The Cobb Salad: A Tale of Two Salads and a Sandwich that Defies Convention

Larry David's love for food is well-documented, and his sandwich preferences are no exception. In an interview on Binging with Babish, Larry shared his take on the iconic Cobb salad, which he claims was invented by his grandfather. The conversation quickly turned to his own creation of a whitefish salad sandwich, featuring smoked sable, sliced onions, cream cheese, and capers atop a toasted bagel.

The importance of toasting the bagel cannot be overstated, as it provides a crucial textural contrast to the softness of the fish. The combination of flavors in this sandwich is equally impressive, with the smokiness of the sable complementing the sweetness of the onions and cream cheese perfectly. It's clear that Larry has put a lot of thought into his culinary creations, and his love for food shines through in every bite.

Meanwhile, Larry also discusses the traditional Cobb salad, which typically consists of bacon, hard-boiled eggs, poached chicken, tomatoes, crumbled Roquefort cheese, and diced avocado, all served with a French dressing. While this classic dish is certainly satisfying, Larry notes that it's more of a "salad" than a true meal. In contrast, his own version of the salad features a wide range of toppings, allowing diners to customize their experience.

Another culinary creation discussed by Larry is the Palestinian chicken, also known as Musa Khan. This type of chicken is marinated in a mixture of yogurt, cardamom, sumac, minced shallot, lemon juice, and chopped fresh dill, before being roasted to perfection. The result is a juicy and flavorful dish that's surprisingly crisp on the outside.

Larry's take on this dish is remarkably close to the real thing, with the chicken falling off the bone and the flavors perfectly balanced. His use of yogurt as a marinade allows for the tenderization of the meat, making it easy to shred or chop. The addition of sumac and cardamom gives the chicken a unique Middle Eastern flair that sets it apart from more traditional roasted chicken recipes.

The conversation on Binging with Babish also delves into Larry's love for food and his tendency to order salads as main courses. He admits that he loves everything on the Cobb salad, even though it may not be the most balanced meal. His willingness to pile on the toppings and ignore traditional plate sizes is a testament to his love of food and his desire to create memorable dining experiences.

In conclusion, Larry David's culinary creations are a reflection of his unique personality and love for food. From his take on the Cobb salad to his Palestinian chicken recipe, it's clear that he's passionate about cooking and willing to experiment with new flavors and ingredients. Whether you're a fan of salads or sandwiches, there's something for everyone in Larry's culinary repertoire.

The Toum Sauce: A Lebanese Garlic Mayo

Larry David also discusses the toum sauce, which is a key component in his Palestinian chicken recipe. This garlic mayo-like condiment is made by pureeing roasted garlic cloves and slowly drizzling in canola oil until it reaches a thick, spreadable paste. The result is a rich and creamy sauce with a deep garlicky flavor.

Larry's method for making toum sauce involves peeling and separating the cloves of two heads of garlic, then pureeing them in a food processor. He then slowly adds in about half a cup of canola oil, stirring constantly to avoid creating a separation between the garlic and oil. The result is a smooth and creamy sauce that's perfect for serving with his Palestinian chicken.

The toum sauce has a unique texture and flavor profile that's both familiar and exotic. It's a testament to Larry's culinary creativity that he was able to adapt this Lebanese condiment to fit his own recipe, while still maintaining its distinctive flavor. The addition of lemon juice to the toum sauce adds a touch of brightness and acidity, cutting through the richness of the garlic.

Larry's use of toum sauce in his Palestinian chicken recipe is a game-changer. It adds a level of complexity and depth to the dish that's hard to ignore. The combination of flavors and textures is both familiar and exciting, making this recipe a must-try for anyone looking to try something new.

The YouTube Footage: A Slow-Motion Look at Toum Sauce

Larry David's method for making toum sauce involves slowly drizzling in canola oil while whisking constantly. However, the footage of him making toum sauce is sped up to 5,000 times its normal speed, providing a mesmerizing view of the garlic and oil coming together.

The slow-motion footage of Larry making toum sauce adds an element of drama and excitement to the recipe. It's clear that he's passionate about his food, and this footage captures that energy perfectly. The addition of lemon juice and canola oil creates a beautiful emulsion that's both smooth and creamy.

Larry's use of slow-motion footage in his recipe is a testament to his attention to detail and commitment to perfection. He's not afraid to experiment with new ingredients or techniques, and his passion for food shines through in every aspect of the recipe.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enLarry: I'm the guy...who goes around... telling people... that my grandfather... invented the Cobb salad!Larry: Mmm.Jeff: I've never had chicken like this.Larry: I don't know what the hell they're doing.Jeff: I don't know. It's nothing like anything I've ever even tasted.Ted: What's in my new sandwich?Larry: Oh? Okay? It's um...You got whitefish and sable.Ted: No condiments?Jeff: Cream cheese, capers.Larry: There may be some capers. I'm not sure. If you don't like them, you can brush them off. That's not a big deal.Jeff: Onions.Ted: That sounds awful.Hey, what's up guys? Welcome back to Binging with Babish, where this weekwe're taking a look at foods from Curb Your Enthusiasm. Now,I think the Larry David sandwich could only possibly work on a toasted bagelso, let's start with the whitefish salad. I could make this stuff myself, but I live in New York City,so why the hell would I do that?Some smoked sable, some sliced white onions(don't order this sandwich on a first, second or third date),a smear of cream cheese, and a sprinkling ofcapers. Top it up with the toasted bagel half. It's essential that you toast this sandwich;you need something crisp to stand up to all the mush.Let's get that all-important cross-section (kind of unimpressive as far as this show goes), andtry a bite, and I got to say this was really, really, really good.I am not a smoked fish fanbut the sandwich was tangy, smoky, and funky in all the best possible ways. To see if he made an error in judgment,let's make the Ted Danson sandwich, which is gonna start with coleslaw. We're gonna combinemaybe half a cup of mayo and a few tablespoons of heavy cream, a few tablespoons of white wine vinegar,a good squeeze of lemon juice,a teaspoon or two of white sugar (a little sweetness can be very nice in coleslaw), a couple tablespoons of Greek yogurt, one crushed garlic clove,and a generous sprinkle ofpaprika, mustard powder, and a very generous sprinkle of the celery seed (keep your pinkie up while you shake it), before we season with alittle bit of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Mix until completely homogeneous and then add our coleslaw mix.This is mostly cabbage with some carrots, sometimes even purple cabbage if you're super fancy. Next upWe've got Russian dressing which starts with equal parts horseradish sauce and mayo and maybe about half as much plain-janeketchup. To this we're going to add a few dashes of hot sauce, a few dashes of Worcestershire-Worcester-Worces-Worcestershire sauce,paprika and half of a small onion finely chopped. Mix to combine and refrigerate until ready to use. And now awonderful trick that I've learned recently to toast bread using mayo instead of butter.That's right; mayo spread liberally on bread yields agolden-brown crunch that simply can't be beat. Then we're going to heat the turkey and melt some Swiss cheese in a hot pan. Topgenerously with coleslaw and smear our opposing bread slice with Russian dressing. Stack it up,and it's time for cross section number two of the day. So for me,it's kind of like Christmas. This sandwich yields a somewhat an unimpressive cross-section, all sort of the same color and consistency throughout,but it's pretty hard to beat the flavor of what is essentially aturkey Reuben. I've been eating a lot of sandwiches though recently, so how about we make somethingthat's a little lighter, like a salad that easily clocks over 2,000 calories. Cobb salad starts with a bed of chopped iceberg lettuce,watercress andendive, or I'm sorry,awn-DEEV.We're gonna toss these together to make the base of our salad, and then it's time to make the dressing, which is a very thinold world French dressing. It starts with a few tablespoons each of water,red wine vinegar, the juice of one lemon, a teaspoon of I-don't-want-to-say-it-sauce, half a teaspoon of ground mustard,1 or 2 teaspoons of white sugar, depending on your liking, a pinch of salt, some freshly ground pepper and 1 clove of minced,not pressed, garlic. This is a hot button issue,I'm not trying to make anybody upset. Mix until completely combined before slowly drizzling in3/4 of a cup of canola oil while whisking constantly to create an emulsion. Lay down our salad bedrock and beginstriping with different salad toppings, starting with chopped bacon, chopped hard-boiled eggs, chopped poached chicken, chopped tomatoes,crumbled Roquefort cheese, and lastly some diced avocado.I'd say this is a pretty salad,but it's barely a salad, isn't it? Garnish with some minced chives and serve with the dressing alongside.I love this salad for serving to a crowd because you can sort of pick and choosewhich toppings you want, which ones you don't. But me, I love everything on hereso I'm piling it high and then drizzling it with some of our French dressing. It also seems almost borderlinetraditional to serve this salad on a plate way too small to accommodateall the toppings. Seriously, Google Cobb salad and you see that they're all just spilling off their plates. OK, so lastbut not least, we're gonna try and tacklePalestinian chicken. Now, the restaurant in the show is based off of a LA chain called Zankou,so we're gonna try and imitate their garlic sauce, but we're going to try and make the chicken a bit morePalestinian by making Musa Khan, which is a kind of chickenthat's been marinated in a mixture of yogurt,cardamom, sumac (lots of sumac), minced shallot, lemon juice, and some chopped fresh dill. We're going to alsoseason that with a bit of kosher salt, (maybe a few pinches worth),a good drizzle of olive oil (that's going to help the color later on when we're roasting it) and afew twists of pepper. Mix to combine, and now it's time to start prepping our chicken.We're going to cut along each side of the spine, pulling it out so we can flatten out the bird much like we did ourThanksgiving turkey. Snap the breastbone in half and place the entire bird into agallon storage bag or large tub (if your chicken's too big for the bag). Add our yogurt marinade and massage to make sure that it's evenly coated,place on a baking sheet so nothing leaks out andrefrigerate for 24 hours. The yogurt works much like buttermilk, in that it has enzymes that break down the cellular walls of the chicken, makingit more tender and flavorful.We're gonna roast that bird at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for about45 to 55 minutes, plenty of time to try and copycat Zankou's garlic sauce, which is a Lebanese garlic sauce called toum.We're going to peel and separate the cloves of two heads of garlic andpuree in the jar of a food processor, stopping to scrape down the walls and re-pureeing until it's a nice smooth paste.Then very, very, VERY slowly,we're going to bedrizzling in about half a cup of canola oil. To give you an idea of how slowly, this footage is sped up5,000%. That slowly. Once we've added half a cup of oil, we're gonna drizzle in a quarter cup of lemon juice and thencontinue to drizzle an additional half to three quarters of a cup of canola oil until we get a thick spreadable paste like this.It's essentially a crazy garlicky eggless mayo.Meanwhile, our chicken is coming out of the oven and boy, is it a looker. Rest for a bare minimum of10 minutes uncovered before slicing in half, carving off the thigh and drumstick and serve with a heaping helping of toum.I know that yogurt marinating is a very common method,but I was not prepared for how crisp the skin was,how juicy the meat was,how flavorful the whole thing turned out to be. Is it as good as Larry and Jeff described it on Curb Your Enthusiasm?I gotta say pretty much. Yeah, it's the one of the best chickensI've ever made in my home, and I picked the whole thing clean when I thought the camera wasn't running.\n"