(groaning) (laughing)
- Get it away from me.
- [Host] We find the world's pickiest eaters,
transform the foods they hate with three incredible dishes,
then teach them how to make it.
- That smells so good.
- This is the Picky Eater Challenge.
What's up, y'all?
I'm Chef Yadi AKA happyhealthylatina AKA the people's chef,
and today we have a super special victim named John
who got set up by his girlfriend, Tam.
You know sometimes when you're living with your boo,
you find out certain things they just will not eat?
We found out that John hates him some cauliflower.
- I can't stand cauliflower.
What's that that wrestlers get, cauliflower ear?
And you eatin' cauliflower after
the name of a cauliflower ear. That's disgusting.
Why the (bleep) would you eat some (bleep) ...
I mean, some stuff like that, I'm sorry.
- I love cauliflower,
but people have really strong opinions about it.
Cauliflower can be anything that you need it to be.
I think, like Bob Ross,
it's a cute little canvas you can work with
because it's bland, y'all.
So we gotta bring the flavor to it.
Let's do it.
The set up is John and Tam
are gonna be led in by our producers,
come to set thinking they're gonna have a regular meal.
The goal here is to get John to do a 180
when it comes to cauliflower
and actually cook it for himself.
(buzzer) - I don't like...
- Hello!
Oh, hey, John! Come on down!
Time to play with Chef Yadi!
He seems so terrified, it was like (screeching)
- Oh my God, look at the (mumbling).
- Feel like she's always playing tricks on me, man.
(laughing)
- Welcome, John and Tam.
What do you think about your digs, your new digs?
- I wanna burn it down.
- I definitely have a big challenge ahead of me.
I thought he was gonna run off camera,
but come on back, John, because we're about to reel you in
with some cauli-surprises.
- This is my intervention.
- Tam and I are here to be the wind beneath your wings,
your cauli-wings, okay?
(snaps) Garcon Garrick.
The first thing I need to do
is see how much John actually hates cauliflower.
- Come on, brother.
Brother, brother, come on, brother.
(groaning) (laughing)
- We got you a nice raw piece of cauliflower.
Is there any part of this that makes you wanna cut it,
take a little bite? - No, nope.
Look at how you're just breaking it off.
- So, I see the look of it is something you don't like.
- I've seen it kind of crumble too.
- So, texture, taste (snaps).
We're moving through
some different culinary techniques right now.
So, this one is roasted.
You're seeing a little bit of a different texture.
- If you eat just the burnt part, it'll be okay.
- Nope.
- [Yadi] How does this one look to you?
- It don't look good, it don't look appetizing.
- [Tam] It's pickled.
- [Yadi] What if we all went for a little baby piece?
- [John] All right. - [Tam] Okay.
- What the hell is that?
- This one is blended cauliflower.
- Hell no.
- And we still haven't gotten one
that you would want to try.
Let's talk about what you guys do like to eat.
- Vietnamese food, Chinese food.
- I love swine, I love pig.
- So you like salty, you like savory,
you like strong flavors. - Mm-hm.
- He likes his fast food, American food.
I think he needs some help exploring the other food groups.
- It's just unhealthy.
I'm trying to eat healthier, that's why.
- You're trying to get better as a couple.
- Yes, ma'am. - So now I'm about to give it
the people's chef, Chef Yadi spin,
and we're about to take you to flavor town.
- Okay. See y'all in a few.
Your boy John is here to give Chef Yadi a struggle.
He does not like the texture, the smell, the taste,
basically everything about the cauliflower.
I need to grow a new vegetable.
So I'm about to give John three different dishes
in three different ways.
I need to bring everything I have to this challenge.
For the mashed potatoes,
I'm hoping to take John straight back
into his childhood classics.
He said he loves and he misses
American food and comfort food.
We're gonna deconstruct the cauliflower.
I'm going to need to break it down,
so I'm gonna bring it into a food processor,
take that liquid out,
and then I'm going to need to emulsify it
and not let it get too gummy
and to still maintain the integrity of the mashed potatoes.
Yes, mash has a lot of morals.
So we want it not to be a soup, not to be a puree,
we want it to be a mash.
Those are three different culinary terms.
We're showing cauliflower can be good old comfort food.
What are you smelling, what are you seeing?
- It's... I see mashed potatoes and grits.
- Okay. - With butter floating around
just sitting in there.
All right, let me see.
- How does it taste?
- It's not bad.
It definitely looks and smells
and lot better than it tastes.
I think it's just the cauliflower, man.
- It had the look. Once you eat a little bit of it,
you can tell that it's not potatoes.
Okay, okay, but you tasted a little more
than you've ever tasted.
- [Tam] I'm gonna taste it. - Oh, please.
- Oh, it's good!
- [Yadi] If I'm gonna get John to cook with cauliflower,
I'm gonna need to really wow him
on the next two dishes.
Can we have a palette cleanser?
- What is this?
- Blueberries, strawberries, honey.
- Really?
- 'Cause this is not the only thing that we're gonna taste.
- What?
- Ohhh!
Sushi rice is its own style of rice.
It's a short-grain, sticky rice,
and we're working with basically a waterlogged vegetable.
I'm gonna have to squeeze out all that extra liquid
and then I'm gonna have to reincorporate
the vinegary, sweet flavor
that sushi rice traditionally has.
So I'm gonna be making its own little marinade,
and then you've got your crispiness from that taco,
and it's gonna be all wrapped in there
like a yummy little baby.
But I can't overcook it
or else it won't hold its structure.
You've got nicely seasoned fish
that is gonna have a little bit of spice and kick to it.
I really want him to see the sushi rice
and the whiteness of it,
really feel the flavor as he bites into it
that it tastes like sushi.
- [John] Oh, my God!-
- That looks so good.
- [Yadi] And I gave it the same treatment as sushi rice.
- Oh, this don't, this don't even --
where's the cauliflower?
- For this one, you put your hands out.
- Ew, somebody get him a napkin!
- God (bleep), that's good.
- Did you taste the cauliflower at all?
- All I tasted was delicious deliciousness.
- I'm finally starting to see John
allow himself to think past the cauliflower.
Did Chef Yadi do it for this one?
- I'm a sucker for sushi, man.
- Cauli-gang, cauli-gang, cauli-gang!
- Naw, we ain't gonna say cauli-gang, but ...
- Arancini is kinda complex.
My challenge is really can I make this cauliflower stick
but not mushy, 'cause a lot of people think
cauliflower is mushy when you rice it?
Can I get that sear on it
by bringing it into the oven or by frying it?
When he has the arancini ball,
he's about to get blown back into another galaxy of flavor,
because he is going to experience creaminess,
cheesiness, smokiness, crunchiness.
He's not even gonna have time to register
where's the cauliflower. It's everywhere.
I'm not just putting this cauliflower
in the pressure cooker,
I'm putting myself in the pressure cooker,
'cause these balls need to work.
If they fall apart in my hands, I will cry.
I don't wanna drop the ball, my people!
I present to you arancini balls.
Have you heard about arancini before?
- Not until now.
- [Yadi] Let's try it out!
- How do you like it?
- You don't get to try it this time.
Mm. Go ahead. Psyche.
- Stop doing that! I really wanna taste it.
- Where do you think the cauliflower is?
- I think it's in the trash,
'cause this ain't cauliflower.
- It's the entire ball.
- Naaaw... - It's only coated in panko.
The entire thing is cauliflower.
- Seriously? - That's amazing.
- Oh, man.
- Is it possible to say
that you like what you've experienced today?
- I don't like cauliflower.
But I like Chef Yadi's cauliflower.
- Wow!
This all comes with the grand prize of
you get to cook it! Oh!
- I gotta cook for real?
- You're gonna learn to cook this dish,
and you're gonna get in the kitchen with Chef Yadi.
I'mma be there as a coach,
but that's gonna be all you, boo.
One final cheers.
Cauliflower shooters.
- Told you! I knew it!
- He's washing down cauliflower with cauliflower.
- You lying.
- Sorry, I had to do it to you!
- This tastes like applesauce, man!
- The taste-testing couldn't have gone better,
but for me, I'm looking to really
impart a skill on John and Tam
that they can do it for themselves.
- I just don't think that's gonna happen.
The way she presented it was with
so many different types of flavors
and putting her own little spin on it.
- I want John to feel confident,
not just in being able to make it,
but I want him to be amped about cauliflower
and telling people,
you don't even know what cauli can be!
Okay, John. So the first thing we're gonna do
is we're gonna create some flavor by roasting some garlic.
We're about to make it rain some oil on here.
Okay, John, it's your nemesis-slash-BFF, cauliflower.
We are gonna make this into rice right here.
Ooh, you're touching the cauliflower, John!
Brave man over here. - Just get it over with.
- That's about the consistency we're looking for.
- Now the smell's getting to me.
- It has a lot of water inside of it.
Wrap it up like a cute little baby.
Squeeze!
- [John] I can taste the smell.
(laughing)
- That is what you didn't like about cauliflower.
So what we're gonna do now is release the cauliflower.
We're about to make us some shiitake bacon.
Just gonna go butter, mushrooms,
liquid smoke, soy sauce, sea salt.
Look at that beautiful crisp and sear on them.
So we're gonna get these mushrooms in the pan.
- Team work make the dream work.
- We're gonna put in some peas.
Now we're gonna find some cheese,
and you're gonna incorporate all that
by giving it a nice mix.
Oh, yeah.
We're just gonna make our risotto.
We're going to put some butter in the pan,
white wine, some garlic.
All that nasty water we took out of our cauliflower?
We're gonna put this flavor back in there.
- [John] Okay, all right.
- [Yadi] Just get some regular marinara, mix it all up.
Now let's go ahead and let's put some cheese on it.
That's our Parmesan.
Now we wanna go in with our mozzarella.
Smells so good!
Let's finish it with a little bit of salt.
- Gosh, that is amazing.
- So let's mix our cauliflower rice
and our mushroom-and-pea mix.
That is the inside of our arancini balls.
- Can you believe it's cauliflower?
- I'm looking at it like cauliflower
don't even exist in this dish.
- [Yadi] We're gonna put some smoked sweet paprika
right into our Italian breadcrumbs.
Take a nice, big old scoop in there.
Perfect!
Tam's gonna hook us up with some egg wash,
and then we're gonna get it all up in our breadcrumbs.
Remember how you thought they were fried earlier?
- Yes, yes, I did.
- They're actually baked, you're finding out.
- Sorcery, man.
- [Yadi] Then we're gonna layer it with some pesto
with a little bit of Parmesan cheese, shiitake bacon,
and then you're gonna zest it with some lemon.
- [Yadi!] Oooh! - [Tam] Wow, that looks good.
- It tastes almost like yours. - Almost? What do you mean?
- I think it's right on point.
You got the crispiness, the crunchiness.
- Honestly, this probably might be
the only way she can ever get me to eat cauliflower.
- I think you did really, really well,
and I'm very proud of you. - I will cheers to that!
Thank you for being game to try something
you were totally afraid of.
- Thank you for showing me a better way
and a different path,
'cause I would literally walk out of here today
with the same stigma that cauliflower is disgusting.
- Can I be so bold as to say
that today's picky eater intervention
actually worked? - You have to say it worked.
- It worked, it worked.
- I guess a little Yadi dance.
- You do a dance? Do the dance, do the dance.
- The champ is still here undefeated!
Every vegetable you send my way, I slay!
I don't think there's one that can take me down.
Chef Yadi's out!
(triumphant music)