The Leadership Enigma · 2026-06-29 · 52 min
Key moments - from our scoring
Substance score
35 / 100
Five dimensions, 20 points each
Adam Kingle, author of Executive Eats and executive educator, explores the intersection of nutrition, cooking, and leadership performance. Partnering with Dr. Jakob Bradzkowski (molecular biologist with Le Cordon Bleu training), Kingle developed what they believe is the first cookbook specifically for leaders - pairing 10 chapters of scientific research with 100 reader-friendly recipes. The book addresses three core states leaders report struggling with: sustained energy, sustained focus, and sustained mood. Drawing on peer-reviewed research from UCL School of Management and blue zone studies, Kingle emphasizes that cooking regularly with others measurably improves blood pressure, memory, mood, and anxiety mitigation. He argues senior executives increasingly cite physical health - not intellectual capability - as their limiting factor, with many revealing collapses or health scares when asked about barriers to performance. The episode demonstrates making an adaptable mango cucumber salad, breaking down the functional benefits of magnesium, olive oil, folate, and ginger while teaching confidence-building knife skills to remove common cooking barriers.
Studies from UCL School of Management show that people who cook regularly at home, particularly with others, have on average better blood pressure, motor function, memory, and improved mental health including fewer anxiety and depression incidents.
Over the last five years, executives report physical barriers - lack of energy, inability to concentrate after lunch, mood swings - rather than intellectual deficits as their primary performance limitation, often revealing past health crises when asked.
The salad combines magnesium (mango) for concentration, good cholesterol/HDL (olive oil) for mood and brain function, folate/vitamin B9 (cucumber) to stave off anxiety and depression, and ginger as an anti-inflammatory to reduce brain inflammation and promote mood.
Protein enhances satiety over longer periods, and when combined with fiber from legumes or oats, fiber creates a viscous gel in the gut that slows energy flow and digestion, requiring 30% more calories to digest protein than carbs.
Keep the base salad separate from the vinaigrette (acid breaks down ingredients), then add regional variations - Mexican spices and chili, Southeast Asian lemongrass and fish sauce, Mediterranean tomato and basil - to the same base throughout the week.
Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.
The episode is dominated by live cooking instruction (knife grips, mango scoring, ginger peeling) that carries zero informational value for a B2B operator. The leadership-relevant nutritional claims are sparse, mostly well-known (protein satiety, olive oil HDL, anti-inflammatory ginger), and delivered in brief bursts between extended culinary demonstration. One or two genuinely useful specifics - the 30% metabolic cost of protein digestion, fiber's viscous-gel mechanism - are buried under heavy padding.
fiber creates a viscous gel in your gut. And what that does is it slows down the energy flow
Protein takes 30% more energy, which means it takes 30% more calories simply to digest the protein than carbs and sugars
The positioning of a cookbook specifically for executives is a genuinely novel product concept, and the combinatorial creativity technique (drawing random lines between known methods and novel ingredients) offers a mildly fresh mental model. However, the surrounding content - servant leadership, self-care enabling others, blue zones, community cooking - is recycled wellness orthodoxy with no contrarian edge.
to our best of our knowledge. And we've done some research, we think it's the first cookbook ever specifically for leaders
on the left hand side of a page, they would write down common techniques or mother sauces...And then on the right...he would write down ingredients that were more unique
Kingle is a credentialed executive educator - managing faculty at UCL School of Management, programme leader at Imperial College, Le Cordon Bleu trained, with prior professional kitchen experience - making him a legitimate practitioner rather than a pure thought-leader. However, he has not scaled a business or held a senior operating role; his expertise is consultancy and education, and much of the episode functions as a book promotion.
I'm leading a program, uh, for executives at Imperial College called, um, Leading Systemic Innovation in Health Care
managing faculty, which indicates that this could be good
A handful of concrete anchors exist - UCL School of Management research, Imperial College programme, Dr. Jakob Radzikowski named as co-author, Bobby Chin in Vietnam cited, the 30% protein-digestion calorie figure - but the bulk of health claims are attributed to unnamed studies or vague collective knowledge. The host floats a dramatic 70% C-suite health statistic with no source and immediately admits he needs to 'dig it out.'
there's recent research out of the UCL School of Management
Protein takes 30% more energy, which means it takes 30% more calories simply to digest the protein
The host explicitly defers to the guest from the outset ('if any of this is wrong, Adam will tell me'), issues only open-ended invitations to elaborate, and validates rather than probes at every turn. No claim is challenged, no data point is interrogated, and the conversation functions as a polished promotional vehicle for the book. The live cooking format crowds out any possibility of substantive follow-up.
If any of this is wrong, Adam will tell me
I think this is already the best cutting I've ever
Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.
Could your diet be holding back your leadership performance? In this one-of-a-kind episode, host Adam Pacifico is joined by executive educator and author Adam Kingl for a live cooking demonstration a first in 300 episodes of The Leadership Enigma. Adam's new book Executive Eats, co-authored with molecular biologist and former Michelin-star chef Dr. Jacobi, is believed to be the world's first cookbook written specifically for leaders backed by dozens of peer-reviewed studies and 100 science-based recipes. In this episode: - Why senior leaders now cite low energy and poor concentration as their #1 performance barrier - How specific foods directly boost your mood, focus, and sustained energy throughout the day - Why cooking together is one of the most underrated tools for building team culture - How the act of cooking itself is a powerful mindfulness and stress-reduction practice - The science behind eating to lead and why it matters more than ever in today's world - Why you can't serve others well if you're not looking after yourself first Adam cooks a live dish in the studio designed to deliver sustained energy, mood boost, and sharper concentration all in one meal.
Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.
Speaker A: People who cook regularly at home, and particularly with others have now been shown to have, on average, better blood pressure, motor function, memory, and happier. In other words, fewer incidents, better able to hold off or mitigate anxiety, depression, uh, et cetera. It's remarkable how many times, particularly when I work with senior executives and I start talking about these topics, more than half, possibly almost everyone at some point then reveals to me, oh, yeah, I had an episode a couple years ago where I collapsed. If we as leaders are not looking after ourselves, how could we possibly hope to be better stewards of others, our teams and our organizations? We're going to be making a mango cucumber salad.
Speaker B: Hi, I'm Adam Pacifico and welcome to the Leadership Enigma, a world ranked award winning podcast that's insatiably curious as regards what leaders do, how they do it, and importantly, why. We'll delve into the human doing, but even deeper into the human being and the power of human centered leadership to drive sustainable change. So whether you're an entrepreneur, business owner, corporate executive, each week we speak to global experts, academics, rising stars, ambitious upstarts and disruptors as together we will discover that success leaves clues. Hi, and welcome to another episode of the Leadership Enigma. And with over 300 episodes, I'm very excited because today is a, uh, first, and we have got all of our cameras running in the studio for reasons that will become clear in a moment. So if you're watching or you're listening, this will still work, we hope. So. Today's guest is Adam Kingle, who's actually, uh, a dear friend and actually a real friend of the show. Uh, he's been on the show now a few times. He keeps writing books, so he keeps writing books, he keeps coming on the show and he's the author of Executive Eats, so which we really are going to focus on. And this is a fascinating exploration of leadership connection and the conversations that are really important when people get together around food. And, you know, I'm a massive believer of human connection. And this is a world that's obsessed with strategy and performance and transformation and AI and everyone's got change fatigue and everyone's burning themselves like fuel. But let's not forget that leadership is deeply human. So it's those moments about trust, curiosity, vulnerability and shared experience that, that I'm going to be talking to Adam about because those are just so important. And I think some of the most powerful lessons for leaders may not be found in the boardroom, but actually we might find them around the table. So we are looking at cooking With King, or we had to use that phrase. And Adam's going to bring and actually a research based approach on why this is so important. And for someone like himself who has worked with senior leaders all over the world, which is how we've known each other for a long time now, it's about building relationships, creating culture, unlocking meaningful dialogue. And if any of this is wrong, Adam will tell me. And, um, this is a long introduction, but it's important. So this is about the power of belonging, decision making, hidden rituals, and looking after ourselves. You've got to look after yourself if you actually want to lead other people. So settle in for an amazing conversation that's rich, thoughtful, and just a little bit delicious, perhaps. So come back to me after the break. You definitely don't want to miss this one because we've never done this in 300 episodes. I'll see you in a minute. Adam. Um, it is a huge warm welcome back to the studio. Studio. How are you?
Speaker A: I'm very well. Nice to be back.
Speaker B: How did I do with the setup?
Speaker A: That was perfect. That was.
Speaker B: I'm really, really excited because we've got all, I don't know how many cameras rolling at the moment because we are going to be doing something around food.
Speaker A: It's all happening.
Speaker B: So tell us. I'm going to be entirely led by you, Adam, and I know I'm in good hands. What are we doing today?
Speaker A: Yeah, we're going to be doing a bit of cooking. But how is this related to the leadership enigma, you ask? Well, your, your introduction was, was eloquent and perfectly accurate.
Speaker B: Thank you.
Speaker A: If you, if we, as leaders are not looking after ourselves, how could we possibly hope to be better stewards of others, our teams and our organizations? Um, I don't know if you found this to be true, but if I just go back, say, 20 years, 15 years, uh, in doing executive education, uh, which is really my core job, asking leaders what's getting in the way? What's holding you back from performance? 15, 20 years ago, they would have, uh, generally given me an intellectual answer. In other words, I need to improve my critical thinking. I need to improve my strategic thinking. I got to get my head around finance once and for all, et cetera, et cetera. Over the last, I would say, five years at least, the answer to that question has been different. It was, it has been physical. It's been things like, I just don't have enough energy to do this.
Speaker B: It's, uh, a massive issue, isn't it?
Speaker A: Massive issue, yeah. Or I can't concentrate throughout the day. You know, I'm good until about lunchtime, and then I feel useless or I just can't maintain my mood, my attitude. And I find myself snapping, you know, at my tea. And it's not their fault, you know, they asked a perfectly legitimate question and I just don't have the patience.
Speaker B: There's a massive piece about the shadow of a leader, Right?
Speaker A: Absolutely. Yeah, that's right. This led me to think m. I think there's something here. Now, of course, there's lots, uh, there are a lot of factors related to one's physical state.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: Hydration, exercise, sleep, all that. And I'm not minimizing any of that. I am looking at another of those lenses which I think is equally important, and that's nutrition.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: What are we eating to improve these states? Now, this led me to the books about two years ago. Uh, I was. I'm leading a program, uh, for executives at Imperial College called, um, Leading Systemic Innovation in Health Care.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: And one of my colleagues on that program is a faculty member in the molecular biology Department named Dr. Jakob Bradzikowski.
Speaker B: Your co author.
Speaker A: Good Polish name. Yes, my co author. And well said, well pronounced, practiced. And he has a culinary background. So now he's in academia. But prior he worked in Michelin star restaurants in London, uh, did the professional course at Le Cordon Bleu.
Speaker B: Wow.
Speaker A: We got talking about that because when I was in graduate school at ucla, I went to Le Cordon Bleu and I did that. Not the full professional accreditation, but I did a whole summer's worth of classes, learned all the essentials. And the reason I did that is then I wanted to up, uh, finance my graduate education by working in a kitchen. I did, I worked in an Italian trattoria in Brentwood. So we both had this foodie background. We both started talking about the. This need for nutrition. We have a couple of nutritionists speaking on that program at Imperial. We said, you know what? We have a book in us and it's the. To our best of our knowledge. And we've done some research, we think it's the first cookbook ever specifically for leaders. I don't think it's ever. Hence the title Executive. That's right, exactly. So every chapter covers one of these, let's call them states like sustained energy or how to celebrate with. With one another, et cetera. And so we begin each chapter with, uh, the business case, the scientific case. So what should you be ingesting? And then a helpful table giving you all the ingredients and nutrients yeah. And then Jakob and I have written in each, in each of the 10 chapters, 10 recipes that utilize those ingredients that we hope is reader friendly. Uh, non. For, for the non culinarian friendly. Uh, so in total There are 100 recipes.
Speaker B: I've never seen anything like this before, Adam.
Speaker A: I haven't either.
Speaker B: And you and I live in this space. This is our leaders and leadership. And this is, this is a first and a first for the show as well. I love the fact that you've done lots of research as well, because you've, you've always been that way in everything that you've, you've written. You've always, always looked at what is that very solid foundation.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: Of research that really pushes you in this direction. Yeah.
Speaker A: There are dozens and dozens of peer reviewed, uh, articles referenced in there. So we know the science is rigorous behind what we're saying.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: So what are we going to do today, Adam?
Speaker A: Well, just, uh, to illustrate, uh, one of the points, we're going to do a bit of, uh, cookery.
Speaker B: Yep.
Speaker A: But before we even get into the recipe, I think there's something else.
Speaker B: I'm going to get rid of my laptop, Adam. Out the way. Clear the decks. Yes. Here we go.
Speaker A: Here's. Before we get into this pioneering effort on the leadership enigma, I think the other thing that we're doing itself is a virtue for executives to consider and that is that we are cooking together. And when you're cooking together, there's recent research out of the UCL School of Management where I'm managing faculty, which indicates that this could be good. The act itself, uh, could be good for our well being that people who cook regularly at home and particularly with others m have now been shown to have on average better blood pressure, motor function, memory and happier. In other words, fewer incidents, better able to hold off or mitigate anxiety, depression, uh, et cetera. We know this probably intuitively when we look at the so called blue zones in the world where people just tend to live longer than anywhere else.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: Uh, often people talk about their.
Speaker B: What are those when you talk about those?
Speaker A: These are areas like the southern Mediterranean, Korea, Japan. Right. Where people just seem to live a very long time on average.
Speaker B: Good food.
Speaker A: Good food. And a lot of it is the food.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: But actually there's another factor which people don't talk about as much and that is a higher rate of communal activity throughout one's lives. That alone has been demonstrated to improve one's health, wellness, well being, uh, and sort of confidence in, in one's self
Speaker B: we're now talking about human connection and the importance of it. And I know I saw a study, Adam. I think it was as high as 70% of C suite leaders were actually looking at a way of stepping down because of health reasons.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: Now that's an extraordinary number, and I'll dig that out for the benefit of this episode. But a lot of people now are reporting ill health.
Speaker A: That's right.
Speaker B: Burnout. Just change. Fatigue. And if you're not looking after yourself, it's very difficult to lead other people, isn't it?
Speaker A: Yeah, impossible. Impossible. It's remarkable how many times, particularly when I work with senior executives, uh, and I start talking about these topics. I swear to you, I don't. More than half, possibly almost everyone at some point then reveals to me, oh, yeah, I had, you know, an episode a couple years ago where I collapsed where I couldn't get out of bed for two months. Right. Uh, where I, you know, had a health scare, etc.
Speaker B: This is real, isn't it?
Speaker A: It's absolutely.
Speaker B: And it's significant.
Speaker A: It is. Okay, so this is all. This is all incredibly important to start to develop the habit, to start to create some, I'll. Let's call them sort of anchored anchors in your diet.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: That you start to just eat more of.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: Now the recipes are. Are actually more suggestions. I'd love it if people cook from the recipes and that becomes part of the repertoire. And they do that all the time.
Speaker B: You can see yourself on the same shelf as the cookbook.
Speaker A: People might. So. Yes.
Speaker B: In their kitchen. That's right. Uh, but.
Speaker A: But I hope that people will also just start to spring from that and start to do their own thing. Start to start to create on their own. Uh, start to adapt once they know I should be eating more of these items, more of these. More of these, uh, ingredients. So I hope this is sort of a spark of inspiration, beginning with the confidence and clarity and courage give it with where we give you the whole recipes. But I don't want people to think, well, I. If I not cooking those hundred recipes right. I'm doomed and I'm unhealthy. No. I hope that this is a starting point.
Speaker B: Yeah. A lot of recipes. 100, actually.
Speaker A: There are. Yeah. Plenty. Before anyone really has to spring off on their own, there are plenty from.
Speaker B: So what's our direction of travel today?
Speaker A: Well, why don't we do it? Why don't we. Why don't we do a, uh, do a recipe?
Speaker B: Is it under a category? Would we find this under a chapter?
Speaker A: This one this one, uh, I'm using this one because it's a three for Tell me more. It covers three of the states.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: Uh, from. Of the ten in the book because of the ingredients in here. And I think these are the big three, the ones I hear more than anything.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: And all has to do with sustaining. So it's three topics. Sustaining energy.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: Sustaining focus and sustaining mood. So the, the. We're going to be making a mango cucumber salad. And we're doing that for a number of reasons.
Speaker B: I think the studio is excited and we're smelling. I know, right?
Speaker A: The allium, the cucumber, the mango. We're making this, uh, because it's covering all those things. Yep. The mango is giving us lovely magnesium. And magnesium is a superfood.
Speaker B: Gotcha.
Speaker A: It's great for concentration and focus.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: Ah, so many other things, but that's for this. Now we have in our vinaigrette, we have olive oil.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: Now olive oil, of course, is good fat, a good cholesterol, hdl. Now we know we've always probably known good cholesterol, hdl, good for the heart. We've known that for ages.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: What I learned as we were researching the book is it's also good for mood, um, boost and concentration as well. It helps neurotransmitters, uh, to do their job. So actually it's good for the brain as well. So if we aren't eating, uh, consuming enough olive oil, avocado, flax seeds, chia seeds, go for it, maybe.
Speaker B: Whilst many of our Mediterranean friends are, ah, thriving. Exactly. Yes. With olive oil.
Speaker A: And I give you, ladies and gentlemen, the humble cucumber.
Speaker B: Cucumber.
Speaker A: This is filled with folate, otherwise known as folic acid, otherwise known as vitamin B9. And the beautiful thing, uh, about this is it staves off anxiety, depression, and helps us regulate our mood.
Speaker B: The humble cucumber.
Speaker A: The humble cucumber. Yes.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: Now and then we've got flavorings to make it all exciting. We've got fresh ginger, we've got green onion, we've got mint, and we've got, uh, we've got some lime juice.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: Um, ginger, of course, is an anti inflammatory and antioxidant. This is also good. Not only we think of this in relation to infection and whatnot, but when we say anti inflammatory, that also relates to the brain. In other words, the brain becomes less inflamed. And when the brain is less inflamed, it again. It promotes mood and concentration. There are other little things you can, you can do To. To support that, lots of things we'd supplement, like sage, rosemary, turmeric, chamomile. All of these things also support that. But for this, the recipe, I'm doing ginger now.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: Finally, the reason I've chosen this recipe is its adaptability. You can think of this salad as a base. The other, of course, very common complaint that I hear, which is completely valid, is I just don't have time.
Speaker B: Yeah. That's all. Forget it's always the excuse, right?
Speaker A: Exact. But this is super quick to make. We'll see this, because we're going to make this.
Speaker B: We'll do it live time, right? That's right.
Speaker A: And if you make. Let's say you make this on Sunday night. And this is going to be your lunch for the next, say, three days or four days. So you make the salad and you just take a little bit out of the big bowl, put it in Tupperware container, you bring it to, uh, to. To work on Monday, and that's your lunch.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: Now, let's say now you're sick of that. You don't want to eat that again, but you don't want to invest more time in creating more lunches. And you still have this bowl of salad. Put some more of that salad in your Tupperware container for Tuesday. But then add some diced cucumber, some coriander, some chili, and all of a sudden, you're in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: On Wednesday, add some shredded lime leaves, some shredded lemongrass, add a little bit of fish sauce, some diced tofu, and crushed roasted peanuts, and you're in Southeast Asia. And then on the next day, my friend, add some tomatoes, some basil, and you're in the Southern Mediterranean off the Sicilian coast. Uh, it's. And you will not be tired, your palate will not be sick of it. And it will last. This salad will last. All you should do is add the vinaigrette on consumption rather than add the vinaigrette right away, because, of course, the acid of the lime juice is going to start breaking down.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: The foods.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: So as long as you keep the vinaigrette separate, this will keep in your fridge.
Speaker B: Wow.
Speaker A: Uh, so I'm always thinking about that, that kind of. How do we make things more adaptable? I mean, chicken is a wonderful thing. Just if I could go on a quick. Let's talk about chicken, because chicken is a lean protein, Right. And interestingly, what. What we now know is, and there have been studies on this, is that a lot of people who struggle with Appetite. And people say, I'm always hungry, et cetera. Yeah, they aren't eating enough protein. They're just on the carb roller coaster.
Speaker B: That's what my wife says to me.
Speaker A: Okay, Exactly. And now studies show that's they're not eating enough protein. Protein enhances satiety over a longer period of time, particularly when you can combine that with fiber, things like oats, legumes, et cetera, because what fiber does. And this is going to be the sexiest part of the program, and it's looking into camera one.
Speaker B: Very often looking into camera one.
Speaker A: Fiber creates a viscous gel in your gut. And what that does is it slows down the energy flow, uh, in. In your body. It allows for digestion to slow down. And by the way, it's. It takes longer for your body to process protein. It takes 30% more energy, which means it takes 30% more calories simply to digest the protein than carbs and sugars.
Speaker B: Now, I know, I know you always like to do a lot of research. So there's a lot of research behind all of this as well, isn't there, Adam?
Speaker A: Yeah, that's right.
Speaker B: To actually medically.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker B: Show.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker B: What it is that you're saying. Yes. So.
Speaker A: So for people who love looking at their scientific references in their medical journals, we literally have dozens of such references.
Speaker B: They're in the.
Speaker A: All cited in the book.
Speaker B: Okay, good.
Speaker A: Uh, so there is no doubt, uh, in our mind that this stuff is. Is backed. Um. Shall we get on?
Speaker B: Come on. And clear the decks. And. Okay, take. Take me on a journey.
Speaker A: All right, we are going to make the salad.
Speaker B: You can see you've got all the cameras. Right. Look, I put the book there. You can see there, and. All right, you lead, I follow.
Speaker A: All right, well, what we're also going to be doing in showing how to make this salad is we're going to be talking about, um, confidence with knife skills. Because, of course, that's also some of the reason 1m is time. But also, people say, well, I'm not a good cook, so therefore, I'm not going to cook.
Speaker B: That's an easy excuse.
Speaker A: It's an easy excuse.
Speaker B: I fall into that category.
Speaker A: So I think I just want to give viewers and listeners also just a couple of easy tips just to help enhance their. Their confidence in the kitchen.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: And it's okay if you're listening and not watching. I will describe in detail, uh, what's going on.
Speaker B: Yeah. If you're listening, you might be thinking, hang on, I'm missing out here. Well, if you are, then come to the YouTube channel and you can watch the entire thing.
Speaker A: Here's the. Here's the first thing about, um, about knife skills. We often. I have. I literally now watch. This is the first time it's going to happen now, but, Adam, I literally have.
Speaker B: What could possibly go wrong with.
Speaker A: Possibly go wrong? I have not cut myself in the kitchen in years.
Speaker B: You're in the studio now.
Speaker A: I'm in the studio right under the hot lights. And. And one of the reason. One of the reason cut ourselves is that we let our food roll around. In other words, we don't create flat surfaces.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: So for the cucumber, y. If you have your half a cucumber here, huh, What I'd suggest is that first you just cut it in half crosswise. So both Adam and I, listeners at home, have a half a cucumber. So we now just quart. We've just cut it in half. So now we each. We have two quarters of a cucumber.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: But that cucumber is. Is a tube, Right. It's a cylinder. So it's rolling around.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: So now we're going to take each of these quarters and we're going to cut it lengthwise and we're going to put it cut side down.
Speaker B: So now it's on.
Speaker A: So now the flat. It's flat side down. So this is not going to roll around. We have already reduced our chances, therefore, of cutting ourselves by at least a factor of two or three. Now, the other thing is how you hold a knife, people, we generally actually don't know how to hold a knife. So when I went to culinary school, um, before then, I was holding it like this, right. I was wielding it like, uh, a samurai.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: A clutching the hilt like, you know, about to be attacked by, uh, the Visigoths. Instead, what you want to do for those at home, I'm going to basically choke up, as it were. I'm going to take my thumb and my forefinger, and they actually are holding the blade like so. Exactly. Okay, so now why are we doing that? Because actually, the reason that we can cut ourselves is if we're just holding the blade. When you come down with the knife, that blade can go left and right as well.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: And that's when you start angling it toward your flesh.
Speaker B: And we've all been there.
Speaker A: And we've all been there. Once you choke up and you're actually gripping the blade as well as the hilt.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: That knife isn't going anywhere.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: It's only going to Go left and right if you will.
Speaker B: I'm learning already, Adam.
Speaker A: Here we go. Knife skills.
Speaker B: Knife skills. So knife skills.
Speaker A: Safer. Knife skills. So now we're just going to cut this cucumber to bite sized pieces. So now. Oh, the other point is when you hold the food.
Speaker B: Yep.
Speaker A: So right, generally one, one hand is holding the knife, the other hand is holding the food. And generally we hold our fingers straight out. Right. I'm holding the food down and I come down with the knife and.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And my fingertips are cut off.
Speaker B: Okay. Right.
Speaker A: So instead then whatever hand you use to hold the food, uh, I'd love you to make the claw. And what the claw is, is you actually tuck in your fingers.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: And so you're actually holding it. You're holding the food either with the tips of your fingers or with your knuckles, whichever you're more comfortable with. And then you're going to put the blade up against your knuckles.
Speaker B: Uh, wow.
Speaker A: And then cut down. And you see, there is no way you're going to cut yourself. Absolutely no way.
Speaker B: So far so good.
Speaker A: So far so good. And also of course, holding the blade against those knuckles is again preventing the knife from going off into any angle you don't wish. So now that we've cut our, uh, our quarters into halves again, now we have bite sized pieces. So we just turn our knife crosswise. And now we can make our bite sized chunks of cucumber. Ta da. And we're going to put those in our bowl. Now if you're uh, for those of you watching, you see that Adam, I each have two bowls. One bowl is where we're going to put, make the salad.
Speaker B: Mhm.
Speaker A: The other bowl is our garbage bowl. And the reason for that is, I think, you know, I always have a garbage bowl on the counter when I'm cooking. Because, uh, we've all been there, right. Where we do this commute across the kitchen to throw things away and things fall on the ground and you know, the dog eats it and we get puddles on the floor.
Speaker B: You're now perfectly describing chaos. Yes, exactly.
Speaker A: Ah, so, but have. So if you have the garbage bowl on the um, on the counter as you're cooking, you are not, uh, going to worry about that. It's going to take a shorter amount of time to prepare your food. And then all your garbage is in one place. And then when you're finished with everything, just dump the whole bowl into your, into your rubbish bin.
Speaker B: I think, uh, this is already the best cutting I've ever.
Speaker A: You've ever done. And you're doing, I must say, a fantastic job. Lovely.
Speaker B: Always like having you in the studio.
Speaker A: So all we've done, viewers at home, is, uh, we put the cucumber in the bowl. That's all we have so far. But that's key part. So let's add some flavorings before we worry about the mango, because the mango is a whole other knife, uh, knife challenge.
Speaker B: Okay. That sounds slightly worried now.
Speaker A: Well, we'll do it. We'll get there. We'll go, stay away from me. We'll do it together. We've got some mint leaves. Uh, so you've got a sprig of mint there. Yeah, just pull off, uh, a few and stack them. So just put each leaf on top of each other.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: This is, again, a quicker way and a neater way to chop any kind of broad. Smells good, doesn't it? This is also going to ensure that when you cut these, um, these leaves of mint, they're all going to be the same size.
Speaker B: So I just.
Speaker A: All you've done is you stack them.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: So now that you've made your stack, I'm going to put this over to the. To our camera here. You've made your stack, and now we're going to roll it. Oh, um, roll it into a cylinder. So we've rolled our stack into a cylinder, and then we're going to cut crosswise across the cylinder. And then what. What we've done is we made what in culinary terms, we call a chiffonade. Ribbons.
Speaker B: So I just cut this way.
Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. So again, you're holding that knife against your knuckles and you're cutting across your cylinder. Concentration of mint leaves. Now, I just. All I did was I made, what, uh, six cuts?
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And that was all. And that's all I need. And now my mint is already all. All chopped. And that's done. Let's talk ginger.
Speaker B: And there's no blood anywhere.
Speaker A: No, no blood anywhere yet. Viewers watching on YouTube are highly disappointed. Yeah, right. They want action. So we each have half of a thumb of ginger.
Speaker B: Yep.
Speaker A: Now, the issue with, with ginger is getting the skin off. Yeah, a couple things about that. You actually don't have to take the skin off.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: A lot of people do that. They take the skin off, but they also preserve the skin. Um, I was doing this, uh, session virtually, and someone in Southeast Asia said, oh, yeah, we take all the skin and then we just add it to hot water and make a nice, like, tea from it.
Speaker B: Other than us, Adam. Yeah, that's right.
Speaker A: This the paper, if you will. The skin on ginger is so thin that you really wouldn't notice it.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: It wouldn't go. You wouldn't. As you're tasting, you wouldn't go, oh, something tastes quite kind of rough and fibrous and papery.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: But if you want to take it off, don't use a knife because this is so thin. If you start trying to take off the skin with the knife, you're going to be taking off huge chunks of the ginger. And by the end you're going to have a tiny m. Piece of ginger about the size of your pinky.
Speaker B: See, I would have thought straight away you need to cut.
Speaker A: You use a spoon out of my friend. You've got a spoon.
Speaker B: Is this okay?
Speaker A: That's fine.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: And all you're going to do is hold that firmly against the skin and scrape it and that skin comes right off. So what we're doing is we're just kind of holding firmly, taking the sharp edge of the spoon and I'm just pulling it straight down. And that just takes the skin off. And if there's some skin still on, as I said, it's fine, it's fine. No one's gonna know.
Speaker B: So I can show the camera here.
Speaker A: So all. That's all we've done, right. Just dragged, dragged the, the sharp long edge of the.
Speaker B: Am I doing across the whole thing right off?
Speaker A: Yeah, if you want to. We're not really going to take that much off, so I would. You could even just take a bit off of the end and that. That would be. I think that would be adequate. Now the best way, I think to uh, to um, get this ginger into your salad in a nice, um, in a nice pureed form, so not quite so fibrous, is to use a microplane grater. This is one of those tools that I do think everyone should have.
Speaker B: Now you've thankfully you brought one and I studio, haven't you?
Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. So I'll do one, I'll do a bit and then I'll show you. So I take my bowl and I'm gonna hold the micro. Microplane grater and I'm going to put the blade bit right up on top of the bowl. Just going to take my ginger and I'm just going to scrape it across my microplane grater.
Speaker B: All, uh. Right.
Speaker A: Like so. Now this is a bit of. Is it emsr. Is that right? I'm going to put this right up against the microphone. This is a satisfying sound.
Speaker B: Anyone now is a walking, jogging, uh, you know, what is it in the in the car, dropping off run at this Cooking. Ladies and gentlemen, we are cooking.
Speaker A: We're going to pick up the pace, which is a first, and then just tap it and all that puree just comes off. Uh, okay, I'm going to pass this over to you. You're going to do the same.
Speaker B: So this way.
Speaker A: Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B: And then I can just.
Speaker A: That's it. And you're just scraping that against it. Just press down a little bit.
Speaker B: Yeah. Now it's quite satisfying.
Speaker A: It is very satisfying, isn't it? And again, highly safe. The only way you can cut yourself is you start, um, you're dragging your fingers across those tiny blades. And why would you do that? I'm sure people have. I use this with garlic. If you. Because sometimes I've knock that against the bottom of the bowl. Exactly. Uh, cut side down. Yeah. A lot more comes out.
Speaker B: Yeah, there you go.
Speaker A: Yep. Often, you know, I have people who say, I don't like bits of garlic, for example, in my food. You know, I don't like chunks of garlic. It's bitter, whatever. Use the microplane grater. Just peel a clove of garlic and do exactly the same.
Speaker B: I would be one of those that we do. Those people who said that no chunks of garlic I'm not a fan of. But this is okay.
Speaker A: And this is better, I think, than using the, the a garlic press. This is what I have at home, which is fine. But the problem is the juice comes out of the garlic. So you have dry garlic pieces and then you have garlic juice in your food. If you use the microplane grater, you get a garlic puree which maintains the solids and the fluids together.
Speaker B: See, we are learning all the way through this episode.
Speaker A: So there we go. And now, uh, let's do the green onion. This one is very simple. So this is again just practicing our knife skills. So I'm just going to take off the. What my grandmother called the wormy bits.
Speaker B: So what do I do here, Adam?
Speaker A: Uh, we're just going to cut this crosswise. So we're going to make, uh, just little bite sized pieces by just cutting across. Um, if you prefer, some people just within a salad. Just like the green. The green part of the green onion and not the white. I like the white as well. Um, so I'm just going to. And you can add as much or as little as you like. It is going to be raw onion. So be judicious. Um, however, of course we know green onion is milder typically than a, ah, red onion.
Speaker B: And then just pop it in out
Speaker A: Then just throw all that in your salad as well. That's going to add that bit of kind, um, of that umami, that, that rounder mouth feel. And there's our onion.
Speaker B: Gotcha.
Speaker A: All right, let's do the mango. Okay, this is what draw. This really does drive.
Speaker B: This is the crazy. This is the secret sauce.
Speaker A: This is the secret. This is the secret. So remember, this is a superfood filled with magnesium.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: Wonderful for you in so many way. Concentration, mood boost. Um, helps with, um, mitochondrial, uh, production. Uh, and if you have better cellular energy efficiency, you're gonna have better organ energy efficiency, which means you're gonna have better body energy efficiency.
Speaker B: Sounds good so far here.
Speaker A: The issue here with the mango is it's an odd shape and it's got this really odd looking pit in the middle. Right. So what we're gonna do is we're first again going to create a flat surface that right away people screw up their mango, uh, uh, production because they just let this sucker roll all over the place. Right, right. And. And then they're going to cut themselves.
Speaker B: I'm learning already that we're to create flat surfaces.
Speaker A: Create flat surfaces so clearly. And every mango is going to have two broad sides and two narrow sides.
Speaker B: Yep.
Speaker A: So we're going to just cut a little bit. Just hold that mango down flat and just cut off a little piece off the narrow side. That's going to make our flat surface. And just discard that. It's just. Don't worry, there's not much meat in there anyway, so just discard that. So now, flat surface down. Ah, that mango isn't going anywhere. I'm loving this. So now, and we know our pit is this long, you know, uh, a hard pit and it's coming straight up the center. So what we're going to do, this is almost like taking the breast off of a chicken. We're gonna go take the knife, we're gonna put it right up at the top, and we're gonna start cutting down until we feel the pit. And then just as you would do with a chicken or a turkey, you're then gonna cut around the pit. So once you feel that pit, just angle your knife a little bit, maybe away from you.
Speaker B: Yep.
Speaker A: Uh, and just keep following. Just keep cutting down, following the texture of the pit.
Speaker B: Let me just.
Speaker A: Yeah, you're doing it. That's absolutely right. And then what you get is a nice big piece.
Speaker B: Oh, hang on.
Speaker A: Of mango.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Yep, yep. Absolutely. Do I have to keep going all the way? Have to go all the way down in order to get that petal, if you will, off of the mango. Exactly. So. So, Adam, listeners at home has that. We both now have this beautiful, pitless, boneless piece of mango. But wait, you ask. There's this huge piece of skin. Now here, what people do is they start taking out a peeler or a knife and they start trying to take the skin off this sucker. You don't want to do that. By the time you do that, just like with the ginger, you have no mango left.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: So here's the trick. We're going to score the flesh of this mango. So what I mean by that, listeners at home, is we're just gonna, we're gonna have the flesh side up and we're just gonna cut, make little in, uh, crosswise cuts and then lengthwise cuts.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: So we're gonna make checkerboard.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: And when. And I'm gonna cut all the way down to the skin, but I'm not going to cut through the skin. The skin, luckily is tough and fibrous, so it's not good. Uh, you're not going to cut through it unless you really want to. So I'm going to make my checkerboard by. So I'm scoring the flesh and then
Speaker B: the other way as well.
Speaker A: And the other way as well. So you've gone crosswise and now you go lengthwise. Now you see we have bite sized pieces here now, right?
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: However, they're still attached to the flesh.
Speaker B: They are.
Speaker A: Now here, I'm going to go right into the camera. Here's the money shot. Put your thumb against the skin.
Speaker B: Yep.
Speaker A: And push that mango petal outward. And now all those pieces are there. So now you can take your spoon or your knife. Depends on the ripeness of the mango. My mango is quite ripe, so I can use a spoon. And now I just scrape those bite sized pieces off into my salad.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Yours, Yours.
Speaker B: I'm doing it. I'm doing it.
Speaker A: You're doing it. So now we have bite sized pieces of cucumber. Bite sized pieces of mango. Of course, if your mango is ripe, and it should be ripe, and your cucumber, they both contain a lot of water.
Speaker B: How do you know if the mango is ripe, Adam? When you feel it just.
Speaker A: Yeah, just feel it in the store it more tender to touch. You should feel some give. If it's rock hard, it's fine. You can still buy it, but you're going to have to leave it on the counter for a few days.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: You know, and just keep testing it until it's ready until it's ready to eat. Okay, there we go.
Speaker B: That's pretty good.
Speaker A: I think. I think that's enough for me. In terms of the mango to cucumber ratio. We could do the other half, but I don't think we have to. Okay, so I'm just gonna leave that for now. And we already are contributing to our vinaigrette from the juices.
Speaker B: Just the natural.
Speaker A: The natural juices from the mango, the cucumber, and the ginger, all of which have a high water content.
Speaker B: Gotcha.
Speaker A: So this is already beautiful, which is why our vinaigrette is going to be so simple now. Now, I, at this point, I would just put this in the fridge if I'm not going to eat it right away. If, then when I'm ready to eat it, I'll just portion out what I'm going to eat and then add the next. The next items. So you have, uh, you have your, um, you have a kitchen towel. I have a paper towel here.
Speaker B: There we go. In fact, I'll have a bit of that one.
Speaker A: Give you some paper towel as well. We are cleaning our hands, uh, ladies and gentlemen. And then. And now we're going to make our vinaigrette. And here's another. Tip it with, uh, with lime, of course. We're just going to squeeze this lime. That's simple enough.
Speaker B: Yep.
Speaker A: Sometimes limes don't seem to yield their juices.
Speaker B: Yield.
Speaker A: Yield thy juices. M. Lime. So here's what we're going to do.
Speaker B: Yep.
Speaker A: We're going to take the lime in the counter and we're going to bang it against the counter and roll it. Roll it with the, uh, our flat. We're going to just put the. The mango against the counter. So. And then with the flat of our palm, we're just going to push down hard and roll it back and forth. What we've done is we've, um, softened and broken the fibers inside. So this means when we cut and squeeze the halves of this lime now, we're gonna get all the juice. Okay. All the juice. Now, I don't know off, off the top of my head, if this lime is seedless or not. Uh, if it is seedless, great. We're just. Then we can just squeeze. If it has seeds, then of course, just put your hand over the, uh, lime when you squeeze it.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: So that you catch the seeds.
Speaker B: What do we reckon?
Speaker A: And I'm so down. Just halve the lime, put. Hold it over your salad and just squeeze. It should all come out because You've done the hard work already of, um, did some of the lime juice.
Speaker B: Yeah. Just shot out right across your book. So immediately, I've given the book even more street cred now.
Speaker A: Yeah, that's right. That means you. You. You rolled that with strength and vigor. So now we just put in a whole lime. Whole lime, yeah, for I think, one serving, because that's really only about a tablespoon.
Speaker B: Oh, is it?
Speaker A: Yeah. Typically, a lime will only give you about a tablespoon of juice.
Speaker B: I think I've just shot it off the other side of the, uh, studio bench as well.
Speaker A: Even better. It makes. It makes the whole studio both aromatic.
Speaker B: I think we're filled with HDL remotely next door, you see, and they're probably thinking, what are they doing to the studio?
Speaker A: And now we're going to add a bit of, uh, olive oil. I brought always extra virgin olive oil. People say, well, I have to have two olive oils at home, and that's so annoying. One for cooking and one for making salads. You don't. You know, I cook with extra virgin olive oil.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: Yeah, it has a, uh, it has a lower smoke point than some other oils, but.
Speaker B: How much did you just put in?
Speaker A: I missed m. I put in again about a tablespoon.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: Yeah, there you go.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: So we're just. We're just sharing the olive oil bottle
Speaker B: that we are live, and we just. We just. So just a little bit of.
Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Get whatever. Yeah, I think. Yeah. Maybe a tiny bit more.
Speaker B: Yeah. Great.
Speaker A: This is also. That alone is going to help you to feel more full in the end.
Speaker B: Oh, okay.
Speaker A: Just because the.
Speaker B: That's a real thing, isn't it, with people, they say, I'm just not full.
Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. Now I would. I usually add some protein. I am. As I said, protein helps us with satiety.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: Feeling full all the way through to our next meal.
Speaker B: And what would you. What kind of protein would you would.
Speaker A: With this one, I would do maybe some cold, uh, poached boneless chicken breast.
Speaker B: Yep.
Speaker A: Some, um, flaked hot smoked salmon or trout. Nice. M. And that gives us omega threes. And that's, again, going to promote, um, my, um, concentration.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: And then I'm gonna pro. Or I'm gonna do some crushed roasted peanuts or some diced tofu. You could do diced smoked tofu if you want to add more kind of flavor to it. Um, anything like that would be. Would be absolutely fantastic. Now, really, all we're gonna do is salt and pepper this. So I brought. I brought the pepper milk. I'm put this pepper mill right up against my microphone. So, you know, because who. Who doesn't love this sound? Let's see if we can pull this right up here.
Speaker B: There we go. There we go. You see, I think you're actually going back to your roots, aren't you really, Adam? Because I know cooking has always been a big theme. Always has. Uh, and you have been professionally trained.
Speaker A: Yes.
Speaker B: So in some ways, you're now combining passions of cooking, leadership, executive education, the whole thing, actually.
Speaker A: Yeah, you're right.
Speaker B: All roads have now started to converge.
Speaker A: This does seem to be a theme in my life about bringing together different strands of my career. So the last time we spoke was I was talking about my book, Sparking Success.
Speaker B: Yes. Right.
Speaker A: And that was.
Speaker B: And you featured culinary.
Speaker A: And I did feature culinary arts in there, but that drew from my experience working in the media and entertainment industries. Right. What can we learn from the creative arts for. For. To enhance creativity. But I. But I used culinary arts as well. And this again, comes from my experience working in a, you know, professional kitchen in grad school.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And bringing that kind of all. All to bear as well.
Speaker B: Just remind me one of the standout points that you had, because there are many, uh, when you wrote Sparking Success, which we. Yeah, we've spoken about, and it's in the studio here as well. Thank you for our copies. Um, when you did the work or the research of the restaurants, what really stood out for you around their creativity and innovation in that industry?
Speaker A: They use something, a, ah, really simple technique, which is, I think, incredibly helpful for leaders, executives, anyone who needs to enhance their creativity. And that is what I call combinatorial creativity.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: So in other words, particularly if you think about, for example, fusion cuisine, how do you actually create dishes that aren't confusion? And what I often saw these chefs doing is a, uh, technique where on the left hand side of a page, they would write down common techniques or mother sauces that they're familiar with so that all of us are familiar with. They would write down tomato sauce, bechamel sauce, hollandaise sauce, and maybe some techniques boiling sous vide. If you have that, you know, that machine in your kitchen, uh, etc. Etc.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: And then on the right, if that. So if, for example, if I take the example of Chef Bobby Chin in Vietnam, on the right, he would write down ingredients that were more unique to his where he was. So he would put down guava, lemongrass, lime leaves, banana leaves, etc. Right. And then he would just draw lines between items in column one and column two. Now, they would not all work automatically randomly random, because then you surprise yourself.
Speaker B: Right. The point is, you're not overthinking.
Speaker A: You're not overthinking it, and you're not using precedent or experience to get in the way of inspiration.
Speaker B: Right. Oh, I love that.
Speaker A: Which is so important, I think, for. For creativity is we always rely on experience. And then all of our creative outputs are merely extrapolations of what we've already done.
Speaker B: We're overthinking it.
Speaker A: We're overthinking.
Speaker B: Moment one. Okay. I love that.
Speaker A: Now, for business, you can do exactly the same thing. Think about. Write down some. Some naughty. That's K, N, o T, T Y, not N a u, G, H, T, Y. Uh, naughty Challenges.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: Or opportunities. Right. We just can't seem to crack, you know, chair or whatever it is. Right. Those. And then on the right, put down any kind of influence or person or company that inspires you. On the right hand side, you could put my mom. Uh, the Bill Gates, uh, whatever. The Golden Gate Bridge, whatever it might be.
Speaker B: Right. Random.
Speaker A: Yeah, random. And then draw. And then randomly draw lines and then surprise yourself. How would Richard Branson solve that problem? Now, again, as you say, you're out of your head.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: Right. You're. Now you're good because you're just.
Speaker B: You.
Speaker A: You've released yourself because you can now imagine because it's not you and your experience.
Speaker B: Gotcha.
Speaker A: So that. That's a. It's a really. And I talk about this also in Executive Eats because I think it's such a useful way to think about how we can use cooking. And that gets us into the habit of surprising ourselves.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: Which we then translate and bring that mental habit into our work lives.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: So that was sparking success. Check that out as well.
Speaker A: And now we're just gonna add a little bit of salt.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: Uh, salt is important. It's not to make this taste salty. We know that salt enhances the flavors of foods.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: So we're just gonna add a little bit. I'm gonna use flaky salt because I also like the texture of that. Uh, as well, it adds a textural component. So it's not just for the salt.
Speaker B: Okay, I'm gonna watch you do that now for salt.
Speaker A: This is interesting. You may think, well, this. This is simple. Now Adam's just gonna add salt.
Speaker B: Why?
Speaker A: What is. What is it? Why are you just putting inside? Uh, why are we taking a moment? Well, for a couple. Couple reasons. One, you will Sometimes see on cooking shows or whatnot, professional chefs sprinkling the salt from a great height, right. They're going like this. And you think, oh, that's very.
Speaker B: Now you're newsree, aren't you?
Speaker A: Very cheffy that. Right.
Speaker B: You'll be all over TikTok soon.
Speaker A: Adam, the reason for this. Yeah, there actually is a reason. It's not the theatricality of it. It's because you have a more even distribution of the salt in the food.
Speaker B: Oh, so there is some method.
Speaker A: There is, yeah.
Speaker B: And I didn't know that either.
Speaker A: Same m with, uh, oils, vinegars, etc, from a height, you're going to make sure that you just more.
Speaker B: So it's for the even spread.
Speaker A: It's for the even spread. Now we know that there are. I don't even know this guy's name. He's this Turkish butcher chef who does this.
Speaker B: Who.
Speaker A: He sprinkles the salt.
Speaker B: Yeah, it's the nusrat.
Speaker A: Nusrat.
Speaker B: Nusrat is the.
Speaker A: So he does with his hand. He does like this baby brontosaurus shape. And it goes.
Speaker B: He became globally famous.
Speaker A: And he became globally famous for sprinkling salt.
Speaker B: Right now, this is your chance, Adam.
Speaker A: This thing he's doing with his hand is frankly ridiculous.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: The theory of sprinkling the salt from a height is accurate, so that is valid.
Speaker B: Well, there you go.
Speaker A: So I'm just going to take a bit of the salt and I'm just going to sprinkle it from a great height. Light over the top.
Speaker B: Who knows? Maybe that will catch on.
Speaker A: Adam, I have a bit of pepper
Speaker B: in there for your salt.
Speaker A: That's not dirt in there. In my salt cellar there. Adam, I got some, uh, some pepper as well in there for you. Just put, however. Yeah, exactly. So he's already. It's because if you just. If you have your hand, if you have your fingers with the salt right. Right down next to the salad, then of course, it all just goes right into the center. So our salad is done. All we have to do is mix so we have our knife and fork and just give that a nice toss.
Speaker B: I think I should have brought a bigger bowl. Adam. There you go. That's my.
Speaker A: You do you have, uh.
Speaker B: Yeah, that's feedback to myself.
Speaker A: And as I say, that is kind of the base. You could just eat this as is and it will be delicious, I promise you. But we talked about all the kinds of different things you can do to jujita.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: To add protein or to take it, to keep adding to it or to go in different parts of the world, depending on what your palate loves. If you love Latin American food, go that direction. You love Mediterranean. You want to go Scandinavian. Uh, you can add some smoked salmon. You can add some, uh, some cloudberries to the. I mean, so many different things you can do with this. So let's, um. Let's amsr this and have. Have a bite. This. Is this a first also, we're gonna hear m. We're gonna hear the chunky chunks, uh, in the mouth. M. M. That's nice, isn't it? Sweet. M. Salty. What I'm also playing with here. This is also something that professional chefs will do in their dishes. When you think, why. Why does that just pop in the mouth? It's contrasts.
Speaker B: Can I ask, do you taste as you go? Like, we see a lot of chefs.
Speaker A: I do. Yeah. There is.
Speaker B: Because we just tasted almost towards the end.
Speaker A: Just at the end.
Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, you do.
Speaker A: I do. And of course, this is. This is a way, uh, if I. If after I tasted that, I realized it needs more salt, more vinegar than
Speaker B: you would do that. Yeah.
Speaker A: But for more complicated, complicated dishes or dishes where it's just cooking over a longer period of time, particularly if I'm doing sauces, braises. Yeah, I'm going to taste that.
Speaker B: Gotcha.
Speaker A: And adjust over time. But the other great point to help people feel more confident to cook for themselves is play with contrasts. Texture, creamy and crunchy.
Speaker B: Yep.
Speaker A: So we've got that with the soft and crunchy with the mango and the cucumber. And, uh, we've got, um, salty and sweet with the salt, of course, and the sweetness from the. From the mango. Um, you can put different colors. You know, that bright green and bright yellow, orange that we've got going on.
Speaker B: The colors play a part in.
Speaker A: Oh, hugely. Yes. They'll help. It helps us to help. Um, it tells us that the food is more attractive to look at. Of course, we know we eat with our eyes before we eat with our mouths, so we are more likely, you know, to. To go for that. If you look. If you just watch people at a salad bar.
Speaker B: Yes.
Speaker A: They go for color. They will choose colorful foods. Um, there's probably something quite blue, not blue food, quite something fundamental and, um, uh, uh, ancient about that, I think, probably. I think it tells us that we're. It tells us we're eating more variety, more colors. We're eating more variety.
Speaker B: Chefs as well, spend a lot of time on the aesthetics of the food as well as the taste of the food.
Speaker A: You also see, like, those little Things when a chef will add, um, herbs at the end. Herbs. Or herbs, depending on what part of the pond you're in. I keep saying her herbs. I'm trying after 20.
Speaker B: You've been here long enough.
Speaker A: Now I should say herb. When chefs add herbs, um, of course that changes the flavor profile. You know, um, you know, you could take like a simple chicken dish with like in a, in a, in a, in a simple like sauce of reduced stock or something like that. Add basil.
Speaker B: Yep.
Speaker A: And all of a sudden you're in the Southern Mediterranean. Add tarragon and you're in Provence. Add rosemary and sage and you're in the English countryside in the autumn.
Speaker B: Okay.
Speaker A: But also those flecks of green is again, that color that it all of a sudden makes it, it more exciting.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: Little flakes of salt on the top. Yes, it adds the salt. But also that adds a textural contrast to the dish. Um, a little bit of at the very end. This is a trick I play with all the time. Adding citrus at the very end of a dish.
Speaker B: Say, why?
Speaker A: Because it adds a brightness. So if you think about your palette and how we taste, think of it like, um, uh, an octave of music. All of your salts and your vinegars and your citrus are the high notes. And your stocks and your creams and your dairy and your chicken. That, that's, those are the base notes.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: Your veggies are often in the middle. And so there again, we want to play the whole octave on the plate. So just that little bit of squeeze of, you know, lime juice or lemon juice at the end or a little bit of vinegar, it just brightens the dish. It just wakes it up in the palate.
Speaker B: So, so let, let's do a little summary. So for everyone watching and listening, and if you are listening, please do, do, do watch this episode as well. This is genuinely from a, ah, uh, an evidence based approach that this kind of food is helping a leader in relation to just repeat again. What?
Speaker A: Yeah. So this dish is helping them with sustained energy, mood boost and concentration and focus.
Speaker B: Yep.
Speaker A: All in one. All. All in just that one dish. It should also help add a little bit of protein and you will be full until your next meal. Meal.
Speaker B: I've got food all over this book actually, which I think that's good news. Even more credible, isn't it?
Speaker A: It does, absolutely.
Speaker B: I think this is now a lived experience and the book, and I know you've signed it, so thank you. Um, tell me a little bit about then. You know, I'm all about a world better Lead. Yeah. I'm all about the importance of individuals as leaders to lead themselves, lead other people and lead. Lead the world as well. And we need. We need a world better let out. And we really do at the moment. Moment. So come back to the two or three real reasons that you. You did this project. Because this is no small feat. No small project. What's really behind this? To help leaders, to help themselves and to help the people that they lead.
Speaker A: Uh, it really is a passion project. You know, funny enough, I know that. Yeah, that's right. This is my third book, and it's actually the long. There are more pages in this book than any of my other books.
Speaker B: Well, when you gave it to me,
Speaker A: I was thinking, that is weighty. Yeah. It's a. To.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: I. I think it comes back to. And Jakob and I both talk about this in the beginning chapter and the final chapter. Not just the, The. The. The dietary nutrition elements.
Speaker B: Yeah. Ah.
Speaker A: The point of cooking with. For oneself enhances your confidence. Um, it enhances. And when you're cooking with others, that communal nature. We know that cooking with teams is a great way to create connection. Right. With the. With our colleagues at work. Cooking with your family, um, enhances our. Our, um, Our. Our confidence in ourselves, our achievement. Um, we know that repetitive function is also a mindfulness technique.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: So what we. When we were chopping. That is just like if you tend
Speaker B: to focus the mind, you focus the mind.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: That's one of these.
Speaker A: And we have to settle our minds.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: In order to settle our bodies, to settle our souls. Right. So that we can be better human beings for the humans that we serve in our organizations. You know, servant leadership is a real thing. Right. I cannot serve you unless I'm looking after myself. Unless I feel whole, confident, healthy, and well. So it isn't just what we're eating. The book is also an attempt to encourage people to select the act of mindful cooking as well.
Speaker B: Yeah.
Speaker A: And the act of doing so itself is a way to help make your life a life that's more. Feels worth living.
Speaker B: So it's not just cooking, is it? There's. There are other things that leaders can be thinking about for that mindfulness. That space, that connection.
Speaker A: Yeah.
Speaker B: But obviously this. This has got a, uh, in some ways a medical basis to it.
Speaker A: That's right.
Speaker B: To these foods actually doing something to the body, the soul, Quite the mind. Yeah. And then one's ability to actually perform. How do people get hold of executive eats, Adam?
Speaker A: It should be available at all good bookshops. Uh, both Retail and online. Um, it's available in hard copy, paperback, and ebook.
Speaker B: Right.
Speaker A: And, uh, I'd love if, uh, viewers and listeners might want to get a copy and tell me what they think about it. That would be amazing.
Speaker B: Well, I'll put the, uh, links into the show notes and also link them to you because I know there are, uh, many strings to your bow in relation to leaders and leadership. But this is the third book.
Speaker A: It is.
Speaker B: Is there a fourth one on the way? Probably.
Speaker A: I can't even begin to tell you what that's going to be at this
Speaker B: point, but I'm looking forward to. And when it's out, we'll be back in the studio and who knows what we'll be doing. Listen, uh, it's a massive thank you to you for coming in, bringing the ingredients and being a star.
Speaker A: Oh, my pleasure.
Speaker B: And having some fun with this. We are actually going to eat this. When we look at that, you see, uh, we are actually going to eat this. I'm assuming the studio will also want to try some of this as well. We have managed to activate, I think, every single camera in the studio. It's a first time. It's a first. It's a first. In 300 episodes. It's a first. First. Uh, this is the Leadership Enigma. You've been listening and watching Adam Kingle, uh, on Executive Eats. But also, let's give a shout out again to your co author. You do it better than me, Adam.
Speaker A: So, yeah, Dr. Jakob Radzikowski. Wonderful guy.
Speaker B: So let's share this with the world and, and let's hope that actually this is a, uh, cookbook for a better working life and for a world better lead. Adam, you're an absolute superstar. Thank you so much for coming and I really appreciate it.
Speaker A: It's been a great pleasure yet again. Thank you, Adam M. Thanks, everyone. Foreign
Speaker B: us again next week for more curiosity and insight with the Leadership Enigma. We'd love to hear your comments on today's show as well as suggestions for future topics and guests. Get in touch with me on LinkedIn or visit us at www.leadersenigma.com. don't forget to rate, review and subscribe on all your major podcast platforms and on our dedicated YouTube channel. Thank you. Thanks again for joining the community.
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