Fear vs. Flavor: A Culinary Adventure in Conquering Boundaries

Embark on a captivating journey with us on the "Fear vs. Flavor" episode of the WTAF companion podcast. Join our hosts as they navigate the exhilarating realm of tastebuds, overcoming reservations, and embracing cultural perspectives in a quest for gastronomic exploration.

In this episode, we delve into the intriguing interplay between fear and flavor. Discover how confronting childhood aversions and challenging preconceived notions can lead to unexpected connections and profound self-awareness. Through captivating personal anecdotes, we explore the psychological factors that shape our culinary preferences and delve into the diverse world of food experiences.

Prepare to be inspired as we encourage you to step out of your comfort zones and try new things. Witness the power of breaking free from culinary restrictions and embracing the richness of flavors from various cultures. Along the way, we shed light on the significance of appreciating food resources and combating food waste.

Immerse yourself in a sensory adventure as we delve into the tantalizing world of gastronomy. From flavor experiences that defy expectations to the subtle nuances of taste, we celebrate the art of pushing boundaries and expanding our palate.

Through thought-provoking discussions, we highlight the importance of diversity in food and the profound impact it has on our collective appreciation for different cuisines. Join us as we challenge the notion of "comfort zones" and encourage you to embark on your own culinary exploration.

Discover the joy of embracing new flavors, conquering fears, and unlocking the full potential of your tastebuds. This episode of "Things That Make You Go WTF" will leave you inspired to break free from culinary limitations, foster a deeper appreciation for food, and savor the multitude of flavors that the world has to offer.

Don't miss out on this thought-provoking episode! Subscribe to our podcast and join the conversation as we unravel the intricate relationship between fear, tastebuds, cultural perspectives, and the transformative power of gastronomic exploration.

Watch our latest episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uOqJcwBlbU&t=6s

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to things that make you go WTF. A podcast that brings you the unvarnished banter behind the scenes of our YouTube series women travel, art and food. I'm Kelly brailler, CEO of fine art licensing agency Ellis riot and co host of WTF. Join me, Diana Ogilvie and our guests each week for straight talk of how we manage our careers, entrepreneurial endeavors and personal lives as we seek out exceptional food and art experiences around the world. Is it worth the effort? fuck around and find out. I absolutely love it. But yeah, she she literally talks like a human. Go out. So wrong wrong. So yeah, that's my, that's my switch over here. So how are you? Yeah, I'm doing good, though. I do need a nap. You need an app after all of that talking we were doing about the next episode. Yeah. It's good to start. That's really good stuff. So, so yeah, that's, you know, that's going to be kind of exciting, because I think by the time that this episode hits, we're gonna have either be almost out the door with the LA episode, or it will be live. And people can go and watch it, which is great. Yeah. I know. We're working on some teasers at the moment. To entice viewers. All the stuff happening in LA it's so funny. Like, with the balut I have a couple of friends from the Philippines and they were like, We don't eat that. Brave to eat that. Like we don't eat that. Okay, full disclosure. I actually that is my one regret from the LA trip is that I do now that I'm I'm away from it. I'm like, You chicken shit. What were you afraid of? I mean, I love eggs. I hunt. So I'm familiar with animals and in that state, and I'm like, I was freed from that fear. Yeah. Yeah. out of a plane, but I can't eat an egg. What's wrong with me? Yeah. What you know, it's, it's not like a yoke, you know, there was a partially developed duck in there. You know, that's, that's the thing. It is almost like if we had broken out that balloon if we had broken it out, I think I wouldn't have that's why I made that whole kind of as I was, like, if I see beak and feathers, which I did, but if I saw it, like broken out in front of me, I'd be like nine doing the sun. I'm not doing this. Alright, so I want to actually go to there's there's a there and viewers will see it when they watch the episode. But as you are getting started on the balloon you drink. Yeah. And you actually face like nice. Yeah, your facial expression was like, oh, yeah, I was surprised. So you what you don't do in that episode is describe what it was. You were tasting? Yeah. Right out that Oh, yeah. Ripe with that flavor. Just it was it was salty. It was kind of briny. And it was it actually tasted like soup. You know, it tasted like it tasted like chicken soup. Like an egg drop soup or something like that. Yeah. Like it had like a some familiar taste to like chicken broth. Interested in salt. And I was like, Wait, wow. Oh, surprise. Okay, I could do this. And then when I started eating the different parts, I could see my episode I saw I saw the face. I mean, I was like, I'm not feeling this. I'm not feeling this because my mouth kind of did a little. And it's like one of those micro expressions but through editing I'm like yeah, I definitely wasn't feeling it. It's on my face. I'm still I'm still like I said though I'm mad at myself for being such a chicken shit. I should have tried it. But I am glad we didn't buy two of them and wait, you know, I should have at least like tried what you were eating just to be able to see that I did it and it's been a bucket list item so I did it. No want to something else. It's it's, you know, I'm very self aware of the fact that you know, as the white American woman on WTF I'm trying to challenge my fellow white American women to not be afraid of things and to just about and don't be afraid of something that's different from from what we have always had around us. Of our little, you know, cozy American pod but so am I mad at myself for that? It's like shame on you trailer, chicken. Okay. It'll be more. There'll be more. There is something you know, one of the things that I know, we'll have it in one of the special cuts, the short cuts that we put on YouTube, it's not in the full episode for LA. When we were at gorilla taco. And I absolutely, there was one of the tacos, it was pork belly. Yes. And it was divine. It was so absolutely delicious. So if you had known me when I was growing up, I was the kid living in, you know, farm town America, in southwest Minnesota. And our diet every single night consisted of beef or chicken or pork, like every single one. And there was always this ring of fat on on the steak or on the pork chop. And my father came from, you know, Depression era. Parents who believed you use everything, you don't let anything go to waste. And so everything Yeah, that was the rule at the table. Get up from the table until you ate your meal. Mm hmm. You know, which I think of like all of my bad choices and eating habits my adult life that were probably shaped by Oh, for sure. For sure. It's, um, I absolutely hate fat, like the texture of it. When I was a kid. I was just like, an even like, now, if I get to a spot that's gristly in a steak. I'm usually like, discreetly take my napkin and take it out of my mouth, because I'm like, I just the texture is just something that hasn't worked for me. Yes, I will spread bone marrow on toast and be absolutely in love. I love fats. Yeah, that specific on the, on the bone on the steak on the pork chop. And I could sit at the table until nine o'clock at night. And that thing was like rock hard white, because it had cooled off, you know. And then at that point, I was literally taking either milk or water and putting the hunks in my mouth and just swallowing them whole. So I didn't have to chew them or taste them. Yeah. So. So the whole idea around pork belly when that first really started to catch on about a decade ago in terms of, you know, different cuisines? Yeah. I was like, Oh, hell no, no. big ol pile of fat. I'm not touching it. Yeah. And I'm so wrong about it. It's all in technique and preparation. And, and, but here's a quick story for you. Fast forward. So from my childhood, I'm in my late 20s. And I've at this point been traveling, you know, for a good five years for business. So Ben in a lot of business dinners at this point. I've eaten a lot of steak around the world at this point. I can love steak. I love it. I love a good medium rare, you know, ribeye, etc. I'm just surgical when I eat it, but I love it. And so I took my parents out to a steak house. And, you know, my dad orders his prime rib, you know, it's course got a big ol ring of fat on it or whatever. And the waiter comes to me, and I'm like, Yeah, I'll have the I'll have the New York Strip, medium rare, ordered my stuff and the waiter leaves. And I look at my dad and he's got this gaping look on his face. Like what? Did you just order a steak? And I'm like, Dad, I love steak. You hated steak. When you were a kid? I'm like, Oh, no. And I love pork chop suit. He's like, who are you? Ah, yeah. You'll note that I love the steak. It's the fact that you made me eat all the extra parts that I didn't want. Yeah, like, okay, but it was like he was very much are you? Yeah, I am. Yeah, just Yeah, even even nowadays. I see something. It's got a big ring of fat on it. I'm gonna I'm going to work around it. I really don't go for that. That's just that's too much but there's something about a pork belly and especially in that taco. Oh, okay. And what was the vegetarian one we had the sun that was his media as a scallop. Yeah I think that was the best one. I like places like that that you know they're they don't have them as like I'm a vegetarian eatery or I'm a vegan eatery. But they treat vegetables with such reverence that to me, like we had. We had we had a primary taco we had pork belly. short rib taco. Oh, short rib. Yes. That was divine. And to me the sunchoke was the best one. You know, in my opinion, it was like it was really delicious. You know, and going back to what you were saying about eating everything at the time. Well, that was us too. Because growing up, you know, middle class Jamaican, you know, my grandfather was a baker, my grandmother, she had a little bar in the back of her house and she sold chicken. So I tell everybody like rum and chickens sent me to school because you pay for everything in Jamaica in terms of education from primary from, you know, kindergarten go way up. So my, that was our house growing up to like, but it was more of the fact that we, we make this money, so you can eat, there is no leftovers, like dog food was what the bones that we couldn't chew, you know. So it's like, really interesting. So as an adult now that is, like, still still in me, but eat everything, which makes you know, the weight loss journey, a little bit of a struggle. So now you're like, Well, I'm gonna put better things on my plate. So I can, like that psyche. Oh, yeah. I mean, you know, there's a Well, I mean, just in the US. I mean, we have such a food waste problem, which is really interesting that we also we have a hunger problem in the US. Yeah. But something like what I can't I don't want to say a statistic. That's not accurate. But there's some double, double digit percentage of the food in this country that goes into landfills. It goes with we. I mean, I've I've known people over my life who won't take home leftovers, because they're like, I just don't like leftovers. Like, that's a that's a privileged point of view right there. You think, you know, and by the way, your food tastes better the next day, usually, especially soups and stews. And pizzas. I think it's better the next day. I do i i love cold pizza for morning. Like for breakfast? Oh, yeah. I love it. Oh, God. Yum. Did you see that? There was a story last week that they somewhere in New Jersey, somebody dumped hundreds and hundreds of pounds of pasta. Like in the woods. Oh, go find this thing. It looks like mountains of snow. But it's mountains of noodles. Why? I nobody knows. Nobody knows where it came from? art installation. Like what? I know it. It's weird. Like it's, you think about the Italian American population in New Jersey. And you're like that's also stereotypical. who dumped all the new couples? I love these little modern day mysteries, piles and piles of pasta. I am definitely gonna look up that story that makes and I didn't look closely enough at it. But they said that it was uncooked pasta. But it looked like piles of cooked pasta, which means it must have been fresh pasta. Yeah. Oh, because you said it was they were drooping on? Yeah, like they look like piles of Yeah. Big giant spaghetti plates without the saucer meatballs. Yeah, I just want to know why. Oh, I want to and I want to like, smack the person up alongside the head who did that and say number of people in this country who are hungry? And I know. I know statements like that. Like, you can't, you shouldn't get your children's and you got to clean your plate because there are people starving in the world. It's like, what can I send them my plate? Like, if you realistically can't do that, that is just not. That's not a logical? Yeah. So saying that but but more so like, Why would you waste that pasta. It's pasta. And I think like a lot of our foods to just end up in the you know, the bins because we're just so obsessed with the perfect looking vegetable, the perfect looking fruit. And I don't even think it's us. I think like the supermarket. Big super big supermarkets are the ones that have trained us in terms of that for for, like, consumerism sick, you know, so I'm happy to see like, there's these movements happening where you have these little, you know, 5013 C's companies coming in and taking, you know, the ugly quote unquote, ugly carrots and ugly produce from, you know, farmers and selling them to consumers or donors donate them to other charities and kitchens, which, which I think more of that needs to happen because oh yeah, I mean, there's an entire business that's like built off of like the Stitch Fix model, where it's ugly vegetables. Yeah, well point is these are perfectly fine vegetables. They just aren't pretty enough to sit on the on the displays at the grocery store. Yeah. And, yeah, ugly is good. I like ugly food. Yeah. I like misfits I like misfits. misfits are awesome. I got a misfit sitting right here on my lap and she wants to go outside. She's pouting. Murphy. Would you like to say hello? She's just gonna breathe very loudly right now. Maybe she'll start talking to me. Oh, hi. Say hi to Diana. She's right there. She's like, I'll take the ugly vegetables. I'll take them. Oh, there goes more fat off your plate. Mom. You're going to eat your fat? No, I'm not Murphy. It's all yours. Sorry. We've already had Murphy growing up. You could just slip her your fat. Oh my god. I we had we did have we had a pug when I was a kid, and we got in big trouble if we slipped. Buster, any food? Yes. Hi. Thank you for my kiss. It's very nice of you to start talking to him pretty soon. But I'm trying to think like other things. We had an LA let's talk about that latte that you and Corinne had. Because that was I didn't drink it. I just had a little bit of like the the foam off the top and it was coconut milk was coconut milk foam. Milk and charcoal. Like the activated training sprinkled on top. Yeah, it was so good. Like, like, it was the charcoal like salty, like didn't add like. So it's like that creaminess of the coconut milk. And the saltiness of the chart activated charcoal. It was. It was such an easy thing. I drank it so fast. You remember I was like, Yo, we need to go back. That was a tea wasn't it? It was no, it was a latte. It was a latte with coffee. Yeah. But with coconut milk. Yum. And it was black. I love coconut. I have decided coconut is my favorite. Like is it a fruit? Or is it a vegetable? It's it's the nut, the nut? It's the nut has remember that that coconut you had in Kingston? Yes, that's what you call a young coconut, right? All the coconuts. Now when you cut off all of that thrash, that's on the outside. On the inside. It's a It's brown. And it's a it's hairy and stereotypical ones we've seen in like, all right, and then the white meat that you are eating that jelly that becomes hard and becomes thicker. So because probably like half of a centimeter maybe a centimeter in thickness and as what you get coconut milk from when you grate it. So that's where the coconut milk comes from. Yes. From that flesh from the flesh. Okay, that's interesting, too, because I was going to ask that question, because obviously there's the water on the inside. Yeah. And that is just delicious. And that was like, and the thing is, the older the coconut gets, the sweeter that water gets. No, it was amazing. Drinking that, but then I was thinking okay, how does how's the milk? So the milk is derived from the flesh. Yeah. Yeah, that is. That's so good. There's a I'm going to give a shout out to a brand. There's a brand called Laird la I rd superfood and it is the product of a couple who lives in Hawaii. And LAIRD HAMILTON is a world class surfer. And his wife is Gabrielle Reece is a Gabriella Gabriella Reese. Although the the beach Bali volleyball, yeah. And yeah, it's Gabby Reece. And so their product, they created this line. They're super food and they use coconut as the base. So like they make coconut creamers, for coffees, then they add in different superfood, nutrients and supplements and whatnot. And so I have the it's it's a coffee creamer and it's turmeric. So it's turmeric with the black pepper derivative that helps activate the turmeric in terms of anti inflammation. Yes, and it's a it's a dried coconut milk base. Like it's like for one tablespoon. I think it's like 40 calories. You put that you can either put it in your coffee, and it's fabulous like that. But you can also just add it to like hot water and make like a golden bell. Oh, yeah, that stuff is delicious. That is that's one of my like standing orders on Amazon. Yeah, that was because that was part of my so my personal trainer, my Chiropractor Dr. Steven Menya at lions gym in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. He He's a Kenyan born and raised. And he's now a US citizen. And he really got on me about eight years ago when we started working together on just on my chiropractic adjustments and my muscle memory and whatnot, and he's like, you have a ton of inflammation. And he's like, do you eat dairy? I'm like, cheese is awesome. Ice creams. Awesome. He's like, That's food for baby cows. Why are you eating food for baby cows? And he's like, that is not your your body is not supposed to have that. That's why it's it's an inflammatory substance you put in your body stopped eating dairy entirely, but I've moved away from certain things like I don't like I can't remember the last time I drank a glass of milk. Yeah, I've turned on to not milk for a number of years now. Um, but I don't know when it comes to ice cream. I haven't found a nut milk alternative ice cream that I like sometimes I'll just go for that. full fat baby cow ice. I know. Like, when it comes to taste and texture, nothing beats whole milk ice cream. Sorry. Sorry. No, I know I'll I'm still gonna do that. I have found like, there is a brand called so delicious. Coconut milk ice creams. They make cashew milk ice creams. They make oat milk ice creams. And I really liked their chocolate ice cream that's made from coconut milk. So it's vegan. And it's pretty tasty. It's not bad. I find that that you know the the brands or the the the not milk alternative ice creams that I've had have just tasted like ICS let's call it an IC. Let's try that ice cream. It's not the full creamy let me now see the house ice cream was divine. fell flat. Oh, fat. That was that was so damn good. The Devon stout ice cream. Oh, yeah. I know. And I was annoying the people there because I'm like, Can I have a sample that one? Can I have a sample of that one? I want to try that one can I have what kind of a taste of that? Like, oh, so good. So good. But my kid is working at you know, he's working at that collective and Robbinsville the travail collective so they you know, they have the ticketed fine dining experience, which is just mind blowing James Beard level stuff. Then they have their brewery and pizza place called nouvelle. Just fantastic. Not a bad thing on the menu. And then they opened up a place in Northeast Minneapolis called Dream Creamery. And that's where they make these epic smash burgers. And they make ice cream and house and they're also packaging it as pints so you can take home a whole pint they've got partnerships with there's a there's a pizza joint in the Twin Cities called pizza Lucci. And you can get dream Creamery ice cream, you know, when you order a pizza. And he was telling me about some of the new flavors that they're introducing this summer because they just reopened now that the weather's getting nice. And one of them is a cherry yuzu ice cream. That's so good. And then, like spicy cherry Whoo. Yep. And then there's, there's one it's strawberry balsamic. That just like a whole bring it to me. Like, like strawberry balsamic scoop of ice cream on top of a spinach salad and say that I'm being healthy. Yeah. So it's so good. It's so good. But yeah, we gotta pass. We got to keep going here. D What else do we got to talk about today? Um, I have the goal soon. I need to. This is a shorty. That's right. We're gonna get we're gonna get back to some longer form conversations on this but very excited. So in a couple of weeks, our la episode will be live and more to come on all things WTF. And All right, let's call it let's call it Thanks for stepping inside our heads this week. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow W TAF women travel art and food on Instagram and Tiktok things that make you go WTF is a production of Alice riot MMC. We connect brands and contemporary women artists. Drop us a line at Hello at Alice riot.com