MIKE (left) and Josh Greenfield
BROTHERS Mike and Josh Greenfield, “dorm-style” cooks and hosts of the MTV series, “Brothers Green: Eats!” (Wednesdays, 12 a.m.), return for the second season of their food show—and they continue to learn, even from humiliating situations.
“Because so much of the season was filmed without any recipe testing, I learned to adapt as a cook,” says Mike in an e-mail interview. “When you’re constantly embarrassing yourself on camera, you start to break down your fear of things going wrong when you’re cooking!”
Josh describes a “more freestyle” way of preparing food this time: “We go into situations and make things up on the spot!”
Known as the Brothers Green, the siblings from Brooklyn previously uploaded recipes and cooking demonstrations to their YouTube channel. Mike, originally an architecture student, and his older brother, Josh, who has a marketing degree, eventually found themselves working on the latter’s food business a few years ago.
While they have contrasting personalities, the Greenfields say they collaborate well, and the natural dynamic hasn’t changed much for Season Two.
“Usually on food shows, things are planned out way in advance, so they know exactly how [the cooking is] going to happen,” Mike tells the Inquirer. “But when Josh and I create things in the moment, things always go wrong! Especially when our cooking styles are so different—this causes some hilarious brotherly drama.”
“There’s a lot more arguing about how the meal should be prepared,” adds Josh, who describes himself as the more “unpredictable” cook.
“Brothers Green: Eats!” had guest appearances by pop musicians, Ed Sheeran and Enrique Iglesias, last year. Josh reveals that apart from solo music artists like Joe Jonas and Austin Mahone this season, the show has other similarly memorable guests: “We shot with [rock band] DNCE, and they were fun! And [makeup artist] Michelle Phan was great to hang out with—very inspiring.”
The success of the show, Mike says, can be attributed to its accessibility. While it may appeal to a younger audience, anyone can find the Greenfields’ cooking adventures entertaining.
“If you want to just sit back and watch two brothers make fools of themselves, or you want to learn a little about cooking, this show is for you,” Mike explains. “Or maybe you want to see us cook for some famous celebs.”
Creating videos for an online audience taught them valuable lessons on creativity, but doing a TV show, the brothers share, continue to be educational.
“The No. 1 difference is we get to do things on TV that we would never be capable of doing on YouTube,” says Mike. “Since there’s a large crew involved at MTV, many amazing people are working [to] find awesome adventures to throw us into!”
For example, Josh says, “[We] can cook anything, anywhere—any time. We cooked a steak for Joe Jonas with a clothing iron in a hotel.”
The formula to their best dishes varies, according to the brothers. Mike says, “My favorite recipe has to be anything coconut curry—the combustion [and combination] of these two ingredients can make anything taste good.”
Josh goes for a spicy, chewy and crispy fusion. “Great flavor balance is always important, and these things achieve that!”
On the dishes that the Greenfield brothers are most proud of this season, Mike says, “We made a crazy pancake in Las Vegas for someone’s wedding, which turned out great!”
Josh confidently declares: “We’re proud of all of them—even the screw-ups!”