Cooking Issues with Dave Arnold

Tune in for an all-tangent episode that's all over the map. Dave reports on a Copenhagen-inspired Danish pork sandwich project (crispy skin, red cabbage, remoulade, cucumber salad) plus pretzel-style brioche buns. Then it’s rapid-fire listener Q&A: Fernet ice cream without wrecking the freeze (boil off alcohol), why venison oxidizes when sliced, brining curve calculators, popping sorghum, and...

Dave is back with a packed studio and longtime friend of the show Nick Coleman — olive oil educator, sensory expert, and musician behind HGH — fresh off a trip to Greece teaching at the International Olive Oil Network. They go deep on how to detect defects in olive oil by smell alone, why  fruité noir  works when done intentionally, olive fly maggots, pruning for quality fruit, and why e...

Dave is joined by chef, food truck lifer, yakitori operator, and SNIBBS co-founder Daniel Shemtob for a run through hearts, food trucks, and what actually keeps you upright on a greasy kitchen floor. They start with skewers and offal: chicken hearts vs duck and beef heart, a Korean beef-heart “Heart & Soul” taco, tortilla engineering, and why overstuffed tacos are a design flaw. From there it’...

For this Thanksgiving “Classics in the Field” episode, Dave is back in studio at Rockefeller Center with Kitchen Arts & Letters’ own Matt Sartwell for a long, nerdy tour through cookbooks, regional food, and holiday obsessions. John’s on mic, Joe’s on the panels, and the show kicks off with cranberry-sauce loyalties, paper-bag chicken nostalgia, and why Dave will never forgive you if he walks...

Dave and the crew welcome chef and author Joshua McFadden to talk about his new book Six Seasons of Pasta: A New Way with Everyone’s Favorite Food . They get deep into dried vs fresh pasta, why salting your water to around 1% actually matters, the right way to use olive oil at the beginning and the end, and how a 50/50 Parm–pecorino mix behaves in the pan. Joshua explains the thinking behind his “...

Dave Arnold, with Jean and Joe Hazen, runs a tight, New-York-only, “No Tangent” session—clearing the inbox and dropping hard technique. Dave details a successful Westphalian pumpernickel shortcut (from ~2+ days to a single shift) using controlled enzyme rest and pressure-cooking in wide-mouth pint jars. From there the crew debates the only correct patty-melt bread (rye), cheese choice (Swiss vs. A...

Dave is joined in studio by chef Alex Kemp, a Quebec-born, Philly-based chef and co-owner of multiple neighborhood restaurants, for a wide-ranging hang about food, restaurants, and questionable late-night decisions. Alex talks about growing up between French and English Canada, separatist grandparents, and how he and his wife juggle two restaurants, a third on the way, and a nine-and-a-half-month-...

This week on Cooking Issues , Dave Arnold welcomes cocktail historian and author David Wondrich to celebrate his new release, The Comic Book History of the Cocktail . From 19th-century juleps to modern mixology, Wondrich and Arnold trace how drinking culture evolved — and occasionally went off the rails. They revisit the lost luxury of real peach brandy, debate the right way to build a punch, and...

Dave is joined in studio by chef, author, and TV host Diane Kochilas (My Greek Table on PBS) to talk about her new book, “Food Stories, Love, Athens: A Cookbook,” and to dismantle a bunch of lazy assumptions about Greek cooking. They get into the real Athens food scene right now: young chefs, post-crisis reinvention, and why the city doesn’t cook like some stuck-in-time postcard. Diane explains ho...

Dave, Jack, Nastassia, Quinn, Joe, and a caller turn “no-tangent Monday” into a focused run of kitchen opinions and practical technique. Jack recaps China trip eats and questions the culinary payoff of hot pot vs. the social vibe. The crew debates DIY dining (fondue, hot pot), ordering strategy, and server trust, with classic Luger/Rao’s anecdotes. Quinn’s Canadian Thanksgiving menu features turke...

On this episode of  Cooking Issues , Dave Arnold welcomes culinary historian and award-winning author  Michael Twitty  to discuss his new book  The American South . Twitty shares stories of growing up with Southern food traditions, his deep research into the region’s culinary roots, and how gardening, foraging, and heritage recipes shaped his perspective on what “Southern food”...

This week on Cooking Issues , Dave Arnold and the crew welcome special guest KC Boyle of Dock to Dish, a pioneering community-supported fishery connecting local fishermen directly with restaurants. KC breaks down how their model short-circuits the traditional supply chain, gives boats better pay, and brings overlooked species like sea robin, welks, and local red shrimp to chefs’ menus. Alongside t...

Chef Jeremy Fox joins Dave, John, Quinn, and Jackie Molecules for a rollicking Cooking Issues session that jumps from kitchen hacks to personal reflections. Fox, in New York fresh off the release of his new book On Meat , talks through the craft behind charcuterie, confit, scrapple, corned beef, merguez, and even buffalo deviled eggs. Dave kicks things off with a story of wiping out on an oily UN-...

Dave’s back and right into the weeds: rebuilding the legendary Flaming Jägerdemo, why modern rotovapcontrollers finally saved bartenders’ wrists, and how to keep a Japanese-style whisky highball lively with a little poly-dextrose science. Along the way we detour through lifelong zucchini trauma(and the rare preparations that redeem it), eggplant lore, and the eternal martini question—stirred, shak...

In this episode of  Cooking Issues , Dave and the crew dive into wide-ranging conversations spanning fruit obsessions, culinary technique, and the realities of running restaurants. The show kicks off with upcoming travel plans to Cologne for a Jägermeister demo, followed by a spirited debate about melon varieties, including the Bonnie melon and the elusive true cantaloupe. Other topics includ...

In this episode of Cooking Issues , Dave and the skeleton have a discussion covering multiple food topics. The group discusses regional hot dog culture, casing preferences, topping standards (such as New York’s onion sauce), bun design, and service logistics. Other topics include: Labeling and naming issues around cheeses like brie and mozzarella, including product authenticity and consumer percep...

Dave recaps his LA trip, featuring improvised foie gras torching, duck breast mayhem, and an under-equipped kitchen in the Hollywood Hills. Back in the studio, the crew debates the social status of ketchup, and builds a functional model for a Kai Ten–style cheese and meat restaurant, complete with rotating washed rinds, seasonal breads, and curated condiment plates. Plus, advice on reheating sous...

Edward Po of Edward’s Aged Meats joins Dave Arnold and the crew to dive deep into the science, business, and flavor of dry-aged meats. They discuss aging protocols, goat and mutton flavor development, pork chop technique, and how Edward turns unwanted longhorn cattle into premium steak. Plus, the crew covers their favorite pasta shapes, dry-aging gear for home use, and the quirks of older meat fla...

Dave and the crew welcome Ed Cornell, renowned pastry chef and co-owner of Café Tropical in Silver Lake, Los Angeles. Ed, formerly of DC-based Milk Cult, discusses his transition to LA, the evolution of Café Tropical as both a bakery and community hub, and his innovations in yeasted doughs and soft serve. The conversation ranges from donut techniques and soft-serve mechanics to mutual disdain for...

Peter Kim returns to Cooking Issues to discuss his new book  Instant Ramen Kitchen  and immersive food venture  Infinite Table . In an episode that zigzags from molè rituals in Oaxaca to the atrocities of airplane omelets, Peter joins Dave and the crew for a marathon of food philosophy, gadget nostalgia, and weaponized pronunciation. • Mole and Memory – Peter recounts filming with K...

Olive oil expert Nick Coleman returns to Cooking Issues! From evaluating the aromas of peak-harvest oils to theorizing the merits of freezing olive oil into fudge-like cubes, the conversation drifts through dumpling hierarchies, Nashville honky-tonk bars, dry rice panic, and defunct clear ice makers. Whether you’re here for the food science or the food fights, this one’s a full pour. • Olive Oil L...

Chef Sam Yoo joins the crew for a freewheeling conversation that veers from pancake engineering and Korean fried chicken techniques to the realities of running restaurants post-pandemic. The founder of Golden Diner and Golden HOF breaks down the logistics of high-volume brunch, dry-aged steak precision, and operating a new concept in the same space as his parents’ former restaurant. The team also...

Former Booker and Dax collaborator Rebecca Palkovics returns to the studio for a loose and wide-ranging discussion that covers restaurant PR, vintage ice cream freezers, Sly Stone’s legacy, and fried tortilla technique. With no guest chef in the hot seat, the team slips into classic Cooking Issues chaos, fielding live calls, reminiscing about busted van tours, and detailing the sensory nightmare o...

Chef Suzanne Cupps of Lola’s NYC joins Dave and the crew for a wide-ranging conversation about her culinary evolution—from a math major with zero kitchen experience to leading her own restaurant in Manhattan. They dig into the reality of building a restaurant, fried chicken technique, and the rigors of fine-dining criticism, all while celebrating Lola’s recent inclusion in the New York Times Top 1...

This week on  Cooking Issues , Dave welcomes back Matt Sartwell from Kitchen Arts & Letters for a special “Classics in the Field” episode. They dig into historic cookbooks, from Mrs. Marshall’s 1890s ice cream innovations to early 20th-century Russian preservation techniques involving millet, pig bladders, and cellars. Dave recounts recent culinary misadventures—including purging a pantry...