New York Times Cooking’s Mystery Menu recently returned for another season and I for one am thrilled! For the uninitiated, Mystery Menu is a YouTube series where two chefs (
and Ham El-Waylly, who also happen to be married) are given a mystery ingredient to first devise a menu around and then cook in just one hour. Despite the seemingly straightforward premise it is, to me at least, endlessly entertaining.Originally Sohla was on her own, but adding in Ham was truly an inspired touch. It’s fascinating to watch the way they work together to develop the menu and strategize on how to prepare each dish within the limited timeframe. Of course, the food always looks amazing, but it’s also just nice to see the way they work together as a team.
Mystery Menu has given me lots of recipe inspiration. For example, in a recent episode, in which the mystery ingredient was lychee (nothing I love more than a tropical fruit!), Sohla created a Lychee French 75 cocktail that I simply must drink. And their latest episode has triggered a previously unknown desire within me to throw a hummus party. More interestingly though, Mystery Menu has also inspired me to improvise more in the kitchen. Seeing Sohla and Ham utilize their chef expertise, have fun with ingredients and experiment with techniques has shown me that recipes really are more like guidelines.
When I’m cooking I often feel like if something doesn't turn out extremely delicious (i.e. perfect) that it is a complete failure. Watching Sohla and Ham on Mystery Menu inspires me to cook more, be fearless while doing it and trust my gut. Sure, their dishes almost always come out well, they are chefs after all, but they're also honest about what they would change or elements that didn’t quite turn out the way they had imagined. It gives me hope that perhaps I too could make something delicious, maybe even without a recipe(!). If they can do it then so can I, right?
On top of the food-related inspiration, watching Sohla and Ham work together has also become a highlight of the series. Maybe it comes from working in kitchens or maybe it’s just because they know each other so well, but their teamwork is so impressive! Whether they’re in the menu development stage or the stressful cook-an-entire-menu-in-one-hour stage, they’re always so kind and supportive. They are indeed, as the kids would say, “couple goals.”
I’ve often posited that food is the ultimate symbol of love. There’s nothing more intimate or meaningful than cooking for someone or even just sharing a meal. But not until watching Mystery Menu did I realize that that same level of affection can be revealed not just in the food itself but in the very act of cooking as well. Not to be hyperbolic, but Mystery Menu has given me a more open-minded perspective on cooking and an even deeper appreciation for the power of food on an elemental human level. And now I am unafraid to go forth into the kitchen and create!
Stay tuned for details on my impending hummus party, you’re all invited.