Man v. Food Season 3 Episode 7: Puerto Rico
Adam visits Puerto Rico to partake of the Caribbean-style food of the region. Adam will travel to La Vaca Brava restaurant to face the Vaca Acosta Challenge (translation: The Sleepy Cow) consisting of eight pounds of beef steak on top of a pound of fries, topped by a rich mushroom sauce. Only three challengers out of hundreds who have tried have completed the challenge. Adam notes this is the biggest amount of pounds in a food challenge he has faced on Man vs Food. If Adam can finish the nine pound Vaca Acosta challenge in forty minutes he will win a t-shirt, his meal is free, and he will receive $100 as a prize.
First Adam visits local restaurants to try out the delicious foods offered in Puerto Rico. Adam visits Restaurant Raices where big meat is the order of the day. Raices features humongous sized meat dishes on pizza sized platters, including a steak and shrimp Tornado, and Mofongo, a mix of grilled meat and mashed fried plantains. Adam is in search of Raices infamous Chuleta Kan-Kan, featuring a deep-fried pork chop ringed with its own crispy pork rind. Adam joins the chef in the kitchen to watch him create the Chuleta Kan-Kan. The pork chop is huge, with part of the pork belly attached and ready to become pork rind when fried. The pork chop is marinated in garlic, cilantro and local spices. The pork is baked in the oven, then fried until the pork belly section is crispy. Adam looks at the enormous golden crisp pork chop and says “I know this dish is supposed to be shared by two, but I’m an only child”. Adam digs into the pork rind of the chop and is in heaven.
Next Adam seeks out San Juan street meat, visiting El Churry where they originated the first churrasco sandwich. El Churry’s sandwich truck churns out fantastic meat sandwiches and Adam wants to find out how their famous Churry Mixto is made. The Churry Mixto is a half pound of grilled skirt steak, a half pound of grilled chicken, drenched in their secret sauce and stuffed with potato sticks. The chef begins by sharing the recipe for their sofrito, made of cilantro, green peppers, garlic and onions. The meats marinate in this tasty mixture for two days before grilling. Adam tries a taste of the beef and chicken, and says the chicken is the best he’s ever eaten. As the meats grill on the flat top, the potato sticks are fried and the meats and potato sticks are stuffed into bread, topped with the secret sauce and ready to eat. Adam mentions to the chef he’s heard there is a third meat that can be added to the sandwich. The chef asks Adam if he wants bacon added to the Churry Mixto sandwich and Adam says “I want!”. Adam dives into the stuffed Churry Mixto sandwich, smiles and says “That’s my kind of sandwich, but it requires crowd control!”. Adam tells the TV audience the sandwich is remarkable, the meat is so tender and he loves the crunch of the potato sticks in the sandwich.
In preparation for the Vaca Acosta Challenge, the show features a montage of food photos presented as a movie trailer, featuring the huge platters of foods featured at La Vaca Brava, ending with the “Sleepy Cow” platter. Adam arrives at La Vaca Brava for the Vaca Acosta Challenge. The restaurant is known for their mammoth meat dishes, including a half rib of cow and the clothesline of meats, a variety of meats strung out on a stand for the taking. Adam tells the customer who is enjoying the clothesline “It looks like someone did laundry!”. The challenge of eight pounds of six sirloin steaks and pound of fries must be completed in forty minutes or less for Adam to win the challenge. Adam steps into the restaurant kitchen to see the chef create this “Sleepy Cow” meal. The chef marinates the sirloin steaks in garlic, peppers and secret spices, then the steaks are grilled; the potatoes are fried; and the sauce for the mountain of meat is is revealed: a mixture of cooked mushrooms, onions, bacon and chorizo create the decadent sauce. The Vaca Acosta platter is assembled with a bed of lettuce first, topped by a a pound of french fries, the six sirloin steaks placed on top of the fries, then all is coated with a thick layer of the mushroom gravy and topped with shredded parmesan cheese. Adam stares at the platter and shudders at its size.
Adam greets the crowd as they cheer him on. Adam yells to the crowd in Spanish “Are we ready for the challenge?”, and the crowd says yes. As the crowd chants “Go, go, go” in Spanish and “Hombre contra Comida!” (Man vs Food), Adam bites into his first steak. A woman from the audience gives Adam a kiss on the cheek as the crowd cheers him on. At five minutes into the challenge Adam has demolished the first of six steaks and starts on the second steak. After ten minutes Adam has formed a path through the middle of the platter. Adam finds encouragement seeing the bottom of the platter amid the vast amount of food and continues to forge ahead. At fifteen minutes into the challenge Adam develops the “meat sweats”, a combination of the warm climate and the mountain of food he has eaten. Adam tells the audience as he struggles to eat the steaks that “If I’ve ever given any thought to becoming vegetarian, now is one of those times”. As the clock is winding down on forty minutes, Adam holds up his napkin and surrenders to the challenge. Adam has eaten two thirds of the platter and is feeling the expanse of the meal in his stomach. Adam tells the audience that in the challenge of Man vs Food, today sadly food has won. Adam thanks the people of Puerto Rico for a wonderful time and their graciousness during his visit as the audience cheers their approval.
