That Time Bobby Flay Bet His Friends He Could Cook A Dish Without Using Any Salt Or Chiles

On the reality competition show "Beat Bobby Flay," the premise is right in the title. Guest chefs compete with Flay to see who can make the better dish. And it turns out those guests don't win very often. Flay is well known for his love of hot chilis, so in an attempt to spice things up in a hush puppy showdown, co-hosts Geoffrey Zakarian and Sunny Anderson challenge Flay to leave the peppers behind for $100, and then throw down another $500 to leave out an ingredient every chef needs: salt. Flay happily accepts, and then shows off just how clever he can be to get around their limitations.

Working quickly to whip up a blue crab and cornmeal hushpuppy batter, Flay's first dodge around the challenge is to incorporate spicy 'nduja sausage into the mix. The deep red, spreadable sausage meat packs a lot of heat, thanks to a healthy dose of Flay's beloved Calabrian chilis in the cured pork blend. And because sausage uses salt as a preservative, the 'nduja brings some of the necessary salinity for proper seasoning throughout the hushpuppies. Sneaky stuff, Bobby Flay! But he's not done yet.

Any cook who knows their way around a fry station will tell you anything fried needs to be salted after it comes out of the oil, not before. That's because the moment salt comes into contact with your food, it begins to draw out moisture. Little drops of water on the food's surface means a literal hot mess when it goes into the fryer and sends oil spatter everywhere. And besides that, salt can hasten the breakdown of oil, making the final product taste burnt and gross, even if it looks golden brown and delicious. And that's why you should sprinkle your fried foods with salt hot and fresh out of the frier. So how does Bobby Flay get around salt free hushpuppies without them tasting under seasoned? The dipping sauce.

Knowing that his hush puppies wouldn't be scarfed down naked, Flay whizzes up a remoulade of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, lemon juice, and... anchovies. Salty, salty anchovies. They've long been a favorite secret ingredient of Flay's, but the show hosts just didn't see it coming. In the end, the blind judges noted that they would have liked more salt and heat from Flay's blue crab and 'nduja hush puppies, but it was still enough to beat his opponent, Sammy Monsour. If only the challenge was Indian cuisine, which Flay does relatively poorly with, then Monsour might have stood a chance.