Image Credit: The Chef Show on Netflix via Media Center — Episode 8
In the final episode of The Chef Show, Jon Favreau and Roy Choi recreate the recipes from Chef, the 2014 film the show is based on.
The final episode of Jon Favreau and Roy Choi’s The Chef Show is all about nostalgia, as the duo recreate the recipes featured in Favreau’s 2014 film Chef. The food in the film looked delicious and it will be fascinating to see how it’s all made.
Berries & Cream
Choi decides to start with dessert. Berries and cream may sound simple but this recipe isn’t. And it all starts with the caramel.
Favreau claims to have made the caramel himself at home, but before they’ve even begun, Choi tells Favreau he’s been doing it wrong. Favreau adds water to make his caramel, more like a syrup really, but caramel is supposed to be pure melted sugar. What Favreau has been doing so far is the childproof version. Choi’s caramel is done fairly soon and he pours it on a tray to cool. It looks rich and decadent. With a few whacks of a mallet, the cooled caramel breaks into pieces, ready for presentation.
Then it’s time for the cream. Choi adds sugar and Favreau whips it up. They add the berries in a separate bowl and add a large amount sugar to it, which will help break the berries down. For added flavour, they add some liqueur and mint leaves.
To plate the dish, Favreau adds the berries first, then the cream, and finally sieves the caramel onto it. Elegant, simple, and delicious.
The Chef Show HOLLYWOOD, CA – APRIL 23: Producer Jon Favreau (L) and actor Scarlett Johansson attend the Los Angeles Global Premiere for Marvel Studios? Avengers: Infinity War on April 23, 2018 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for Disney)
Scarlett’s Pasta (Aglio E Olio)
Now it’s time for the famous Chef pasta, which Favreau and Choi have named Scarlett Pasta, because Scarlett Johansson still talks about eating it during her scene in the film . It’s quite a popular dish on Instagram, notes Favreau, because it’s so simple to make. Follow along, home chefs.
Favreau has a ton of parsley to get through and before he’s even half done, Choi has already got the pasta cooking. But Favreau doesn’t need to feel too bad—Choi takes it upon himself to finely slice garlic and it doesn’t go well. Slicing the garlic with a knife takes ages, and using a mandolin is cumbersome because the garlic is so tiny. Please, we don’t want to see blood on The Chef Show!
In two separate pans, Choi adds oil and then fries the garlic, adding salt and chili pepper for flavour. He also begins to add chopped parsley before Favreau reminds him that they usually add it at the end. So, one pan gets parsley while the other doesn’t.
It all starts to cook very quickly, making poor Favreau rather frantic, as he’s terrified the garlic will get bitter. But Choi remains calm, and dunks in the pasta along with some of the pasta water and a knob of butter. A little shaved parmesan, and Choi and Favreau are demolishing the pasta. It looks so good and we can definitely make this at home!
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Chocolate Lava Cake
While making Chef, Favreau and Choi asked other chefs the one dish that they absolutely didn’t want to make, and they all unanimously said chocolate lava cake. It’s too 90s and overdone—like a pop song that’s played too often. Which is exactly why they decided to include it in the film.
For this dish, Andrew Rea, host of YouTube’s Binging with Babish, joins Favreau and Choi. They make the ganache, Favreau and Choi melting chocolate, then slowly adding the cream. Only after that process is completed does Rea realise that they were supposed to heat the cream before adding it. Choi had mentioned that earlier. Oops. It goes into the fridge nonetheless.
In a bain-marie, Favreau melts butter and chocolate while Choi works on the brown sugar and eggs. They add in the melted chocolate and its ready to be put in bowls. The ganache, now hardened, is scooped out and added into the melted chocolate, then put into the oven.
While that’s cooking, the trio have an emotional moment. Rea recently got a tattoo of the twirling pasta fork used in Chef, and Favreau is so moved that he gifts Rea the actual instrument from the film. Rea gets all choked up. How lovely.
The lava cakes only cook for nine minutes and it looks gorgeous on the plate with some whipped cream and berries. They can’t wait to cut into it and are delighted when the molten ganache gently oozes out. Stunning!
The Chef Show on Netflix via Media Center — Episode 6
Beignet
Anyone watching The Chef Show will remember the disaster that was Favreau’s attempt at making beignets. The sweet dish featured heavily in Chef, and Favreau’s daughter absolutely loves it. However, it doesn’t quite work when the mix has expired.
This time around, Favreau has got non-expired beignet mix from Café Du Monde.
They get a decent looking dough to work with and the first batch come out looking pretty good. A generous dusting of powdered sugar and it isn’t long before Favreau and Choi are tucking in. What a lovely way to end the season.
Tips for Home Cooks:
· When you’re making caramel, do not stir the sugar; leave it be so it can melt down.
· The best way to cut small herbs is to fold or roll them and then slice it neatly with a knife.
· Want to give your pasta flavour? Add salt and oil to boiling water before you add in the pasta.
· Once your pasta is boiled, don’t throw the pasta water away! Use it to add flavour to your pasta when you cook it.
· To melt chocolate, put the heat on for a short while and then turn it off, letting it melt from the steam of the double boiler.
· The best way to crack an egg is to do it against a flat surface, not a sharp one. This will ensure against breaking the yolk.
Final Thoughts
As much as I loved the previous episode, this was by far my favourite episode of The Chef Show. I loved the call-backs to the film and how it demonstrated the camaraderie that comes with cooking. There were some great tips for home chefs, and that pasta recipe is so delightfully simple and delicious that I can imagine how many people will enjoy making it at home.
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The Chef Show has been a fun journey. Though its lack of structure made for uneven watching, for the most part, there was plenty to enjoy. The highlight for me was the relationship between Favreau and Choi, and how much they both adore cooking. Choi’s dedication to his craft and Favreau’s eagerness to keep learning from his mentor and friend a joy to watch. I don’t know whether there will be any more seasons, but I certainly hope so.
The Chef Show is streaming on Netflix internationally.