Beat The Chef: Ultimate Potato Battle

We're a group of mates who have your back on all things food, from cooking

battle

s to gadget reviews and cookbook challenges, to weekday meal kit app breaks, we've discovered the tools that will help us all. To cook and eat smarter, join our community. where everything we do starts with you hello everyone, I'm Ben, I'm Mike, welcome to the refrigerator chamber. Now, in this episode, we're teaming up with croplife International and the European Crop Protection Association to celebrate one of the world's most basic ingredients: the

potato

and I'm Trying to Be a Fish Chef in a Cooking Competition We Love and Often Take for granted.

We have seen the enormous variety of ingredients that we can get in our local supermarket with thousands of fresh products stored in a single store that has spoiled us. choice all year round, but what would happen if a fruit and vegetable disappeared from the shelves? Luckily for us, farmers are committed to producing food in increasingly difficult times and conditions and there are organizations like ECPA and CLI that help these farmers protect their crops from pests and diseases. For us all to have an affordable, healthy and sustainable food supply without any protection in a normal year, some farmers could lose up to 40 percent of their harvest.

In this episode we use your questions to go deeper and learn about our favorite crops, the aforementioned

potato

. fight to see if Mike, that's me, can't

beat

the

chef

who's been creating a dish that better celebrates potatoes, so you have 90 minutes to celebrate potatoes. Chef James is ready and prepared to judge your dishes at the end. First doing some research, we caught up with Angela Clutton, one of London's top food historians and writers. Along the way, we discovered that the first preparations of a potato dish date back to 3000 BC. C. in South America there was evidence that they did incredible things. a dish called don't you know, which is probably terrible Annunciation and would be frozen overnight and then soaked and then crushed to get all the water out and then dried and basically it's like a freeze dried potato from 3000 BC.

C., I know. It's crazy and that shows that the support for potatoes has been something that is a really useful and versatile crop that is worth doing something with because I love the direct. We also discovered that we Europeans didn't much like these strange potatoes when they first arrived. I really thought Thomas was something that was going to make you sick or something that was very only for the poor. You have something very interesting happening in France in the middle of the 18th century, in the middle of the 18th century, that they were intended for human consumption and it was thought that they were going to make people sick, they really did not understand what this thing was that arose instead of the earth and then they thought it was like the work of the devil, is behind the phrase a devil's apple, we finally learn all about the potato famine in Ireland due to blight, a fungal disease that has affected potato production to over the years.

Light is a form of mold that attacks potatoes and causes them to wither and rot, and the potato itself becomes mushy and horrible and spreads very, very quickly. So when the pest appeared in crops across Europe in the 19th century, it absolutely decimated the potato crops in Ireland. It was particularly bad data that had really become the Irish test they relied on, which is why the Irish Potato Famine was a huge disaster and led to millions of deaths afterwards. We travel to sunny Eindhoven to see how one farmer in particular is dealing with the pest today.

Jacob van dem born is a tall Dutch potato farmer who was once described as Elon Musk, our potatoes. Jacob taught us all about precision farming and how he uses technology and data to maintain a sustainable food supply my grandfather only had two or four Hector, he walked those two or four hectares every day, we expanded a lot, so we grew hundreds of hectares of potatoes and I can't get to all the fields every day to walk through all those fields, so what we did was use the technology put in those fields to get the same data that my grandfather used to optimize his crop, so the first thing we do is scan all the fields and scan the connectivity of the fields. field, we will obtain an identification of the potential U of a field.

The late blight disease, which is a fungus, is very aggressive here because there are a lot of potatoes, so usually the potatoes are sprayed every week, every Monday or Tuesday. so we install a lot of sensors in our crops and we are actually detecting and calculating when the weather is optimal to infect our crop and just before that point we spray. I always compare that to putting on suntan lotion, so if you would spray your potatoes. on Monday and you know that only the sun rises on Thursday, would it make sense to get a tan on Monday?

No, that's what we change, we protect all crops with just a layer of antifungal so that when the fungi appear and fall. the leaves can burn my leaves or they can infect them, that's why I always try to make the comparison by putting Santana and we only spray when necessary and that's where all the technology comes into play. Ben had a great time talking about potatoes while I was there. quite distracted by local talent hello to all this geeky technology and you are more interested in the ass on the corner potatoes are a crop that could probably be grown everywhere in the world and can meet our demand for food, it has such yield potential high. such a high nutrient potential that by growing potatoes you could literally fight the world and now keep fighting three-two-one potatoes

beat

me in the microwave, which actually delays my entire recipe by ten minutes, there would be a fight, says Evers tell us what you're cooking I'm cooking a humble and very hearty potato dish inspired by stomp, which was Jacob's favorite Dutch classical dish, so what I'm doing is taking those ingredients but adding a Spanish influence As a nod to those who brought the potato to Europe in history, okay, so I'm making beef chips with horseradish and salsa, but the really clever thing is that actually all of those individual components are potatoes, so I've in debt with half the debt.

I have shaved and peeled it. I put a little bit of tape on it, then I seasoned it with salt and pepper and now I'm slowly frying it in dripping meat so it gets that meaty Staci flavor, so the base of my dish is going to be sort of potato and kale. soup really, oh so an onion diced and sweated in oil, then I add chopped garlic, a little chorizo ​​and then I used peeled and coarsely chopped potato. I'm using the melody potato, it's particularly good for boiling and mashing, so it's going to thicken the soup, then the chicken stock, bring it to a boil and simmer it for about 15 minutes until it has an interesting flavor to cook with.

You have chosen Maris Piper Mike for all of yours. We have an off-road vehicle, yes, they are off-road, but. They are also very spongy and take on a lot of flavour, which is why they make such good mashed potatoes, but they would also make a really good steak because they soak up all my dripping meat, so the most popular potato in the UK is enough good. For me, let's celebrate UK cuisine in a medium where we can truly be world class. It seems to me that they are actually not a little jealous because we don't go to the supermarket.

I'll look at the selection. in front of me logo or I don't know what is what or why it is better, I just choose the medium range and medium long, yes this is really beautiful information, they have been browned very well on each side with beef broth and crushed garlic . and thyme and rosemary, these skins are very important not only in storage but also from a nutritional point of view, so I will cook them flattened between two sheets of baking paper and sprinkled with garlic powder, smoked paprika, butter with salt and pepper flavor. been in the microwave, they baked for a little less than I would prefer, but I don't have time so now I'm going to ask you to take out the meat which goes into a bowl, season it and then I'm going to mash that with butter which I have melted in milk, season your potatoes with 18 Twitpic sauce and 26 turns of pepper and half of your horseradish.

If I want these mashed potatoes to be perfect, I can't overwork them because you. It will become starchy, sticky and rubbish, the best way to do this is to mash it up as little as possible and then leave it. I'm going to take the skins, cut them into chips, and then fry them. In reality, what you are doing is redefining the term skinny fries. I took my potato fillets out of my sauce. Now I'm going to reduce that to make a slightly stickier sauce. I'm going to use my sauce. Right at the end I'll also use a demographic, but we'll get to that in a second so you can see the texture of this puree when microwaving it.

It doesn't acquire the moisture it would have if you boiled it inside. the skin is now nice and fluffy, to that I will add chopped parsley, the morcilla, which is seasoned black pudding, and a little butter and then we will shape our sausages, so far in small shapes, everything is good , it's all under control. and I think it tells a nice story, you see, you said one time food, no, I said, if I do it right, unfortunately, I didn't get it right right away, so now, every time I go, I make it less good, you know, wallpaper paste, oh yeah.

Yeah, yeah, so the soup is bubbling and what I'm looking for is the potato that's cooked through, so even with the side of a spoon it's going to break up because I'm going to add the kale, cook it for three or four minutes and then blend. everything, but you want to blend it while the kale is cooking so it keeps its green color, so my aioli is an egg yolk and a little bit of sherry vinegar which I'll then whisk with salt and pepper and gradually add the rapeseed. oil and then right at the end I'll season it with saffron water that has obviously been soaked in boiling water, lemon juice and honey.

It's about balancing that sweetness with the metallic essence of the saffron and the acidity of the lemon, and I'll show you that I have some new oil but I brought it up to 180 degrees. Now I'm going to fry my potato steak. What turns 180? and then I fry my fries too. My third potato choice is the Red Rooster, this is another British potato grown in Norfolk, so Emma tells you how you are going to cook your Red Rooster potatoes in 16 minutes and 41 seconds. I am not going to lie. I've been taking this very casually and it's starting to catch up with me for nothing. more than internet points I'm going to use a kitchen utensil, so you could spend years cutting potatoes on a budget.

Oh, just kidding, it's a diaper wrap, you have to be careful in a single layer so it cooks, it's mummifying, it's a substitution if that oil is It's not the temperature and Ben may have lost his bath. Right now I'm boiling some chard in salted water for about five minutes, at the moment it's just the stems, but then I'm going to throw away the leaves because they need less. Can you finish that now? What are you doing now? This will reduce almost immediately and create a really sticky frosting. I don't want it to sit there too long in case it overcooks.

Excellent. It looks like the phrase. and you can't polish shit you can recognize excellence in victory in very close

battle

s, you know very well, professor, that you are only supposed to match one, yes, it is better sometimes, although I will finish my plate with sprouts of peas, broccoli sprouts and some edible flowers as a nod to when potatoes were made stylish again in France by offering potato flowers to Marie Antoinette placed in a hare because they thought potatoes were bad, ugly and disgusting and in fact , turned it into a celebration again, so I'm going to finish it off, I just need to put it on a plate, mix it, add the soup, add another cup of water just to get the right consistency, but it should be thick and hearty and healthy.

Two minutes left until suddenly. Time is running out one minute left ten nine eight seven six five four three two one step away from your potatoes congratulations guys 90 minutes a celebration of potatoes they look great they look great oh I'm going to say what were you looking at At that moment when you said that she would start here, yes, I am so intrigued by steak. I said, what's steak supposed to feel like? I want it crispy on the outside and sticky from the glaze. I want it soft in the middle, but not too soft. Soft, not spongy.

I want it to have some give, but I want it to get some of that steak flavor and a little bit of meaty flavor. A little meaty flavor. Yes. Wow, yes. I'll admit I was a little sad when I saw the dish. Yeah. Not that I would have lied or replaced a little better, but yeah, did you run out of time? No it was flapping like a mofo that's why it's called Texas you won and the compy has a really really good texture and the taste of the steak that's really good to keep going so crispy I opted for the burn on the head in the middle I want to have a little of this that is a brilliant aioli celebration dishes I go fine that looks like a celebration changing the coatingfrom being a frying pan and being the fries is really interesting.

I like it a lot. I think the aioli in this in soup would work really well. There is still time. I've already eaten a little bit very early in the suit. Two completely different dishes. they both celebrate potatoes in completely different ways ah ah this is very difficult when I first saw it and it stood out a lot but when I tried Mike's the flavor was there it made up for it. I'm going to go with Mike because it was shit. above and although I think Benz had more variety of flavors compared to yours because yours was really just potato and meaty, I think yours has a big impact with which you beat the

chef

.

A lot of help from the food, it's not a good position to be in, probably had partly to do with the fact that I was so upset with the dish, so I'm very happy to discover that it really did taste amazing, but you added an extra element. Wow, not only the result but I also love the potato loli levitator and if you like potatoes and want to know more about what Croplife International and ECPA do to protect crops for the future then there is a link at the description box, go and check it. and includes some behind the scenes footage from when we were talking to Jacob, neither of us have kids now but we both have dad bods, is that kidding?

I had to turn down a job the other day because they were paying. in vegetables, celery was unacceptable. I never thought I'd say a raise, bring Jamie back, but I did. We've also created the Tidy Club where you can get tons of food inspiration using the Pack Weekday Meals app, discover and share restaurant recommendations. Using your Eat app, listen to and contribute to our Festive Your Ears podcast and send us ideas for new cookbooks to receive throughout the year. Check it all out by heading over to Sorted Club and now, blooper donkey, all the ladies love me.