WWE Superstar Braun Strowman Tries to Keep Up with a Professional Chef

All right, bun on the plate.

[electric piano music]

Hey, guys, this is Carla.

I'm here in the Bon Appetit test kitchen today

with WWE Superstar Braun Strowman,

and today we have 20 minutes to make lobster rolls.

And we are going to see if Braun can follow

along with me through verbal instructions only.

How do you feel about lobster?

I like it in my belly.

Awesome.

[laughing]

On a count of three we're just gonna turn around

and start cooking.

Okay.

Okay?

Great. I'm nervous.

You're nervous?

The lobsters should be nervous, really.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Exactly.

All right, so on a count of three.

One, two, three.

Three.

All right, so, we've got our partially

frozen lobsters here.

I want you to just pick 'em up.

He should show some signs of being alive,

but they're, like, a little stunned.

Okay.

And, you've got a pair of shears on your cutting board.

Let's just get rid of these rubber bands.

So is he gonna pinch me now?

I doubt it.

He's kinda like, lazy, at the moment.

All right. All right,

let me know when your rubber bands...

Rubber bands are removed.

All right, so grab a, if you need it, a kitchen towel.

We're gonna get this pot of salted boiling water open.

All right.

And then lobby's just going straight in.

All right, dispatched.

Drop him in the deal?

Drop him in the deal.

Sorry, brother.

Gotta go.

Does that bring up any feelings?

I'm a carnivore.

Sorry for everyone that doesn't like that.

Okay, so now you've got a little timer on your station.

All right.

Just hit the minute button up to eight, and then

while that is going we're gonna make homemade mayonnaise.

So, grab the bowl with the bowl with the egg

with the lemon, and then--

So the littler of the two bowls.

And then you can take the lemon,

just set that aside for a sec.

And grab the egg.

Have you ever separated an egg before?

Yes.

Okay, perfect.

So separate the egg, I want the whites to end up

in the smaller bowl and the yolks to end up

in the bigger bowl.

Now where are you separating eggs?

In the ginormous caloric intake that I need

to fuel this meat castle...

[laughing] Yeah.

... I have to eat a lot, and unfortunately

eating a dozen eggs yolks every day is

not necessarily good for your cholesterol,

so I learned how to strain 'em apart.

In the little metal container, I want you to find

the microplane.

Which is like

a funky-looking potato peeler? It looks like a woodwork--

No, it looks like a very fine-toothed grater.

This looks like a potato peeler.

That's not the one.

Oh, wait, in this thing.

In the bin, yeah, the bin with the tongs.

The grater with the rubber handle that says

microplane on it.

That's the one.

All right.

All right, so you've got your lemon, you've got

your grater, I want you to finely grate about half

of the lemon into this egg yolk.

Into the big bowl with the egg yolk,

half of the lemon zest.

Half the lemon.

Roger, that.

Can I ask how many calories a day we're consuming?

Right now, I probably eat around 7,500 to 8,000.

When I was competing in World Strongest Man contests,

I would eat around 15,000 a day.

That's a good day.

But I was also 420 pounds, and I'm like 355 right now.

You know, I've trimmed down... Oh, kind of light right now.

... to my svelte body weight that I am now.

That's what I thought when I saw you.

You said a half of this thing?

Half of that guy,

and then... Looks like half.

... kind of the half that you zested,

if you went, whatever, cut the lemon in half.

Cut the lemon in half.

Cut the lemon in half, and then find from that

same bin there's like a lemon squeezie.

It opens up, it's yellow.

All right, so we're going for half the lemon juice?

Half the lemon

foaming over. One half.

Yeah, half the lemon right into your egg yolk.

And then that lemon half is, goes into the garbage bowl.

We might need the zester later, so just put that

on the tray, and then I want you to find the whisk.

Have you ever made a homemade mayonnaise or aioli before?

Nope.

Oh, fun, okay.

Whisk.

And so whisk together the egg yolk, the lemon juice,

and the zest, add a pinch of salt.

It should be right up front, and just when you feel

like that's all well-combined.

I forgot, my fingers are bigger than yours

so it's probably a half a pinch of what you're doing.

Okay, I like it pretty salty.

Okay.

All right, so then grab the measuring cup

that's got the oil in it, and so the secret

to making mayonnaise from scratch...

Uh, huh.

... is that at the very beginning you have to

add your oil very slowly...

Okay.

... as you're whisking.

And I'm whisking this whole carafe,

I guess it would be,

of oil? Yeah, but we're gonna start

literally drop-by-drop.

Send a couple drops over the edge

right into that yolk mixture.

Yep.

And then just whisk it in, make sure it's in there,

really, like, a few drops.

This is gonna draw out your patience.

Would you describe yourself as a patient person?

No.

[laughing]

How would you

describe yourself? I already have an arm pumped

from trying to hold this, and do it slowly.

I'm more of a force kind of guy than a finesse person.

All right, so let's just go, thin steady stream.

There's this much oil in mayonnaise?

Is oil like the main ingredient in mayo?

Pretty much.

I didn't know that.

I just know it tastes good on sandwiches.

People who don't like mayonnaise,

you just can't trust 'em.

Now I am also feeling,

oh, lobster time.

You can stop whisking and stop pouring.

All right.

Grab one of these tongs.

Long tongs?

Long tongs, and then get this guy open.

Gimme a visual on your lobster.

You wanna see it?

I do.

Just lift it up.

You have to tell me what it looks like.

I can't-- It looks like--

I'm not allowed to turn around.

It's red.

Bright red?

Bright red.

So throw it on the little sheet tray

that's on the other side of the pot,

and we get to finish our mayo.

But this is good, we need the lobster to cool down a bit.

All right.

All right, back to whisking.

Back to whisking.

Back to whisking.

♪ Whisking away again on a cookin' show. ♪

Whisk, whisk, pour, and get the rest of this oil in here.

And then we're gonna season it up, kind of like

a tartar sauce vibe.

Where'd you grow up, Braun?

I grew up in a little town called

Sherrills Ford, North Carolina.

It's about 45 minutes northwest

of Charlotte, North Carolina.

I grew up on Lake Norman.

Let me know when all your oil's in.

Oh, it's been in, I'm just whisking away.

Really, you're done?

I'm so done.

Oh my God, okay.

Let's give it a taste, actually.

All right.

Mmmmm, lemony.

Lemony.

Salty enough?

Maybe a pinch more.

Yeah, a pinch more, same.

So now I want to peel the stalk of celery.

So now grab that Y-shaped peeler

that you were talking about before.

We're just gonna peel the stringy part of the celery.

I never knew you could skin the strings out of 'em,

because I always eat 'em, and they get stuck in my teeth.

There you go.

All right, so then, with the larger of those two knives

I want you to, going lengthwise, just cut

very thin strips of the celery.

You only need, like, two or three really long, thin strips.

Two or three long, thin strips.

Yeah, so now just line 'em up next to each other,

like little celery soldiers.

All right, so going crosswise and keeping your cuts

pretty close together...

How, little pieces, big pieces?

Tiny, little dice.

'Cause, like, I don't like to bite into a big piece

of the celery in my lobster roll,

but I feel like a little crunch is nice.

So when you've got, like, I don't know,

three tablespoons worth, we're gonna add

that to the mayo.

How are you on celery?

I got it all chopped up.

Let's go right into the mayo.

All right.

And then we're gonna basically do the exact

same thing with one of the pickles.

You got a jar of pickles on your station.

Right.

Spear a pickle.

And then... Spear a pickle.

We only need, like, probably half of this pickle?

You can put the other half on the plate

with the potato chips.

We'll eat that with our lobster roll.

And then same thing, just go lengthwise, thin strips.

And then crosswise into little bits.

Enjoy pickles?

I do.

They're good, I feel like when I get a little dehydrated,

I'll eat some pickles, and it'll help rehydrate

with the sodium and potassium that's in the cucumber.

All right, let me know when you're done with your pickle.

And then, we're just gonna chop up some of the dill

that's on that same tray?

All right, you have your dill?

Dilled up.

[laughing]

And then, just go, chop crosswise.

Don't have to be, like, super crazy about it.

But finely chop the dill, about, I don't know,

a tablespoon or a teaspoon's worth?

And then add that to the mayo,

and then we're gonna stir it together

and give it a taste.

Find a small spoon, and just stir this together,

and then we'll give it a taste, and see what it needs.

Let's see.

Oooh.

We got a little vinegar from the pickle,

but I'm just gonna add, like, a couple dashes.

Splashes of vinegar?

Yeah, I feel like it cuts the richness of the mayo?

And then the one thing about this mayo is

it's pretty liquidy, so it's got to sit on ice

while we deal with our lobster.

So we need to put it on ice so it coagulates?

Okay, aioli on ice, or mayo, I keep calling it aioli.

So you've got a skillet over here with a lobster roll in it?

Check.

Or a bun?

And a little, dainty little brush with some softened butter.

Check.

I just want you to pick up some of the butter

and brush that on the cut, the outsides,

the two outer edges of the bun?

On the outside, like the cut part?

Exactly.

Both sides, 'cause you gotta have a toasted bun.

Oh, without a doubt.

All right, one buttered side down,

and let's grab this whole set up with the lobster.

What, the big tray, little tray, what?

The whole thing.

All right.

We've have a couple tools.

You've got a lobster cracker.

You've got a lobster mallet.

And the toothpicks are really there

just to poke the lobster meat through the shell.

So I want you to pick up the mallet,

and actually, just reach behind you

and hand that to me.

Cool, awesome.

I'm gonna use a mallet.

You're probably not gonna need one.

Nope.

All right.

Have you ever taken-- That's what I've got these

hands for.

All right, first, just twist the tail away

from the body, and then take the claws away

from the body, like where they meet the body.

Cool, and then put the guy's head,

so you're big tray is kinda gonna be the

shells and the waste.

All right.

And we're gonna try to keep the meaty part

of the meat on the little tray.

All right.

Okay, so then with the claws, just break the arm

away from the claw, and then, I find it easiest

to take the, I guess it's the thumb part of the claw,

pull that out, and then just, kind of, crack it,

push it away.

[crack]

Did you crack your lobster claw already?

With my hands.

All right.

All right, so we're just getting the meat.

That's what's happening now.

[cracks]

Oh, you've definitely done this before.

[cracks]

That one got me in the face.

[laughing]

In the face.

Let me know when you're ready to get

into that lobster tail.

Oh, get into it?

Yeah.

I was about to say, mine's already peeled.

Almost there.

All right.

I feel like I need a de-poop this guy.

Wait, did you get into tail already?

Yeah.

Dude.

I'm already done with my lobster.

You're just giving me such good instructions.

I just think you know your way around a lobster.

Well, that and just, I learned at a younger age,

it's always best to listen to the women that talk to you.

It makes life simpler.

I knew you were smart.

[laughing]

So now, if you have your shells on one part

of the tray and the meat on the other?

Yep.

We can get rid of those shells.

Get rid of that whole kit and kaboodle,

and we're just going to cut the lobster meat up.

Using the cutting board and the big knife,

I want you to cut the lobster into, like,

half-inch pieces.

All of it.

Although if you want to leave pieces of the claw

a little bit bigger, so you can see 'em,

that's fine with me.

All right, let's grab the mayo off the ice,

and grab the other, there should be a large,

like, empty bowl.

Yep.

Get your lobster meat in the big bowl.

And then there's a big spoon.

And then a few spoonfuls of the mayo

into your lobster meat.

And stir that around to, like, very generously dress it.

All right.

Wipe down your board.

Grab the old bun.

Is she toasty?

Oh, yeah.

[laughing]

Toasty two times?

And then just grab the, just so you have it

nearby the plate with the chips and the pickle?

Correct.

And load up your roll.

Some people just do the New England-style drawn butter,

but I don't know.

I like 'em this way.

All right, bun on the plate.

That's it.

Tell me when you're ready.

Are you ready?

I am ready.

Then let's do it.

Okay.

Three, two, one.

[gasping]

She's gorgeous!

It looks amazing.

Yours does, too.

It's perfect.

I tried to be fancy and put the claws on top.

I like that.

Presentation, you want to know what you're getting.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's real live lobster.

Wow, perfect.

Oh, you cut your pickle differently.

Well, that's okay.

[laughing]

Okay, let's switch.

All right.

Bon... Cool.

Bon appetit?

Exactly.

I'm glad we could play a part in your caloric intake today.

No, thank you, I'm glad you...

I feel honored.

I'm glad you talked me through cooking my first lobster

and making my first mayonnaise, so.

First time for everything.

There were a lot of places to mess up.

Cheers! Cheers!

Mmmmm. Mmmm-hmmmm.

Napkin?

Thank you.

Oh, yeah.

Would I be a good wrestler?

I think so.

The way you just led me through this,

I feel like you could lead someone through a match.

Oh, okay.

All right, well thanks for jumping in the ring with us.

Maybe next time I'm down in your neck of the woods

I'll jump in the ring with you.

Look me up.

Okay.

[laughing]

That's a plan.