Join Claire Saffitz, Brad Leone, Chris Morocco, Gaby Melian, Andy Baraghani, Sohla El-Waylly, Amiel Stanek, Carla Lalli Music, Priya Krishna and Christina Chaey at home as they show us the oldest food in their kitchens.
Whether it's smuggled lardo or ten year old fruitcake, there are a probably a few items here that may be a health hazard.
- [Carla] Test kitchentalks, oldest food, take one.- Should I bring that otherhalf of the sandwich up to Dad?- No.No, I'm gonna eat it.Go, I'm rolling.- You already ate the other half!I know.- Rolling.[upbeat music]- Hi guys, Gabi here in my kitchen.- I'm here to tell you aboutthe oldest thing in my kitchen.- What is the oldest thing in my kitchen?- I'm not 100% sure what it is.- I have some extremelyold things in my fridge.- Oldest food?Wait, what are the rules?[laughing]I forgot.- Holy crap.- I feel like this is such a funny time,because everybody is like,really getting acquaintedwith their pantry,and their refrigerator, and their freezer.- I will hold on to condiments like crazy.- I just don't throw things out, really.I pretty much use the criteria of like,does it look okay, does it smell okay?And if both of those things arethe case then it's fine to eat.- It's like, stuff people gifted to me.And yet, I haven't opened them.- I one time had a batchof celery sauerkrautthat I had made, and I kept itthrough two different moves.It was still good.- I have a very, handsomecollection of tinned fish.I don't think that has anythingto do with what we're talkin' about.But that they last for like,for very, for very longtime, so that's cool.- Should I go get it?In my refrigerator?Pretend that I'm going?- [Man] Walk us through what you got.- This is tamarind paste.It expired in July, 2013.- Oh, here, this is an old thing.For some reason, wehave a bottle of Malta.- I did find one thing thathad expired over a year ago.Bread crumbs from Trader Joe's.Sell by May 28, 2019.- If this is what I think it is,then it is lardo that my friendChristine brought back from Italy.Like, smuggled in her suitcase,and then left on my desk at work.- So this is a jar ofMother-in-law's Kimchi Napa.Sell by five 31 20.We've got like, over 31 days here.Listen to that.You hearin' it?See it rising up?That's crazy.- Next thing.It's crema pistachi.It's like Nutella, if Nutellawas made out of pistachios.Maybe I bought it when I was in Italy.Maybe someone bought it in Italyand brought it back for me.I frankly don't know because,whatever happened, happened in 2012.- So these are Amarena cherries.It actually has noexpiration date whatsoever.I only used it for drinks,and I haven't had a drinkwith this in a while.Probably like, two years ago.- So, I first got this starter,I think it must've been2000, I wanna say 15, maybe.Sourdough starter is amixture of flour and water,and it is the life force of sourdoughor naturally leavened bread.And I love it, and I've had it forever.- This is yogurt starter from,what year is this yogurt starter from Dad?- This is from, I thinkI created this in 2007.- So, every time that you make yogurt,you use the previous batch tomake the next batch of yogurt.- Once you warm milk or heat milk,you're killing off allthe bacteria in the milk,,and the idea is to infuse that milkwith this fresh bacteria,so that it can multiply.- It's just yogurt.- I think the items that like,I get scared to use arethings where I'm like,where am I gonna get it again?Here, I have this thing.So, this, I think we've had inthe kitchen for three years.They're called chuno.It's these freeze driedpotatoes that are naturallyfreeze dried in the Andesor something like that.We haven't used it because we're like,what if it's amazing and we want more,and we don't know where to get it?- Do you wanna talk aboutfruitcake really quick?This is also, what year is this from, Dad?- This is only about 10 years old.- Only 10 years old.- Yeah, this is from Collin Street Bakery,it's a very famous bakery.It's in a small, little town.- It's Corsicana, as seen inthe Netflix show, "Cheer."- Okay, I didn't know that part.- Now it's famous for two things.- This is good, that we'vebrought this all out.You know I feel like we're doingsome kind of spiritual cleansing.I'm gonna eat all this food,and move on to the next stage of my life.How about this one?This is a tiny bit of nutmix that's gone rancid.It's part of some like, fruitbasket my parents got uson our anniversary, like four years ago.So, we just have rancid nuts thatwe've carried from apartment to apartment,'cause I feel bad throwing it away.I'm not gonna throw it away today,and I'm not gonna eat them either.- The thing that I chosefor my oldest item is,this still half full tub of gochujang.A Korean fermented chili pepper paste.One says July 13th, 2017.But then it always saysJanuary 12th, 2019.But, because this is a pre-fermentedproduct that's stored in the fridge,it's kind of just one of those productsthat's like good for life.- The starter that is in my refrigerator,it's sometimes called the mother.This is starter where I'mnever using the whole thing.I'm constantly sustaining it.So, I feed it with white flour.Just all purpose.And then, when I'm making bread,I'll take some of it out of the fridge,and I make something calleda levain from the starter.So, it's like a younger,more lively starter thatI'm making from this master starter.- [Man] Have you named the mother,and do you name its children?- I, no, it's just called Claire starter.It's a part of me.- So this right here,this has been in there for a while.Probably absolutely fine.It's garlic and miso packedtogether and fermented.That liquid is probably so delicious.But yeah, this isprobably two, plus years.Okay, so that's one.Oh, I wonder what everybodyelse's things are?- What else do we have?Oh, here.This pistachio paste, it'sa gift and it's expensive,so I wanna make sure Iuse it right you know?I don't wanna just have it on toast.If only I could find those leaves.- So this is so old that itdoesn't have an expiration date.A cool jar though.All right, cream ofartichoke in oil, delicious.Would make a delicious dip.Why didn't I ever use it?2010.Cosmo, what year were you born?- 2009.- So you're older by a year than this.- I think that there's abig tendency for peoplewho are creating their own starter tothink that they've messed it up,and that it's not right, andthat they should start over,and I would just say keep going.Even if it smells like,really sour, that's normal.Just keep going, and havefaith in the process.- Yeah, this is, this is old.This is a, this is a, this is a shame.This is a dried seaweed.I've had this for a freaking decade.I don't even.[laughs loudly]- Okay, so this biriyana has been inthe freezer for maybe three years.It was from the last time my mom visited.Every time she visits, shemakes us lamb biriyani,and I always save some tolike, eat on a rainy day.But I never have theday where I'm like yeah,I'm gonna crack into the biriyani.- But guys, this is it.This is the oldest thing that I found.It is, tomato jam.It's also Italian.It was guaranteed tolast until July of 2004.That's a while.I think I feel guiltyabout throwing things away.I'm never ever gonna use this, ever.- So, this is a challenge.I dunno, is this a challenge?- Why not eat it, you know?- We should eat it at some point?- Do you wanna eat it today?- No, I don't wanna eat it today.- No, okay.- Do we have to eat it today?- Mm, smells good.I mean, I'm down to try it.- Oh dude, I don't know, man.I'm kinda scared to eat this.[pounds packaging]- I'm not eating the starter,it doesn't taste good.Don't make me eat the starter.- [Dan] Can you feed it?Does it need to be fed?- Dan wants me to feed the starter but,she doesn't need to be fed, so.I'm standing my ground.I'm not gonna do it.She gets fed on Thursdays.- Do I eat it now?- [Man] Go for it.- Oh, mm, mm.Sugary, mm.- It's just miso and raw garlic thatI bruised and crushed slightly,and then you pack it inmiso, and you let it ferment.This actually looks amazing.This would be great in a vinaigrette.- Okay, look at this.Okay Dad, this is your piece.- Thank you.- All right.- It's actually very good.I must, I must tell Collin Street Bakery.- Yeah, I mean, pretty good.- It's very good.- Okay well, there you go.- It's so good, huh.Wow, wow, just wow.- It smells like um, kid's candy.What was the, the one that pops in your,Pop Rocks.Ooh, I wish you can smell it.Smells delicious.- I'm gonna taste the molasses.The other things are good,I don't wanna open them.I think the cap's gonna break.You wanna try?- Yeah sure.- You know what?I'm gonna eat the bread crumbs.Because I feel like,they probably just taste like nothingness.- Okay, I will taste some of this.It's not ideal, but I will do it.It's like this balancebetween a slight funk,definitely a lot of spice,like this is definitely spicy,and sweet, it is surprisingly sweet.- Let's try the crema de carxofa.Hmm, the carxofa's not gonna kill me.It's just predominatelyvery garlicky and oily now.- I'm gonna try this.[crunches loudly]It's so sour.- The producers are notforcing me to do this.I am doing this at my own will.- Well, it looks really beautiful.The fat is just super, super milky.Really just melts in your mouth.It's salty but not like, crazy salty.The pork flavor, the pork fatflavor itself is just like,[blows kisses]I'm struggling here 'cause there isa little bit of like a freezerburn kind of after taste.- The kimchi continues to ferment,and continues to buildup acidity in there.It's just very,bam.- Every place I've everlived, my mom has come andmade biriyani that I've keptin the freezer and never eaten,and ended up throwing out when I've moved.This is the container I eat.It is perfectly fine.I'm really surprised.It's still good.- It's like pulverized,just pulverized bread.- There we go, 10 year old fruitcake and,16, 17 year old yogurt starter.Our fridge in a nutshell.- I think what I learned is thatI have a hard time throwing out gifts,even when they're not things thatI care for and they're edible.- If you're not willing to try it,you've gotta throw it out.You're never gonna use itso, just get rid of it.- If you're truly not using something,find a way to use it up.Use it in a recipe.Give it away.- I'm glad we did this.This was eye opening.I think I'm gonna stop holding onto food for nostalgic reasons.Not eating it is asbad as throwing it out.- Thank you so much for watching,and I see you next time from my kitchen.Gabi's kitchen, bye.- [Man] Great, let's cut.- Ooh, I did not like that.- [Man] Are you okay?- I did not like thatcheesecake, that fruitcake.