Bon Appetit Test Kitchen

I feel it demands a thread of its own.

Use this to discuss favorite series, attempts to do BATK tricks at home, and express your approval or disdain for the various personalities on display.

http://www.youtube.com/user/BonAppetitDotCom

I want to try making the omelette souffle, but I'm a bit intimidated

It's super easy. A little weird, but worth trying at least once.

Brad Leone is a hero

I tried the omelette souffle and it did not work, but it was still a good omelette.

i became aware of the videos through this link and maybe tombot on another thread. https://jezebel.com/my-obsession-with-the-bon-appetit-cinematic-universe-1839497437

soooo many videos. i need to just figure out a couple of things to make and start.

The roast chicken looks good too, although having it completely slathered on gojuchang may be too much spice for my family.

The home video era should be interesting (including whatever amazing upstate house Andy has gotten himself hooked up in)

For me the videos are more about entertainment than recipes, although I got a subscription to the mag for my bday and we've made a lot of the recipes. I do want to try Brad's cured egg yolks, but it seems like a waste of eggs rn.

i love carla's videos

i have watched a lot of these videos over the past 3 months. even if they weren't exactly hired for the purpose of internet video, the casting of the ba test kitchen is pretty impeccable.

Brad Leone is a hero
otm. i was watching an older video recently and molly was talking about listening to "i'm like a bird" in her high school carpool, and brad was like, "oh, for me high school carpool was more like smoking joints and listening to system of a down"

only thing i've made was carla's pot of butter beans, which isn't really a recipe, but they were pretty good even without bothering with the aioli.

favorite running gag is priya's apparent deep embarrassment at having a hot boyfriend that the internet knows about.

Molly drives my wife insane. When she reported in on the WFH video her immediately yelled “Oh of COURSE she’s in Joshua Tree”

she's such a cartoon millennial it's sort of hard to believe, but then is so knowledgeable and efficient when it comes to actual food stuff. like when she does videos with the editor-in-chief her vibe is "i've worked in dozens of restaurant kitchens and test recipes for a living, please get out of my way and don't make any dumb suggestions"

Rapo is truly a snoot though

He just shows up to remind everyone how BA in the 90s put sundried tomatoes in everything and it was dumb. And then make a remark that their work is only okay

carla is the best. I also like sohla, andy and of course claire. brad I like but not by himself, too much bro energy, but great playing off others.

the marinade in the gochujang pork recipe is reliable and easy to make if you can get the ingredients.

i only watched the focaccia one with Samin and Brad and really hated Brad for the first half and then warmed up to him.

Holy shit there goes the rest of my life I had no clue this existed.

Molly gives me "milk first then cereal" vibes

My wife has a very offensive but truly apt nickname for Molly.

I liked how in the recent cocktail ep Sohla was the only one who kept showing up to try every single drink, uncommented upon.

Also tbh it took an adjustment period when I learned Chris was straight.

After making quick breads all week, we tried a BA earl grey tea bread, and it overflowed the loaf pan and smoked up the whole kitchen/house. Then I looked up a blog post by Molly saying you need to precisely measure the inside of your pan, or else it will overflow. I fully blame Molly.

omg. so you mentioned this thing about chris (who I don't know) and in my mind I am like, "oh guy who you end up being surprised is straight? probably from boston." and lo and behold when I look him up online.

"Newton is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately 7 miles (11 km) west of downtown Boston."

I call it the Ed Norton Dissonance.

haha

I demand to learn the vulgar Molly nickname

I made the omelettes, they were good! Feel like i could whip them up any time, which is saying a lot for me because I'm very nervous about cooking anything without a detailed recipe in hand.

Also, lol, Newton, my high school's rival.

I am def gonna try Sohla's variant on a White Russian.

I liked how in the recent cocktail ep Sohla was the only one who kept showing up to try every single drink, uncommented upon.

Ok, after the coffee one, I legit hope that she's keeping it together.

Chris & Brad do Gourmet Makes was pretty lol, I'm glad the commenters got their wish (would be great if they have more swapped shows in the can).

Watched it this morning as a palate cleanser from reality and I was dying. Brad is such an ADD toddler and I love Chris a lot lot--I love their affection for each other even though they're opposites. Super great.

I made the Gojuchang roast chicken. It was ok, a lot of effort for what it is.

Really enjoyed the bagel bites episode of Gourmet Makes a week or two ago.

Andy >>> Antoni

One sure sign of mental/emotional decline has been developing a parasocial crush on a bon appetit person. Time to log off

Oh I have crushes on several. But they all spend way more time preparing food than I could ever stand.

I mean, there is an upside to being with someone who cooks all the time.

Ugh, Molly making that gross ostrich egg with whipped cream and salmon roe, only for both of them to agree that it's gross, just wasting food. On the other hand, can't wait to see what show swap today brings us!

there's lots of wasting food going on in bon appetit. the whole taking one bite from every dish on a restaurant menu feature !

the ostrich egg was just eldritch tho, no arguments

I feel like the food waste that happens in the BATK and related adventures is somewhat justified in that they aim to teach people how to make better food at home, thus enriching lives and possibly leading to less food waste in the form of thousands of inedible household kitchen disasters. That’s probably what they tell themselves.

Also OF COURSE Molly made the most insufferable thing in the coffee episode. I’d grab a drink with Sohla anytime though. I also like how they wove all the pourover silliness together in the editing room.

Brad’s visit to Tillamook made us wish we got Tillamook ice cream here out east.

I made the the spicy katsu chicken sandwiches, although I dialed back the spice level. They were good, nice crunch.

I made Molly’s Grown-Up Mac & Cheese. She used all parm, I did cheddar, fontina, parm bc I value cheesiness. It was silky and wonderful with no roux necessary. Whole stick of butter though. But it’s spread throughout a lb of pasta.

For the Delaney restaurant series, they always insist that the crew eats the food and that it doesn't go to waste.

I'm baking the BA 'shockingly easy no - knead focaccia' today, it has indeed been easy going so far.

Claire doing Brad's show was delightful btw.

Yes it was. The editing on that show is top notch.

I want a dirtbag covers podcast where ppl attempt to approximate these recipes on a strict budget w no fancy gadgets.

The crew did an "In Coversation" thing at the 92nd Street Y a little over a month ago, though I wouldn't recommend it unless you've watched a lot of the regular videos.

https://youtu.be/eUJzqChe3FQ

Chris's having worked at Vogue maybe another bit of "wait, he's not gay?" dissonance.

I need to know how many of the same navy shirt jacket suit Amiel owns. Like does he have 12 of them or does he just wear the same one EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

We made a version of this last night and it was surprisingly amazing:
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/pasta-al-limone

For the Delaney restaurant series, they always insist that the crew eats the food and that it doesn't go to waste.

ok, this makes sense and I probably should've just assumed this. I guess I often don't consider how many crew members there are for these things

i almost never watch these but the one where claire tries to make her own jelly bellies was really entertaining. i appreciate that she takes a stupid task very seriously and gets genuinely frustrated when things go wrong over and over.

I like sohla and Carla, I can't stand the one that has to Skype her parents (they're Indian!) in literally every video. I find most of the guys unbearable and self regarding. I watch these way too often because I have an insatiable appetite for cookery videos but my favourite of the slick glossy channels is the food 52 woman who does the genius recipes, the recipes and tips are often excellent despite her having a skin crawlingly awkward screen presence. in the earlier videos she used to always taste the recipes and then do this disturbingly quiet "mmm" that I think the producers have told her to stop doing because it creeped people out. I fully recommend Manjula (opposite of glossy!) as the best source of Indian food and also the "late night" recipes by Kenji Lopez alt (though he does them with a head camera that makes me feel properly seasick and I wish he wouldn't, on more than one occasion I've had to switch to a different tab and listen to avoid needing to lie down after).

Sohla has proven to be great in a whole other way today

the short version of what's going on rn: a brownface photo of Rapaport has emerged, Sohla is calling for not only his resignation but a sea change within Conde Nast's internal culture. gutsy as hell

Oh shiii is this on their yt or her own media? Hang on

she posted about it on her Insta story is what I see from a quick google

yup

Molly’s posted something too

Anyway here’s the og brownface tweet and endless reply thread

I do not know why Adam Rapoport simply doesn’t write about Puerto Rican food for @bonappetit himself!!! https://t.co/rW0k5tjMoS pic.twitter.com/odZnFLz2gd

— chez tammie (@tammieetc) June 8, 2020

short thread from Carla

As the former food director of BA, I didn't do enough to make sure we covered Black cuisine and Black chefs in particular, and BIPOC recipes in general. I accepted the brand's definition of what the "mainstream" food trends were. I spoke up... sometimes. I should have done more.

— carla lalli music (@lallimusic) June 8, 2020

Oh, thanks for the explanation. I kept seeing subtweets about "food media" and wasn't sure what it was all about.

I have subscribed to Bon Appetit for 5+ years, but have never really bothered with any of their video/Instagram content and don't really know much about the people who work there beyond their print bylines.

Sohla’s IG is here

AND she’s the only one who can temper chocolate 😍 pic.twitter.com/AocbaOz7Ao

— Miriam Bale (@mimbale) June 8, 2020

lol Miriam <3

rapoport resigned. conde nast denies only paying white editors for video appearances

solidarity gets the goods

It says something about the current moment that not even the hyper chil idyll of BA is immune. (a good thing!)

Idyll or no, it's ultimately a capitalist venture in America

absolutely

Seems like p much the whole team is in messaging lockstep

I can't wait for the anonymized Buzzfeed piece or whatever

Rapo has always seemed a dick tbh, and the vibe in the kitchen has never felt too warm towards him

What happened to the guy who used to film those "24 hours working in a NY deli/Vegas restaurant" videos?

rapoport resigned. conde nast denies only paying white editors for video appearances

― Rik Waller-Bridge (jim in vancouver), Monday, June 8, 2020 7:42 PM (yesterday)

i feel like what happened here is that bon appetit realized how white their video stars were and to get ahead of the backlash they started throwing brown ppl in front of the screen (it was very obvious when they started doing this) w/o ever getting around to compensating its employees for the increased responsibility (extremely common at all media companies)

or put another way... i feel like what she really meant to say was, "only the white staffers here have salaries that accurately reflect everything they are asked to do" (claire being one exception who is on a non salaried contract)

Yup.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/skbaer/bon-appetit-adam-rapoport-brown-face-racism

Last August, she was sent on assignment to Philadelphia, for a feature with three Black chefs, but because the publication "doesn't have a great history of working with Black chefs," the chefs asked to work with all Black staff, El-Waylly said.

"There was no one on the food team that was Black, so they sent me instead because I'm the darkest one," she said, adding that neither she nor the chefs were given a heads up about the situation. "I arrived and I wasn't Black, and it was very strange for everyone involved."

OH. MY. GOD.

jesus

A few more ex staffers have chimed in

Oh you guys just thought I didn’t enjoy making “It’s Alive” “Gourmet Makes” “Alex Eats it All” “24 Hours” videos?

— Vincent Cross (@VINCENT_CROSS) June 8, 2020

Holy shit. Sohla and I didn’t overlap, but I was a FAR less experienced white editor who made more than this. I’ve spent 3 years cringing every time someone asks me how cool it was to work at BA. In awe of those who’ve been brave enough to go public. There’s a lot more to come 👀 https://t.co/CrCjLL3Xvi

— Julia Black (@mjnblack) June 8, 2020

A lot of the people putting out statements are the same people who stood by silently or joined in the bullying and allowed this behavior to continue.

— Amelia Rampe (@lebonoeuf) June 8, 2020

For the interested, a GQ piece that heavily features Sohla, now recirculating

https://www.gq.com/story/what-happens-when-a-brown-chef-cooks-white-food

and some new background on it in this thread

the back story on getting this piece published was wild. I originally worked on it at @thrillist where it was edited by @mariuyehara. The white man running the company at the time not only held up the piece for months, he then handed it off to a white male editor. I pulled it. https://t.co/YYMXWJAPVE

— Khushbu Shah (@KhushAndOJ) June 8, 2020

BA posted their apology post on Insta

don't follow Delany anywhere but assume he's apologized for the confederate battle flag cake pic which is floating around on socials

cant stand the 'drinks' guy. intensely slimey vibes.

Vulture has a pretty comprehensive rundown: https://www.vulture.com/2020/06/bon-appetit-eic-adam-rapoport-resigns-racism.html

The editor in charge of video got let go as well

Just got the June/July issue of the print magazine in the mail. There is a short interview with an African American pitmaster and historian of black-owned barbecue restaurants, as well as a feature on Juneteenth by an African American writer that includes recipes from three African American chefs. There's also a first-person essay by Roxane Gay.

To be clear, none of that excuses what's been reported about Rapoport and the way that POC staff have been treated, which are real issues. I just thought it was interesting in light of those developments. It seems like the magazine has been trying to prioritize diversity in its editorial focus (more than some people may assume), even if that hasn't extended to its employees (which is surely a bigger problem). And again, I don't know the Test Kitchen world at all.

test kitchen reminds me of when you see huge gangs of straight white people having enormous picnics

same vibe

ah, so when condé says it’s going to take racism seriously, this is what they mean. they’re going to investigate the people making the claims and the people who support them, rather than looking at the systemic racism itself. got it. https://t.co/ow5sf48Dvs pic.twitter.com/meXuWZCOwh

— rosemary donahue (@rosadona) June 25, 2020

free hunzi

ugh for real

noooooo wtf @ suspending hunzi

what bullshit

this whole 'hotbed of racism' thing has put me off the BA videos and tipped me right over the edge of not at all enjoying its forced chumminess. I haven't watched any of their videos since. I wonder if viewer ratings have declined as a result or if everyone else has simply already forgotten?

They haven't posted a video since then, for one thing

They haven't posted anything since, have they? I'm sure views and subscribers are down, but there are probably a majority that have no idea about any of it.

xp

They have still been posting Epicurious videos though

i never found the chumminess particularly forced? it seemed pretty clear that everyone hated rapaport.

I honestly would be watching the videos if they were posting new vids ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I mean, as long as they haven't fucked Sohla over and were genuinely sorting out the issues that arose last month, I would too, as I love the videos they make.

Same, not holding out hope for them to do the right thing, but I definitely haven't been inspired to bake anything (although it's also summer).

Pretty sure all/most of the stars committed to not allowing BA to make any new footage of them or in some cases not even use existing footage of them until demands were met.

I’ve become a Mythical Kitchen devotee since quarantine began and it’s easily just as fun as the best BATK content if not more so. Possible minus: most of the recipes are nonsense. I just watched the new one where Nicole makes pimento cheese monkey bread, thought “I might try that!” and realized I basically never think that thought about anything Josh makes.

Sohla was on Binging With Babish today!!

i might have to watch. i miss coming home from work and watching a fresh ba video while drinking a beer :/

We’ve been watching a lot of Babish anyway. He has the benefit of falling in the Venn overlap of being on It’s Alive with Brad (making ricotta cheese) and on Food Fears with Josh (pork blood). It’s a shame he’s so mumbly though, it makes it hard to follow what he’s doing at times.