February 17, 2025 • 23 mins
Welcome to the our special series from the World Food Championships!
What happens when you mix passion, resilience, and a trailblazing spirit in the fiery world of culinary competitions? Meet Alexandra, the woman who is redefining the competitive barbecue scene alongside her partner Aaron Alosi at Iron and Oak Catering. With a childhood marked by the chaos of four younger brothers, Alex discovered cooking as her solace and outlet. Now, she brings her expertise in traditional Argentinian cooking over embers to the forefront, breaking barriers in a male-dominated field. Listen as she shares her journey and the wisdom gained from culinary legends like Al Pergoni.
The culinary world is a melting pot of creativity and innovation, driven by the shared passion of its community. From thrilling adventures in Taiwan to the high-stakes environment of "Next Level Chef" with Gordon Ramsay, we dig into the heart of culinary competitions. Discover how challenges like smoking pasta dough push chefs to create the extraordinary, supported by a network of like-minded individuals who share the same fervor for food. This episode is a tribute to the camaraderie and dedication that fuel the culinary industry's growth and innovation.
Join us as we explore the intricate art of live fire cooking, from sourcing the perfect local hog to mastering the nuances of cooking without a thermometer. We dive into rapid-fire questions and share personal favorites, such as essential kitchen tools and the most demanding aspects of preparation. With a sprinkle of humor and a generous serving of passion, we invite you to savor the world of live-fire cooking.
Connect with Alex and Aaron here: https://www.ironandoakcatering.com/
https://www.instagram.com/cookingwithzandge_s/
https://www.instagram.com/ironandoak_nj/
https://www.instagram.com/losi_cooks/
This episode explores:
• Introduction to live fire cooking and its uniqueness
• Personal journey of chef Alexandra and her culinary evolution
• Techniques for cooking whole hogs and managing heat
• Importance of community and shared experiences in cooking
• Sourcing quality ingredients locally for authenticity
• Lighter moments: rapid-fire questions revealing chef personalities
• Future aspirations in the world of live-fire cooking
Welcome to the show! Burnt Hands Perspective
VIRTUAL TIP JAR: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2388325/support
CONTACT US:
www.burnthandsperspective.com
info@reframeyourbrand.com
IG @Theburnthandsperspective
Thank you to our location sponsor, Luce Secondo, located in Summit Pointe in Chesapeake, VA www.lucesecondo.com
For sponsorship opportunities, don't hesitate to get in touch with us directly.
*The views and opinions on this show are meant for entertainment purposes only. They do not reflect the views of our sponsors. We are not here to babysit your feelings, if you are a true industry pro, you will know that what we say is meant to make you laugh and have a great time. If you don't get that, this is not the podcast for you. You've been warned. Enjoy the ride!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
All right, here we are again Kristen.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
World Food Championships 2024.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I'm having a hard time finding words.
There's so much energy in thisroom.
You've got to remember.
Guys, we're recording this andfilming this live.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
So there's a lot of action going on.
There's a lot of energy.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
The competition is fierce with us.
Is that the double-a team righthere?
Go and introduce yourselvesreal quick.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Yeah, so my name is Alexandra.
I go by Alex and Zanj on socialmedia.
My name is Aaron Aloisi, and.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I'm Partners with Alex here.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
So we do do live fire catering.
Nice, yeah, you guys hearingthis, all right, with the live
in the back, all right, good.
So because we're live anddirect, we're going to be acting
like down here, so it bringsmore energy to the room.
Listen, so you have a veryexciting story, man.
I really didn't say man, you'rea female, so take that back,
but you have a very excitingstory.
Yeah To exciting story.
(01:05):
Yeah, to me it's intriguingbecause the restaurant industry
we look at it's multifaceted,right, so I can talk as a chef,
we can talk about the high-endrestaurants, you know that's up.
But but this show the bird hasperspective.
Yeah, it covers everybody.
Bird hands you burn your handsin your profession, right.
You are a competitive, right,I'd say that where you're a
competitor in the barbecue, isthat right?
Yeah, grilling Give us a littlerundown on what you do, yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
So I'm the owner of Iron and Oak Catering, which is
a live fire catering company, sowe go around and we do private
events.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Explain live fire.
What is exactly the term livefire?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
So it's a traditional Argentinian style way of
cooking where you're cookingover embers, so you're letting
the wood kind of go down intoembers and you're using
different heat distributions toslow cook meat throughout.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
You know.
So, with that in my mind, I'm Iam not that sort of chef, but I
am a chef and I know how tocook.
So I'm thinking in my mindyou're putting that on at a very
high temperature, with a highflame right at the beginning,
and then bringing it down slowlyto let it go.
Is that something like that, orno?
No, so it's a complete opposite.
Okay, cool, so what?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
you're doing is like so we do whole hogs.
Our specialty is, when we dothese private events is a whole
hog.
That's kind of the main show ofthe, the entire experience.
And what you want to do is youwant to start off at a low heat,
so we do like a five to a sixcount, so when you put your hand
over the heat, you want to beable to keep it there for at
least five to six seconds andyou're going to start bone side
(02:30):
down, and when you start boneside down, it helps cook evenly
throughout.
And then a trick that we'veactually learned from one of our
good friends, al Pergoni, isthat you know when the meat is
ready to turn around withoutusing a temp, when the back of
it warm, and then you flip itaround and you'll you'll let it
the skin get crispy and you'lllet it finish cooking off that
way, and it's an entire show andit's an entire about eight hour
(02:52):
process every time you do it.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
You got good tips from uh mr fragoni there, he
gave you some yeah, absolutely,we learned a lot from.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
We learned almost everything open fire.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
So I was out there earlier this morning and they
were putting their animals outon the spit that way and they
were introducing it to a veryhot flame real quick and then
pulling it off and then startingto step fewer.
I found that interesting.
So I guess it depends on whatfinished product you're looking
for.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Tenderness, what type of consistency and things where
that's going to go and that'swhere the studying comes.
So how did you get into it Inorder to go into competing?
You don't seem like you're thatold and there's not a lot of
women.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
No, there's not.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
This is very intriguing, so you had to pack a
lot in a short time to getwhere you are.
Is that right?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Absolutely, and it's really funny because a lot of
times we'll be at private eventsor we'll be doing competitions
and people will go up to Aaronand be like hey man competitions
and people will go up to Aaronand be like hey man and he's
like Nope talk to her no, she is, I won't, I'm not going to lie
you.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
You have a presence about you.
That in once you start speaking, you instantly know.
But you keep yourself reservedin the background.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
No, it's a great day.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
It's a great day.
Yes, definitely so.
You keep you seem.
When I first met you yesterday,you seem to be quite reserved
and watching and spectating, Icould tell you were very
intrigued.
But I didn't know that you wereactually the one until you
started talking.
Instantly you took over.
Yeah, that's really cool.
That's important in thisindustry.
Yeah, especially when you'recompeting yeah, oh, 100% so you
(04:17):
have aspirations of bringingthis to the next level
absolutely yeah, and especiallyto like being in in New Jersey.
like you travel throughout theentire United States, stop right
there for a second, not to cutyou off, how did, how did
someone from New Jersey get intothe open pit you don't think
about typically in New Jerseylive fire barbecue, whatever you
want to call it Right how doyou?
(04:37):
How does?
How does a woman, a nicelooking woman no disrespect here
, let's be honest how does awoman like you just get into
that in New Jersey?
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah, so I grew up with four younger brothers and I
always loved cooking and I kindof started to use cooking as a
stress relief.
So, like I was telling herearlier, like when I was
stressed out, I would spend allday making pasta, and like I
would just spend all day in thekitchen me pasta, like pasta or.
Delaney, you name it likenobody talked to me.
I have a bottle of wine, I havepasta, that's it um and then
you're stress away.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Huh, that's it.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
I love it she convinced me to post on, start
posting on social media, and Idid, and, um, I put a few
grilling videos up because I'veloved grilling meat, like steak
is always my thing and you'rereaping all the benefits oh yeah
but you come from a backgroundof italian food and cooking
italian food cooking.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Yeah, so you're, that's.
So she starts making tortellini.
You're like when.
And your family had arestaurant.
My dad owned a couple ofpizzerias growing up so I kind
of you know, at a young age heused to have us the pizzeria
used to babysit us.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Same area.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Same area.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
so that's where I grew up Spinning dough.
Yeah, that's it.
Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
There's pictures of him, but yeah.
So I ended up getting inviteddown to Al Fargoni's first open
fire meetup and that's when Ikind of fell in love with it and
I realized like, oh, I'mactually good at this, like I
know, I never went to culinaryschool, but if you put
ingredients in front of me, Iwill make you a meal and I will
make it flavorful and make ittaste well.
(06:02):
But there was just somethingthat I fell in love with being
outside and being in front of afire and there was just
something so primal about it andhonestly even stress relieving
too, where it's like you'recontrolling a fire, you're
controlling the meat, that'sbeing cooked.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
That's exactly right.
You have to control the wood,you have to understand your wood
, you have to know what you'regetting with the wood.
Your temperatures, yourmoistures, all that thing is
going to affect your finalproduct.
So if your wood is in, correctme where I'm wrong not if,
because I'm I'm feeling, I'mlike I said, I'm not a wood
cooking person but I do payattention.
So I'm imagining that whatevermoisture is in your wood is
going to reflect the steaming,the smoke the smoke, even the
(06:34):
kind of wood that eats too.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
so like that's why our company is called iron and
oak, because we had some bourbonand we're like, hey, we used
iron and we use oak when we cook, so why not call it iron and
oak?
It's perfect.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I mean it's catchy.
It's like the burnt handsperspective.
It's to the point.
We talk about the perspectivefrom our side of the house.
You guys are burning yourselfat some point or another.
Something's hot, something'ssmoking, and there's days, I
know, just like us in thekitchen, for instance, it's
raining out.
There's got to be temperamentsthat aren't so exciting to work
in.
Yeah, but you have to right.
(07:05):
You're talking about open fireas an element.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
So fighting the elements is a whole other facet
to that.
So now you have wood fightingelements.
Whether it's hot as hell isgoing to make your food hotter,
right?
So if you're cooking in Texasyou find your fire different
than cooking in New Jersey.
Is that the heat from theoutside ambient?
Speaker 3 (07:21):
So it's actually like the embers that you're cooking
on.
And it's funny that you saythat because I'll have to send
you guys a photo of last weekend.
We were tailgating in his mom'sdriveway and it started raining
and we were doing.
The neighbor actually gave usan elk steak and venison.
So I made venison tacos and wecooked an elk steak how we do
the prime rib hanging up in fireand it started raining.
(07:42):
So Aaron just took an umbrellaand put it right on top of where
we normally cook the pigs.
You just see aaron with a giantcage and open fire right on top
.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
So you have to improvise when you're cooking
like that yeah, right, that'sthe whole thing.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
I'm sorry I was gonna say because you know, burying
the lead on like a tease on someof this being in law
enforcement, you're both in lawenforcement, yeah.
How does that play into liketrying to manage both businesses
right now?
Yeah, and a new business?
Speaker 3 (08:10):
I think it definitely helps your people skills, um,
but you know, like I, I had apassion for law enforcement when
I first started, and then I youknow my passion has now
directed towards food andtowards feeding people and I
think aaron feels feels the way.
There's just something that'sso much satisfaction in feeding
people and being able to makepeople happy that way that I
(08:31):
once felt.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I can picture you guys pulling up to like a
domestic thing or somethingright, and you're back there in
the backyard trying to figurethings out and someone's
grilling you like hold on You'redoing that wrong.
Get him a ticket.
This is wrong, john.
Yeah, this is done.
Close this case Show's over.
We found the problem.
Yeah, that caused the problem.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Right there, you're making shit yeah you don't even
know how to cook.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Come on, guys, Come on man Tighten up, and then you
just drop the mic at me.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Yeah, pretty much.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
First big one like this world food um so I actually
did a competition in uh, taiwan, in june wow, talk to me about
this.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Yeah, so I had the opportunity to go to taiwan.
I spent two weeks in china andthen went to taiwan, did the
competition and that washonestly an experience in itself
.
So, like the last it's.
It's funny, the last two years,um, we always helped people
doing open fire and then Icompeted in Next Level Chef with
Gordon Ramsay and after I goteliminated, it's when I kind of
said I don't think we can curseon here.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
How was that process?
Was that fun?
Yeah, how was that?
That was a lot of fun, yeah.
When did you do that?
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Last year.
Okay yeah, so was there atelevised on that.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Was that an episode one?
Speaker 3 (09:39):
season two, whatever it was Wow, so we got to watch
that.
We got to watch that now.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
So people at home, we know her.
Yeah, plug that a little bit.
That's amazing, and that'ssomething that's what I'm
talking about is how, no matterwhere you are in life we talked
about this earlier it brings ustogether.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Food brings people together.
You know what I mean.
And all differences set asidewhen it comes to food,
especially when you're producingthe food, have a?
Um, we have a, a bond here,whether we, you know, we're all
in the same shit, right, right.
So this competition is kind ofcool because we're all here for
the same reason, which gives usthat, that, uh, entitlement to
owning that we own that sothat's awesome.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
So the gordon ramsey thing was a lot of fun for you
it was and it was like so thethe casting producer found my
old videos because every friday,when I first started posting on
social media, I would a videoon like here's everything left
over in my fridge.
We're going to make dinner fromit, and that was kind of the
show.
You're like running to theplatform and you're grabbing and
then making a dish out ofwhatever.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Do you still have that platform running or do you
kind of fade away from that?
Speaker 3 (10:41):
I mean, no, we're still.
Our motto this year is bedelusional.
And then this way, we justshoot for, like, the highest
goals and then keep trying to gofor those goals and once we hit
it, we just keep making anotherone.
Yeah, making another goal, youguys inspire and work hard.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I can tell just by your energy between you guys
that you work hard at holdingeach other to that yeah and
supporting each other in that,when it comes to the root of the
food industry and leaving theone profession you're in perhaps
one day right, yeah, um, andthen going into that you need
each other's support in thisindustry because, this industry.
It's a motherfucker really,yeah, and it's hard to really
keep a family.
It's hard to keep that unlessyou have somebody like minded
(11:18):
yeah it's like passion.
The passions need to connectright.
If that energy doesn't connectit, it just tears you up because
the food doesn't stop, thedemand for food doesn't stop
your demand for the food doesn'tstop and the demand for food
doesn't stop, your demand forthe cash you put in the food
doesn't stop, and we have thisweird thing about us, the poison
we have in us, I think the bugright, is going to the next
level every time.
So if you roll a tortellinionce, you wanna roll it better,
(11:40):
it's not tight enough.
Oh, maybe I can put this insideof it.
Now, by the time you get to thesixth filler, you finally got
your pasta down.
Now let's see what happens if Ichange a pasta.
Let's, uh, what I did one timeand I was just intrigued by it
is I wanted to learn how tosmoke.
So I smoked my pasta, my dough,so instead of smoking the meat
and everything inside, I wasable to keep that one way and
(12:00):
then smoke the pasta.
So that way, the pasta had tosmoke, but the meat held
different.
So it was just a reversepsychology and it worked out
amazing because it was so lightand everything worked so good.
Yeah, but I also got a couplefights in my house for that.
You know what I mean, because I, the smoker, was too wrong.
The pasta took on too much.
I was mad.
Yeah, took it in the house.
It just didn't work, becausepeople don't understand so.
(12:21):
So I'm honored to be sittinghere with you guys in in your,
in your situation.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
It doesn't happen often, so keep that spirit up
sitting here with you guys in inyour, in your situation it
doesn't happen often.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
So keep that spirit up, keep bringing, bringing what
you're bringing to the foodindustry.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
That's important and he's very hard on himself too,
like so a lot because we don'thave a very large team like our.
Our team right now is veryfamily oriented, like his sister
helps, my brother helps, and soright now, like I'll do all the
prep work and everything andI'll do all the cooking, so
he'll do a lot of the open fireand he'll do the hog and the
prime rib and he will make likethe most amazing hog and the
(12:53):
most amazing prime rib and thenbe like this is shit.
And I'm like what do you mean?
This is a perfect medium rarewith a crust and it's beautiful
and the smoke flavor is amazing.
And he's like I'm done.
I always tell myself I can dosomething, something better.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, of course so, and that's the spirit and that's
what's going to make yousuccessful as a person, that's
going to make you one level ofsuccessful within the business,
in the restaurant business.
That is going to make yousuccessful.
Everybody hits a plateau andsometimes they just get
comfortable where they are andnow they're trapped in it
because they don't have thepassion, and that passion has to
be stronger.
If you're willing to leave onething to follow it, then
(13:25):
obviously your passion needs tosay no more.
You know what I mean.
You mentioned a hog a couple oftimes and stuff.
Let's talk about the meats fora minute, because you have one
ingredient that's more importantthan fire.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
And that's the meat, right?
Yeah, so in your area, when youtravel, whatever it may be, do
you source your meats locally?
What do you feel about?
Talk to me about the quality ofmeat you're looking for.
How do you get them when you'rein Taiwan to do a show there?
I didn't really have a choice.
That's what I mean.
So how did that work?
How does it work for you?
Start from the basis, where youknow you're comfortable?
Yeah, and how do you work thatinto your routine as you travel?
Speaker 3 (14:00):
So a lot of it was trial and error, Like there were
a lot of times, don't know,there's different kinds of hogs
and they cook very differentlyand it's also like dependent on
what they eat as well, marbling.
Everything, and so, like, wefound a local farm that we use
and the hogs are amazing everytime you cook them, and it's the
(14:29):
way you cook it, but it's alsothe quality of the hog in itself
, too, where it's like some hogswill, will cook and it'll be
all fat, like we had a instancewhere I hosted an event in june
and the hogs were donated and Iwas so appreciative of it, but
we didn't know they were theother kind of hogs that cook
only fat when you cook them,whereas, like, we source from
local farms and, um, my meat, Iactually so on that note.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
so yeah, when that hog is fat, like you're talking
about um again here, I am tryingto get technical, I'm just
trying to learn as I'm talking.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
I should be learning from you.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Well, yes, you can in certain aspects, but this is
your world.
The fire pit stuff is yourworld.
Obviously I'm really intrigued.
I guarantee I'm going to findmyself.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
I'm going to get into this now.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
So I'm thinking of that fat hog that you're talking
about is dripping and it'screating more heat in your fire,
is that not true?
So it's changing your ambersand stuff.
Is that changing yourtemperature?
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Sometimes it can happen.
Yeah, it'll drip, but insidethe hog itself, no matter how
long you cook it, for it's justgoing to be pure fat.
So you want to?
I don't recall the name off thetop of my head right now, but
there's a specific kind of hogthat you want to use when you
cook open fire, and no matterhow you cook it, no matter which
way you cook it, the meat willalways be tender and there will
always be meat inside.
There'll still be a little bitof fat, but it'll render down
(15:37):
enough where you'll still havethat meat.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Because you want to keep some of the fat in there.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Oh, 100%, that's that .
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Protein, that's that flavor, that's that lactic acid,
that's the viscosity throughoutthe muscle.
That's what you want.
But you don't want to lose themuscle because of the fat.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Well, and that's even with the prime rib as well.
So, like the meat, when youcook the meat, you want the fat
to be able to render down, andthat's something that's
different in live fire cookingthan when you smoke meat.
So, like when you smoke meat orwhen you make ribs, you'll see
a lot of people pull off themembrane, but when you cook live
fire, you want to keep that on,because that that protects it
and it's an indicator.
(16:11):
So like a way to tell if youdon't have a thermometer when
it's done is when the membranestarts to flake off, or like
when you start to see the teethon the on the ribs, and then
you're like, okay, this is done,this is perfect sure take it
off.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
That carries over to other animals as well.
Yeah, Cooking swordfish forinstance, stuff like that.
The skin is the indicator ofwhere you're at in a very quick
thing.
So it's along the same lines asthat membrane.
We kind of use that visually togauge where we are.
So that's pretty cool.
That's interesting.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
I love it All right, we have rapid fire questions.
Uh-oh, yeah, let.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Let's do it.
This is fun stuff.
Some of it's applicable.
Because of the kitchen stuff, Imight have to change some of
the words.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
You're live fire so it's not as same as some of the
in-kitchen things.
We'll try and change the wordswhile we're going.
You can both answer.
Try and answer one to threewords.
These are quick answers, it'snot long.
The kitchen tool you can't livewithout Knife.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Same knife.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
He said you couldn't have knives.
We got to take that off.
You got to do somethingdifferent.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Oh no.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Second best.
What can you not live without?
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Zester.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Oh good one, Tongs Perfect.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
There we go, zester's great.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
That's on my top three.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
What puts you in the mood?
More smell or visuals Smell orvisuals Smell Visuals.
Visuals.
That's why you work welltogether.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
People eat with their eyes first.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yeah, that's right.
That's a good coupling, then,all right.
The worst position in thekitchen or cooking.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
What's the question.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
The worst position what part of the job.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
do you not like the most?
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Prep, Prep oh my God, is it not lighting?
Speaker 2 (17:43):
the fires or breaking down the fire.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
No, it's just sometimes we get ahead of
ourselves and we're like, yeah,let's me and you do this party
for 300 people by ourselves.
And then we're like shh, weneed help.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
In your head it goes a lot easier than when you
actually start to do it.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
We're like this is great.
And then, four hours later,you're like why am I still
de-seeding and choppingjalapenos for a focaccia bread?
Speaker 2 (18:05):
That's good All right .
Speaker 1 (18:07):
That takes us to the best part.
What's the best part of it?
All People's faces.
I like it.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
That's good, good one .
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Your favorite ingredient, salt.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Salt.
It's the best.
Are you picky on your salts?
Speaker 3 (18:20):
I have an entire cabinet full.
She has an entire cabinet full.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I have two or three cabinets full.
I have salts from everywhere inthe world, different levels,
grains, purifications,everything.
I am a salt.
Oh, I love it Give me pinksmoke lava.
I don't care what it is, I gotit all.
Yeah, because they're all justdifferent things.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
And he's like why do you need this much salt?
And I'm like because it's thepalate you need it.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
It opens up for other so if you put the right salts
with the right acids you'regoing to get that.
The combination is huge.
It's very important.
I'm glad I'm not alone in this.
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
The salt addiction is continuing.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
You're two against one.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
right now All right, since you're good at the live
fire, what other method ofcooking intimidates you the most
?
Smoking, meat Smoking meat?
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Yeah, we have tried it, it's a completely different
world.
There's completely differentrules.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I don't think a lot of people understand that.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Yeah, that's pretty good, all right, so this is one
totally outside of the good food.
Your favorite fast foodrestaurant Fast food.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Chew ass.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Your cheap food.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
Taco Bell.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Taco Bell, taco Bell, taco.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
Bell.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
McDonald's, mcdonald's, mcdonald's,
mcdonald's.
We have a Taco.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Bell and a McDonald's right next to each other where
we live.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
So when we're like, done we'll.
We'll get a bottle of wine andgo to Taco Bell.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
McDonald's yeah, that's the money, that's right.
I only eat fast foods typicallywhen I'm like hungover, really,
yeah, which doesn't even happenmuch anymore, but I'm a Wendy's
guy.
Well, that's that, dave.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Oh, come on, I wish we have one closer to us as much
all right, yeah, you guys don'thave them as much.
All right, so it says DreamKitchen, but your Dream Kitchen
is obviously your equipment.
So hold on.
If it was a car, what?
Kind of car, would it be?
Speaker 3 (19:54):
A car.
We actually just bought a truck, so it is, it's a good old
truck.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
That makes sense, though.
That fits that.
That does make sense there,okay.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Baking yes or no?
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Absolutely not, no not even on the focaccia.
That's one recipe.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
I learned it.
That's it, yeah, all right.
Well, and I like found a way tomanipulate it, so I do like a
cornbread focaccia, so it'ssweet like cornbread but fluffy
like focaccia.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
So then you mix it in with the whole thing and you're
like that's what you doInnovative, I'm not, I'm not,
I'll wash my hands.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
I'm not wearing gloves, all right.
And then, if you could cookwith anyone, who would it be?
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Well, now I'm going to have to cook with you.
There we go.
I like it.
That's good.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Yeah, you got to come to Virginia and jump in the
kitchen.
I like that New Jersey's rightup the street.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Yeah, yeah, it's not far.
You're not gonna see how.
You're definitely gonna keep intouch and I really want to make
that happen absolutely I travelup there.
Quite often I do a lot of um,cooking stuff all the way, all
the way up through providencearound.
Okay, I do some stuff.
So, yeah, I also have myrestaurant, so I'm really busy
there.
Yeah, but I would love to haveyou guys come down.
I would love to spend more timeand yeah yeah I really want,
really, really intrigued aboutthis open we could bring the
(21:02):
table down.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
We could bring our table.
Yes, do you do events anywhere?
Speaker 3 (21:06):
Everywhere you travel anywhere.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
So have you done any events in Virginia?
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Not in Virginia.
We just did an event inGreenwich, connecticut, so we
were just up there.
We brought the live fire table.
We did a housewarming party fora client of ours that owns a
jewelry company, so we did that,and then we were just in San
Antonio, so we go all over theplace.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
So I'm from Connecticut.
So, like you were saying, wementioned this earlier.
The barbecue open fire stuff isnot that big yet up in the
Northeast and you guys are rightat the cutting edge timing for
it.
You guys could be kind ofalmost the innovators on
bringing this around and it'ssuch an impressive way of eating
and not a lot of people get toexperience it.
And you really have.
(21:47):
Like I said, you have meintrigued.
I'm really going to look intothis.
I'm going to be calm, I'm goingto be getting a hold of you,
absolutely Okay, because I wantto get to call you, absolutely
Give to her, yep.
And then I want to know somethings.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Yeah, that'd be wonderful are kicking ass down
there together as a couple.
I love it.
You're amazing.
I love to see women taking overin these spaces so more power
to you for doing that.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
It's very inspiring.
Thanks for taking the time tomeet with us.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Thank you.
Greeting with us, and I'm goingto go down to the barbecue area
with you here now.
Yeah, so you can kind of showme some things, if you don't
mind 100% Because that's whatit's all about, really.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, yeah, all right .
Well, tell everybody about yourcompany where they can find you
.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Yeah, so it's Iron O'Catering.
You can find it atironandocateringcom and I'm
cooking with Zanges on socialmedia, so I post all different
live fire recipes.
I post easy to follow recipesand Aaron is.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
I'm Losi Cooks L-O-S-I underscore cooks.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Cooks LOSI, underscore cooks, world Food
Championships 2024 meeting somephenomenal people, some
phenomenal chefs, some amazinglytalented people, and we're more
than honored to be here.
I, as a chef and learn, I'mlearning a shitload of stuff
that I kind of just put on theback burner, huh.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
Like that punch.
Hey, we'll be here all week.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
But, yeah, definitely .
So this is a great environment.
Hope to see you guys here nextweek and we bring you out?
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Yeah, no, thank you.
We'll bring live fire to themasses, so that's pretty cool,
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Let's kill it.
Ciao, for now, all right ciaofor now.
Thank you, thank you.
All right, here we are again Kristen.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
World Food Championships 2024.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I'm having a hard time finding words.
There's so much energy in thisroom.
You've got to remember.
Guys, we're recording this andfilming this live.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
So there's a lot of action going on.
There's a lot of energy.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
The competition is fierce with us.
Is that the double-a team righthere?
Go and introduce yourselvesreal quick.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Yeah, so my name is Alexandra.
I go by Alex and Zanj on socialmedia.
My name is Aaron Aloisi, and.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I'm Partners with Alex here.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
So we do do live fire catering.
Nice, yeah, you guys hearingthis, all right, with the live
in the back, all right, good.
So because we're live anddirect, we're going to be acting
like down here, so it bringsmore energy to the room.
Listen, so you have a veryexciting story, man.
I really didn't say man, you'rea female, so take that back,
but you have a very excitingstory.
Yeah To exciting story.
(01:05):
Yeah, to me it's intriguingbecause the restaurant industry
we look at it's multifaceted,right, so I can talk as a chef,
we can talk about the high-endrestaurants, you know that's up.
But but this show the bird hasperspective.
Yeah, it covers everybody.
Bird hands you burn your handsin your profession, right.
You are a competitive, right,I'd say that where you're a
competitor in the barbecue, isthat right?
Yeah, grilling Give us a littlerundown on what you do, yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
So I'm the owner of Iron and Oak Catering, which is
a live fire catering company, sowe go around and we do private
events.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Explain live fire.
What is exactly the term livefire?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
So it's a traditional Argentinian style way of
cooking where you're cookingover embers, so you're letting
the wood kind of go down intoembers and you're using
different heat distributions toslow cook meat throughout.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
You know.
So, with that in my mind, I'm Iam not that sort of chef, but I
am a chef and I know how tocook.
So I'm thinking in my mindyou're putting that on at a very
high temperature, with a highflame right at the beginning,
and then bringing it down slowlyto let it go.
Is that something like that, orno?
No, so it's a complete opposite.
Okay, cool, so what?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
you're doing is like so we do whole hogs.
Our specialty is, when we dothese private events is a whole
hog.
That's kind of the main show ofthe, the entire experience.
And what you want to do is youwant to start off at a low heat,
so we do like a five to a sixcount, so when you put your hand
over the heat, you want to beable to keep it there for at
least five to six seconds andyou're going to start bone side
(02:30):
down, and when you start boneside down, it helps cook evenly
throughout.
And then a trick that we'veactually learned from one of our
good friends, al Pergoni, isthat you know when the meat is
ready to turn around withoutusing a temp, when the back of
it warm, and then you flip itaround and you'll you'll let it
the skin get crispy and you'lllet it finish cooking off that
way, and it's an entire show andit's an entire about eight hour
(02:52):
process every time you do it.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
You got good tips from uh mr fragoni there, he
gave you some yeah, absolutely,we learned a lot from.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
We learned almost everything open fire.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
So I was out there earlier this morning and they
were putting their animals outon the spit that way and they
were introducing it to a veryhot flame real quick and then
pulling it off and then startingto step fewer.
I found that interesting.
So I guess it depends on whatfinished product you're looking
for.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Tenderness, what type of consistency and things where
that's going to go and that'swhere the studying comes.
So how did you get into it Inorder to go into competing?
You don't seem like you're thatold and there's not a lot of
women.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
No, there's not.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
This is very intriguing, so you had to pack a
lot in a short time to getwhere you are.
Is that right?
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Absolutely, and it's really funny because a lot of
times we'll be at private eventsor we'll be doing competitions
and people will go up to Aaronand be like hey man competitions
and people will go up to Aaronand be like hey man and he's
like Nope talk to her no, she is, I won't, I'm not going to lie
you.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
You have a presence about you.
That in once you start speaking, you instantly know.
But you keep yourself reservedin the background.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
No, it's a great day.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
It's a great day.
Yes, definitely so.
You keep you seem.
When I first met you yesterday,you seem to be quite reserved
and watching and spectating, Icould tell you were very
intrigued.
But I didn't know that you wereactually the one until you
started talking.
Instantly you took over.
Yeah, that's really cool.
That's important in thisindustry.
Yeah, especially when you'recompeting yeah, oh, 100% so you
(04:17):
have aspirations of bringingthis to the next level
absolutely yeah, and especiallyto like being in in New Jersey.
like you travel throughout theentire United States, stop right
there for a second, not to cutyou off, how did, how did
someone from New Jersey get intothe open pit you don't think
about typically in New Jerseylive fire barbecue, whatever you
want to call it Right how doyou?
(04:37):
How does?
How does a woman, a nicelooking woman no disrespect here
, let's be honest how does awoman like you just get into
that in New Jersey?
Speaker 3 (04:47):
Yeah, so I grew up with four younger brothers and I
always loved cooking and I kindof started to use cooking as a
stress relief.
So, like I was telling herearlier, like when I was
stressed out, I would spend allday making pasta, and like I
would just spend all day in thekitchen me pasta, like pasta or.
Delaney, you name it likenobody talked to me.
I have a bottle of wine, I havepasta, that's it um and then
you're stress away.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Huh, that's it.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
I love it she convinced me to post on, start
posting on social media, and Idid, and, um, I put a few
grilling videos up because I'veloved grilling meat, like steak
is always my thing and you'rereaping all the benefits oh yeah
but you come from a backgroundof italian food and cooking
italian food cooking.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Yeah, so you're, that's.
So she starts making tortellini.
You're like when.
And your family had arestaurant.
My dad owned a couple ofpizzerias growing up so I kind
of you know, at a young age heused to have us the pizzeria
used to babysit us.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Same area.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Same area.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
so that's where I grew up Spinning dough.
Yeah, that's it.
Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
There's pictures of him, but yeah.
So I ended up getting inviteddown to Al Fargoni's first open
fire meetup and that's when Ikind of fell in love with it and
I realized like, oh, I'mactually good at this, like I
know, I never went to culinaryschool, but if you put
ingredients in front of me, Iwill make you a meal and I will
make it flavorful and make ittaste well.
(06:02):
But there was just somethingthat I fell in love with being
outside and being in front of afire and there was just
something so primal about it andhonestly even stress relieving
too, where it's like you'recontrolling a fire, you're
controlling the meat, that'sbeing cooked.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
That's exactly right.
You have to control the wood,you have to understand your wood
, you have to know what you'regetting with the wood.
Your temperatures, yourmoistures, all that thing is
going to affect your finalproduct.
So if your wood is in, correctme where I'm wrong not if,
because I'm I'm feeling, I'mlike I said, I'm not a wood
cooking person but I do payattention.
So I'm imagining that whatevermoisture is in your wood is
going to reflect the steaming,the smoke the smoke, even the
(06:34):
kind of wood that eats too.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
so like that's why our company is called iron and
oak, because we had some bourbonand we're like, hey, we used
iron and we use oak when we cook, so why not call it iron and
oak?
It's perfect.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I mean it's catchy.
It's like the burnt handsperspective.
It's to the point.
We talk about the perspectivefrom our side of the house.
You guys are burning yourselfat some point or another.
Something's hot, something'ssmoking, and there's days, I
know, just like us in thekitchen, for instance, it's
raining out.
There's got to be temperamentsthat aren't so exciting to work
in.
Yeah, but you have to right.
(07:05):
You're talking about open fireas an element.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
So fighting the elements is a whole other facet
to that.
So now you have wood fightingelements.
Whether it's hot as hell isgoing to make your food hotter,
right?
So if you're cooking in Texasyou find your fire different
than cooking in New Jersey.
Is that the heat from theoutside ambient?
Speaker 3 (07:21):
So it's actually like the embers that you're cooking
on.
And it's funny that you saythat because I'll have to send
you guys a photo of last weekend.
We were tailgating in his mom'sdriveway and it started raining
and we were doing.
The neighbor actually gave usan elk steak and venison.
So I made venison tacos and wecooked an elk steak how we do
the prime rib hanging up in fireand it started raining.
(07:42):
So Aaron just took an umbrellaand put it right on top of where
we normally cook the pigs.
You just see aaron with a giantcage and open fire right on top
.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
So you have to improvise when you're cooking
like that yeah, right, that'sthe whole thing.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
I'm sorry I was gonna say because you know, burying
the lead on like a tease on someof this being in law
enforcement, you're both in lawenforcement, yeah.
How does that play into liketrying to manage both businesses
right now?
Yeah, and a new business?
Speaker 3 (08:10):
I think it definitely helps your people skills, um,
but you know, like I, I had apassion for law enforcement when
I first started, and then I youknow my passion has now
directed towards food andtowards feeding people and I
think aaron feels feels the way.
There's just something that'sso much satisfaction in feeding
people and being able to makepeople happy that way that I
(08:31):
once felt.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I can picture you guys pulling up to like a
domestic thing or somethingright, and you're back there in
the backyard trying to figurethings out and someone's
grilling you like hold on You'redoing that wrong.
Get him a ticket.
This is wrong, john.
Yeah, this is done.
Close this case Show's over.
We found the problem.
Yeah, that caused the problem.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Right there, you're making shit yeah you don't even
know how to cook.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Come on, guys, Come on man Tighten up, and then you
just drop the mic at me.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Yeah, pretty much.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
First big one like this world food um so I actually
did a competition in uh, taiwan, in june wow, talk to me about
this.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Yeah, so I had the opportunity to go to taiwan.
I spent two weeks in china andthen went to taiwan, did the
competition and that washonestly an experience in itself
.
So, like the last it's.
It's funny, the last two years,um, we always helped people
doing open fire and then Icompeted in Next Level Chef with
Gordon Ramsay and after I goteliminated, it's when I kind of
said I don't think we can curseon here.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
How was that process?
Was that fun?
Yeah, how was that?
That was a lot of fun, yeah.
When did you do that?
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Last year.
Okay yeah, so was there atelevised on that.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Was that an episode one?
Speaker 3 (09:39):
season two, whatever it was Wow, so we got to watch
that.
We got to watch that now.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
So people at home, we know her.
Yeah, plug that a little bit.
That's amazing, and that'ssomething that's what I'm
talking about is how, no matterwhere you are in life we talked
about this earlier it brings ustogether.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Food brings people together.
You know what I mean.
And all differences set asidewhen it comes to food,
especially when you're producingthe food, have a?
Um, we have a, a bond here,whether we, you know, we're all
in the same shit, right, right.
So this competition is kind ofcool because we're all here for
the same reason, which gives usthat, that, uh, entitlement to
owning that we own that sothat's awesome.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
So the gordon ramsey thing was a lot of fun for you
it was and it was like so thethe casting producer found my
old videos because every friday,when I first started posting on
social media, I would a videoon like here's everything left
over in my fridge.
We're going to make dinner fromit, and that was kind of the
show.
You're like running to theplatform and you're grabbing and
then making a dish out ofwhatever.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Do you still have that platform running or do you
kind of fade away from that?
Speaker 3 (10:41):
I mean, no, we're still.
Our motto this year is bedelusional.
And then this way, we justshoot for, like, the highest
goals and then keep trying to gofor those goals and once we hit
it, we just keep making anotherone.
Yeah, making another goal, youguys inspire and work hard.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I can tell just by your energy between you guys
that you work hard at holdingeach other to that yeah and
supporting each other in that,when it comes to the root of the
food industry and leaving theone profession you're in perhaps
one day right, yeah, um, andthen going into that you need
each other's support in thisindustry because, this industry.
It's a motherfucker really,yeah, and it's hard to really
keep a family.
It's hard to keep that unlessyou have somebody like minded
(11:18):
yeah it's like passion.
The passions need to connectright.
If that energy doesn't connectit, it just tears you up because
the food doesn't stop, thedemand for food doesn't stop
your demand for the food doesn'tstop and the demand for food
doesn't stop, your demand forthe cash you put in the food
doesn't stop, and we have thisweird thing about us, the poison
we have in us, I think the bugright, is going to the next
level every time.
So if you roll a tortellinionce, you wanna roll it better,
(11:40):
it's not tight enough.
Oh, maybe I can put this insideof it.
Now, by the time you get to thesixth filler, you finally got
your pasta down.
Now let's see what happens if Ichange a pasta.
Let's, uh, what I did one timeand I was just intrigued by it
is I wanted to learn how tosmoke.
So I smoked my pasta, my dough,so instead of smoking the meat
and everything inside, I wasable to keep that one way and
(12:00):
then smoke the pasta.
So that way, the pasta had tosmoke, but the meat held
different.
So it was just a reversepsychology and it worked out
amazing because it was so lightand everything worked so good.
Yeah, but I also got a couplefights in my house for that.
You know what I mean, because I, the smoker, was too wrong.
The pasta took on too much.
I was mad.
Yeah, took it in the house.
It just didn't work, becausepeople don't understand so.
(12:21):
So I'm honored to be sittinghere with you guys in in your,
in your situation.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
It doesn't happen often, so keep that spirit up
sitting here with you guys in inyour, in your situation it
doesn't happen often.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
So keep that spirit up, keep bringing, bringing what
you're bringing to the foodindustry.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
That's important and he's very hard on himself too,
like so a lot because we don'thave a very large team like our.
Our team right now is veryfamily oriented, like his sister
helps, my brother helps, and soright now, like I'll do all the
prep work and everything andI'll do all the cooking, so
he'll do a lot of the open fireand he'll do the hog and the
prime rib and he will make likethe most amazing hog and the
(12:53):
most amazing prime rib and thenbe like this is shit.
And I'm like what do you mean?
This is a perfect medium rarewith a crust and it's beautiful
and the smoke flavor is amazing.
And he's like I'm done.
I always tell myself I can dosomething, something better.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah, of course so, and that's the spirit and that's
what's going to make yousuccessful as a person, that's
going to make you one level ofsuccessful within the business,
in the restaurant business.
That is going to make yousuccessful.
Everybody hits a plateau andsometimes they just get
comfortable where they are andnow they're trapped in it
because they don't have thepassion, and that passion has to
be stronger.
If you're willing to leave onething to follow it, then
(13:25):
obviously your passion needs tosay no more.
You know what I mean.
You mentioned a hog a couple oftimes and stuff.
Let's talk about the meats fora minute, because you have one
ingredient that's more importantthan fire.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
And that's the meat, right?
Yeah, so in your area, when youtravel, whatever it may be, do
you source your meats locally?
What do you feel about?
Talk to me about the quality ofmeat you're looking for.
How do you get them when you'rein Taiwan to do a show there?
I didn't really have a choice.
That's what I mean.
So how did that work?
How does it work for you?
Start from the basis, where youknow you're comfortable?
Yeah, and how do you work thatinto your routine as you travel?
Speaker 3 (14:00):
So a lot of it was trial and error, Like there were
a lot of times, don't know,there's different kinds of hogs
and they cook very differentlyand it's also like dependent on
what they eat as well, marbling.
Everything, and so, like, wefound a local farm that we use
and the hogs are amazing everytime you cook them, and it's the
(14:29):
way you cook it, but it's alsothe quality of the hog in itself
, too, where it's like some hogswill, will cook and it'll be
all fat, like we had a instancewhere I hosted an event in june
and the hogs were donated and Iwas so appreciative of it, but
we didn't know they were theother kind of hogs that cook
only fat when you cook them,whereas, like, we source from
local farms and, um, my meat, Iactually so on that note.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
so yeah, when that hog is fat, like you're talking
about um again here, I am tryingto get technical, I'm just
trying to learn as I'm talking.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
I should be learning from you.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Well, yes, you can in certain aspects, but this is
your world.
The fire pit stuff is yourworld.
Obviously I'm really intrigued.
I guarantee I'm going to findmyself.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
I'm going to get into this now.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
So I'm thinking of that fat hog that you're talking
about is dripping and it'screating more heat in your fire,
is that not true?
So it's changing your ambersand stuff.
Is that changing yourtemperature?
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Sometimes it can happen.
Yeah, it'll drip, but insidethe hog itself, no matter how
long you cook it, for it's justgoing to be pure fat.
So you want to?
I don't recall the name off thetop of my head right now, but
there's a specific kind of hogthat you want to use when you
cook open fire, and no matterhow you cook it, no matter which
way you cook it, the meat willalways be tender and there will
always be meat inside.
There'll still be a little bitof fat, but it'll render down
(15:37):
enough where you'll still havethat meat.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
Because you want to keep some of the fat in there.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Oh, 100%, that's that .
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Protein, that's that flavor, that's that lactic acid,
that's the viscosity throughoutthe muscle.
That's what you want.
But you don't want to lose themuscle because of the fat.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Well, and that's even with the prime rib as well.
So, like the meat, when youcook the meat, you want the fat
to be able to render down, andthat's something that's
different in live fire cookingthan when you smoke meat.
So, like when you smoke meat orwhen you make ribs, you'll see
a lot of people pull off themembrane, but when you cook live
fire, you want to keep that on,because that that protects it
and it's an indicator.
(16:11):
So like a way to tell if youdon't have a thermometer when
it's done is when the membranestarts to flake off, or like
when you start to see the teethon the on the ribs, and then
you're like, okay, this is done,this is perfect sure take it
off.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
That carries over to other animals as well.
Yeah, Cooking swordfish forinstance, stuff like that.
The skin is the indicator ofwhere you're at in a very quick
thing.
So it's along the same lines asthat membrane.
We kind of use that visually togauge where we are.
So that's pretty cool.
That's interesting.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
I love it All right, we have rapid fire questions.
Uh-oh, yeah, let.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Let's do it.
This is fun stuff.
Some of it's applicable.
Because of the kitchen stuff, Imight have to change some of
the words.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
You're live fire so it's not as same as some of the
in-kitchen things.
We'll try and change the wordswhile we're going.
You can both answer.
Try and answer one to threewords.
These are quick answers, it'snot long.
The kitchen tool you can't livewithout Knife.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Same knife.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
He said you couldn't have knives.
We got to take that off.
You got to do somethingdifferent.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Oh no.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Second best.
What can you not live without?
Speaker 3 (17:12):
Zester.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Oh good one, Tongs Perfect.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
There we go, zester's great.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
That's on my top three.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
What puts you in the mood?
More smell or visuals Smell orvisuals Smell Visuals.
Visuals.
That's why you work welltogether.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
People eat with their eyes first.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
Yeah, that's right.
That's a good coupling, then,all right.
The worst position in thekitchen or cooking.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
What's the question.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
The worst position what part of the job.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
do you not like the most?
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Prep, Prep oh my God, is it not lighting?
Speaker 2 (17:43):
the fires or breaking down the fire.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
No, it's just sometimes we get ahead of
ourselves and we're like, yeah,let's me and you do this party
for 300 people by ourselves.
And then we're like shh, weneed help.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
In your head it goes a lot easier than when you
actually start to do it.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
We're like this is great.
And then, four hours later,you're like why am I still
de-seeding and choppingjalapenos for a focaccia bread?
Speaker 2 (18:05):
That's good All right .
Speaker 1 (18:07):
That takes us to the best part.
What's the best part of it?
All People's faces.
I like it.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
That's good, good one .
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Your favorite ingredient, salt.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Salt.
It's the best.
Are you picky on your salts?
Speaker 3 (18:20):
I have an entire cabinet full.
She has an entire cabinet full.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
I have two or three cabinets full.
I have salts from everywhere inthe world, different levels,
grains, purifications,everything.
I am a salt.
Oh, I love it Give me pinksmoke lava.
I don't care what it is, I gotit all.
Yeah, because they're all justdifferent things.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
And he's like why do you need this much salt?
And I'm like because it's thepalate you need it.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
It opens up for other so if you put the right salts
with the right acids you'regoing to get that.
The combination is huge.
It's very important.
I'm glad I'm not alone in this.
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
The salt addiction is continuing.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
You're two against one.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
right now All right, since you're good at the live
fire, what other method ofcooking intimidates you the most
?
Smoking, meat Smoking meat?
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Yeah, we have tried it, it's a completely different
world.
There's completely differentrules.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I don't think a lot of people understand that.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Yeah, that's pretty good, all right, so this is one
totally outside of the good food.
Your favorite fast foodrestaurant Fast food.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Chew ass.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Your cheap food.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
Taco Bell.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Taco Bell, taco Bell, taco.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
Bell.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
McDonald's, mcdonald's, mcdonald's,
mcdonald's.
We have a Taco.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Bell and a McDonald's right next to each other where
we live.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
So when we're like, done we'll.
We'll get a bottle of wine andgo to Taco Bell.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
McDonald's yeah, that's the money, that's right.
I only eat fast foods typicallywhen I'm like hungover, really,
yeah, which doesn't even happenmuch anymore, but I'm a Wendy's
guy.
Well, that's that, dave.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Oh, come on, I wish we have one closer to us as much
all right, yeah, you guys don'thave them as much.
All right, so it says DreamKitchen, but your Dream Kitchen
is obviously your equipment.
So hold on.
If it was a car, what?
Kind of car, would it be?
Speaker 3 (19:54):
A car.
We actually just bought a truck, so it is, it's a good old
truck.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
That makes sense, though.
That fits that.
That does make sense there,okay.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Baking yes or no?
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Absolutely not, no not even on the focaccia.
That's one recipe.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
I learned it.
That's it, yeah, all right.
Well, and I like found a way tomanipulate it, so I do like a
cornbread focaccia, so it'ssweet like cornbread but fluffy
like focaccia.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
So then you mix it in with the whole thing and you're
like that's what you doInnovative, I'm not, I'm not,
I'll wash my hands.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
I'm not wearing gloves, all right.
And then, if you could cookwith anyone, who would it be?
Speaker 3 (20:33):
Well, now I'm going to have to cook with you.
There we go.
I like it.
That's good.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Yeah, you got to come to Virginia and jump in the
kitchen.
I like that New Jersey's rightup the street.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Yeah, yeah, it's not far.
You're not gonna see how.
You're definitely gonna keep intouch and I really want to make
that happen absolutely I travelup there.
Quite often I do a lot of um,cooking stuff all the way, all
the way up through providencearound.
Okay, I do some stuff.
So, yeah, I also have myrestaurant, so I'm really busy
there.
Yeah, but I would love to haveyou guys come down.
I would love to spend more timeand yeah yeah I really want,
really, really intrigued aboutthis open we could bring the
(21:02):
table down.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
We could bring our table.
Yes, do you do events anywhere?
Speaker 3 (21:06):
Everywhere you travel anywhere.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
So have you done any events in Virginia?
Speaker 3 (21:10):
Not in Virginia.
We just did an event inGreenwich, connecticut, so we
were just up there.
We brought the live fire table.
We did a housewarming party fora client of ours that owns a
jewelry company, so we did that,and then we were just in San
Antonio, so we go all over theplace.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
So I'm from Connecticut.
So, like you were saying, wementioned this earlier.
The barbecue open fire stuff isnot that big yet up in the
Northeast and you guys are rightat the cutting edge timing for
it.
You guys could be kind ofalmost the innovators on
bringing this around and it'ssuch an impressive way of eating
and not a lot of people get toexperience it.
And you really have.
(21:47):
Like I said, you have meintrigued.
I'm really going to look intothis.
I'm going to be calm, I'm goingto be getting a hold of you,
absolutely Okay, because I wantto get to call you, absolutely
Give to her, yep.
And then I want to know somethings.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Yeah, that'd be wonderful are kicking ass down
there together as a couple.
I love it.
You're amazing.
I love to see women taking overin these spaces so more power
to you for doing that.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
It's very inspiring.
Thanks for taking the time tomeet with us.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Thank you.
Greeting with us, and I'm goingto go down to the barbecue area
with you here now.
Yeah, so you can kind of showme some things, if you don't
mind 100% Because that's whatit's all about, really.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, yeah, all right .
Well, tell everybody about yourcompany where they can find you
.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Yeah, so it's Iron O'Catering.
You can find it atironandocateringcom and I'm
cooking with Zanges on socialmedia, so I post all different
live fire recipes.
I post easy to follow recipesand Aaron is.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
I'm Losi Cooks L-O-S-I underscore cooks.
I love it.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Cooks LOSI, underscore cooks, world Food
Championships 2024 meeting somephenomenal people, some
phenomenal chefs, some amazinglytalented people, and we're more
than honored to be here.
I, as a chef and learn, I'mlearning a shitload of stuff
that I kind of just put on theback burner, huh.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
Like that punch.
Hey, we'll be here all week.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
But, yeah, definitely .
So this is a great environment.
Hope to see you guys here nextweek and we bring you out?
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Yeah, no, thank you.
We'll bring live fire to themasses, so that's pretty cool,
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Let's kill it.
Ciao, for now, all right ciaofor now.
Thank you, thank you.
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