Interview: The Potash Twins Talk New Show ‘Takeout Twins’ [EXCLUSIVE]

Brianna
11 Min Read
Image Courtesy Food Network.

Deemed the “Twin Horns of Joy” by NPR, Adeev and Ezra Potash gained world-renowned notoriety as horn players touring and sharing the stage with recording artists such as John Legend, Chance The Rapper, Diplo, jazz legend Wynton Marsalis, and Late Show bandleader Jon Baptist, just to name a few. The 26 year old twins have also branched into the world of TV personalities, where they have combined their love for food and music on their past shows Beats + Bites and Southern Road Trip with the Potash Twins.

Their newest show, Takeout Twins, debuted September 2 and takes viewers into their favorite celebrities’ kitchens while the Potash Twins teach them how to make their favorite takeout dishes. The amazing guest lineup includes Joel McHale, Rob Riggle, Tom Schwartz and Katie Maloney-Schwartz (Vanderpump Rules), Sheila E, Musiq Soulchild, and more. Executive produced by Andrew Zimmern, the show takes a refreshingly casual approach to food as both brothers have learned about cooking in a more organic way through their travels and their passion for food. This is not your typical classically trained chef show, Adeev and Ezra make food feel approachable and inviting rather than intimidating. As many find themselves in their home kitchens because of the pandemic, Takeout Twins is the perfect solution for easy to tackle, delicious at home recipes for cooks of all skill levels.

We were lucky enough to sit down with Adeev and Ezra to talk about their new show, what their favorite dishes are to cook as well as teach, and advice for new cooks!

Nerds and Beyond: You have two food shows under your belts already with Beats + Bites and Southern Road Trip with the Potash Twins. With hugely successful music careers, what is it about food and cooking that keeps you coming back?

Adeev and Ezra: We love to say that food feeds the body, and music feeds the soul. Both are equally fulfilling in their own ways. For us, music has helped us build on our already special bond as twins, but it allows us to communicate with notes and rhythms rather than typical conversation. As far as our cooking goes, that’s always been a dialogue. The moments on tour that aren’t about music are conversations about our never ending culinary adventures. A standard exchange would be, “How was that concha (mexican pastry)?” or, “What did you think of that xian jian bao (chinese pork dumpling)?” To us, this journey to learn and dive into the culinary worlds of cultures other than our own is a limitless and warming experience.

Nerds and Beyond: Have you always been food fans or did that develop later in life?

Adeev and Ezra: Always. Our parents constantly traveled internationally for work, and we wanted them to bring us back souvenirs but not your average key chain or t-shirt. We wanted them to bring us foods unique to where they were, whether that be red bean Mochi from Japan or Dosas from Bangalore. It was all a way of “traveling” while being toddlers in Omaha, NE.

Nerds and Beyond: Do each of you have a favorite go to takeout dish you make when you’re in a pinch and if so, what is it?

Adeev and Ezra: Thai Peanut Noodles. They’re perfect in a pinch, and we usually make them with Spaghetti (because who doesn’t have spaghetti in their cupboard). Mix with a little soy sauce, peanut butter, sesame oil, and sambal, and you’re good to go!

Image Courtesy Food Network.

Nerds and Beyond: Each episode is under 15 minutes which speaks to a younger audience as well as makes the meals feel more accessible to all cooking levels. How important was that factor when selecting and teaching these dishes?

Adeev and Ezra: Very important! We wanted this show to be about approachability. This show isn’t gourmet chefs speaking to you in a culinary language you barely understand, flexing their knowledge to a camera. Takeout Twins was home cooks speaking to other home cooks about making your favorite dishes that you may have been intimidated by.

Nerds and Beyond: The 10 episodes currently available for viewers to check out feature a wide variety of foods, everything from breakfast sandwiches to pad thai to pizza. How did you go about deciding what dishes to cook on Takeout Twins?

Adeev and Ezra: We wanted to make the “most ordered” dishes on the delivery apps. We usually order dishes that are tougher to make, with a specific pantry/ingredients that you need on hand, like the Pad Thai/Butter Chicken/Orange Chicken meals. But who doesn’t order pizza and breakfast every now and then?

Nerds and Beyond: Each episode takes a fun, relaxed approach to the kitchen, Rob Riggle in particular had me laughing the whole episode (and that bacon lattice is everything!). Do you have a favorite episode or favorite behind the scenes moment?

Adeev and Ezra: That’s a hardball question! Each of the episodes and guests bring their own unique “flavor”, and it was an absolute joy to work with each one of them! We don’t think we can pick a favorite without getting ourselves into trouble.

Nerds and Beyond: The ongoing pandemic has slowed down the production of many shows and changed the way many industries operate. Have you found it challenging to connect with your guests via video rather than, say, from the same kitchen?

Adeev and Ezra: Filming without a pandemic is a WHOLE affair, so imagine filming while the details on the pandemic changed day to day. Our amazing production team at Andrew Zimmern’s company alongside Food Network did a smashing job keeping everybody safe and healthy while making the best show we could! We really loved teaching people to cook over Zoom because they had to cook an entire dish alone! Typically they would chop onions while we did the heavy lifting, and also they were in their own homes, which makes everyone feel more comfortable.

Nerds and Beyond: Who would be a dream guest to have on the show in the future?

Adeev and Ezra: We’d love to cook with John Legend and Chrissy Tiegen! We think they would be awesome guests, and we could always jam with John while something is in the oven!

Nerds and Beyond: Takeout Twins is perfect timing as more people find themselves cooking at home consistently for perhaps the first time. What advice would you give to anyone who wants to start honing their cooking skills but isn’t sure where to begin?

Adeev and Ezra: As musicians, we always say to play the music you love to listen to, so why wouldn’t we learn to cook the food that we can’t live without? Just get in the kitchen. Try to make something you love, and you’ll find the cooking kind of takes care of itself.

Nerds and Beyond: Do you have a fool proof takeout dish you recommend to beginner cooks?

Adeev and Ezra: Pizza. Get store bought pizza dough, canned sauce and pre-shredded cheese with your favorite toppings. Can’t go wrong.

Nerds and Beyond: Lastly, what do you hope viewers will take away most from your show?

Adeev and Ezra: We hope that viewers will see that you can make anything you set your mind to. If these celebrities have time in their schedules to make a Pad Thai from scratch, then shouldn’t we all find a minute or two to try? It’s about getting in the kitchen, finding comfortability there, and making progress every day.

Nerds and Beyond: We like to end with a nerdy question, so other than food and music of course, what’s something that you each nerd out to?

Adeev and Ezra: Disc Golf. Andrew Zimmern got us hooked, and it’s an activity the three of us play together all the time. He’s far more obsessed with it than we are, but we get more addicted to it as the days go on!

We’d like to say a big thank you to Adeev and Ezra for taking the time to chat with us! All ten episodes of Takeout Twins are available to stream now on the Food Network Kitchen app, and on all Amazon devices where the Food Network Kitchen app is free for one year. You can follow the Potash twins on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Nerds and Beyond is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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By Brianna
Brianna works full time in the publishing industry, passionately building books to bring to the masses. Her first fandom was Harry Potter, which she joined at age 11. Her love for books took her abroad to earn her Masters Degree at University College London, after which she lived in New York City, and now resides in Austin. She loves all things fandom including Supernatural, Doctor Who, and more. Ever the introvert, she can usually be found reading, playing with her dog, listening to music and practicing yoga. Brianna joined the Nerds and Beyond staff in 2018 where she unites her love for all things "nerd" with her passion for writing. Find her on Twitter here: @bookbag09
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