Podcast · Arts & Books

Cooking Issues with Dave Arnold

by Cooking Issues · English · Arts & Books

The new home for Dave Arnold's weekly show "Cooking Issues", where he tackles listener questions on anything food and cooking related. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 1 hr 1 min
Latest: 27 Sep 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

27 Sep 2026 · 1 hr

NTT: Rules are Meant to Be Broken

It’s an All-Tangent Tuesday as Dave and the crew debate the unwritten rules of restaurants: bringing your own crushed red pepper, sneaking food into movie theaters, why some places refuse perfectly reasonable off-menu requests, and whether chimichurri disqualifies steak frites from being steak frites. Then things get technical with grilled lobster, birthday steaks, blood cocktails, yeast percentages, and a deep dive into getting the perfect glossy mahogany crust on homemade pretzels. Plus, Dave lays out his dream outdoor kitchen—from a tandoor and raised hearth to a bread oven, deep fryer,…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

22 Sep 2026 · 57 min
Tiny Trash Trucks: OG Crew NTT
Dave Arnold is joined by Nastassia and Jack for an old-school Cooking Issues episode covering the etiquette of dining alone, phone calls at restaurants, and what guests should—or absolutely should not—bring to a dinner party. The crew gets into garlic fermented in honey and food-safety concerns, the right way to cool and store leftovers, fresh versus dried yeast, and Dave’s plans for an elaborate Peruvian-style rotisserie. Plus: cocktail texture, LA’s chaotic hillside architecture, Majordomo, upcoming travels to Houston and Paris, and the only universally acceptable answer to “What can I…
15 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
NTT: Back from Lima
Dave Arnold is back at Rockefeller Center with the crew, and Nastassia kicks things off with a beer can chicken experiment that went spectacularly wrong: green chicken, burning skin, emergency Popeyes, and a last-minute rescue by Daniel Patterson. Dave also reports back from Lima, with thoughts on Peruvian chicken, ceviche, pisco sours, ancient adobe cities, cocktail bars, and the city’s formidable traffic. Then it’s on to listener questions: getting Flavacol to stick to air-popped popcorn, the limits of long low-temperature brisket cooks, red versus white clam pizza, and more. Plus:…
25 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 2 min
Fidel Caballero of Corima and Vato
Dave is joined by chef Fidel Caballero of Corima and Vato for a deep dive into Northern Mexican cooking, starting with an ingredient close to both their hearts: turkey butts. Fidel explains their place in the tortas of Chihuahua and Juárez, before getting into squab-butt tacos, asiento, molcajetes and metates, and why Northern Mexican food deserves more attention. They go deep on flour tortillas: White Sonora wheat, boiling-water doughs, butter versus chicken fat, sourdough and lactic acid, hot presses, giant Sonoran sobaqueras cooked on an inverted wok, and why a proper Juárez burrito bears…
18 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
New American Tangents
Dave tackles a packed round of listener questions, starting with a surprisingly deep investigation into the canonical club sandwich. Then, a listener trying to recreate the original marshmallow using marshmallow root sends Dave into the problem of building a vegan marshmallow. Also on the docket: choosing an outdoor fryer and getting serious about homemade french fries, how cold Dave keeps carbonated cocktails at Bar Contra, using tomato water in bread dough, storing whole-wheat flour under vacuum, cooking for 12 people aboard a research vessel, and what to know before making turtle soup.…
9 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 2 min
Back From LA, With Tangents
Dave reports back from Los Angeles with stories from a Morihiro pop-up and the hard-core world of tiki fandom. The crew also gets into airplane etiquette, Canadian Parmesan-style cheese, pressure-cooker stocks and braises, stabilizing sorbets, aging ice cream bases, purging clams, and the opening arguments in a definitive ranking of the world’s best sandwiches. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
2 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
NTT: Mojitos, Movies and More!
This week, Dave answers long-awaited cocktail questions, dives into techniques for building better drinks, and shares updates from recent industry events and ongoing Cooking Issues projects. The conversation also covers creative burger experiments, getting more out of a small kitchen, troubleshooting common cooking mistakes, and practical advice for working with cured meats, custards, and emulsions. Along the way, the crew debates paper straws, swaps favorite food movies, and wanders through the usual mix of culinary science, restaurant stories, and spirited tangents. Hosted on Acast. See…
26 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 2 min
Dustin Everett of Fish Cheeks
Fish Cheeks chef-partner Dustin Everett joins Dave for a conversation on seafood, Thai cooking, restaurant culture, and why one tiny fish bone can outweigh 160 perfect plates. They discuss frozen versus fresh squid, sticky rice, octopus, Portuguese seafood, fish aging, kitchen technology, and the balance between old-school technique and modern equipment. Plus: Experimental bread, and why fake grill marks bother Dave more than they should. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
5 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 4 min
Inside Burger King’s Culinary Innovation Lab
This week on Cooking Issues, Dave and the crew are joined by Alex Hawk, Manager of Culinary Innovation at Burger King, and Zach Young, Director of Culinary and Commercialization at Burger King, for a rare look inside the food science, logistics, and product development behind one of the largest restaurant systems in the world. They get into what it actually takes to create food for millions of people: bakery supply chains, fresh bread logistics, Whopper improvements, tomato specs, lettuce formats, clean-label constraints, regional menu development, and the challenge of making recipes work…
27 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 2 min
Max Wittawat of Bangkok Supper Club
This week on Cooking Issues, Dave and the crew are joined by chef Max Wittawat of Bangkok Supper Club for a deep dive into Thai cooking technique, restaurant life, and ingredient realities in New York. Max talks through the logic behind Bangkok Supper Club’s kitchen-counter tasting menu, why some dishes translate better than others outside Thailand, and how he approaches Thai flavors with precision rather than nostalgia. The conversation gets into makrut lime sourcing, cilantro root versus cilantro stems, galangal, fresh versus frozen aromatics, limestone water for crispness and texture,…
23 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Greg Baxtrom: Nothing Matters But Delicious
Chef Greg Baxtrom joins Dave and the Cooking Issues crew to talk about his new cookbook, Nothing Matters But Delicious , written with Joshua David Stein. Greg gets into the process of translating restaurant recipes from Olmsted and Five Acres for home cooks, including the carrot crepe, fried tomato, upside-down burger, onion goop, rehab nachos, and his one-cookie recipe. The conversation moves through fine dining, bouillon, Chicago Italian beef, sport peppers, ketchup, pickles, lefse, knives, pork tenderloin, expensive butter, cheap ice cream sandwiches, and why constraints can be useful in…
13 Jun 2026 · 1 hr
Farideh Sadeghin on Hot Dogs, Regional Obsessions, and the Case Against Stunt Dogs
Dave is joined by Farideh Sadeghin, author of The Hot Dog Cookbook: 50 Recipes for a Classic American Food , for a deep dive into hot dog culture, regional styles, and the surprisingly high-stakes question of what belongs on a dog. They get into New York onion sauce, Seattle dogs on alleged “bialy sticks,” Colombian and Brazilian hot dog toppings, Zweigle’s red and white hots, Connecticut meat sauce, New Jersey Rippers, Italian hot dogs, Fenway Franks, split-top buns, and why a hot dog should usually remain a handheld food. Farideh also talks about the anxiety of writing a book on a food…
6 Jun 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
No Onions, No Problem
It's a No Tangent Tuesday, which means everything is on topic — including Dave getting lost in Rockefeller Center for the hundredth time. Quinn is back from his antibiotic recovery, Jean just survived catering the Roots Picnic VIP section with a rented reefer truck (and a branch that won), and the California crew is dialing in from LA. Dave opens by explaining why his new miniature Ro-Tap machine — a 1917-standardized particle analysis sieve shaker running at exactly 150 BPM and 85 decibels — cannot, in good conscience, be operated in a Manhattan apartment. A caller brings the real problem…
30 May 2026 · 1 hr
NTT: If Waffles Could Fight Pancakes
Dave is joined by Joe, Quinn, and Jackie Molecules for a stripped-down crew episode covering a lot of ground: severe dust mite allergies, coin-selling in the Diamond District, homemade rotaps, and the musical qualities of real silver. Dave recaps Nick Wong and Sam Yoo’s Golden Diner pop-up, including cheeseburger fried rice, scallion waffles, and the eternal question of whether a waffle could beat a pancake in a fight. Plus: Quinn experiments with a frico Oklahoma smash burger and jam-based semifreddo, the crew debates Blizzards, Carvel cakes, Burger King fries, hot dog preferences, low-temp…
23 May 2026 · 1 hr 2 min
Nick Wong
Chef Nick Wong joins Dave in studio to talk Agnes & Sherman, his Houston restaurant named for his parents and built around personal, deeply considered food. They revisit Nick’s FCI days with Dave, from throwing hatchets and pushing kitchen equipment through the city to hot dog contests, meat glue demos, and the value of doing what you said you’d do. Plus, Angela Garbacz calls in, Dave answers a Spinzall question, and Nick breaks down scallion waffles, cheeseburger fried rice, crispy shell-on shrimp, salt-and-pepper fries, and Eng Soo’s Chicken. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more…
19 May 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Broth and Beyond with Marco Canora
Marco Canora joins the show to talk Brodo, bone broth, and what everyone gets wrong about stock, from marrow-bone misconceptions to the commercial realities of packaging broth at scale. Dave and Marco get into spent hens, fish fumet, lobster shells, blanching greens, cocktail dilution, juice-shake techniques, and why a little acid can save a pizza sauce. Plus: mason jar vacuuming, weevil management, fava bean grievances, striped bass butchery, gummy-bear wellness, and the eternal difference between “interesting” and actually good. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
13 May 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Let's Get Sauced: Tim McKirdy and Sother Teague
Dave is joined by Sother Teague and Tim McKirdy of Sauced to talk cooking with booze, drinking with food, and what separates a good carbonnade from Belgian slander. Before that: John returns to fine dining, Nastassia survives Spirit Airlines, Jack hits the Austin wedding shot wheel, Quinn breaks in a new wok, and Dave recreates 1870s kaiser rolls from a Vienna Exhibition report. Plus: polished cast iron, mushy peas, Irn-Bru, Buckfast, fish and chips, Guinness on a Lukr faucet, forbidden Jarts, Shrinky Dinks, fry oil management, and why carbonnade should be thickened with mustard-slathered…
2 May 2026 · 1 hr
No Tangent Tuesday: The Last Half-Inch of Banana Bread
Dave and the crew are back from hiatus and catching up on everything from luxury party snacks and properly aged gummy bears to bitter lion’s mane mysteries, banana ripening, homemade tofu, chicken consommé, and the eternal problem of the soggy bottom half-inch of banana bread. Plus, on-off steak cooking, peanut butter whiskey, milk punch theory, and a ruling on whether shabu-sliced beef smashed into a bun counts as a burger. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
14 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 6 min
George Motz's Hamburger America
Dave and the gang warm up with a packed week-in-review before George Motz drops by to talk burgers, burger history, and the newly revised Hamburger America . George talks about opening Hamburger America, preserving regional burger traditions, the challenge of recreating historic burgers accurately, and what it means to document 220 of the country’s most essential hamburger spots. A wide-ranging burger conversation with one of the form’s great evangelists. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
7 Apr 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Belated Birthday Tangents
Dave and the crew cover a lot of ground this week, starting with geography confusion, regional slander etiquette, Jack’s post-New York cough, and a surprisingly heated discussion about whether former residents still have the right to talk trash about New Jersey. From there, the show dives into language drift, emoji fatigue, Bananagrams rage, and the ongoing battle between “less” and “fewer,” before pivoting into ramen noodles, heirloom wheat, kansui levels, nixtamalization, and the question of how alkaline is too alkaline. Later, Dave gives a birthday recap defined less by celebration than…
7 Apr 2026 · 1 hr
Apocalypse Plans: OG Cooking Issues Crew
The OG Cooking Issues crew are all in studio for the first time in ages ! Find out whether the BDX cocktail cube can handle shaken drinks, and why Dave’s new hood is somehow both excellent and maddening. There’s also an extended detour into apocalypse escape plans, emergency Zodiac boats, and why New York remains a terrible place to survive the end times. Plus: Quinn reports back from yet another emu egg experiment—this time in the form of Spanish tortilla—prompting discussions of balut, giant deviled eggs, bird brains, and the general menace of cassowaries. Rounding things out are questions…
22 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 2 min
Hello, Home Cooking with Ham El-Waylly
This week, Dave is joined by writer and chef Ham El-Waylly to talk about his new book, Hello, Home Cooking, out March 24. The conversation bounces from book-tour fatigue and the strange rituals of cookbook promotion to Ham’s childhood in Qatar, censored video game magazines, and the eternal question of how much pronunciation flexing is too much. From there: Brazilian hot dog parties, frozen pearl onions, pickled quail eggs, tostones technique, mashed potatoes cooked directly in milk, breakfast sausage without sage, tea as broth, and why sweet potato fries are still on thin ice. Ham also gets…
15 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
India Doris on Haggis, Highland Cows, and Opening Your First Restaurant
On this episode of Cooking Issues , Dave and the crew are joined in-studio by chef India Doris for a wide-ranging conversation on cooking across London, France, Spain, Scotland, and New York, learning to break down whole animals in a butcher shop, the realities of restaurant labor in the UK versus the U.S., and what it actually takes to open your first place. Along the way: haggis, black pudding, game birds, owner mentality, kitchen culture, staffing philosophy, and the financial tightrope of building a restaurant from scratch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
12 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Paul Carmichael & Dennis Ngo
Dave is back with a full crew (John, Nastassia, Quinn, and Jack) plus two guests with deep Momofuku roots: chef Paul Carmichael of Kabawa and Dennis Ngo of Di An Di. The conversation ranges from New York ingredient sourcing and Caribbean flavors to the mechanics of great bread and better sandwiches—banh mi rolls vs. po’boy loaves, what makes a steak sandwich fail, and why mayo choices matter more than people admit. Quinn reports on cooking with emu eggs (carbonara, omelets, and what their texture suggests for custards and pasta), while Dave goes deep on soursop, why purées don’t compare to…
3 Mar 2026 · 1 hr 2 min
C-Y Chia and Shane Stanbridge of Lion Dance Cafe
C-Y Chia and Shane Stanbridge of Lion Dance Cafe join Dave to break down the philosophy behind their self-published cookbook—and why they closed the restaurant after four years. They discuss designing a cuisine around systems (shallot oil, chili oils, dredges, staple sauces), building menus from repeatable flavor frameworks, and writing recipes that actually teach how they think. Highlights include: vegan banana cake and Southeast Asian dessert structure; almond-sesame-shallot “ASS” cookies and sweet-savory crossover; soy-milk mayo science and high-acid balance; frying tofu nuggets with…
20 Feb 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Dark Roux on Induction, Rotisserie Heat Logic, and the Science of Better Shrimp
The crew dives into practical cooking technique: why some induction burners struggle to push a roux dark (and how throttling, pan material, and heat management affect the result), followed by a broader discussion of “high instantaneous heat, low average heat” cooking—rotisserie logic, off-and-on grilling, and moisture control strategies that build crust without overcooking. Dave also revisits shrimp quality—why wild Gulf shrimp taste dramatically better than commodity farmed blocks—and shares recent kitchen experiments, including Austrian scarlet runner beans with pumpkin seed oil and…
14 Feb 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Alex Stupak: Tacos, Technique and Beyond
Dave Arnold is joined in-studio by chef Alex Stupak to talk tacos (including the evolution of his “cheeseburger taco”), Substack-era dessert thinking, and why some techniques (and tastes) don’t hit the same a decade later. The crew detours into gumbo viscosity and the eternal question of whether s’mores should be toasted or fully incinerated. Along the way: freezing clams to open them, Manhattan clam chowder ethics, American cheese brand loyalty, film-forming gels, and what the modernist cooking wave looks like in hindsight—plus why “simple” food is dominating menus right now. Hosted on…
1 Feb 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
No Tangent Tuesday: Unnecessary Flourish
Dave kicks off another anything-goes Tangent Tuesday with a stack of updates: upcoming guests Paul Carmichael and Dennis (with Momofuku/Kabo context) and a correction on the “German” drop-off that turns out to be Austrian—complete with scarlet runner beans and pumpkin seed oil for the canonical salad. From there it’s pure free-association cooking brain: the French galette des rois vs. other king-cake traditions, why grill marks are mostly a bad signal (and grill pans are worse), and Dave’s long-running dream of a bar “piñata service” that doesn’t involve handing drunk people a bat—now…
24 Jan 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
Biscuits, Bouillon and Beyond
This week is a rapid-fire run of Cooking Issues staples: why most store carrots are trash (and why frozen veg is usually the correct move for pot pie), biscuit technique tweaks (including grating frozen butter), and a pie-crust method that splits the fat for a “medium” flake. From there it’s gear-and-systems nerdery: a Seattle Ultrasonics knife test, pro home-kitchen “hacks” (deli containers, tape/Sharpie, restaurant-supply pans, freezing bases), and a long, detailed breakdown of home carbonation—carbonators, cold plates vs. chillers, line materials, compensator taps, and why soda guns lose…
17 Jan 2026 · 1 hr 1 min
No Tangent Tuesday: Full Boat
The crew checks in live from Rockefeller Center and quickly veers from Patreon housekeeping into Polymarket absurdities, restaurant closures, and the grim mechanics of auctioning off a closed kitchen. Jean details liquidating equipment (including a Rationale), while Dave unloads on bureaucracy, safety grounds left floating inside a brand-new Bosch oven, and the theoretical physics of jacking oven temps via PT1000 resistance sensors—plus reversible home steam-injection hacks that don’t involve drilling holes. Quinn talks risotto-style oats and fresh milling, and Dave breaks down grain…

About Cooking Issues with Dave Arnold

The new home for Dave Arnold's weekly show "Cooking Issues", where he tackles listener questions on anything food and cooking related. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cooking Issues with Dave Arnold is a English arts & books podcast from Cooking Issues. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Cooking Issues
Language: English
Category: Arts & Books
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 1 hr 1 min
Latest episode: 27 Sep 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1572356745
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