I don't hate the intro music but you just saying "hey everyone" is good enough intro for me. The transitionless intro directly switching to POV and the continuation of video on 1 take is something like. Idk I may be wrong
Agreed. For me a big part of what makes Kenji's content so fantastic is just how simple and unpolished it is. No quick jump cuts, no 10-minute introductory ramble, just a guy cooking in his kitchen and talking about what he's doing in real time. I've come around to the occasional use of a second gopro attached to a pan, but the first time I saw it I cringed a little.
Time traveling Ninja here, from 4 years in the future! The intro was just fine and I can tell you had fun doing it. I don't know why everyone was complaining.
Payton Stephens I don’t think Shelly’s admonishing Kenji; if I make a thing that others can view and comment on, respectful opinion and feedback can be useful even if I keep doing my own thing.
Not sure how I feel about the new intro. Seems like it just adds fluff. One of the things I like about your videos is how they're always direct to the point.
Kenji, I bought a molcajete a few weeks ago because of your videos and it has dramatically improved the flavor of a lot of things I make, including chili oil, guac, pesto, garlic ginger paste, sesame seed paste for tantanmen, and even my homemade chili flakes I make from my own dried hot peppers. Thanks for all the useful food science information!
I wish I could upvote this 10x. The intro music reminds me of something I'd watch in the library in school during the 80s. Maybe what he was looking for but it came across goofy. IMO and all that.
I keep seeing in Kenji’s videos that people are always knocking some aspect of his video. Here you are, ConvoyGTR, joining the club. Kenji, keep the intro music and turn that volume up to 11 Baby! Everyone is just peanut butter and jealous about your kick ass videos.
I much prefer the old style of video without intro. The whole beauty of this series was cutting right to the chase, and didnt feel like the commercialized and corporate food channels on RUclips. We were half way there with Kenji saying he never will do ads or promotions.
I love how you think and explain the science behind food/techniques/what you do. I don't know if most chefs do that or not, but you explaining why you use the mortar and pestle for making the pesto due to plant cells and what not is just so fascinating. I'd love to have the amount of knowledge on stuff like that as you so that I can always know exactly how to prepare something or exactly how to cook something even if im not 100% sure what it is I'm cooking with.
No need for an intro or any crazy effects in your videos. What I love about your videos is that they're just straight to the point "hey everyone" and then just a really nice, likable and knowledgable guy explaining how to cook great dishes. Keep it up! :)
Thanks for the feedback. I’m gonna continue to mess around with editing and music and stuff because it’s fun for me, and that’s what I do this channel for!
@@JKenjiLopezAlt If it's fun for you, that's great! Keep having fun :) I just wanted to point out that your channel is great the way it is and you shouldn't feel obliged to add those things, because you actually don't need them. I really like what you're doing here, one of my favorite channels at the moment.
@@JKenjiLopezAlt Definitely do what makes you happy. I can't speak for everyone, but I just assumed the point of your format was to minimize the time put into editing because you seem really busy even in lockdown so I can only imagine your normal workload. Just started reading The Food Lab btw; it's proving very informative and lifting it is also a solid arm workout.
I just made this and I gotta say, I DID NOT EXPECT IT TO BE THIS GOOD!!! Honestly, I feel like it’s the best thing I’ve ever made. And I’m not saying that to toot my own horn, I owe all of it to you, Kenji. This was truly amazing! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us!
"it's all about getting real good ingredients and not doing much to them, that's the essence of Italian food....that and getting angry at people for doing it wrong" hahaha I died laughing
There's a popular video of Massimo Bottura making pesto in a blender. Goes to show the criticism is more about national pride than actually about food quality.
Alan I don’t think is that black and white ....I mean depends... but for the vast majority heavy insulting criticism is done by people who can’t fry an egg or by people who don’t care of what lies past their noses.
@@muhammadaryawicaksono4232 Oh that’s harmless! You should see the stuff they eat in this small, mountainous state called Australia! Now excuse me mate... I have to put another Shrimp on the barbie.
@@muhammadaryawicaksono4232 i think you didn't look too closely, because you see, while you would be correct if he was from australia, i believe the original poster said he was from austria.
Wow, bringing up the production values on the opening! Loving your cooking show. You're a actual chef and teacher, not just a celebrity and I learn so much.
Hi Kenji. My Nona would have me make this every Saturday afternoon for Sunday lunch. Due to an allergy to pine nuts (me) she would use almonds. To this day I still use almonds and it's fantastic. Try it!
Kenji I don’t wanna be another voice against you cultivating your editing skills. Keep on growing and find your voice. I just wanna say that as a lo-fi music fan, there is an art to a product that isn’t polished. John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats came out with a new album last month that goes back to his boom box roots, and he said that hearing a recording straight from the boom box is as close as the listener can get to the act of the music creation. There is magic and intimacy in that moment. I feel there is a similarity between the charm of lo-fi music and your bare bones editing and filming style. You let the cooking and techniques shine with your commentary and you don’t seem scripted. But I am sure I will also enjoy your videos with a higher production value and would never encourage you to stop. I figure you will do you no matter what your audience says because that’s the kind of person you are. Thanks for the video as always.
Ehi mate, guy from Genoa here. As you may know here in Italy most of us are food taleban, but i gotta say your video recipe it's not half bad! Still, you can use some advices to improve it: -it's called Pesto which translates loosely "crushed", BUT you Don't actually want to crush it in the mortar. You need sort of rotate the pestle on itself while pushing it from the sides to the bottom while also rotate the mortar. Its a lot of wrist work, but it will make you extract more juices, because you will Squeeze the garlic first and the Basil after. Thats why you Need a much bigger pestle, something that covers like 3/5 of the mortar. -the important part its to prevent the basil to heat, since it will oxydate and get darker. In your case you can see its a bit too dark (but still looks rather good!). Thats why we use marble mortars, because it keeps better the cold. -remove the "soul" Of the garlic, the central part always. It will make the garlic much more digestible. -you can put only parmesan butt you can also use 50% parmesan and 50% pecorino, which is more salty. I say it because you add to much salt. The best Video i think which explains the original recipe and the right movement with the peste it Is a video from the channel Italia Squisita. That said, good work!
You're the reason I'm going to get myself a mortar and pestle. I make guacamole and pesto often enough to make it worth it for me, and it'll save me from having to get the food processor out and take it apart/clean it afterwards.
I would keep your vids fluff-free Kenji, I think people really love the simple, authenticity of your vids, and the knowledge that you share. I would focus on the content of what you share verbally, visually and instructively, etc as you do. That's what we love. And dank food. But just my opinion love your show.
the intro with music feels much less personal to me which is one of the many reasons I love this channel. Neat to try new things but it feels more corpo or something with an intro. Keep up the excellent content man you are inspiring a whole generation of home cooks during these wild ass time! Thanks so much
You can easily charge for the way you present information,. Kinda recently found your channel, hands down one of my favorite cooking shows now. Keep up the great work man
"Using a mortar and pestle is better because Godzilla." And this actually made sense. One of many reasons I love Kenji's way of teaching. Time tp go rofflestomp some basil!
I kept seeing this scene of you violently punching sponges in your outro montage and I was racking my brain trying to figure out what culinary trick you were doing.
Thank you for validating my effort prepping my new molcajete years ago and reminding me to get that thing back in action! Too much buying salsa, etc latrly
One of my favorite things to make. I love both the recipe and the technique you talk about. The only issue I had was that when I pestle the pine nuts before the basil, the oil from the nuts made it far harder to get the basil ground. It might be due to overloading my mortar though. Doesn't matter too much though, because it has always been delicious.
"I don't actually have to do a ton of heavy pounding by myself, I let the weight of the thing do its work. And really what you're trying to do rather than crush like that, you're trying to grind [...]" Good advice right there!
My girlfriend loves pesto and so when I got a mini food processor she just had to try making it! Well, as I mostly cook for the two of us she was a bit out of practice and didn’t really consider her recipe size versus the mini(!) food processor. To make a long story short she added in all the basil after an eternity of processing, and as a result it was the best pesto I’ve ever had. I never considered that all the pesto I’ve had since then has been bad because the pesto wasn’t ground up enough.
Kenji adding music is a huge additive!!! Love it plsss show more love to Hamoon, I feel like he’s ur fav low key looool ! Thanks for being amazing and showing ur talent 👊🏾
Helen Rennie had a discussion of Ligurian pesto on her channel yesterday regarding the different profiles of the basil and olive oil of the area that are more buttery. I think it is worth checking out.
I appreciate the slowly evolving production work and your experimentation with different things, so I don't want to discourage that but I'm not a huge fan of the intro. I like the single-take vibe (excusing when you need to cut out your family or proofing dough etc) as I imagine you just strap a go pro to your head whenever you get hungry and want to cook.
Another traditional ligurian pasta shapes is called "corzetti" it's a stamp made pasta shapes and each stamp is unique to its family. Some families would have their coat of arms made into a stamp. The pasta can go with many condiments but pesto seems to be very common
I have tried the mortar-pestle method and the food processor method, and really didn't notice the mortar-pestle yield a significantly better result. I also felt that pesto from the mortar-pestle is chunkier (maybe because of bigger basil pieces) and more bitter than pesto from a food processor. I think I will use the food processor method going forward.
garlic is safe for dogs. The study that was performed did the following... study by K W Lee et al. fed 5 grams of garlic per kilo per day to the dogs. That’s an excessive amount equivalent to feeding about four full heads of garlic (or 60 cloves) to a 75 lb Golden Retriever or 23 grams of garlic (6 to 8 cloves) to a 10 lb dog before they’d experience any adverse effects.
Not criticism, just curious why the final scene was the pesto you made in the processor, not the one that was the focus of the video. Either way, I always appreciate your instruction. Making your roasted spatchcock chicken tomorrow
Hi Kenji! What is your favorite brand of “good” olive oil for drizzling/finishing? Curious to know what kind you have in the metal olive oil dispenser.
Hey not sure what brands are available where you live but, a good olive oil will smell like fresh grass. It a very Herby smell. What you can also do, is taste it, with bread or by itself. Good quality olive oil will cause a "spicy" sensation in the back of your throat. What I have seen is that a lot of regular brands mix extra virgin olive oil with lower quality oils while still calling it extra virgin. If it smells like "olive oil" then it's probably not the best quality. Good olive oil can get pricey though.
@@naderfernandez1491 one year late but this is an awesome explanation. It does get pricey but there’s nothing quite like that flavor. Drizzling a plate of pasta with high quality olive oil definitely takes it to the next level
I don't hate the intro music but you just saying "hey everyone" is good enough intro for me. The transitionless intro directly switching to POV and the continuation of video on 1 take is something like. Idk I may be wrong
I agree. I'm not a fan of this intro for the same reason I don't like movie trailers -- it spoils the whole thing!
Agreed. For me a big part of what makes Kenji's content so fantastic is just how simple and unpolished it is. No quick jump cuts, no 10-minute introductory ramble, just a guy cooking in his kitchen and talking about what he's doing in real time. I've come around to the occasional use of a second gopro attached to a pan, but the first time I saw it I cringed a little.
I guess he's trying it out to see what people think. But yeah I do like his plain style a bit more.
I agree
agreed
Time traveling Ninja here, from 4 years in the future!
The intro was just fine and I can tell you had fun doing it. I don't know why everyone was complaining.
I really like how you started your videos without the music. You got right into your cooking which I love. No need for music.
I don’t think he cares what you think
I actually like the music and he probably didn't do it to please you lol, he'll probably survive without your approval 😉
Payton Stephens I don’t think Shelly’s admonishing Kenji; if I make a thing that others can view and comment on, respectful opinion and feedback can be useful even if I keep doing my own thing.
@@P_Grizzly Calm down!
@@lilbeepboopxxl7543 Was that really necessary to say?
The intro looks and sounds like it's straight out of a 90's public access television cooking show
I was aiming for a cross between Mr. Wizard’s World and 3-2-1 Contact.
And that's precisely why I loved it!
I was gonna say cooking anime intro song. Apparently they actually have competitive cooking anime.
@@JKenjiLopezAlt Up the goofiness, and I'd be gold
@@JKenjiLopezAlt Nailed it.
Not sure how I feel about the new intro. Seems like it just adds fluff. One of the things I like about your videos is how they're always direct to the point.
Its 18 seconds. Youll live buddy
@@alexzajac5902 It's 18 seconds that adds nothing and takes more time for Kenji to make. Seems like pretty constructive feedback to be honest
@@cdkx655 true
Alex Zajac glad this didn’t escalate
Kenji, I bought a molcajete a few weeks ago because of your videos and it has dramatically improved the flavor of a lot of things I make, including chili oil, guac, pesto, garlic ginger paste, sesame seed paste for tantanmen, and even my homemade chili flakes I make from my own dried hot peppers. Thanks for all the useful food science information!
4:47 "I generally try not to curse on *this* channel."
Is there some secret Kenji After Dark channel I'm not aware of? ;)
I just had the same thought when I heard it
The elusive J. Kenji López-Main Channel
@@DJDiarrhea Holy shit that's clever :D
@@DJDiarrhea This comment aged well!
I like that you continue to evolve and try new things, but I think the intro music is not needed, or at least try softer music next time
I wish I could upvote this 10x.
The intro music reminds me of something I'd watch in the library in school during the 80s. Maybe what he was looking for but it came across goofy. IMO and all that.
I would also say if he wants the theme, then do a collage of all the videos he's done, instead of making it of the video we're about to watch.
I keep seeing in Kenji’s videos that people are always knocking some aspect of his video. Here you are, ConvoyGTR, joining the club.
Kenji, keep the intro music and turn that volume up to 11 Baby! Everyone is just peanut butter and jealous about your kick ass videos.
Booo
I mean, his video content is great and I've been following his work for ages it seems. I'm just not a big fan of intro music. Or least this one.
I much prefer the old style of video without intro. The whole beauty of this series was cutting right to the chase, and didnt feel like the commercialized and corporate food channels on RUclips. We were half way there with Kenji saying he never will do ads or promotions.
The demonstration with the sponges gave me some nice Alton Brown vibes.
I take the footage from the pestle GoPro didn't work out as planned?
I disappeared into the ether. I’m not sure where it went! I must have accidentally deleted it.
@@JKenjiLopezAlt Ah okay, that's too bad. I was intrigued by the ingenuity.
Thank you for not cursing in this wonderful programme. You’re a very good instructor/chef/ teacher .... very pro!👍🏻
Aww, this comment makes me sad, as I think cursing is natural and shows how relatable and human Kenji is.
I love how you think and explain the science behind food/techniques/what you do. I don't know if most chefs do that or not, but you explaining why you use the mortar and pestle for making the pesto due to plant cells and what not is just so fascinating. I'd love to have the amount of knowledge on stuff like that as you so that I can always know exactly how to prepare something or exactly how to cook something even if im not 100% sure what it is I'm cooking with.
The long, skinny, flat Ligurian pasta you're thinking of is trenette! Trofie is shorter and twisted, but both are very traditional and very delicious!
Aka bavette aka linguine (practically same shape, very slight differences)
Nice wug!
No need for an intro or any crazy effects in your videos. What I love about your videos is that they're just straight to the point "hey everyone" and then just a really nice, likable and knowledgable guy explaining how to cook great dishes. Keep it up! :)
@@bobbybruce7086 To be honest, you're the negative person here. I've checked out your other comments and you don't seem like a very nice person.
@@bobbybruce7086 That was the definition of constructive feedback
Thanks for the feedback. I’m gonna continue to mess around with editing and music and stuff because it’s fun for me, and that’s what I do this channel for!
@@JKenjiLopezAlt If it's fun for you, that's great! Keep having fun :) I just wanted to point out that your channel is great the way it is and you shouldn't feel obliged to add those things, because you actually don't need them. I really like what you're doing here, one of my favorite channels at the moment.
@@JKenjiLopezAlt Definitely do what makes you happy. I can't speak for everyone, but I just assumed the point of your format was to minimize the time put into editing because you seem really busy even in lockdown so I can only imagine your normal workload. Just started reading The Food Lab btw; it's proving very informative and lifting it is also a solid arm workout.
Love that your experimenting Kenji, but if I'm being honest what I fell in love with in your channel is your simplicity !
Bro the world is still in lockdown. let him get creative with his videos
s.q Never said that he can't 🤦🏾♂️
I love seeing Kenji's editing evolve. What a guy!
I just made this and I gotta say, I DID NOT EXPECT IT TO BE THIS GOOD!!! Honestly, I feel like it’s the best thing I’ve ever made. And I’m not saying that to toot my own horn, I owe all of it to you, Kenji. This was truly amazing! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us!
Kenji's videos are so educational and therapeutic.
I hope he knows how much of a service he's doing.
Yet another video of yours that just makes me want to go into the kitchen and cook food, rather than stack the fridge with ready meals. Thank you.
"it's all about getting real good ingredients and not doing much to them, that's the essence of Italian food....that and getting angry at people for doing it wrong" hahaha I died laughing
There's a popular video of Massimo Bottura making pesto in a blender. Goes to show the criticism is more about national pride than actually about food quality.
Alan I don’t think is that black and white ....I mean depends... but for the vast majority heavy insulting criticism is done by people who can’t fry an egg or by people who don’t care of what lies past their noses.
love the explanation of the mortar and pestle! would love if you could go over how to properly clean and maintain it
love how kenji sacrficed his sponges to teach us something
I really loved that mortar and pestle explanation and how it's better.
Hey KenjI! If you want to try pesto with an Austrian twist, try stinging-nettle with thistle oil. Sounds horrible but is delicious when made properly!
Oh over here we make tortelli with stinging-nettle, they're good!
So it's not enough that everything in your goddamn continent is trying to kill you while upside-down, you actually eat those things?
@@muhammadaryawicaksono4232 Oh that’s harmless! You should see the stuff they eat in this small, mountainous state called Australia!
Now excuse me mate... I have to put another Shrimp on the barbie.
@@brenner7308 you are quite witty. well done.
@@muhammadaryawicaksono4232 i think you didn't look too closely, because you see, while you would be correct if he was from australia, i believe the original poster said he was from austria.
9:33 Exactly ! The combination of garlic and olive oil is just magical, mix in some parmesan and it's already mind blowing.
Key takeaways from the video
Blender : *Whack whack whack whack*
Mortar and pestle: *Smash smash smash smash*
Thank you Kenji, informative as always!
Came to watch Kenji make pesto, instead he attacks sponges.
"Honey, where are all those new sponges I bought?"
That's so funny, I was thinking the same thing.
The go pro on your mortar and pestle is hilarious
3:08 This is the apex of the channel
Exactly! This demo convinced me to do it this way next.
This is best cooking content on youtube, hands down! There is more information in five minutes then you will get in a half hour from other sources.
I bought a mortar and pestle so I could make this. I added too much garlic, but it was still amazing. Thank you, Kenji!
Wow, bringing up the production values on the opening! Loving your cooking show. You're a actual chef and teacher, not just a celebrity and I learn so much.
"pesto is the best" ok but was anyone else lowkey expecting a "pesto is the besto"? no? just me? cool
I was thinking that as you had said it lol
I was about to comment this
Well, this ain’t Chef John 😂
YSAC
Hi Kenji. My Nona would have me make this every Saturday afternoon for Sunday lunch. Due to an allergy to pine nuts (me) she would use almonds. To this day I still use almonds and it's fantastic. Try it!
Kenji I don’t wanna be another voice against you cultivating your editing skills. Keep on growing and find your voice. I just wanna say that as a lo-fi music fan, there is an art to a product that isn’t polished. John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats came out with a new album last month that goes back to his boom box roots, and he said that hearing a recording straight from the boom box is as close as the listener can get to the act of the music creation. There is magic and intimacy in that moment.
I feel there is a similarity between the charm of lo-fi music and your bare bones editing and filming style. You let the cooking and techniques shine with your commentary and you don’t seem scripted. But I am sure I will also enjoy your videos with a higher production value and would never encourage you to stop. I figure you will do you no matter what your audience says because that’s the kind of person you are. Thanks for the video as always.
Ehi mate, guy from Genoa here. As you may know here in Italy most of us are food taleban, but i gotta say your video recipe it's not half bad! Still, you can use some advices to improve it:
-it's called Pesto which translates loosely "crushed", BUT you Don't actually want to crush it in the mortar. You need sort of rotate the pestle on itself while pushing it from the sides to the bottom while also rotate the mortar. Its a lot of wrist work, but it will make you extract more juices, because you will Squeeze the garlic first and the Basil after. Thats why you Need a much bigger pestle, something that covers like 3/5 of the mortar.
-the important part its to prevent the basil to heat, since it will oxydate and get darker. In your case you can see its a bit too dark (but still looks rather good!). Thats why we use marble mortars, because it keeps better the cold.
-remove the "soul" Of the garlic, the central part always. It will make the garlic much more digestible.
-you can put only parmesan butt you can also use 50% parmesan and 50% pecorino, which is more salty. I say it because you add to much salt.
The best Video i think which explains the original recipe and the right movement with the peste it Is a video from the channel Italia Squisita.
That said, good work!
I can see myself skipping through the intro after hearing it two times
Booo
I skipped it 5 seconds in once I knew what was happening.
I did the same
Made this recipe/approach tonight. As ever, the result is just awesome. Thanks for keeping me interested in home cooking!
The sponge example and science references are much appreciated. It gave me a Bill Nye type cooking vibe haha
Is there anyone else who watches these videos like i do, not because of a love of cooking (i rarely cook), but because of a love of food?
Love the demo you did with the sponges
You're the reason I'm going to get myself a mortar and pestle. I make guacamole and pesto often enough to make it worth it for me, and it'll save me from having to get the food processor out and take it apart/clean it afterwards.
Your eating sounds are at the perfect volume and and have the ideal duration. Just my opinion.
These are the best videos ive ever watched on cooking.
I would keep your vids fluff-free Kenji, I think people really love the simple, authenticity of your vids, and the knowledge that you share. I would focus on the content of what you share verbally, visually and instructively, etc as you do. That's what we love. And dank food. But just my opinion love your show.
the intro with music feels much less personal to me which is one of the many reasons I love this channel. Neat to try new things but it feels more corpo or something with an intro. Keep up the excellent content man you are inspiring a whole generation of home cooks during these wild ass time! Thanks so much
I made pesto last night with Thai basil and mac nuts because that's what I had...still turned out great
i personally don’t like the music
You can easily charge for the way you present information,. Kinda recently found your channel, hands down one of my favorite cooking shows now. Keep up the great work man
Just made this last night! So tasty. Nothing says summer like pesto
"Using a mortar and pestle is better because Godzilla." And this actually made sense.
One of many reasons I love Kenji's way of teaching.
Time tp go rofflestomp some basil!
Kenji, you’s a smart dude with all this cooking stuff, very informational
I loved the wet sponge demonstration! I will have to try the mortar and pestle method the next time I make pesto!
Love the mortar and pestle gopro attachment
I kept seeing this scene of you violently punching sponges in your outro montage and I was racking my brain trying to figure out what culinary trick you were doing.
Thank you for validating my effort prepping my new molcajete years ago and reminding me to get that thing back in action! Too much buying salsa, etc latrly
Love the sponge demo. Very glad we didn’t have to experience the trauma of the pestle cam.
Love the sponge analogy.
Kenji: "Oops, I try not to curse on THIS channel."
Me: *looks for channel he curses on*
My man got intro music and everything now. His production has gone up so much and I love it
One of my favorite things to make. I love both the recipe and the technique you talk about. The only issue I had was that when I pestle the pine nuts before the basil, the oil from the nuts made it far harder to get the basil ground. It might be due to overloading my mortar though. Doesn't matter too much though, because it has always been delicious.
I was waiting anxiously for you to say "Pesto is the...besto". I feel let down.
I was gonna say the same... what a missed oppertunity
You need to go to Foodwishes for that.
"I don't actually have to do a ton of heavy pounding by myself, I let the weight of the thing do its work. And really what you're trying to do rather than crush like that, you're trying to grind [...]"
Good advice right there!
If anyone started this video not knowing that Kenji is a dad, they definitely figured it out when he did the legendary sponge demo.
Now that's a mortar & pestle. That tiny marble one was excruciating!
My girlfriend loves pesto and so when I got a mini food processor she just had to try making it! Well, as I mostly cook for the two of us she was a bit out of practice and didn’t really consider her recipe size versus the mini(!) food processor.
To make a long story short she added in all the basil after an eternity of processing, and as a result it was the best pesto I’ve ever had. I never considered that all the pesto I’ve had since then has been bad because the pesto wasn’t ground up enough.
I'm surprised he didn't say, "pesto is the besto".
i'll be honest the intro is hilarious because i love you
Kenji adding music is a huge additive!!! Love it plsss show more love to Hamoon, I feel like he’s ur fav low key looool ! Thanks for being amazing and showing ur talent 👊🏾
I think the intro music and future scenes ideas works. I like the 90s feel. Nice!
Helen Rennie had a discussion of Ligurian pesto on her channel yesterday regarding the different profiles of the basil and olive oil of the area that are more buttery. I think it is worth checking out.
Yeah, I feel like she missed the point a bit about the whole mortar'n'pestle/processor debate, but her arguments about flavour balance were spot on!
Thanks for the link to the mortar and pestle!
Wife caught you ending the video with your food processor pesto, can’t sneak it by her. Great content as always. Love watching and learning.
I want a dictionary where all pronunciation is explained Kenji-style
New introooo!! Sounds nostalgic for some reason I dunno why
I specifically was aiming for a 80s science/kids show vibe.
Aw poor Jamón and his attempt at getting the pasta in the intro, love that guy haha
I appreciate the slowly evolving production work and your experimentation with different things, so I don't want to discourage that but I'm not a huge fan of the intro. I like the single-take vibe (excusing when you need to cut out your family or proofing dough etc) as I imagine you just strap a go pro to your head whenever you get hungry and want to cook.
True boss move making it by hand, I tried that once and didn’t manage to break down the basil. Ended up using a hand blender
Kenji version 10 is now live. Love it!
it is not surprising that these ingredients taste good when combined when they taste good each on its own
Kenji took the show up a notch with the new intro
not a fan of the intro music tbh. you’re one of the few youtubers who avoids all the fluff and gets straight to the point
Haha, until now I thought you had included that sponge clip in the intro as a surreal joke. That was actually very informative!
Another traditional ligurian pasta shapes is called "corzetti" it's a stamp made pasta shapes and each stamp is unique to its family. Some families would have their coat of arms made into a stamp. The pasta can go with many condiments but pesto seems to be very common
Its the essence of cooking. Making few ingredients taste like there is 20 of them.
Yo Kenji, could you Make a gardening video? I’m really interested how you grow your basil Etc.
That's it, next time I make a batch of pesto, I will take the extra time to use the pestle and mortar. Kudos for the props aka sponges.
Kenji's latest innovation, pestle-cam
I have tried the mortar-pestle method and the food processor method, and really didn't notice the mortar-pestle yield a significantly better result. I also felt that pesto from the mortar-pestle is chunkier (maybe because of bigger basil pieces) and more bitter than pesto from a food processor. I think I will use the food processor method going forward.
I feel like Kenji is the type of dad to not only help is daughter with homework, but make learning fun
Kenji, I saw someone mention seasoning a mortar and pestle.. do you have to do that with this?
garlic is safe for dogs. The study that was performed did the following...
study by K W Lee et al. fed 5 grams of garlic per kilo per day to the dogs. That’s an excessive amount equivalent to feeding about four full heads of garlic (or 60 cloves) to a 75 lb Golden Retriever or 23 grams of garlic (6 to 8 cloves) to a 10 lb dog before they’d experience any adverse effects.
“Like Godzilla coming to crush the shipping containers full of china-made toys”
Likening a mortar and pestle to a kaiju is certainly a way to go about it
Holy olive oil! I love it.
Not criticism, just curious why the final scene was the pesto you made in the processor, not the one that was the focus of the video. Either way, I always appreciate your instruction. Making your roasted spatchcock chicken tomorrow
Hey Kenji, can you do a video on how to clean and care for your Mortar and Pestle?
Definitely prefer the videos with no intros that jump straight into the content, that's quite your trademark by now I believe
it would be nice to know where he got his mortar and pestle from! I would like to buy the same thing. It seems huge and well built!
Hi Kenji! What is your favorite brand of “good” olive oil for drizzling/finishing? Curious to know what kind you have in the metal olive oil dispenser.
Hey not sure what brands are available where you live but, a good olive oil will smell like fresh grass. It a very Herby smell. What you can also do, is taste it, with bread or by itself. Good quality olive oil will cause a "spicy" sensation in the back of your throat.
What I have seen is that a lot of regular brands mix extra virgin olive oil with lower quality oils while still calling it extra virgin. If it smells like "olive oil" then it's probably not the best quality.
Good olive oil can get pricey though.
@@naderfernandez1491 one year late but this is an awesome explanation. It does get pricey but there’s nothing quite like that flavor. Drizzling a plate of pasta with high quality olive oil definitely takes it to the next level