Beat the Chef: MYSTERY INGREDIENT Challenge 

Mike's was the home style meal that sends you to feeling like your at Grandma's. Ben's was the cool and hip lunch place that you go back to time and time again.

As a longtime German subscriber, I have to say this episode was very fun to see!!

As a german from wine country I gotta say I really appreciate Ebbers dish. It captured the essence of the region beautifully and looked spectacular, takes me back to some good times. (though I am a bit sceptical about pickled grapes...)

The enthusiasm of the wine guy was great. Sometimes they visit places and people are a bit awkward (fair enough- they don’t do this all the time). He just bled enthusiasm and felt very natural on camera

I think this was a win that Mike genuinely earned. His food looked delicious, and was the kind of thing I think of as "hearty German fare". While Ben's efforts also looked amazing, it was just too many different fiddly things, instead of a more unified whole. It was great to see Mike front and center again, though I love Baz & Jamie, we don't get to see enough of Mike lately. And Mike really challenged Ben this time, too, I'm so proud of him! Well done, everyone. Oh, and loved the way you integrated the interviews from your visit, too. This was one of the best episodes ever!

Great to see the guys build Mike up and compliment him. He gets trolled a bit sometimes and I get it, but I will forever be a Mike Stan

As a german I can say that you definately didnt mess up as badly as in the burrito episode :D Your recipes will not cause a national german outrage and will not make it to the news ;P Good job and I would love to taste it. And for the reaction about Ben's Bretzel: In my opinion they need to be at least that dark. Obviously not burned, but it may be a deep colour for me. However in germany the camps are split^^ Basically "suuuuuper lightly baked" (sometimes called "Baked in moonshine" =D ) or at least as "dark" as Bens. So all in all good job and keep on doing stuff like this. Always love to see you outside of your studio and exploring new things

I wish they had the funds to do these more often with further afoot locations. I'd love to see what they'd do with Peruvian or Mexican cuisines and ingredients.

So happy you've been to Germany! Thank you for featuring our food culture! ☺️ Those pretzels looked really delicious, but I think the best way is to eat them is with lots of butter and chives! And to make them look and taste even better, roll the ends very thinly, and then tie the knot. This gives the pretzels two different textures: the crunchy knot, and the thick and fluffier middle.

I like that you're doing the format a little bit differently, not just giving an info dump at the beginning and getting on with it. At first I wasn't sure if I liked it, but by the end it was clear that the editing was very clever and it was nearly completely seamless. Kudos.

As a native German i was very happy to watch an episode dedicated to our wine culture! I had a lot of fun :D

So cool! Yesterday I was in Germany and had some lovely flammkuchen with a glass of federweisser (very young wine) so this is very relevant. Would love to have some more videos about Northern European food!

As a German from broadly that same region (grew up near Mainz/Koblenz, now live in Heidelberg) I have so many opinions on this video that I struggle to decide which to let out... Anyway, clear win for Ebbers for me as he created something very German, a cold platter. Something winegrowers in Germany traditionally serve in their "Straußwirtschaft", their private pubs that they are allowed to open on their property for three months out of the year to serve their own wine and cold food, not hot.

One of the few times I genuinely don't know which one I'd order, both look so good!

I really enjoyed this episode. The explanation on Germany's wine was tasteful. Whoever's idea it was to edit this video so smoothly by having the trip Mike & Ebbers went on throughout the whole video was really, just quite perfect. Good work 👏🏼

Has to go to Mike by default. Ebbers had at least 2 things pre-prepared (The soaked mustard and the potatoes that appeared from nowhere right at the start), and his pretzels somehow got made, rested half an hour, froze within an hour and then got cooked in time to serve. Kinda defeats the purpose of a time limit :P

As a German from a different wine-growing region than where you visited, both of those look fantastic. Personally I would probably go for Ebber's dish, but I do simply love good Brezels.

Y’all make my heart feel good. This month, I am celebrating a 50 year relationship with my best friend. Seeing you guys laugh together and tease each other reminds me of my own friendships that have persevered from childhood through adulthood. Worth celebrating with good food and good wine! You are all winners here in my mind ❤

Loved the countdown in German. And love that this one features Germany. There’s so much wonderful food found with our neighbours across the border.

Guys, thank you for always having proper captions with your videos! So many people depend on them and so many channels don't care. Much appreciated! ♥️

Three days of the week I look forward to waking up and finding a new video has dropped. Fridays I get Cutting Edge Engineering, and Wednesdays/Sundays I get Sorted food. Great ways to wake up and start a day.

Very interesting to see you take on a bit of Germany. The 'style' was a good addition to the title of Mike's dish, because I would call it a British-German fusion. Sure, we have Flammkuchen, but we don't really do savoury pies. Not sure if the Rotkohl has glove, but that one was pretty good. I do like mine with apple for some sweetness. Mashed potatoes were fine, but I do cringe when I see the use of hot water for cooking them. What would Poppy say? Ben's Laugenbrezeln were pretty authentic. Best mustard is Bautzener, but I would try Ben's. In German cuisine wine leaves are not really used for cooking. It's more part of the Greek, Turkish or Arabian cuisine . But since we have many people with Turkish ancestry in Germany since the 70ies, it's actually not that far off. Beignets are French, but you were close to France in your trip. You both had something German, with the Laugenbretzel and the Rotkohl. Your German was on point!

As a german viewer for almost 6 years now, it is always fun to see your own cultural ingredients used in these battles

I loved everything about this episode. The laughs, the jokes, the food all looked fantastic and made me wish I could taste it all. But the trip to Germany and the interviews really make this extra special. And what great interviews they were.

I really liked the video, but as a German, I now understand how the paella burrito got that much of a reaction because even though I don't care much for German cuisine, Mike calling diced pork a "Schweinebaten" or Ben saying that mustard is the best thing to eat with pretzel (the SWEET mustard is more for the sasuege that is supposed to be with it) got a reaction out of me. but still grade video.

As a half german/half spaniard you have redeemd yourself from the chorizo incident with these dishes. I come from Pfalz and i almost could taste them just by looking at them. Imo mike didnt need to put the filling into pie form but im sure it tasted good. And ebbers plate looks nice, would love to try it.

As someone who works in agriculture, what I love most about these videos is the education and reconnection between consumer and farm. At least in Australia with people being more and more centred in cities there is less understanding of how farming works, why things are done like they are, and how innovative farmers are. I also love the comments the guys have said before about “buying the best you can afford”, so inclusive for everyone. But also important reminder that certain practices on farm cost more or are less productive (produce less so cost more to make) and farmers need to be compensated for that therefore the price goes up. I’ve learnt about so many other industries in these videos and how they do things differently, so much exciting stuff in ag!

Born and raised in the Pfalz region, I am so happy to see you guys over there. Hope you had a great time!

I totally agree with Baz's comment! Mike's food looked like a homely, comforting meal that would stun dinner guests, while Ben's dish looked like something you'd get at a fancy wine tasting course or bistro. Great job to everyone and hats off to the editors on this one!

It's wonderful that you finally explored some German cuisine. Really loved this one!

“It’s like rapeseed oil but with a G in front of it.” This nearly made me spit out my drink. 😂😂😂

As a long-time German viewer and a native of Germany, I found the episode very entertaining, only when it came to the "roast pork" I bit into the tabletop because roast pork is actually made from a whole piece of pork rump and not like goulash or other stews with pieces. XD

I went on a solo trip to the Mosel and Rhein valleys this summer. The scenery is spectacular and the wines fantastic. Must do for every wine enthusiast.

I love how humble Ebbers is every time :) You can see it in his eyes that he always wants to win, but he's also very happy for Mike to win

Glad to see you guys make some German style stuff. As a German myself, this makes me happy

The research and the effort in this series is as enjoyable as it is informative. Also gotta love a battle ! ❤

German here. Both dishes feel like something you would just encounter somewhere in Germany where people wanted to get a bit creative with their usual dishes. A snack platter isn't unusual and Ben enjoys it for a reason. But getting a good Schweinebraten with potato mash and some firm of nice pickled cabbage is as German as it gets when looking for a hearty traditional dish. Takes you right back to nice evenings with family, friends or sports club members. Glad you guys enjoyed the wines as well, Spätburgunder, Müller Thurgau and Riesling are great wines and I hope they get more popular outside of Germany someday. Great job guys, you did it.

ben's board is the appetizer/ bar snacks and Mike's cooking is the sit down dinner for a party i'd go to.

As someone who works in the Headquarters of the BASF in Ludwigshafen Germany its nice to see that you could visit my homeregion.

On a rewatch here: I hope you guys have more stuff going on with BASF in future videos. I love learning new stuff from them.

Normally Scharzwälder Schinken is smoked over fir wood and or needles. I don't know of any product that uses oak especially as one of the main characteristics.

As an American with Germanic heritage, I was very much enthralled with how everything went. I may have to steal that mustard recipe, though. Mike earned this one. He went out of his comfort zone a bit, did something out of the box, and went for heart, while Ben decided to play it safe and fall back on what he's done a lot of recently. Baz and Jamie were a riot, as well. Overall, another excellent episode.

Yeah. Finally some German stuff. I‘ll devour that video. By the way: Just reactivated my sorted subscription yesterday. I love the rework of the sidekick app!

Omg. Someone that peeled a potato that doesn't look like they were whittling wood. I think in the past it was hard to watch the normals peeling. Mike is a winner in my book.

i want to see a blind taste test on bay leaves, identical dishes, one with bay leaf in the cooking and one without, see if it actually does anything

I never even realized, how little of German Wine culture was known abroad... I mean, we got areas where every second village is called "wine"-something. Everyone knows the Beer but theres a local wine for all of those as well ...

Go Mike go! I really love the videos where the guys go to farms to see how the business of agriculture is done

I much prefer this format, with the expert chat interspersed with the cooking. Much more engaging - honestly I've been known to skip the field trip bits before but in context I really enjoyed them. Thanks, great video.

11:25 Ben says that he's using the vine leave in homage to canopy management; he should have said canape management!

as a native german. the only thing I can actually do is nod and agree with this video.

I think Mike got his feeling hurt at first but was rightly lifted up with praise in the end. Great job Mike you deserve the win! 😊

I would have been happy to be served either of those dishes anytime. Also, just noticed.... it is amazing how clean Mike is when cooking compared to a couple fo years ago when the kitchen always ended up a disaster zone. Good job, Mike.

Christoff was awesome. All the knowledge but able to explain it in such an engaging way. You have to bring him over for an episode.

I live in Spain but am originally from Baden, another wine region south of the Palatine region, and this whole episode makes me incredibly happy. Great job guys!

Sometimes you get so caught up in all the international cuisine and all the food that the world has to offer, you tend to forget all the delicious and interesting food you home country has to offer. Thanks Sorted!

It's so funny to hear "soft" pretzel specified. Because what Ben made is just a regular Bretzel here in Germany, and those little hard snack thingys are the ones you have to specify when talking about them. 😅 All in all, definitley a fun video and I really enjoyed watching it!😄😊

Absolutely love this format for a battle!! Would love to se a normals battle with the same idea of taking one ingredient and learning lots about it, but i think you guys have done some stuff like that before in travel vids... either way, great stuff!

8:50 I believe he says "huge problems", it's transcribed as "huge flowers"

The pie that Mike made was very British; we don't do British pies here in Germany (as in, dough above a stew, sort of.) But nonetheless it looked to be fitting perfectly. Pretzels are Bavarian in origin (and stupid hard to make oneself; all my respect to Ben), but they've infiltrated all of Germany by this point, you get them at every single bakery here, in a small village as well as in the big cities. So that was perfect. Very much yes to the wine leaf-wrapped cheese and the meat balls, that was on point, they looked like Frikadellen, which is very popular here all across the country. Germany, culinarilly speaking (and in terms of culture and dialect) still is a very diverse country, or rather the counties all wrapped in the trench coat of the country Germany. We have massive differences depending on the region, sometimes even within one Bundesland, so I really loved seeing you represent one region without generalizing this as "German food" as it's done so often across the English-speaking world. I'm from Rheinland-Pfalz near the Weinebene where you visited, so I really appreciated all the wine and grape celebration. Thank you so much for doing a video on my home region!

This episode made me smile SO BIG. Go Mike!!

If you ever come to Finland, you should visit Ainoa Winery. They make wine from Finnish/Nordic berries like bilberries, cloudberries and such plus honey, but with French methods. It's run by a lovely couple who moved here from California and they make the Nordic berries shine through their wine. Their cloudberry sparkling wine gets sold out as soon as it gets made. Their wines are divine and a great change of pace for a wine enthusiast. My surprise favourite from theirs was a beetroot dessert wine.

Watching these while making the Sunday dinner is now as much a tradition as the meal itself.

I need more cheese and savory pie in my life! I also adore when you guys go where the food comes from and give us a greater appreciation for how our products get on the shelves! 🥰

If Ben would've made sausages I would've been on his side because that was what was missing from his presentation... But those homemade pretzels though 😍😍😍

I am a german confectioner/baker.. we dont boil the prezels, we dunk them raw in a cold lye soulution (food save) and then bake them at 220°C for about 19 minutes. Also the flour is not 1150 (strong flour) but 550 (normal/basic flour) wheat flour. And the best side to "Laugengebäck" is "Obazta" or butter. In baveria where I am from, nobody would eat them with wine or normal mustard. It would be beer and sweet grany mustard.

Can you do a show featuring American wild blue elderberries? Would love to see all of you making redeemable beverages, pies, etc from what is a very healthy food, with a challenging-to-appreciate flavor. Agree this was close, also agree Mike should win.

I have been a fan of German wines since taking a class on wines in college. Gewurztraminer is unparalleled and my favorite varietal.

What a great tweak to the format guys. Cutting in the educations with the cooking action was perfect pacing.

I really enjoyed this format of video where we get an insight into the production of ingredients and connect with farmers/sales people/people of expertise. We learn so much about groups of people and their culture through different foods and lifestyle practises. Thank you your entertaining and educational videos. On of my favorite channels.

This was such a fun video! Would love to see another A-Z food challenge soon too!

It was really nice of Barry to hand down his old sweater/polo/tracksuit from college to Mike. 10:53

Having lived in Germany for 10 years loved this show. I still buy German food products like Shinkenwurst. Bratwurst rye bread. and lots of other stuff. Memories

Don't know how Jamie and Barry chose, cause both dishes looked fantastic! I think if it was up to me though ... I'd want Ben's for lunch and Mike's for dinner ;)

Well done Mike. Both dishes looked amazing. I would love to see a beat the Chef using Native Australian foods. This was worth staying up until 3am for 😁

Really enjoying your vids lately guys! Appreciate the variety and of course the pleasure of seeing all 4 of your in front of the cam :)

1:03. Ben loves his grapes.

@19:39 Mike's ears giving Rudolph a run for his money. Well earned victory.

Love that you visited my home! Ím from RLP and it is true that our wine culture is underestimated in europe. I grew up on top of a wineyard so the visuals alone give me a homy feel. Wish I could have tasted your meals. Mikes approach seems to be more stereotypically german and something a grandma would make on a sunday while Bens is more nifty but nothing someone here would realistically cook by themselfes since there are so many convenient sources to get it pre made by a professional.

Mike made me miss my Grandma! She died in february 2021 and i would give everything to have her red cabbage and ALL her other cooking again, even just once.

Very nice reinterpretation of some mainly western German food traditions, with both some English and some more Mediterranean twists. I need to try this! And yes: They are making a lot of good wines down in Germany now. But for some reason the subtitles were switched on. And there are some major issues. Like Müller-Thurgau, the white Swiss/German grape. This is REALLY not the same as Merlot! And Pfalz is NOT "France". If you really must translate, Pfalz is called Palatinate in English ;-)

I'm German and wine is King!!! I received many various types and bottles for my confirmation! Schweinebraten is actually a pork roast not roasted pork meat and the region I grew up in, we used Caraway only for Sauerkraut along with Juniper Berries, both for digestive purposes. Red Cabbage was more often the accompanying veg over Sauerkraut, with Apples, Cloves and Red Wine. I'm fascinated by the two different approaches by Mike and Ebbers. Red Cabbage is usually braised and cooked for several hours, sometimes with added Duck fat and better the next day. In this country (US), it's never cooked long enough and usually half raw which is always disappointing! 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

Don't be so hard on yourself Mike, you absolutely killed it! Ebbers with his cheese board unfortunately misses what I think is the key difficulty of the battle. That you're supposed to be HIGHLIGHTING that ingredient. So while Ebbers did put grapes on his plate, they were part of like 2/5 of his dish whereas the grapes were heavily found throughout Mike's. I know technically they were throughout a lot of Ebbers dish, but they were hidden or muted besides for the pickled grapes lol. You can't make a pie with part of the filling being grapes and not embrace the flavor.

LOVED this episode. I am so enjoying learning about food (and now drink) in other countries. I wanted to jump into the picture with you guys and taste every single one of those dishes you made. All the food looked amazing. Congratulations to Mike who definitely deserved the win!

I always look forward to these videos! Class work guys 👌

Hey i know Christoph, only about 30km to Weingut Hammel, our hotel gets their wine from Hammel too.

Absolutely winning the battle! Great job Mike, you definitely deserve the win! Next stop boys...Romania! For a 3-way Normal's Battle!

Mike trying to pronounce "Spätburgunder" was my favorite part of the video

"Drei, Zwei, Eins.... COCKEN" 😂😂 perfect boys 👌❤😂

Hi guys, using the Sidekick app to make a meal for the first time tonight. Sausage and apple stew with parsley mash. Wish me luck, as any of the normals on their worst day could cook circles around me!

„To give it some Oompff… Which is also very German.“ Haha, why is that so truee!? 😅😂

Sad to hear you were in my area when I wasn't XD But there is so much more for you to discover along the Wine-Street. In Bad Dürkheim you have the Largest Winebarrel, in Deidesheim and it's neighbouring town you have Gin made from Grapes, the Hotel where Chancelor Kohl brought foreign guests, sparkling wines made from berries, a world renowned guitar maker. I would also really love for you to make some local traditional dishes like "Saumagen" (which is essentially germanys version of haggis) or Liptauer. If you go further south you will have a lot of rich history and french influences enter the mix all the way to the border. There are so many wonderful places to explore. Maybe see if you can make contact with multiple winearies in the area and borrow their kitchens for a couple of videos. I bet you would have a wonderful time!

German here, and I feel like these are very interesting takes on german food. I would not mind trying them.

If I hadn't seen what Mike was doing and everything that went into his dish, from looks alone I would have expected a dish that was hearty and good, but possibly a little boring. Having seen how he made it, though, I was convinced it was going to be absolutely delicious. Ben's looked great too, but all through the cooking process I was thinking that Mike's dish was more what I would want.

I come from the area in which BASF is based in, and as a Pfälzerin I am so excited to see this episode!

I've been binging your channel for 2 straight days and I love it so much! I just watched Jaime yell, "I like tinned meat!" I may have laughed nearly as hard as at fermented herring! Can we get a miracle berry cooking challenge? I'd love to see how you'd work around the flavor disconnect to get something tasty.🤣

Watching Ebbers make pretzels unlocked a childhood memory of making pretzels with my Oma and that made me really happy, thanks guys!

The fact you can kind of just go on a “casual” trip to Germany from the UK is what delights me about Europe. I can drive 2 hours south and hit the US any other direction and I can drive for days and barely make it out of my province let alone another country😂

Odd with you saying Germany aren't known for their wines, they certainly are by me! Still reckon the nicest red wine I had was from a small vineyard batch that had to be bought on site in Germany and TBH I usually *avoid* French and Spanish wines, I generally gravitate towards Australian, German, Italian or South African ones by preference.

All right Mike!!! I am so proud of how well you did. ❤❤❤

Mike beat Ebber. I never though id see the day. Loved seeing the boys get a lil drunk though, Barry especially hahaha made my day