"Top Round Roast Beef with Ike Barinholtz" is Episode 179 of Doughboys, hosted by Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger. "Top Round Roast Beef with Ike Barinholtz" was released on November 8, 2018.
"Tomorrow..." - @doughboyspod
Synopsis[]
The hilarious Ike Barinholtz (The Mindy Project, The Oath) joins us to review a chain specializing in old school roast beef sandwiches: Top Round Roast Beef. Plus, a lengthy discussion of vulgar experiences and the debut of an all new segment, Mike and Ike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Candymation.
Nick's intro[]
The literary remains of John Byron, dating to 1725, contains the first recorded reference to a dish called the Welsh rabbit. The dish has many variants, but is most broadly a cheese sauce poured over toast, speculated to have originated in Wales centuries earlier where it entrenched itself as a beloved comfort food for the peasant class.
Welsh rarebit
By the end of the 18th century, the name 'Welsh rabbit' was transfused into 'Welsh rarebit' - perhaps a quirk of local accents, perhaps a comment on the absence of any rabbit meat in the dish - and the gooey, cheesy toast had become a pub-food staple, a low-cost sponge to soak up tankards of ale.
But despite its simple ingredients, properly preparing the cheese sauce remained a labor-intensive process and in the mid-20th century when a booming post-War economy and innovations in chemistry led to an explosion in food science, Edward Traisman* of the Kraft Corporation developed a mass-produceable jarred replica called Cheez-Whiz. As with Welsh 'rabbit' distorting into 'rarebit,' 'cheese' was spelled with a 'Z' because it didn't contain any actual cheese, instead a mixture of milk, protein, and Canola oil. Released in 1953, Cheez-Whiz became an instant hit in the UK as a heat-and-serve substitute for the rarebit's traditional Béchamel, or ale-based, sauce, and Kraft took their Whiz to the States a year later.
Americans characteristically developed an affinity to the gooey cheese-like substance and the many rip-offs it would inspire, and Whiz found its most popular usage as part of a sandwich invented in Philadelphia in the 1930s: the cheesesteak.
Originally, the cheese in question was Provolone, which purists still claim is the correct choice, but Cheez-Whiz, or 'Wit Wiz' in the local parlance, quickly became the most popular topping for the meat on a roll sando. In the 1970s, fast-food chain Arby's introduced the Beef 'N' Cheddar, a Philly cheesesteak-adjacent sandwich featuring roast beef topped with cheese sauce on an onion roll. It remains one of their most popular items.
And in 2013, when a quartet of fine-dining chefs and restaurateurs united to open a fast-food joint in a closed donut shop on Los Angeles' La Brea Boulevard, its flagship product was a classed-up Beef 'N' Cheddar. The spot became a hit with the foodie sort for its chef-driven fare, and with the local community for its budget-friendly menu. And today it has expanded in Northern California, Kentucky, and Texas.
And the sauce on its Beef 'N' Cheddar clone?
Unlike the lab-made Kraft product invented to streamline the Welsh rarebit, each batch of their house-made Whiz sauce contains 15 pounds of real cheese.
This week on Doughboys, Top Round Roast Beef.
*Nick says Edward, but Google tells me his name is Edwin.
Fork rating[]
| guest / host | ordered | rating |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Wiger |
|
5 forks |
| Mike Mitchell |
|
4.75 forks |
| Ike Barinholtz |
|
4.5 forks |
Nick shared his order with Evan Susser. Mitch shared with his friend, Meg (i.e., not The Meg).
With these scores, Top Round makes the Golden Plate Club!
Mike and Ike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Candymation[]
In this 'new' segment, The Doughboys try different flavors of Mike and Ike's candy: Caramel Apple, Megamix, and Original Fruits.
(It is also a Snack or Wack and a Flavor of the Week segment.)
They rate it on a the usual scale of 'snack' or 'wack.'
| guest / host | Caramel Apple | Megamix | Original Fruits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Wiger | Wack | Wack | Wack |
| Mike Mitchell | light Snack | Wack | Wack |
| Ike Barinholtz | Wack | Wack | Wack |
Roast Spoonman[]
Chevy Chase
| “ | Hevy Chase | ” |
–Brian Fernandez | ||
Quotes[]
| “ | You've been wanting to eat that cat since day one. | ” |
–Nick Wiger to Mitch re: Irma | ||
| “ | Mitch: Hey Nick, I bought Halloween candy for kids. Zero kids came to my house! Nick: I think there's a carving on your door to warn young people away. It's like the Hobo Code. |
” |
–Doughboys re: Halloween | ||
| “ | Poutine is shit. | ” |
–Ike Barinholtz on Canada | ||
#hashtags[]
- #FinalFantasyBlank
- #Burger
- #HomeFrieHomeGuy vs. #HashtagHashBrownHashBro vs. #LattkeLotGuy
- #KitchenImprovFail
The Feedbag[]
| “ | I just remembered a time when I didn't have any regular milk, forcing me to use strawberry milk while making mac & cheese. It resulted in what you'd expect: a pink, somewhat sweet bowl of noodles and white cheddar. It was not disagreeable, but absolutely tasted improvised - leading me to my question: were you ever forced to use an odd ingredient in a dish? How did it turn out? | ” |
–Jonathan | ||
Photos (via @doughboyspod)[]
