All Episodes
Previous Next
Oct. 22, 2025 - Dr. Oz Podcast
42:41
The Truth About Deli Meat and What You Should Avoid | Dr. Oz | S10 | Ep 143 | Full Episode
| Copy link to current segment

Time Text
We go behind the deli counter.
Now we're revealing whether deadly bacteria is lurking on your sandwiched meat.
Investigating what you need to know before you brown bag it.
Which cold cut lasts the longest without going bad.
And are all tortilla chips really created equal?
Is there a healthier option?
Plus, Mancho with the dish crew.
Who doesn't love twirling their fork in a big old bowl of spaghetti and meatballs?
Coming up next.
Y'all ready for season 10?
yeah i love you Welcome to the show, everybody.
All right, when I grew up, there was something special about that brown bag lunch with my favorite sandwich inside.
Often came with a little note from mom.
I don't know how many of you had that as well.
But now with people looking for quick and easy proteins, deli meats are more popular than ever.
But could they actually be bad for you?
That's the question.
Today, we're going straight to the source, asking meat experts to reveal the truth about the deli meat that you're buying.
But first, some members of our audience brought their lunches here.
Each of their bags had not only a sandwich, but a little note with their hashtag deli problem written all down.
Janine, open your bag.
Show us what your question is.
I'm afraid of the nitrates, so I avoid sandwich meat now.
Nitrate?
How many of you worry about nitrates?
You're not worried here.
You take that sandwich.
All right.
Rachel, go ahead, open your bag up and see the question.
Okay.
Sorry.
I eat a lot of deli meat every week because I'm on a low-carb diet.
I roll up the cold cuts and eat them on the go.
I just lose the bread.
It's perfect, but I never know which ones are just the meat and not a lot of additives, which are going to ruin my diet.
I'm just looking for the protein in its most natural form.
Hashtag deli problem, right?
You got an opportunity, but might have some side effects.
And Jenny, take it away.
Your hashtag deli problem is, what kind of sandwich do you have in your budget?
Oh yeah, same as me.
You want two?
All right.
My deli meat gets slimy.
I read the used by date and always think I have enough time, but then I get halfway through and it smells like ammonia and gets all slimy.
Yeah, you don't want that.
Makes me worried.
Why doesn't it last?
It's back to you.
All right, we're going to answer all your questions.
We've got this deli meat problem solved because we've got a world expert here, first meat expert, food journalist, and author of Steak, Mark Schatzker.
How are you?
Very well.
So you saw three audience members commenting on their hashtag deli problems, but you say there's a silver lining here.
Yeah, the silver lining, quite simply, is that deli meats are delicious.
Now, thanks.
That deliciousness is not easy to pull off.
There are parts, let's say, of the pig, the back leg, that you can't just cook that up like a pork chop.
It's tough.
So over the centuries, we have developed these traditions of curing with herbs, with spices, with smoking, with air drying, and we've made some of the toughest cuts to love, the most lovable cuts.
And in America, all those traditions come together.
We have Italian salami and capicola.
We have German black forest ham.
So there is some real love to be had here.
So I want to defend deli meats.
So many of you are wondering how we know so much about this.
Well, unbeknownst to many of you, before he was a writer and a food critic, he was a sandwich artist.
That's his word.
Sandwich artist working.
There, look at that picture at the deli counter.
A little more fascinating.
Back when I can afford a soup.
Exactly.
So when you're behind the counter, what were the most popular meats that folks order from the deli?
So if people were looking for a deal, they'd go to the pre-package section, they'd buy some bologna.
But if somebody wanted something really delicious, they'd come to me and they would ask for black forest ham.
I slice so much of this stuff, I can still remember exactly what it costs.
What did it cost?
Costs $1.49, 100 grams.
Oh my goodness.
Got grams.
All right, so let's take a look at each of these deli meat problems one at a time.
The first is the deli meats contain nitrates.
This is a concern for me.
Not all deli meats do, by the way, right?
Specifically, you have to look out for the cured processed ones that have the artificial nitrates like the salami, the hams, pepperonis, the ones that taste really good, to your point.
And here's what the issue is.
The World Health Organization warned about processed meats causing cancer.
And they said there was about an 18% increase in cancer rates, actually specifically of colon cancer, when people eat 50 gram portions of processed meat a day.
That's, put it in perspective, that's about two slices of deli meat each day.
You're one of the few people that I've talked to that I trust, scientists, who's not that worried about this.
Well, think of it this way.
When they do these studies, they find the people who eat very little processed meat, they have about a 5% chance of getting colon cancer.
The people who eat a ton of processed meat have a 6% chance.
So that's an 18% relative increase.
All right, so salami and cured deli meats in moderation are okay, not off the table, but in moderation, which is good news for our next expert because he's an award-winning saloonist.
That's what he calls himself.
Owner of Olympia Provisions, makers of fresh deli meats, Eli Cairo.
This guy, everyone says, is a cold cut expert.
I'm so happy you're here because I grew up around these cold cuts.
Awesome.
Salumist.
That's the title.
Salumist.
Lucky job I got, huh?
All right.
What is this?
Mordella?
Mortadella, yeah, my favorite, most meat makers' favorite cured meats ever.
Also, my favorite.
I've gone on a pilgrimage to where this stuff comes from.
It goes back to Roman times, and it comes from this Italian city of Bologna, which is spelt Bologna.
Now, I know what you're thinking, Bologna, don't we have a processed meat?
Yes, we do.
Mortadella somehow became Bologna or Bologna, but it took a wrong turn because bologna is nothing like the real thing.
This stuff is just incredible.
Yeah, bologna gave mortadella a bad rap.
You know, it's kind of like a bologna is kind of rubbery and sweet, not full of flavor.
This one should be light and delicate, full of real spices, garlic, cinnamon, clove, nutmegs.
And again, it should just evaporate on your mouth.
I'm sure.
I used to see these in stores, not buy them because I saw the little fat pieces here.
How did the fat get in there?
Yeah, so that's what you do is we make an emulsification.
We take the lean meat, whip it into a bowl chopper, then we hand chop all the big fat back, then we fold that in afterwards so it suspends inside of the meat.
So when you cook it, it gets captured inside.
You've changed my life.
I'm serious.
I'm going to start eating this from now.
I never looked at it.
It looked terrible there, a little fatty.
From a culinary perspective, help me with this nitrate issue.
I'm trying to solve it for our viewers.
You just saw us arguing about how much of a risk it might be to kill some lung cancer.
Why do we need it?
First and foremost, it gives that amazing flavor.
Second, it gives it this amazing color.
And third and lastly, and the most importantly, it addresses a very brutal pathogen called botulism.
With a little bit of nitrate, you'll have zero botulism problems.
And as we know, botulism is a very lethal.
All right, we dealt with nitrates coming over.
Let's get to the next hashtag deli problem, which is not knowing which to buy to get the most natural.
So Eli, when it comes to deli meats, give us the options and give us some recommendations.
Yeah, first and foremost, there's two types.
A formed meat, or in the industry, we like to call it a forced meat.
That's essentially making a sausage.
You know, what's the problem with a sausage or a forced meat is that us crafty meat makers, we can add a lot more fat into that and more additives.
So you make an emulsification, then you got a whole cut salami.
We think hams, roast beefs, whole turkey breasts.
With that, it's very simple elemental ingredients.
You have salt, water, and then just the whole protein.
Much more leaner.
This meat right here can have a lot more fat into it.
And again, a lot more additives, as you can see.
All right, so give us the ammo, the words to use when we're at the counter and we're about to order this, Eli.
Make sure we don't get conned.
What do we tell the guy behind, even though he worked there, you're currently behind the deli counter.
Let me see if I get the right one here.
You know, I usually go first and foremost up and I do ask for USDA organic.
Secondly, I ask for whole cuts of meat.
And your advice on the best choice of meat of all.
What animal, what form?
You know, that's a loaded question, but for me, I always say, since it is an indulgent, it should be the piece of deli meat that you love the most.
You know, the one that you really are going to sit back.
That'll make you happy.
Yeah.
All right.
Our next hashtag deli problems, slimy cold cuts.
When we come back, our deli meat investigation continues with an experiment revealing how to avoid slimy meat.
Plus, how deadly is the deli slicer?
And I'm not talking about how sharp it is.
Stick around.
Before there were amber alerts, there were milk cartons.
And Johnny Ghost was one of the first faces on display.
And they have gotten away with it.
Can this medium reveal clues to finally bring him home?
Two of the abductors have passed.
I'm feeling one of them.
Plus.
And I just started screaming.
Life after suicide.
Dr. Jen Ashton and Dr. Raj share their very personal story.
I was also angry because he didn't tell me.
All nuise.
That's coming up tomorrow.
We are back with our investigation into deadly meats, and now we're revealing whether deadly bacteria is lurking on your sandwiched meat.
Now, first, we're starting with whether or not that slime, the one that forms on your meat, is something to worry about.
Deli meat expert from Olympia Provisions, Eli Cairo is back.
What is that slime moving meat?
Because you're the go-through guy in this area.
Yeah, so what happens is when you put salt inside of these deli meats, it's always pulling moisture out of the meat.
That's something we can't stop.
And so with it, as you slice it, the salt will continue to pull the moisture out.
With that comes a little bit of fat as well.
And so that is what it is.
It's a little salt, fat, and moisture coming out from the meat.
All right, so that's normal.
Then how do I know if the meat's gone bad and that there's a bacterial hazard?
Yeah, well, that's what I always say.
First and foremost, smell it like we do any taste meats.
If it's not delicious and your body doesn't crave it right away, don't risk it and throw it out.
That's what I would always say.
Smell it before you taste it.
Might be a little too late.
Actually done.
So I'm going to take Eli's advice to heart.
We decided to do an experiment to find out which cold cut lasts the longest without going bad.
And we're going to use this smell test, rating them very officially as good or iffy, or you don't want this look on your face.
You don't want bad.
Watch the little red arrow, it's going to move.
Okay, so we bought the ham, this turkey, and this roast beef about a week ago.
And we're going to put these lunch meats to the sniff test, as Eli described it.
First up, we'll do the turkey, right?
You put it up here.
I'm happy.
This actually is very good.
But way over there, this is good.
No problem with the turkey.
Again, they're all a week old, so I'm trying to compare naturally which ones last the longest.
This is sort of iffy, guys.
I put this in the middle somewhere.
I would probably eat this if my wife wasn't around.
If she was there, she would make me throw it away.
You know what I'm talking about.
And here, I'll just look at them.
You can sort of say there's a difference here, but even I wouldn't eat this.
And I eat a lot of stuff.
This is not how it's supposed to smell.
This is definitely over there in the bad category.
So the smell test that Eli described really does work.
Next to our investigation are scary listeria germs growing on the deli meat slicer.
Now Mark Shasker looked into this for us.
Now he shared with us today that he experts as I working behind the deli counter.
So what do we know?
Okay, so if you're not buying pre-packaged deli meat out of the fridge, you're probably getting it from this thing right here.
Now the FDA says this should be cleaned every four hours.
Doesn't always happen.
Clean this whole thing every four hours?
Exactly.
So walk us through where these, you said harborage areas, the area where bacteria can collect.
So there's just lots of little, there's little seals, there's parts that are difficult to penetrate.
When I cleaned this, yep, in there, when I cleaned this, you had to have the blade turning.
A lot of people are scared to clean this when the blade is turning.
You've got to kind of take it apart.
You've got to flip it over, you know, flip this off.
It's just a challenge and it takes time.
All right, so what's the real danger here?
You're slice it away and let's say there's a tiny bit of bad stuff.
Exactly.
So there will be, we'll pull some bologna out of the fridge.
It's in the fridge.
That's a good thing.
There's a tiny bit of bacteria on this.
Don't be freaked out by that.
There's bacteria everywhere.
The question is how much?
So there's a little bit on here.
We put it on here.
Oh, you do know how to do this.
I do know how to do it.
Look at he's catching it too.
Oh my gosh.
So now look at how beautiful that is.
It is so hard to slice, to slice meat that fin with a knife.
This is why this is so amazing.
But here's the problem.
You put your bologna back in the fridge.
Well, that's okay.
It's in the fridge.
It's not accumulating bacteria.
But there's bacteria on here.
It was left from the slicing.
And it's not in the fridge.
It starts to multiply.
What happens?
Four hours later, someone says, I'd like to get some turkey, please.
Back it goes in the slicer.
The turkey doesn't have much bacteria on it because it's been in the fridge, but you put it through the slicer and it's picked up the bacteria.
This is a lot of, look at this, guys.
A lot of bacteria on that just from touching where the bologna had been before.
That's right, and where the bacteria had time to multiply.
So that's why it's a danger point.
All right, we've done all this stuff.
We avoided this catastrophe having bacteria here.
You get your meat packaged and you get home.
What do you do with it to make sure you don't worsen a problem that may have started in the store?
Well, the first thing is get home quickly.
Don't go to the bank after you went shopping and have your deli meat sitting in the back of your car on a hot summer day.
Then when you get home, one thing you want to look out for is this paper, and especially if it gets wet.
Moisture is another problem.
So if you bring your deli meat home and it's like soaking, not a problem.
Just take it out, get rid of that, pat it dry, and put it in your own Ziploc bag.
Zip it tight, put it in the fridge, and you're good to go.
Also, don't consolidate.
If you got meat from last week and you buy fresh meat, don't put them together.
I know who you are.
I know you're at there.
It's great advice from Mark.
Okay, we're going to post these tips online so you can use it the next time you go to the deli.
Take advantage of it.
Please share it with your friends.
Simple things like this make a big difference in your health.
We'll be right back.
Stay tuned because we got the scoop on the wraps that will take your Taco Tuesday to the next level.
Harder, soft.
Plainer flavored.
Stick around to find out.
The tortilla chip.
It has become a snack phenomenon.
In 2018, Americans bought over $107 million worth of tortilla chips during Super Bowl weekend alone, just one weekend.
And you're not just loving these during the big game.
Today, the tortilla chip aisle is packed tighter than ever with every imaginable variety, colors and types.
And look, there's a tortilla chip, there's a corn chip, there's chips of different colors and shapes.
It never ends.
Today, we're navigating the snack aisle and revealing the healthiest and best tasting chips in the aisle.
Here to help us get the scoop on tortilla chips is Chef Alejandra Ramos, which I love having you here because you know a lot about these.
So take us back to the very beginning.
Whose brilliant breakthrough was it to invent tortilla chips?
All right, so the origins are a little bit hazy, but I think we can trace back modern-day tortillas to a Mexican-born chef named Rebecca Webb Carranza.
She and her husband owned a tortilla factory in Los Angeles in the 1940s, and they found that they were throwing away a lot of the misshapen, kind of imperfect tortillas.
So instead of wasting them, she started cutting them up, frying them, serving them to family and friends with a little bit of salt.
It was a hit.
She knew she had a hit, so she put them in bags, sold them for 10 cents a bag in her deli with her husband.
They took off, and you know, at the rest of snack history.
I love this.
I love snack history.
All right, over here.
Food scientists Dr. Kelly Wallace is here to show us how corn chips are different from tortilla chips.
Now, I always thought that one was flour, and the other one was obviously corn because it's corn chips.
That's not true.
Well, actually, corn chips and tortilla chips are both made from corn.
And here's what food scientists do.
We take the corn kernels, we put them in a big hot kettle of water, and we add a little bit of lime.
Now, for those of you all who don't know what lime is, it's very similar to baking soda.
And then when we take the water out, it looks very much like this, masa.
Now, the difference in corn chips and tortilla chips is you take this masa, you make a dough, you mold it into, you know, the little chip, and then you directly fry it, right?
Yep.
Tortilla chips, you have to roll that dough out really, really thin, and it goes straight to baking.
And so then you take these chips and you directly fry them.
That makes them very hard and gives you that crunch.
So the question becomes: if one is fried and one's baked and then fried, are they the same nutritionally?
Is there a healthier option?
Absolutely, they're basically the same nutritionally.
When it comes to salt, fat, or number of calories, they're pretty much equivalent.
So choose whichever one you like.
Oh my goodness.
That's not giving you free meat as much as you want.
Be cautious not to eat too much of either.
All right.
Next up, the baked tortilla chips.
Now you can sort of wake up everybody because this matters.
The baked ones have to be better for you than the fried ones.
Well, unfortunately, I mean, I think it's pretty much just the same again, right?
But we're going to make some tortilla chips?
Yes.
Well, show me how to make them first.
You can make them, right?
So, okay, so like we said, like Rebecca Webb-Carranza, you did, you take the leftover tortilla chips, you cut them up, and then you just put them right into some hot oil.
So we are frying them.
See how they're bubbling in there?
And then you take them out, and then you just add a little bit of salt.
I mean, it's really simple, so it is something you can make from scratch.
You can make it on your own.
But in terms of nutrition.
For the reason, Doc speaks to this.
When it comes to nutrition, the chips, right, the baked ones, they have about half the fat of the fried ones.
It's a big difference.
Right?
Baked tortilla chips, three grams of fats, fried ones, more than twice that.
So I think, let me just see.
Where are the baked ones here?
Yeah.
These are baked ones.
That's good enough.
Come on now.
You're going to put something on this anyway.
You're going to dip the guacamole and off the races.
The baked one isn't the only option.
There are all kinds of new chips out there.
They have healthy ingredients in them.
We have chia chips, right?
They're black bean chips, multi-grain chips.
I got to say, I think these are pretty cool as an idea.
I think so.
Thoughts, Alejandra?
I think, I mean, I love that you can use all kinds of ingredients.
I think it's great to, it pairs with different sauces, different dips.
It's nice.
So also it just looks gorgeous because we eat with our eyes, right?
Yes.
So it's a great way to get people to try different things.
So I'm a little wary about these, and here's why.
What a killer joy you're going to be doing.
I know, man.
So when you look for chips and different grain products, you want to look for the whole grain products, right?
And the multi-grain products, like some of these you see on the screen, those are a little tricky.
If you go to the back and you look at the ingredients list, the ingredients are in order by weight.
So you can put a pinch of this grain here, a pinch of this grain there, and some of the lower quality products do that.
So you have to be a savvy consumer and really read the label.
And if it says 100% organic, that means the United States Department of Agriculture has certified it that and it meets certain qualifications.
If it doesn't, you could just basically be getting any type of chip with a little bit of whole grain.
You forewarned us, and it's a very valid concern you have.
Sage advice.
So we went to our med unit, we had them research all these.
They found that the bean chip is really a good option.
And here's why it's my favorite chip.
Beans have almost half the sodium, half the salt from standard tortilla chips, and they are loaded with fiber, at least some of them are.
To check the ingredients, Taylor said, but this might be a pretty good deal for a lot of these.
These right?
These ones, yeah, and they're not even fried.
Does that bother you?
Well, I mean, no, not at all.
She's just saying that now.
The patronage.
She's patronizing me.
We come back.
The tortilla talk continues.
You got soft, hard, corn, flour.
And then there's the red and the green wraps.
Our investigation takes a look at which taco tortilla is best for your family.
It's next.
What do we really know about heaven?
It's another dimension of existence.
We investigate the science and tackle some of your biggest questions.
When you go to heaven, who will I see?
All nuance.
That's coming up on Friday.
We are back with our tortilla investigation.
I am joined now by three moms in our bike club who say Taco Tuesday has become Taco Every Day because their families love them.
But which wrap option holds the meat while still meeting the health needs of their families and yours.
Today we investigate.
So you and your tacos are covered.
Now, judging on the texture and the flavor and the durability, you'll have a lot of clues.
And I want to know which one's, of course, best for your health.
Gonna do all those together.
Texture, flavor, durability.
Chef Alejandro Ramos is back.
You looked at crunchy corn taco shells versus the soft corn shells.
As a chef, just talk about the texture.
Chef only flavor ones.
Chef.
So I think that the soft corn tortillas are the best ones for tacos.
They don't get in the way of the filling, right?
You're not getting that crunch that's kind of interrupting the filling.
It holds really well.
I think it's just delicious.
It absorbs the sauces.
You get sort of this a little bit messy deliciousness going on.
I think it's the way to go.
In fact, they're actually pretty easy to make at home.
So we take that masa that Tyler showed us earlier, we make a dough.
It's the corn, lime, and water.
Exactly.
And we make a dough out of it just with water.
You can add a little bit of fat to it if you want.
And then we're going to use this tortilla press.
And it's a heavy one, so I'm going to take care of it.
Don't worry about it.
I'm just going to put this here.
You cover it.
This just keeps it from sticking.
And you put a little bit of pressure there.
Use this to push it down.
You know, I could have done that too.
I'm not sure about that.
I feel it.
It takes a lady to do it.
You need lady strength for this.
She's right.
It's harder.
You do it.
Put your back into it.
And check this out.
Look how perfect that is.
Look how perfect this is.
Oh, my goodness.
Oh, my goodness.
Look at that.
Then you cook this up.
You've got beautiful soft corn tortillas.
You can make them from scratch.
How fun is that?
Here's the thing I love about this.
You may not appreciate this, although you probably do because you're a chef.
The soft corn tortillas have about, well, they have one gram of fat versus these hard ones have about six grams of fat.
So I think it's a winner all around.
It tastes better, got the right texture, doesn't interfere with the filling.
That's perfect.
And it's got a lot less of that.
You have a winner in the texture side.
All right, bike club, would you take the soft tortillas for your taco night?
Yes.
You're all happy?
Yes.
All right.
Woo!
They seem like they're in it.
All right, you want that one.
But I know everyone loves those tiny shells.
A lot of you prefer these big wraps like Taylor.
The Taylor Wash tested the flavor of the two most popular taco shell options, white soft flour wraps and veggie-flavored wraps.
So is there a difference besides the color?
Well, I'll just say I'll probably go for the regular standard tortillas too.
But if you want other options, what we found is that these veggie-infused tortillas are actually quite the same nutritionally.
There's not much of a difference in the standard ones versus the veggie or the tomato.
Why is that?
Well, because what food scientists do is we legally, a spinach wrap has to contain spinach, right?
So what we do is we take dehydrated spinach powder and we add just a little bit to make it green.
So you're telling me they taste the same, I trust you.
And it's healthier for us, not healthier either.
Don't get fooled thinking that the veggie portion of your day is completed with this.
Okay, we've identified that the flavor issue, we took care of the texture issue.
Now I'm going to look at the durability of the new low-carb wrap options.
They're all way out there.
I'm excited about it.
So I asked my digital team to do a little experiment with these lower carb wrap options to see which one stood up to the weight of the taco and which got soggy and broke apart or seeped through.
And we tested the following four.
We did a cheese wrap.
We're making the cheese wrap right there.
There's a cauliflower wrap, looks sort of the same when you make it.
A butter lettuce wrap, pretty cool, and colored green.
Take a look.
I am putting that little video on Facebook so you can share it with your friends.
All right, ladies, what wraps and shells will we be using from now on?
Taco Tuesdays and Taco Every Day?
I'm using a soft shell.
Soft shell?
I would try the cheese wrap.
Cheese wrap, it's a good idea.
Crunchy.
Soft flavor to till a combo.
There's options for everybody out there.
Just don't go for the head fakes.
We'll be right back.
Get ready for our big fat Italian dinner.
It's everyone's favorite comfort food that keeps our forks twirling.
I'm reviewing my guilt-free spaghetti and meatballs.
It's so good to be coming back for seconds.
You do not want to miss it.
If there's one thing that brings us all together, it's food.
So we're calling everyone to the table to dish on everything.
From the latest food hacks and trends to everyday recipes you can make for dinner tonight.
It's simple, it's celebratory, and most of all, it's about having a great time in the kitchen.
What is going on?
I'm trying to help.
Fletch dish.
Welcome to the Dish Ada.
My daughter Daphne always elevates the everyday foods we all love.
Here with her foodie friends.
You know what we're good fellas and the hit show Younger, as well as the fan-favorite cooking channel show, Extra Virgin.
These are.
Hi.
Extra Virgin.
What a great name.
I'll come back to that.
Hurubachi, World Champ, daughter of the world famous Muhammad Ali and the author of the acclaimed cookbook, Food for Life, Layla Ali.
Friend of the show, she's in the kitchen.
And of course, the chef who brings that caribbean heat with a dash of southern sweet.
Shabika Pissola.
She's here with all of her talents.
Dathy, what's on your menu today?
So fun.
You guys look so good today.
Also, welcome you guys to our big fat Italian dinner here on the dish.
We are giving you all kinds of new Italian spins.
First up is going to be a grilled eggplant sandwich that looks and smells so delicious.
Then we are getting you some gilt-free spaghetti and meatballs.
I can't wait to try it.
All right.
And if you're hankering for a simple Italian-inspired snack that's ready in seconds, stick around for the ultimate sun-dried tomato spread.
Come up in a little bit.
Okay, so Debbie's going to kick us off.
And your husband is Italian.
Yes.
You guys have a home in Tuscany.
That doesn't suck.
Not at all.
That was amazing.
Yes.
Florence, yes.
Oh, beautiful.
So you've spent a lot of time with Italians.
Describe what it is that Italians know and appreciate about food that maybe everyone else does not.
Well, I think, you know, Italians, they eat fresh, they eat seasonal.
They eat smaller portions.
They take their time.
They come home for lunch.
Generally, the kids, the parents, grandparents, they have a wonderful lunch sitting down together.
And they also have a little bit of a splash of red wine at lunch at every filling.
I love that lunch.
That's all.
What are we drinking, by the way?
We have siesta.
Oh, well, speaking of siesta, we're asking, what are we drinking?
This is a lemon prosecco cocktail.
Did I say it?
Okay.
Okay.
Some prosecco and a splash of lemon.
So it'll cool us down while we are in the hot kitchen and give us a mild buzz as we go along.
Oh yes.
In my chocolate.
Oh yes, your children rail.
Sorry, pregnant lady.
I don't even drink.
Thanks, Miss.
So, okay, so there's a love around relaxing with family over food.
So how did this sandwich come to be and what's the deal here?
Well, you know, we spend a lot of time, we're very sporty.
We like to go on road trips.
I like to go to the park.
And this is one of those sandwiches.
It's great like when you go on a boat or something.
You just, you make it, it lasts while you put in some aluminum foil, and it's really fresh and easy.
So basically, should I tell them about what it is?
Yeah, dish it for us, dish.
Yes, I'm dishing it.
So we use a skiacha or any kind of bread that you want.
I happen to like thinner bread, me personally, so I don't have to like, you know, get my mouth all around a big piece of bread.
And what you're going to do is you're going to take, this is speck, which is a smoked prosciutto.
Speck is from the Northern Alps of Italy.
It's very light.
It has less fat.
I take an eggplant, I slice it very thinly, and you don't pre-coat it with olive oil or anything.
Super simple.
You want to sear it on a hot cast iron pan, so you get the nice burnt marks.
And then basically that's done.
A little olive oil on the bread.
So olive oil on the bread.
Okay.
Olive oil, salt, and pepper.
You add the speck.
I like to put a little bit of fresh arucoa.
Oh, that's awesome.
Keep cooking.
Oh, my.
Dr. Ah, such a great nice.
Lots of food.
First thing I'm going to do is.
Making yourself a laugh.
Try to help.
Dr. Also serving you too.
Chester Bilterano.
I love these.
All of my favorites.
By the way, I would never have to eat a real meal if I could just have this put in front of me.
Oh, my God.
It's amazing.
So my sweetheart.
Nick and I eat this the whole time.
You keep cooking.
Yeah, we keep snacking green at all.
Oh, that's so delicious.
Okay.
So yeah, so you just like load it up a little bit of spec.
We're using pecorino cheese.
If you use a soft pecorino, it's nicer on the sandwich.
Can I taste some of that?
Yeah, a harder pecorino is a little more salty.
Or you can substitute it with mozzarella, ricotta, provolone.
Whatever you can find, you know, at your local store.
You know, this is something actually interesting too.
First of all, I love all these ingredients, and I love how thoughtful you are about, like, we want the smokiness and the dryness from the meat.
We want the creaminess and the salt juice from the cheese.
But another thing Italians do is it's not like over stuff the sandwich.
Everything, it's really good quality, but it might be a small quantity, just enough to make it perfect.
Exactly.
I mean, and that's really all you need.
And it's really also super healthy when you're getting your protein, a little bit of carb, which actually helps burn fat.
So please don't cut you watch.
I showed you.
I love that you join it off right now.
We're breaking down.
All right.
So, I mean, athletes, athletes in Italy, especially in Italy, they love spec.
They love to have their bread.
All athletes do.
I mean, it's important.
Just a little drizzle.
Taking a little liberty.
Yeah, so can I ask you: is this something we would get if we come to your house in Tuscany?
Is this something?
You can get it in my house in Brooklyn.
I'm really trying to get my way into your house in Tuscany.
I will have it by myself.
Like, I'm just going to push my way into your house.
I mean, you can't.
I mean, the thing about good cooking is that you can take yourself on vacation and be anywhere, you know, but not a good thing.
Oh, yeah.
What I love about this is so beautiful.
It's really a beautiful sandwich.
So I love the way that they're slicing everything so thin.
I'm wondering why don't you use any olive oil, though?
I would naturally think you use some oxygen.
All right, so some people, when they make eggplant parmigiana, they slice their eggplant, they have it out for five hours, they salt it so it pulls the water out.
This, you really don't want to pull the water out, you want to keep it.
And if you were to put olive oil on it, it would splat.
Okay, it would burn, it would drip, and it's not necessary.
Right.
Because you're going to dress it, and there you go.
Is this it?
Are we ready to go?
Do you want me to pass you around?
That's your you, though.
So, while you're tasting, and I don't want to brag, but I know you all remember that infamous, actually famous scene now of me slicing the garlic, right?
Like Pauli for Goodfellas with a little razor blade, surgical skills put to the test.
We were all very impressed.
Actually, just to remind you, take a look.
Are your nails manicured there?
They look good.
Wow.
That might be laughing.
That's good.
Good vision.
Good job.
Look at that.
You gotta be scared.
You can see the razor through it.
Look at that.
We don't give you any credit in the kitchen.
You're good.
Look at this.
The circle.
Circle precision.
Steady hand.
Now you've all seen that.
And my manual dexterity is obviously resoundingly powerful.
When you were on the study, Goodfellas, what would you guys eat?
Well, actually, Martin Scorsese was being cooked for in his trailer by his parents, who are no longer with us.
God rest their soul.
But he's like, that's what he ate.
And for us, we would just walk down the street and like roll into a restaurant at lunch break.
And we were in Little Italy and in Harlem.
So we would just eat local.
Stay in character.
More or less.
Guys, like this, Layla.
Like it's really delicious.
Stacey, and I love it.
It's so beautiful.
So we are competitive, Debbie.
Even though you said you weren't, but I know you are.
When we come back, Layla is revealing her guilt-free version of an Italian-American classic comfort food, spaghetti and meatballs.
I like the sign of that.
I'm a little artificial.
This is really good.
I'm telling you, you can be happy.
I love getting to talk with you on my show every single day.
But when the cameras stop rolling, the conversation is not over.
I still have a lot that I want to talk about.
So download the Dr. Oz podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hey, welcome back.
Who doesn't love twirling their fork in a big old bowl of spaghetti and meatballs?
Am I right?
This is just pure comfort.
It is the ultimate Italian indulgence, but Layla Ali has a recipe for guilt-free spaghetti and meatballs with two healthy surprise ingredients.
Layla, I'm so excited to try this recipe, by the way.
How did you come up with this combination?
What's the genesis of this delicious thing?
First of all, do you like my shirt?
Because it's very Italian.
That's a thing.
I tried it on.
They wouldn't let me wear it.
But I could have done it.
I heard about that.
So I'm trying to put on my clothes, Dr. Oz.
Okay, so I'm always trying to find ways to make meals healthier.
Yes.
Just in general, my kids are very picky, but they love spaghetti and meatballs, right?
How old are your kids, Anne?
Eight and ten.
Eight and ten.
So they're right at that age where they're all in the future.
Oh, look at that.
They are huge.
I'm sorry.
Look at this family.
They're a little younger.
Oh, yeah.
They give me a hard time.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
They make you feel really bad sometimes.
Mind let me stuff stuff in their mouth sometimes.
I can't do that.
I want one of your boxing booze.
I got to hold my picky eat.
I'm going to show you some tips.
I'm going to give you some tips.
Give me this, and then I got to get a move, too.
So yeah, I'm always trying to find ways.
You know, so I love to put as many vegetables as I can.
We're going to be using my sauce, which is a secret red sauce.
The recipe is in my cookbook, Food for Life.
But I blend down vegetables in the sauce.
Okay.
And, you know, so I'm also going to sneak some things into the meat.
Oh, okay.
So, yeah, we're going to have a whole lot of flavors.
So, all the foods that you love, but just kind of upgrading the nutrition on them.
By the way, I taste no secret ingredient in that.
That is epically delicious.
See, mommy.
Wow.
And kid approved.
I like that.
So, dish shutter.
How do you actually make it?
So let me show you how to make it.
So we're going to use two different types of meat.
We have beef and we have turkey here.
High-quality meat.
We have some pepper.
Go ahead and put that in.
We have some onion powder.
Okay.
So we have some Italian seasoning.
And I'm going to be generous with the salt.
Not afraid of that.
We've got to have some flavor in there.
And if your kids are as picky as mine, you may want to skip the parsley, okay?
They don't like parsley?
No.
Green.
Anything green?
Anything green, yes.
Your kids, your kids are.
Oh, no, my daughter.
She was like, I'm going to be a vegetarian.
I'm like, but you don't eat vegetables.
Right.
How's that going to be?
It lasted a month.
And then she went back to eating meat.
Okay.
Now she's 13, she's on broccoli, fine green salad.
Salad.
You've moved up.
You've moved on.
So there are also two more secret ingredients that I think are kind of surprising for this dish that we're going to add in.
Okay.
So if I may, one of them is flax seeds, which you know I all love.
Flax seeds are fantastic.
You got omega-3s, you got fiber in them, but the other one you've probably never thought of.
It's dulce.
Look at this.
Oh, just pour it in there like that.
You know what Dulce is?
Dulce is seaweed, but it's got a little bit of a bacon flavor to it.
So Layla's very smart about it.
It makes it like you're putting panchetta in your sauce.
It's really smart, but it's seaweed.
Wow.
No downside.
Does it work?
It's delicious.
I'm not going to tell you there's a bacon flavor to it, but I would.
Oh, come on.
You're such a harsh.
But it is.
It's like that toasty umami seaweed, smoky flavor.
And it's one of those ingredients that you wouldn't use often if you don't think about it.
So I use it like a seasoning oftentimes.
Okay, bam!
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Put more in there.
Dulce bake.
So we're pretty much going to scoop these out, right?
And then you end up with these meatballs.
Aren't they beautiful?
They are beautiful.
So you don't have to cook it before, just drop it on the bottom.
No, we're going to put it right on into the sauce that has already been prepared.
And then we're going to cook this for about 25 minutes.
She's looking like that's an Italian violation.
I'm sorry.
You know what?
I know what?
In Italy, it's not.
I could care less.
It's delicious.
But in Italy, they don't even do spaghetti with meatballs.
Really?
Meatballs.
Meanwhile, it does spaghetti on its own.
Yeah, the balls are always balls on this side.
As they should be.
And then send it in a frying pan.
That is too much.
So we're pretty much going to toss this around and cover the meatballs and sauce.
And then we're going to let this cook for about 25-30 minutes on medium-low heat.
This is really interesting.
And you mentioned a lot of people will fry their meatballs in a frying pan.
Sear.
You got that sear, which is crisp, but it does take longer.
You do add a little more fat.
The nice thing about this, and I bake mine a lot of the time because then I can make a batch of 40 or 50 of these, throw them in the freezer, and you have fast family meals ready to go.
But what I love about this is: A, you spare yourself one step of cleanup, but it also makes them really tender and juicy.
They soak up that sauce.
It will.
It's going to break down.
And I cook them so many different ways depending on what I'm doing.
But again, a busy mom.
Yes.
This is the idea that I had with this.
Make it easy, one pot dish.
Yes, ma'am.
Yes.
So this is how it turns out.
And I'm going to go ahead and place this.
I just saw my own bowl over here, so I went on and left.
Go ahead and get it.
You know what else I appreciate about this?
You're not a sadist.
Like, there's still cheese on this dish.
Oh, yeah.
You know, you put a little beef in here.
I do that too.
I like to do like half turkey, half beef, or half turkey, half pork.
You get the sensation of that indulgent meat, but you cut it with half of the lean meat.
And then what's the pasta you chose here?
We today have, I think we're using a quinoa pasta.
Yeah.
So I use it.
Is it really?
Yeah.
Oh, I gotta say it.
Yeah, I'll use brown rice pasta.
I'll use chickpea pasta.
Quinoa pasta.
Kids can't tell.
There's a texture to it, doesn't it?
Oh, it's move.
Yeah, it's nice because it's not mushy.
You know, a lot of those like free things are.
You definitely don't want to overcook it because, you know, you have a bad experience with it.
I don't care how picky you are.
You're going to love this.
These are amazing Leo.
Put a little red pepper on this.
This tastes good.
I like it.
Yes.
There you go.
There you go.
I think we're all spicy.
Bam!
There you go.
There you go.
This is yummy.
I like that.
You didn't ask for it, but there you go.
Thank you.
Debbie, I have to ask you.
I know you and Madonna are really good friends, and she has some kids, and you cook for them sometimes.
Would you consider making this for them?
Absolutely.
I mean, the thing is, is that she is a chef.
Oh, you know, I don't really need to cook anything, quite frankly.
But, you know, sometimes if I'm spending like a weekend at her house, you know, like I want to eat on my own schedule or eat like whatever's in the refrigerator or pair of stuff.
You feel like, yeah.
So, you know, sometimes the kids will come around and be like, what are you making?
You know, because I cook different than her chef.
So, you know, I do cook occasionally, but it's by happy accident.
Better than her chef or just different?
Never mind.
Oh, come on.
You can say, no, it's a good.
Why are you thinking of that?
You can find them all today's recipes on doctoraj.com.
Up next, we're revealing a simple go-to Italian spark snack hack that is ready in seconds.
I'm telling you, serious, seconds.
Stick around.
You know how to swirl your pasta the right way.
Before there were amber alerts, there were milk cartons.
And Johnny Ghost was one of the first faces on display.
They have gotten away with it.
Can this medium reveal clues to finally bring him home?
Two of the abductors have passed.
I'm feeling one of them.
All nuise.
That's coming up tomorrow.
We're back with The Dish on Oz, hosting our very own Big Fat Italian Dinner.
And now we have a product that will not only make your recipes tasty, but can also help you save time and money in the kitchen.
It is the food find of the day.
Dathy, what is this?
Oh my gosh, you guys are gonna love this.
It's that's tasty organic herb purees.
These purees are going to be your new mean squeeze, if I do say so.
I love using fresh herbs, but sometimes you just don't have time to do all that chopping and blending.
And some recipes do require that extra boost of flavor.
That's where that's tasty organic herb purees come into play.
You just squeeze and you're good to go.
And they also help keep your kitchen clean, which is really nice.
So you get all that fresh without the mess.
They have a ton of organic herbs available in pureed form.
Here we have the sun-dried tomato flavor and a variety of other accompaniments here.
You can see I'm going to add it to this really simple pasta dish to show you how easy it is to juzh up any basic meal.
So this is just penne pasta with cream sauce.
And now watch what happens when I add a squeeze of the sun-dried tomato paste.
That's it?
Yep.
Now check it out.
Maybe I'll add a little bit more because this is such a flavorful boost.
I love that.
Yeah.
Look at you.
There you go.
Save the day.
Okay.
Let's give that a taste.
You're gonna serve?
No.
Eat it out of there.
Yeah.
I'm never allowed to do this.
I'm never allowed to get food out of the pan.
Simple, bright booster flavor.
Explodes in your mouth.
I tell you, it tastes like you made it yourself.
That's the whole point.
I also used it just to spread on these paninis, so it went taking it from good to great just by spreading some of that same sun-dried tomato paste onto the panini before grilling.
You loved that.
I want you to taste this now.
Check out that.
She's feeding me.
I like this one.
It's your lucky day.
Here we go.
My lucky day.
All of these purees contain 100% organic spices and herbs, organic olive oil, all-natural preservatives, and you'll recognize every single ingredient on the label, which I love because I'm always checking.
They won't go bad in a couple of days, like your fresh herbs might at the back of the fridge.
And these purees are good in the refrigerator for up to six months.
Wait, are these your purees?
No.
Wow, they're lucky.
I'll send you home with one too.
You got one.
You got one.
Everybody gets right.
And you guys want to taste these too.
Don't worry.
You can find that's tasty organic herb purees on Amazon Fresh and in grocery stores nationwide in the produce aisle near all those fresh herbs.
You enjoy these two.
You really can't tell the difference.
And thanks to our partner, our sponsorship partner, Dat Stacey, my entire studio audience.
You're all going home with all eight flavors of their organic herb purees.
That means I'm coming over for dinner.
You get a puree and you get a puree and you get a puree.
It's back next Wednesday.
Everything you ever need for the perfect backyard barbecue tune-in.
▲
Export Selection