#2870 Top Chef S22E12 Part One: The Forage Seasons

Summary

Watch What Crappens - Episode #2870: Top Chef S22E12 Part One: The Forage Seasons

Release Date: June 2, 2025
Hosts: Ben Mandelker & Ronnie Karam | Wondery

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Introduction

In this episode of Watch What Crappens, hosts Ben Mandelker and Ronnie Karam dive deep into the latest developments of Top Chef Season 22, specifically focusing on Episode 12, titled "The Forage Seasons". As always, Ben and Ronnie blend their sharp humor with insightful commentary, providing listeners with an engaging recap and analysis of the show's semifinals held in Canada.

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Recap of Top Chef S22E12: The Forage Seasons

The episode centers around the semifinal challenge where contestants are tasked with foraging for ingredients in the wilds of Alberta, Canada. This foraging theme pushes the chefs out of their culinary comfort zones, testing their ability to source and creatively use indigenous ingredients.

Ben Mandelker introduces the episode's excitement:

"Top Chef is starting to wrap up, and we're here at the semifinals in Canada. What do you think?" (02:29)

Contestant Highlights and Eliminations

Lana's Elimination: Ronnie expresses mixed feelings about Lana's departure, noting her likability and the unexpected nature of her elimination.

"I have to leave your lasagna. Already in the streets." (07:50)

Despite feeling she might have been a frontrunner, Lana's exit sets the stage for the remaining competitors. Ronnie empathizes with Lana's situation, mentioning her boyfriend in Italy and financial needs.

Cesar and Bailey's Prospects: Cesar remains a strong contender, asserting his position with a confident declaration:

"I'm still here." (07:13)

Bailey, on the other hand, grapples with self-doubt as the competition intensifies. Ronnie reflects on Bailey's journey:

"She's talented. You deserve, gosh darn it, people like you." (26:17)

Tristan and Massimo: Tristan is highlighted as a consistent performer with a promising trajectory towards the finals. Ben commends his dedication, mentioning:

"Tristan has been so good all season long..." (08:02)

Massimo, known for his technical skills, faces his own set of challenges, balancing confidence with the pressure of the competition.

The Foraging Challenge: Insights and Reactions

The core of the episode revolves around the foraging challenge, where contestants must source wild ingredients and incorporate them into their dishes. Ben shares a personal anecdote about his limited success with foraging:

"I actually was going to do some light foraging in Norway, but I didn't wind up doing it." (11:05)

Foraging Techniques and Ingredients: The hosts discuss various foraged ingredients featured in the episode, such as spruce tips, juniper, and yarrow. Ben provides insight into spruce tips, explaining their culinary uses:

"You can actually eat those... the new growth at the edge that happens in the spring..." (12:21)

Ronnie humorously critiques the contestants' approach to foraging, particularly focusing on unconventional ingredients like ants:

"Tracy's like... why is everybody just so okay with murdering ants?" (34:25)

Challenges Faced by Contestants: The physical and mental challenges of foraging in the wild are emphasized, with contestants dealing not only with sourcing ingredients but also with unexpected obstacles, such as ant bites and equipment mishaps.

Humorous Interludes and Host Banter

Throughout the episode, Ben and Ronnie infuse their analysis with humor, poking fun at both the contestants and the show's format. Notable moments include:

• Ben's Berry Journey: Ben shares his experience with disliking berries, only to develop a tolerance after a trip to Norway:

  "I think I'm berry tolerant now..." (05:27)

• Ronnie's Mock Adventure with Vaginas: In a playful exchange, Ronnie jokes about his "vagina journey," contrasting Ben's berry experience:

  "I'm on a vagina journey. It was crazy." (06:06)

• Cesar's Mushroom Mishap: The hosts discuss Cesar's amusing encounter with a giant mushroom, blending pop culture references:

  "It's the new reboot of Point Break, except instead of surfing, they're just hunting for mushrooms." (17:28)

Analysis of Culinary Strategies

Ben and Ronnie delve into the contestants' cooking strategies, particularly how they incorporate foraged ingredients into their dishes. They highlight the importance of creativity and adaptability in the competition.

Tristan's Inspiration: Tristan draws inspiration from the Taino people of Jamaica, aiming to infuse traditional flavors into his dishes:

"He realizes that was the narrative, the angle he needed to get to..." (47:26)

Bailey's Creative Expression: Bailey emphasizes creative expression in her cooking, reflecting on her background and personal style:

"I've always been big on creative expression, which is why I've got wacky glasses." (46:40)

Challenges of Cooking in the Wilderness

Cooking outdoors presents unique challenges, from limited resources to unpredictable weather. The hosts discuss how contestants adapt their culinary techniques to these constraints, underscoring the blend of traditional and innovative methods required to succeed.

Massimo's Approach: Massimo decides to fish for trout and smoke them with juniper to impart unique flavors:

"I got a really nice juniper. I'd really love to get a grilled trout grilled on the barbie and then smoke them on the juniper." (41:56)

Final Thoughts and Predictions

As the episode wraps up, Ben and Ronnie speculate on the potential outcomes of the competition. They express support for Tristan while acknowledging the unpredictable nature of the finale.

"Tristan, he probably will." (08:17)
"Cesar and Bailey are incredibly cool... hope her restaurant does well." (25:48)

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Conclusion

Episode #2870 of Watch What Crappens offers a comprehensive and entertaining analysis of Top Chef Season 22's foraging-themed semifinals. Ben Mandelker and Ronnie Karam provide valuable insights into the contestants' performances, culinary strategies, and the inherent challenges of cooking in the wilderness. Their humorous banter and keen observations make this recap both informative and highly enjoyable for fans of Bravo's culinary showdown.

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Transcript

[Ben Mandelker]

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[Ronnie Karam]

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[Ben Mandelker]

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[Ronnie Karam]

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[Ben Mandelker]

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[Ronnie Karam]

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[Misha Brown]

Every big moment starts with a big dream. But what happens when that big dream turns out to be a big flop? From Wondery and ill Media, I'm Misha Brown and this is the Big Flop. Every week, comedians join me to chronicle the biggest flubs, fails and blunders of all time. Like quibbing.

[Ronnie Karam]

It's kind of like when you give yourself your own nickname and you try to like get other people to do it.

[Misha Brown]

And the 2019 movie adaptation of Cats.

[Ben Mandelker]

Like if I'm watching the dancing and I'm noticing the feet aren't touching the ground, there's something wrong with the movie.

[Misha Brown]

Find out what happens when massive hype turns into major fiasco. Enjoy the big Flop on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to the Big Flop early and ad free on Wondery. Plus get started with your free trial at wondery.com plus.

[Ben Mandelker]

Watch what happens. Watch what happens who cares what happens when there's so much Watch what happens. Who cares what happens when there's so much that happens? Hello and welcome to Watch what Crappens, a podcast about all that crap on Bravo we love to talk about. I'm Ben Mandelker joining me today, Mr. Ronnie Caram. Hi, Ronnie, how's it going?

[Ronnie Karam]

Hello, Ben. What's going on with you over there?

[Ben Mandelker]

Not much, just excited to talk some Top Chef with you. We have so many exciting things happening. We have our Seattle show next week where we will be recapping the season premiere of the Real Housewives of Miami, which I feel like people are not. People need to be talking about the fact that this show's coming back next week. It's gonna be so great. And then the week after that, we have our final, final, final show of the Mounting Hysteria tour, and that's gonna be in Los Angeles at the Fonda Theater on June 19th. So please join us there. Tickets or links to the Tickets are at watchwithcrappins.com Anything you would ever need from us is at that link. You can also find links there to our Patreon, but it's also easy to remember our Patreon, which is just patreon.com watch what crappens where on Patreon we have Crappies on Demand, where you can watch us, not just listen to us. So, hello, everyone. We do lots of fun things like trailer trashes. We also do our bonus episodes, and we're very excited because Love Island USA is starting up, which means that for the duration of that show, we are going to be checking in every day and talking about the last night's episode. So we did that last season. We had a lot of fun with it. So I hope you join us, because last season was, honestly, truly amazing. I love Love island season. It is upon us. And lastly, I think that is it. I don't think there's anything else. Next Gen NYC is starting up this week also, so we'll be having recaps of that and just all the fun stuff. But right now, Top Chef is starting to wrap up, and we're here at the semifinals in Canada. What do you think?

[Ronnie Karam]

Here we are. Alberta. Alberta. Alberta. Here we go. Last week, we missed a recap. So if you're listening to this in the future, like, where were they? How could you skip an episode? We did that because Ben was in Norway. And that's it. That's just how it happened. Ben was living his magical life, and that was really all it was. And did it kill both of us that we missed an episode where Gail was literally eating berries off people's plates? Yes. Yeah, of course it hurt, but we had to do it.

[Ben Mandelker]

I would like to make an update on this front, which is that. Yeah, the week that. The week that we skipped was the beef and berry challenge. And as people may know, I really hate most berries. But when I was in Norway, guess what I did.

[Ronnie Karam]

You did not.

[Ben Mandelker]

I ate various berries. I did.

[Ronnie Karam]

How do you feel about it? Did you come back a berry convert or are you just like.

[Ben Mandelker]

No, not a berry convert, but I think I'm berry tolerant now, where if I see a berry on my plate, I don't immediately like oh, no, I can't eat it. I can't touch it. Like, it was so bad that I really, like, if berries were touching stuff. It was really hard for me. But now I think I can just eat berries. I still don't like a lot of berry flavored things. So if there's, like, a candy that's like, raspberry flavored or whatever, it's like, it still is totally repulsive to me, but I also feel that way about things I do. Like, like, banana. I don't like banana. Banana flavoring or grape. Like, a grape candy is disgusting to me. But I love grapes and love bananas, so I feel like I made a lot of progress in the very front in Norway.

[Ronnie Karam]

Well, I love that for you. Yeah.

[Ben Mandelker]

Thank you. It was, like, a lot for me.

[Ronnie Karam]

That is huge.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah. Like, I think I can, like, deal with strawberries. I'm hoping to get to a place where I actually look forward to it. Like, I felt that way about passion fruit for the longest time. I hated passion fruit. And I got thrown to so many desserts that at, like, nice restaurants, I was like, ugh. It's of kind passion fruit, but I guess I should just power through. And now I actually enjoy passion fruit. So I hope I can catch up with, really, the rest of the entire world and start to enjoy strawberries and blueberries and raspberries. Not quite there yet, but, yeah, big progress.

[Ronnie Karam]

Nice. Well, it's like a fitting because while you were gone, I tried something new too. Vaginas.

[Ben Mandelker]

Get out.

[Ronnie Karam]

I'm just kidding.

[Ben Mandelker]

Did you have sex with a lady?

[Ronnie Karam]

No. Wouldn't that be funny? You're on a berry journey. I'm on a vagina journey. It was crazy. Our lives have changed in one week. We are totally different people.

[Ben Mandelker]

We've all changed.

[Ronnie Karam]

Okay, so here we are with Krista. Welcome. Okay, so Lana got kicked off last week, which I felt really bad for her. Kind of. I felt kind of bad for her because. I don't know. Well, you. You guessed that Lana might win because they had been setting up, like, Lana. Like, let's give Lana backstory now. I mean, you thought that that meant she was gonna win. And so I kind of had it in my head that she was gonna win, and. And I will not win, but get to the finals.

[Ben Mandelker]

Get to the finals. Yeah.

[Ronnie Karam]

Yeah. So I was sad. I was sad for Lana because she's got a boyfriend in Italy. She needs the money.

[Ben Mandelker]

She's so cute. I really like Lana a lot, but yeah. Yeah, she just couldn't. She was. She was Starting to shoe. Starting to flame out. So that's okay. So she's no longer with us, but we do have Cesar, who actually, we know he's still with us because his first line of the episode is, I'm still here.

[Ronnie Karam]

I'm still here. Yeah. You know, I'm going to miss Lana's love, and. But, you know, I am here. I'm one challenge away from being in the end. And after the end, I get to go back to my grow lights under my bed.

[Ben Mandelker]

Rutabagas. My rutabagas are missing me. Isn't that a Sondheim song? I'm still here. Isn't there a song like, and I'm still here.

[Ronnie Karam]

Good times and bad times I've seen them all on, my dear. I'm still here Rudabagas, grow lights.

[Ben Mandelker]

Spain. It's not putting up a fight. And I'm still here.

[Ronnie Karam]

And Bailey's crying. She's like, I have such a true friend. And Lala. It just. It feels like a bigger purpose now because I'm fighting for all women. Oh, for Christ's sake, just go burn your lasagna. Already in the streets.

[Ben Mandelker]

Gonna win this thing. So stop trying to hold out for any sort of symbolic gesture. Like, whatever you want to do, it's fine. But Tristan's going to win, so let's just, like, let's set expectations.

[Ronnie Karam]

So you think it's for sure Tristan, huh? I think that. That obviously the front runner. I think it's going to be shy for some reason.

[Ben Mandelker]

No, I think it's going to be Tristan. Tristan has been so good all season long, and, like, he literally skipped his father's funeral to be here. And, like, are they really going to not. They're not going to give it to Tristan. I mean, they have to. He has been. And on top of that, like, not only has he been so good, he's also, like, lovely. Like, I think we all are rooting for Tristan, right? Are we rooting for Tristan? I'm rooting for Tristan, yeah. I mean, I love Cesar. I even like.

[Ronnie Karam]

I mean, I like everybody at this point. This is one of those seasons where I actually like everybody, and everybody seems super talented. So, yeah, it would be great to see Tristan win for sure, and he probably will. I think you're right. But I think they're going to do a shocking thing where they. And also, Tom loves to give Last chance. Last chance Kitchen winners. You know, that's his show, so I feel like he stumps really hard.

[Ben Mandelker]

Validates. It validates the entire process.

[Ronnie Karam]

Cuz we've got two of them now in the finals, which is nuts. Like you've got Cesar and Bailey. Well, I guess this is the semi finals, right?

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah. Still it is wild.

[Ronnie Karam]

Yeah.

[Ben Mandelker]

So. So yeah, she's saying how she wants to see women get into the finals. And Massimo's like, by the way, I can girl talk. I can girl talk very well. You know what? I'm really good with that. I can. I'm a girl dad. I'm a girl dad. You know, his, his ex wife is like. I was going to say absentee dad, but that's fine. You can say girl dad too.

[Ronnie Karam]

And then we find absentee dad, gone dad.

[Ben Mandelker]

I mean, gone dad, girl dad.

[Ronnie Karam]

And Tristan we find out more about. He's like, I'm great. I get my nails done. I love a manicure. Really like it moisturizing. That's what I'm really into. We find out more about Tristan today, which I love that Tristan's kind of a little diva, you know, he's like, I don't go outside and I get manicures there.

[Ben Mandelker]

That's it. So they go back to the hotel and then Cesar takes a banana and he sort of like cuts it in a way where he puts a little. And he sort of slices the tip of it and then puts a blueberry in it and makes it look like a, like a little fish coming up with a berry or a dinosaur with a berry in its mouth. I was like, this is the most Cesar thing that he could do right now with this banana. And of course I loved it. I was like, I'm gonna do that.

[Ronnie Karam]

He's like, you know what? I was having a good day, but then something happened where I had to eat my friend. The fish finally made a friend and I ate him. So they get mystery totes and they've got fishing gear and Bailey's like gloves. I think this means we're gonna forag. I love foraging.

[Ben Mandelker]

I'm terrified of foraging. I actually, I actually was going to do some light foraging in Norway, but I didn't wind up doing it. I sort of somehow it just didn't happen. But we. The night that I watched this episode, actually we, our group, we cooked a dinner because the leader of our, our tour group, one, we had two leaders. One was like a Norwegian and then one is actually an American expat who lives in Norway and she's also a cookbook author. Her name is Nevada Berg. Everyone get her books North Wild Ketchup.

[Ronnie Karam]

Or as we call her, Trader Nevada Berg.

[Ben Mandelker]

So she Loves to forage. And so she was going to. We were going to try to forage for some meadow sweet, which is like a little. It's like a flower that you can eat. It's like, yeah, but. So I took a nap, actually. I took a nap and I missed some of the foraging. And by some, I mean all of it. But the. For the product, the foraging is that we wound up with spruce tips. And you can actually eat the. If you have like a. Like a pine tree or like a spruce, the. Like the new growth at the edge that happens in the spring where it's, like, still all soft before the needles have become, like, tiny and hard, you can actually eat those. So we actually had. With our dinner, actually with our cocktails, we had forage spruce tips.

[Ronnie Karam]

And did you ever, at one point.

[Ben Mandelker]

I don't know where I'm going.

[Ronnie Karam]

Did you ever, at one point in this dinner, think, these people are fucking with me?

[Ben Mandelker]

I think that all the time about everyone. I'm very gullible.

[Ronnie Karam]

Is this real? That sounds really good, actually. Foraging to me. Sounds like. Does the FDA know about this? I know, you know, when people go through the kitchen and if you ever work at a restaurant, you know the letter ratings or whatever you get on the outside, the A's and B's and stuff, you really. They are so picky and stringent on what is served and how it's served. And there's all these rules. And I'm like, but you just went and picked this out of a pile of poop in a forest and I'm supposed to eat this. And I think that's so sad how removed we are from nature. But I think we've all learned that nature is gross and it needs to be cleaned before it goes into our mouths. So let's come out with foraging.

[Ben Mandelker]

I feel like I don't see the need for foraging. The one thing I would forage for maybe would be for ramps, because they're really, apparently really hard to get, or they're only, like, seasonal or whatever.

[Ronnie Karam]

So you're going to get onto a freeway.

[Ben Mandelker]

I'm not going to wait for the city to build this. I'm going to find one in nature.

[Ronnie Karam]

So how am I going to buy the Hot Wheels?

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah, I mean, ramps.

[Ronnie Karam]

What is a ramp?

[Ben Mandelker]

It's kind of. It's like in that onion family and allium. It's kind of like people really love them as I think they're more like delicate or floral or whatever than a scallion. But they're actually. They're seasonal and they're climate specific. And so you can often. It's often much cheaper just to get them out of the forest than to go and buy them at the supermarket because it's like they're crazy expensive because they're so rare. So I would forage for that. But what I would not be interested in foraging forever would be mushrooms. Because I'm like, I don't want to die.

[Ronnie Karam]

Because you're always taught when you go camping or, you know, whatever as a kid, they teach you, don't just eat the mushrooms because they'll kill you. So I have that in my head, you know? And so I see them picking out these Cesars. Like, I found one that was bigger than a human head. It was amazing. It was £9,000. I've never forgotten about that. I was in the newspaper. Well, I wrote it on the COVID of the newspaper. My mom's newspaper. I love my mom. Now my mom comes, but we see him with a huge mushroom and I'm like, that. I wouldn't eat that. You don't know what that's grown in.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah, A hen of the woods. You know what I want? I want a head in the supermarket. Give me a hen of the supermarket, please. Okay. Because I like, you know, I just. I feel like there was just a story about a famous forager who ate a poison mushroom by accident and died. Like, I don't wanna. I'm not. It's just not worth it to me. It's not worth it to risk my life just so I could be like, this mushroom. Yeah, I found it in the forest.

[Ronnie Karam]

I mean, at this point, I risk my life all the time on stupid things. I drive a Vespa. I vape still occasionally, so. Well, a lot. Occasional, my ass. So, I mean, I'm already risking my life on stupid things. But here's the thing. Like, I don't want to risk it on a mushroom. Like, I'll risk it to go into a dangerous restaurant if they have good food. But I don't want to risk it eating. Like, I'll go to like a Waffle House at 2 in the morning, you know what I mean? Where, you know, there could be a fight, but I don't know that I'm willing to risk it on some mushroom you picked. Like, that sounds gross. Go to the store. How about pick a job, get a car and go to a store, Get.

[Ben Mandelker]

A job, get a job, get a job, get an oyster mushroom at the store. Okay. And not. And Cesar's like, yeah, I found this huge 15 pound hen of the woods. What are you gonna do with 15 pounds of hen of the woods mushroom? Like, that's a lot. I love mushrooms, but 15 pounds, that's a lot. I hope you invite some people over. That's a lot.

[Ronnie Karam]

I hope you had like a mushroom party, because that shit's crazy. And then they showed the big mushroom that he bought and it looked like one of the plant, alien or zombie things from the Last of us because they're all vegetable zombies. Like, it's like a broccoli monster and they're chasing you, which was actually more terrifying. But I think that's like Weight Watchers memories. Like being. I'm really being. I'm literally being chased by broccoli right now. And here they are on tv. But I don't, I don't want to eat the zombie head.

[Ben Mandelker]

Cesar literally just decapitated a zombie. And it's like, I found a mushroom. Guys like you, you killed a zombie, actually. And he says, he says, yeah, I found a 15 pound hen of the woods and I took me two hands to hold it. I mean, the adrenaline just hits you. The most exciting moment, which, I don't know, it's just funny. Like, I guess some people jump out of a plane and other people just find a mushroom. Find a mushroom, you know? Meanwhile, it's like this just in local famous Chicago mushroom has gone missing from our forest. It's like some, some like, special, like community's favorite mushroom that he just plucked.

[Ronnie Karam]

It's like three years later, we see a clip of Cesar on the news just being like, oh, I just, I was just trying to get that fresh one last time. Trying to find a mushroom.

[Ben Mandelker]

It's like the new. It's the new reboot of Point Break, except instead of surfing, they're just hunting for mushrooms. Hey, bruh, did you catch that wave? No, but I found a hen of the woods.

[Ronnie Karam]

It's time for a commercial. It's time for a crappin's commercial.

[Misha Brown]

Every big moment starts with a big dream. But what happens when that big dream turns out to be a big flop? From Wondery and Will Media, I'm Misha Brown, and this is the Big Flop. Every week, comedians join me to chronicle the biggest flubs, fails and blunders of all time. Like Quibi.

[Ronnie Karam]

It's kind of like when you give yourself your own nickname and you try to, like, get other people to do it.

[Misha Brown]

And the 2019 movie adaptation of Cats.

[Ben Mandelker]

Like, if I'm watching the dancing and I'm noticing the feet aren't Touching the ground. There's something wrong with the movie.

[Misha Brown]

Find out what happens when massive hype turns into major fiasco. Enjoy the Big Flop on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to the Big Flop early and ad free on Wondery. Get started with your free [e-mail] plus.

[Monica Lewinsky]

At 24 I lost my narrative, or rather it was stolen from me, and the Monica Lewinsky that my friends and family knew was usurped by false narratives, callous jokes, and politics. I would define Reclaiming as to take back what was yours. Something you possess is lost or stolen, and ultimately you triumph in finding it again. So I think listeners can expect me to be chatting with folks both recognizable and unrecognizable names about the way that people have navigated roads to triumph. My hope is that people will finish an episode of Reclaiming and feel like they filled their tank up, they connected with the people that I'm talking to, and leave with maybe some nuggets that help them feel a little more hopeful. Follow Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Reclaiming early and ad free right now by joining Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Ronnie Karam]

So now everybody loads into their BMWs to go to Quarry Lake in Canmore, and everybody's like, this is amazing. And Mossimo's like, oh, this is something I've never done. I've never been camping before. Gross. Disgusting.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah. Oh, I thought you were saying this is amazing about the car because they did a lot of that. Wow. The way these doors closed. I've never seen a door close on a car so beautifully. Like in my BMW x5 93 BMW x3Z1.

[Ronnie Karam]

The way we got into this car and there was a map of where we're going. Holy crap, my life is changed.

[Ben Mandelker]

Wait a second. Is this a seatbelt? You mean every seat has one? Wow. What a car.

[Ronnie Karam]

I wish I could get some fresh air in this car. This button moves those glass things down. Air is coming in here. Air from the outside. I forged air. I forged air in my BMW.

[Ben Mandelker]

Wait a second. I just noticed that you haven't driven off the side of the road. Wait, this car has a windshield. I've never seen that before.

[Ronnie Karam]

So you can actually see the road.

[Ben Mandelker]

You don't have to stick your head out the side.

[Ronnie Karam]

What is this, 100 years in the future? Is Trump still president?

[Ben Mandelker]

Wait a second. I can't believe it. Round wheels no more Squares at last.

[Ronnie Karam]

They go out to look for their stuff, and Kristen is like, hi, guys. Nice way to start the day, right? We are not having quick fire today. Today is forage day. That's right. Cesar, please put your boner away. We're in public.

[Ben Mandelker]

Okay, so Shuai is saying, I can't believe we're this deep in Top Chef right now. I mean, the first day, I couldn't have been more nervous. You could tell because my cheeks turned very, very red. And I just feel like a whole different person. And I'm just refining myself as a chef. It turns out I can cook the same food, but I talk about my grandma 50% more, and it does much better with the judges.

[Ronnie Karam]

He's like, I can't wait to forage, because I would forage with my grandmother. I'm looking through this for. You know what I'm looking for in this forage? A grandmother. Just a grandmother to cook, because it reminds me of my grandmother. It's like, okay, you're going a little far now. Okay? The grandma stories have got to end. Find a mushroom. Leave the old ladies alone.

[Ben Mandelker]

Welcome, everybody, to beautiful Quarry Lake here in Canmore. Hi. It's ghost Padma here from the beyond. Canmore. More like more cans. That's Gail asking for beans.

[Ronnie Karam]

It's a shame I had to die, but I was coming into the forest today to forage. And by forage, I mean find a decent dress for Gail. Unfortunately, I found this magic tree, stuck my finger in the socket, and was electrocuted. So I'll only be here as a ghost from today on. Everybody, now, welcome to Canmore, or as we call Gail Cantless.

[Ben Mandelker]

Do you guys all consider yourself outdoorsy? I would say the answer to that is yes, based on the fact that they all smell like bear feces.

[Ronnie Karam]

And Massimo's like, I'll go hiking if he's with a pack of cigarettes. Just kidding about the hiking car.

[Ben Mandelker]

Kristen goes, what? She's shocked. She's like, okay, all right. Tristan, you're not outdoorsy. He's like, I work so hard to have a roof over my head, and you may have missed it, but I did talk about manicures earlier. So, no, I do not go outside.

[Ronnie Karam]

Yeah. He's like, I will stand at the roof that I paid for. Thank you.

[Ben Mandelker]

Well, if you want to make it to the finals in Italy, you're gonna have to search high and low. Which reminds me, as a child when I used to play hide and seek, and I would start high and low. Oh, my God. Sorry. I'm crying again. Let me get a little choked up.

[Ronnie Karam]

Guys. We're foraging, which reminds me of my season of Top Chef, which was so, so very special. I just want $10,000 in a quick fire. Just kidding. God, those memories are good.

[Ben Mandelker]

Save for these moments, everyone. Savor these moments. I'm gonna play piano on the table. Savor these moments. Savor them.

[Ronnie Karam]

Please say hello to Creed, knowledge keeper and owner of Mohican Trails, Brenda Holder. Brenda. She's like, well, hello there. I'd just like to thank all of you for coming and being such good, good children to me. No, not Brenda Fricker. It's Brenda Holder. Okay, can we. I think you've been a little mistaken there.

[Ben Mandelker]

I don't know who you're talking. No, not. Not Brenda Blethyn either. Terribly sorry, but I don't belong to the Kree tribe. I don't. I never had any relationship. Oh, God. I just remember.

[Ronnie Karam]

I remember everything now. I've only just found you, and you're sending me away again. Okay, Brenda, you can stay. Just stay. Brenda Blevin.

[Ben Mandelker]

By the way, we highly recommend watching the film from 1997 or 96, Secrets and Lies, where this is all a reference to otherwise. I know people are like, what are they talking about? It's a very specific scene in Secret and Lies. And you should watch it. It's a wonderful movie.

[Ronnie Karam]

It's me, your mom, Brenda Blevin. I certainly saw.

[Ben Mandelker]

I never had a child. Oh, God.

[Misha Brown]

I'm a bit old now.

[Ronnie Karam]

Okay. And next to Brenda Blevin is local chef master Forager, Tracy Little. Like the mous. So this is the mouse's sister. So she's like, hello, chefs. My restaurant is 10 minutes down the road through a little hole in the wall. And they're like, oh, my God, that's amazing. She's like, we do tasting menus of shit that we find outside. People are suckers. It's $50 a plate. I literally serve somebody a quail that I found dead in the road. People are idiots. Am I right? Don't forget your A1 sauce.

[Ben Mandelker]

So Bailey says Brenda and Tracy are incredibly cool. I mean, Brenda just telling us about the land. I could listen to her speak for hours. And Tracy, I just really want to come back so I can try her food. But of course, I won't. So anyway, I hope her restaurant does well.

[Ronnie Karam]

So then Kristen's like, chefs, Bailey's energy is so weird. Like, it gets weirder every week. She's just like. And listen, I'm not a posture person. I'M a very bad Bette Midler posture. Everybody knows it. I can't fix it. My wrists are dragging on the ground, and they're already bent because they're gay. So I've got, like, all this going on. So I know it's hypocritical, but Bailey. I just want to be like Bailey. I know I make fun of you always trying to make lasagna, but you know what? You're talented. Like, you're good enough. You're smart enough.

[Ben Mandelker]

You deserve, gosh darn it, people like you.

[Ronnie Karam]

I didn't go that far, but I was like, you deserve to be here, Bailey. Because Bailey's just so, like, honka. I don't know. I just, like, I'm so bad at this, you know? I mean, I'd like to try her food because it seems like it's good. She'd probably know what to do for this challenge, but I don't. She's getting more, like, depression. It's a sad cloud.

[Ben Mandelker]

She probably realizes that she's gonna lose to Tristan. That's why. So Kristen goes. Chefs, we're gonna go back to where the culinary story began. Foraging. Brought to you by our good friends at McDonald's. So all around the world. Happy Meal at the happiest place on earth. Brought to you by McDonald's all around the world.

[Ronnie Karam]

I remember being a girl and foraging, going from McDonald's to McDonald's to try and find a boardwalk piece.

[Ben Mandelker]

Today's gonna be a lot like that. It's gonna be a lot like that. Sorry, I've been in your shoes before. That's special. Savor this. So she's like, leading chefs are really leaning into this practice more and more, and emergency rooms could not be more excited. They have developed all sorts of ways to pump toxic mushrooms out of your stomach. So Tracy says that Alberta is known for the beautiful outdoors, and there's 35,000 hectares of publicly forested land, and they provide lots of ingredients for foraging, et cetera. And then Brenda is saying, like, this is the time of the energy, where the plant goes down into the roots. And so they're just talking about the plants from the land because obviously, again, they are from indigenous peoples who use the whole, like, the land in sacred ways, et cetera, in much better ways.

[Ronnie Karam]

Yeah. She's like, welcome. This land is medicine. Everything you see here is medicine. Okay, you're gonna need to sell this a little bit better, because these are expensive dishes, and I don't want to eat medicine, so I don't care if it can Heal me, but say something else. Just be like, this is where chocolate was invented. Like, lie to me. I don't know. Make it good. Like, we bake bread here. We forage for Hawaiian rolls. Like something. But don't just tell me it's medicine. I don't want to eat your goddamn medicine. I don't eat my medicine. Wow.

[Ben Mandelker]

Gayle must have strep throat. That explains why she's gnawing on the bark of that tree. So Christine goes.

[Ronnie Karam]

She didn't mean literally. Gale, get off the tree.

[Ben Mandelker]

Well, for your final elimination challenge in Canada, each of you must create a dish using foraging ingredients from the trees to the roots. But no matter your expertise or level of your knowledge, just know I've done it before, and I've done it better than you. And it was an honor. It was an honor to be in your shoes.

[Ronnie Karam]

So Brenda takes us out, shows the kids foraging stuff, and Bailey's like, yeah, you know, living in the city, sometimes you don't slow down and really appreciate how special Mother Nature is, you know? So, like, it's nice to have a moment being connected with the earth, which I think hates me and my food and everything I stand for. I'd just like to take this moment to apologize to Mother Nature and assure her that I'm going to do better.

[Ben Mandelker]

Kristen also tells us, okay, you're going to want to dig deep for this one because the winner will receive $10,000. And so be sure to grab the tools from the trunks of the BMW X3s, and then you can come right back. Like, okay, so we are going to be honoring Earth by honoring these wonderful indigenous traditions of the Cree people, but also promoting the BMWs that are going to destroy the environment at the same time.

[Ronnie Karam]

The gas guzzling BMW, or is this one of the electrics? I'm not sure. I think this might be the electric one.

[Ben Mandelker]

Brendan, just like, oh, I want. Come over here, guys. This is my favorite place to gather some of the wild ingredients. And, oh, unfortunately, this tire is sitting on top of my favorite plant. Sorry about that.

[Ronnie Karam]

Yeah, let's drive all five BMWs that we took for this through the forest. Okay. Anything we don't run over, you can eat.

[Ben Mandelker]

I also want to point out something. So when they drove out here, they drove, like, two BMWs. Like, you know, they're in that little caravan. Whoever was driving that second BMW was fully tailgating the first one. I don't know if anyone else knows that, but I was like, excuse you, like, one car length, sir or ma' am. Whoever's driving. Let's not. Let's not tailgate the other BMW. We don't need a fender bender on these.

[Ronnie Karam]

I like that you're standing up for it. That's good. So that she's showing people stuff and she shows them something called yarrow. Known for its bitter licorice like flavor. It can be used in various culinary and medicinal applications. They should just have a medicine. Just call it just serve me some nyquil in a ice cream cone if this is what we're going to do. But Massimo goes with it. He's like, I can't believe it. Early summer flowers. I love them. I feel so lucky. I only use flowers in season. I'm not an out of flower season, out of season flower person. Well, that's good because they probably wouldn't be growing right now while you're foraging, but I love that you're taking a stand.

[Ben Mandelker]

And then they look at some juniper. Okay, here's another Norway story. I had rained. I tasted some reindeer stew that was made with juniper. And it really does. I never really had juniper before. And the juniper really does. It does taste like gin. I was like, oh, well, now it all makes sense. The full juniper story. So.

[Ronnie Karam]

Well, tastes like breakfast.

[Ben Mandelker]

I guess what I'm trying to say is I know a little bit more about juniper than you do, Ronnie, so. No, but it was kind of cool. It was really cool to taste.

[Ronnie Karam]

You knew that before Norway.

[Ben Mandelker]

I just like to say Norway about that.

[Ronnie Karam]

You knew more than me before that trip. So Brenda's like, well, let's pick one of these because I think they're great. Smell it. Smell the gin seeping out of your. I'm sorry, that's my purse. It's open. But the flowers kind of smell like it, too.

[Ben Mandelker]

Brenda Blethen, are you stealing the juniper again? Because it tastes so good when you smoke it. So then Shuai says that he doesn't want to just make a bowl of soup, but he wants to make a medicinal broth. Because, like, his mom and grandma used to confirm. He's like, growing up, drinking these bras. Grandma's cross. He's like, yeah, so he's gonna make a. He's gonna make something that's medicinal but, like, good medicinal.

[Ronnie Karam]

And then Brenda, his grandma, made it. I was like, I just can't believe it. I wonder if he even really has a grandma. I'll bet. I'll bet this is just made up for stories on tv. I don't believe it anymore.

[Ben Mandelker]

You.

[Ronnie Karam]

You've gone too heavy on the grandma. I don't even believe you even have a grandma there.

[Ben Mandelker]

So then Brenda's like, now this right here, this is a rosehip. Let's try the flesh a bit. And moss will go. Tastes the rosehip. And he goes, ooh, it's squashy. And she goes, yes, a little bit like squash. And you know that Brenda turned to the other ladies like this fucking guy. He's called a rosehip. Squash.

[Ronnie Karam]

Also, could we please stop reviewing, Gail? Massimo, we're supposed to be talking about things. We're foraging, right? Leave your squashy comments to yourself. That's my department.

[Ben Mandelker]

So then. So then they are trying roots and stuff. And then they're trying. Tracy tells them to eat dandelion root or mustard roots. They do. This is foraging. There's foraging.

[Ronnie Karam]

They're foraging, guys. That's what they're doing. And now Tracy is like, guys, can I show you my favorite thing in the forest? It's a pile of ants. That's right. I pluck them out, right, with my fingers. I swallow them down whole feeling. Biting me the whole way down. Fucking delicious. Are you guys in or are you out? I charge $100 a plate for a plate of ants in this town, okay? Don't be a bunch of wussies. Get your fingers down in there. Kill those motherfuckers. Why is everybody just so okay with murdering ants? And then she's like. And then you get the ant and here's what you do. You freeze them, okay? And then you throw them in the fire. So right when they're waking up, they're getting toasted. Have you seen the movie Ants? Tracy, you're a torturer.

[Ben Mandelker]

I'm okay with all this. I just would like to add, they have families. They are definitely very gay friendly. All those ants are like, yes, queen. Do everything for a queen, okay? She says she is mother. Okay? When she says, go find some piece of leaf, we do it.

[Ronnie Karam]

I'm not hanging out with those other ants. We're fire ants.

[Ben Mandelker]

This ant is fire, okay? Have you heard of Fire Island? Have a fire ant hole mother icon commercials.

[Ronnie Karam]

Here comes one right now.

[Ben Mandelker]

Every successful business starts with an idea.

[Misha Brown]

And on the best idea yet. We're obsessed with those light bulb moments. Like how a bored barista invented the frappuccino during his downtime and then it got acquired by Starbucks. Or how Patagonia's iconic fleece was inspired.

[Ben Mandelker]

By by a toilet seat cover.

[Misha Brown]

On the best idea yet, we dive into the untold origin stories behind the products you're obsessed with. And the bold Risk takers made them go viral. These are the wild ideas and insights that made Birkenstock the best selling sandals since Jesus and made Super Mario the most played video game in the history of attention span. Yeah, Nintendo almost became a ramen company.

[Ronnie Karam]

Until Super Mario saved it.

[Misha Brown]

New episodes drop every Tuesday. Follow the best idea yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcast. Podcasts, you can listen early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus. And if this podcast lasts longer than 45 minutes, call your doctor.

[Ronnie Karam]

So, so they eat them because Tracy bullies them into eating ants and she's like, just squeeze it between your fingers. Tastes like lemon and vinegar and blood and guts and depression and despair and broken families.

[Ben Mandelker]

Tracy, I say eat those ants. Eat them. Eat them up. So she's bas. My favorite was. She was like, yeah, so this is before for ants, it's. And so you just grab the ants. But, oh, by the way, they do bite. Sorry, it's gonna suck. So they're all sitting there like, trying to gather these ants, but they're getting bitten by the ants. And you know, you know, Tracy's like, you know, Brenda was like, tracy, you know, we do have some gloves.

[Ronnie Karam]

Shh. Just let him.

[Ben Mandelker]

Let him get bit.

[Ronnie Karam]

That's why I love watching these TV normies try and eat an ant.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah. So then they're eating them and Bailey's like, you know, it sort of tastes like lemon segments. Like, yeah, sure, yeah.

[Ronnie Karam]

You know what else does? Lemons. That's what everybody says. Like, wow. It's like lemon zest. Yeah. Get a lemon zest. Poor aunts. So then Tracy's. Yeah, this is where Tracy talks about her aunt torture. Freezing them, putting them to sleep, and then toasting them. So which is, by the way, I.

[Ben Mandelker]

Mean, how else would you.

[Ronnie Karam]

How healthcare is gonna end up? I feel like that's gonna happen to me by the time I'm old enough. They're just gonna be like, freeze him and then toast him. He won't even know the fucking difference.

[Ben Mandelker]

Listen, actually, I've. I have actually eaten ants. And this did not happen in Norway. This happened in Santa Monica. And they were really. I had fries. Yeah, yeah, they were good. Yeah, that's just like kind of like crunch. I would not say they tasted like lemon because they were not fire ants. They were just regular ants. But there used to be a restaurant called Typhoon in Santa Monica, and you could get crickets. You get ants, you can get all sorts of creepy crawlers. Yeah, crickets are really good. I like crickets.

[Ronnie Karam]

And I'm not saying ants are gross. I just, you know, I saw the movie Ants and I really loved them. I was like, listen, this has changed my mind on ants. Because, like, I had ants in my house, and it was like a big, long line coming from the door. You know how they march? They're so cute. Like, they all stay in step and they march up to wherever they're trying to get to. And I was like, I don't want to kill these ants, because I saw that movie. And so I was looking up natural ways to get rid of ants. And unfortunately, none of those work. You have to kill fuckers.

[Ben Mandelker]

You have to kill them. Listen, once you've heard ants voiced by JLO and Sharon Stone, it's hard to kill them. So I ended up.

[Ronnie Karam]

It's hard. It's like you're killing gay icons again.

[Ben Mandelker]

Whoever thought about. I mean, honestly, whoever came up with the casting list for ants, they deserve an award. They're like, okay, here's what we want. We want to do a movie about ants, but they need to have voices. Okay? Let's get Sharon stone, let's get JLo, let's get Woody Allen, Sylvester Stallone and Christopher Walken done.

[Ronnie Karam]

And it was brilliant. That's why it was so good. It made me feel. It made me feel things. But now we're killing them en masse. So they look stuff and they look for stuff. And Tracy's like, I just can't wait to see what you guys do with these ingredients. Hope none of you are allergic to ant bites, idiots.

[Ben Mandelker]

Wow. Hope none of you are allergic to Gail bites either, because that's gonna happen later too.

[Ronnie Karam]

One day, one of you is gonna come in wearing cocoa butter, lose an arm.

[Ben Mandelker]

So now they load up their cars and. And all the flowers die behind them. They've all got their stuff. They all had a great time doing it. So now they're in the car, they're talking about their ideas, and Tristan's thinking about doing Some Sort of Meat Smoked over Some Sort of Branch. These were some of the names they were throwing around before they settled on the name Some Kind of Wonderful. Like, should we call it Some Kind of Meat? No, no. Some Kind of Branch. How about Some Kind of Wonderful? I suppose.

[Ronnie Karam]

All right, well, we don't want to show the branch people preference, so I.

[Ben Mandelker]

Guess it's Mary Stuart Masterson is getting impatient, so you better come up with a name right away.

[Ronnie Karam]

Mary Stewart Branterson. No, Ronnie, drop the branch. Drop the branch idea. Okay?

[Ben Mandelker]

We're not going Martha Plimpton's like, hi. But I really thought I was signing on to a movie about Branch.

[Ronnie Karam]

So Bailey is like, well, our brains are going in the same direction. Tristan, he's like, want to just share a dish? Loser brains do not go in the same direction, I can assure you. And try is like, now. This is now a team challenge. The four of us against Massimo. Okay, well, five of us, because my grandma's here. My grandma is here right next to me.

[Ben Mandelker]

So Massimo's snoring and everything. And then they go to a store to shop. Massimo orders some trout, and he's like, when I woke up from my sleep in the car, I have a very clear dish that I pictured. I got a really nice juniper. And I'd really love to get a grilled trout grilled on the barbie and then smoke them on the juniper. And that way the smoke dispenses all the flavor and you cannot get that any other way. And the longer I spend smoking the trout, the less time I have to spend FaceTiming my daughter. Later. Girl. Dad. Girl.

[Ronnie Karam]

Dad. Girl. Dad. And Bailey's like, oh, God, I'm just having such a hard time. It's gonna be final four if I can, through Italy. There's just so much at stake. I heard there's a freeway pile up. What am I gonna do? But it could rain tonight. I'm not good enough to be here. Just take my apron. Now.

[Ben Mandelker]

Tristan doesn't know what he's gonna do either. He's just gonna grab things that just seem right. So he's doing that. And Cesar is really happy that they have a nice mushroom selection. You know, the store was like, well, we were supposed to have a little bit more, but someone stole our 15 pound hen of the woods that we've been growing for three years.

[Ronnie Karam]

Missing out of the woods. You've seen this big brain looking thing. Please call authorities. Brenda's just sitting there waiting.

[Ben Mandelker]

Here on the scene. Is our action news reporter Brenda bluffin? Oh, terrible story out here in the the Shakake Woods. Hen of the woods has been stolen. I'm terribly sorry. There's no more hen of the woods for people to enjoy.

[Ronnie Karam]

I just wanted to tell Heather, the wood, wherever you are, I'm your mom and I love you. Come home to me.

[Ben Mandelker]

I thought I'd never see that hen of the woods again after I planted it. But I'd forgotten it was. I was young. I was young and I was foolish. I never thought I'd come back to see ya again.

[Ronnie Karam]

Hmm. So they have to cook all this Kind of camping style. So Sissara's like, oh, I've got to cook a camping style. So I'm thinking of other dishes that are made in fire. And I thought of tacos al pastor, so I'm gonna do that. Okay, so then. But I mean, like, all food is kind of cooked on fire, by the way, to put it out there. And my first thought would be, like, the flame grilled Whopper. But, you know, I guess that shows our difference in class level.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah. My first thought is Sizzler. So why not do a nice little buffet for everyone? A forged buffet. So Sizzler in El Paso. Yeah.

[Ronnie Karam]

Chocolate for life.

[Ben Mandelker]

So Cesar is saying that we have our opportunity to pause our lives. And I like this pause, and I like the things that I'm focused on. I can slow down a little bit, but don't go too slow, because the BMW X3 can go from 0 to 60 within 10, 10 seconds. BMW moving faster for our lives, faster.

[Ronnie Karam]

Than Windex can clean a window. But not by much, because Windex is amazing. It's like, all right, stop double dipping, Kristen.

[Ben Mandelker]

All right, so Masamo says you want to do Masamo? No, you can do Masimo.

[Ronnie Karam]

No, no, no.

[Ben Mandelker]

Okay. I love when we started up on this on the line together. So he's like, when I first walked into Top Chef, I was a chef of very difficult 18 year pedigree that I wanted to prove, you know, that my name was Massimo. I came in very confident then. Every single day, I was surrounded by chefs of such a quality and caliber that competing against them was very humbling for someone. Not for me. I never got tumbled.

[Ronnie Karam]

But I did grill a lot of fish. So there was that.

[Ben Mandelker]

I did break a cutting board and light a fancy restaurant on fire by accident.

[Ronnie Karam]

And Bailey is like, it's so hard coming from the restaurant I work at, because it's just so comfortable there. I mean, we were cooked lasagna noodles as pashminas. I mean, does it get better? And, you know, this is just really hard. And every day I wake up and I say, push through, Bailey. Just push through, Bailey. God, be happier. You're doing so well, Bailey. Be more psyched.

[Ben Mandelker]

So Tristan has this to say. He's like, the biggest thing that I've always reached is competition. And being uncomfortable breeds progress and a better thing. And it turns me into another animal that I used to know.

[Ronnie Karam]

Right.

[Ben Mandelker]

Like when we were cooks and we were just, like, hungry. You remember when you're just like, cooks being hungry but getting manicures at the same time, that's just where I'm at right now.

[Ronnie Karam]

I only do this to inspire others. That's his thing from last week. He's like, you know, guys, only reason I cook is so I can inspire people the way that Marcus Samuelsson inspired me. Every day I wake up and I say, how can I be Marcus Samuelson? To somebody.

[Ben Mandelker]

Says, well, this has truly been an honor cooking with all of you and my grandma, just because I just didn't think I have it in me anymore. And I didn't. Turns out I had grandma inside me, and this is just all her doing it. I really thought I had peaked like my grandma did, but you guys pushed me forward.

[Ronnie Karam]

He, like, died before this show even began. It's his grandma's spirit moving him. She's like, talk about a stupid grow light. Make some good tacos. My plan. And you know who I'm going to credit? Grandma. She never got the credit she deserved.

[Ben Mandelker]

So now it's the next morning, and now Tristan is painting his nails. It's a clear coat, though. And Bailey is writing in a notebook. And Bailey's like, I have a loose framework of what I'm going to cook, but I'm going to let the food and the ingredients guide me. And I've always been big on creative expression, which is why I've got wacky glasses. And in high school, I loved glam rock. Look, here's a picture of me in high school going to Blink 182 for a concert. So I love David Bowie, and I don't know if I bring glamrock into my cooking. I'm like, you literally bring no glam rock into the country every week. You're like, I'm gonna do On Yoki on top of a classic red sauce. I'm like, well, glam rock.

[Ronnie Karam]

I hope I can get the bread crusty enough.

[Ben Mandelker]

I'm gonna do a classic eggnonti filled with corn. Just maybe a classic sauce of eggplant and anchovy Glam rock.

[Ronnie Karam]

I'm putting flour on a countertop, shaving, shaping it into the shape of a volcano, putting an egg in the center, and making a pasta. Glam rock.

[Ben Mandelker]

I'm making a. I'm making a savory lasagna that's going to confuse an actor, but it's going to, because it's going to look like tiramisu.

[Ronnie Karam]

Glam rock. Glam rock. Glam rock really tricked people into eating savories instead of desserts. It was an amazing period. I'd like to credit David Bowie with my tiramisu grape thing.

[Ben Mandelker]

So Tristan, Susie and the Banshees.

[Ronnie Karam]

Glamrock. Glamrock. Tristan wakes up very inspired because he finally came up with an idea at three in the morning and realized he's like, I didn't know what to do. But then I realized when I was in the mountains that black people don't go to mountains. And then I was like, wait a minute. But the Taino people went to the mountains, and that's where jerk was invented. And now I have what we call a story.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yes. So, yeah. And he talks about how the Taino people were the indigenous people of Jamaica, and they used to hide in the mountains and cook with all the foraged ingredients and the greens. And so he realizes that was the narrative, you know, angle he needed to get to, like, understand what he was going to cook. And Massimo is like, my strategy for today, just to go with the moment. Cook, break a lot of cutting boards. Open mind, open heart, big cuffs around my hands. And, you know, I just want to go to Milano. I want to cook some fucking Italian food.

[Ronnie Karam]

Wow. I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I'm doing it for the BMW. Wow, what a car. What an amazing car. I love this BMW X3. I want one in every color.

[Ben Mandelker]

Yeah. Because they're driving back out to the reservation, they're like, you know what? But because we have all this beautiful food that we just forged and look at the sacred land, rather than just parking and staying here, we're gonna drive in and drive out and drive in and drive out again just to get as many fumes as possible.

[Ronnie Karam]

Bailey's like, well, I was really lucky and he got some good ingredients when I went foraging. I'm just trying to figure out how to make a cannoli with this BMW tire. Like Bailey. No, no plants. Get the plans. Oh, God, I miss my self confidence.

[Ben Mandelker]

I grabbed some things to reinforce the poplar. I got some poplars, so I want to reinforce that. So I got some bud syrup. So making poplars and buds glam rock.

[Ronnie Karam]

So they talk about how difficult it's going to be to cook in open fire. And Bailey's like, yeah, I mean, I'm using dried cow peas or Black eyed peas are so hard. I mean, we're in cow town, so felt like the right move. God, do cows get offended? Is that a local way to say cow peas, or do you only say that in other places? Oh, God, I could be ruining this whole thing. Do I even deserve to be here?

[Ben Mandelker]

Wow, you sound like Gail at a restaurant. When they ask her what you want to eat? Cow please.

[Ronnie Karam]

Last. That's a. That's what I told Gail last time we got in an argument. I said cow, please.

[Ben Mandelker]

I really want to make dandelion greens with these cowpeas. I hope it all comes together in a kind of glam rock way.

[Ronnie Karam]

Glam rock. Hello there. This is a two part recap. Okay, this is the end of part one. So thank you so much for listening to this. Just come back a little later for part two.

[Ben Mandelker]

Watch what Crappens would like to thank its premium sponsors. Ain't no thing like Alison King. It's always a party on Alison Block.

[Ronnie Karam]

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[Ronnie Karam]

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[Ronnie Karam]

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Call Aaron mcnicholas she don't miss no Tricholas Hava Nagila Weber. You'll never hide from Heidi Eleanor Jones. I go, you go we all go for Hugo Jamie she has no less.

[Ronnie Karam]

Namey she's our kind of mess. It's Jennifer Messer Sip some scotch with.

[Ben Mandelker]

Jessica Trotch she's our favorite streamer Caroline.

[Ronnie Karam]

Peacock, Kristen the Piston Anderson. Get a bee in your bonnet with Lacey B.

[Ben Mandelker]

Ringing the funk It's Leslie Plunkett she.

[Ronnie Karam]

Gets a name from us it's Lindsey D. Let's give a kisserino to Lisalino Fresh as a daisy It's Maisie McHenry we love her on the rocks It's Melissa Cox. Megan Berg. You can't have a burger without the.

[Ben Mandelker]

Berg this is living with Michelle Vivian.

[Ronnie Karam]

I love a YA Olivia Williamson. Tastier than Flanderson. It's Rachel Manderson.

[Ben Mandelker]

She sure is swell.

[Ronnie Karam]

It's Raquel, yes we can. It's Savannah.

[Ben Mandelker]

Cast a spell with Shannon Spellman. Let's share with Sharon Eldridge the Bay area betches bitches and our super premium.

[Ronnie Karam]

Sponsors She's VVIP It's Amanda V. Can't lose when you're with Amy Baldwin.

[Ben Mandelker]

Somebody get us 10cc's of Betsy MD.

[Ronnie Karam]

We'Re taking the gold with Brenda Silva.

[Ben Mandelker]

Let's get real with Caitlin o' Neal.

[Ronnie Karam]

Don'T get salty with Christine Pepper. Can't have a meal without the Emily sides. Let's go into the woods with Guy.

[Ben Mandelker]

Tubbs who, what, why, where?

[Ronnie Karam]

And Gwen Pentland it's our queen It's.

[Ben Mandelker]

Queen Laifa Nobody holds a candle to.

[Ronnie Karam]

Jamie Kendall Know your worth with Jason.

[Ben Mandelker]

Kurt Hail the cork master the master of the cork Jennifer Corcoran we got our wish It's Jen Plish she's not harsh She's Jill Hirsch She's a little bit loony Juni, my Favorite Murdo Karen.

[Ronnie Karam]

McMurdo she gets an A It's Kelly.

[Ben Mandelker]

B We love him madly It's Kyle Pod Shadley we're ride or die for Lisa Ryder Baron she's a wiz It's Liz Sarthi always killing it It's Lola.

[Ronnie Karam]

Alkalani the incredible edible Matthews sisters She eases our woes it's Melissa St. Rose we're on the floor with Molly Dorset There's a chance of meatballs It's Rebecca.

[Ben Mandelker]

Cloud she's the queen bee It's Sarah Lemke Shannon out of a cannon Anthony, let's take off with Tamla Plain it's.

[Ronnie Karam]

Always a good time when you're wasting time with Bravo she ain't no stranger drinking Violet Coutar we love you guys. If you like, watch what crappens. You can listen ad free right now by joining Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short [e-mail] survey.