've taken that title, and I'm proud of it!
- Oh, straight off.
- Purple potatoes.
I've seen these before.
- I think what I love about exploring new spuds
is that we begin to kind of expand our repertoire.
There are hundreds, if not thousands
of species of spud from the Andes,
and we only cook with about four or five of them.
These are different.
- You're backing yourself on potatoes then?
- [Chef] Yep.
- Well boys, you're absolutely right, these are potatoes.
But these are vitelotte potatoes.
Originally from Peru and Bolivia,
they've been cultivated in France
since the 1850s as a gourmet delicacy.
In Germany, they're also known as truffle potato.
- All of what you just said was new to me
apart from the purple potato bit.
- Yeah, I'd have said the same.
- Vitelotte I've never heard of,
but the idea of cultivating new potatoes in the late 1800s-
- Something you used to do? (everyone laughing)
- Very familiar territory, especially in France.
I remember halfway up the Andes, along an Inca trail,
a community of people who were there
to look after ancient varieties of potato.
- These are very rare
and therefore highly valued potatoes,
combined with their amazing taste and vibrant colour
and their limited supply
is why they're being featured on this particular format.
Question is, should we taste some?
(upbeat funky music)
- [Chef] It's not potato coloured.
- No, far from it.
That is not what I was expecting.
- What I've been told by the food team
is that they prepared you a purple potato salad
with creme fresh.
- [Chef] Nice.
(upbeat funky music)
It's a cross between waxy and fluffy.
So some of the edges are a little bit fluffy,
but it's mostly a waxy potato.
- Are you tasting any difference to a normal potato?
- It's confusing me on what I'm tasting.
I'm almost looking to taste the colour, but I can't find it.
- I know what you mean,
you're expecting something different.
If I ate this with my eyes closed,
I'd say that is a deliciously seasoned potato salad.
It's cold, and it is combination of textures
from some that's mashed just enough to bind it,
some still chunky, waxy, a little bit floury,
it's kind of a combination of the two.
It's kind of got Jersey royal vibes in it,
it's like you know when you cook them, you steam them,
and they taste buttery before you put the butter on.
- It quite feels fresh, it feels light for a pile of potato.
- And maybe the colour lends to that
because it kind of looks almost mythical.
- Does anything about these potatoes shout out to you
as being pretentious?
- Only comparison I have to these
are things like heritage tomatoes.
In a salad look amazing,
they taste and smell extra tomato-y
'cause they're on the vine, and they're super fresh,
and they're not pretentious,
and I don't think this is either.
- How much do you think we paid for
a two-kilogram bag of vitelotte potatoes?
- I mean, I reckon for two kilos of these
we are thinking about their rarity,
the fact they've almost been cultivated back from the past.
I would say you could happily pay £7 for it.
- I'll go a little bit lower, go like six.
- £12.95.
- So I'm closest, do I get a point?
- You get a point, yeah fine.
You've just invented that, well done.
- In terms of how they're sourced in the story,
that makes sense.
- I've recently read a book by a guy called Dan,
and it's called "Eating to Extinction".
And it is all about things,
special ingredients or dishes
that should be preserved 'cause they're trying to
almost create a living museum of food
and bring certain traditions back to life.
So my £12 is a contribution towards that.
- However, I'm going to have to ask you
whether vitelotte potatoes, are they pretentious or not?
- Are they everyday ingredients?
No.
Are they pretentious?
No more than walking into an art gallery
and looking at artwork that's been preserved, so no.
- Oh, Barry is thinking.
- All that aside,
at the end of the day, it tastes like potato.
You're paying a lot of money for a purple one.
Pretentious.
- Ohh, and that's why we have a chef and a normal.
- You're allowed to think that.
Go rolling, but you're allowed to think
- Let's move on to number two.
(upbeat music)
We're here now.
- Hello.
Number two, lift the cloche.
We're back to our favourite unidentifiable powders
in a clear glass bowl.
- It looks like a cross between a spice mix,
sugar, and bee pollen.
- That's what it looks like.
What does it smell like?
- Just like Biscoff.
- Very, very yeasty.
- And very salty.
It is miso crumbs.
That sounds pretentious, but it would be on a menu.
- It reminds me
of caramel's white chocolate, that bitterness from that.
But with miso.
- If I had a perfectly baked piece of white fish,
I would wanna sprinkle that
on top, and it would be absolutely delicious.
- This is Nobu's miso powder.
So Japanese chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa,
chef and restauranteur, known for Japanese
and Peruvian cuisines done as fusion.
Well they reckon that it'll enrich the savoury flavours
of meat and fish and makes it easy to take everyday dinners
to the next level.
- I'd like it on cheese and toast.
- Yeah, that's it, yeah.
- There's the line. (laughs)
It takes a while cause it starts salty,
and you've gotta wait for it to literally
hydrate in your mouth,
and you're like, "Oh, miso paste."
- My favourite thing that I've learned about miso recently is
that it burns very easily.
So you can't cook with it.
You can't, don't marinate in it, don't cook in it,
but use it later towards the end of the cooking process.
- You do burn most things easily.
- This is the signature Nobu seasoning,
and it actually made its way
into the first Nobu cookbook all
of those years ago and has been used ever since.
- [Barry] Hmm.
- So Evers, you said this was white miso.
It's actually a mixture of red and white miso.
It's been oven-dried and then blitzed to a powder.
So the red miso brings the hearty strong umami flavour,
whilst the white is light and sweet.
Would you like to taste it on something?
(adventurous music)
Salmon sashimi, chives, garlic crisps,
extra virgin olive oil, Nobu miso powder.
(adventurous music)
- You got that fresh fattiness of the salmon.
And then you've got the peppery fattiness of the olive oil.
Not greasy, but it's got that fruitiness to it.
And then you go in for miso, which is just umami
and wraps it 'round in like a big cosy Japanese blanket.
- Yeah. Fresh, zingy, crunchy.
Bit of slimy.
It adds an earthiness to the dish.
Like it's one of those things that we've used miso a lot
recently in our psychic recipes,
and now I can't stop using it.
- It's unbelievable, isn't it?
It's the perfect normal shortcut I find, which is a bit
of that in the right place at the right time,
and it makes you cook better than you can.
- Well, they reckon that this powder, because it's dry,
is perfect for a topping to a salad or using
as a dry rub on chicken or fish before you grill it.
- It loves here the fish fat
and the unsaturated fat of the olive oil.
But dairy fat, we know that miso and butter work nicely.
You would also work on mash.
- It is a dream.
It is the match made in heaven.
- Again, dairy fat, ice cream, pana cotta, Greek yoghourt.
It would lend itself to that as well.
What I do think is really interesting is recently
we've been learning a lot more
about fermentation from Dr. Johnny Drape.
And the idea that you could ferment
and make misos from other things other than soybeans.
We made our own with chickpeas at one point.
Could you make that paste, then dehydrate it,
then crack it in a food processor
to a crumb and suddenly take your cooking up there
with something that's relatively easy in principle
but very difficult to perfect.
- Which leads us onto price.
How much do you think we paid for the Nobu miso powder?
- €5.50
- I think for that pot without the Nobu,
I think I'd agree.
- Ohh.
- But I think with the added brand and trust
that comes with that, I would go €7.50.
- We bought the Nobu miso powder for €19.99.
- 20 quid.
Okay, that's a lot more expensive.
But I was still closer, so I get a point.
(hosts laugh)
- Goddamnit! (hand slaps table)
(hosts laugh)
- I think you could elevate a lot
of more affordable ingredients
and, therefore, spend the money on that.
It is a lot, but I can see it.
- It's a fantastic product.
But spending €19 on a pot of seasoning just seems
for me for everyday cooking is a step you far.
With a special treat, maybe?
(hosts laugh)
- Well, pretentious or not?
- It is not a pretentious idea.
- Nope. - I think it's genius.
But if I saw it on a menu,
I think miso crumb is pretentious.
I think the price shifts it towards that.
I'm gonna say, yes.
Pretentious.
- I agree.
Pretentious.
- It's one that I say 100 percent pretentious,
and I love it for every centimetre of it's pretentiousness.
- Yeah, I agree.
(upbeat music)
- Boys, we're gonna mix things up slightly here.
Please do.
We're going to tell you a little bit
about this product that's gonna fill those glasses.
So this product, founded 10 years ago
by three visionaries from Chile,
from the Patagonia region, which is south, South America.
Only 3,600 bottles produced a year.
- Why isn't he telling us what this thing is?
- He's changed the game a lot.
Where's the cloche?
- [Host In Pink] Boys.
(glass clinks and slides on table)
This is Apsu premium single origin water.
- Okay, right.
- We're on board.
- We're good, we're good, we're good.
- This is by a company called Absu.
The mission of the company focuses
on harvesting exclusive waters
in Patagonia in small volume production.
Doing it in an environmentally friendly way.
The harvesting not only is so difficult
that they can't use traditional bottling methods.
So they had to develop technology to
identify these glacial springs.
And they also use profits to raise funds to
support social projects in Chile.
The source for the water is glacier water
from Grand Campo Nevado in sub Antarctic Chilean Patagonia.
We've spoken about some details.
Let's give it a try.
Now, before you do anything,
would you like to learn how to taste water?
So traditionally, when you taste water,
you actually taste it at room temperature.
However, the particular source of these
in Patagonia is around four degrees.
So smell, taste,
wash it around your mouth, and then swallow.
- Do you ever have that thing where, you know
when you freeze ice tap water and you put it
into ice cube trays, then just like suck on an ice cube?
It has a kind of like freezer taste to it, doesn't it?
- You know what, I have closed my mind a little bit
because there's like, water is the most precious thing
in the world next to light, and it tastes delicious.
So I'm so thankful to better get it outta my tap purified
and have it at home.
I don't want it flown half around the world for me
no matter how beautiful it might taste.
- I kind of agree with you,
and I think what is genius here is
that they have marketed it
to a niche demographic who are prepared to pay silly amounts
of money for it, I presume.
And some of that money is then taken and put back into
projects that are helping support a very changing world.
So I genuinely do think water tastes different.
If you have water at home that you're used to,
if you go on a holiday to another part of the country,
go up to the Midlands, taste it, have one from London,
they will taste different like wine, like coffee, like tea.
It has a terroir attached to it.
It tastes of the geology of the region.
- Final thing to note
is that it pairs really well with food.
An awesome pairing is chocolate.
So there you have some 85% chocolate.
(big band music)
- So that is very, very dry, bitter but fruity,
single origin, 85%.
Very slow melt.
(big band music continues)
(laughs)
- Nope, I don't feel like it's-
- What would you expect me to say?
- I just want to know, that's all.
All we're doing is asking a question today.
But it felt like you decided before you even tried.
- I'm trying. I'm drinking it.
I'm trying to take into the other
than just fresh, lovely water.
- Water sommeliers has been a thing
for a couple of years now.
I remember reading about it,
and I remember sitting on Barry's side
of the fence back then and thinking,
"That is just ridiculous."
But the more I read about it,
and the more I understood it,
I realised it is no different to talking
about different salts, different chocolates, different tea.
It is all about the local area.
The quite literally terroir of a product,
but it tastes yummy.
- How much do you think I paid for that one bottle?
- I think that bottle of water
is probably something extortionate like €40.
- Four zero?
- To justify all of the pretentiousness we've just heard.
- I need to get a point here.
€41.
- Think of the embossing.
- This bottle of water cost us €140,
which comes out at about 120 pounds.
- I'm logging you out of our account.
You can't keep spending money on this stuff.
- For the sake of conversation and learning.
I'm not saying it's a good purchase, I'm just saying,
look at what we're experiencing through it.
Let's not beat around the bush, Evers.
Pretentious or not not?
- Correct!
Pretentious.
I kinda like it. (hosts laugh)
I don't like it as a product.
I kind of admire what the founders have done.
- I feel like I'm obviously
coming across quite harshly here.
Everything about that is pretentious.
- I'll get sign off on the next ones.
Number four! (both laugh)
(upbeat music)
- Lift the cloche on number four.
- Oh, hello.
- Looks salty, smells sugary.
(upbeat music)
That is both salty and sugary.
- It's got the wonderful soft, flaky crunch of sea salt.
- He's annoyed 'cause he thinks I might be right.
I've taken his limelight.
It's salt and demerara sugar.
- It's not demerara sugar.
- Who's gonna get it?
- What would you want to buy?
- Put him down.
I mean, put him out of his misery.
(host laughs)
- Out. Something like Bertie licorice.
(smacks lips) - Oh yeah, no, yeah, yeah.
The black bit, yeah, yeah.
- Licorice sea salt. - At the end.
- This is licorice salt.
- Is this also from somewhere like-
- Come on, then.
- Iceland or Northern Scandy?
Is it like a Norwegian fjord meets licorice?
- Saltverk's Icelandic flake salt is the world's only
artisan salt produced with 100% geothermal energy
and one of the best flake salts available.
Making it the flake salt of choice
for consumers looking for excellent salt made
in an environmentally sustainable way.
- And in Iceland one of the only sweet options
because nothing will pollinate in Iceland.
So you don't get fresh fruit for sweetness or honey.
You just get the sweetness
of roots and a particular licorice.
I'm a little bit confused
by the geothermal salt making process.
- He sets 'em up, you're not gonna have a (indistinct).
- Right, shall do.
Their salt making method is actually based
on the 17th century method
that was practised in (indistinct).
The flaky sea salt are handmade pyramid-like
crystal salt flakes that contain the flavour
and the taste of the Nordic region
from which the raw materials used in it derive.
- I'd love to see this sprinkled in a bit of Icelandic lamb.
- [Host With Glasses] Yes. Kush, bring in the dish.
(bowls thud) - Or ice cream, yep.
(laughs)
- The first part of that was correct, ice cream.
- Right, should we sprinkle?
- Seriously?
Would you ever sprinkle salt on your ice cream?
- Why, you changed? - Why're you askin' us?
What's happened to you?
- No, I wouldn't.
What? Why would you, you wouldn't.
People don't do that.
- What? I don't know this guy.
- I prefer Barry with the long hair.
- I like Barry with the good hair.
(laughs)
- I think it's very good.
- Mm, it's very clever.
- It's creamy, it's sweet, it's vanilla-y.
The salt and the licorice does help.
- I never liked licorice growing up, but in this
in this mix mixture, you get all the best bits
of licorice without that aftertaste.
- It's subtle enough for us to know that it's there.
- Yeah.
- I'd like to add some miso dash to my ice cream.
(tango music)
- I think the miso I actually prefer
in that environment 'cause of the dairy fat.
- Oh, yeah.
- That's really good.
- What's interesting for me is how you can take
I'm guessing bog standard little ice cream.
- Mm-hmm.
- And you can flavour it with a pinch.
- I think it does absolutely work with the sweet.
I think it would also be really interesting
on a number of savoury dishes.
It would equally work really nicely with roasted roots.
So stick to the things that grow under the ground.
But beetroot that has that sweetness, the parsnip.
- How much do you think
Mike spent of his own holiday money for that-
- I did 'cause I lost the receipt.
(laughs) - Licorice salt.
- €8 worth.
- I imagine it's lined up with lots of other-
- I'm gonna say €10.
I'm gonna say €12. (laughs)
- I'm gonna say €9.80. (bleeps)
(laughs)
- Mike actually paid €8.60.
- Three-one.
Turns out you're not as pretentious as you think.
- Is it pretentious?
- No, I don't think so.
It does exactly what it says on the tin,
and you can only get it there in the world.
And it's a unique flavour.
- I actually like it.
I think it's a little slice
of a country that you can bring home
and continue to taste in a number of different ways.
Good gift market, not pretentious.
I like it.
- Alright, well over to you.
List down in the comments
one to four, pretentious or not,
and tell us why.
- And also, please give us a like
because we've got to pay for that water.
(laughs)