(oil bubbling) - [Mike] Go on Ebbers. - [Jamie] Tryin' to work out. (glass breaking)
(gasping) Hi, we are SORTED. - [Ben] And we've been
eating and traveling together for well over eight years and we reckon we've worked out
a formula or a set of rules to help us uncover unique,
incredible experiences, that aren't just at the
top of a web search. - [Jamie] We have 48 hours in Puerto Rico, so we need to make it count. - [Mike] And to make things interesting, at the end of our trip, Jamie
and Baz will go up against Ben in a Beat the Chef Puerto
Rican cooking challenge. - [Barry] And we don't know
what dish we'll be making. - [Ben] So, we need to
learn as much as possible about Puerto Rican food
and culture beforehand. - [Jamie] And we'll be using
our lost and hungry rules along the way to try and
find those experiences we'll remember forever. (upbeat dance music) - [Mike] Ben and I were
definitely behind on points, and in Ben's case, research
for the Beat the Chef Challenge later that day. So, we hatched a food-crammed plan. - [Ben] The day begins well. Strong coffee and water
bread, Puerto Rican style. Me too. (laughing) How did that make... That was just for your viewing pleasure. That was not supposed to make the edit. No pleasure, no pleasure. - [Ben] So this is new to me. This is Pan de Agua,
a kind of local bread. Apparently they prove it in a cold oven with water in the bottom
and as the oven warms up, it starts to prove and then bake, you get a very kind of thin crust. It tastes like normal
bread, baguette like. But it has a different textured crust. (slurps coffee) Great, gaw, you need con
leche, don't you? (laughs) - [Mike] And then it was quickly
on to another suggestion. - [Ben] Very excited
for the next location. We are doing suckling
pig on the Pork Highway. - [Mike] The Pork
Highway is a long stretch of food kiosks surrounded by forest, serving Puerto Rico's famous suckling pig. At weekends, it's packed
with local families eating, drinking, and dancing. Today was Wednesday. So, it's a Wednesday, and
it's not even lunchtime. Not particularly busy, but
that doesn't stop the food looking and smelling delicious. That is one hell of a plate. Straight off chunks of
big pork been hacked with a machete, straight through the bone. Some of it's on the bone. You've got a wonderful, crispy skin. And obviously, it's the whole
pig so different cuts of meat. So you get all the different
textures and tastes. I kinda like that. And plantain, a whole plantain. Looks awesome! So, it is salty. It's well-seasoned, but it's
also surprisingly sweet. You know when you put applesauce on pork? The two compliment each other. It sounds stupid, but this
almost tastes sweet enough to have had the sauce on it already. It obviously hasn't, but the
meat is so sweet and tender. (crunching) You can hear that. That is excellent. Wow! That is the crispiest thing
I've ever eaten, ever! And then, in true Puerto Rican style, within 10 minutes, there
was a crowd building and live music. (upbeat dance music) Which inspired Ebbers to make a purchase. Something has caught my eye. (upbeat dance music) Gracias.
- [Shop Keeper] Thank you. Mission accomplished. (upbeat dance music) Ta, ta, tahhh, I want maracas (laughs). - [Mike] Whereas Jay
and Baz look to recover from their rainforest hike the day before. - [Jamie] Right, we've come to the beach. The beach is just the other
side of these buildings. But these buildings are
important, they're kiosks. All of them have lots of
different snack foods. They have full-blown
meals if you want them. Great place to have a drink, have a beer. Just relax and I feel like we need some relaxation time, so... - [Baz] We've worked hard. - [Jamie] We have worked hard. - [Baz] Yeah.
- [Jamie] Yeah. (upbeat music) - [Mike] Wow!
(laughing) Ebbers! - [Ben] Buckle up. It's worth a drive out
of the city for that. - [Mike] By that, do you mean your hat? Well the hat is also worth
driving out of town for, yeah. - [Mike] Which brings us on
to our next destination... Now obviously, when someone
recommends an ice cream in a town that's a three
hour round trip away, you say, "Yes". So, off we set for Ponce. (upbeat rock music) - [Ben] Almost like a film set. - [Mike] Yeah, it's like
Universal Studios made it. (laughing) Just a little bit older
and a little bit more real. When I heard how far we were
driving for an ice cream, I thought, "Say Yes," that's the rules. Could be an adventure. Internally, I was thinking,
"Mike, you're crazy." But actually that drive was awesome! - [Mike] It was nice.
- [Ben] So scenic, I loved it. Okay, ice cream. (upbeat rock music) Tamarind, tamarindo. It's like no ice cream you've ever had. It's like a cross between gelato, in it's kind of density. And yet, sorbet-like in the way that it dissolves and melts, it's ice like. Ahhh! I've got brain freeze.
(laughing) - [Mike] Ebbers managed to reduce a stunning fountain to a sink. The prettiest hand-washing
facility for King's Cream. - [Mike] And another
quick stop before heading to the big challenge. Always follow where the locals eat. Pineapple and grape. Pina aluve, very sweet, very syrupy. Unlike King's Cream, which
is like natural fruit. More syrupy but on a hot day like today, you've gotta go for it. (upbeat rock music) Well, given that I have no
idea what the challenge is, the only thing I have to fear is normals. (grooving guitar music) (can opens) (cash register chings) - [Baz] Yeah! I wanted to say I'm
having a terrible time, but I can't. - [Baz] Yesterday, we were on top of that. - [Jamie] We hiked for almost an hour to get to the top of that. - [Baz] Yeah, hard work.
- [Jamie] Hard work. In a rain forest, a mountain. - [Baz] Yeah.
- [Jamie] We've earned this. (cash register chings) (upbeat dance music) - [Baz] You alright? I'm having a very lovely
time, Barry Taylor. A very lovely time. - [Mike] But, would that lovely time last now that the final scores were in? Turns out yeah, not even close. And here's how they celebrated. (splashing water) Can I point out, we didn't
choose those shorts. The short, shorts chose you. No! (upbeat dance music)
(camera clicking) Whew! Right, can you set the
camera to slow motion? Why?
(dramatic bluesy rock music) The worst thing is, they're
prescription sun glasses, so I couldn't actually see
where I was going (laughing) once I took them off. - [Mike] But the fun was over for now. It was time to try and beat the chef. The time has come. Ebbers is ready to loose. That's not gonna be the case. (laughing) We're here with Chef Jen. Hola! And she's going to show us
how to make an authentic Puerto Rican dish, but then
we're going to go up against each other to recreate and Jen's gonna pick which one's best. Sound confident, we've got this. And Jen's gonna pick ours as the best. Yeah! So today we are making
the dish of mofongo! How many mofongo have you
had in the last 48 hours? - [Ben] Just the one. - [Jamie] Us too. - [Ben] A delicious one, yep. Alright, so we're going to first start off with the actual protein base. We're doing camarones a la Creoria. So first we are creating
aromatic olive oil base with a bit of garlic. To this fragrant oil,
we're going to add a bit of our adobo, our Puerto
Rican spice blends. We then gonna add
mixture of fresh veggies. We're just going to caramelize it a bit. We're gonna make sure that
you have a very aromatic oil, that you will then baste the shrimp with. So when it gets to this
point, this is where I like to throw in my Creole sauce. In this Creole sauce you have a blend of tomato sauce, paste and capers. Following guys? - [Jamie] Got it. I think so.
Got it. - [Jen] Any questions? I'm gonna finish this off over here with a little bit of cilantro. And that's it guys. This is camarones in salsa Creoria, and this is going to go
around our beautiful mofongo. So, for our plantains, for the mofongo, you want to deep fry the plantains. Keep them nice and crispy. And we're just going to
blend and layer as we go. Make it nice and smooth, a little creamy. From here, I'm gonna add
a bit of that manteca. From here I like to
have fresh, raw garlic, the crispy chicharron. And then add a little
bit of the adobo again. This is something that you have a la menu. This is something that you
cannot have like minutes later, it's something your mom just
pops into the saute pan, smashes it and it's like bon appetit. Here's your meal.
All right! Just like a good sandwich, see? (laughing) (upbeat dance music) And there you go, guys. That's the mofongo. (upbeat dance music) Any questions, guys? - [Jamie] What are you looking
for from the winning dishes? - [Jen] Precise technique and flavor. I wouldn't mind having
your own twist to it. Oh, yes! We've got this, we've got this. I'd be open to that. I'd be open to that, to an extent. Alright, guys, the sun is setting, so you guys only have a
few minutes to do this. Ready, set, go! Leave the hat out of it.
(laughing) We've already got our plantains frying. - [Baz] Come on, don't forget,
this is the star of the show. We can't screw this bit up. Says the guy standing there doing nothing. I'm also keeping an eye
on my frying plantain. Got some gorgeous shrimp here. They just need peeling. I'm getting ahead on that. Whilst I'm doing this,
you can peel some shrimps. Okay. Ope, oh no, Jamie. My twist, because the mofongo
is served with shrimp, I'm gonna add all of this
wonderful shrimpy flavor into the oil to cook
out with the plantain. Oh, I'm so chefy. Our twist comes later. As we wait for the plantain,
enjoy the last golden hour. - [Mike] Ain't no amount of
magic gonna make that hat look good, mate. (laughing) So hey, shhh, oy! - [Baz] Let's do a tester. - [Jamie] Do a tester. It's done, mate, a guarantee that's done. (upbeat electronic music) Ope, the garlic. Adobo.
Flavor, pow! - [Jamie] Chicaronnes. Add in a really good pork. - [Baz] Every bit matters, mate. There's some panic going on. I know, he's overcooked his plantain. - [Jamie] He thinks he's got it. The plantain's fine. What you wanna do, mate, is
wait for that pan to cool down before you put the garlic in. - [Ben] It's super hot. Or otherwise it will burn. I think it's good, I now
gotta loosen up the edges. Can you pass me a knife? (thumping) You hit the bottom, haven't you? - [Jamie] Hit the bottom, make a wish, abracadabra, Bob is your uncle! (high five slap) Come on! So, plantain, when it's still hot, I need to get it mashing. In the meantime, I'm gonna
start off the shrimp, so. In with the garlic, get that
wonderful infused flavor. As soon as you can start to
smell it, then the adobo spice. I got that wonderful,
fragrant oil and into it goes the trio of peppers, duo of onions. Well then we've got our
garlic smelling amazing. We've added in our onions and our peppers. They're starting to cook, we
went them to go nice and sweaty but not get to the point-- Nice and sweaty. Nice and sweaty. - [Jamie] Just like me! Our twist is coming up now. Prawns, they're going in. Get them cooking off. A tomato vodka sauce is a thing. What about a tomato rum sauce. Yeah!
Whoo! We're cooking! Yeah, blow it out! All right, guys. (glass breaking)
(gasping) (laughing) Right, luckily, blue beater bed, we got another one of these, made earlier, let's try this one. Ta da!
(laughing) - [Jamie] Just gotta rip
some cilantro into mine. What are you doing? Jamie, we agreed I was gonna
be in charge of plating. (laughing) All right, guys. Three, two, one, stop cooking! Whatever happens, at least
we didn't break a bowl. Whatever happens, at least I've still got chicharron left.
(laughing) All right, great try, guys. Great pacing.
Great try. Yes.
Great try. Great attempt, very exciting
and exhilarating version of making mofongo with
camarones con salsa Creoria. So this is the benchmark, guys. Get the sauce, get the shrimp. Oh, the crunch of that chicharron. Wow.
Wow, that is sensational! That hit of raw garlic is awesome. And then the picante of
the caper and the tomato with the prawn, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, yum! Isn't it? All right, Ebbers, now we're going to you. I've eaten a lot since
I've been in Puerto Rico, so I did a slightly smaller portion. Nothing to do with the plate shards-- Oh, yeah, sure.
In the plantain. Love the texture of the shrimp,
the acidity in the sauce. J-Baz it's your turn now,
let's give this a shot. I got a nice bite of cilantro. Well, you didn't hold back on the flavor. (laughing) - [Ben] Is that the
first time you tasted it? Yeah!
(laughing) Bring it, bring it,
bringin' it, bringin' it. You guys all brought it. All right, and the 2019 winner for the best mofongo goes to... (chill music) Barry and Jay! (cheering) We beat the chef! Bam, bam, bam.
Come on! So the reason why I decided
to choose Barry and Jamie's is based on flavor. I just felt Puerto Rican
soul in your dish, I did. Look, Jen, I owe you a plate, I'm sorry. (laughing)
I'll post it back. (smooth guitar music) We sat and ate with Jen,
overlooking the beautiful views, and spoke about, how in our
short time in Puerto Rico, we'd been overwhelmed by the kindness, friendliness and hospitalities
of the locals here. Despite recent tough
times, you could really see how caring for your fellow
human was second nature to Puerto Ricans. And they pass it on at
every opportunity they can. (smooth guitar music) (upbeat dance music) - [Camera Man] He can't
decide who's leading.
