Asking Strangers to Cook for Me (Soul Food)!!

Excuse me. Excuse me. Yes? Would you mind cooking for me for $100? Uh, what? Would you mind cooking for me for $100? I'm so sorry. I can't right now. I have to get back to work. I have my salon to leave, so maybe next time? Excuse me. Excuse me. What's up? Would you mind cooking for me for $100? What? Would you mind cooking for me for $100? Oh, this feels like a scam, man. I've been scammed too many times, bro. I'm sorry. Excuse me, hi, hi, uh, would you cook for me for a hundred dollars? Um, right now, yeah, right now. Where are you from? I'm from Miami. I'm a YouTuber and I ask people to cook for me to connect people through food. Sounds good, I just have to pick up a few things, but I do need a hundred dollars. Let's do it. Okay, I'll go with you. By the way, what's your name again? Summer, Summer. It's beginning to look a lot like... sorry. All right, so we're gonna go into this Aldi. All right, so definitely some baked beans. We can't have soul food without baked beans, okay? All right, so over here we have a bunch of cheeses. What are we looking for? Some mozzarella cheese, Colby Jack. So you're gonna make like a mac and cheese. Is that what you're gonna do? Five cheese mac and cheese, five cheese mac and cheese: mozzarella, Colby Jack, mild cheddar as well, sharp cheddar, Gouda and sharp cheddar, good and sharp cheddar. Nice. Fire. There's a lot of people here. All right, so we're gonna look for some noodles now it's a beautiful all these nice high ceilings everything's spacious here so summer you said we're gonna do like a fried chicken and a baked chicken yes so we're gonna get some chicken over here let's see some chicken thighs oh that's good a turkey next i don't know if they do that we do need that for the collard greens oh for the collard greens okay smoked turkey but i'm not sure yeah i don't think it's here in this area so soul food with wine sure yeah okay so we're getting a little cab a little uh napa valley in here a little more than a hundred dollars so summer how long do you think you need before i go to your house like an hour or two um yeah that sounds perfect give me like two hours two hours okay so i'll just wait here for two hours all right it's been two hours let's see nothing to nothing over here hey you ready yeah all right let's do it oh wow super high ceilings what is that like 40. oh my god looking at yourself in the mirror every day look good it's amazing all right this is my boyfriend dre how you doing i love this you're a little rasta or no no all right dre so what are we doing today making some soul food baked chicken baked fried chicken baked beans macaroni and cheese collard greens yams and peas and rice wow you look like a true chef i am she loves little wayne but she got the dre so dre what are we doing over here so this is smoked turkey meat for the collard greens so smoked turkey meat with collard greens i don't think i've had that before no like together yeah together oh wow so it's like it's gonna break up it's gonna be shredded up inside of it okay so let's introduce the dog who's this guy this is bonnie bonnie what up bonnie great hey buddy how you doing okay german shepherd mix with poodle so summer i have to ask you what is is your background because your uncle came in here and he mentioned Trinidad Suriname yeah so my mom's from Suriname and my dad's from Barbados oh wow yeah so you're a Bajan Surinamese yep it's an amazing mix you've been to both i've been to both love both but my love my heart lays with Barbados a little more oh yeah yeah so flying fish with breadfruit and maybe some sambal on top that sounds good that's it kind of sounds amazing yeah yeah i love their food Surinamese food is top i love asian food as well but Suriname has something special with the asian community yes you've been to Suriname i think it says over here somewhere i love Suriname it's amazing i need to go back yes that's definitely a trip that everyone should take yeah next time we'll go to French Guinea where that's my that's my way into French Guinea all right so Dre what part of Miami are you from um Carol City Carol City so Miami Gardens yes Miami Gardens so we've uh done Trick Daddy spot which is Sunday's Eatery delicious food especially that catfish amazing what else did we do we did Donna's we did Checkers okay so we're gonna add some brown sugar yes brown sugar light and dark and so what are we making in here sauce for the yams all right so Dre just added some cinnamon and some nutmeg so it's going to be a little sweeter now yeah a little nutty it's like broth right more like a syrup like a syrup oh man i can't wait to try your food soul food so my top soul food is very similar to like southern food right so what do you consider soul food fried chicken yams macaroni and cheese grits i would say in the morning time grits grits like shrimp and grits would be yeah there's shrimp and grits catfish and grits man you're opening my appetite right now now one of my top dishes is shrimp and grits and chicken and waffles yeah i love it you know what i love about soul food it feeds your soul that looks so good so it's gonna be like a syrup with yam that's sort of what it is right that is what it's a candy yams yeah i love all the provisions bro all the root vegetables man they're all great what are you doing there um placing it putting it on top so i could get them in the oven it's amazing that's yam i thought it was like some massive carrots bro these cinnamon sticks to add a little bit more flavor to them as they bake so adding some cinnamon sticks nice all right so dre's putting in the yam into the oven so how long is it going to take to to bake 30 40 minutes so you think it's gonna everything's gonna take like an hour yeah perfect what are you doing there dre uh putting up celery for the macaroni salad for the macaroni salad looking good oh wow what'd you put in that big chicken a lot of herbs looks phenomenal so right here we're making the tuna salad so you just got Got some tuna from a can. You got some celery that you just diced up. And then some sweet relish. I love relish. To balance the salt from the celery. To balance it. You chop an onion? All right. Well, it's gonna be good. The relish, it's very sweet, right? All right, so we're adding the mac and cheese to the salad. Now we're gonna dice up some hard-boiled eggs. How many eggs do you think we eat in a day? The world, billions. Okay, so here we go. We're almost done dicing up the hard-boiled eggs. It's almost like a nice glue for the salad, right? So guys, I'm gonna mix the salad, macaroni. It's a tuna macaroni egg salad, is all of it? Wow, it's a lot of work. You know what, let me do it here. Damn, being a chef is hard work. No, seriously, it's a lot. I mean, my hands don't stop like doing things, you know? Wow, it's gonna be nice. So this is a cold salad, correct? Well, that's a nice salad. Tuna, celery, smells great. definitely think this needs a little more uh spice oh look look so that's the yam wow in the sauce it's more of my recipe more your style yeah kind of what i grew up on gotcha all right so what'd you add here Dre made like a brown sugar white sugar light brown sugar mustard and a little bit of barbecue sauce and some honey so i'm guessing soft food has a lot of sugar yeah it's like honey has sugar barbecue sauce has sugar for the baked beans yeah no for sure no and then they're always gonna taste a lot sweeter i mean if you have baked beans without like something added it doesn't taste that good it tastes like earth you know no turkey neck no no pork i feel like i feel like that's thing in soul food like heavy turkey neck right yeah turkey neck uh pigtails as well yeah so to substitute the pigtails now more so you smoke turkey so because you know the conversation around pork yeah so so as you guys know oxtail has become extremely expensive everybody's eating it and dre's telling me they're substituting oxtail for kangaroo that's what i was that's what i've seen and that's what i heard do we have kangaroo farms anywhere here in florida no i don't know where they're getting it from but it's coming in they're bringing it from australia i'm about to basic so dre right now is basting the chicken so he's grabbing all that juice and adding on top oh my god it looks even like it's glistening right there what's in there looks like it could be some garlic, so rosemary, thyme so it's going to be a very herbaceous baked chicken now he's going to put the beans into bake i'm guessing that's the quickest thing right all right so we're going to ask you a deep question Dre, you know we're here with you and your girlfriend Summer and we're trying to find the true meaning of life what is love love is loving someone through every season whether the good or bad just caring and making sure they're okay what does family mean to you everything family is someone you can lean on someone you can talk to call have fun with argue a little bit of everything call my parents every day and we argue every day it's all good man how much does that grill cost not as much not as much i had it for a while now yeah did the her when they put it in no not really it's pretty amazing so that's permanent yeah it's real gold yeah yeah for sure like what what's the purpose of it because i've seen some i see some people with it i'm like man it's interesting for me to probably be a product of my environment yeah just kind of the culture of Miami so i was i'm a part of Miami this is Miami this is Miami what do you guys think should i go a grill i think so so we're grinding the cheese which is this one this is mild cheddar so it's a five cheese mac five cheese mac so why five cheese mac um just the way i grew up and the way i was taught which one's this one kobe kobe jack kobe jack but it's always these five cheeses right always these same five cheeses so dre we're having mac and cheese or just pure cheese and a little bit of mac mac and cheese but it takes a lot of cheese it takes a lot of cheese i mean we're putting all this cheese in all this cheese it's gonna be like 15 minutes here just grating cheese so where does this recipe come from most of the recipes come from growing up and family recipes so i mean would you eat this every day or is this more like a thanksgiving like a special occasion every day but this is definitely a thanksgiving type of food that i would cook do you have any chefs in the family um yes i actually have an uncle who's who was a chef he's retired now what was his specialty asian cuisine asian cuisine study asian cuisine wow yeah there's so many different cuisines i think like uh it's good to like learn a little bit of everything you know yeah do you have a lot of hair in there or is this just a hat no i have um i got a lot of hair you have a lot of hair in there it's gonna say because this is something's in there some dreads yeah yeah some dreads so dre's mixing all the cheese together what are you gonna put into this give me a cheese sauce okay okay so first you melt the cheese and then you mix it almost like you want to dive in there it's a lot of cheese turning out a little bit more cheese on top so you're getting a nice crust right no that's it i'm gonna mix this in with the cheese sauce and now he's gonna add some what is that whipping cream oh it's heavy whipping cream yes heavy whipping cream what a process to make this much mac and cheese you're making enough to feed a village here man it's just not me i think like 10 people live in this house so everybody's gonna eat today and what's this uh evaporated milk evaporated milk i mean that's gonna give it like some sweetness right i was trying to figure out what each ingredient does to this you know yeah so you're adding the cheese into the pot so i've never seen it done like this i've seen it done where the cheese is with the mac like with the macaroni and then they bake it direct first time i see that they put it like you put it here to melt first so the question is do you like mac and cheese love it yeah yeah recently i had an amazing one we were in it in st lucia so good oh it's dripping you know who loves this my kids if my kids could it would be pancakes some nutella mac and cheese chicken fingers pizza margherita pizza okay guys so we're also gonna add some blend of salt pepper and garlic nice and here we go guys, look at that beautiful melted cheese oh man, it looks phenomenal, just gotta mix it in now Dre, i think the highlight's gonna be the mac and cheese, it looks fire, that color looks incredible so let me ask you, mac and cheese i've seen it done with like almost like penne pasta, i've seen it done with this and i've seen other people use different style of like a actual like pasta, why this one? so elbow is traditional more so what i grew up on, this is the only way i make it is with elbow, got it man, it looks so creamy, it's gonna be so good, we have a special guest over here who's back there? Caitlyn, so Caitlyn is Summer's sister and you know we're in her big home, lots of people live here literally every time i'm talking to him, somebody comes in and out, definitely a family house, so right now Dre is gonna add cheese on top of the mac and cheese and that just gives it a nice like burnt crust on top, it's gonna be so good dude, you know what, let me help you, let me get my hands in here Dre's like a master chef, he doesn't want me to touch anything in the kitchen, guys come here look at this turkey neck, smoked turkey, look at that, so it boiled down and now i mean what is this, so we're actually gonna eat the meat right, it all smells great so right now he's taking out all the bones and leaving all that meat in there oh that looks so good never seen that smells insane dude the cinnamon nutmeg is that ready oh wow so it's yam huh with like this incredible syrup oh this is gonna be so good once it like settles because the yam gonna be very soft because it was just like baked yeah all right so we're gonna put in the mac and cheese to bake now and then we're almost there we're only missing one thing we're doing DFC dry fried chicken let's see how you do it what are you gonna put in here oh man so you're starting off with some uh mustard as a binder binder a binder binder that's the seasoning stick to it okay some crystal i don't know man i like tabasco i like david's been here never again hot sauce let's see what is this one garlic pepper what is it chicken chicken bouillon bouillon it's like flavoring of chicken in there this is some more mix like salt pepper garlic and herb man there's a lot of good um you know different condiments going into this wow it looks so good and so this is your recipe my recipe so you're gonna chop up all the collard greens so cutting the collard greens getting the more so like the stem out this the skin is what holds the bitterness so trying to get as much bitterness out as possible it's a beautiful day huh yeah it's raining outside i can barely hear it south florida always so hot you know i think this is the hottest summer on record i think so because man i was born in miami i've never felt the heat that i felt this past summer it might get cold i pray it gets cold we haven't had like a cold winter in a long time either like a real cold one miami people treat it like it's a super cold one oh yeah yeah if it cold if it chills out to 70 we're like in jackets jackets boots masks i mean we never get to wear our hoodies you know like never question dre do your hands ever hurt no no you're just used to it used to it now so for the past two hours i've offered my help so many times he's like you're not a chef so dre what are we doing next so we're cleaning the collard greens before we cook them so traditionally we add salt kosher salt regular salt and vinegar and this is going to get some of the bit this is going to get some of the bitter out some of the dirt that's in it before i wash them off so you massage the vinegar in there smells like an insane amount of vinegar remember just because i smell it straight from here yeah that's apple vinegar yeah that's the one i like the most teaspoon of that every day keep the doctor away as you see now the collard greens are sitting inside this broth with the turkey that's going to mix together so what are the flavors we're going to get out of this do we actually taste that smoked turkey yes so we're adding some collard green seasoning right here always needs seasoning right Oh, look at that. It just makes everything like float up. So instead of using just straight vinegar, you got this like marinade. This is a marinade and it contains vinegar, garlic, oranges, onions. So just a little bit. And it's Padilla, so we know it's good. Does look really good. So it's gonna simmer for a bit. So what are you doing right here? So right now we're cutting up bell peppers. We got onion, bell peppers, and garlic, for the peas and rice. So you got three different bell peppers, like all three colors? all three colors okay so now we're gonna make the peas and rice bring in all the bell peppers and some garlic smells great man I think this is gonna be my favorite I don't know I don't know fried chicken fried chicken for sure so we're gonna add some coconut milk into this peas and rice so Dre you said peas and rice right yes I thought it was rice and peas well that's more the Caribbean the Caribbean way to say it same dish though right oh a little different different we'll find out now that's good you said he's gonna cook i didn't expect this it's like a lot yeah i mean there's a big family here huh yeah you're killing me with the shirt this shirt's too much so you have a tattoo of Lil Wayne right yep my whole leg his face and here we go we're gonna make the fried chicken so he's putting it in the flour it's already seasoned That smells amazing, I don't know it's not like too many good things here, no good herbs here All right, throw it into the fryer, like that. I think the fried chicken's all for me. It's amazing when you see the oil lose color and then you go to a restaurant and it's like. So when you see the oil in some of the restaurants, it's black? No. Not good. Wow, the fried chicken looks good though. Look at that, the color already changed so quick. This is better than finger licking, right? DJ Khaled, hit me up. All right, so the chicken's ready. Oh my God, nice and crispy. Looks really good. I'm very excited for this. Man, what is it, six courses? Well, I mean, a lot of sides, right? Look at that. Ooh, it looks amazing. It's a arroz con habichuelas, very Dominican style, the way it looks. Our mountain of soul food feast is ready. I can't even believe it. How is this possible? How'd you do this, bro? Amazing. Dre, so good, man. I cannot wait. Okay, so what are we doing? We're gonna serve us? We're gonna serve? Okay. I don't even know what I'm most excited about. Everything looks phenomenal. When we met a couple hours ago, I couldn't even imagine that you would've made this crazy feast. I'm so happy right now. Thank you. Truly, I can't wait. So this is the baked chicken, huh? Just give me a little leg. You like gravy? However you think, gravy always. Everything looks so good. All right, so next up we got the mac and cheese. Look at that crunch. Oh man, as soon as she like broke it. Whoa. American mac is definitely better than the Caribbean mac. I hope no one gets offended here, but we just know how to do it better. At least they know how to do better, I have no idea. Then over here we have the collard greens with turkey, smoked turkey. Smoked turkey. It does look like Thanksgiving there. All right, so the yams. Candy yams. Just another regular day for you guys, like in terms of food. Like, not the size, but I mean like what we're eating. Yeah? He switches it up. No, I'm sure. Wow, that looks incredible. All right, so we're gonna grab some- Are you a drum or a flat kind of guy? I'll do either or. I like both, yeah, yeah. So we got the- Mac salad. Mac salad, wow. Right there on the side, perfect. Look at this dish. this incredible soul food plate you got everything you ever need got the protein got the carbs got the sweetness got the savory oh we got some beans we're gonna add a little bit of those beans oh they can listen look how like sparkly they are where do you put that nice dre summer family thank you so much for this meal um this is incredible i'm excited how do we do this how do you start just going yeah just whatever catches your eye that was delicious the rice and peas mixed with with that gravy. Really good. Did you try soul food before? I have. I've tried soul food a few times. Very similar to like Southern food. I was telling him. Two of my favorite dishes are like chicken and waffles and shrimp and grits. Obviously this is a little more, you know, elaborate. Yeah. More things. The candy yam, yeah. I'm gonna take the whole thing. I'm serious. Whole pan to go. Mm. It's just like sweet and it melts. That is Thanksgiving in your mouth. Yeah. And so this is the peri sauce. So it looks like a sweet and tangy. Is that? Sweet and spicy. Sweet and spicy. That's good. Juicy and crunchy. Wow, Dre, that's fantastic. Oh yeah, together? So you pair it together? Yeah. So that's allowed here, right? Mixing? Some cultures don't like it. Like, I know people that, like, separate. Yeah, literally not touching. Oh, it's amazing. I'm coming back often. I really can't even believe this meal. This is so good. So what's the history of soul food? So it started off with enslaved Africans using what they had available they became very resourceful it's like how polenta you know turkey neck a lot of these things that weren't really you know people didn't really love them but then they started using them and now it's like a delicacy you know to have this meal in america there are restaurants that serve it but usually it's at somebody's house now we're gonna try the sauce how spicy is spicy summer no but then again we love spice so that's so bad it is like a like a sweet spice as soon as gets hot it cuts into sweetness mm-hmm oh it's good i would say it's almost like a spicy not crystal but yeah fried chicken always a winner so we have Surinamese we have Beijing and we have trini she's a little shy so where are the doubles at next time we come here no way yes wait i'd rather roti made at home yeah of course it's softer it's fresher melts in your mouth and where And where are you from in Trinidad? Cookery, Puerto Spain. Oh, from Puerto Spain? Yes, sir. So we're sitting at this table. Let me ask you a question I haven't asked you. What does family mean to you? Family is everything. And cheers to that. Family is everything. Family is happiness. I'm nothing without my family. More, nothing less. Yeah, I agree. Like, I can't imagine a life with no family, because I've been in a household with family all my life. You guys have a very big family here. I haven't been in a house with 15 people in a long time. My parents are like, get the hell out of here. They don't want to see me anymore. Yeah, our household is definitely not like that. But I feel like it also works because everyone has their own space. We're all tucked away in our own space. Yeah, it's not a small house. Like, there's huge sections here. What a great day. Thank you. This is amazing. We start off as strangers. End it up, besties. Paging certain means, fam. So that's the thing about food. It's not about just stuffing your face. It's about bringing people together. You know, we're eating this amazing food, sharing stories, and, you know, that's what life's about. This mac and cheese is so cheesy. Did you try the mac salad yet? I have not. The crunch, 10 out of 10. The crunch? Dre. Maybe he looked back. Amazing, man. Thank you. Boy, that is good. Nice crunch. Right? Cold. Great balance here. I haven't tried the turkey and the collard greens. Mm-hmm. Oh, that's good. Nice and smoky. Yeah, it definitely did cut a lot of that bitterness. Yeah. I feel great. It's my father's birthday. Happy birthday, Dad. Love you. We love you, too. Happy birthday to Nate's dad. It's also his birthday. Well, I'll tell you, I'm so happy I'm having this meal. Wow, it is incredible. So, Summer, we're talking about family here, and your boyfriend, Dre, over here, made us an incredible meal. Thank you so much, Dre. What does love mean to you? Love is selflessness, being able to show up for your person and giving it your all. like regardless of the situation it's hard to show up when you're mad i think that's very important that's the that's the time it matters the most exactly yeah that's love right there this is love that's real love good girl say hi look at her other paw give me the other paw good girl so you love Dre but don't you love little Wayne oh sorry sorry i mean too i love I love Dre more, okay? Okay? They said, what about Lil Wayne? I love Dre more. I was joking with you. But this sauce is great. Fire. Fire. I'll like put it on everything. Yeah. Oh man. Oh yeah? Just don't go into the sauce business. Don't do it. These candy yams are insane. Nice brown sugar coating. They fall apart and it literally tastes like Thanksgiving. That cinnamon in there as well, really nice. Come over here. So the beans is definitely different from the Latin beans you'll get in Miami. Everywhere we go, it's like these black beans, sometimes brown beans, but this one has a little nice sweet flavor to it. This is more like how my mom does it, and it cooks slowly in the oven. It's amazing. Everything's delicious. Dre, Summer, I can't even believe the meal we just had. Thank you so much. I owe you this. It's okay. It's from us, I'm sure. You sure, you sure? I'm sure. Well, I'm taking this guy home with me. I need him. I want him. I need him. Thank you, thank you, thank you. That's amazing.