Hello , food Fam . This is the Walk and Talk podcast , your favorite food podcast , and I'm your host , carl Fiedini , welcome to the show . Today we're podcasting on the road at Patrick Kelly Studios in beautiful Tampa Florida . He's the host and founder of the Produce Industry podcast . Be sure to check him out . Find him on Apple and Spotify .
On the menu this weekend and not today smoked short ribs and chicken . It's going to be a yum fest . We'll have the food photography ready for next week , probably come Monday . Thank you , peninsula Food Service for supplying the proteins for this weekend's production Today . Well , fire and smoke with Chef Frederick Casa Grande .
Join us as we explore the story behind the brand Smoking Beards . It starts with mesmerizing blends of spices that has taken the barbecue world by storm . From his upbringing in France to becoming the UAE's barbecue champion , chef Frederick's passion and dedication to the art of cooking will leave you hungry for more . I know what does for me .
Get ready to be inspired and indulge your senses on this mouthwatering adventure . Chef Casa Grande is on deck . Jeff my man , my man , why don't you go ahead and pop the clutch ? And I guess you know , do we let Patrick on a little bit today , or what ?
I'm not going to turn his mic on yet , though I think we should , because you mean , yeah , we got to make payment for him for this , for giving us the use of the studio today . I know he didn't have to cancel a bunch of meetings .
Well , we are the number one podcast , I mean you know , he should be paying us a little bit Shots fired . You know what I'm saying . Shots fired , okay , oh my God . Men at Intra Music Pablo Vivas yeah , he does an awesome job so great . All right , I'm shutting off , but it's great . It is great . All right , patrick , you're on the air too .
Welcome , patrick , kelly . Thank you for having me in my own studio . Patrick , kelly , patrick , kelly , patrick , kelly , patrick .
Kelly Patrick , kelly Patrick , kelly Patrick , kelly Patrick , kelly Patrick , kelly , patrick Kelly . So you're welcome .
So listen , all right , everybody out there like what the hell is going on . What changed , so John's not with us anymore . No , John , John's . John has the flu and we didn't feel like getting sick .
Yeah , well , we wanted to let him rest . That's true , I'm going to go with that one . Yeah , we'll let him rest .
And in the clutch , pk Patrick Kelly came through in the clutch with the hey , we're going to take over your space here and he went for it .
Anytime .
So thank you .
Anytime , anytime . I like having you guys here . I actually think it mixes up the office a little bit . I've got a lot of attorneys in this office and a lot of construction like design companies . So when they see like a bunch of people coming in with mics and boxes , they either think one , they're taking over the office Right , or two , what's happening .
So I will tell you I am the most exciting and interesting person in this office , yeah , the most electrifying , yeah , anogenic . They all hear us right now . Like all of them right now are like what are they going to ?
say , now Are they putting complaints in , yet Only if you're in the hallway . Okay , all right , so let's get back to food . So today we are going to be talking barbecue . Yep , now , jeff , I know that's a that holds a special place in your heart Definitely Right , your cooking skills , um , I get . What do you , would you say ?
you're traditionally , uh , classically trained Like 100% classically French train , just like chef on the on the line right now .
Yeah , but then . But now you said you know what , screw all that I'm just going for . Uh , I'm going for hot coals and stuff like this .
Yeah , I think that , like I've always stated , I think when you get back to the roots of being primal , when we get back to cooking with fire , when you have a , you know the switch , when you're in a kitchen and you turn it on and you can cook and you can do things all in a minute . It's different .
Being trained in the French classic cuisine style , you definitely add an an an weapon to your repertoire . When you're going into into barbecue , there's so many things that some of the barbecue guys don't understand about cooking or don't realize they can do with cooking .
Where we come in and kind of like , hey , this works in French cuisine and that style of cooking , and what if I do X , y , z and that helps us out in ? We like in exactly what chefs probably gonna talk about , but the rubs and the spices and how we can manipulate flavor profiles to . But then the barbecue aspect of it , you add complexity to it .
For instance , tomorrow's men or those weekends menu , we're going to be doing a ravioli that's going to be smoked with pecan first and then that's the short rib . Then I smoked the actual to cut the cheese mix with a cold smoke . So it's a layer of smoke on type of smoke .
It's similar to what we did with Bo Jackson's , the one dish I did that everyone was ran and raving about this of each day . There was four different types of smoke in that In the actual ravioli there's two smokes in that one .
So actually three . So I'm not going to be there for this production , but you will . You will save me a plate Like .
I have . I have a ton of cause I wanted to . I'd spent a while for me to , since I've done actually any pasta does . So I got Samolina flour , you know , had it shipped in and I ended up doing the dough yesterday and I bought a beautiful stamp . My buddy beach up in New Hampshire , actually Keith's , saracen's , sue's chef .
He was doing a demonstration presentation over in cater source and he had these beautiful Italian stamps . Raviolis that were actually . You can pop it and it would automatically pop the thing out with spring loaded . That's what it was . I was like , oh my God , I gotta get me one as soon as this came up .
As far as the menu was concerned , I'm like we are still doing this right now Cause you know why it's national ravioli day in coming up actually . So that's one of the reasons why we have paella on that menu . We have a French bread because that's a national French bread day and there was one other national day .
Yeah , but ravioli kind of steals , the that's under oh it will .
It will definitely cause . We're doing a blueberry demiglace reduction . That has time , so you have blueberry time . There's Uzu and actually the ricotta mixture with the caramelized onions , so there's smoked , that I smoked . So there's citrus , there's blueberry , there's thyme . There's going to be a lot going on in that dish Even I think this if you didn't have beef .
Well , you know what I mean . We're going to convert .
Patrick , back to beef .
Yeah , I don't know . I wish , I wish , I , I wish I could . Honestly , I got you .
I told you that we were talking off air a minute ago and you you were , I don't know you kind of lit up when we started talking about the farmer craveable dinners .
I did . You know that's it's one thing in in the industry to talk about . You know fresh produce or even the cattle and beef industry . You know I have a podcast that's scheduled in the next week or so that you know I'm going to talk to a cattle farmer and he was .
I told him my experience with beef and you know he asked me the questions and I told him you know stomach issues and he said , hey , totally get it , Totally get it . I want to send you some product . You know , have your wife try it and I do want to know he's like . But I do want you to do one thing for me .
I said , okay , he goes , don't swallow it . He goes , get a little piece of that dehydrated meat . He goes , chew on it . He goes . Right , he goes , think about like , chew on it . And just like you know you chew on a cigar when it gets down to the bottom , he goes . I want you to just enjoy the flavor . You know , yes , that's what he told me .
So he and he sent me like New York strip and all that , but the , the farmer's craveable dinner , I can tell you this right now is that it just wowed me both times , Jeff , that's one thing I can tell you is that the first time was a nine course meal , right , and then the second time we did a six course meal .
But I can tell you , every time was an experience , and the first time , you know , it's even funny my wife said this , carl , and I think you'll appreciate this I said which one did you like better ?
And she goes oh my gosh , she's like that's a tough one , right , and it's hard for us because we had , you know , we had Bo Jackson at the second one , but you know she goes . I think both of them were comparable because both of them had great people there .
The environment was amazing , amazing at the Cobb Club , and the food was amazing and the community was amazing , and I think that's what hits those farmers craveable dinners . Listen , it's not even about , oh , we're trying to serve this specific meal or the specific deal .
No , what it was was we were bringing people together that enjoyed produce , that enjoyed meat , right , and they enjoyed being together . So I always say like you know the industry and our produce industry , carl and Jeff , they did something called lobby bar . Remember , I've been telling you about that . I was like we got to .
I got to find out what the name was . They did it right after COVID , but what they did was they went to restaurants . Like guys , this is the new type lobby bar . Like we want to bring people out to the farm and have a true farm to table experience . You blew my mind two times . And what did they say ? Like experience wise .
Like you go , you go to the same place . You're looking for the same experience . Just like when I go to the Dominican Republic I'm looking for the same experience as last year . So I can't be like , oh crap , right , every experience with this farmers craveable dinner has one up . The next experience .
Yeah , and I think that's where we want to go with the farmers craveable dinners , because that's where the we've missed out . As far as the industry is concerned , after COVID being four years out , we we lost the experiences , we lost the surface aspect of it . Then we are a service industry , you know .
Forget about the what we can put on a plate , because that hasn't really changed that much .
It's more of the experiences and how we deal with the experience 100% agree with that and my hat's off to to you guys for that and I think that for the industry , if you're listening out there , this is what we got to do . You know , let's stop going to Charlie steakhouse . I mean , I know I love it .
We're in the industry , we service some of these guys with produce and long horns and I love going to those places .
But if you want to like a true farm to table experience with like I always said , it's like a reception after a wedding If you want that with your community , this is the way to go , cause if you go , like I said when we were with Bo , I called you , remember . I said I need you to give me five to six restaurants Remember Carl Sure and you go .
I'm on it , dude . You called me back within like two hours and I was like wait , wait , wait , wait , wait wait , wait , wait , You're like what am I doing here ? You're like is this VIP ? I'm like yes , and you're like dude , we got to and remember what I told you .
We got to find a place , that where Bo can't be recognized , because we're trying to have business , we're trying to do things right .
I said come here , kid , we take care of everything . I said you know you're going to spend the cash anyway , just you know , put it this way .
We take it towards the family , that's it .
Keep it here . That's what I said . Yeah , look , man , at the end of the day , we need to start doing more of these things . Actually , jeff , we're on a call tomorrow , tomorrow , 12 . Yeah , we're going to see about our potentially our next one in Orlando , which would be really awesome .
A farmer's grave in Orlando .
Yeah , yeah . So I've already put the peeps that need to know . The team already knows .
It might be VIP again . I should be in right . Yeah , listen , that's a look , it's a given . It's a date night for my wife and I .
Listen , I'm glad I can be that special connector .
Oh my God , like , listen , because , like you just said , you're going to spend the money anyways , and I think that's what's so special about it , is that I mean I even called Carl I don't know if he told you this Like I was like hey , how much am I paying for this ?
And he's like you're not , but it's the fact of the matter is it offered though Well you put it I offered many times , I know you told me I offered many . I should have just become a sponsor of the event , but because you know I was getting clapped when I was walking . Hey , he's finally here , walking in anyways . But I just think that it sets the bar .
When you're delivering your community , you know even the purpose of just getting together , because , again , we get together with our community as it is Right . Look at us today . Hey , I need help . You guys are part of the community . Let's , let's figure this out . Well , here's what I'm thinking . So 250 today for the room each .
And then 750 to be on the show .
It's 750 to be on the show . That's at this point , yeah All right .
So what we're going to do , this is what I think we should do . We should have a barbecue , you know , themed farmer's graveable I could definitely do that and we bring the smoker . We smoking beards .
We bring , oh you bring , gov the gentleman that's on the green room right now , or in the green room right now .
In fact , I don't want to wait any longer .
I want to , I want to I would like to bring our esteemed guest . Yes .
Chef Frederick Casa Grande onto the program . Welcome , chef . How are you man ?
I am excellent . How are you guys ?
Man , if I was any better , I would be you . Do you know what I'm saying ? I know you know what I'm saying .
Where is chef right now in the world ?
Where are you right now ?
Right now I'm sitting in Dubai . It's a half past 10 PM , the weather is absolutely lovely and I'm having a fantastic conversation with my friends .
I mean the ones that are not us right .
Yeah , no , I mean real friends . You know the ones that are there , right , I get you .
Listen , would you be up for coming over to do a special dinner event for the , with the whole podcast and everything ?
Yeah , absolutely All right , all right .
So you know I'm up for everything . You know that , right , of course I do Listen . I've said this a couple of times when . So we met every okay so audience . You know Fred . We became friends with Fred during the World Food Championship in Dallas last November and I got to judge one of Fred's events and it was the live fire cooking man . It was so awesome .
I wouldn't know I was too busy working . Yeah , well , too bad , so was I , that's .
I had a job to do and I was you were eating . That was my job .
And that's his job , that's my yeah .
Yeah , but the whole . I'm trying to give Fred a ton of props , so there was a like 20 . I think there were like 20 contestants out there . Fred was the only showman he saw me . Obviously he , you know , he sees that I'm a slob .
So what he first thing he does , he looks at me , he , you know , with this inviting smile and as he's smiling and looking at me , he's cutting pieces of steak . He's cutting pieces of . So he was bribing you , he was absolutely doing that .
So I mean full disclosure for the audience . I did put my meat in Karl's mouth .
Oh , my God .
Yeah , I've been waiting for someone to finally reveal that .
Thank you , this is this is the only time what happened in Dallas .
It's not anymore , not anymore .
The millions of people now know . So this is the only time in the history of my entire life and , yeah , it was delicious .
All right .
You done , you done real good . Okay , I think it was a cool . I was at a cool , or what were you cooking ? Do you remember ?
The meat yeah .
It was outside skirt steak Outside skirt . Yeah , I'll tell you what man . That was a great experience . So , all right , listen , you know your ancestry . Obviously there's a French accent . I think you're Casa Grande , so you're Italian , you're French . I think you've got a little German sprinkled in there . So , yeah , yeah , yeah .
Your upbringing and cultural heritage how did that influence your passion for food and cooking ? Is that ? What kind of drew you into this ?
Yeah , so I mean , obviously in France , cooking is in the very important parts of everybody's life , right ? I mean we spend a lot of time eating , we spend a lot of time celebrating foods around the table . It's not uncommon that after a five course meal , after three hours around the table , you're talking about what the next meal will be .
So I grew up in a family that loved food , loved eating , loved cooking . So very early I was immersed in my mom's kitchen , my grandparents' kitchen , and you know what it smelled . Amazing it was just . It was fascinating . And being born on the border between France and Germany , there were a lot of different culinary influences there at play .
So I think very early I was drawn to cooking , but also cooking different stuff from different places .
You won a competition , a barbecue competition in the UAE , correct ? Was that the Rotanas ? Was that the Rotanas ?
No , no , no . So the Rotana was the first competition I attended , so I started food competitions in 2021 . I didn't win the first one , so you know I was very disappointed , but then you know it's sports , so there can be only one winner and I really enjoyed the experience of competing in food .
The competition that I won was the qualifier for the World Food Championship in the UAE in 2023 . So that was June last year .
What was your inspiration to actually get into the competition ?
Well , the inspiration for the first one was very clearly my wife . So it was a competition organized by a hospitality group called Rotana here , and they were looking for the best amateur pitmaster in the United Arab Emirates and she heard of that competition .
She's saying you know , there is this competition and , like you know , I'm not sure I should do that , I'm not really into competition , just like you know , greeting in my backyard for my friends , and that she tells me you know the looks wipes can have sometimes you are competing , of course . So I did compete .
Well , it's usually because they want to get you out of the house for a little while .
I think or get the prize , yeah , or the grand prize , or the grand prize , so you have a company .
You have a company , Fred , it's Smoking Beards , which is an awesome name , by the way and I have to say , let me just sidetrack your beard . Your beard is fierce , Just saying .
Thank you . Thank you , yours is not bad either . It's okay , it's all right .
So you know , I'm trying to come , see , come I'm trying to use when I'm older , you know , and I older you already are when . I grow up , I want to aspire to have Fred , to have Fred's beard . Yeah , no , but then he has a cut . His company is Smoking Beards too Like it's so awesome .
It's awesome .
Yeah , it's all about marketing . It is , and he's fantastic . They do a terrific job , by the way . What's your Fred ? You were I'm going to put it on the description what's Smoking Beards on the Instagram ? Right ? Smoking that beard ? Yeah , okay , excellent , and Smoking Beards came from where ? Where did the name come from and what are your products ?
So the name , the whole idea of Smoking Beard , actually came from a coffee meeting . It's going to be a very funny story that I was just dating with my future wife and she asked me okay , so what are your plans for the future ? What are your plans ?
So I'm like , yeah , you know , we're going to finish the coffee and then we're going to take the bike and go here and go there . And she's like , no , no , what are your plans ? So obviously it was like a job interview , so I talked about my aspirations to yeah .
So I talked about my aspirations and I'm like you know , one day I'm dreaming of having my own place , my own restaurant , like a jazz lounge , a figure club , something like that . And she's like okay , so what are you going to do to make it happen ?
And after half an hour of conversation we went with the concept of doing something a bit more serious , with barbecuing and , step by step , building a plan to enter this food and beverage industry .
And on the spot , we were brainstorming about the name and she was looking at the beard she was looking at , funnily enough , you know , when you smoke a brisket , you can shower as many times as you want . Your hair and your beard will smell like smoke for a couple of days . And she's like smoking beards .
She plays with the word and at some point I was like you know what ? That's an awesome name . And on the spot , with my phone , I read the domain name and , just you know , the same day we registered the brand and the trademark . So that's how , off the cuff , it really popped up and that's a brilliant story .
So your main products are what ?
So the cornerstone of the smoking beards lineup are the spices . Because what happened during the first competition ? So I created a dish . The dish was good but although it didn't win everybody who tried it , the judges and the audience over there were like man , the spices are awesome , where can I get them ?
And there was so much traction around the spice rods that I created for this recipe but maybe I want to something there . So we started producing a bit more of that and selling it . So end of 2021 . And you know , in a couple of months we sold hundreds of those buckles which led to the establishment of the company . Now we have a lineup of three spices .
So the second one is called the Southern Kiss and the third one I created for the World Food Championship , so for the UE Championship , and then the one in Dallas last November , the Bayou Blaze .
And where is your product available ? Where do you find the spices ?
So currently we're selling in the UE , of course , in Dubai and Abu Dhabi , we're selling in Philippines , we're selling in France and I am working on penetrating the North American markets . So I'm hoping that very soon those spices will be available to you guys in the US .
Yeah , we might be able to actually help you along with that . Also , do you find that obviously it's a grocery retail item , but do you have any push for food service ?
So locally I do . So . I do private catering , I do private chefs , even supper clubs , pop-ups and so on and so forth . But I also do residencies . So I'm currently at the back end of a three month residency as a guest chef in a gas truck hub in Dubai .
So I've created a menu for them and I've been training the kitchen staff and the whole brigade and we're cooking that , which is a barbecue inspired menu . We have six items there and you know patrons absolutely love it .
Fred , what is your favorite barbecue style for yourself ?
no-transcript , but I like it . I like every style . I would say probably Texas barbecue , because this is what I've learned first , you know . But I like big cuts of meats . I obviously drawn towards rib eyes , tomahawks and stuff like that , but yeah , I like just a good juicy piece of meat with a nice crust .
So you've done into the sauces , then Are you into sauces ?
as well . Not so much , I'm more into dry wraps than sauces , but I've done sauces I mean . Interestingly enough , Jack Daniels asked me to do a barbecue sauce a couple of months ago for the Steve Harvey open fire food festival , which was a big hit as well , you know .
I saw that . I saw on your I think it was Instagram with Steve Harvey and all that . That looked amazing . I wish I was there for that .
Yeah , I mean we're doing it again next year . So as soon as I know the dates , I'll let you know .
Perfect . So when you're doing your barbecue , do you ? The style that I would like to know is do you do offset ? Do you do like ? What kind of equipment are you utilizing ? Santa Maria , you do an offset .
So I'm lucky that I work with , with a local manufacturer . So those guys are amazing . Both of them are Americans . It's called exit 10 and they manufacture greens and smokers . What they've built for me . We call it the green reaper , the barbecue from hell . So it's kind of a huge contraption .
That has one of those cranks you know and two scissors lift so I can . I can lift it like a period .
So you're doing similar to the Santa Maria .
Similar to the Santa Maria yeah gotcha . But I have such a big cooking surface on that that I usually only use half as direct . I , I agree , I use coal to start the fire , but then I I green on wood and then , you know , I just play with direct fire . In direct heats I have some space on the sides to to let the meat rest . It's extremely practical .
But do you make fun of people who are using you know smoke with you know , like a trigger or gas or gas or something like that Is that ? Is that what you do secretly ?
No , no , no , absolutely not . Like you know , full disclosure here . I have a , I have a Weber summit , so that's you know , the huge gas green . I have a pellet smoker as well as a as a wood smoker . I think each tool has a use .
You know , if I want to smoke racks of sausages , maybe it's easier for me to just fire the pellet smoker , but but for my briskets I use the , I use the offset .
What's your ? What is your most favorite rub ? Like what ? How are you ? How ? What's your foundation , your base ?
Yeah if you want to let that secret out .
Yeah , I mean , look , I mean everybody has a secret . Everybody has a secret . Break it here first . I'm just saying , Fred .
No , no , I I'm biased . I use a lot of my own rubs . I I love the original . It works . It was created for for rebies and briskets and absolutely works miracles on those needs , so that that would be my go to my go to mix .
How did you get involved with barbecue Cause you're classically trained , correct ?
Yeah , I've done . I've done a lot of classical training in France and here .
Right , what made you go ? Oh , barbecue .
You know it's the fire . I mean , I heard , I heard you guys have this conversation and I fully agree with what was said . There is something completely primal Look at the kids when there is a bonfire . Yeah , exactly . We've drawn into that frame right .
Yeah .
And I think it's , it's inherited from from thousands , tens of thousands of years , where fire is the protection and fire is what make like , what makes ingredients edible . So it's it's at best it's a seasonal activity in France because the you know , I come from northeast in France and the climate is not really good , so most of the time you cannot barbecue .
And then I moved to Dubai in 2008 and suddenly I had a backyard and I had some 364 days a year and it was amazing . So I this is really where I started playing with the fire In a desert in a desert .
He's playing with fire .
Not too hot , because , because , why not Right ? You know , there is no such thing as a barbecue season .
Right , that's how it is here in Florida too .
But if you weren't but listen if you , if you weren't going to do , if you weren't going to be in , you know , doing a barbecue or smoking , what would you be cooking ?
What's your own favorite ? What was your favorite ? Before barbecue Um , you know I like French cuisine a lot , obviously because this is what I've been exposed to most of my life . So spending the hours preparing a good beef bourguignon or something like that , it's delicious . We have a lot of meat and wine based stews in France .
They're absolutely insanely delicious succulents .
Have you tried to replicate some of the cuisine that you did in France , but by barbecuing the protein and then building from there , like doing a beef bourguignon ? With smoked beef instead of doing a braise .
Yes . So I mean , I've experimented with pulled beef to do like smoked pulled beef , to do the bourguignon . There's pulled lamb as well . That works in a similar way . So there is a lot of experimentation and playing around that you can do .
It works the same , because the concept of those two is that you stew the meat for a very long time to make it softer , which is exactly what you do when you smoke a brisket for a long time . You take a piece of meat that would otherwise be very tough and you make it super soft and delicious , except that you infuse it with those smoky flavors .
So you cannot really adapt the recipe one for one , but you can create something else that is inspired by that .
Exactly what wood do you have that you use and what's your favorite type of wood to smoke ?
with Well , so here we have a supply problem , right , because there is no forest in the UAE , so we cannot really find good smoking woods domestic , so all the wood that we can find for smoking is imported . I use English oak . I think it's a wood that is very well balanced .
It's not overpowering , so it works with pretty much everything , and the one that I have is extremely dry , so there is a very good quality smoke and it almost leaves no ash at the ends , which is good as well .
Are you bringing this English oak to Indiana , or what ?
Probably not .
If I was closer to the US , I would have different supply chains , for sure . Yeah , but I want the English oak .
He wants a taste that would be like for English oak , because here in Florida we have oak that's indigenous . We also have some cedar and some cypress that we have here , which is really different . But then we also have the hickory , the misci , the cherry , the pecan .
So I have an assortment of all those woods in smaller chunks and in chips so I can always add , I mean layer the smoke in different flavors but the volume smoking . I mainly use oak . I would suspect American oak is probably the same flavor profile .
It's very neutral in its smoke . It doesn't overpower the meat Like hickory and misci , I find sometimes it takes those types of woods actually become the star , not the protein , where I think the protein should be the star and the smoke should be the supporting actor .
I like that .
I actually do like that .
That's the problem I have with many sauces . It's like as soon as you coat your protein with the sauce , there is a tendency that the sauce might become the star of the dish .
Yeah .
This is something that's quite difficult when you do spice mixology , when you create a spice rub . It's something that adds flavor , that adds enough flavor that it does make a difference and that you can still feel what the meat is .
Oh , you always have to definitely feel that Karl knows that . Yeah Right . So I think smoking beards should be like the official feeder of the Walk and Talk podcast .
I'm okay with that . After Dallas , I'm so okay with that . Yeah , absolutely .
Oh , my God , those days were so long , chef . What do you got coming up next ? What's your next pick thing ? The Walk and Talk show After today .
After today , we're waiting for the episode to air in the UAE and rise to fame thanks to you guys .
No , thanks to you .
No , I mean , jokes aside , there is a lot in the pipeline . If you followed my feed on Instagram , you saw that the past couple of months have been incredibly active and there has been a lot happening . So right now , as I said , I'm finishing my residency in JV's Gastropod .
By end of March , I'm going to take two weeks of leave where , hopefully , I'm going to be grilling that just for pleasure , and then we're going to start the next phase of smoking beards . I mean , there is a lot of retail and wholesale activities that may come to fruition from a spiced perspective .
The next residency I can't talk about it right now , but very soon we'll be able to announce that and we're looking at barbecue classes with some of the culinary institutes around here . So definitely , barbecue is going to be even more prominent on the UAE food scene .
Is there a type of UAE barbecue or is there one that's starting at ? Could you Be the father of that cuisine or that type ?
I would say culturally , in the Arab world they've always grained meat , but it's not what you would expect as a barbecue type of cuisine in North America . So it's more , you know they have those kofta , which is kind of minced meat with spices .
Yes .
So , and also because of the type of meat that are used and the cultural appetite , it's more on the well-done side , and so when the locals do barbecue , this is the type of stuff that they are doing on the grill , which is not the ribeyes and the brisket and so on and so forth .
So all these type of American barbecue are relatively new in the country , but it's really it's becoming a big thing , and for the past three years you can see a lot of steakhouses and even smoke houses popping around in the country .
So there's not one definitive , like here in the States , as you know , there's Texas , there's Tennessee , there's Kansas City , north Carolina or the Carolinas with the Mustards , then there's Florida with the Floribian . There's not one that's like coming up to be like that's the UAE kind of way of doing things , or is it finding itself ?
I guess is a good question .
Yeah , I think . I think it was still in the early stages . So there is definitely an Arab way of doing grilling . I would not qualify that as barbecueing , because it's something different , but everybody who also it's , because the way of the UAE operates right . I mean , they have no exactly , but between 15 and 20% of local population .
The rest is expats , and those expats come from all over the world and they stay in the UAE maybe , you know , one year , five years , 10 years and everybody brings their own culture , everybody brings their own cuisine . So you have people who come and they will start barbecuing with their own style , depending on where they come from .
Other people see that , they learn from it and this is how you have this , you know , hot spot of many different cuisines that collide and that sometimes creates some very nice associations . I got to see , I'm really hoping that in the coming years , yeah , something local emerges as the UAE style .
I need to figure out how to get you some Creekstone Farm beef . I think you would .
It's Indiana , we can get it up there . When he's in Indiana for the World Cup , I'm talking about over there .
I don't know that's .
We're going to figure that out , yeah we got to figure some stuff out involved Very fast plane .
Okay , uh , true story . Very fast plane , don't have time for a time to work .
You ain't going to be on a slow boat , I'll tell you that much .
All right , I appreciate you being on the show . Can you one more time ?
Where can everyone find you besides Instagram ? Yeah , whatever that is .
Um , so I mean online . We have a website , so it's smokingbearscom . Instagram is the best way to reach us . That's smokingbears , and if you are lucky enough to be around the UAE and in Dubai , just give me a buzz online and I will tell you where to find me , and I agree for you .
Well , someday we're going to come over there at some point , and be sure , by the way , don't forget to say hello to Tarek and Ola for us . I will , I will definitely . Yes , certainly Patrick . He's still here , I guess , but listen we appreciate you , man , for using your space . Jeff , as always , you're awesome . Chef , thanks for staying up for us .
We appreciate it .
I was just going to give you the idea . I do it to you all the time . Oh my God , always jumping in front of me . Dude Chef Frederick Casagrande , Thank you for being on the program . Thank you for waiting up all night for this .
We appreciate you , man , and we can't wait to see you . Thanks for having me .
Cannot wait to see you again .
Looking forward to it Breaking some bread .
So indeed is . In 232 days . I see you there , he knows it .
We will see you there . And guess what we are ? Oh , peninsula Food Service , make sure you're going out there . Chefs , go see him , we are out .