(tapping)
(egg cracking)
(pan sizzling)
(upbeat music)
- Hello, we are Sorted Food.
- So recently I came across a few ingredients
that I'd never cooked with before,
and in some cases never even heard of before,
and they blew my mind.
So today, we're gonna feed them
to two of our normals in fantastic dishes
to see if they're as relevant to their cooking.
- Now Ebbers, I can't talk on behalf
of the basic bacon (beep) here,
but these taste buds are tough to impress.
(men laughing)
(upbeat music)
- Lift the cloche.
- Oh.
- They look like rotten leaves.
It doesn't look appetizing, I must say.
- No.
- They are all edible.
You wouldn't typically eat it in this form,
but it's not gonna harm you.
- It smells woody.
- Yep.
- [Barry] Not very strong.
- [Ben] What're you getting?
- It tastes like I've just picked up
a used cigarette off the floor.
(Jamie laughing)
- It's not quite as smokey.
I'll be honest, Ebbers,
I'm not getting a food taste from it.
- Any guesses where in the world it might be from?
- I think it's either,
and I'm gonna go big here,
the continent of Asia
- That's a big place.
- [Barry] That's big, yeah.
- Or the continent of South America.
- I'll go bigger, Northern hemisphere.
(all laughing)
- To be fair,
it'd be remarkable if you guessed it,
cause the whole point of these
is they're new to us.
This is black stone flour.
It is a species of lichen
that's used as a spice,
and although not hugely fragrant or tasteful
on its own in its raw state,
once it is cooked and heated,
often in ghee or in oil
then you start to get those earthy smokey notes.
- Is it likely that we've previously eaten it,
in a Curry, but just not known?
- Almost certainly.
- [Jamie] Ah.
- A wonderfully authentic ingredient
in certain curries and spice blends,
and we have one for you to eat now.
- [Jamie] Oh wow.
- So it's used as a spice
within a lot of other spices,
and it's gonna add that something special,
that something authentic,
that something that you won't be able
to necessarily pinpoint,
but you know, ah,
this is why it always tastes
so good in a restaurant.
- The paste is sensational.
Earthy, I think coconuty.
Really, really spiced,
but with no spiciness to it,
no heat from the spice.
This is Indian.
- So you're right with India,
but this is from kind of the south of the continent.
So Tamil Nado and Chettinad chicken curry.
- It is fabulous.
- So it's basically like a cross
between an algae and a mushroom, and a fungi,
and it grows everywhere-
on trees, on mosses, on roof tiles,
even on soil and on black stones,
hence black stone flour,
and when it kind of grows,
possibly on your own patio,
it kind of looks like a black stone flower.
- Can you buy it ground?
I mean, it's not something I've ever seen
in a supermarket for instance, in the UK.
- So all of these ingredients today
we've been able to easily get hold of online
with like next day delivery,
and they're all sort of under a fiver
for each ingredient,
but it's a bit like mushrooms.
There are thousands, tens of thousands
of different species of lichen,
and lichen in general covers
somewhere in the region of 6-8%
of the surface of the world, which is crazy.
And yet up until a few weeks ago,
I had never considered using it in cooking.
- If I was to try and replicate this at home
there's no way I'll ever think that
that was an ingredient within it,
but I can imagine you finished it and go,
it's just missing something, but no noticeable flavor,
just a-
- A roundness.
- A tone.
- A deepness.
- Something.
- For me,
it's like when you go to an amazing restaurant,
and you taste it,
and you just can't quite put your finger
on what they do differently.
It's usually those hidden ingredients
you haven't heard of.
- If I could add that in,
and know it would make a massive difference to the dish,
that seems like an easy win
- All right, then.
Question for you.
Can you see it rocking your crock pot,
or would you rather
pick at something more familiar?
Cause you have to pick it off a rock.
- Actually.
- Oh, right, I see.
Yeah, yeah.
It's better when you have to explain it.
- I know this is gonna upset Ebbers,
but in my everyday life,
I'd rather pick at something more familiar.
- I think I'd let that rock my crock pot, Ebbers.
Bring on the next one.
(funky music plays)
- Ingredient number two.
- [Jamie] Looks like some hardcore prawn action Ebbers.
- What's happened to them to get them to that state?
These aren't so nice to eat on their own.
I'm gonna be honest,
but that smell will probably do it for you.
- Whoa.
- That is deconstructed fruit paste.
(Barry laughing)
- [Ben] These are smoked-
- [Barry And Jamie] Smoked!
- [Ben] Dried, salted shrimp.
Where in the world do you think
they might be a common ingredient?
- I'm gonna narrow it down this time.
- Oh yeah?
- Southeast Asia.
- We've certainly had shrimp paste
in many dishes from there.
- [Jamie] Yep.
- I'm gonna mix it up,
and say something like the Gulf of Mexico.
(everyone laughing loudly)
- These are African,
in particular from Gambia.
- [Barry And Jamie] Oh.
- [Ben] Would you like to try it in situ?
- Of course.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- I'm excited to.
Well, that's a dish.
- [Ben] So this is the Cameroonian stew, fish stew.
We've used a more local fish to us, so bream,
and it's based around a kind of peanut base.
- [Jamie] It looks amazing.
- [Barry] So what's happened
to the prawns within it?
- So before we got them,
they've been smoked, dried, and sorted
to preserve them,
and then what you can do,
is grind them down,
and use them as a powder in things,
in a lot of soups and stews,
or you can just cook them in,
and then liquidize them
to actually put all of that
through the basis of it.
And what you get is a wonderful, kind of smokey,
instant fish flavor
that is popular in a lot of Nigerian soups and stews,
for example,
but in this particular dish from Cameroon,
it's used in kind of a peanut stew basis.
- I mean this in the best possible way,
that is like the most fishy fish stew I've ever had.
But, in a good way.
- What do you think Barrs?
(Barry laughing)
- Interestingly, this doesn't overpower the flavors
in the dish,
but for me, it is a delicious stew.
I think it's a touch too fishy
for me though.
It's a lot more pungent than normal shrimp paste,
and if that's your thing,
then that is spectacular.
- The question is,
is this the new umami to your armory,
or are you just not gonna shell out for it?
(both men chuckling)
- Ah, okay, nice.
I'm gonna sound like a broken record here,
but I'm not gonna show out for this one
cause I don't see me using it at home.
- I would prefer,
if that was already the powder.
I would probably use it a lot more
if it's in a bag,
and they're whole prawns like that,
and I have to blitz them up every time,
I probably won't do that.
- I think the concept of this ingredient isn't new to us.
We've had dried, fermented, smoked foods before,
but genuinely I'm fascinated
by African and South African cuisine
because I feel like it's something
we've barely touched on.
- [Ben] Our meal packs app helps you become-
- [Jamie] An all cooking, food waste fighting,
cost hacking, friend impressing, always learning,
legendary home cook.
(angelic chorus singing)
- [Barry] It also gets dinner on the table.
(popping of a cork)
(liquid glugging)
(glass clinking)
(upbeat music)
- Can't wait for your reaction to this one.
Number three.
- [Barry] Rice noodles?
- [Jamie] Oh my, they're all tied up.
- Sailor's knot.
- It is, or a crab.
(Barry chuckling)
or a little hair tie,
(laughing continues)
like a bow.
- You can eat it in that form.
It has been rinsed from its packet,
and it's ready to consume.
We then, obviously as before,
having in situ in it.
- No flavor at all.
- [Barry] These are knot yam noodles.
They also go by the name of shirataki konnyaku noodle nests.
- Are they from Japan?
- They are a noodle,
they're often found in Japanese dishes,
or across China,
or used in a lot of Southeast Asian countries
that use them quite commonly in broths
because they will continue to absorb
a lot of that flavor.
We have a Chinese hot pot for you,
and it's full of all sorts of deliciousness,
from fungi to our knot yam noodles.
We've got some Chinese sausage that's been wind dried.
(Barry and Jamie laughing)
Why you laughing at?
- Wind dried sausage?
(snorting with laughter)
That's what happens if you have a shower outside,
and you don't have a towel, isn't it?
- Why is that funny?
It's literally sold as a wind dried sausage?
- I know, I know, it's funny.
(everyone laughing)
- What's fascinating about these particular noodles
is you might also have heard them called
zero calorie noodles.
What's really interesting about the noodles
is that they are only about 3% insoluble fiber
that comes from a root of a plant,
the contact plant.
The rest is just water
because that particular fiber
literally absorbs like 50 times its weight in water,
and then these are processed and set
so that you get that kind of,
almost like a spherification we've done before,
but essentially what you're eating
is water noodles
and a tiny bit of fiber
that holds it all together
that your body doesn't digest.
It gets right the way down to your colon
before your gut bacteria go.
This is great for me as a prebiotic,
and therefore it's actually healthy in that sense.
It looks after your gut microbe.
- The knots hold the spice.
- I've really enjoyed the texture and the pop
of those noodles,
especially once they're knotted up.
- So final question,
do you want my noods,
or shall I keep them in my pant..ry.
(words censored)
- I can't believe it,
but I think for the first time today,
I'm gonna have to say, I want Ben's noods.
- Noods, it's very important how you pronounce that.
Noods as is in noodles.
- Also the way you said that
that was the first time today.
- First time today.
- Not the first time.
(scattered laughing)
- Yeah, it's quite early isn't it today?
(everyone laughing)
- I think they're a vehicle for flavor.
I like the convenience
of them being in a knot.
Hashtag, Ebbers send noods.
(Barry laughing)
Get it trending.
- You keep those ones.
It's double o,
just to check, it's double o, really important.
- It's not double o.
(everyone laughs)
(upbeat music)
- Last ingredient, number four.
- What is it, curry leaf?
I get nothing.
- No, this, it's gonna be like a bay leaf though,
isn't it?
(Barry making loud sucking sounds)
It's a bit nutmeggy.
It feels a bit meggy.
- Meggy.
(Barry crunches food)
- [Ben] What flavors are you getting from it?
- [Barry] I'm getting a very subtle, aniseedy flavor.
- Yeah, you're right.
- Interesting.
- I think it were a little bit of nutmeg,
but these are like very, very gentle flavors.
- Yeah.
- [Ben] Obviously they're dried,
and they are best either
toasted, roasted, ground up into a powder
and then added to things,
or in their fresh form or hydrated form,
they can actually be used to line the inside of things
you might steam.
So if you're making dishes
with steamed fish and wrapping stuff
you can put a few under or round on the fish.
Any ideas?
This, you will be familiar with the fruit of this tree.
- Valencian orange leaf.
- That's very specific.
I'm gonna go for Northern Sicilian lemon.
(Barry chuckles)
- Neither of you are quite correct.
They are avocado leaves from Mexico.
- How did you not get that?
- Now, given just how many avocados we use,
I'd never really clocked
that the leaves might have had a use as well,
and yet, they're used throughout a whole bunch
of Mexican cuisine,
specifically places like Wahaka.
And we have one dish for you now.
What we have here is a Mexican black bean stew
with beef ribs, long and slow cook,
and it's got some of the leaves in that stew,
but we've also then toasted some,
ground some, sifted it,
and stirred it through the guacamole
that we're serving alongside.
- Holy cow and holy guacamole.
- No, that is not a holy cow,
and they are not beef ribs,
they are actual dinosaur ribs.
- They're chunky for sure.
- [Jamie] Yeah.
- [Barry] Let's break it up.
Oh yes.
What are you doing?
(record scrapes, interrupting music)
- I'm just doing this.
(Barry making whining noises)
Just doing this.
Don't you love when you slide the bone out-
- No, no, no, no, Jamie stop it, stop it.
The GIFs, the GIFs.
(laughing in background)
- Maybe the eye contact will help.
- Don't be a meme.
(people laughing)
- [Ben] Don't be a meme.
- Don't be a meme.
- Right, back on track.
What do we think about the other avocado leaves?
- Cheers
(groovy music playing)
- Get involved in the guac,
cause it'd be interesting to see
if you get some of that aniseed flavor,
which you're absolutely right,
I'm glad you picked that out.
They also say something like a nutty,
hazelnutty flavor can come from the leaves,
and I kind of just an extra freshness.
- Having tasted the leaf earlier.
I'm looking for aniseed,
but I'm not getting it.
- I don't think I can taste it.
To the point where I can't
even think of anything that it's adding.
- I think there's some really interesting applications,
I'd also love to try.
Sometimes they are used to line
the inside of like tamales.
They used to be the base
to like roasting dishes before roasting meats,
or traditionally the Aztecs and the Mayans
would've actually just used it as a tea.
- The trouble with that stew is,
is it's delicious.
- I mean, there's like a dozen plus ingredients,
probably 20 plus ingredients.
- And it's beautifully seasoned,
and that avocado leaf
might be adding something to it.
Probably we'll never know.
- I actually thought tasting the toasted powder
was really quite delicious.
So I feel like using that
in a guacamole might be more obvious
than perhaps in amongst
all the other slow cooked dishes.
The little packet of dried leaves,
would you avi-go
or leaf it out?
- I'm torn on this one
because I dunno if I'd go out and buy it,
but if it came with the avocado,
I wouldn't waste it.
I wouldn't spend my money on it.
- Because I can't pick out a distinct flavor from it,
and it's not adding
a distinctive depth or like that,
I'm gonna leaf it out.
- The question is now over to you guys, though.
There's four ingredients there.
Had you heard of any of them before?
Do you use them regularly perhaps?
Comment down below,
which would you love to cook with?
And are there any other ingredients out there
that we may never have heard of?
- After all that,
I'm walking home with nothing
but I've had of Ben's noods.
- Good day.
(upbeat music playing)
(white noise)
- Are you getting all the chloroform out?
- You get aniseedy.
- [Ben] Interesting.
- Chlorophyll!
(Jamie laughing)
- I purposely said the right one,
but it ended up being the wrong one.
(laughing in background)