Microwaving Is Cooking
“Everybody can cook!!” Kareem and world-famous chef José Andrés ride the train and debate what actually counts as cooking. Mold? Cooking. Microwaving? Absolutely. Forgetting food in the fridge? Somehow, also cooking. Jose pulls a can of beans from his pocket mid-convo, Kareem questions whether God is the real chef, and somehow they end up discussing gazpacho, boiling water, and the true difference between a cook and a chef. Host: Kareem Rahma Creators: Kareem Rahma and Andrew Kuo Camera: Thomas Kasem and Anthony Di Mieri Editor: Brad Barrett Associate Producer: Ramy Shafi Artwork: Andrew Lawandus
Summary
World-famous chef José Andrés pulls a can of beans from his pocket on the subway and argues that literally everything is cooking. Opening a can? Cooking. Microwaving? Cooking. Forgetting food in the fridge until it molds? That's cooking too. Kareem pushes back hard, insisting that boiling water isn't cooking and biting an apple is just eating. José counters with increasingly wild logic: letting strawberries ripen is "letting God cook," farming is cooking, and a chef is just a director who tells cooks what to do. The debate gets heated until José cracks open his pocket beans mid-ride and shares them with Kareem, who reluctantly admits he just cooked. They eat beans on the train. José, slightly panicked about breaking subway rules as a former immigrant, gets reassured by Kareem. Somehow gazpacho and the difference between chefs and cooks also come up.
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Full Transcript
So, what's your take? Everybody can cook. 100% disagree. I can't cook.
You're wrong. You can cook. No, I can't.
You can. Do you use a microwave? Do I use a microwave? No, I don't own a microwave.
You don't own a microwave? No, bro.
That sounds bad. Do you open a can? I've opened a can. I've been known to open a can is cooking.
No, opening a can's opening can. Okay.
Do you buy an apple and you bite into the apple? Yes.
That's eating. No, that's cooking. It's not cooking. It's eating.
Making wine and making beer. I don't make those things. But making it in cold. That's cooking.
It's not cooking. Right now, I'll tell you what. You're right now you're cooking. I'll let you cook.
Okay. Are we cooking meth or are we cooking? No, no, we're not cooking meth. We're cooking.
Okay. So, cooking it's anything that allow you to eat. Letting a strawberry ripe on the plant in a way that's cooking. Letting the strawberry ripe on the on the vine is cooking. It's cooking. That's letting God cook.
Okay. But somebody cooking. Yeah, he's cooking. Let him cook. Anything that is allowing you to at the end to eat, that's cooking. Everybody can cook.
When you forget something in your fridge that starts developing green things, that's cooking, too. No, that's not cooking. That's mold.
Uh, correct. But you've been cooking in the process. No, you haven't been cooking. You cannot eat it anymore.
But that's cooking. Even forgetting something on the shelf is cooking. I don't know, man. I don't know.
Let me tell you why. Because everything is cooking. I mean, when you forget that apple and you put the seeds, you throw them in the ground and the seeds, they give you a tree and the tree comes up with apples. Again, you've been cooking. We call it farming, but that's cooking. Cooking is when you are able to feed somebody. Doesn't have to be heating. Okay. Okay. Okay. I I see I still disagree.
Okay. Can you boil water? Yes, I can boil water.
That's cooking. No, that is not cooking.
is cooking because boiling water is very simple principle. You are tea, you're cooking, you are coffee, you're cooking all those things in essence is cooking. Is there a difference between a chef and the person who boils water? Are you a chef? No, I'm a cook.
Oh, okay. That's why I'm an expert on cooking. What's the difference between a chef and a cook? Uh, a chef knows what to do in a kitchen. And a cook is just boiling water. Chef is clueless. Okay. He only cooks.
A chef directs others to Oh, a chef is a director.
A director. Ah, maybe he doesn't know how to play the flute, but he can direct the many musicians. That's the difference between a chef and a cook. What's your favorite restaurant that you've ever eaten at? Oh my god. Tough choice. Top choice. Top t top choice.
Okay, you don't have to answer. My house.
Your house? Yeah.
I bet I bet you're a great cook. I'm I'm the best chef in my house.
What's How many people live in your house? Myself and my wife and I cook for my wife. I'm the best one. She's going to see this. And she she agrees. She agrees.
She agrees that you're She makes better gazpacho than me. And she says she doesn't know how to cook. She's the best gazpacho maker in the world.
Make America gazpacho again. Wait, I have a question about gazpacho. It's just cold soup. Oh, what? Beans. You open the beans.
Wait, why do you have beans in your pocket? Because I knew I were coming to see you. I always keep my chopsticks or whatever else I have. I think I have a fork.
Oh yeah. You have a fork on you because I always have always keep that fang on you. I love this [bleep]. Open the bottle.
Oh my god. The J and Z. Okay, bro. I don't know how to open.
Well, I'm not cooking. You don't know? You're cooking. If you open it, you're cooking. You're proving me right.
No. Okay. I I just cooked.
Yeah. I just cooked. Holy [bleep]. Yeah. The next stop is You like it spicy?
I like it spicy. Stand clear of the closed doors, please. I've been cooking for you. M. So good. In this Subway. I prove you that I'm right. He cooked. He cooked.
10 10,000% disagree. Are we moving the needle? I I You know what? I agree with you. You just cooked.
I just cooked. I ate beans on the train out of a [bleep] cat. Are we supposed to eat in the train?
Yeah, you can eat in the train. Don't worry about it. Oh my god. I'm I'm an American now, but I used to be an immigrant. I may be kick out.
No, no, you'll be good. You're fine. You're with me. He's with me. I'm cooking.