A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich - What's The Best Way To Cook Bacon?

Episode Date: June 19, 2024

Today, Josh and Nicole are breaking down the three methods of cooking bacon --crispy vs. burnt vs. floppy, and what their personal preference is for bacon! Leave us a voicemail at (833) DOG-POD1 Check out the video version of this podcast: http://youtube.com/@mythicalkitchen To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This, this, this, this is Mythical. Mr. Bacon, I have your diagnosis. Aw, come on, Doc. Give me the good news, Doc. I need some good news. I can't handle another setback, Doc. You're cured! This is a hot dog is a sandwich. Ketchup is a smoothie. Yeah, I put ice in my cereal, so what? That makes no sense.

A hot dog is a sandwich. A hot dog is a smoothie. Yeah, I put ice in my cereal, so what? That makes no sense. A hot dog is a sandwich. A hot dog is a sandwich. What? Welcome to our podcast, A Hot Dog is a Sandwich, the show we break down the world's biggest food debates. I'm your host, Josh Ayer. And I'm your host, Dr. Nicole Anaidi. Dr. Nicole.

Do I sound like a doctor? Dr. Anaidi. Dr. Nicole, anytime you have to put that before your name on some sort of podcast, it just sounds like Dr. Ruth. No, Dr. Anaidi, not Dr. Nicole, anytime you have to put that before your name on some sort of podcast, it just sounds like Dr. Ruth. No, Dr. Aniety, not Dr. Nicole. Okay, yeah, Dr. Aniety sounds good. But do you remember Dr. Ruth in what she did? Yeah, the little German lady that was a sex therapist that changed the face and the way Americans view sex through a unique lens.

She really did. And I would be at home as like a 12-year-old learning all about sexual function and dysfunction from this old German woman on TV. Yeah. And that was very exciting for me. Holocaust survivor. Did you know that? Dr. Ruth is a Holocaust survivor? Yeah.

Oh, no. And all she talks about is SCX. That's incredible. That is the true American dream. I agree. See, I also would be a great sex therapist. Survive the Holocaust to come to America and talk to 12-year-old boys who are surreptitiously watching you. Talk to 12-year-old boys who are watching it on television.

Dr. Ruth is talking to her. But anyways, this isn't about Dr. Ruth. It is about Dr. Nicole making a pun about curing. Now, curing is the process of covering meat in a salt or salt-based solution to change the protein structure and preserve it, also giving it flavor. Nicole, you know what pork product is generally cured? Bacon. Bacon. Yeah, you can also smoke bacon, right? Yeah, so most American bacon is smoked.

When we're talking about bacon right now, we're talking about the best way to eat, consume, cook, all that with bacon. Sure. Because there are many different ways that people prefer to cook. People will go to a diner and they will request their bacon extra crispy. They will request their bacon floppy. Sure. Because there are many different ways that people prefer to cook. People will go to a diner and they will request their bacon extra crispy. They will request their bacon floppy. Yeah. And you kind of just eat it however it comes out because they ain't got time for that in the back.

Yeah, sure, sure. But bacon, we got to define the terms because in America, we are mostly talking about what's called streaky bacon. Love streaky bacon. I think streaky bacon is the purest form of bacon. I agree. And so streaky bacon is cut from the pork belly. If you see a whole slab of pork belly, typically how you'd get it in an American butcher, you imagine that slice

very thin. Yeah, lots of, there's a fat and skin. Yeah, it's almost like equal parts fat and meat probably. I would say it's almost, it's probably 60-40. 60-40 fat to meat? Whenever I'm looking at a pack of bacon from the store, I think it's gotten, like throughout the years, it's gotten much fattier. We're going through an epidemic of fatty bacon in America? I from the store, I think it's gotten, like, throughout the years, it's gotten much fattier.

We're going through an epidemic of fatty bacon in America? I mean, I don't think it's an epidemic. I think pork is just fattier than it was in the past, right? Well, yeah, they've been, so pork has been selectively bred to have leaner loins and fattier bellies. Well, there you go. Which is really fascinating to me. But we're talking about streaky bacon. There are other kinds of bacon. Canadian pea meal bacon, which is cut from the loin. Yeah, there you go. Which is really fascinating to me. But we're talking about streaky bacon. There are other kinds of bacon.

Canadian pea meal bacon, which is cut from the loin. I have some right here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Pea meal bacon, a traditional popular variety in the Toronto region of Canada. Toronto. Shout out to the six. It's made from pork loin like regular Canadian bacon, but unique. It's wet, cured, and salty brined, then rolled in crushed dried yellow peas, or more commonly

today, in cornmeal. You ever have pea meal bacon? No, but I did. Did I? Did we have it with Maddie Matheson or did Maddie Matheson talk about it? I think you just talked about it. I don't think I've ever consumed it. No.

It's a very cool, very weird product because you get like the pea meal or the cornmeal on the outside like absorbs some of the moisture. Is it pleasant? I really like it. And they'll do like pea meal bacon and butter sandwiches on like a baguette. Oh, that sounds okay. See, like that makes sense to me. Like jamon beurre and sandwiches like that. Oh, jamon beurre. Oh, did I say jamon beurre? That's jamon. My dad called me the other day because one time I told him I'd bring him jamon

after a fancy fast food episode. And then he's like, Baba, where's the jamon? And I said, that was like a year and a half ago. How do you remember that? So random. Does your dad eat jamon? My dad eats whatever. Oh, no, man. Dude, the first time I ate prosciutto was with my—the first time I ever had anything pork-related was with my dad when my mom went overseas.

That's so funny. Yeah, I was 14 years old and he took me to an Italian restaurant and the first thing I ate was prosciutto and melon and it changed my life. I love that. My dad, yeah, my dad's like, it's okay, I'm a rabbi, it's fine. I love people who grew up within like a certain religion or culture that doesn't eat something and they're not like opposed to eating it, but they just didn't grow up with it, so they kind of don't. No. Like some of my best friends who are Indian like aren't vegetarian, but they just didn't grow up with it. So they kind of don't know. Like some of my best friends who are Indian, like aren't vegetarian, but they just like still don't really mess with beef. Sure. Like deep. He's just like, I don't a steak does

nothing for me. I didn't grow up eating beef at all. And I've eaten it and I've tried it. And like, it's just not great. He'll mess around with like birria or something, something shredded. Okay. This is just a tough chewy. Like, why do we want I don't want this. That's so funny. My dad was always like, listen, if you're a good person, God doesn't care what you eat. And I'm like, I believe that a thousand percent, dad. Julia's mom called us the other day and just goes, I ate a pork chop for the first time. I'm like, Susan, how'd you like it? Yeah, not very good.

Not going to do it again. Great, but you did it. Didn't grow up eating pork, so never was exposed to it. Okay, sorry. Pea meal bacon. Does the cornmeal on the outside get crispy? No, no. It kind of stays wet.

And so when we're talking about crispy or sloppy bacon, a lot of these products don't get super crispy. Irish bacon, rashers. Is that back bacon? Is rashers back bacon? Do they call it back bacon as well? I don't know. Whenever we buy it for – I keep alluding to the cooking show we also work on. Shout out Mythical Kitchen. Subscribe on YouTube.

Whenever we make English breakfasts for people, we've had a few on the show, we always purchase this huge kit that's called the full English breakfast. Oh, really? Wait, I didn't even know that. Yeah. Oh, really? Yeah. And it comes like frozen solid and there's a section called back bacon. Oh, look. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Rashards are back bacon, but this is also coming from the loin, right? Yeah, so it's, okay, and there's a section called back bacon. Oh, look. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Rashers are back bacon, but this is also coming from the loin, right? Yeah. So it's, okay. So it's the loin, but with the, like, fat attached to it. Sure. This does not get crispy. That does not get crispy. It does have a beautiful texture, though, I will say.

I fully agree with you. I'm a fan. You get, like, the meatiness, and then you also get some of that crispy fat at the tail end. Just a little bit of it. Yeah, yeah. You have to, whenever you cook it, a lot of the times the bacon kind of cups almost like bologna. So what I like to do is I like to put like a weight on it or I like to cut a little X in it to make sure that it lays flat or I just put my spatula down really, really hard on it to make sure it gets cooked and seared evenly. Interesting. And then we got Canadian bacon, which many people have pointed out that real Canadian bacon is pea meal bacon.

But what we grew up with, Canadian bacon, is... Coins? Affected. Yeah, it looks like ham, but it's cut from the loin. The ham is an actual part of the pig that comes from the back hock. Ham is leg. Ham is thigh. The top of the butt.

Ham is butt. Ham is... But pork butt is shoulder. Butt is shoulder. Ham is butt. Ham is butt? It sounds like a riddle. It sounds. Butt is shoulder. Ham is butt. Ham is butt? It sounds like a riddle. It sounds like this is what you had to use to get into the minds of Moria to face the Balrog.

But then we get into the actual crispy kinds of bacon that sort of exist around the world. Lardon. I like them. Lardon are French. I am a huge fan of Lardon. Lardon, you take slab bacon, which is unsliced, cured smoked pork belly, cut it into cubes, and then probably the best bacon product around the world, guanciale. Well, I don't actually think it's cubes.

I think the shape is called lardon, right? You're right, yeah. It's like a rectangle. It's like an obelisk. Yeah, yeah, sure. A rectangular prism. Sure, sure. Yes, yes.

I like, I love, there's nothing I love more. I'm so French. I love a frisee lardon salad. Oh, and you have your espresso after, you smoke a cigarette. Oh, it's so good. You rock in your little, how you say in English, a scarf? Scarf? You wrap your scarf when it is called a scarf.

Shawl? Scarf. Shawl. Shawl. Scarf. Choupette? Choupette, is that a hat? Ah, oui, oui.

Oui, d'accord, un choupette. Un choupette Scarf? Choupette? Choupette? Is that a hat? Ah, oui, oui. Oui, d'accord. Un choupette. Is choupette a hat? Choupette. We go to the cafe. We take our lunch from like 1 p.m. to like 4.30 p.m. And we drink wine. We drink another wine, have a lardon. We drink an espresso, smoke a cigarette, wrap our scarf. Choupette means sweetie.

Work back to work. Stop at the pâtissier before work. It is about 5 5.30 do about one half hour do about one half hour's work hour

one half hour's work go home go make love to our mistress go visit our mistress this is so mean I want to go Josh I think we should go

on a trip to France I think I'm cut out for French countryside lifestyle I never said we need to go to the countryside I want to go to the countryside I want to go to Paris. But I want to get you a whole new wardrobe.

That'd be super. Oh, I don't think Parisians make clothes to fit people who are built like me. I do have a pretty uniquely American build. That's not true. I don't know. You act like they don't have tailors in France. I'm sure they have tailors in France. I just, you know, I'm kind of like a wide bodied corn eater over here.

Corn fed? Guanciale. Guanciale is probably the best form of bacon, right? So it's not always smoked. Is guanciale smoked? No, guanciale is generally not smoked, but it is cured. And so curing, when we're talking about what the best way to cook bacon is, curing is really an endemic part of it because that's what allows the fat to get crispy.

Absolutely. Have you ever had something like a—I ate a bunch of salo the other day. You ate salo? I ate salo. I went to a Circassian restaurant in Philly, in the Reading Terminal Market. No way.

They call themselves like Georgian, but it's a lot of Circassian food. I just learned about Circassian people a year ago when I met a friend who went to a Circassian wedding. And I'm like, I've never heard of that ethnic group before.

Are you sure it's Circassian? And it's not like Caucasian or something wedding. And I'm like, I've never heard of that ethnic group before. Are you sure it's Circassian? And it's not like Caucasian or something else. And they're like, no, no, Circassians. And I Googled it. What an interesting ethnic group. I had no idea it existed. I got a Circassian buddy, man. I was hanging out with him this weekend.

But they market the restaurant as Georgian. They market it as Georgian. And they do like Georgian bread and cheese boats. Kinkali. And so, yeah, they're serving kachapuri, kinkali, but they're also serving much like salads

and sauces from that region and you could just add a solo, which is cured pork fat that is then sliced in a way that you couldn't sort of otherwise slice fat and you take that

cold cured pork fat and you put it on the hot, cheesy, eggy bread. Golly, man. It's so pork fat and you put it on the hot, cheesy, eggy. Oh, yeah. It just melts. Golly, man.

It just melts. It's so pleasant. My gosh. Absolutely delicious. So when you take bacon, back bacon, or even guanciale, it's from the jaw. Jaw. Jowl. Jowl.

The jowl. Guanciale. Guanciale means jowl, I believe. Does it? Yeah. See? Guanciale. Jowls.

Jowls. That's interesting. Yeah. I love guanciale. Also, we've gotten guanciale before that's also seasoned with like black pepper and garlic before. It's quite delish. And guanciale is the pork product that you would typically use in carbonara, spaghetti

alla matriciana, bucatini, bucatini alla matriciana, pasta alla gricia, and like it doesn't taste right with American bacon. But today, Nicole, we're mostly going to be talking about good old-fashioned American streaky bacon, the kind you're getting at the Danny's. Well, that's so hard to say. You know, I used to be a huge fan of bacon. I really did enjoy the flavor, the art of cooking it. But now in my 30-year-old age, I think I've turned a corner and I've become more of a sausage person.

Whoa. Like in the mornings. She's in her sausage queen era. Slay, girl. I don't know what it is. I think there's some, I enjoyed the flavor of bacon. I always find it too salty and too fatty to enjoy. With sausage, it's more emulsified.

It tastes better to me. You can put more stuff on it. Yeah, more spices, more opportunity to play. I agree. And I don't know if that makes me a better person or not, but I feel like it does. I think it does. I'll tell you what. We are sort of hurtling forth

past the bacon era. Because whenever we were growing up, bacon was it. It was the food. Like that YouTube show, Epic Meal Time. Bacon strips, bacon strips, bacon strips. I had that t-shirt. Yeah, like it was everywhere.

You couldn't like turn your head and look at a place that didn't have bacon somewhere on the menu. Oh my God. You'd spit on the street. You'd hit a slice of bacon. Spitting on the street is illegal. Don't do that. It's Singapore, right? We are right now in the mood.

Yeah. Don't go to Singapore and do anything really. You go eat the food at the hawker markets. Don't like, Jesus, do not bring gummies in. But anyways, we are producing an episode right now on Mythical Kitchen where we just had the idea of boomer versus millennial versus Gen Z cooking. Sure, yeah. And we decided that we wanted, we have a lovely boomer chef coming in. Shout out Patrick Q.

That's right. He was born just on the tail end of boomerism. And we want everybody to cook with the ingredients that signifies their generation. Sure. And so we're talking to Patrick, and he was like, kiwi. So random. And we're like, what are you talking about? He's like, no, no, hear me out.

Like, this is when, you know, America had, like, annexed Hawaii. And, like, after World War II, GIs had traveled all around. These exotic fruits were very popular. And he's like, chefs were like making like chicken fricassee with like glazed kiwi just thrown on top. So random. And he's like, I think I can actually make it good. So he has his kiwi and I was thinking about mine as a millennial. The only ingredient I could come up with is bacon.

I mean, avocado was also big. Sun-dried tomatoes. Kale was also big. Sun-dried tomatoes, I feel like, is a very Gen X ingredient. You know, or like raspberry vinaigrette. We're millennials, dude. I always forget. I'm really bad at remembering what category we fall into. I feel like bacon is the defining ingredient, and it like lines up with the internet culture that we grew up in. You've heard the phrase like epic bacon moment. No. Have you heard the phrase epic bacon moment?

It's this like farcical phrase to describe this style that everybody's spoken on the internet and the kind of memes people share, the type of content. Yeah, the epic, like the Chuck Norris humor. Remember the Chuck Norris things? It was like when Chuck Norris doesn't do a push-up, he pushes the earth down or something stupid. Oh, yeah.

Okay, I see, I see, I see. I can has cheeseburger? I can has cheeseburger, and that cheeseburger has bacon on it. So we're kind of at the tail end of bacon. But now I think we have post-bacon era clarity. Yeah, that's hence the sausage. Hence the sausage. Sausage.

Hence the sausage. Bacon. We're talking about... Let me think. The best way to actually cook it. We're talking about crispy bacon, floppy bacon. Where on the continuum between, Nicole, what is your ideal thickness, cook, flavor profile? What is the best way to create bacon?

So I've had a few bacon experiences that really define me as a person. Interesting. I would say one I will bring up is I used to work at a chocolate store, and they were known for bringing bacon and chocolate to the world. Like that was their MO. Like that's their popular. We had a very famous bacon chocolate bar.

What year is this? I don't know. When did I work at a chocolate store? I was 19 years old. You were born in what, 93? 93. 2012. 2012.

That's accurate, right? So this is peak epic bacon moment era. Yeah, yeah. 2011. This was before I went to culinary school. You made an epic bacon moment. I did. It's incredible.

So we worked at a place, and they were known for their bacon chocolate bars. And I remember learning how to make bacon properly because I was like, oh, we just throw it in a pan and cook it. They're like, no, no, no. The best expression of bacon is as follows. Oven, 400 degrees. You put it on a sheet pan with a silpat mat and then you bake it for 20 minutes, for 10 minutes on one side, open it, flip it over, rotate the sheet pan, cook it for another 20 minutes, lift it up, put it on a cooling rack, let it cool. That's how I learned how to make

bacon. And I truly do think it's the best way because it comes out super straight, super beautiful, which is great for plating. It sits really nicely on sandwiches or baked goods or whatever. Stacks really well. Delicious. And it looks like TV bacon. But the thing is, it doesn't have those waves. Those waves are very iconic. It's more straight, but it gave this beautiful, shattery crunch. It had a little bit of chew to it. I thought it was perfect. The shattering crunch is something that a lot of people want in bacon. It's something

I've never been a big fan of. I talk about defining bacon moments. God, this is such an era of time that we live through, and we get to tell our grandchildren and their grandchildren about it. It's incredible. I went to this event called Cochon 555. Everybody, five different chefs, they pair up with five different farmers and five different heritage breed pigs. That's cool.

Really sick event. But like peak liquor and lard era. And then all these liquor companies sponsored it. I think I went with a fake ID when I was 19 or 20 years old with my brother to the first one. Don't do that, kids. Fake IDs aren't cool. It's bad. Don't do it, kids. Fake IDs aren't cool. It's bad.

Don't do it. I wasn't using it to like go do drugs at a club. I was using it to go to a really cool heritage pork festival. You're not like other guys. You have to get allowed in there. But I remember at all these tables, they had mason jars, another form. Oh, ball mason jars.

Oh, ball mason jars filled with candied bacon. But it was that very like shattering crunch, kind of caramelly brown sugar on the outside. And I remember eating it that time and just going like, this is a moment in time. But then now I eat bacon like that and it doesn't do a ton for me. Yeah, candied bacon was a really, really big thing that we grew up with. It really was. So insane. Did we ever actually, like do you like candied bacon now?

When I think about it, no. I mean, back then, I thought it was the most innovative, cool thing. Like, sweet pork. Same, and it was. Whoa, incredible. And it was so good. You could make it spicy. You could make it savory.

It was cool. Balsamic on it. Well, we used to dip it in chocolate. Oh. And then let it harden. Do you like your bacon whenever it's, like, room temp or cold and just, like, you munch on it? Or do you need it warm? It depends what I'm eating it with. That's very true. Because like room temp bacon, I also remember going to a restaurant and they had, God, they called it a

deconstructed Caesar salad. I love them. But it wasn't even a Caesar salad. It was like a grilled piece of romaine that was hot and wet and they put this single cold very heavily baked rendered hard piece of bacon on it but it was so thick because thick cut bacon was all the rage back then this is just us

complaining about bacon at this point I do still love bacon to be clear but it was this thick cut bacon that they like rendered in the oven like you're talking about

so it looked very straight and they put it on there and it was so hard because it's this paradox of the better quality bacon is thick cut and doesn't have a lot of fat. Yeah, that's what we were. But when you are trying to make that crispy, the fat is what makes it crispy. You don't want crispy meat.

That's what these new keto chicken chips are. They are weird. I don't like them. I don't love them either. Eat pork rinds. Yeah, pork rinds, they do a good job. I will say one of my favorite ways I ate bacon was, I was,

I had a friend named Harrison, great friend of mine. We went to culinary school together. And we've, like, gone through ebbs and flows of, like, different jobs and stuff, but we always intersect at random times. So I was dating this guy that lived in Santa Monica, but he worked at, my friend harrison

worked at the rose in venice do you know that restaurant i love the rose yeah it was great and he was like yeah come on over like i'm gonna like have you and your new guy and like just come sit at the chef's table we'll all hang out i'm like okay cool so he ordered a bunch of stuff it was great it was great it was great it was great and then he brought out this dish and it was slab bacon that was cooked it was like so beautiful it was i want to say the thickness of my pinky in terms of thickness so it was almost just like a slab of pork belly but they they advertise it as bacon and it was so beautifully gelatinous but it was crisp on the outside so i think what they did is they sous vided it and then they finished it in a pan and got it nice and crispy. And let me tell you, it was served with a side of mustard, like four different kinds of mustard.

It was one of the most delicious bacon experiences I've ever had. And to this day, I've never had bacon so incredible. Do you even call that bacon, though? Because I know this slide, like that's pork belly, right? I mean, well, bacon. It's smoked and cured. Bacon is pork belly. It's just thinner. But, like, this is past thick cut bacon.

It's like the difference between a steak and a roast. The difference between a steak and a roast is simply the width. Yeah, and the way it's cooked, right? And the way it's cooked. Like, you would never, like, braise bacon. Because I agree. You can braise bacon. I mean, one of the best things in the world is collard greens with braised bacon because I agree you can braise bacon I mean one of the best things

in the world is collard greens with braised bacon sure but the bacon isn't the star of that right like the bacon is there to flavor the collard greens

which is maybe the best way to use bacon sure okay you know but you would never serve you know going to a diner getting a side of bacon with the eggs

like they'll never be like you want it like crispy chewy or braised you know what I mean well yeah that's yeah because who's gonna well this is a fine this is a fine dining restaurant it's a fine dining establishment they'll never be like, you want to like crispy, chewy, or braised. You know what I mean? Well, yeah, that's, yeah,

because who's going to braise, well, this is a fine, this is a fine dining restaurant. It's a fine dining establishment. Of course, they're going to do things a little bit topsy-turvy.

That's how they make their money. I don't even know if I could call that bacon, though, in the same way that I couldn't call a New York, or that I couldn't call like a Chateaubriand a steak.

Okay, but is it marketed as a steak on the menu, a Chateaubriand? I don't know, probably not. I feel like, yeah, you probably could see it under a steak. Chateaubriand? I don't know. Probably not. I feel like, yeah, you probably could see it under a steak.

Chateaubriand, for people that don't know, it's this French, it's like the whole loin, the whole beef loin that's like roasted. It may be my favorite expression of beef, dude. I haven't had a Chateaubriand in a long time. I don't even remember what it looks like. I just love wet, sopping meat. This is the thing for me now. I think I've been over-crispified. So now the point where I want my bacon like quite chewy. I like thing for me now. I think I've been over-crispified. So now the point where I

want my bacon like quite chewy. I like it chewy too now. And I don't want it baked anymore. I don't want, I know that's the best way to evenly cook bacon, et cetera, et cetera. But if I don't want the crispiness, right? I'm there for like a little bit of burn, a little bit of crisp, and then yielding to that wavy chew of just chewable fat. Sure. Like, let's get back to chewing our food. You know what I mean? A little bit of life in it. Don't bake all the moisture out of it. It doesn't have to be shattering and crispy.

Why is crispy just the sort of antithesis to soggy, which is bad? Let's lean into soggy. Let's braise our bacon. I don't know. You know? I mean, I do, at this point in my life, I do like a little chew to my bacon, but there's something so satisfying about looking at a piece of bacon and it just stands right up. Oh, it is fun. You know what I mean, I do at this point in my life, I do like a little chew to my bacon. But there's something so satisfying about looking at a piece of bacon and it just stands right up. It is fun.

You know what I mean? It's like a cartoon. All you do is just crack. It's so easy to crack and it's so much easier to eat. With the chewy bacon, with the eggs and the toast, I feel like there's potential for it to be a little bit lost in the sauce. How do you eat bacon with eggs? What is the function of bacon on it? Because that's what we're mostly talking about here. And we also have some data, right? This is a survey

from YouGov, about 1,300 people were surveyed. 37% of people prefer, quote, somewhat crispy. 34% preferred very crispy. That is the top end. Only 4% preferred, quote, unquote, chewy bacon. It's us. That's this guy. And then 16% at somewhat chewy. But how are you functioning with a plate of bacon and eggs? I barely even do it anymore, Josh. Same. I'm going to tell you the truth. If I go to a diner, I'm getting a chili cheese omelet. Oh, my God.

Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah, I just had that the last. I was coming back from LAX and I went to Pan's. Oh, really? Yeah. You got a chili cheese omelet? I think I got a chili cheese omelet.

That's so funny. But let me try to think back in my, well, whenever I eat bacon, I'm typically at a hotel continental breakfast. Ah, yes. Yes, yes, yes. So that bacon also, it's varying factors of like sog anyways. Of course. And it's powdered eggs.

So let me think. I scoop a plate of hash browns. I scoop a plate of eggs. If there's a guy making omelets, I'll probably get, I'll probably put the scrambled eggs aside and get an omelet with onions, tomatoes, and goat cheese. And then he rolls it all up and then I will get two sausage links and I will get probably three pieces of bacon. The bacon, what I typically do is I sit down, I eat the bacon, I eat one piece of bacon

first. Oh, interesting. The second thing I do is I take a piece of the omelet and then I put I eat the bacon. I eat one piece of bacon first. Oh, interesting. The second thing I do is I take a piece of the omelet and then I put it with the bacon and I eat that. And then I take the sausages, finish the sausages, and I just eat it all together. So, yeah, I like my bacon on the side. I don't like it in my omelet. So your bacon doesn't, like, interact with anything there. Because if you put bacon in an omelet, like, it sort of steams and it doesn't – you can't even get it crispy.

Yeah, I don't like bacon in my omelet. Interesting. I when I have bacon on the side, what I do is I tear off a piece of it and then I use it like a roti and then I use that to scoop up my eggs. So your bacon is so floppy that you can use it like a roti? Correct. How is that possible? Absolutely, not like a popard.

Not like a popard, not crispy, but like a roti, you know, and I'm scooping it. Interesting, really? You know, yeah, yeah, because I want thei, you know, and I'm scooping it. Interesting. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Because I want the bacon to flavor the eggs and I don't want it crispy. I don't want to scoop it. This is you making it at home?

Anywhere I go. I make it at home. I go to a Denny's and I hop. I go to a Barney's Bean Ring at a breakfast place. Do you say make the bacon not that crispy? Yes. I will say bacon medium rare. I don't know.

For me, like before in a BLT, in a BLT, it has to be crispy. BLT, no. Disagree. What? I disagree. If you're toasting your bread, it does not have to be crispy. Okay. If you're not toasting your bread, it might work to be crispy.

That's just because you need one crispy component. Oh my God. You're so right. I want some meaty, floppy, chewy bacon. Also, you ever make a turkey bacon BLT? Never in my life. What? I don't. I eat a BLT. What? Let meaty, floppy, chewy bacon. Also, you ever make a turkey bacon BLT? Never in my life. What? I don't…

I eat a BLT. What? Let me tell you something about me. Yeah. Once a year, I eat a BLT. Once a year. And I feel so good when I eat it. And I'm like, I could never replicate this 364 days, rest of the year.

And let me tell you what I do. I take white bread. I cut the crust off. Oh my God. Shut up. I put mayonnaise on it. I get my tomatoes. I cut them and I season them. I cut the crust off. Oh my god. Shut up. I put mayonnaise on it. I get my tomatoes, I cut them, and I season them. I take lettuce, typically ice, no

not iceberg. What is it? Romaine hearts. And I just, why are you looking at me like that? It should be iceberg. No it shouldn't. Absolutely. Romaine's too bitter. Go on. I'm interrupting and I'm being incredibly rude and trellish. Or bib. And then I get my bacon so crispy

but not to the point that it's like disgusting but like crispy and hot and then I just eat it and I just eat it and that's good toast the inside

of the bread only put mayonnaise on that season the tomatoes big wedge iceberg we're not talking about shredded we're talking about just like

cut off a fillet of iceberg lettuce put that on there floppy hot greasy bacon. Smash that down and just soak up all the juices. Can I tell you something I don't like about the way you cook? Yeah, go ahead. I don't like how you toast the other side of the bread.

Why? Like I don't get it. Like you do that all the time. You also did that in a video about grilled cheese and Gordon Ramsay absolutely like smoked you. What do you mean he absolutely smoked me? I smoked him. No.

We got so much earned media value off of that little controversy. I hate the way So much EMV. Let me tell you I hate the way that you toast your

your bread for grilled cheese on both sides. Oh I stopped doing that if I'm being honest. That's what I I don't like that about you. I know but I do it for BLTs because I think you need

something to catch because when you're salting tomatoes, it's drawing moisture out. Iceberg, going to have some moisture. My bacon's going to be greasy. Put a layer of mayonnaise on there. It creates another protective barrier,

but then that toast also helps. Remember bacon weaves? Oh my God. We did one in the cookbook. Do you remember that? That was crazy. Can I tell you my favorite application of bacon now?

Is it bacon weaves? No, no, the bacon weave. Listen, we made a bacon ice cream sandwich in the cookbook. Oh, it was so good. It's good. It's like delicious. It's fun.

The bacon, when you get it that sort of crispy and rendered, it freezes really well. So good. And it's a fun time. Would I eat that over like a cookies and cream ice cream sandwich? Probably not. No. But my favorite thing to do with bacon, this took me a while to realize, in perfecting my breakfast burrito game.

Because I used to be like bacon over sausage in me a while to realize in perfecting my breakfast burrito game. Because I used to be like bacon over sausage in a breakfast burrito all day. And chorizo is its own beast that like if I got a hand for it, I'll get.

Don't love steak and egg breakfast burritos because I need the meat to have a flavor. I love steak and egg breakfast burritos. I need the meat to have a flavor.

I need it to be a condiment. Yeah. My favorite thing to do with bacon now, I used to like, I would chop it up. I would render it almost like lardons

and mix it with the eggs. Don't like that because then it steams. I would chop it up, leave it on the side. Don't love that because it doesn't mix into the other things. I would leave it in whole strips. I think that's kind of an abomination in breakfast burrito. I've had great breakfast burritos that do that. And just pulls out. Kind of pulls out. Yeah. My favorite thing to do now is I render it in a pan, chop it up like pretty finely, almost like lardons, but it's just American bacon. And then in the fat, I'll take whatever salsa I have that's going in there.

My current favorite, Casa Martinez chipotle salsa. And I will drop that in the pan with the bacon fat and do like a quick braise on the bacon. Okay, interesting. In the salsa. So it doesn't get crispy, but you're getting all that smoky pork flavor in the chew. So interesting. The acid. I thought you were anti-braise.

No, quick braise. I'm pro quick braise. Quick braise is an oxymoron. Like jumbo shrimp. Jumbo shrimp is not an oxymoron. The animal is called a shrimp and they are very large. There's no, a quick braise is BS. No, I actually agree with you.

But whatever I'm doing to it, that's what I like to do. I don't know what to call it. You're cooking it. But I'm cooking it in a little bit of liquid. But you get like, bacon to me is best when it's acting as a condiment, right? Yeah. An accent. Unless you're doing a big old thing of slab bacon with the mustard.

That sounds fun. That's so good. But to me, I don't need that crispy texture on it. And so I just want all that smoky flavor in the pork chew. And then when that mixes with the salsa and you put that with like the eggs and cheese and potatoes in there. Ooh, that is the best way to cook bacon. George Foreman grill. Oh, yeah.

I love George Foreman-ing my bacon. So good. Dude, we need to make a grill, like a Josh Sharer grill. Yeah. I should legally change my name to George Foreman, though. No, no, no. Are you sure? There's too many George Foremans in the world, remember?

It can be like the number four. Aren't all of his sons named George as well? Yeah, and then his daughter Frida, I believe. Frida? Should have been Georgette. Frida Foreman? Could have been Georgette. Whether you like it floppy or crispy or even microwaved,

the Spork team has found the best brands of bacon you can buy. Head to spork.com and search bacon to find all of their bacon rankings. can buy. Head to spark.com and search bacon to find all of their bacon rankings. Well, alright, Nicole. We've heard what you and I have to say. Now it's time to find out what other wacky ideas are rattling out there in the universe. Time for a segment we call

Opinions are like casseroles. You were spelling it out on the table like kids at the spelling bee. No, my table's wet, but I didn't drink anything. i don't think that was green hello my name is laurie and i'm from outside of philly go birds long time listener love mythical kitchen been here since the beginning is nobody gonna talk

about how josh says the word channel channel i know it's like your south african grandma but nobody talks about it and i just that's all love the show love you love you josh nicole and everybody in the medical kitchen bye oh my god we bully bullied Josh actively about his pronunciation of channel. Josh, it's not channel. It's channel. I'd say channel. Josh, it's your accent. Like our YouTube channel. Can I tell you something?

Channel. Can I tell you something? I have an accent too. I say certain words weird. It's fine. You have an accent. And you say channel. Thank you so much for bringing it up and bringing it to the light.

You know, we've been telling you for years you say it wrong but you don't care because you just want to be yourself and i'm not going to judge you you say it weird you say it wrong but we still love you hold on but you're saying like channel yeah welcome to my youtube channel welcome to my youtube channel channel channel why what what is going on if there are any uh people who understand like american regional accents or where this might from, because I don't think it's South African side of me. I don't think that hit me. I don't know what it is. But my dad having this weird kind of Allentown, pseudo-Philly accent, I think said some things kind of weird.

I grew up hearing water, and I never said water. Do you say bag or bag? I say bag. I say bag. It's like a flattening. I don't get like an eh. Yeah. Bag. I knew a girl from Minneapolis that said, do you need a bag with that? Do you need a bag? I say bag. I say bag. It's like a flattening. I don't get like a eh. Yeah. Bag.

Like I knew a girl from Minneapolis that said do you need a bag with that? Do you need a bag? Yeah. But I say like

do you need a I think it's a very flat bag. Bag. Almost like bog or bag. I bought a bag the other day.

I bought a bag the other day. I bought a bag the other day. I can say hit bag. I bought a bag but it didn't go on my channel.

Channel? Oh it feels gross my channel. YouTube channel. Why do Oh, it feels gross, my channel. YouTube channel. Why do you say channel? It's like C-H-U-N-N-A-L. You say channel. I am so, and the channel is, I believe, an underwater, it's the English channel tunnel.

You say channel. You say welcome to the channel. I say channel. YouTube channel. No, you need to, no. What do you mean I need to? This is my accent. This is how I talk. No, no need to... No. What do you mean I need to? This is my accent. This is how I talk.

No, no. You have a... There's a random you in it. You say... It's like... Instead of saying... Instead of saying... Instead of saying look at me, look at me.

Yeah. It's speech therapy. Channel. Channel. Welcome to my YouTube channel. No. Not channel. Channel.

It's my YouTube channel. Thank you. It's channel. It's channel. It's not channel. See, you're going underneath. You're going channel. YouTube channel.'s channel It's not channel You're going underneath That's suck dude it's my channel Like do you think it's a SoCal thing That I have weirdly

Maggie how do you say channel Channel Say it again No you're forcing it Say welcome to my YouTube channel Welcome to my YouTube channel I'll change for you. Go birds.

Josh, don't change who you are but if you want I can do some speech therapy exercises with you. I don't want to. Pa ma la pa. I already have to do so much physical therapy

for my back. I can't handle speech therapy for my channel. This is the best opinion. Oh God. Brutal. Hi Nicole. Hi Josh. Hi. This is bria what's up bria calling from massachusetts go socks mass hole go socks baby and i i want to say something a suggestion and a thing i don't like I hate Eggs Benedict. What? Every part of the Eggs Benedict separately, all great ingredients. To me, it tastes like what a hangover fart smells like.

I find it repulsive. It's the most mass whole thing to say. Tell me why I'm wrong. Tell me what's so good about it. I'll tell you. asshole thing to say. Tell me why I'm wrong. Tell me what's so good about it. I'll tell you. But also if you want a little, a little sneaky hint, a tip, give it to me. In your morning coffee, it only works with hot coffee. Bailey's make a syrup out of like, um, like a molasses, like a regular molasses, a black strap or, um, date molasses, put some five spice in there and

have a freaking five spice cup of coffee. Yeah. Okay. Bye-bye. Tastes like a hangover fat. I love, I love the second opinion a lot. I think the first one you, you are probably just going to brunch when you're hungover and you are seeing the eggs Benedict. You're correlating it to hangover fats. Because I can't. I do agree that when Eggs Benedict was created, which I actually don't know much about the origin of it. Me either. But when it was created, it was at a time where you could just stack four somewhat common ingredients on each other and name it, and it became a worldwide sensation.

I love Eggs Benedict. We're sort of past that in society, and I don't know if Eggs Benedict— Delmonico's. It was Delmon past that in society, which I, and I don't know if eggs Benedict. Del Monaco's. It was Del Monaco's. No spit. Apparently, apparently. No spit. And I don't think we're at that point in society,

and I don't even know that the things on eggs Benedict are the perfect combination of things. I love hollandaise sauce. I love poached eggs. Love it. I love English muffins. Yeah.

That's it for me, but I fully understand now. It's a bit non-sequiturial. I'm the opposite. I don't love, I mean, I love hollandaise, but I don't necessarily love poached eggs. I don't necessarily love Canadian bacon or even English muffins. But them all together, I love. Also, Eggs Benedict was always the dish I would make to impress boys.

Yeah. Never made it for my husband, though. Oh. Isn't that crazy? And yet, he's the one who stayed. He's the, exactly. he's the exactly and i fear if i ever make him eggs benedict he will leave seems like you should work that out so i will never so i will never make it for him but i will make i will make him like eggs with hollandaise

but i will never actually do the stack because if he does he will walk out on me and i don't have the emotional um strength to address it. David, I love you. I know you're watching. Maggie, I'm uncomfortable now. So what you're really doing is adding like brown sugar to your coffee, right?

Because the molasses syrup, yeah, molasses is what makes brooch. I'm totally kidding, by the way. Am I? You'll never know the truth unless you read body language. I do like the second opinion a lot. That's a good one.

It almost reminds me of like Hawaii-age, the Yemeni spice blend. True. I've had that in coffee. That's really nice. I've never had it in coffee. What are the five spices in five spice? Oh, oh, star anise, cinnamon, white pepper. Is it white pepper?

But yeah, I'm just going to say it is. Okay. Fennel. I know fenn it is. Okay. Fennel. I know fennel's in there. Fennel? Yeah, fennel. No, that's the star anise you're tasting. I swear to G it's fennel.

Maggie, what are the five spices in five spice? Clove. Star anise. Sichuan pepper. Cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns, fennel seeds. You were right. Yeah. Clove is the one that we're missing.

But yeah, those are all like good things in coffee. It reminds me a little bit, almost like a masala chai. Or like a sweet chili, or like a chili hot chocolate. Oh, chili. are all like good things in coffee. It reminds me a little bit almost like a masala chai. Or like a sweet chili or like a chili hot chocolate. Oh, chili. Yeah. Mexican hot chocolate. Mexican hot chocolate.

A little bit of chipotle in there. That's fun. That's a good opinion. I love the vibe. Eat more eggs, man. Don't be a baby. Maybe put salmon on.

Maybe instead of Canadian bacon, maybe you just have salmon on it. Have a salmon benedict. I think I just want this wet sausage sandwich. I like McGriddles. McGriddles is like

two steps away from a holiday. McGriddles are profane. You're disgusting. It offends God. It is an offense to God and you don't come to Boston and you offend the Father. Hi, Nicole and Josh. I love the Mythical Kitchen. I wanted to throw something out there. My mom has always

said food tastes always so much better when you're not the one that has to cook it. In reality, she barely seasons her food. We're talking salt, pepper, parsley. That's about it. But it makes me wonder, like, if my partner were to make one of my meals the exact same way as if I had, would I think it tastes better if I didn't have to cook it? Just want to know your thoughts on that. All right, thanks.

Bye. Yes. What? I was just talking about this with PA Colby yesterday. What is he saying? So we were talking about the phenomenon of cooking for fun at home or even just cooking a dinner and then sitting down and like being a little bit disgusted by it.

It's almost like a postpartum depression for finishing a meal. I see that sometimes, yeah. And for me, I think there's a bit of a scientific reason. I think there's a bit of an emotional reason. Scientific reason, if you are tasting throughout, right? Like nothing tastes better than you dreaming about, say, a hamburger. And then finally you get the finished bite and you're hungry. And, you know, maybe you've had half a beer.

And then finally that taste hits your mouth. But if you've been tasting the meat periodically throughout it, you're like overexposing your palate a little bit. It's like how you get nose blind to smells. It smelled like fish in my office yesterday. And after five minutes, I didn't notice it. People walked in. They just went, oh, and we still don't know where the smell is coming from. Nose blindness is a thing.

And so I think that's part of it. I don't know. I mean, if you're like the sole cook of the house, I feel like Nose blindness is a thing. And so I think that's part of it. I don't know. I mean, if you're like the sole cook of the house, I feel like you don't have an option. You know what I mean? What? What are you laughing at? There's always an option, Nicole.

A takeout? No, but I'm saying like, this is more a thought experiment. What is? I don't get it. The thought experiment of... Can you say it again? If you and David

were to make the same plate of spaghetti, I know David don't... We would not. Well, I know David don't. We would not. Well, I know, but that's what the thought experiment is. You have to put yourself on a hypothetical. If he made it with the same ingredients, or say you just didn't cook it, because I think that's what this is about.

What? And you sat down, and just a plate of spaghetti was served to you, would that taste better than the same exact spaghetti that you cooked? No. Why not? Because I'm the better cook. They're the same cook in this what do you mean

i'm saying it's the same plate of spaghetti or okay you've seen how could it be the same it's two different thought experiment this is how philosophy works have you seen i didn't do really well in philosophy have you seen severance no do you know the plot no god dang it they okay so imagine oh they take his brain and half of it's at work and half of it's his personal life. But then it gets a little hairy. That one? Yes. Wait, it's mostly a thought experiment.

What if you could sort of amnesia cooking you out, right? So you don't remember cooking it and you don't remember tasting any of the sauce. I would go to the doctor. God dang it. Wait, this is going to work. Come on. It's going to work. So you don't remember tasting it, and then you sit down,

and then the you that's eating the spaghetti, let's call that you A, doesn't remember you B who cooked the spaghetti, whereas in the other control group you have you A1 and you A2, which you enjoyed the spaghetti more, you A1 the spaghetti more. So there's four of me? U-A-1 or U-B. So there's four of me? Insofar as you're a different person in spatiotemporal context, yes. Nicole from an hour ago is another person than Nicole now.

But that's so not true. What do you mean? I'm the same person. Nicole, do you like spaghetti? I love spaghetti. Oh, that's great. Nicole loves spaghetti. No, I really...

No, no, no. Stop. I really want to get this. I really want to get this. I really want to get this. Start it from the beginning. Close your laptop. Okay. Okay.

Hold on. Okay, go. There are two bowls of spaghetti that exist. Okay, okay, here. I'm a visual learner. Two bowls of spaghetti. I'm a visual learner. Okay, two bowls of spaghetti.

They both have 100 grams pasta cooked at exactly 11 minutes, rinsed a little bit al d visual. Okay, two bowls of spaghetti. They both have 100 grams pasta cooked at exactly 11 minutes, rinsed a little bit al dente. Okay. They are both cooked in one quarter cup of olive oil with one half cup of half cherry tomatoes, a half teaspoon of minced garlic, and then basil to finish, seasoned with salt. Too much olive oil. Okay. One of those bowls of pasta is sitting freshly out of the pan into a bowl as you walk into your home coming home from work. Okay. The other bowl of pasta has been cooked by you and you have tasted the sauce with the noodles twice to ensure seasoning. And then you sit down with that bowl that you have just cooked.

Which bowl is going to be more enjoyable? The one that was waiting for you when you got home or the one that you had just cooked? Oh, the one that I just cooked, which bowl is going to be more enjoyable? The one that was waiting for you when you got home or the one that you had just cooked? Oh, the one that I just cooked. Why is that going to be more enjoyable? Because it's fresher and hotter. No, it's not fresher and hotter. The bowl that you came into was just as fresh and hot. The time that it took you to walk

from the kitchen to the kitchen, the time that took you to walk from the kitchen to your dining room table is equidistant to the amount that it took for you to go from the front door to the table. Both trains, Nicole, leaving from Chicago and Los Angeles are converging in Des Moines at the same speed at the same time. Okay. You are reaching the bowl at the same exact time. Okay.

Oh, okay. Okay. So, I'm currently split into two people. And there's one, Nicole, that was cooking and one, Nicole, that was at work. people. And there's one Nicole that was cooking and one Nicole that was at work. Yes. And then David is the other bowl. What? David made the other bowl of pasta.

Nobody made it. A robot made it. A robot made it that used the exact specifications that you made it. Oh, okay, okay. And I taste, it wouldn't make a difference. Okay, well, we found the answer. And on that note, thank you so much for stopping by. A hot dog is the same.

No, no, no. It wouldn't make a difference. Why would it make, if it's exactly the same, what's the difference? I just explained why it would make a difference. Like five minutes ago, I was talking about how you sort of get nose blind to aromas and you're standing over the pot and you're tasting things. Oh, Maggie, did you get it? And you resent the things.

And it was a metaphor for postpartum depression. Maggie, did you get it? Yeah, but I see both of your points. Write in the comments who's right. It's me, I'm right. So it's called the brain in a box theorem, right? It's like, are you your consciousness? Are you your continuity of memory?

Are you the meat sack that is surrounding your bones? I already told you I believe in Cartesian dualism. God damn it, Josh. Keep up. Thank you so much for stopping by. A hot dog is a sandwich. We've got new episodes for you every Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts. We've got new episodes out on YouTube on Sundays.

Yeah, and if you want to be featured on Opinions or at Casseroles, hit us up at 833-DOGPOD1. And if you want to see more Mythical Kitchen, we've got a great YouTube channel out there. We also have many other channels for the podcast. Other social channels that we can follow, go over to the TikTok. Channel.

Our Instagram channel our Instagram channel is also really fantastic we'll see you next time