- On this episode of "Foodcasting" we have
a very special guest. Here's a couple hints.
She's a host of "Top Chef" and, well,
you probably don't need a second hint.
Hey everybody, I'm Lee Kalpakis and this is "Foodcasting."
OK, look, I'm not really Lee Kalpakis,
although sometimes I wish I was.
But today, I'm taking over the show
for a very special reason.
We trekked down to Kellogg's NYC cafe
to speak with "Top Chef" host, executive producer,
cookbook author, and generally amazing human being
Padma Lakshmi.
She was in the building to judge
Kellogg's holiday baking competition,
but we stole a few minutes of her time
to talk about 2019 food trends, cereal,
her love of baking, and why I'm so (bleep) bad at baking.
Take it away Wil Fulton.
Looking forward to 2019, is there anything
that you think is going to be the next big thing
that people are going to be talking about?
- Well I think it's already in a way a trend
which is fermentation. I think everybody is
into fermentation.
Also really good to have probiotics and prebiotics
in a good gut with good bacteria and so I think
fermentation is one way to do that.
That's why everyone is drinking kombucha tea.
We're going to see more foods and more restaurants
actually calling out things that are pickled or fermented.
- I was thinking, and I'm not just saying this cause we're
at the Kellogg's cafe, but cereal.
I think that more people are, like,
using cereal as a snack.
Millennials are very nostalgic,
I know I grew up with cereal and
I think people are snacking on cereal more.
I'm wondering what you think about that.
- I mean, in our house, we actually
have cereal more as a snack, a midnight snack,
than we do at breakfast, so I'm totally with you on that.
I think also, I was saying this to somebody earlier
that when I have a bowl of just old school,
old fashioned Corn Flakes with milk,
that taste makes me think of childhood.
- I know.
- And I think that's true for a lot of people.
So the fact that cereal is making a comeback
in a really big way, it's showing up in
all kinds of dishes, from savory to sweet
is not an accident.
- Right.
- I think, you know, Christina Tosi also started that
a little bit with their compost cereal
and their cereal milk.
- So as far as baking with cereal,
is that anything you've ever incorporated at home?
- I've put it into different casseroles
just for texture on the top.
- Ooh, interesting.
- But you can also use it in desserts.
I mean, I made a crumble, which is in my cookbook
"Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet"
and we add Frosted Flakes onto that
with other things, just to give it
a mottled texture, which is nice.
I always love using things that you find
easily in your pantry and repurposing them
because then they do double and triple.
They're just not sitting there
waiting for you to have them at breakfast.
- I like the casserole idea.
Is there any cereal that you specifically
put on top of a casserole?
- I mean, there's certain cereals that I use from Kellogg's
that I love, which are actually pretty neutral.
Like Rice Krispies and Corn Flakes.
All-Bran as well. They're not too sweet,
so they can actually go sweet or savory.
- If you have to rank three, they're all great, but
descending order, you know, what are you thinking?
- I think Raisin Bran is my go to, especially at midnight.
- OK.
- And then Rice Krispies, and then Special K.
- That order. - Yeah.
- But see, I would use Special K in savory dishes.
Like, I would season this Special K
or I would season the Rice Krispies
just with some spices.
Like, I'm talking about a tiny pinch of salt, some cayenne.
Cardamom I think is a very underused spice.
Some cumin.
- Cayenne?
- Mhmm, sure.
- OK.
- And then I would use it instead of croutons
if you're gluten-free.
You know, you can use that to top salads or
you can use it when you want a little crunch.
- Right.
- Of any kind.
But you can also obviously use it
in sweeter things like yogurt.
- Right.
- Or on top of applesauce, again inside a cookie recipe
like we talked.
- Cool, I think that about does it.
- Thank you so much.
- Thank you very much.
- Thank you for coming to our bake-off.
- OK, thanks again to Padma and Kellogg's for having us.
If you're in New York, you can check out the Kellogg's cafe
right by Union Square,
and for more recipes from Padma,
you can buy her classic cookbook
"Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet,"
which actually was my nickname in college.
No, no it wasn't.
It was just Tangy.
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And if you want to see a "Foodcasting" episode
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- Do you mind if we get a picture really quick?
Is that cool?
Say cereal!