| Brian Brown: Okay, recording's on. Hello everyone! Welcome back to "The Pass." I'm at the Farmer's Market in Baltimore. It's loud. It's busy. And it's... ...very hot today. |
| Brian Brown: Today, I'm buying food. I need ingredients for my new restaurant in D.C. I wanna find special local vegetables... and... Oh no. Not her. |
| Betty Brown: Brian? Brian? |
| Brian Brown: Hi, Mom. What are you doing here? |
| Betty Brown: What do you mean? I'm shopping. I have to cook dinner for many people tonight. And put away your phone. You look like a tourist. |
| Brian Brown: I'm not a tourist, Mom. I'm working. I'm making a video for my restaurant. People want to see the food. |
| Betty Brown: See the food? You're standing in the way. Move, please. Look at these peppers. These're good. Very hard and fresh. |
| Brian Brown: Those? Mom, those are normal peppers. Come here. Look at these ones. They are twisted. They look funny. That's character. |
| Betty Brown: Character? I don't want funny peppers, Brian. I want to cut them easily. You young chefs... you like ugly vegetables. |
| Brian Brown: It's not ugly, Mom. It's "Farm to Table." |
| Betty Brown: Oh, please. "Farm to Table?" All food comes from a farm. Where else does it come from? |
| Brian Brown: It means knowing the farmer! It's personal. |
| Betty Brown: I know the farmer. That's Earl. He is right there. Hi, Earl! See? He waved at me. I've been buying vegetables from Earl for twenty years. We don't talk about "Farm to Table." We just call it... "cooking." |
| Brian Brown: But people want a story, Mom. Like... look at these tomatoes. The purple ones. Look at the color. I'm gonna serve them raw. Just the tomato and some salt. |
| Betty Brown: They are too soft, Brian. Feel this? It'll be mushy later. I need these red tomatoes. They're strong. They make good sauce. |
| Brian Brown: The red ones are boring! They have no flavor. |
| Betty Brown: They're cheap and they don't break. You charge twenty dollars for a tomato salad. My customers want a big hot stew, not a science lesson. |
| Brian Brown: It's not science, it's respect! I'm teaching my young staff. Flavor starts in the dirt. |
| Betty Brown: You're teaching them to be difficult. A real chef can take a normal vegetable and make it taste good. If you need the perfect tomato... maybe you can't cook. |
| Brian Brown: Ouch. Okay. That hurts. Let's change the subject. Let's talk about the greens. |
| Betty Brown: Good. I need collard greens and kale. |
| Brian Brown: I see the kale. I wanna use this dark kale. I'll put lemon oil on it. I'll serve it raw. |
| Betty Brown: Raw? Kale is very hard, Brian. You need to cook it. You need heat. You need time. Cook it with some ham. |
| Brian Brown: See, that's the "Old Style." Cook it until it's gray. |
| Betty Brown: Excuse me? Not gray. Soft. It's delicious. And the juice at the bottom? That's the best part. |
| Brian Brown: It tastes good, yes. But it's heavy. My friends and I, we want the crunch. We want bright colors. I'll cook this in the pan for thirty seconds. Done. |
| Betty Brown: And then your customers chew on one leaf for ten minutes. Look, I understand. You want it to look pretty for the photo. |
| Brian Brown: It's not just for the photo, Mom! It's about the— |
| Betty Brown: The soul? The soul of the food is to make people full. You make everything difficult, son. Just like your mother. |
| Brian Brown: Ha. You got your helmet? Did you ride your bike here? |
| Betty Brown: Of course. Parking is terrible. And I need the exercise. Talking to people all day makes me tired. You make me tired too. |
| Brian Brown: I'm helping! I'm teaching! Look at this root. Celery root. |
| Betty Brown: Ugly thing. It tastes okay if you mash it like potatoes. |
| Brian Brown: Mash it? No, no. I'll bake it with salt. Then I'll cut it very thin. It's for a vegetable plate. |
| Betty Brown: A vegetable plate! Just say salad, Brian. |
| Brian Brown: It's marketing, Mom. You have to sell the idea. |
| Betty Brown: I sell the steak. Speaking of steak, are you coming to the meat stand? |
| Brian Brown: Yeah, I need to ask them about the beef. |
| Betty Brown: Make sure it's fresh. I need five pounds of beef for meatloaf. |
| Brian Brown: Meatloaf? Mom, it's July. It's very hot. |
| Betty Brown: People are hungry in July too, Brian. Not everyone wants... foam. |
| Brian Brown: It's not foam! It's sauce! Okay, question. For your meatloaf. How do you make it? |
| Betty Brown: I use meat with fat. If there's no fat, it's dry. And I use old bread with milk. |
| Brian Brown: Bread and milk! See! You use a French technique! |
| Betty Brown: I use "my grandmother's" technique. |
| Brian Brown: That's the same thing! That's what I'm saying. "Farm to Table" is just "Grandma's Cooking." |
| Betty Brown: Then why is your food so expensive? |
| Brian Brown: Because it costs money to do it the right way! Earl needs money. |
| Betty Brown: I pay Earl in cash. I don't need a website to buy carrots. |
| Brian Brown: You're impossible. Typical Virgo. Everything must be your way. |
| Betty Brown: And you're a Leo. All show. "Look at me, look at my purple carrot!" |
| Brian Brown: It's a beautiful carrot! |
| Betty Brown: It tastes like a carrot. Come on, let's get some peaches. |
| Brian Brown: Okay, peaches are good. Smell that? They smell like flowers. That smells like summer. |
| Betty Brown: Yes. Now... are you going to make foam with these? Or can we make a pie? |
| Brian Brown: I wanna grill them. Grilled peaches with cheese. |
| Betty Brown: ...That sounds good. Salty and sweet. |
| Brian Brown: Wait, did you just say you like my idea? |
| Betty Brown: Don't get excited. It's just cheese and fruit. It's easy. |
| Brian Brown: I'll take it. Hey, are you cooking for Dad tomorrow? |
| Betty Brown: Yes. Sunday dinner. Are you coming? Or are you too busy? |
| Brian Brown: I'm never too busy for free food. What are we eating? |
| Betty Brown: Well, I have the meatloaf. But I saw some nice fish. |
| Brian Brown: Local fish? That's good for the ocean. |
| Betty Brown: I just like the taste, Brian. |
| Brian Brown: Can I come early? I'll cook the fish. You cook the vegetables. |
| Betty Brown: Don't bring your tweezers into my kitchen. |
| Brian Brown: No tweezers. I promise. Just a pan and fire. I wanna make the skin crispy. |
| Betty Brown: If you burn the skin, I'll order pizza. |
| Brian Brown: Deal. But let me buy the tomatoes. The ugly ones. |
| Betty Brown: Why? |
| Brian Brown: Because I want to make tomato juice for the fish. We squeeze the ugly tomatoes. The clear juice is delicious. |
| Betty Brown: Tomato juice... So you're paying money for juice? |
| Brian Brown: It's flavor, Mom! It's the soul of the tomato! |
| Betty Brown: You know what? Fine. You make your... juice. I'll make corn pudding. |
| Brian Brown: Corn pudding and fish? That's a good dinner. |
| Betty Brown: See? I know how to cook. |
| Brian Brown: I know you do. You taught me. Even if you're stubborn. |
| Betty Brown: I'm not stubborn. I'm consistent. There is a difference. |
| Brian Brown: Okay, consistent. Wait, look at the mushrooms! |
| Betty Brown: Brian, let's go. |
| Brian Brown: No, look! These mushrooms are amazing. They're good for the planet. |
| Betty Brown: I cook mushrooms all the time. They taste like dirt. In a good way. |
| Brian Brown: I wanna make them into a powder. And put the powder on the fish. |
| Betty Brown: Powder? You want to feed your father dust? |
| Brian Brown: It's a spice! It makes it taste better. |
| Betty Brown: Salt and pepper make it taste better. Why do you make it complicated? |
| Brian Brown: Because simple is boring! I need to do something new. My friends want something new. If I give them a grilled mushroom, they don't care. If I give them "Mushroom Powder," they say "Wow." |
| Betty Brown: And that's the problem. You cook for the eyes. When people come to my shop, they eat. They wipe their mouth and say, "Wow, that was good." That's the only review I care about. |
| Brian Brown: Okay, fair point. But can we do both? Can it be beautiful and tasty? |
| Betty Brown: Only if you respect the food first. |
| Brian Brown: I know. You're the Chef. The Boss. |
| Betty Brown: That's right. Now buy the mushrooms. Whole. Not powder. |
| Brian Brown: Fine. Whole mushrooms. Cooked with butter? |
| Betty Brown: With butter. And a little thyme. |
| Brian Brown: Okay. That sounds good. |
| Betty Brown: Now help me carry these bags. Or I'll hit you with this zucchini. |
| Brian Brown: Violence is not the answer! |
| Betty Brown: In the kitchen, sometimes it's the only answer. |
| Brian Brown: You're scary, Mom. |
| Betty Brown: I raised you, didn't I? |
| Brian Brown: That was a hard job. |
| Betty Brown: You were a picky eater. "I don't like peas, they're mushy." |
| Brian Brown: Because they were from a can! Fresh peas are good! |
| Betty Brown: Oh no. The peas again. |
| Brian Brown: Well, I'm okay now. I have my own restaurants. |
| Betty Brown: I'm proud of you, Brian. Even with your weird hair. |
| Brian Brown: It's cool hair! |
| Betty Brown: It looks like you forgot to finish cutting it. |
| Brian Brown: Okay, okay. Let's go home. The ice is melting. |
| Betty Brown: Turn off the recording. |
| Brian Brown: Got it. Signing off. We're making... what do we call it? |
| Betty Brown: We call it "Dinner." |
| Brian Brown: "Heritage Modern Fusion Dinner." |
| Betty Brown: Just pick up the bag, Brian! |
| Brian Brown: Alright, alright. |
| Scene change |
| Brian Brown: Later the next day, the kitchen was crazy. Mom used her old heavy pans. I used my new sharp tools. We're very different. For her, food is love. For me, it's art. |
| Brian Brown: But when the fish was ready... sitting next to her corn pudding... It worked. It was delicious. We didn't talk. We just ate. Sometimes, a good dinner fixes everything. |
| Brian Brown: And she said the tomato juice wasn't "terrible." I'm happy with that. Join us next week. I'll try to teach her about fermentation. Spoiler alert: She thinks it's just rotting food. |
| Betty Brown: Brian, are the dirty dishes in the sink? |
| Brian Brown: I'm letting them soak! |
| Betty Brown: Get in here and wash them! |
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