America’s Test Kitchen: First things first: When does Season 3 start?
Mitsy: Hello young chefs! Gah! How cool is this? ME! Mitsy! Being interviewed!
ATK: Actually, this website’s for grown-ups, Mitsy.
Mitsy: Oh! Oh. Got it. Hello, grown-ups that maybe know young chefs! I know the first question is when this season premieres, but golly the first thing I’ve just got to say how EXCITED I am to be here telling you about it. I cannot wait for young chefs all over the country, and dare I say . . . the WORLD, to tune in. Which you’ll be able to do starting June 7th! See, I did not forget your question. JUNE 7TH!! Which is like SO SOON! Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode! And hey, maybe listen to our Season 3 trailer while you’re on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you get your podcasts, really.
ATK: Can you give anyone new to Mystery Recipe the low-down on the show?
Mitsy: Hmmm, you’re asking me how to sum up the best podcast in the whole world? You know what, this mitt doesn’t back down from hot plates or hot questions.
Here goes, folks: Each week of Mystery Recipe is dedicated to one ingredient. We explore all the weird, wonderful, and surprising things there are to know about that ingredient, with help from real kid testers, America’s Test Kitchen Kids test cooks, like my personal friend Andrea Wawryzn, very smart grown-ups interviewed by our producer Chad Chenail, and even more surprising, silly guests. All those weeks lead up to our grand finale cook-along, where we use all of this season’s ingredients to cook our MYSTERY RECIPE (get it?!) and listeners at home can cook along with us, in real time.
ATK: Thanks, Mitsy. What can listeners expect this season that’s new?
Mitsy: Well for starters, there’s a brand new MYSTERY RECIPE with new ingredients to learn about. And I’ve just got to say it is a delight! It is delicious, delectable, dynamic, devious, dazzling—
ATK: Wait—devious?
Mitsy: Oh, maybe not devious, sorry. I was just strolling along alliteration avenue, thinking of words that start with the letter “d.”
ATK: How about digestible, since every episode is around 20 minutes long?
Mitsy: It is definitely digestible, thank you! Besides our fantastic new recipe I’m so excited for young chefs to meet our brand-new intern, Greg the cheese grater! He’s just the coolest—your young chefs will love him. And we’ve got a new Official Ingredient Guesser, and so many new ingredients to talk about, and . . . I can barely contain myself, I’m so excited! Gah!
ATK: How many new ingredients are there this season? Or I guess better yet, how many weeks until the cook-along?
Mitsy: Oh golly, we've got eight whole weeks of ingredients coming your way starting Monday, June 7th, and then our cook-along grand finale drops on August 4th. It’s gonna be a hoot!
ATK: Is that . . . a clue?
Mitsy: It is NOT a clue! I am a well seasoned co-host now, and I am trying very hard NOT to give away this season’s Mystery Recipe! I might get excited, unnamed interview person, but I am a professional, down to my quilted thumb.
ATK: Noted. Well then, how about this. Why do you think people should listen to Mystery Recipe with their young chefs?
Mitsy: Grown-ups, I’m gonna level with you. We’re kind of weird over at Mystery Recipe—in a good way! I am an oven mitt, we have fictional interviews where we talk TO the ingredients, our intern is a cheese grater named GREG, and our wildcard segments run the gamut from silly stories to well-produced fictional infomercials for a bread-inspired rock album. The list really goes on and on.
But here’s the thing, if you know one thing about America’s Test Kitchen, you know that there are some pretty knowledgeable folks that work here. And along with all our silliness is a whole lot of factual food fun. We want kids to learn how to cook, get curious about their food, and learn all about where ingredients come from! And while this podcast is mostly about food, it’s also about kindness and being a good friend. Gah, just give it a listen, you wont be disappointed!
ATK: All right, one last question. Do you love your job?
Mitsy: A job where I get to make food puns with Molly all day? Yeah, I really do.
