Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (2006–…): Season 30, Episode 13 - Far-Flung Flavor - full transcript

I'm Guy Fieri,
and we're rolling out,

looking for America's greatest
"Diners, Drive-ins & Dives."

♪♪

This trip...
We're getting after it.

...it's a multi-national
mash-up...

I like the move.
...of far-out flavors.

It gives me goosebumps.

We've got a tortilla
emporium in El Paso.

There's not many of these places
left, huh?
Not very many, no.

I love it.

Money Middle Eastern
in Santa Fe.



The food's delicious, it's
fresh, and it's creative.

And a Scandinavian spot
in Kansas City...

[ Imitates Swedish Chef ]
[ Laughs ]

...flying off the rails.

It does not make
one bit of sense.

If you don't see me
in two days, call home.
[ Laughs ]

That's all right here,
right now,

on "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives."

♪♪

♪♪

So, I'm here in Kansas City,
Missouri, to check out a joint

that is featuring --
no, it's not barbecue.

No, it's not Italian.
No, it's not German.

No, it's not Korean,
it's not Chinese,



it's not Mexican.

Actually, you're never
going to guess

because we don't do very many
of these on "Triple D."

We're talking about a place

where this young chef
has dreamed

since she was five years old
of opening up this joint.

She's serving up
some real-deal Scandinavian.

This is Krokstrom.

♪♪

Leek and smoked trout.

There's all sorts
of deliciousness here.

There's nothing like this in
Kansas City, it's very unique.

Pickled herring.

You could just throw a dart
at anything on the menu

and you're like,
"That's going to be fantastic."

FIERI: And it's been
Katee McLean's life mission

to bring her family's
cuisine to the masses.

Since age five, this is
all I've ever wanted.

So she and her husband,
Josh Rogers,

mortgaged their house
to open their edible

Swedish embassy.

There is nothing like
Scandinavian food.

I always say it's smoked,
pickled, or cured.

FIERI:
Or in this case, strudeled.

Mushroom strudel.

The mushroom strudel's got
a nice, flaky exterior,

and it's got a really
delicious glogg reduction.

Glogg is like a red wine.

One of the best dishes
on the menu.

-What are we gonna make?
-The mushroom strudel.

[ Imitates Swedish Chef ]

[ Laughter ]

So we start off
with our vegetables.

It's mirepoix plus fennel.

I call it Scandinavian
mirepoix.

Salt and pepper.

While all this is cooking down,
add goat cheese.

All right, we're gonna
make our mushroom filling.

-This girl is all business.
-I know.

And what mushrooms
do we have in there?

Shiitake, button, cremini,
oyster, portobello.

More oil on top, sherry wine,
salt and pepper, thyme.

Hit a little dill.
Roast it off in the oven.

It needs to be
a little bit cooled.
Okay.

Or else that goat cheese
will separate.

These are recipes
you grew up eating as kid?

A lot of them,
and then some of them

I kind of morphed a little bit.

We're gonna put our mushroom
filling into our puff pastry.

A little bit of panko,
that absorbs that sherry.

And also gives it a bind so it
doesn't leak on you, got it.

Exactly. So now we do
the burrito roll

and just squeeze
the hell out of it.

I didn't know there was
any hell in it.

Now that I know, squeeze.

Egg wash.
I go into the corners.

That keeps them
from flying up in the oven.

I like the move.
Dill, thyme, salt, and pepper.

We're gonna bake this off
how long?

350, 14 minutes.

There we go.
Next up, what are up to?

Aquavit cream.
Aquavit is Viking gin.

Josh makes four
different kinds here.

We import two
from Scandinavia.

Aquavit has caraway,
clove, dill.

So I wanted to find a way to
bring the flavors of the Aquavit

and pair it with the food.

Then it would encourage people
to loosen up

and have
a little bit more fun.

Show me the loosen-up part.
The loosen up, there you go.

Come down and have
your Aquavit.

So we start off
with Scandinavian mirepoix,

salt,
a little pepper,

caraway, clove,
star anise.

Allspice.
Cardamom, dill seed.

Getting after it.

Bay leaves, dill weed,
and white pepper.

You'll start to smell
all those spices

and that's when you deglaze
with your Aquavit.

Let the alcohol cook off.
Let's get it going.

Add our white wine.
We'll add our cream.

Reduce it down, blend it,
and strain it out fine.

And serve that
with the mushroom strudel.

It came out and has to cool,

or else the filling
just poops out.

She has her own language,
folks.

Cut the tip off,
nobody wants that.
Except me.

We're gonna put it in the oven
to get it hot again.

Aquavit cream.

Love the glass plate.

We have our glogg reduced.
Glogg is a mulled wine.

♪♪

Delicious. I'm having the
craziest flashback right now.

As an exchange student,
I spent Christmas

and New Years
in Norway in '85.

Something is taking me
right back.

Wow. The concentration of flavor
is through the roof.

It's enough puff pastry,
without being all pastry.

This is why I came here,
because I wanted to recognize

authentic or traditional things
that people don't know.

I mean, that is done right.

♪♪

That's a great introduction
to what people are gonna get

when they come here.
Dynamite.

-Mushroom strudel.
-I just love it.

The pastry
is really flaky and delicious.

It just absorbs the sauce.

It's a real nice blend
of mushrooms. It's very hearty.

Krokstrom just fits in perfectly
with the Kansas City food scene,

which is really blowing up.

FIERI:
But it's the back-in-the-day
"Triple D" joints

that turned me on
to this spot.

So you come to KC and you have
your staples.

You have Grinders, and from
Grinders we got Succotash.

-Beth.
-Hi.

You know these guys,
so now I've got

the three degrees of separation
from Stretch to you,

and you to these guys.

-Food's real deal?
-It's delicious.

Like, I'm eating full mouth open
while I'm talking to you,

knowing that this is going
to be broadcast

and I don't care.
[ Laughs ]

-I want it.
-You are priceless.

You don't get to try
a Swedish restaurant

in every city
across the country, right?

And people love it.

FIERI: Even if they don't
quite understand it.

Flying Jacob.

The Flying Jacob
is, like, so surprising.

Bananas, curry, what?
It's very hard to describe.

FIERI: So we're going to dive in
and figure it out

when we come back.

And a-one, two,
a-one, two, three, four.

Yodel-ay-hee-hoo!

That's awesome.
There you go. [ Laughs ]

♪♪

Welcome back.
"Triple D,"

hanging out in Kansas City
at Krokstrom,

Scandinavian restaurant.

It's a place where you can
find flavors

that you don't find
anywhere else.

Lots of pickled flavors,
fish flavors,

potatoes, and sausages.

A lot of people are
spooked away from it,

and it's phenomenal food.

Selling a Flying Jacob,
please.

Flying Jacob is a chicken leg
and thigh

on a bed of rice
with curry

and chili cream and bananas
and peanuts and bacon.

And you're just like, "How is
any of this going to work?"

It's absolutely fantastic.

In 1976, there was a competition
in a home cooking magazine.

In Sweden.
And a pilot submitted a recipe.

The Flying Jacob.

And it's still the number-one
homemade recipe.

And this is your interpretation?
Yes.

So we're going to do the cure
for the chicken.

We have curry powder.

Then salt and sugar?
Mm-hmm.

So this is going
to sit overnight.

We're going to pull out
the moisture.
And flavor that chicken.

So we're making chicken gravlax.
I'm gravlaxing the chicken.

What are we going to do
when it comes out?

Clean it off, rinse it.

Now with the chicken fat on top
of the thigh and drumstick.

And this is going to go
in the oven how long?

For about two hours, and then
it needs to cool overnight.

Then you'll drop the full piece
in the fryer.

And that skin
is just going to explode.

It's going to go...
[ Crunches ]

How is that again?
[ Crunching ]

Mmm.
So I'm making
the Flying Jacob sauce.

And what is in the sauce?

Bananas, chili, and cream.
It's good, trust me.

If you don't see me in two days,
call home.
[ Laughing ]

It has to be ripe bananas.

This is the new definition
of ripe.

Take a green banana,
you put it in the freezer.
Yeah.

It ripens it immediately.
That's bananas.

-Heavy cream.
-Heavy cream.

Bananas, ketchupy chili sauce.

Hi, welcome to
the next edition of,

"I can't believe
I'm going to eat that."

[ Laughs ]

You bring that just up
to a boil.

Blend it, and it's ready to go.
That's weird.

So we have our banana
chili cream, rice cake,

chicken,
peanuts, banana chips, bacon.

-[ Laughs ]
-Just so you know,

not April 1st,
so this is not April Fools.

That is some
nice, crispy chicken.

The chicken's fantastic.
Now it's time to get after this.

♪♪

It's creamy, it's sweet.
It's not too sweet.

I love the little nuggets
of friendship you have there,

with the peanuts
and the bacon.

And it does not make
one bit of sense, by the way.

Chicken tikka masala
of Scandinavia.

That's so much of what it is.
I know.

It's an old-school dish
of gravy and chicken.

You chef it up.

[ Laughs ]

You got me.

Flying Jacob.

It's creamy, and the bananas
are subtle,

the peanut comes out,
it's got great bacon flavor.

It's actually really amazing,
like an adventure.

We have a lavender beet up.

If you're looking for a unique
experience in Kansas City,

you have to check out Krokstrom.

You're going to
absolutely love it

and you're going to come back.
This is what you're all about.

So you can trust that
if you come down,

it might be something
you haven't had before,

it might be
a little bit different,

but it's at least
going to be done right.

You're a funny girl.
Nicely done.

Thank you.

FIERI:
Up next, a Middle Eastern oasis
in Santa Fe, New Mexico...

That's the bee's knees.

...piling up the pitas...

It is way more
than a sandwich.

...and skewering the salmon.

It's just beautiful.

♪♪

So I'm here in Santa Fe,
New Mexico,

and I'm looking for a joint
that serves Middle Eastern food,

but the name has something
to do with bees,

but they don't have any bees.
There's no honey in their food.

I don't know,
it's really confusing.

And what's more confusing is,
how do I get into the place?

Hey, buddy, how do I get
into this place?

Oh, listen, their motto here is,
"It's hard to find,

but not easy to forget."

This is Beestro.

Give me a rice plate,
tahini, and harissa.

The Southwest meets
the Middle East.

Anything that comes out
of this kitchen

is just an amazing experience.

Falafel, stuffed pita, loaded.

Beestro is all about the passion
of Chef Greg Menke.

We have followed Greg
around for many, many years.

He told you he was in the attic
of a mall, you found it?

Yes, so cool.

FIERI: And this tucked-away,
quick service

Middle Eastern mashup
is coming straight out of

Chef Greg's travel log.

I lived in Greece for three yeas
and traveled all throughout

Lebanon, Syria, and Jerusalem.
What were you doing there?

I was opening restaurants
for the Greek Olympics.

How cool is that?

Is this the type of fare that
people typically expect

when they come to Santa Fe?
Absolutely not.

They're in for an experience.

Got a stuffed pita steak
for Ken.

I generally kind of gravitate
towards the steak shawarma

and then put all
the different sauces on it.

It's just a great
combination of flavors.

So what are we making first?
Steak shawarma.

Okay.
Full milk Greek yogurt,
a little red wine vinegar,

lemon juice, black pepper,
kosher salt, cumin,

coriander, cardamom, cinnamon,
and a little bit of garlic.

That yogurt helps in breaking
down the flank steak.

Lifter meat.
Very much like flank steak.

Pretty generous with
the marinade there, boss.

How long does the marinade go?
Three days.

What goes with this?
Either a stuffed pita,

a rice plate,
or a salad bowl.

It's Middle Eastern street food.
Next up?

Green chili zhoug.
A Yemeni sort of salsa verde.

Cilantro, parsley,
jalapeño, green bell pepper.

-Okay.
-Blackened serrano,

green onion, fresh garlic...
Salt.

...cumin, coriander,
fresh lemon juice,

extra virgin olive oil.
Blitz this.

Add a little bit of water.

Delicious.
Now we're going to
make our quinoa tabouli.

Fresh parsley, chiffonade mint,
green onion, quinoa.

You want this cooled,
you don't want it hot

because it will cook
your herbs

and it'll taste like
a lawnmower.

Never gone down
and tasted that.

You don't want that.
I don't think I do.

Pepper, extra virgin
olive oil,

lemon juice,
a little salt to taste.

All right, grill the meat.

Salt and pepper.
We just toasted the pita.

Steak shawarma
coming off the grill here.

Pitas traditionally come with
hummus, cucumber salad, lettuce.

Okay.
You got some daikon
radish sprouts.

-That's the bee's knees.
-Bee careful.

Bee hurrying up.
[ Laughter ]

Some steak. You like beets?

-Love beets.
-Quinoa tabouli.

I love to get fully
on the tabouli. [ Laughs ]

Carrot ribbons, onion,
turnip pickle.

I like all the choices
I get here.

Tahini in there.
The green chili zhoug we made.

Some za'atar.

Za'atar is Middle Eastern thyme
with a little sumac,

little sesame and salt,
and Bob's your uncle.

-Bon appétit.
-Who's Bob?

Your uncle.

Did I miss something?

♪♪

Everything is really fresh.
I love the acid.

I love the crunch.
Can't beat-a the pita.

Look at all the color
inside of that.

I've taken three bites,
and not one of the bites

is the same bite
that I took the first time.

It is way more than a sandwich.

It gives me goosebumps.
It's delicious.

WOMAN:
Steak stuffed pita.

The steak shawarma
is very tasty.

I like the chili zhoug because
it brings out the flavors

of everything put together.

And it's all wonderful.

Can't go wrong with the Beestro.

FIERI: And why Beestro?

The bees are a good model
for how we should

live our lives.

Give more than you take.

So you have nothing
to do with bees?

No, I'm actually allergic.
It's my Kryptonite.

I get my power from it,
but it can kill me.

Okay, good.

It's also about
local communities,

support your local
farmer's market.

He uses a lot of locally sourced
produce, it's organic.

Is part of the attraction
to have it the way you want it?

I think it's really great to be
able to customize a meal.

Today I ordered the Salmon
Souvlaki with the rice,

where you can have
really nice falafel balls.

Next we're getting
into the souvlaki machine.

So a good friend of mine
gave me a souvlaki machine,

just like this.
I usually do it with lamb.

You do it with salmon?

A little lemon,
house ground pepper.

Build this Jenga tower
of salmon.

On goes the top.
This is going to press it down.

And then we just put
on these little doohickeys.

Ooh. The doohickeys are on.

Just make sure you get your
"wompilator" valve

on there really tight.

Your "wompilator" valve?

And now we're going to skewer.

Then you come through with
the knife and start slicing.

We're going to crosshatch.

Take off the wompilator valve.
Now, to the grill.

So, falafel.
How do you feel?

I feel like I'd like
a falafel.

What we have here are
some...

Rehydrated chick peas?
Yeah.

In baking soda, cilantro,
parsley,

diced white onion,
and this is baking powder.

-Little leavening agent.
-That's right.

Kosher salt, black pepper,
chopped garlic, jalapeño,

cumin, coriander, cardamom.

-There you go.
-And smoked Spanish paprika.

We're just going to put this
through a meat grinder?

Just let it rip.

Now we have a mixture
ready to ball up, to fry.

Let's get down to it.

Basmati rice with some
salad greens on here.

Cucumber salad,
little beet salad,

roasted grilled eggplant,
carrot ribbons,

pickled turnips,
our lemon wedge here,

put a little tabouli on there,
grilled salmon, za'atar.

Little za'atar
and a little sumac.

Got to have it.
Falafel balls.

This is a vegan turmeric tahini,
salmon greens, and grains bowl.

Take a look at that.
It's just beautiful.

I think the salmon souvlaki
presents really nice.

All the pickled veg counters
the richness of the salmon.

Very flavorful falafel.
I like the greens and grains.

The food's delicious,
it's fresh and it's creative.

Nicely done, Chef.
Thank you, Chef.

♪♪

Salmon rice plate.
Thank you.

The salmon was juicy.

It goes really well
with the rice and the beets.

I love these beets.

The falafel just dances with
the other elements of the dish.

How about a little salad
dressing for you?

The buzz is go to the Beestro.

FIERI: As devoted and passionate
about what you do,

it really shines through,
man.

And if you haven't tried this,
you'll find something here

that will get you started
on this journey

to enjoying Middle Eastern food
because this is real deal.

Coming up, a family
tortilla factory in El Paso...

That's how we light the --
Exactly.

...topping off tostadas...
They're great.

...and turning out the tamales.
Oh, boy.

♪♪

So I'm here in El Paso, Texas,
an area known as Central,

and this is kind of
an industrial park,

just a few blocks away
from the Mexican border.

Now we've all heard
about the term "farm to table."

I got a new one for you.

We're going to go corn
to tortilla, that's right,

taking the dry corn
all the way through the steps

and processes to making
tortilla and tamales.

And it's happening right here
at La Colonial Tortilla Factory.

♪♪

Three brisket tacos.

Once you find this place,
you're not going to forget it.

Chile relleno with beans.

I've been coming here
since I was little.

-It's authentic?
-Yeah.

It's just a hard-working,
good family

that's dedicated to putting out
some good Mexican food.

FIERI: That would be
the Vasquez family,

which includes brothers
Santiago and Javier,

plus Javier's son, Steve,

who are kicking out
the same tortillas

that first put this joint
on the map.

How long ago did your parents
start this?

1973.

How many tortillas do you
make in a day?

About 1,000 tortillas a day.

We could eat a thousand.

FIERI:
Those thousands are going out

to customers and restaurants

who buy them right
at the factory,

and the rest are
going into recipes

cooked up
in their own kitchen.

A tostada.

Today I had
the picadillo tostada.

It's just like Grandma
used to make it,

with some great picadillo meat.

It's really awesome,
especially the chile con queso.

That's their signature flavor.

So give me the process.

We're going to make
some tortillas.

Pour the corn in.
In the water.

I'd make a joke about it,
but it'd be corny.

Is this thing on? Hello?
[ Feedback whines ]

Next step is the lye,
and what the lye --

I mean, tell me the truth.
Well, the lye has to
get poured in.

-Oh, that lye.
-Yeah.

The lye will eat off the tough
outer shell of the corn.

Yes. We bring it up
to a boil

and then we have to add
more water into it

so it doesn't overcook.

We let it sit
for about a day or two

and then we put it
into the washer.

How do we get it
from there to there?
Bucket.

Out of all the automation
that's going on in this joint,

we're still at
the bucket method?

Keeps us young.

I wish there were two buckets.
I would love to help.

Feeds it up through the machine
and then it's grounded in here.

Why do I feel that there's going
to be another scooping in?

Yeah, you're going to have
to do it by hand.

I guess that's why you can eat
so many tortillas and tamales

if you're doing
all this work.

So from here, we're going to go
to the tortilla maker?

To the tortillas. Uh-huh.

♪♪

That's how we light the --
Exactly.

I thought we were going to
storm the castle.

-When do they start cooking?
-They go through the machine,

they come out
through the other end.

♪♪

Simple and real deal.

We'll take these
to make the tostadas.
Yeah.

All right, what are we
going to make?

We're going to make our
picadillo for the tostadas.

-Okay.
-We got ground beef.

-We got to brown the meat.
-Okay.

Garlic, onion, salt.

And black stuff
that makes you sneeze.

Jalapeños, tomatoes,
and green beans.

Now how long is this
going to cook?

For about 20 to 30 minutes.

-Next step?
-The chile queso.

Cream cheese, water,
start it up.

Keep adding the cheese.
Habanero powder.

Pour the blended
cream cheese into the pot.

Add the processed cheese.

And the California green.
Mm-hmm.

Let it melt. Now we're ready
to build the tostada.

The tortillas are done.

-Little bit of beans.
-Chili queso.

Picadillo. We add cheese,
lettuce,

couple of tomatoes,
bit more cheese, and that's it.

♪♪

So what do you think?
They're great!

The chile queso's the one that
actually gives it a good flavor.

I don't think the picadillo's
anything to disregard.

This is the fast food taco chain
killer right here, dude.

-Excellent.
-Thank you.

-One tostada.
-The tortilla is super crispy,

topped perfectly
with the chile con queso.

MAN:
The picadillo is so special.

It's got the right amount
of jalapeño, the onion --

like nothing
you've ever tasted before.

We're going to need
two more tacos.

Being in here
is a different experience.

You come in and you see
all the equipment.

Is there anywhere
for people to eat?

No, it's all literally pick up
and to go.

This is almost like
a drive-through --

you come in,
you get your food fast.

One tamale.

The tamales, they're amazing.

My wife can't even wait
until she gets home.

She has to eat them in the car.

Let's make some tamales.

The masa will have baking
powder, salt, lard,

the masa, and then
we're going to add the water.

Now we need to make
the mixture

that's going to go
inside of the tamales.

Yeah. We use a red chili.

Guajillo chilies.
Then we also use --

Chile d'árbol.
Mm-hmm.

We let it cook for 20 minutes,
blend it, and then strain it.

Now we're going to prepare
our pork.

This boils for
about eight hours.

Got it. And then?

Lard, flour, salt,
ground pork.

Then we add
the blended puree chili.

We'll cook this
for about 20, 30 minutes,

and then it's ready
for the tamales.

We're going to fill
both hoppers?

One takes red and then
the other one takes...

-The masa.
-The masa.

And how many tamales

will one filling
of the hopper do?

You can count them.
Oh, I got a job now.

Let's rock and roll.

So we have the corn husks
that have been soaked in water.

I have no idea
what I'm doing.

Oh, boy!

You got your filling and you
got your masa on the outside.

Turn and burn.

Hey, see,
you're doing good.

Okay, that's enough.
I can't handle the stress.
[ Laughter ]

All right, so how long
are they going to steam?

-About 45 minutes to an hour.
-Beautiful.

After you made
your tamales...

I was quite not good
at it.

People take them like this
or people take

chile queso on them.

So let me just try it
without any queso.

They're light,
they're fluffy.

You get a really nice ratio
of meat to masa.

♪♪

When you can eat a tamale,

nothing added to it, that means
you got everything right.

You got your seasoning right,
you got your balance right.

I mean, it's just trial
and error, and then finally --

You don't have to trial
any more.

Delicious.
Well done, my friend.
Thank you.

I got two tamales.

It's not overstuffed,
it's perfectly balanced.

The pork is tender.
It mingles with the masa

and makes it just
a perfect bite.

It's a good restaurant.

And very nice people
work in it.

Definitely, family.

It reminds me of home.

When you come to
a place like El Paso,

with all the history
and it's so connected to Mexico,

I want to come and see where all
the tortillas are coming from.

There's not many
of these places left, huh?
Not very many, no.

I love it.

Was that a road trip or what?
But don't worry,

there's plenty more joints
all over this great country.

I'll be looking for you
next time on "Triple D."

How do we know
when it's hot enough?

By eye.

You're going to burn your eye
when you put your eye on there.
[ Laughing ]

I mean, I've heard of keeping
your eye on it,

but that's a whole
different story.

[ Imitates rim shot ]