Eating Steak With Nassim Taleb and Charlie McElligott

SPEAKER_2 (0:02)

Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news.

Tracy Alloway (0:18)

Hello, Odd Lots listeners. This is a very, very special, extra bonus episode of the podcast. This was recorded live at our June 26th event in New York, where we had two of our favorite Odd Lots guests enjoy steak on stage.

Joe Weisenthal (0:35)

That's right, Charlie McElligott and Nassim Taleb, both appreciators of fine things, fine foods, and we want to feed them and get their take on enjoying fine food, and chat with them while they consume a delicious steak.

Tracy Alloway (0:48)

That's right. We talked to them about their respective diets, and let's just say that they both have very strong, idiosyncratic opinions on what we should all be eating.

Joe Weisenthal (0:59)

Take a listen. The first time I met Nassim, it was, I think, PJ Clark's. Do you remember that?

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (1:05)

Yeah, of course.

Joe Weisenthal (1:06)

Yeah, it was like 2010

Tracy Alloway (1:08)

Did you eat the burgers or something else?

Joe Weisenthal (1:10)

No, wait.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (1:11)

2006

Joe Weisenthal (1:13)

No, it was not that early.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (1:14)

Really?

Joe Weisenthal (1:15)

Yeah, I was a business insider at the time. Anyway, we got some steak and we, I think this thing was fasting. And then he's like, oh, let's get some steak. Then we got another steak and then we got some shrimp. So yeah, we got some, we got some steak for the, do we get steak? I don't think we do.

Tracy Alloway (1:33)

I don't think our budget covers us eating.

Joe Weisenthal (1:36)

Anyway, it's from STK.

Charlie McElligott (1:38)

I mean, it's, I was told it was cut, which is truthful. I wouldn't say it's quite cut to eat.

Joe Weisenthal (1:46)

Oh, really?

Charlie McElligott (1:47)

Well, you know, when you guys first spoke about this, I, you know, I'll do this in 20 seconds. I am somebody who supposedly could have died from what they call steakhouse syndrome.

Tracy Alloway (1:59)

This is a crazy story.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2:01)

Which is the choking?

Charlie McElligott (2:04)

It's a choking where you're not actually like asphyxiating at the moment. It was lodged in my throat, you know, family cookout backyard back in the suburbs. Last day of vacation for god sakes. And the guy overcooked the brisket and it lodged. And I tried to get it out a lot of ways for hours. Ultimately, I had to go to the ER. Before they can insurance provide like a surgical procedure, they have to give you medicine to try to make you throw it up. Really not a good scenario.

Tracy Alloway (2:36)

That's a good story to tell right before we eat the steak. Actually, one thing about that, when we first...

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2:42)

He just ruined my...

Tracy Alloway (2:45)

When we first proposed this, by the way, Charlie said he would come on stage and devour a steak in like under a minute, despite having nearly choked on a steak.

Charlie McElligott (2:57)

I think very highly of you.

Tracy Alloway (2:59)

Well, thank you. Thank you. OK, so we'll let you take that first bite.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (3:04)

You think I like meat? Yeah. My idea of eating, of being a carnivore, is it starts with tripes.

Joe Weisenthal (3:13)

OK, organ meat.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (3:16)

Sweet bread, organ meat. That's when a lion...

Charlie McElligott (3:20)

That's what they go for first.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (3:21)

They go for the liver first. And then this is mussel meat that, you know...

Joe Weisenthal (3:26)

I'm going to go grab a piece. Can I take a piece of it?

Tracy Alloway (3:35)

All right.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb (3:37)

It's pretty good.

Joe Weisenthal (3:38)

It's nice. It's really good.

Tracy Alloway (3:40)

It's a porterhouse, isn't it?

Charlie McElligott (3:41)

It's a porterhouse. It's like well marbled, but low gristle, which matters.

Joe Weisenthal (3:48)

Same word.

Charlie McElligott (3:48)

That's another thing we should put on the coffee mug.

Joe Weisenthal (3:52)

Well marbled, but low gristle.

Charlie McElligott (3:54)

Yes.

Tracy Alloway (3:54)

Low gristle matters.

Charlie McElligott (3:56)

It does. It's buttery.

Joe Weisenthal (4:00)

When you prepare it at home, what's your technique? Reverse sear?

Charlie McElligott (4:05)

Exactly right. I want to oven it and then smoke it, get a little crust on it just for the texture.

Joe Weisenthal (4:14)

On a cast iron?

Charlie McElligott (4:15)

Yep. We're a big cast iron family. You wouldn't believe how gnarly most people are.

Tracy Alloway (4:21)

People get obsessed about their cast iron pans.

Charlie McElligott (4:24)

Well, the problem is when you have four other people in your house and an au pair and a mother-in-law who don't know how to handle a cast iron skillet. There's a Jason Isbell song, You Don't Wash a Cast Iron Skillet.