to master , los Angeles all Harry , all right , this is the walk and talk podcast , and I am your host , carl Fiatini . We are at the world food championships in Dallas , texas , and , man , we're having a what a badass time . I'm eating like a King .
So right now , in fact , I just got out , was just judging the sandwich section , which , all the whole time I was up there , was like now , where is my boy ? Is my boy , jeffrey Schlissel , with them ? Sandwich jobs he puts together . Okay . So here we are . To my left , I have the Sean Jeff , sean , poof , poof .
That's one of my stomach is right about how poof I'm like I'm like poof , be gone .
Okay , yes , now I got my Paisano ginger brother from another mother over here , raymond Felici now .
I don't know how that worked out , my man Okay , yeah , we'll talk about that .
But I'm not judging you , I'm judging up there .
Oh , he judges every chair , yeah you just judge my competition , my sand , okay , dude , and I'm not gonna give you any insight .
I don't get down like that . It's a sacred thing we do up there . It's all blood and everything you know about that .
I'm saying I know a guy Something get a sandwich car .
All right . So you've been , you've been a staple here . You and your guy , your team , have been a staple here . By the way , happy veterans , you guys have been in like how many companies , how many competitions are you right ?
We're in for six competitions and four of us went through to the next round . Okay , how many ? Do you have any left , or ?
no .
Yeah , we got one guy doing burger right now . We got soup , it's around three o'clock .
What I will tell you . What I'm gonna say , is it was a solid Sandwich . I was a solid , solid Sammy .
Yeah , yeah . I mean , once we got to Texas and we started tasting the kind of food they're making around these parts and it was like why ?
would I like how you got the , you know like local lingo .
Yeah .
Since running the Coast Guard , we've been in Miami , iowa , north Carolina now .
Large vast coast in Iowa .
He just said , it guys , what the Mississippi , the Mississippi small thing called the Mississippi .
A lot of business going up to .
Who's the other thing the other day ? Oh , the MRE . Oh yeah .
You guys did a great job . It's so clever . You guys won .
The presentation . I mean , listen , it was tough to present for Air Force . Yeah , you know , freak the keys idea , you guys that whole enchilada lasagna .
Oh no , you Wanted , I'm still . You guys gave it the whole enchilada .
I'm doing .
I do dad jokes . That's what I do . I'm a dad .
That's what I do . Please stop sending me emails about him and the dad jokes the judge . Raymond , jeff , you're out .
Jeff out Raymond in .
Give you guys a compliment on something because you know you guys , you know you're defending the world , you're defending our country , you're making sure democracy reigns all over the world , but at the same time you take time to hone in on Cooking skills and you know anybody can say , oh , I can do this and mix this with that .
You guys had to be Complex in what you received in the MRE and then add other things to it . But you had to .
You know you guys are smart enough to know that Pack with preservatives , packed with all these different things , so to make in obviously rightly so you guys gonna need to survive if that's your only calorie intake for one day out in the field , and so be it .
But you knew that and you knew you had to balance everything else and all the other components around the fact that it was salty , you know , and where other people might have been like oh , I want to do this and I'm just gonna do it . You know you had to .
You had to realize and study and know exactly what your tools were , and I think you guys did a wonderful job and I could not stop eating .
I wanted to finish it . I really did . It was good .
Man , I wait what I just want to point out this competition is truly worldwide . This Japanese young lady , is presenting right now .
Here's literally a translator .
What on right now is you guys ? Talking , that's awesome man that is so awesome and look at that bro . Look at that .
look at that . I don't know what that is , it's almost like a Japanese floppy joe .
I want to eat a Japanese floppy . Joe , Me too . I think it is guys .
Or the sauce where it's about to turn out because the translator is going to come up there now , you know not for nothing . We're the Walkabout .
Podcasts and we're doing a thing .
No , we need to taste it . I know Next year we're going to have people like us , Brother screw you guys .
Screw you guys . I'm going home , so tell us about .
You know it's easy to . You know there's fine dining out there . There's people that are eating seafood . There's people that are eating , you know , desserts all the time Things like that . You have to go to a fancy restaurant or a good restaurant to get things that you want to the qualities .
Sandwiches and burgers . It's a way of life .
And you know people eat that every day and you know that to me to me those would be the hardest things .
It's as easy as it is to make a sandwich .
To me burger and a sandwich are the hardest things to compete in , because it just everyone knows it . It's what , every , it's relative to you . It's a hand to mouth thing , it's just primal in a way , and everybody has a special way , a special thing .
How , how , what does it take to like rein in all that and say , let me give something that they're going to critique me from the beginning . You know , the first thing your mother makes is a sandwich . You know , yeah .
So it's just packed lunch .
You know , it's a staple of just nurturing it , and so to me that would be so hard to think of how to present that in the way that you think everyone is going to accept it .
Yeah .
Especially the judges .
Well , you know , I just want to go back to what you were saying before during that MRE challenge like being the Coast Guard . You know we have two things going for us . Our culinary training is second to none because it's such a small branch . You know we're smaller than the NYPD .
We're around like 300 or around 35,000 strong give or take , that number could be up or down . you know you've been some issues with recruiting and retention . That's why we're out in places like this looking for chefs the Coast Guard we throw down .
And because you know we're cooking for whether it's 12 people , 25 people we can't get a big Cisco truck delivered and cook a bunch of you know not so fresh ingredients for 12 guys . Does this make sense ? So you know we get a budget for the month . We know what we have Like .
When I was in Miami , I was cooking for about 25 people and I had $8,000 to spend every month , whether they ate there or not . So it was like all right , what do you want to make ?
And that kind of touches back to what you just asked , like figuring out what to make from you know , a sandwich I was cooking for these people and you know I have to fucking , I have to sleep in the same areas . These guys and I'm going to feed them again tomorrow .
So it's not like a restaurant where they come in and do your whatever , your best at making , and then they come back a week later .
No , you're doing three squares a day .
Three squares a day . So you know , Is that your job or you have ?
another job as opposed to , you are the chef for your . Italian crew platoon , whatever you know .
Exactly . I understand , he's peeling potatoes , but he's also a gunner . Gotcha , I was actually a gunner .
I was a primary rescue swimmer on that FRC , so you know it , by the way make me a sandwich , I can . Yeah .
It's hilarious .
You're not the gentleman that took pastry chef in the ACF last year . I know because right over your shoulder is the young lady that took chef for the year . Right over my shoulder we got Danielle .
Hughes . She's ACF chef of the entire United States .
So first , A lot of royalty here .
She crushes so .
Yeah , I , she's the one I went for my chapter book to win on the national level . That is just in front of every because you compete .
I just want to make notice of it . Hello , good morning . Good afternoon Is the one that OK'd the Puddle Pirate comment , so I just want to put that out there .
Yeah , I'm not a dog . You said that , I said it .
I said it , but I asked around first .
And he actually said I need to ask him a question .
It's true , and that's how it is . It's like asking for a first kiss .
Wow , no kidding .
Anyway , look .
No , but so all right , let's drill this back , by the way , the Japanese young lady . It's a peanut butter and jelly with bananas . And what A hamburger Burger With a burger , and I it's you know .
I'm going to make so when we get back to next year , next Thursday , you want me to go make that burger ? For you . Yeah , but then for next year I'm going to get with Mike McLeon and I'm going to say , Mike , look , I need to be in the burger competition .
OK , that's fine , but I told you , I can't let . Japanese by next year .
I told him we can't compete . I can , I do , I do , I do Toyota .
Toyota , toyota . Yeah , thanks for the emails . I told Mike . I told Mike we can't compete , pooch not .
Why it's not fair , why ?
How am I going to interview people that I compete against ? It's not right .
It adds a great component to it , but maybe we can compete against other protectors .
I'd rather do it than I . I'd rather take .
Walmart to town . Let's go . We'll bring Rodriguez or one of the other chefs , that's fine .
I'm saying because you made a comment to me . Listen to me .
You started me under the bus , you threw me under the bus yesterday night .
That's all I'm saying . I did , oh yeah , we need him to compete .
Well , that's not throwing you on , I was just giving you some accolade . We'll talk about it . We believe in you , seth , I believe in you . I know we'll talk about it . I can't break you , anyway . So let's bring this back in a little bit . So the MRE thing .
I kind of want to not forget about it .
I'm not going to say that I haven't eaten , not because of any service , it's because I'm having that stuff around . So I've had my share and I'm like man . My heart goes out to you , cats , if you're going to eat that . That doesn't need MREs either that's smelly ass in the can , right there man , it's not good .
So the fact that your team did what it did with that , with those components , I should say hats off . And I'm glad you voted for you Now say it's over , but whatever , yeah , you're my guy , that's why you're here .
Gat and here chef .
Here's somebody I want you to follow , chef Gaston Meredith . He's a Coast Guard guy , he's an ACF guy from our part of town over in Tampa and he does really beautifully . He's a caterer , he's doing real well . He's a badass .
Speaking of what Chef Gaston Reid is right now presenting his burger . Shout out to the Coast Guard .
Oh , there's your guy right there , let's go that French onion burger .
French onion burger .
That's the ghost , wow , wow .
What's the ICU on the side ? Thanks , nice touch .
That is JP the Creeper .
I can see that bun right there . I know that's going to be delicious .
Come on .
What kind of bread is all the dimples ? That's real Very good , but the point is , all that training paid off .
Dude , I've eaten before you , I know that .
But you were young . I met you a year ago .
I've eaten before .
But you're now a master judge for sandwich .
I already said to you hook him . No , listen , listen , hold on . I'm not telling you , you're going to appreciate what I'm saying . I already said that you are my mic and to my rocky I know OK . I appreciate that I haven't had a bite .
Now I'm going to be the one that . Hey , that peanut butter and banana , I want that . Now the French onion soup . I want that one . He was like , he's like .
Kyle , you're too skinny . You're a bum . You're going to eat more .
I could do it . I could do it .
You know , it was a whole thing .
Cut me Jeff .
Unbutton my pants . Whoa , whoa , whoa Family show . That's a good one Family show ?
Yeah , all right . So what are we looking at ? So what's next for you ?
Next for me is going to be the Coast Guard culinary team . So you know they just picked the team .
I think the message went out in October .
So I'm going to be the team captain of the Coast Guard culinary team .
That's a great question , thank you .
We're going to be competing in . Fort . Laverdia I'm sorry , now it's Fort Greg Adams , virginia .
So in your sphere of things , do you have a territory that you kind of float around in , or is it like oh , we're going to ship you this way or that way , or are you pretty much stationary ? Um pretty , much .
Yeah , when we get orders , you know we have a list of whatever picks are available and then we rank them as far as the number one to pick we want . And it goes down to those pick we at least want , and you know , depending on your performance in the Coast Guard you uh that's kind of and what you were previously at .
So that's kind of how they pick where you're going next and I've been lucky enough to get all my number one picks . So , like I said , we started in Iowa and I was right out of boot camp and then it was Miami Beach , North Carolina , Wilmington , North Carolina . Now I'm in DC cooking at the DHS headquarters .
Okay , I mean it'd be good if you got Lake Okeechobee or something Very cool .
I'm kidding , how did you ? You're like culinary mentor . Who would you look up to besides Pooch ? Um ?
thank you .
I mean , that wasn't even fun . I'm kidding .
Yeah , I mean , I really just started digging into cookbooks after I graduated from the CSA school and you know the food lab by Kenji Lopez is fucking great . And then Jet Tila is a hundred Asian cookbooks before you die , like those are .
Those are two of my favorite cookbooks that I feel like you know really helped me crack some codes and you know I got to shout out the joy of cooking cookbook too . That one just had it all because once I , once I got to that first boat , I was on my own for about eight months .
So I figured out what to make and you know it was just turned into reading cookbooks and figuring it out and I've been working by myself , you know , making these menus and doing it with I hear I have really great leadership and you know they're teaching me a lot , but I mostly learned from cookbooks and figuring it out that way .
You know , what I'm thinking is we should do a cookbook that's something like for military . It'll be like peeled potatoes and you Something like that . I feel like it would be kind of cool On the break .
Another email is going to be coming .
No , what I would really love to do man , I think it would be really cool is everybody's looking for recruiters , right ?
Like I mean recruiters in other words , each branch right that's what you're doing .
Well , I mean obviously , obviously , you know kind of being the number one food podcast , all that good . So we should , we should try to coordinate . Coordinate some certain you know some things . Yeah right , because see what Walk and Talk Media has are chefs .
We got chefs everywhere , chefs that we're building followings with right , building a community with Now what ends up Good , what ends up what ends up have ?
my lawyer says that I was going to say was wouldn't it be just really for the Coast Guard to work with the Michelin Star chef ?
Yeah , that's what I'm saying . That's right , that's okay . So my point is we have these really cool relationships that we can probably merge some things together . You know we have all the platforms video , podcast , print , we do it all . So I'm just , I'm just putting out there in the universe of things you don't have to .
you need to talk to their commanders . Right there in the blue hat he runs the whole show .
Just stay in the knees . Um , I am not doing push ups , I promise you that , all right . Um , what do you have to say ? What do you got ? How do we follow you when you at ?
Do ? Coast Guard culinary Instagram . We got a lot of content coming out there . The Rainforest Master Chief he's the one behind you . He's a you know , he's the one traveling around showing , trying to show you know what the Coast Guard's about .
So , for you , it's Italian ginger .
Yeah , that's just a private Instagram . Look at his arm .
The tattoo on his arm .
Yeah , that's Miami Beach . I'm here for it . Let's go .
Yeah , that's cool , it's . It's a skull crossbow with a little chef hat on .
I just the eyes are eggs too . They got kind of friends . That's why that looks like it's pointed out .
That is very cool , that's awesome . That's a job Dope , yeah , that's good .
But three old guys leave us alone , were you guys based out of we're stationed . No , we're in Tampa , okay , cool . From Miami , though I mean . Well , he's the reason I'm in New Orleans , I don't know , all right .
For wait , wait , new Orleans , new Orleans , yeah .
So we just lost all our advice you guys from New Orleans .
We just lost all of you know audience . So don't say New Orleans , okay , which by ?
the way I've never , I've never said .
I don't , I don't do what he does . Jeff is like all of them , like you know , like he's really like he bends . That . This is not . You don't even hear any constant .
I mean honestly , it's one long vowel . That's very close to where you know how we get the stroke I'm having .
No , no , I got I slurred it on the thing .
Thanks , oh yeah .
God . Okay , listen my man , good luck . You know what Can you put the producer ? Oh yeah , by the way , our intro music is done by a fellow named Pablo Vivas , and that cat told you Bad ass you look really good in that new chef team , by the way man , new chef bro , I'll tell you what .
I'll tell you what they did a great job .
Victor , what's the other guy ? What's the guy's name over there , remember ? Yeah , I tried his name , jennifer . All right , new chef . We look fly . I'm talking about freshy fresh fly . Okay , I'll tell you , raymond . Thank you for doing what you do at work and over here at this show . You're good people . Pooja , chef Pooja .
Pooja , is he gone ? No , I'm kidding .
Ah , Jefferson , we are out Pooja .