transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:02] It wasn't until I left school and I started working in a restaurant and working with my hands that, you know, my life came alive. I take those things that I learn and see and experience and I make them part of my life's work. And I also think that if you work in a restaurant, like, it teaches you about life.

Speaker 2:
[00:19] You saw this man who worked around the clock, and he still does.

Speaker 3:
[00:23] I mean, he's such a great role model. He leads with kindness, he leads with work ethic. Bobby, we were talking one day, he's like, you keep doing that, you keep being your authentic self, you're gonna win. This is what he said. So 100% what I did, and I ended up winning. First of all, I love Bobby Flay very much. I've loved him on the Today Show. I love him here and now.

Speaker 2:
[00:40] Bobby Flay, everybody, check out Bobby's Triple Threat.

Speaker 3:
[00:44] Bobby, you're not filming a show with him.

Speaker 2:
[00:45] You're like becoming friends with him.

Speaker 1:
[00:47] Food business and the restaurant business has been great to me, right? It's been such an important part of my life. I'm in a really good place right this second, for lots of reasons. It gives me that momentum to keep striving to be better, to learn, and to look for the next adventure. But I feel like I'm now directing my own life.

Speaker 3:
[01:05] Bobby Flay has been a great mentor for me.

Speaker 1:
[01:07] Ladies and gentlemen, Bobby Flay. Bobby on the Beat. Welcome to Bobby on the Beat. Today we have a very, very special guest. I will say that every week we have a special guest, for sure. I'm really excited about today's guest. Eva Longoria. You know her from back in the day, Desperate Housewives, but she does, has done so many things since then and continues to evolve her amazing career. I just went to the premiere of her new series on CNN called Searching for France. She did Mexico first, then she did Spain, and now she's in France, and I want her job. I mean, this is crazy. She just gets to go all over these wonderful countries and discover them. We watched her discover the culture, the food, the people, all the wonderful things about these places. So last night was France. It was actually specifically Paris, the premiere episode. And as you can imagine, it was full of butter. It was so cool to watch Eva kind of jog around Paris and eat such wonderful things and talk to amazing people. So really excited about that. I'm actually in the middle of a show. Can we discuss what it is yet? Cause we haven't announced the name, et cetera. It's a competition show on Food Network that is really based on real life cooking on the line in restaurants. It's a really fascinating show. I'm having the best time doing it. Stay tuned for that. That will be announced very, very soon. Going to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby, first Saturday of May. You know, it's one of my favorite events every year. I'll be cooking there for Sension Jet. You know, I always like to celebrate a sporting event with some delicious food. So I'll certainly be doing that as well. We're about to relaunch Bobby's Burgers and the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. We've had Bobby's Burger Palace, which is the first iteration of my burger business. I think it's been there for 15 years. And now that we've rebranded it to Bobby's Burgers, we've changed the branding, we've changed the menu, et cetera. You know, it's just time for a refreshing. Be on the lookout for Bobby's Burgers and Mohegan Sun. I'll let you know when the opening is. I'll be up there obviously, you know, launching that. That's a, I'm really looking forward to that as well. All right, so all those exciting things are happening and don't forget to hit like and definitely hit subscribe. Just click it. Every podcast you watch, ask for it, but we really appreciate it. It lets us know that you want to see more of these. And don't forget, every Monday we drop a new episode. So after your weekend, you can start your week with Bobby on the Beat. First thing, really, really fun conversations. Speaking of fun conversations, let's welcome my co-host this week, Eva Longoria. Quick question for you. So I often get asked. Like, how do you, always about you. How's Eva doing? They always ask me, like, how do you like keep it going? You've been on the Food Network for 30 years. How do you stay relevant? Obviously, Desperate Housewives was a long time ago.

Speaker 4:
[03:54] A long time ago.

Speaker 1:
[03:55] But you have like called audibles, you've shucked and jived, you've done all kinds of things. How do you decide to, you know, to change what you're doing from one thing to the other? Because a lot of times when people have success in one thing, they're always reaching for that success again. And it's hard to do in that exact same kind of thing. But you've done so many different things. Like, what is it about you that makes you do that?

Speaker 4:
[04:21] God, do you know what it is? I feel like, you know, acting is the tent pole to the circus. So everything has to branch off of that, right? Like, it's like, okay, I think at the heart, you know, I've had my success as an actor. And then everything else is very authentic to who I am and things I really love to do. And so, you know, people are like, find your passion. It's not that. It's just, I really try to marry, you know, my desires and the things I just enjoy doing into a business. Even like people, you travel so much. I love traveling. So anytime, I'm leaving to Paris today to go do L'Oreal, but then we've tagged on an extra week because it's my husband's birthday. You know, I'm always mixing business and pleasure.

Speaker 1:
[05:07] Yeah, you have to.

Speaker 4:
[05:08] Always. So for me, the business never feels like work. It feels like pleasure. So I think that's the key. And I also do think when you stray away from the tent pole of who you are, I feel like that gets a little dicey. Like I'm going to go be an astronaut. Like, okay, you know what? It's a little far from.

Speaker 1:
[05:25] Like you talked about passion, but where does it come from for you to be behind the scenes? You're like the executive producer.

Speaker 4:
[05:31] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[05:31] And I saw something that you're working on something with Kim Kardashian and Nikki Glaser. Nikki Glaser is one of my favorite people.

Speaker 4:
[05:36] I love her so much.

Speaker 1:
[05:37] You're gluing these other people together in projects that you sort of steamroll. How does that happen?

Speaker 4:
[05:43] I'm a director producer that fell into acting. So I've always been like a behind the camera person. I also am very bossy. So that helps.

Speaker 1:
[05:53] Are you a good boss?

Speaker 4:
[05:54] I'm a great boss.

Speaker 1:
[05:55] What makes you a good boss?

Speaker 4:
[05:56] I'm collaborative and my philosophy, specifically with directing is like best idea wins. It's not my idea. Okay. Who has the best idea?

Speaker 1:
[06:04] So it doesn't have to be your idea?

Speaker 4:
[06:05] No, I claim it is my idea later, but yeah. I'm just kidding.

Speaker 1:
[06:10] So whose idea was it for the CNN series that you're doing?

Speaker 4:
[06:15] That was my idea.

Speaker 1:
[06:16] Let me just say something. I'm not happy with you. Cause I want that job. I mean, everybody wants that job. But I really feel like I could do part of that job. You could do it. Cause so much of it is about food.

Speaker 4:
[06:27] The reason why I don't think you could do it like me is because I'm genuinely surprised at ingredients and technique. And you're just an expert at that. You'd be like, you're doing it wrong. I'm like, what the heck is this?

Speaker 1:
[06:41] One thing that you learn being a chef is that it literally takes a lifetime to become a chef. You never stop learning. There's so much out there. And like I was watching, so last night I went to your premiere of France, which is absolutely beautiful. And you just looked like you were having such a great time. You know, you're sitting with like one of the best chefs in the history of the world, the Landau Cass. Which like to me is like as a chef, it's kind of weird for me to see him in a suit, sitting, eating his food in his restaurant. I could never do that with you. Like I'd be like, I'll be in the kitchen, I'll come out, I'll bring the dishes. I'll probably be my chef, co-cooking and this and that. But it's just, it's wonderful to watch you discover. And it's one of the things that I love about watching your shows, you know, first you did Spain and you did Mexico and now France. And you're on Discovery.

Speaker 4:
[07:26] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[07:26] You are on Discovery on steroids. And it's like you just see it in your eyes when you open up.

Speaker 4:
[07:32] I'm so curious.

Speaker 1:
[07:34] Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[07:34] I'm so curious. I mean about food, about people, about their stories, about like your fridge, right?

Speaker 1:
[07:40] No, no. I know you walk in, you literally go look into my refrigerator, my pantry to see what's in there.

Speaker 4:
[07:45] I want to know what Bobby Flay has in his fridge. That's a series I would watch.

Speaker 1:
[07:48] I do cook a lot at home. Yeah. I mean, so.

Speaker 4:
[07:51] I just said this the other day. I said, you know, the only thing I don't like about travel is I prefer cooking and eating what I cook. And so when you're just constantly eating at a restaurant, restaurant, restaurant and on the go, it really upsets me.

Speaker 1:
[08:04] I think because, you know, when people watch your shows, like last night, like you couldn't, when you're watching you in Paris and there's what? There's eight episodes?

Speaker 4:
[08:13] Yeah, eight.

Speaker 1:
[08:13] In different parts of France. When I was watching the episode last night, everybody in the crowd was literally making their plans to go to France. I mean, that's what it becomes like this, like inspiration to travel. But I have to say, in your conversation after the show, you gave us so much more information. I kind of feel like there needs to be like a podcast companion with this.

Speaker 4:
[08:39] Oh, that's a good idea.

Speaker 1:
[08:39] With these shows.

Speaker 4:
[08:40] Are you guys listening?

Speaker 1:
[08:41] Because you're like such a wealth of knowledge. I mean, we watch you discover why you're going to talk to all these different chefs in these different neighborhoods and stuff like that. And it's really cool. But then when you really have a chance to talk about it even more, you're just this wealth of knowledge.

Speaker 4:
[08:55] I do. I mean, the show is so edited. I mean, we shoot for so long and then it becomes 45 minutes, you know? And so there's so much stuff. Alain said way more about gastronomy in general. And, you know, we just, you got to edit it down. But no, I really, I love history and I love food. I mean, those two things. That's why I do have a podcast called Hungry for History. But it's not specifically about the Searching for series. It's just in general about, you know, geeking out of, when did canning start? Why do people start canning things? You know? The Italians and canning tomatoes. I'm like, wow, that's so interesting. I love history. I was just, after the show, we were having a drink at the bar and I went into porcelain and I'm like, I'm obsessed with pottery and earthenware and stoneware and porcelain and the difference. And I'm just like fascinated by that and by cutlery and everything. I actually need to see your plates.

Speaker 1:
[09:52] My plates?

Speaker 4:
[09:52] Before I leave.

Speaker 1:
[09:53] Okay.

Speaker 4:
[09:53] Your dishware.

Speaker 1:
[09:54] I have lots of different plates.

Speaker 4:
[09:55] I know, I'm sure.

Speaker 1:
[09:56] Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[09:56] Yeah. But no, I love it. I do geek out.

Speaker 1:
[09:59] I left thinking to myself, wow, like the show is amazing. And then we got like this.

Speaker 4:
[10:04] There was nothing I said you didn't know.

Speaker 1:
[10:06] Well, it's not that I didn't know it, but you reminded me a lot about, because when we think about France and Paris, we think about like, what are we going to eat?

Speaker 4:
[10:14] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[10:14] But you don't really think like when you went to the when you went to the cemetery and people are leaving potatoes on Parmantere's grave and stuff like that.

Speaker 4:
[10:22] I mean, it's like a pilgrimage. Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[10:24] Who does that?

Speaker 4:
[10:25] Well, who knew that they thought potatoes cause leprosy?

Speaker 1:
[10:28] No, I know.

Speaker 4:
[10:28] Like that was cuckoo.

Speaker 1:
[10:30] But those are the kind, I mean, listen, it's a CNN viewer. They want information.

Speaker 4:
[10:35] Yeah. It was just so different than the Food Network viewer. For sure. Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[10:38] It is different. I mean, I did a show back Italy with Giada di Laurentiis. We went to Italy for a month and we did Tuscany in Rome. We just did Country and City and we did Four Hours. And it was spectacular. I mean, it was, first of all, we had the best time. And like Giada grew up in Rome. I mean, she is from Rome. And she said to me, she goes, you know, I have to admit something to you. You know Rome better than I do. And I was like, it's because I love it so much that it's the place I keep going back to and back to and back to. And so like you become like this person that everybody asks, where should I go? Where should I stay? Where should I eat? What should I see? All those kinds of things.

Speaker 4:
[11:15] My husband's from Mexico City. And when I did Searching for Mexico, he says it all the time, you know Mexico and Mexican history way better than I do. And I'm like, yeah, I am obsessed with Mexican history.

Speaker 1:
[11:24] Mexico City is spectacular.

Speaker 4:
[11:25] Yeah. I mean, I have my list. When people come to Mexico City, I give them my restaurant list, my hotel list, the coffee plate. This is where you get your coffee. This is where you go walk. These are the museums you should go to. This is the times they're open. That one's closed on Monday. Like I have so much information. And Beppe always asks me for the, he's like, hey, you know, so-and-so's coming. They want, they want you to help them with Mexico City. I'm like, you're the Chilango. I'm not the one from Mexico City, but he says that too. I know it. I know Mexico City way better than my husband.

Speaker 1:
[11:53] You really?

Speaker 4:
[11:54] Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:
[11:55] Well, you've done the work.

Speaker 4:
[11:56] I done the work.

Speaker 1:
[11:58] You've gotten your steps in.

Speaker 4:
[11:59] Yeah, I've got my steps in. But wait, what were you gonna say about the audience? Did the audience not like that show?

Speaker 1:
[12:04] Last night?

Speaker 4:
[12:04] No, no, the Italian show.

Speaker 3:
[12:07] Oh, there was Food Network.

Speaker 4:
[12:09] No, no, no, because I feel like Food Network people want technique and precision, and I wanna know how to make that recipe, and I want expertise.

Speaker 1:
[12:18] They do, but they also wanna live vicariously through your travels. And I've had people come up to me, I'm sure this has happened to you now. I watched the show about Italy, and we went to every single place that you went to. It literally becomes like a travelogue for them. It's almost like a shortcut on what to do.

Speaker 4:
[12:33] I hope people did that because when I did Mexico, part of the reason I did Searching for Mexico is because in that moment and still, the relationship between the United States and Mexico is very strained, and I wanted to remind people all of all the beautiful things that come from Mexico. You should have appreciation for all cultures and the contributions, the beautiful contributions to your life. I love margaritas. Great.

Speaker 1:
[12:59] Yes, you do.

Speaker 4:
[13:00] It comes from a really great country called Mexico, and the people, and if you're talking about the food of a country, you're talking about its people. And so after we did Searching for Mexico, so many people go, wow, I forgot about how beautiful that country is. And also, oh my God, I've never been to Oaxaca. I'm going to go to Oaxaca. I'm going to go to Guadalajara. I'm going to go to Nuevo León. And so a lot of people did come up to me and said, oh my God, we went to Oaxaca because of your show.

Speaker 1:
[13:26] Yeah, of course.

Speaker 4:
[13:26] Which is great. And same thing with Searching for France is like, France is not Paris. France is so many other things. So I think people are going to watch the show and go off the beaten course.

Speaker 1:
[13:37] You know what I've had a hard time finding in Paris? This is going to sound crazy. I've had a hard time finding a lot of like classic brasserie food.

Speaker 4:
[13:45] Yeah. They're going out of business.

Speaker 1:
[13:47] I know, but like why? It's like, I mean, you went to Lacoupo, which is probably the most famous brasserie in Paris.

Speaker 4:
[13:52] There's about five.

Speaker 1:
[13:53] There's only a handful of places.

Speaker 4:
[13:54] Five Centurion places. Yeah, there's only more than a hundred years old.

Speaker 1:
[13:58] Right. There's only a handful of them left. And like, I don't know, like I'm a traditionalist when it goes, when it comes to like going to another country. I appreciate like the neighborhood of Belleville, is that what it's called?

Speaker 4:
[14:08] Yeah, Belleville, yeah.

Speaker 1:
[14:09] Which was like, you know, the melting pot of the world and everything except French food for the most part, which is cool, right? And I appreciate that. But as a person visiting from Paris, I have an apartment in London, so I like getting on the Eurostar and going there. And sometimes you just want that like, that classic, you know, brasserie meal.

Speaker 4:
[14:28] What's your classic brasserie meal? I mean, you know, French onion soup's a good one.

Speaker 1:
[14:32] French onion soup, steak frites, steak tartare, Frisez a l'eau d'un salad, like things like that. It's not easy to find that anymore in Paris.

Speaker 4:
[14:40] I agree. When we did the show, they spoke about that. La Coupelle was saying there's only like five, and they're actually all on the same street almost. And they're super touristy, actually. So you feel like this can't be authentic. There's way too many people in here.

Speaker 1:
[14:53] Right, exactly. The evolution of France is changing as well.

Speaker 4:
[14:58] Yeah, I mean, it's not gentrification, but it is globalization. You can get an iced coffee in France, which is like, what? What is this? You can get a coffee to go, which used to be, still in Italy, it's hard. It's hard to get a coffee to go in Italy. They actually yell at you.

Speaker 1:
[15:15] You opened up the show last night by saying, they don't eat on the go in Paris, except for a baguette, of course.

Speaker 4:
[15:21] Baguette and cheese, yeah.

Speaker 1:
[15:22] There is something about grabbing that baguette first thing in the morning and just walking down the street with it.

Speaker 3:
[15:26] It's delicious.

Speaker 4:
[15:27] Or grabbing a baguette and cheese and going to a park and you sit and that's your lunch.

Speaker 1:
[15:31] Did you go to this cook's...

Speaker 4:
[15:34] The supply place?

Speaker 1:
[15:35] Yeah, De Hilerand.

Speaker 3:
[15:36] Yes.

Speaker 1:
[15:37] It's amazing.

Speaker 4:
[15:37] Oh my God. And it's old.

Speaker 1:
[15:39] It's old.

Speaker 4:
[15:41] Well, it's where the main market used to be in France a hundred years ago. And so that store's still there across from where the main market used to be. And now the market moved to Montmartre and different places. But like that store was... I couldn't leave that store. I wanted to buy everything. And my husband's like, we don't have a suitcase for this. I'm like, I need this mixer. This is coming with me. I need this potato ricer.

Speaker 1:
[16:07] And beautiful like copperware and stuff like that.

Speaker 4:
[16:08] All the copperware. All that stuff I wanted.

Speaker 1:
[16:10] I always buy stuff there when I go.

Speaker 4:
[16:11] I wanted to take it all home. That neighborhood's so beautiful, too.

Speaker 1:
[16:15] Yeah, it is great. It costs as much to ship it as it does to buy it.

Speaker 4:
[16:18] Way more.

Speaker 1:
[16:19] But there's something about buying that piece of copper in Paris and making it part of your house.

Speaker 4:
[16:25] Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the tools that they, I mean, the French are obviously superior in their cuisine because of technique. And that technique is dependent upon these tools. So that's, you need the potato ricer from that store to make the best potato puree possible. And then you need the French butter to make the puree. Like, can we talk about the butter?

Speaker 1:
[16:45] The most famous mashed potatoes in Paris is Robuchon. You know, it's basically butter bound with some potatoes. And a splash of cream.

Speaker 4:
[16:55] A splash of milk, yeah.

Speaker 1:
[16:56] And it's just, I mean, look, I think that if you're gonna do mashed potatoes like that, you gotta do them that way. It is what it is. And the way they emulsify that cold butter in there, like the amount of butter that they put in that, that was like, that was an amazing moment.

Speaker 4:
[17:11] You heard the gasp last night in the theater, they're, oh, and by the way, which wasn't in the series, we had it out, she, that was half. She goes, we'll put the other half in a little bit. And I was like, that's half. But I will say, the misconception about France as a country is that it's all butter. Yes, butter and pastries, butter and the potatoes, but the butter's only in the north, not in the south. Right. Olive oil. Yeah, French olive oil's great.

Speaker 1:
[17:34] It's that Mediterranean diet.

Speaker 4:
[17:36] So good, the whole south, the whole Provence, everything down there is just all olive oil. It's, you know, the olive oil's on the table. You really have to ask for butter if you want butter on your bread.

Speaker 1:
[17:47] Was there a lot of lavender growing there when you were there?

Speaker 4:
[17:49] Lots of lavender.

Speaker 1:
[17:49] The whole place smells like lavender.

Speaker 4:
[17:50] Yeah, you know, I was with Helene DeRose, and she cooks by scent. And she has huge lavender farm. She has lavender latte, lavender maple syrup. She does everything infused with scent. She cooks really by scent and she's amazing. She's an amazing ratatouille. The best ratatouille I've ever had in my life. Because I was thinking, here in America, our ratatouille is like mushy vegetables.

Speaker 1:
[18:13] Exactly.

Speaker 4:
[18:14] And this one, I was like, oh.

Speaker 1:
[18:15] It's like everything out of the refrigerator. Exactly.

Speaker 4:
[18:17] And her ratatouille, you could taste the eggplant, you could taste the squash, you could taste. It was really, I mean, I was like, oh, this is ratatouille.

Speaker 1:
[18:26] Exactly.

Speaker 4:
[18:27] She's the basis of the movie.

Speaker 1:
[18:29] Of ratatouille.

Speaker 4:
[18:30] Yeah, the chef, that chef. Really? Yeah, she was the inspiration for ratatouille.

Speaker 1:
[18:35] I didn't know that.

Speaker 4:
[18:35] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[18:36] See, you're coming with all this knowledge.

Speaker 4:
[18:37] I'm always like, did you know?

Speaker 1:
[18:38] Speaking of food, I'm going to make you something. I got some shrimp from Spain.

Speaker 4:
[18:42] No, you did not.

Speaker 1:
[18:43] Yeah, Cabernet. And so I'm going to make it really quickly, but I'm going to show you how I made it. Bobby on the Beat. All right, we're going to make some carabinero prawns. These are those beautiful red prawns from Spain. We're going to start off by making some shrimp stock out of the shells and the heads. And now we're going to cook some rice. This is short grain rice like bomba or calespera. Think about it as paella rice. We're going to cook it with that beautiful shrimp broth. And now I'm going to chop some garlic. We're going to make some crispy garlic to garnish this at the end. So we'll just have it. All right, so after the rice is nicely cooked and nice and soft, we're going to make it, you know what, crispy. I'm going to crisp it in a pan with some fresh basil, some salt and pepper while the garlic is cooking for that little crunchy garlic that we're going to add at the end. So we're going to crisp up the rice. And you can actually do this a tiny bit ahead of time. And then I take some more of that beautiful shrimp stock. It's all about the shrimp stock, folks. When I take some of that shrimp stock and reduce it down, I add a little bit of butter to it and let that set. That's going to be sort of the sauce that's going to bring it all together. Now a little herb oil. I'm going to use some arugula, some oregano, a little bit of basil, some avocado oil, some pepper, do what you want to do all about. And then strain it until you get this beautiful, gorgeous, red and old colored green. And time to cook the shrimp. These are very, very tender, so we want to cook them very, very gently. Okay, a little salt and pepper, maybe a little chili powder on top if you like. And then cook them in a little bit of olive oil, and place it into the plate. And then some of that crispy rice on top or on the bottom, it's up to you. And then that shrimp sauce kind of brings it all together, the shrimp, the shrimp rice, the shrimp sauce, and a little bit of that herb oil. And there you go. It's like paella, but as an appetizer. Bobby on the Beat.

Speaker 4:
[20:21] Oh my gosh, so exciting. It is like a deconstructed paella. I love that, all right. You kind of know what you're doing, Bobby. You should maybe do this for a living. I'm here for you.

Speaker 1:
[20:36] You know, we have to celebrate France.

Speaker 4:
[20:37] Yeah. So we must have champagne.

Speaker 1:
[20:40] You haven't gone to champagne yet to shoot, right?

Speaker 4:
[20:42] No, no.

Speaker 1:
[20:43] Is that gonna happen?

Speaker 4:
[20:44] Maybe. I'm not allowed to say. Well, I'll meet you there. Hopefully. That's where you're gonna meet me.

Speaker 1:
[20:49] Yes, exactly.

Speaker 4:
[20:50] Have you been?

Speaker 1:
[20:51] Oh yeah.

Speaker 4:
[20:51] I have not been. You know what? I wasn't a fan of champagne. I am a fan of cava.

Speaker 1:
[20:56] I am too.

Speaker 4:
[20:57] Yeah, I really like it. Even though it's made the same way, it's, I don't know. I don't know if it's my Spanish heritage.

Speaker 1:
[21:06] Salud.

Speaker 4:
[21:06] Santé. Santé.

Speaker 1:
[21:08] Taste of France. So basically what I did was I took the rice, I cooked the rice down, but I cooked it with the shrimp stock. So every sort of piece of rice drinks the shrimp stock.

Speaker 4:
[21:18] Tastes like shrimp, the rice.

Speaker 1:
[21:20] Do you know why they call these Cabaneros?

Speaker 4:
[21:21] Uh-uh.

Speaker 1:
[21:22] If you see them before you shell them, they're bright, bright, bright red. You see them in the market. They're gorgeous. It's the color of the uniforms of the border police in Spain, the Cabanero.

Speaker 4:
[21:32] Oh yeah.

Speaker 1:
[21:33] So that's why I call it that.

Speaker 4:
[21:34] Oh my God, I didn't know that, see? You're teaching me history. This has a little bit of a kick.

Speaker 1:
[21:38] A little bit of chili. It's a tiny bit.

Speaker 4:
[21:41] I love it. I know. I know, believe me, in Spain, it's like you're hard pressed to find a chili. This is so lovely. Thank you for making this for me.

Speaker 1:
[21:49] Of course.

Speaker 4:
[21:49] Oh my God, that crisping up of the rice is so fun. I love that.

Speaker 1:
[21:53] All right, so what else are you working on?

Speaker 4:
[21:55] Well, I just directed this big comedy for Netflix called The Fifth Wheel with Nikki Glaser, Fortune Feimster.

Speaker 1:
[22:01] So you were directing it?

Speaker 4:
[22:02] I directed it, yep. Oh my, it was so fun. So fun, a big female comedy, which is needed in the landscape of film. So funny. And I executive produced House of Spirits, which is one of the best selling books by Isabel Allende. It was made into a movie 30 years ago. Meryl Streep, one owner writer.

Speaker 1:
[22:21] And it's all Spanish speaking, right?

Speaker 4:
[22:23] This one is a Spanish language one. It was made in Chile with international cast. The actors are from everywhere. It's beautiful. It's on Prime Video. It's eight episodes. Even if you didn't read the book, you're gonna love it. Cause it's a family saga. Four generations of these amazing women. A little magical realism. But it's one of the top selling books of all time. Not of a Latin author of all time.

Speaker 1:
[22:45] So that's coming out when?

Speaker 4:
[22:46] April 29th.

Speaker 1:
[22:47] Okay, April 29th on Prime Video.

Speaker 4:
[22:49] Prime.

Speaker 1:
[22:50] Prime Video. I got you. On Prime Video.

Speaker 4:
[22:54] You know what? Because this book, on the press, we have so many, here's what you don't say. And it's like all the things, please don't say Amazon, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, what do I, like don't tell me what not to say, tell me what to say.

Speaker 1:
[23:07] I know, but you have so many projects. This is the problem, Eva.

Speaker 4:
[23:09] I know. It's good. It's good to be busy.

Speaker 1:
[23:11] Oh, of course it is.

Speaker 4:
[23:13] Especially in entertainment, to distract people from the world right now of like, everything that's happening and going on. And so it's nice to be able to contribute to the landscape of entertainment right now, so that it's not just news and noise, it's actually something artful that can fulfill your mind in a beautiful way.

Speaker 1:
[23:30] It's so nice.

Speaker 4:
[23:31] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[23:31] It really is. And then also, like, now you're into Padel?

Speaker 4:
[23:35] Padel.

Speaker 1:
[23:35] Padel? Padel tennis. It's Padel, isn't it?

Speaker 4:
[23:37] No. I don't know why people call it Padel.

Speaker 1:
[23:38] I've been saying it wrong the entire time. See, this is why I need you.

Speaker 4:
[23:41] I think because people are trying to say it in Spanish.

Speaker 2:
[23:44] That was my Spanish.

Speaker 1:
[23:46] Padel?

Speaker 4:
[23:47] Padel tennis.

Speaker 1:
[23:48] Okay, Padel tennis. Is there a team?

Speaker 4:
[23:50] I own a team in Madrid at this Hexagon tournament, and that's once a year in Madrid, but I play all the time.

Speaker 1:
[23:58] You do?

Speaker 4:
[23:59] Yeah. And because I live a lot of time in Spain, and it's the sport.

Speaker 1:
[24:03] Wait, where do you live? You live in Spain, and you live where else?

Speaker 4:
[24:07] Mexico City.

Speaker 1:
[24:08] And?

Speaker 4:
[24:09] In LA. In LA. Kind of going, it's a triangle. We live in the three spaces, but it just depends like when I was doing Searching for France, we just stayed in Europe because it was just easier to bounce back and forth from France to Spain. When I was doing Searching for Mexico, it's obviously we were in Mexico. But now my son's of age and he's in a school.

Speaker 1:
[24:33] How old is he?

Speaker 4:
[24:34] He's seven. So he used to be just homeschooled and would go with us. So now he's in a proper school and loves it. So I'm like, oh gosh, are we going to be having to stay in one spot now?

Speaker 1:
[24:47] It's not such a bad thing.

Speaker 4:
[24:48] No, he loves it.

Speaker 1:
[24:50] To put your roots down for a little while.

Speaker 4:
[24:52] Yeah, but also he loves travel. He's like, mom, when are we going back to Paris? I want a macaroon. He really understands culture. When we're going to Spain, we'll be on the plane and he's like, mom, jamon, we're going to have jamon. He gets really excited.

Speaker 1:
[25:05] One of the things I want to do with you at some point, I know this is a hard invite to get. I want to be invited to the tamale making party.

Speaker 4:
[25:12] Oh, that is a hard invite.

Speaker 1:
[25:14] You guys called me last year.

Speaker 4:
[25:16] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[25:17] I think it was you and Anna.

Speaker 4:
[25:17] Yeah, me and Anna, Navarro.

Speaker 1:
[25:19] I can't get invited?

Speaker 4:
[25:20] Well, we'll see.

Speaker 1:
[25:20] Is it only ladies?

Speaker 4:
[25:22] It's only ladies.

Speaker 1:
[25:23] It's only ladies because you guys sit around and gossip all day long.

Speaker 4:
[25:26] Well, we just fight about like, do you use a spoon to spread the masa or do you use a spackle? What do you use?

Speaker 1:
[25:31] I use a spoon to scoop it in and I just wrap it around it. But I make them like little candy wrappers.

Speaker 4:
[25:37] Oh, we fold.

Speaker 1:
[25:38] Yeah. I mean, you can do either way.

Speaker 4:
[25:40] You're already not invited.

Speaker 1:
[25:42] I'm out.

Speaker 4:
[25:42] You're already out.

Speaker 1:
[25:43] I have the wrong technique.

Speaker 4:
[25:44] Wrong technique.

Speaker 1:
[25:45] You fill them with things?

Speaker 4:
[25:46] Well, of course you fill them with anything. You fill them with pork, chicken in a green sauce.

Speaker 1:
[25:50] So you're like yelling at me about tamales.

Speaker 4:
[25:51] Jesus. Don't come in the tamale day asking these questions, okay? You got to know this stuff.

Speaker 1:
[25:57] No. Well, I mean, I know it, but everybody has their own way of doing things.

Speaker 4:
[26:00] We do beans and jalapeno. We do rafas.

Speaker 1:
[26:05] Whose house is this happening at?

Speaker 4:
[26:06] Yours? It usually happens at my house. This year, it happened at my girlfriend Bonnie's house. So we sometimes rotate it. But there are some serious Mexican tamale makers in our group. And so they're pretty much the leaders of the situation. I've got to ask them if you're invited.

Speaker 1:
[26:24] Okay.

Speaker 4:
[26:24] I will have to ask Vilma.

Speaker 1:
[26:25] I'll fill out an application.

Speaker 4:
[26:26] Yeah. You got to bring your own apron.

Speaker 1:
[26:28] No problem.

Speaker 4:
[26:29] Okay.

Speaker 1:
[26:29] I have those.

Speaker 4:
[26:29] You got to bring your own apron. And usually, you bring a filling. So like I do the pork, somebody else would do the beans and jalapeño, somebody would do the rajas, somebody does the chicken and-

Speaker 1:
[26:41] And what do you guys serve them with? You serve them with things?

Speaker 4:
[26:43] Well, we don't cook them all. Like we'll make them cook it, test it, eat it, but then we leave them raw, and everybody takes home their bag so that you can steam them at home.

Speaker 1:
[26:51] Oh. Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[26:52] So I am the sacrilegious person and I eat my tamales with ketchup.

Speaker 1:
[26:58] What? I know. I know.

Speaker 4:
[27:00] I know.

Speaker 1:
[27:01] Why?

Speaker 4:
[27:02] I don't know. It's a Texas thing.

Speaker 1:
[27:03] Oh, okay.

Speaker 4:
[27:04] Yeah. Because believe me, I posted it on the TikTok.

Speaker 1:
[27:08] The TikTok.

Speaker 4:
[27:09] Yeah. That was a whole fight in the comments. Because half the people do like, yeah, of course you do, and then the other half are like, what is wrong with you? My husband can't even be in the room with me because I eat my tamales with ketchup. I don't mind it with salsa roja. Like I'll have red sauce with it. Yeah, but for the most part, yeah, it's ketchup. And I like the pork. Pork is my jam.

Speaker 1:
[27:32] So like pork shoulder that's slowly cooked, that kind of stuff?

Speaker 4:
[27:35] Pork butt.

Speaker 1:
[27:35] Pork butt. And until you pull it.

Speaker 4:
[27:39] Yeah, I do the thing in the crock pot and I just throw all the stuff.

Speaker 1:
[27:42] Do the thing in the crock pot. Thanks for the technique.

Speaker 4:
[27:46] Yeah, do the thing. Do the thing in the crock pot. Throw it all together. What's your favorite tamale? Do you like the sweet ones and the big ones?

Speaker 1:
[27:54] No, I make my tamales a lot with fresh corn, too.

Speaker 4:
[27:58] Okay.

Speaker 1:
[27:58] I grind fresh corn, then I add it to the masa and then I do things like sweet potato tamales.

Speaker 4:
[28:04] Oh, yes, I've had those.

Speaker 1:
[28:05] You know, like...

Speaker 4:
[28:06] So good.

Speaker 1:
[28:06] I usually try to do things that are not heavy, that are almost like side dishes to go with...

Speaker 4:
[28:11] Oh, yeah, no. This is the meal.

Speaker 1:
[28:12] No, I know. I get it.

Speaker 4:
[28:13] It's the meal. So you said, what do we serve it with? Nothing. It is the meal.

Speaker 1:
[28:16] So there's no salsas or anything next to it.

Speaker 4:
[28:20] No, we save some of the salsas. Yeah, we do the green salsa, the red salsa. Crema.

Speaker 1:
[28:24] Can I ask you a really important question?

Speaker 4:
[28:26] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[28:26] Guacamole.

Speaker 4:
[28:27] Yes. What? Don't get so defensive. Okay, I'm very protective of guacamole.

Speaker 1:
[28:32] I know. I want to ask you a question. It's a yes or no.

Speaker 4:
[28:35] Yeah, no. But go ahead.

Speaker 1:
[28:38] You put tomatoes in your guacamole?

Speaker 4:
[28:39] Oh, sometimes.

Speaker 1:
[28:40] It's yes or no.

Speaker 4:
[28:41] I know, sometimes. It depends because if I want a chunky, super bowl, that's what it's for. You're just dipping and eating, then I like a chunky onion and a chunky tomato.

Speaker 1:
[28:51] Yeah, but you put tomatoes in.

Speaker 4:
[28:53] But if it's for tacos or to put on top of something, then it's just avocado, cilantro.

Speaker 1:
[28:59] Right. Lime juice.

Speaker 4:
[29:00] Lime juice.

Speaker 1:
[29:01] I am so against tomatoes in guacamole.

Speaker 4:
[29:03] I hear you. Why do people put mayonnaise in it?

Speaker 1:
[29:06] No, no, no, no.

Speaker 4:
[29:07] People who do mayonnaise in guacamole, let me tell you something.

Speaker 1:
[29:11] Stop it.

Speaker 4:
[29:12] Wait, but you do red onions, right?

Speaker 1:
[29:13] I do know that.

Speaker 4:
[29:14] I do know that because we've had this discussion before.

Speaker 1:
[29:16] I have five ingredients. Avocado, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, and chili, jalapenos or serranos.

Speaker 4:
[29:22] Okay, so I do serranos. I never do jalapenos. I do serranos and I do white onion. Not yellow onion, white, not red. I do lemon, not lime. What? Yeah, I do lime for salsa or pico de gallo and lemon for avocado.

Speaker 1:
[29:38] God, you have so many guacamole rules. It's crazy.

Speaker 4:
[29:40] I do, and mine is the best guacamole in the world. We're gonna do a guacamole off.

Speaker 1:
[29:44] Let's do that.

Speaker 4:
[29:44] And have these people judge.

Speaker 1:
[29:46] And then here's the deal.

Speaker 4:
[29:47] Well, they'll know which one's yours because it won't have tomatoes.

Speaker 1:
[29:49] Well, you have way more people than I do, so I'm gonna lose. I know who they're voting for. Here's the deal. I will not get in the middle of tamales, but I'll bring the guacamole.

Speaker 4:
[29:58] Okay, you bring guac, but don't put red onion in it. And then I'll let you do a filling.

Speaker 1:
[30:04] Thank you.

Speaker 4:
[30:07] You may bring a filling. It can't be pork or chicken. You have to figure something else out.

Speaker 1:
[30:11] Lamb?

Speaker 4:
[30:11] No.

Speaker 1:
[30:15] Well, if it's pork and chicken and I can't do lamb, what else can I do? You want like a vegetable?

Speaker 4:
[30:20] Yeah, like a vegetable.

Speaker 1:
[30:20] Like sweet potatoes?

Speaker 4:
[30:21] Sure.

Speaker 1:
[30:22] Okay.

Speaker 4:
[30:22] Sure, let's do that. Now you have to come.

Speaker 1:
[30:24] Do you drink margaritas while you're doing it?

Speaker 4:
[30:26] Yes. Or mezcal or something like that? No, we drink margaritas for sure. You know, we have the assembly line. You got to pick your spot. Do you want to be the filler? Do you want to be the roller? Do you want to be the spreader?

Speaker 1:
[30:36] I'll do exactly what you want me to do.

Speaker 4:
[30:38] We do have quality control. So if you do one of the jobs, there is somebody telling you if you're doing it right or wrong.

Speaker 1:
[30:44] Maybe I don't want this invitation. Sounds like a very tough, I know it's a tough crowd.

Speaker 4:
[30:48] Ana just sits there and ties the string on the chicken ones just so we can know the difference between some.

Speaker 1:
[30:54] I wonder like what the conversation was. We're like, Ana was like, let's call Bobby.

Speaker 4:
[30:58] Yeah, that's what she said.

Speaker 1:
[31:00] I know.

Speaker 4:
[31:00] She said we got to call Bobby because he's mad he didn't get the invite.

Speaker 1:
[31:03] Exactly.

Speaker 4:
[31:03] That's what she said.

Speaker 1:
[31:04] All right, well next year I'm there.

Speaker 4:
[31:05] Next year.

Speaker 1:
[31:05] So tell me the two, the schedule here. So France starts when?

Speaker 4:
[31:09] April 12th. Sunday's CNN.

Speaker 1:
[31:12] Eight straight weeks.

Speaker 4:
[31:13] Eight straight weeks. Well, two a night. Back to back episodes and then it streams next day on the CNN app. So if you missed it or if it gets preempted by something in the world, you can watch it on the CNN app.

Speaker 1:
[31:24] What's great. I mean, On Demand is so great for those things.

Speaker 4:
[31:26] Yeah. And I do like watching them straight through. Your mouth is going to water. We did Burgundy, Bordeaux, Provence, Brittany. Have you had that Atlantic Blue Lobster?

Speaker 1:
[31:36] Of course. It's amazing.

Speaker 4:
[31:37] Oh my God. When we went fishing for them, it was quite special. That episode was quite fun. Highly regulated because they protect those guys. The oysters from Concalve. Gorgeous. You just go and buy a bucket and you have to shuck them yourself and you sit there on the beach and you eat it with lemon. That's the best. Perfect. I'm like, you don't have any Tabasco? They were like, no, we don't have any Tabasco.

Speaker 1:
[32:02] Cholula?

Speaker 4:
[32:03] Yeah, Cholula, Papadio, nothing.

Speaker 1:
[32:06] Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[32:07] I was like, that's the one thing you do have to take with you to France is the hot sauce.

Speaker 1:
[32:11] Yeah. Sure.

Speaker 4:
[32:12] And then we did Paris and a patisserie.

Speaker 1:
[32:14] I love that there's one, so there's lots of different regions of France.

Speaker 4:
[32:17] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[32:18] And then there's patisserie. Patisserie. There's an episode just on pastry.

Speaker 4:
[32:22] And we weren't even done. I mean, we didn't even break into the tip of the iceberg because there's so much knowledge, history, evolution, innovation with patisserie.

Speaker 1:
[32:35] The technique of those pastries are special.

Speaker 4:
[32:37] But also from the Venetian croissant that really started everything. Just that history in general. And there's still boulangeries that are venisseries.

Speaker 1:
[32:48] Venisseries, yeah.

Speaker 4:
[32:48] Yeah, that serve the old croissant. Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[32:52] Those laminated doughs are amazing.

Speaker 4:
[32:53] Oh my God. It was so funny because I was making croissants with some chef and I go, look, mine's amazing. He goes, sure.

Speaker 1:
[33:01] Mine's amazing.

Speaker 4:
[33:02] Look at mine. I was like, I folded it perfectly.

Speaker 1:
[33:04] Just agree with me. We're on television.

Speaker 4:
[33:05] Come on. He looks at it and he goes, it's okay.

Speaker 1:
[33:10] That's the France way.

Speaker 4:
[33:11] They're very serious about their croissant and about their baguettes.

Speaker 1:
[33:14] About their entire culture.

Speaker 4:
[33:16] Right. Right. About cooking in general. But like the baguette is like this national treasure. It's protected and regulated.

Speaker 1:
[33:22] Right. And the shape of it and the size of it.

Speaker 4:
[33:23] The shape, the crunch, the size, the ingredients, the flour, where the flour comes from. They're very, very serious. And people are serious about where they get their baguettes.

Speaker 1:
[33:32] Oh yeah. They have their one boulangerie.

Speaker 4:
[33:35] Yeah. They have their one spot, which is so funny. Cause you're just like, well, don't ever say, aren't they all the same? People go, no, no, they're not the same. Some people have a baguette for butter. And then they go to a different boulangerie to get the baguette for cheese. Even though it's the same recipe.

Speaker 1:
[33:50] Same thing.

Speaker 4:
[33:51] Yeah. They, they, they, they swear it's different. What else?

Speaker 1:
[33:54] House of Spirits. So, when is that?

Speaker 4:
[33:55] House of Spirits is April 29th on Prime Video.

Speaker 1:
[33:59] Prime Video, you got it.

Speaker 4:
[34:00] And that's eight episodes. So good. You guys have to tune in to that. You're gonna just be sucked into this amazing big epic drama.

Speaker 1:
[34:08] Can't wait.

Speaker 4:
[34:08] Yes.

Speaker 1:
[34:09] Thanks for coming to my place.

Speaker 4:
[34:10] Thank you for having us. My pleasure.

Speaker 1:
[34:12] Anytime.

Speaker 4:
[34:12] Bobby on the Beat.

Speaker 1:
[34:13] Yeah.

Speaker 4:
[34:14] When am I coming back to beat Bobby Flay?

Speaker 1:
[34:16] You were so good on that show. Your energy was amazing.

Speaker 4:
[34:20] I really am. Well, look, they go. The only thing you have to do is like roast Bobby. And I'm like, OK, it's easy. I want to come back here and cook. We got to come back here and cook.

Speaker 1:
[34:29] Hey, Eva, thank you so much for being here. That was amazing. Love hanging out with you always. Next week, we have Jonathan Waxman, a wonderful chef and the person who actually is my mentor. I worked for Jonathan in the 80s for a few years, and he and I remain both friends and colleagues, and he's been a mentor to me my entire career. So looking forward to that conversation. I can't wait to hear what he has to say about me. Make sure you hit subscribe and like. Like and subscribe. Subscribe and like. You know how to do it. See you next week. Bobby on the Beat.