[music playing] It’s the day
before the big cook, and I’ve got one last very
important stop on the border of the Great Smoky
Mountains is the National Park that is inhabited
by the Cherokee Indians. I’ve heard that there is
a Cherokee dish that I need to taste to believe. We are right in the
thick of the woods. Malia, there you are. [speaking cherokee] [speaking cherokee] what does that mean? It means, hello,
Gordon, and how are you? I’m so happy to be here. Now Hominy? Hominy. Hominy. Is a very unique traditional
Native American food. It’s basically corn on
steroids, and I’m finally about to see how it’s made. The process of turning
the corn to Hominy just relies on this ash, this
hickory ash, and the corn, and water and heat. Oh really? Yeah, first off, if
you can finish getting the rest of these
kernels off, and once you get a few of them– see? You’re looking like a pro. Gotcha. And then we’re going
to come over with our ash and go over to the fire. That ash will turn
it black won’t it? It’s the lye that’s in the
ash that we need to remove the coat off of the kernels. It makes it easier to digest. GORDON RAMSAY(VOICEOVER):
Now I know why there’s such a buzz around this dish. There is lye in Hickory ash,
which is extremely corrosive. I’m excited to be shown
what this unique ingredients will do to humble corn kernels. And it also makes some more
amino acids available to you, and you have less
vitamin deficiencies. GORDON RAMSAY(VOICEOVER): It
makes sense that the Cherokee developed a recipe that
would maximize nutrients, but I’m not sold on
this dish just yet. So does the ash
turn it bitter? It doesn’t turn
it bitter, but it does give it a different taste. Yeah, it doesn’t
look appetizing. Well, I’m sure
sometimes when you make a dish it doesn’t
look that appetizing, until you’re all
the way down right. GORDON RAMSAY(VOICEOVER):
Malia has obviously never seen me cook. While we wait for this caustic
mixture to work its magic, I learn about the traditional
way of grinding corn. Straight in. Yes. yes. All right. Does that go in there? You just– Switch. Is that right? Around, how? What do you think? Well it looks like the sort of
that ends too big for the hole, but then that doesn’t. Now let’s try this. How many kids do you have? Well no. Malia please. [beep] hell. Honestly. I’ll give you a little help. I’ll give you a little help. It won’t go down the hole. Turn it around. Oh you do turn it around, You do turn it around. So the secret is not
to go too hard, right? Right. Yeah. I’ll have to teach you how
to say, help me in Cherokee. Yes, please. [speaking cherokee] [speaking cherokee] [speaking cherokee] [speaking cherokee] It means help, and right now I need a [beep] ton of it. So you are using a lot. Am I? Look how slow you’re going. Work smarter, not harder. Yes, yes ma’am. Indigenous science. Gotcha. Slow and steady. Here we go. It doesn’t feel right. [laughing] GORDON RAMSAY(VOICEOVER):
I’m sure you’d like to keep watching me
awkwardly poke around, but thankfully it’s
time to try our Hominy, which has being thoroughly
rinsed and mixed with beans. That looks I mean it’s
almost like a sort of French Cassoulet, you know
like a bean stew. Yeah. See lovely. I’ve been waiting
for that all day. That is delicious. Oh my God. The corn and the beans
on a different level. She elevated that dish into
something quite luxurious. That Cherokee history
is so prevalent today, and I need to tap into that. If I don’t tap into
that, I’m dead meat. See ya. Thank you. [music playing] Video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NOCk93bxLg
before the big cook, and I’ve got one last very
important stop on the border of the Great Smoky
Mountains is the National Park that is inhabited
by the Cherokee Indians. I’ve heard that there is
a Cherokee dish that I need to taste to believe. We are right in the
thick of the woods. Malia, there you are. [speaking cherokee] [speaking cherokee] what does that mean? It means, hello,
Gordon, and how are you? I’m so happy to be here. Now Hominy? Hominy. Hominy. Is a very unique traditional
Native American food. It’s basically corn on
steroids, and I’m finally about to see how it’s made. The process of turning
the corn to Hominy just relies on this ash, this
hickory ash, and the corn, and water and heat. Oh really? Yeah, first off, if
you can finish getting the rest of these
kernels off, and once you get a few of them– see? You’re looking like a pro. Gotcha. And then we’re going
to come over with our ash and go over to the fire. That ash will turn
it black won’t it? It’s the lye that’s in the
ash that we need to remove the coat off of the kernels. It makes it easier to digest. GORDON RAMSAY(VOICEOVER):
Now I know why there’s such a buzz around this dish. There is lye in Hickory ash,
which is extremely corrosive. I’m excited to be shown
what this unique ingredients will do to humble corn kernels. And it also makes some more
amino acids available to you, and you have less
vitamin deficiencies. GORDON RAMSAY(VOICEOVER): It
makes sense that the Cherokee developed a recipe that
would maximize nutrients, but I’m not sold on
this dish just yet. So does the ash
turn it bitter? It doesn’t turn
it bitter, but it does give it a different taste. Yeah, it doesn’t
look appetizing. Well, I’m sure
sometimes when you make a dish it doesn’t
look that appetizing, until you’re all
the way down right. GORDON RAMSAY(VOICEOVER):
Malia has obviously never seen me cook. While we wait for this caustic
mixture to work its magic, I learn about the traditional
way of grinding corn. Straight in. Yes. yes. All right. Does that go in there? You just– Switch. Is that right? Around, how? What do you think? Well it looks like the sort of
that ends too big for the hole, but then that doesn’t. Now let’s try this. How many kids do you have? Well no. Malia please. [beep] hell. Honestly. I’ll give you a little help. I’ll give you a little help. It won’t go down the hole. Turn it around. Oh you do turn it around, You do turn it around. So the secret is not
to go too hard, right? Right. Yeah. I’ll have to teach you how
to say, help me in Cherokee. Yes, please. [speaking cherokee] [speaking cherokee] [speaking cherokee] [speaking cherokee] It means help, and right now I need a [beep] ton of it. So you are using a lot. Am I? Look how slow you’re going. Work smarter, not harder. Yes, yes ma’am. Indigenous science. Gotcha. Slow and steady. Here we go. It doesn’t feel right. [laughing] GORDON RAMSAY(VOICEOVER):
I’m sure you’d like to keep watching me
awkwardly poke around, but thankfully it’s
time to try our Hominy, which has being thoroughly
rinsed and mixed with beans. That looks I mean it’s
almost like a sort of French Cassoulet, you know
like a bean stew. Yeah. See lovely. I’ve been waiting
for that all day. That is delicious. Oh my God. The corn and the beans
on a different level. She elevated that dish into
something quite luxurious. That Cherokee history
is so prevalent today, and I need to tap into that. If I don’t tap into
that, I’m dead meat. See ya. Thank you. [music playing] Video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NOCk93bxLg
