Binging with Babish Season 2, Episode 28: Taco Town & Behind the Scenes

Big Kahuna Burger from Pulp Fiction

The Big Kahuna Burger is one of the countless themes running throughout numerous Tarantino films, almost as prevalent as revenge, lurid violence, and racial epithets. After this double-stacked caramelized-pineapple-and-onion Hawaiian smash-burger, you're gonna need a Red Apple cigarette.

3 min

Fish Tacos from I Love You, Man

I Love You, Man is a timeless Rudd-Segel vehicle for comedy, romance, bromance, and for a few fleeting and beautiful moments, food porn. Fish tacos are shared amongst bros while they talk about about sex and stuff - don't you deserve the same? Show your best male-friend how much you care with a plate full of these tacos today.

5 min

Kevin's Famous Chili from The Office

Kevin Malone is the tragically comic overweight buffoon (and World Series of Poker champion?) we all know and love from The Office. When he's not shotgunning cookie jars full of M&M's, Kevin sometimes treats his coworkers to the Malone family's mainstay: chili. Let's follow along and try very hard not to spill any.

4 min

Strudel from Inglourious Basterds

Hans Landa is the sherlock-pipe-smokin', famous-actress-chokin', Brad-Pitt-pokin' SS detective we all love to hate. Sure he massacred Shosanna's family right in front of her, but hey, guy knows not-so-terrible strudel when he sees it. Follow along this week as we make old-school Viennese apfelstrudel, and don't forget the cream.

5 min

Lovers' Delight Sundae from 30 Rock

Jack Donaghy knows how to do Valentine's Day - specifically, he knows how to do the most decadent Valentine's Day possible. Fruitlessly attempt to impress your partner as we delicately drape 24-karat gold atop homemade ice cream, cognac, and unnecessarily-expensive chocolate.

4 min

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Special

The gang dreams up some disgusting, heavily alcoholic dishes and drinks in the irreverent multiple-people-shouting-at-once-comedy, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Strap on your kitten mittens and whip up some wine in a can as we faithfully recreate each revolting repast, and if you aren't blackout drunk yet, see if we can make them palatable.

9 min

Ratatouille (Confit Byaldi) from Ratatouille

Remy is an especially-clean-looking rat that's been given the gift of Gusteau's gastronomy. Let's see if his signature dish is worth staking an entire restaurant's reputation upon for the sake of a pun. Special thanks to my nephew Christopher for portraying young Babish!

4 min

Pollo a la Plancha from Moonlight

Chiron is prepared a Cuban classic in the movie I don't really want to make fun of here in the description: Moonlight. Simple ingredients prepared simply often yield stunning results - will the chef's special rise to the occasion? Special thanks to my buddy Steve for letting me use his gorgeous new kitchen!

4 min

Bob's Burgers

Restaurant chalkboards have become the artistic outlet of choice for coffee shops and pubs, but more than anyone, for the titular character of Bob's Burgers. Can a play on words make for a great burger, or will Bob's punny patties fall flat? Only thyme will tell.

6 min

Jake's Perfect Sandwich from Adventure Time

Scholars have attempted to crack the code to the perfect sandwich for millennia - in the end, it was Jake the Dog who finally achieved the zenith of 'wichcraft. Can Jake's glowing dream sandwich be realized outside the cartoon realm, or will it topple under the weight of its 12 separate components?

4 min

Cubanos from Chef

Chef is holy ground for film foodies, and as demonstrated in a previous episode, has some real culinary chops behind it (courtesy of Roy Choi). I love a good Cubano as much as the next guy, but can some garlic and citrus really elevate my favorite hangover snack into something worthy of a What-About-Bob-Style "mmm"-fest?

4 min

Rick & Morty Szechuan Sauce

I was 9 when Szechuan sauce graced sauce pumps across the nation, so naturally, I can't remember at all what it tastes like. But with the help of some actual Szechuan sauce (like, the stuff from Sichuan), a Redditor's diligent recreation, a fast-food-secret: mixing things together in different ways and repackaging it, we might just come close!

4 min

Tampopo Ramen

Tampopo is a genre-bender ahead of its time, affectionately referred to as a "ramen western". Like spaghetti western. But Japanese. Hence the ramen. It's a play on words, you don't get it. This 1985 foodie flight of fancy features a 'ramen master', who artfully studies and mindfully consumes his bowl of steaming noodles and broth. NOTE: I forgot to mention in the video, this came out absolutely fan-fucking-tastic. The noodles were tender but chewy, the broth was flavorful without being too fishy, and the pork was exquisite.

4 min

South Park Special

South Park is home to a surprising number of tempting foodstuffs. Granted, they're all subtly gross in one way or another, but that doesn't make Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls sound any less appealing. Especially when it's being sung at you by Isaac Hayes. Open wide.

10 min

Boeuf Bourguignon from Julie & Julia

Frequently, watching a Meryl Streep movie means you're watching it for Meryl Streep, and not much else. But in the case of Julie & Julia, a host of stunning food porn accompanies Streep's charming turn as the late/great Julia Child. Does the recipe from Julia's first-ever television appearance stand the test of time?

4 min

Homer Simpson's Patented Space Age Out-Of-This-World Moon Waffles

Homer Simpson revels in combining food and drink with wild abandon: every liquor in the house set aflame with cough syrup, skittles floating in beer, tomatoes cross-bred with tobacco. Few, however, are as heartbreakingly realistic as the H.S.P.S.A.O.O.T.W.M.W. Strip down to your undies, strap on an apron, and let's clog some arteries.

4 min

Seinfeld Special Part I

Maybe one of the most delicious food plots of the 90s, or any decade for that matter, hails from a lesser-known sitcom called 'Seinfeld'. This scrappy little American comedy featured a so-called "Soup Nazi", and while you might not recognize his signature catchphrase "No soup for you!", hopefully you can tell by now that I'm joking. Join me as I take my best crack at his wild mushroom soup, Elaine's muffin tops, and Jerry's aptly-defended cinnamon babka.

11 min

Master of None Carbonara

Dev Shah is a man who cares a great deal about food - so much so that he spends the better part of his afternoons scouring the internet for the very best taco truck. With season 2 delving even further into a culinary storyline, it only seemed appropriate to welcome back Master of None with Dev's victory over pasta carbonara.

4 min

Twin Peaks Pancakes & Coffee (feat. Cocktail Chemistry)

Looking at his work, it would appear as though David Lynch loves a few themes: surrealism. Dream sequences. Machinery. And apparently, coffee. Learn how to make the fluffiest of pancakes and the coffeeist of coffees with the help of Nick Fisher from Cocktail Chemistry as we welcome back Twin Peaks this weekend.

4 min

Carol's Beet & Acorn Cookies (feat. Ashwin Enjoys Nature)

When you think of The Walking Dead, the word 'appetizing' certainly doesn't come to mind. It's no surprise then that Carol Peletier's foraged cookies are earthy, doughy, ugly desserts of necessity. Hobbled by the 3-punch-combo of beets, acorns, and water chestnuts, follow along as we try and fail to make a concoction worth baking.

4 min

Krabby Patty from Spongebob Squarepants

The Krabby Patty is a thing of pop culture culinary legend - a burger, forged from a secret formula, worshipped by a sociopathically upbeat sponge. How do we go about recreating that which is not reacreate-able? A bit of science, a bit of whimsy, and a whole lot of wanton conjecture. Fill in the blanks with me this week as we build an umami burger using ingredients from mother ocean!

5 min

Chocolate Cake from Matilda

Matilda, Danny DeVito's thunderous directorial follow-up to Hoffa (1992), features an inexplicably tempting chocolate cake, despite its open admission of containing bodily fluids. Sit down and consume this entire confection today alongside Dan Pashman of The Sporkful.

4 min

Freddy's Ribs from House of Cards

Frank Underwood is many things: A husband. A politician. A duplicitous, machiavellian psychosexual deviant with a bloodlust for power. A purveyor of fine Carolinian barbecue. Opening just for him at 7:30AM is Freddy's Ribs, a southern barbecue joint that we can surmise is serving 'cue up in the style of Underwood's hometown of Gaffney, South Carolina. Just in time for Father's Day, here's three different means by which to achieve that genuine Southern barbecue, even from the confines of a 4th-story walkup.

6 min

Tomate du Saltambique from The West Wing

President Josiah Bartlet, apart from being a charismatic and noble leader of these United States, had a real thing for food. Be it the Butterball turkey hotline or pumpkin soup with cheese gnocchi, the man knew both good policy and food. If only he weren't a figment of Aaron Sorkin's imagination, much like this interpretation of Alain Passard's dessert tomato.

5 min

Cocktail Special

Cocktails hold a special place in movies, television, and my heart. Whether it's Bogie drinking away his problems in a nazi-occupied lounge or The Dude sucking caucasian out of his mustache, the cocktail represents an important milestone in the lexicon of human achievement: making booze taste better so we can get smashed faster. Please drink responsibly guys, seriously. Don't let me catch you driving or some stupid bullshit after you've had one too many vespers, because your simple ass thinks that you're James Bond. You're not James Bond, call a cab.

6 min

Fried Chicken Lasagna & The Luther Burger from the Boondocks

Robert Freeman is a man with strong opinions, a hair trigger on his belt, and a penchant for foods so fatty they put you to sleep. The Itis, Robert's catastrophic soul food franchise, so effectively renders its selfsame phenomenon that it nearly destroys the town. Food from the Freeman menu is best consumed annually.

6 min

Game of Thrones

This weekend we're welcoming back the show that has the monopoly on lurid violence, epic battles, and wholly unnecessary nudity: Game of Thrones. George R.R. Martin's ability to describe the crunching of a skull is rivaled only by his ability to describe the crunching of a pastry, so it's only fitting that this sexy saga is home to some serious food porn. And revenge porn. And porn porn. I'm a main character in this show, so my life is decidedly in danger this week. **I can't believe I should have to mention this, but do not actually ingest strychnine. It's poison. It was a joke. Don't be stupid.**

9 min

Lemon Pepper Wet from Atlanta

Lemon Pepper Wet is an Atlantan institution, virtually unknown outside the Peach State until Donald Glover's groundbreaking series made us salivate without even showing us the pay dirt. Look behind the Pulp-Fiction-style glowing MacGuffin and see the saucy, zesty wings underneath with this week's episode. Shout out to J. Kenji Lopez-Alt for his groundbreaking oven wing technique.

4 min

Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Zelda: Breath of the Wild may very well be the first open-world RPG developed for the Switch, released in 2017, not including DLC, to so prominently feature cooking in its story and strategy. At least it will be in my mind until someone angrily corrects me in the comments. Seldom have fruits and vegetables dancing in a wok over an open fire yielded so many hearty stews, stamina potions, and pixelated monstrosities.

8 min

Puerco Pibil from Once Upon a Time in Mexico

Once Upon a Time in Mexico, against all odds, played a large role in the creation of BwB - my first-ever DVD, its special features showed me that I could one day be a filmmaker *and* a chef. In this 2003 Banderas action-comedy, Johnny Depp inexplicably caps a cook for making this Yucatánian special a bit too perfectly; as director Robert Rodriguez says, make at your own peril.

3 min

Courtesan au Chocolat from Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson's films are rife with clashing color schemes, furrow-browed pedantry, and rich character development set against an oddly symmetrical backdrop. In the case of The Grand Budapest Hotel, it's also home to a pastry as precious as its parentage. The Courtesan au Chocolat, a delicate tower of puffed up pâtissière and saccharine masonry, is the challenge faced this week in the BwB kitchen.

5 min

The Fitz Sandwich from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Agent Fitz's favorite sandwich on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a classic - prosciutto, mozzarella, and pesto aioli. Like any great sandwich or fictional superhero organization, it comes together to make something greater than the sum of its parts. That is until Ward so callously tosses it into the darkness for comic effect.

5 min

The Ultimeatum from Regular Show

Regular Show regularly shows some fantastical and impossible food items - sandwiches that kill you, wings that kill you, skydiving pizza pockets - but few are quite so worthy of recreation as the Ultimeatum, the burger-within-a-burger-between-two-burgers. And ketchup from the Himalayas. Follow along this week to see if we can beat Chef Ajay Maldonaldo at his own game.

4 min

Hors D'oeuvres Sandwich from Back to School

Rodney Dangerfield made a career on thumbing his nose at social mores, making sexual advances toward older women, and eating a giant sandwich made out of hors d'oeuvres. Today we're honoring him, sandwiches, and the throngs of students returning to school with this towering example of 80s excess and flavorblindness. Recipe available in my book, coming out October 3rd!

6 min

Szechuan Sauce Revisited (From Real Sample!)

Last round, my efforts to recreate the fabled McDonald's Szechuan Sauce were wild, flailing shots in the dark, pathetic and meager attempts to recreate a long-lost condiment out of scanty information and back-alley sources. But now, thanks to a very kind man named David Wasman, I have procured a sample of the genuine article. Follow along this week as we make a rendition of Szechuan Sauce near-identical to the Mulan-inspired goop from 1998. And make some wannabe Chicken McNuggets while we're at it.

6 min

Movie Theater Popcorn & Raisinets from Whiplash

Whiplash is probably best remembered for its Oscar-winning performances, Oscar-winning screenplay, and the triumphant return of Paul Reiser to the silver screen. And no scene more memorable than the incredulously shared movie theater snack crunched upon by the man himself and his son - follow along today as we unlock the secrets of true movie-theater popcorn at home, pointlessly recreated Raisinets, and the dark art of tempering chocolate.

5 min

Room Service Beef Wellington from Mad Men

Mad Men continued AMC's hot streak of well-acted, well-written, morally irreverent dramas with its sordid look at the lives of Madison Avenue's top advertisers. In an early episode, Roger Sterling attempts to woo America's favorite mistress with a light room service lunch: Oysters Rockefeller, Beef Wellington, and Napoleons. This week, blatantly disregard your cholesterol levels and fire up a Lucky Strike as we indulge in some hotel-room-hedonism with our silver fox boss.

8 min

Cailles en Sarchophage from Babette's Feast

In the 1987 holy grail for film-foodies and old-people-staring-at-things-wistfully enthusiasts, Babette's Feast, some highfalutin dishes are prepared for some haughty aristocrats. Twirl your handlebar mustache, throw on your dinner habit, and try your best not to say aloud how delicious everything is.

4 min

Curb Your Enthusiasm Special

Larry David fluctuates wildly between flagrantly eschewing and rigorously enforcing cultural mores, all of which frequently revolve around food. Slow ice cream orderers, religiously forbidden chicken, caviar entitlement - they're all fodder for Larry's machinations of social upheaval. Just don't eat the man's shrimp.

7 min

Michael Scott's Pretzel from The Office

Michael Gary Scott has many monikers - practitioner of Propeica, spokesman for scotch & splenda, tormentor of Toby, and pioneer of pretzel paraphernalia. Not listed among these accolades is arterial health, as our sugar-hyped-hero forgoes a day's work for the sake of a fully-loaded pretzel, courtesy of Stanley's favorite annual visitor. Hope you've got your Gary Glitter cued up.

5 min

Turkish Delight from Chronicles of Narnia

The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of books known for their talking fauna, religious overtones, and sickly sweets offered up by the White Witch, Jadis. Turkish Delight may be a delight for some accustomed palates, but can be fancifully altered with a number of different flavor concentrates. Whip up a batch to coerce and manipulate the black sheep of your choosing today.

3 min

Clay-Roasted Thigh from Hannibal (ft. You Suck at Cooking)

The history of eating one's fellow man is rich with culinary tradition and innovation, carried on in no small part by Dr. Hannibal Lecter. In this pivotal scene, he gives a fellow killer a taste of his own medicine, so to speak - if, at the time, he had medicine in his bloodstream, because he's eating his own leg. So to speak. Celebrate Halloween in style with this traditional clay-baked entrée with a little help from FoodTube's favorite mystery man, You Suck at Cooking.

7 min

Triple-Decker Eggo Extravaganza from Stranger Things

Eleven is a sci-fi heroine with a proclivity for burgers, fries, and above all, America's favorite freezer waffle: Eggos. But when you stack them thrice high, layer them with whipped cream and Hershey kisses, and top with Reese's Pieces and jelly beans - you can summon her from even the angstiest of adolescent protests.

4 min

Harry Potter Special

The Harry Potter series is essentially a 7-book guide to everything you wish your childhood was - finding out you're a wizard, running away from home, and indulging in a bevy of treats both mainstay and magical. Rock cakes, cockroach clusters, acid pops, chocolate frogs, and of course, butterbeer. Throw on your dorky glasses and sharpie a lightning bolt on your forehead for this week's examination of the real-world sweets from possibly the world's most popular book series about child sorcerers.

7 min

Rachel's Trifle from Friends

The residents of 90 Bedford Street enjoy a rich variety of culinary contributions from roommate Rachel Green - her traditional English trifle receiving the greatest acclaim, particularly from Joey and a lucky passerby bird. Go ahead and don't enjoy this meaty, jammy monstrosity this holiday season.

7 min

The Garbage Plate from The Place Beyond The Pines (sort of)

Go Bills.

6 min

Quatro Quesos Dos Fritos from Psych

You thought Dulé Hill couldn't steal the show once again after his residency on the West Wing - well, back by popular demand, he's reprising his role as Burton Guster in the tv-movie revival of Psych this weekend. Revel in the duo's stoner-like propensity for hilariously unhealthy snacks with this week's recreation of a fan favorite: potatoes, stuffed with four cheeses, deep-fried, breaded, and re-fried, nestled on a bed of ancho sour cream and crispy bacon.

Flanders' Hot Chocolate from The Simpsons Movie

Ned Flanders might be an uncomfortable source of familial affection and exaggerated Judeo-Christian values, but he's also the source of some damned fine-looking hot cocoa. In the silver-screen adaptation of America's longest-running-animated-adult-comedy-cartoon-family, Flanders continues his assault on the Simpson's way of life with a steaming mug of human kindness and empathy.

3 min

Peking Duck from A Christmas Story

A Christmas Story, beyond its bunny suits and leg lamps, is fondly remembered by Generation X-ers for its unfortunate portrayal of Chinese-Americans, and their alluring turkey alternative: peking duck. Crisp skin, juicy meat, deep flavor, all wrapped up in a Mandarin-style pancake with thinly sliced cucumbers, scallions, and hoisin sauce? Fa la la la la, la la la la.

5 min

The Wire Special

The Wire, when it's not mercilessly killing off characters you've come to love and care about, is a showcase of Baltimore junk food specialities. Lake trout, pit beef, eggs cracked into beers - come for the gritty and heartbreaking depictions of heroin addicts and inner city grade schoolers, stay for the eats!

6 min