Trader Joe’s Recalls, Viral Food Trends & Kitchen Secrets

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Episode Title: Trader Joe’s Recalls, Viral Food Trends & Kitchen Secrets
Date: November 11, 2025
Hosts: Lauren Grohl & Chef Andrew Gruel
Note: Only content segments summarized; intros/outros/adverts skipped.

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Episode Overview

This episode is a lively exploration of current food news, viral food trends, safety in the food industry, kitchen hacks, and personal anecdotes, all wrapped up in a humorous, conversational style. Lauren and Andrew dive into headline-grabbing food recalls (notably at Trader Joe’s), discuss what happens when viral food trends go too far, debate Thanksgiving traditions, and share memorable kitchen tips and marital banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Viral Food Trends: Caviar Cinnamon Rolls & McDonald’s Fish Nuggets

Timestamp: 03:15 – 07:51

• Caviar Cinnamon Rolls

  • Lauren: Introduces a cinnamon roll with caviar from “All About the Cinnamon Baby” in Sherman Oaks.
  • Andrew: “So when I hear about these crazy food combinations, I just imagine the flavors in my mind. Caviar is salty... Cinnamon rolls, just overwhelmingly sweet. I like salty and sweet. I don’t know if I’d like the ocean... salinity in there.” (04:37)
  • The pair debate if such mashups are compelling or just meant to go viral.
  • Consensus: Some flavor pairings work, but lines get crossed for novelty’s sake.

• McDonald’s Fish Nuggets

  • McDonald’s is launching fish-shaped nuggets. Andrew questions the process: “They’re grinding the fish up and mixing it in with something in order to create a paste that perfectly fits that shape, size, and mold. So that kind of grosses me out.” (06:55)
  • Discussion of nostalgia and skepticism around processed nugget foods.

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2. Food Safety & Mass Recalls: Listeria Outbreak at Trader Joe’s

Timestamp: 07:53 – 13:16

• Listeria Outbreak Discussion
  • Andrew: Explains listeria basics: “It’s a foodborne illness, right? And it makes you sick. And it’s killing people now because it can.” (08:33)
  • The recall spanned multiple products and stores (Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Target, Kroger), highlighting the risks in centralized food production.
  • Lauren: “Six people have died, which is so unfortunate, and 25 people have been hospitalized across 18 states.” (10:40)
  • Andrew emphasizes how supply chain consolidation magnifies risk: “If you get like a contaminant in one product, it’s going to affect hundreds of thousands of people.” (09:55)
  • Advice: Cook at home whenever possible—“A pasta salad, very easy... Don’t run the risk of eating this junk because not only does it make you sick, it’s disgusting.” (11:14)
  • Food recalls are on the rise due to cost cutting and consolidation.

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3. Food Facts to “Blow Your Biscuit”

Timestamp: 14:17 – 17:41

• Butter as a Preservative:

  • Lauren: “Did you know that butter isn’t just a fat, it is a natural preservative?... People used butter as a sealant to keep meat and fish fresh.” (14:22)
  • Andrew: Earnestly links butter to historical preservation and French cuisine, teaching about rillettes and duck confit. “They would seal all your proteins in with this butter.” (15:26)

• Egg Color Myths

  • Lauren: “Egg color says more about the chicken than the quality... Brown eggs cost more, mostly because those hens eat more and lay fewer eggs.” (16:31)
  • Andrew: Dispels myths: “Guess what, people? Brown eggs, white eggs, it’s strictly the heritage of the bird.” (16:50)
  • Deeper yolks are about chicken diet, not shell color.

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4. NYC Politics & Food Industry Economics

Timestamp: 17:41 – 27:34

• Mayoral Election & Socialism Debate
  • Recap of the recent NYC mayoral election and the winner's ambitious, left-leaning platform.
  • Andrew: Skeptical but pragmatic—predicts some “beta test” socialist policies but doubts a rapid overhaul: “Is he gonna terrorize the entire city... Highly unlikely, because I just don’t even think there’s a mechanism...” (18:07)
  • Minimum wage hike concerns: “Every single restaurant in New York City will shut down.” (20:11)
  • Lauren and Andrew critique voting on “coolness” over substance and discuss the influence of social media on political perceptions.

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5. Kitchen Hacks, Food Trends to '86', and Holiday Traditions

Timestamp: 27:34 – 34:01

• Parmesan Rinds in Cooking

  • Andrew: “Never throw those [Parmesan rinds] away. Those are great in soups and in broths... Parmesan broth is bringing it back.” (23:41)
  • Adds richness and umami to sauces, soups, and more.

• ‘86 It’: Food (and Social) Trends to Ditch

  • Lauren: Wants to ‘86’ getting news only from social media, especially TikTok and Instagram trends that drive shallow voting and consumer decisions. (25:16)
  • Andrew: Jokingly nominates French cooking terms for the chopping block, suggesting Americanized kitchen lingo—“Really Americanize it. Or to cut your vegetables—like, can you julienne that carrot for me? Yeah, strip it.” (28:08)
  • Lighthearted banter around food language.

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6. Thanksgiving: Food, Family, and Convenience

Timestamp: 29:46 – 33:58

• Traditions vs. Convenience
  • Lauren and Andrew trade stories about past Thanksgivings, the restaurant industry's impact on family time, and the logistics of holiday meals.
  • Andrew voices the often-unspoken wish: “Would it be nice to press pause and kick your feet up ... order some Chinese food, maybe have a burger... and not do the whole thing?” (31:23)
  • Banter about eating schedules: “Why do we have to eat Thanksgiving dinner at 3:00?” (31:34)
  • Playful family disputes, bedtime antics, and memories.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Andrew on Food Combos:
  “I like salty and sweet. I don’t know if I’d like the ocean ... salinity in there.” (04:37)

• On Processed Nuggets:
  “They’re not like stamping the fish. They’re grinding the fish up and mixing it in with something in order to create a paste...” (06:55)

• On Cooking at Home:
  “Culinary warfare. I’m telling you, there is weakness in our supply chain. That’s why it’s important you become a chef. Chefs are going to become the new soldiers on the front lines...” (13:49)

• Food Tip:
  “Never throw those [Parmesan rinds] away. Those are great in soups and in broths... Parmesan broth is bringing it back.” (23:41)

• Thanksgiving Real Talk:
  “Would it be nice to press pause and kick your feet up ... order some Chinese food, maybe have a burger... and not do the whole thing?” (31:23)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Time | Segment Description | |----------|----------------------------------------------------------| | 03:15 | Introduction: Viral food trends (caviar cinnamon rolls) | | 06:27 | McDonald’s fish nuggets | | 07:53 | Trader Joe’s listeria outbreak, food recalls discussion | | 14:17 | Food facts: Butter as preservative, egg color myths | | 17:41 | NYC mayoral election, economics of minimum wage | | 23:41 | Parmesan rind cooking tip | | 25:16 | ‘86 It’: Social media influence, food trend fatigue | | 29:46 | Thanksgiving traditions and dinner timing | | 31:23 | Would you rather skip Thanksgiving cooking? |

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Final Thoughts

This episode combines current events with practical advice and plenty of humor. The hosts deliver kitchen know-how (parmesan rinds, pasta salad hacks), decode food recalls, and rib each other about modern eating habits and social media-driven trends. If you’re looking for practical food wisdom mixed with relatable banter, this episode is a feast.

Transcript

[Lauren Grohl]

This is an I Heart podcast.

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[Lauren Grohl]

Hello, guys. I'm Lauren Grohl.

[Andrew Gruel]

And I'm chef Andrew Gruel.

[Lauren Grohl]

So whether it's a shared meal or a shared moment, every story adds flavor to the table.

[Andrew Gruel]

We got some good topics today. We're gonna be covering caviar cinnamon rolls, food outbreaks, Thanksgiving talks, and some food facts that'll blow your biscuits.

[Lauren Grohl]

You just like saying blow your biscuit.

[Andrew Gruel]

I do like saying that. I'm not getting off that one. That's gonna be on the tip of my tongue probably for the next 20 years.

[Lauren Grohl]

20 years.

[Andrew Gruel]

Yeah.

[Lauren Grohl]

I have a lot to look forward to.

[Andrew Gruel]

I hate that cliche tip of your tongue. I don't even know why I used.

[Lauren Grohl]

To on the tip of my tongue. You know what our son hates? Actually, he hates when I say what's his face or what's her face? He's like, what do you mean?

[Andrew Gruel]

Yeah, I don't like that one either.

[Lauren Grohl]

What?

[Andrew Gruel]

What is it with their face?

[Lauren Grohl]

But you know what I'm talking about.

[Andrew Gruel]

Why do you have a problem with their faces?

[Lauren Grohl]

When you forget somebody's name and you're like, what's his face?

[Andrew Gruel]

Why do you have a problem with their faces?

[Lauren Grohl]

Why I say that? Why do people say that?

[Andrew Gruel]

Okay, so we're gonna be switching things up a little bit with the segments today. We're gonna dive right into some of the fun stuff, get into the longer stories, back to the fun stuff, back into the longer stories, back to the fun stuff. And then we're gonna close it out. We're gonna cover Lauren and peanut butter.

[Lauren Grohl]

Oh, you get to lick me.

[Andrew Gruel]

Okay. This why you have to make it so weird right off the bat.

[Lauren Grohl]

That wasn't weird. I was flirting. Okay. So anyway. Okay. What the fork.

[Andrew Gruel]

I'm sorry. I shouldn't say that. It was weird. You're right. I love peanut butter and you love me. Yeah, exactly. So it's a good. It's a combo made in heaven.

[Lauren Grohl]

There we go.

[Andrew Gruel]

Here we go. What is the wtf?

[Lauren Grohl]

All right, so we all love. Well, you and I love caviar, and I don't. Do you like cinnamon rolls?

[Andrew Gruel]

I am a junkie for cinnamon rolls. Okay. But good cinnamon rolls.

[Lauren Grohl]

Yes. You have to have the good cinnamon rolls. You know, they are great apart, but this one place in Sherman Oaks called All about the cinnamon Baby created a caviar cinnamon roll.

[Andrew Gruel]

So I'm trying to figure out Right. So when I hear about these crazy food combinations, I just imagine the flavors in my mind. Right. So caviar is salty. It's got a little bit of that seawater, like, flavor. It kind of pops. It has an interesting mouth feel, but primarily salt. That's the first thing you're gonna take, you know, in regards to flavor. Cinnamon rolls, just overwhelmingly sweet, depending on whether they're chewy, but just sweet. So I like salty and sweet. I don't know if I'd like the ocean. Like, salinity in there.

[Lauren Grohl]

I was gonna say. Cause it's very. I wouldn't say fishy, but it's. To pair it with a cinnamon roll. I don't know.

[Andrew Gruel]

But more importantly, like, why this is where and this one could dovetail into our 86 IT segment. Why do we need to put all these food combinations together and market it?

[Lauren Grohl]

Because it's catchy. Because people want to go out and try that item.

[Andrew Gruel]

I can understand if you try and combine flavors that are within the same world. Right, so like, two sweet flavors, even, like pretzels and something sweet. Right. Because that's kind of generic. The flour flavor of pretzels and salty. And then you mix it in with something sweet or chocolate. Like. Like, to me, that's a little bit outside the norm, but it's still close enough so that I might go try it if it's put together in some sort of a cool vessel or it's marketed properly. But other than, like, we talked last week about the. About Tyra Banks hot ice cream, I'm still incredibly curious about that.

[Lauren Grohl]

I know we need to figure out a way to try that, but I.

[Andrew Gruel]

Think we gotta follow up on that.

[Lauren Grohl]

But also how. Caviar is expensive, right?

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Andrew Gruel]

Yeah.

[Lauren Grohl]

So, like, how. Well, I mean, it depends on what, you know, which one you get. But why would you spend a lot on something that might be horrible?

[Andrew Gruel]

Well, that's the goal, right? Like, that's where they're laughing at us right now. The food gods are laughing at us. They're like these fools.

[Lauren Grohl]

Okay, calm down. Go.

[Andrew Gruel]

I'm moving from Halloween into, like, night before Christmas on that one. My what? The fork that caught my eye are these McDonald's fish nuggets. Now, McDonald's has the fish fillet sandwich, which they use Alaskan pollock for that fine fish sandwich, what have you. I don't love it. I don't like cheese on my fish sandwich. Or furthermore, I don't necessarily like McDonald's caught fish, but they have now moved into the actual fish nuggets. Where they're stamping the fish in the form.

[Lauren Grohl]

It's like a big goldfish.

[Andrew Gruel]

It looks like a big goldfish. You're right.

[Lauren Grohl]

Like the goldfish cracker.

[Andrew Gruel]

Now, my WTF on this is that in order for them to do that, they're not like stamping the fish. So that means to me that they're grinding the fish up and mixing it in with something in order to create a paste that perfectly fits that shape, size and mold. So that kind of grosses me out. What else are they mixing into that paste? Everyone loves these dino nuggets. I imagine that's what's been driving their idea behind it. But I just have to keep reminding everyone that the dino nuggets are nothing more than the chicken paste with a bunch of artificial flavors and food colorings in there that then are put in a form that looks like a T. Rex.

[Lauren Grohl]

Well, did you know that back in 2013, McDonald's rolled out fish McBites across US restaurants for a limited time?

[Andrew Gruel]

But were they like chicken nuggets?

[Lauren Grohl]

They were bite sized pieces of fried fish. So I'm assuming they were like a nugget.

[Andrew Gruel]

That's the thing. Like, were they the scraps of the fish that were just battered and fried or were they actually. Did they grind up the fish, make a paste with it, reform it and fry it?

[Lauren Grohl]

I have no idea.

[Andrew Gruel]

But you see where the technique is. What's gonna ultimately drive the flavor and the ingredients. We gotta get into this. So we're gonna touch back on this one in a week or two. We're gonna move into our first big food story this week, which is this listeria outbreak. I know that this isn't the most fun headline to cover, but I've been seeing this more and more in the headlines. Are these crazy listeria outbreaks. Now, just so you guys know, listeria is a foodborne illness. It's a bacteria that's found in typically cooked foods, mayonnaise, various products. It's contaminated food that can also be spread from contaminated surfaces. Right? Ew. I don't want to get into that.

[Lauren Grohl]

Yeah, let's not, let's not, let's not.

[Andrew Gruel]

It's a foodborne illness, right? And it's. And it makes you sick. And it's killing people now because it can. Right. Like the elderly or the immunocompromised. But this one was found in Ready to Eat Pasta. That was sold primarily at Trader Joe's, but also I think at Walmart, Target.

[Lauren Grohl]

Yeah. Kroger, Trader Joe's, Kroger Kroger sold. Where is that? Like Ralph's? Well, where is Kroger?

[Andrew Gruel]

Kroger's, Ralph's, Right. So I saw this story and I saw that they put a map up and it was all of the different states in which people were affected. And in my mind I'm thinking, wait a minute, so you mean to tell me you've got like a commercial kitchen in California that's making this pre made pasta and then they're packaging it and this is being distributed across like 14 different states. I didn't know that their footprint was that wide. I didn't know that a commercial kitchen that cooks these ready to eat foods. I always thought, especially in like Trader Joe's, that it was a localized commercial kitchen and it comes like right to the store that day.

[Lauren Grohl]

You thought that with Trader Joe's.

[Andrew Gruel]

I didn't know because I haven't run any of these. And I didn't realize how expand, how massive this operation is, this commercial food service, ready to eat food operation. And I think that. But what worries me about that is that exactly this, and this is the point that I've made over and over again, is that you're looking at my computer screen. I'm staring at a listeria under a microscope.

[Lauren Grohl]

I am too.

[Andrew Gruel]

It doesn't really look that, it doesn't look that appetizing. But is that if you get like. Because the supply chain is getting so consolidated and so centralized, let's say that there is a contaminant in one product, it's gonna affect hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people. So if you, you know, little Sarah Jo has a commercial kitchen and she's providing food ready to eat foods for like 10 different grocery stores. Maybe it affects one or two people. But in a case like this, when you have such massive scale, it's gonna affect and sicken hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people. That's also what happened with like Chipotle in the past and all these other large multi unit chains where they bring in contaminated products and then it gets put out to hundreds of thousands of people as a result of this.

[Lauren Grohl]

Well, you know, it's interesting that you say that. It's, you know, it goes across all these states. And I'm not saying that, you know, this isn't a lot, but like you would think there would be more, you know, more instances because right here it says six people have died, which is so unfortunate, and 25 people have been hospitalized across 18 states.

[Andrew Gruel]

Well, I'm sure it affected more people.

[Lauren Grohl]

That's like it probably was just, like, tummy problems.

[Andrew Gruel]

Like, you know, I love how you call it tummy problem.

[Lauren Grohl]

Well, I don't want to say.

[Andrew Gruel]

You mean they're crapping themselves? Yes, probably.

[Lauren Grohl]

But still, I mean, it's scary. Like, I think we touched on this last time. Like, it's scary because we just don't know.

[Andrew Gruel]

You don't know what gets into your food when you're not cooking it for yourself. So I'm going to use this as an opportunity to stand on my soapbox and say, like, these things are not that difficult to cook. You just got to try it. You got to kind of work your way through the kinks. But a pasta salad, very easy. Boil your pasta, throw in a bunch of vinegar, fresh herbs, a little bit of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt, fresh cracked pepper, parmesan, you're done. That's it. Stick it in the fridge, put it in some baggies, you got it for lunch for the next two or three days. Don't run the risk of eating this junk because not only does it make you sick, it's disgusting. It's never seasoned. The pasta is always undercooked. See, because I've bought it before, the pasta's always undercooked. It always sits in some watery mess because the vegetables have urinated themselves, and they're just sitting there in that watery mess.

[Lauren Grohl]

Urinated.

[Andrew Gruel]

Yeah. That's why I say when the vegetables just leach all that moisture, it's disgusting. I mean, why even waste your money on that?

[Lauren Grohl]

It is. It is gross. And I know you touched on this. Well, we touched on it in the car. But food recalls are increasing as well.

[Andrew Gruel]

Well, that's the point. Food recalls are so most people would say, like, oh, these are isolated incidents, and the news is just covering it more because the media wants to talk about it. And we have social media. Nope. Guess what? You're wrong. Anybody who thought that, you're wrong. So the reality is that food recalls are increasing at an alarming rate. And I'll tell you exactly. They're increasing. They are increasing because prices and costs have gone up so much that these food manufacturing companies are cutting corners. We're consolidating and centralizing our food production, especially in the ready to eat foods area. And that's where you're seeing these outbreaks with the listeria, because there's so many opportunities for cross contamination and in, you know, really bringing in, like, a foreign substance or foreign ingredient into the food supply chain. And where I worry, okay, is on the vulnerabilities from a national Security perspective in our food supply chain. And all you've got to do is just get, like, one of these food plants. You can contaminate it with a foreign object that perhaps is, you know, worse for you.

[Lauren Grohl]

That is so scary, Andrew.

[Andrew Gruel]

I know.

[Lauren Grohl]

Well, I just want. Okay, this is totally off topic, but kind of similar that. Remember the guy, the Tylenol, like, killer. Yeah.

[Andrew Gruel]

I don't like. You watch those? Weird. No, because it's the same.

[Lauren Grohl]

He somehow got into Tylenol bottles and were. I forget. I think it was cyanide. And so people were thinking, they're taking Tylenol, they're taking cyanide, and they're dying.

[Andrew Gruel]

Let's not even put any ideas down.

[Lauren Grohl]

This is getting.

[Andrew Gruel]

Not that we, like any of our listeners, are serial killers, but who knows what kind of an RSS feed we end up on?

[Lauren Grohl]

Well, this was back in the day before they had all those extra layers of protection.

[Andrew Gruel]

Extra layers of protection. Yeah. I worry about that to begin with, but the fact of the matter is that you can actually protect yourself by cooking for yourself. That's what this all comes down to. Culinary warfare. I'm telling you, there is weakness in our supply chain. That's why it's important you become a chef. Chefs are going to become the new soldiers on the front lines of protecting us from this culinary warfare. Dun, dun, dun. Next episode.

[Lauren Grohl]

Moving on.

[Andrew Gruel]

Okay, moving on. Food facts that are going to blow your biscuit.

[Lauren Grohl]

All right.

[Andrew Gruel]

I love these ones because I always love. Even to this day, I love learning about these new food facts.

[Lauren Grohl]

He does. He's always, you know, wanting to learn more and more and more. That's why he's so smart. Okay, so did you know that butter isn't just a fat, it is a natural preservative? So before refrigeration, people use butter as a sealant to keep meat and fish fresh. In parts of Europe, butter crocks or potted meats were literally topped with a thick butter layer to block air and bacteria.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Yep.

[Andrew Gruel]

And that's also the genesis of duck confit. That's why duck confit. People would have all this duck product. You know, they would harvest their ducks, and then they would actually cook the ducks in their own fat so that. But then they cooked them and they released. And the reason why they cooked them was because then less bacteria, less germs, et cetera. And then they would be cooked this melting tenderness, and then they would cool them in the fat, and then they would package them in containers so the fat wouldn't let the oxygen in. But that was if you had obviously, a duck farm. But if you don't have a duck farm in certain parts of Europe, you would use butter for the same purpose. So you would seal all of your proteins in with this butter. And that has given birth to a much more modern bistro dish called riettes, which come in that little mason jar. We've had it, right? People serve it with crostinis or warm bread. And then it's typically like whipped pork meat or duck meat or even like quail or squab. And it's worked into a mousse and then it's covered with a thin layer of fat. And then you take the crusty bread and you just spread it on the bread. It's absolutely delicious.

[Lauren Grohl]

It's almost like a pate. I'm hungry. You know what? We need to go out to eat. You and I don't go on dates.

[Andrew Gruel]

We don't go on dates.

[Lauren Grohl]

We used to go on so many dates and have like the best time and just eat tons of good food.

[Andrew Gruel]

That's not true. It's not that we don't go on dates. We still go on dates and we do things together. Go on, like, cliche dates.

[Lauren Grohl]

I want a cliche date.

[Andrew Gruel]

She does want a cliche date. But like, our dates will be, we'll be at home with the kids and then Jaden will be there. She's our 15 year old. And we'll be like, hey, can you watch the kids for 10 minutes? And then we'll go to like Albertsons together and we'll go food shopping and hold hands in the cracker aisle.

[Lauren Grohl]

I love that you just called it food shopping.

[Andrew Gruel]

We go food shopping. What do you call it? We go to the food store and we go food shopping.

[Lauren Grohl]

The grocery store?

[Andrew Gruel]

It's not a grocery store. It's a food store. Go to the food store, we go food shopping. We hold hands in the cracker aisle, and every now and then I land a kiss over by the pre made guacamole.

[Lauren Grohl]

Okay. Another interesting fact that'll blow your biscuit. Egg color says more about the chicken than the quality.

[Andrew Gruel]

They have no nutritional difference, so the.

[Lauren Grohl]

Color simply reflects the hen's breed. Brown eggs cost more, mostly because those hens eat more and lay fewer eggs.

[Andrew Gruel]

So often people are like, I only buy the brown eggs because they're better. But guess what, people? Brown eggs, white eggs. It's strictly the heritage of the bird.

[Lauren Grohl]

The heritage of the bird, yes. Which is. I actually do enjoy buying, like the blue color eggs. Though they're fun.

[Andrew Gruel]

Well, the blue eggs, right? But also keep in mind their diet, right? So the differences in the diet. So eggs that are gonna be naturally foraging and eating bugs and like eating what they would naturally eat by just walking around the pasture, having a cigarette, talking to their chicken friends, those are gonna have a much deeper, darker yolk than a lot of the more commercialized kind of refined birds. And by refined, I mean they're refined to a small area and force grains and synthetic feeds. So that's gonna be the difference on that one.

[Lauren Grohl]

It's funny, you're right, because people think like, oh, they're buying a brown egg. There's more nutritional value, but really there's no difference, apparently.

[Andrew Gruel]

I mean, so says the blowin your biscuit segment. We'll do more, we'll dive into that in more detail. But we got something else we gotta talk about because New York is turned upside down and inside out, because Man Dami is about to show you what it's all about.

[Lauren Grohl]

Oh, well, we touched on this. I forget what episode a couple episodes ago. Like, what is he gonna do if he wins? Is he gonna, you know, start these, you know, gross public grocery stores and all this stuff? What do you, what do you think?

[Andrew Gruel]

All right, I'm gonna be my one or two minute take on this. Hopefully I'll keep it to one minute. Everyone's freaking out. I'm not. As, you know, sky is falling, like as everybody else. Here's what I think is gonna happen. One of two things is gonna happen, right? So he's got this very aggressive socialist leaning platform. Not saying that as a pejorative, although we'll get into that. However, that's just the reality. And he's made various promises to everybody. You know, rent freeze free this, free that, gonna give you all the money. It's the kid in elementary school that runs for student council and he's like, free pizza for everybody every day. And they're like, yeah, we're voting for him. Right? Smart. Because we're having issues with the economy right now. So when the economy isn't doing so great, the candidate that's telling you they're gonna give you the free X, Y and Z is going to win in many cases. So everyone's trying this Mondami brand on for size. I think that he will put people within his cabinet in the city that will push for a lot of those regulations, increasing taxes significantly, but so be it. This is what the people of New York City voted for. And I still think that there is A very, very controlled and balanced bureaucracy around the politics in New York City, such that he's not gonna be able to move at breakneck speed. So I think the pendulum is gonna swing aggressively to the left. Is he gonna terrorize the entire city with flipping businesses upside down and instilling socialism and ultimately communism in New York City? Highly unlikely, because I just don't even think there's a mechanism by which that can happen. But I definitely think that he's gonna beta test a lot of these more aggressive socialist like policies, and we're gonna see how those play out in New York. But. But 80% of women between the ages of 50 and 80 voted for him.

[Lauren Grohl]

No, it was younger women.

[Andrew Gruel]

Younger women voted for him.

[Lauren Grohl]

That it was younger women that had the most votes for him. But. Yeah. So one of his campaign promises was to raise the minimum wage to $30 an hour, but that by 2030. So give him a couple years, see if he gets that.

[Andrew Gruel]

That actually is pretty aggressive. The question is that then everyone's gonna end up working in restaurants.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Seatbelt.

[Andrew Gruel]

When you raise the minimum wage, you're artificially increasing prices. Because when businesses have to pay that much more, the prices go up. And then the people that are living in that local community just end up having to pay more for the prices. And then you have to raise the minimum wage even more because prices are up. And it just becomes this huge upward spiral that can send an economy into pieces. Now it's a matter of how he implements that, which industries. Right. So take, for example, the restaurant industry. They're making right now the tipped wage, which can be, I think is like 450 an hour. But then they get like $80 an hour more on tips. In tips on top of that. So they're making like $84 an hour. If you say, well, now you have to pay Those tip workers $30 an hour, every single restaurant in New York City will shut down.

[Lauren Grohl]

Yeah, I feel like people don't understand that. Like, you can't just, like, mandate these, you know, high increased minimum wage spikes and expect these businesses to stay.

[Andrew Gruel]

Yeah. And I mean. And that's in theory, right? That's all theoretical. But the people who voted for this, this is what they want. So I don't. You know, it's kind of like all of these people in other states are complaining about Mamdani because they're saying that maybe he's a red herring for other areas perhaps. Right. I mean, obviously what happens in New York spreads to other very, very, you know, cosmopolitan areas. But let's see what happens. Right?

[Lauren Grohl]

I mean, only time will tell.

[Andrew Gruel]

Yeah, time will tell. The people voted for this. This is what they wanted. Let them live in that world. Well, I mean, I'm not living in New York City, so. For other reasons, because of years of Democrat control, which have forced prices up all over the place.

[Lauren Grohl]

Right. And you and I used to love going to New York. Like, we would spend some of our anniversaries there. Now it's like a place I don't really want to hang out at.

[Andrew Gruel]

Yeah. And some of that might also just be a difference and a change in our lives. Right. Like when you and I were going, we didn't have kids. It was just you and I running around the city roofing each other. But now we've got.

[Lauren Grohl]

Stop saying now.

[Andrew Gruel]

We've got four kids. So we're gonna go to New York for different reasons. And it's like now we focus on things like cost and crime and safety and being in different areas that are more family friendly. What type of strollers can fit on the sidewalk?

[Lauren Grohl]

Exactly. We're past our stroller years, though.

[Andrew Gruel]

Well, we're going on dates to the grocery store, so I think we're past.

[Lauren Grohl]

We're past a lot of things.

[Andrew Gruel]

Well, you're saying we're past stroller years, but just the other day you told me you wanted another baby, so I did.

[Lauren Grohl]

I go through these little phases and then like, the kids start fighting and I'm like, nevermind.

[Andrew Gruel]

That's what it. That's what does it for you. Oh, that's interesting.

[Lauren Grohl]

Yes.

[Andrew Gruel]

That's good to know. Because I'm the one who has to deal with all the shrapnel from the kids fighting. Because I'm usually the one that's fighting with them. When we're all at home and there's six of us there, you know, nice weekday evening. People are laughing, crying, eating dinner, having fun, you know, regular day in the household. It is Lauren and five children.

[Lauren Grohl]

It is. And I'm like, andrew, you need to calm down. You know what I feel like sometimes, and I hate this saying this, but you know in the movie Mrs. Doubtfire, how she's like the mom and she's frustrated and he's like, having the big party with like, the farm animals and the. You know, and she's like the responsible one. Sometimes I feel like I'm.

[Andrew Gruel]

That, wait, am I the farm animal or am I Miss Doubtfire?

[Lauren Grohl]

This is before he was Miss Doubtfire. No, but it's not too bad. I'm glad Andrew has A little childlike. I don't know.

[Andrew Gruel]

Look at you trying to just be like, podcast diplomatic, when really you're like, you're a fool. Let's sharpen your skills.

[Lauren Grohl]

Sharpen your skills. All right, so save your Parmesan rinds.

[Andrew Gruel]

Yeah. Somebody the other day. So we eat a lot of Parmesan. Parmesan is not just good for you because it's got the CQ15 in there, which we should talk about. It's got that incredibly high quality protein. But Parmesan is also a natural way.

[Lauren Grohl]

In which it's a fatty acid.

[Andrew Gruel]

Umami. It's a fatty acid. What did she call me? It's also a natural way in which you can get Umami into your food without having to add, like, any artificial preservatives, et cetera. So it makes your food taste better, more unctuous. It's just one of those ingredients that you add, and it takes things to a whole nother level. I love Parmesan. It's all over the place. But you get stuck with those thick Parmesan rinds, and most people throw those away. Never throw those away. Those are great in soups and in broths. Even if you don't feel like chopping up vegetables and making a flavored broth, if you take your Parmesan rinds and you just boil them, that Parmesan water or broth that you create is unbelievable. Use that in sauces. Use that in pasta dishes. Use that as you're making chicken dishes, what have you. Seafood even. It is over the top. This is gonna change your cooking game. Parmesan broth is bringing it back.

[Lauren Grohl]

Yeah. Especially in, like, pasta sauces. Right. You can just add it to your tomato sauce and just add some richness to the sauce.

[Andrew Gruel]

Or even if you're making a tomato sauce, you can throw in a little bit of water and throw in the Parmesan rinding and just kind of simmer that into the tomato sauce, and it's gonna add richness and much fuller body. Kind of like me when I get back from the gym.

[Lauren Grohl]

I love your full body.

[Andrew Gruel]

I love your body, Larry. Speaking of Larry, let's 86 it. What are some food trends that need to end? What do you got?

[Lauren Grohl]

I don't have a food trend today, but social media being your only source for politics. And I'm not talking about X, I feel like X gives a lot of good information. I'm talking about, like, TikTok Instagram Reels. You get these young kids who, you know, they believe in these trends. They don't do their own research. They, you know, they go with what's hot, right? And I feel like that's like the case with Mamdani. They voted based on his coolness factor.

[Andrew Gruel]

But what's cool about him?

[Lauren Grohl]

I don't know. He's young. You should see these things. People have made a song about him. They're calling him our mayor, and they don't even even live in New York City. They're like, our mayor won. I'm from Washington state, but these are.

[Andrew Gruel]

The same people that want things for free. So he's promising.

[Lauren Grohl]

That's what I'm saying. Yeah. He put the word free out there, and they're like, yes.

[Andrew Gruel]

But there's really. You know what's funny? Like, Obama had that cool factor. But, mom, dummy. Like, what's cool about him? Cause he has a mustache.

[Lauren Grohl]

Cause he's young. I actually saw some girl the other day. Somebody asked, well, why did you vote for him? You know, he's all about, like, socialism. And she goes, well, you know, it's something we haven't tried before, and I think we really should, because what we're doing now just doesn't seem to work. I'm like, oh, my gosh.

[Andrew Gruel]

Oh, boy. You know that he went to Bowdoin.

[Lauren Grohl]

I didn't know.

[Andrew Gruel]

Which is a small liberal arts college up in Maine, which was only like 20. It's in Brunswick, Maine. I went to Bates, which was its competitor. Small liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine, which was really only 30 minutes away. Marshall went to Bowdoin. A lot of people that I know went to Bowdoin.

[Lauren Grohl]

Really?

[Andrew Gruel]

And Bowdoin is. I mean, now bowdoin's like a $50,000 a year college, $60,000 a year college. He certainly is a very wealthy person, which I find absolutely hilarious that he's pushing. It's always the case, right? Like, it's the elites who push the socialism. The irony of his campaign now, and I know we got away from 86 it, is that he did this huge message after he won, and he was like, basically, we need all of these people in my office, and I don't come into office until January 1st, so you all need to send me your money. He's begging for money. He's like, I need money so I can put these people in place. I thought he was giving money away. Wait, why is he asking for money?

[Lauren Grohl]

Well, he raised $16.8 million.

[Andrew Gruel]

I don't know where that stands in the typical history of New York City mayoral paintings.

[Lauren Grohl]

Does it seem like A lot.

[Andrew Gruel]

I mean, it sounds like a lot to me. I mean, local races here are a couple hundred thousand dollars and you're splashing it out of the water.

[Lauren Grohl]

Yeah.

[Andrew Gruel]

You know what? My 86 it is.

[Lauren Grohl]

What is your 86?

[Andrew Gruel]

Speaking of, Mom, Domini, What French cooking words. I'm just somebody.

[Lauren Grohl]

What does that have to do with him?

[Andrew Gruel]

It has nothing to do with him, but I'm trying to really stitch this together, trying to emulsify our topics here.

[Lauren Grohl]

Oh, I like that.

[Andrew Gruel]

Somebody mentioned to me the other day, I'm sick of all these French cooking terms. And I was thinking about it.

[Lauren Grohl]

You use a lot of them. Beu blanc, B. Blanc. What else do you say?

[Andrew Gruel]

Malle poupous.

[Lauren Grohl]

What else do you say?

[Andrew Gruel]

No, wait, that's a skunk. But then I thought about it, because that's all we learn, right? Like in a American cooking. We've almost merged French cooking terms with American cooking terms. Saute mise en place Monte Aubert.

[Lauren Grohl]

See, here we go.

[Andrew Gruel]

Rue Mirepoix. So I agree with that. I think that we need to take back cooking terms, take it back from the French.

[Lauren Grohl]

But, I mean, some of them sound cool, though.

[Andrew Gruel]

They sound nice because of the French accent.

[Lauren Grohl]

Like, saute means to jump. So I'm gonna be like, can you jump those vegetables for me?

[Andrew Gruel]

No, I'm gonna say, can you just. Can you toss those vegetables with that hot oil, that hot fat?

[Lauren Grohl]

That saute sounds better.

[Andrew Gruel]

Hit me with that hot fat one more time. Or like, okay, fine. Mirepoix. Right. Which is just carrots, onions and celery, which is the foundation of soups and sauces. Instead, I'd be like, hit me with that veggie stuff. Really Americanize it.

[Lauren Grohl]

Yeah. Or to cut your vegetables. Like, can you julienne that carrot for me?

[Andrew Gruel]

Yeah, strip it. It strip those veggies for me. I just imagined a carrot in a thong. Yeah. Or like the brunois, which is a small dice. Brunois. Just cut that into little squares for me. When you say brunois. I said that to James the other day. He was cutting. I was joking. I said, can you Brunoise that for me? He looked at me and he threw an egg at my face.

[Lauren Grohl]

Did it hurt?

[Andrew Gruel]

No. It hit that part of the face that doesn't have any nerves, you know, in that under left part of my eye where I got stabbed when I was a kid.

[Lauren Grohl]

What the. You're full of surprises.

[Andrew Gruel]

I am. Do you like Thanksgiving, Lauren?

[Lauren Grohl]

Are you kidding me? Thanksgiving is my. One of my. Well, I guess it is my favorite holiday because of the food. I love a good Thanksgiving dinner.

[Andrew Gruel]

So you like Thanksgiving dinner, but do you like Thanksgiving? Everything about Thanksgiving.

[Lauren Grohl]

Do you like the living? Yes. And I feel like it's so sad because, like, even like the stores, they'll jump from Halloween to Christmas and Thanksgiving. It's very little love. They have like one shelf in the back corner of the store dedicated to.

[Andrew Gruel]

The red headed stepchild of grocery politics.

[Lauren Grohl]

For sure.

[Andrew Gruel]

I think that here's my thing about Thanksgiving. Having worked in the restaurant industry my entire life and always worked on Thanksgiving, it's the busiest time of year. I never really got to do Thanksgiving with the family after I started working in restaurants. Now we can, because we close our own restaurants on Thanksgiving, but still it's like the one day that we're off. Sometimes I think, you know, on this Thanksgiving, it'd be nice to order some Chinese food and just not do anything. Anything.

[Lauren Grohl]

Let's do that this year.

[Andrew Gruel]

I would never do that to you. Especially after you. The love note you just wrote to flexible.

[Lauren Grohl]

If we can make like two sides and then still get Chinese, I'll be happy. Camper, give me some stuffing already.

[Andrew Gruel]

You're negotiating? You're like, let's do that this year. Plus, we're gonna make the sweet potatoes with the marshmallows on top. That I absolutely love. The roasted acorn squash, the blackened green beans. We'll throw turkey in there because why not? And you need mashed potatoes. Are you gonna be making the gravy?

[Lauren Grohl]

Listen, listen.

[Andrew Gruel]

And the chicken loma.

[Lauren Grohl]

Listen, if we can have stuffing, mashed potatoes, and a good cranberry sauce, I'm done. That's it.

[Andrew Gruel]

You just said two sides. Now you're into cranberry sauce.

[Lauren Grohl]

You can't have stuffing without cranberry sauce on top. It's so good.

[Andrew Gruel]

Sounds like a personal problem.

[Lauren Grohl]

Okay. All right.

[Andrew Gruel]

Everybody listening? Let's just be honest. Nobody wants to say this out loud, but I'm giving you the opportunity to voice this opinion. And I genuinely believe others are with me on this. Would it be nice to press pause and kick your feet up? Hang with the kids, Watch some football if that's your thing. Whatever makes you comfortable. No phone calls, no emails. Order some Chinese food, maybe have a burger, throw a steak down and not do the whole thing? Because it's like, oh, my gosh, we're gonna go over to Rhonda's house at 3 o' clock for thanks. That's the other thing. Why do we have to eat Thanksgiving dinner at 3:00'? Clock?

[Lauren Grohl]

Oh, I know. It's so annoying. They're like, okay, we're gonna have like an early, like a linner, A lunch dinner.

[Andrew Gruel]

Don't ever say that word again.

[Lauren Grohl]

That's what people say. Linner.

[Andrew Gruel]

You said.

[Lauren Grohl]

You're such a linner.

[Andrew Gruel]

That's the third time. One more time and I'm out.

[Lauren Grohl]

Are you leaving? Okay, I won't say it anyway. Why is that the norm?

[Andrew Gruel]

I know.

[Lauren Grohl]

No, not just Thanksgiving though. Just holidays in general. Why does everyone have to eat so freaking early?

[Andrew Gruel]

I think Christmas is like that.

[Lauren Grohl]

Yes, it is.

[Andrew Gruel]

See, I think Thanksgiving has this, like, has created this. It's like the blue light special or the early bird special at Denny's for Thanksgiving. Why do we have to have it at 3pm? Let's eat at 7.

[Lauren Grohl]

Well, we end up eating super late anyway.

[Andrew Gruel]

We eat late because we're just a late family. And that's just the nature of the beast. Our kids don't go to bed until like one o' clock in the morning.

[Lauren Grohl]

That is not true. Actually, it is true if Andrew's in.

[Andrew Gruel]

Charge because I can't do it. I can't do the put the four kids to bed thing. Well, it's really three. Jaden goes to bed.

[Lauren Grohl]

Literally two. William and Jaden go to bed on their own.

[Andrew Gruel]

You think William, our 11 year old, he will stay up all night long, walk around in circles and be like, dad, you know, I was thinking about space and have you ever seen a rocket hit a meteor? I'm just laying here thinking, can we, can we google this? I'm like, can you?

[Lauren Grohl]

Okay, first his. That voice is horrible. Don't ever do that again. And that's not what our 11 year old sounds like.

[Andrew Gruel]

That's his nighttime voice.

[Lauren Grohl]

She's so cute. Okay, but it's really just the two littles. And once they're asleep, they're asleep. Which is great.

[Andrew Gruel]

But yeah, okay, we're not gonna argue about this. Cause we don't have much time left in this episode. We're gonna touch on this in another one. But that, by the way, that's revisionist history right there. That's not the case. Lauren will be upstairs scrolling through Instagram while I'm juggling the children and I'm telling them the greatest nighttime stories. I'm like Hemingway at night, every single night, rewriting a story. There's a hero, there's a story arc. There's typically some sort of a fight or a battle, and it ends in victory and triumph. This is what I do every single night.

[Lauren Grohl]

Oh, yes. Yes. Okay. We'll just. We'll just leave it at that.

[Andrew Gruel]

All right, so let us know about whether you want to have Thanksgiving or whether you want to have just sit on the couch. Giving.

[Lauren Grohl]

With Chinese food.

[Andrew Gruel]

With Chinese food. Doesn't have to be Chinese food. It could be Japanese food, could be Thai food. I just think something that you order out and typically sit down and eat could be burgers, but make your own burgers if it's Thanksgiving. All right, well, thanks for hanging out with us here on American Gravy. We hope that you laughed, learned, and maybe got a little bit hungry along the way. Hopefully you got some good cooking tips as well. We're gonna be back with more stories that feed the soul and probably clog.

[Lauren Grohl]

An artery or two.

[Andrew Gruel]

Yep, that's a special line she had to read. Till next time, guys. Keep it saucy, keep it free, and keep it family. That doesn't make sense. Keep it family.

[Lauren Grohl]

Whatever.

[Andrew Gruel]

You gotta rewrite this. My copywriter needs to get fired. And, guys, on the next episode, we're gonna dig even deeper into Thanksgiving, and we're gonna be covering some of the hottest food stories. Plus, blow your biscuits. Wtf. And sharpening your skills. Make subscribe to American Gravy on substack. Make sure that you follow us both on Instagram and X. I'm on xefgrul on Instagram ndrew Gruel.

[Lauren Grohl]

And I'm on X. Aurengruel. And on Instagram Aurengruel and on any of those platforms.

[Andrew Gruel]

Be sure to send us your WTF stories and anything else that you want to hear about in regards to cooking skills. Till next time.

[Lauren Grohl]

See you later.

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[Andrew Gruel]

Now you can get anything you need for game day delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost. Almost anything. You can't get a running back, but baby back ribs? Yes, Uber Eats Official On Demand Food Delivery partner of the NFL.

[Lauren Grohl]

This is an iHeart podcast.