NTT: Back from Lima

More from Cooking Issues with Dave Arnold All episodes →

1. 

   14 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 1 minNew

   NTT: The Outdoor Kitchen

   Dave gets into Ashmead’s Kernel apples, acidity, and why terroir makes fruit data unreliable before laying out plans for his ultimate outdoor cooking setup: tandoor, Roman-style hearth, masonry oven, commercial deep fryer, wok burner, and a whole lot of propane. Plus: the return of paper-bag cooking, dairy-free mashed potatoes, what to do with a country ham bone, male vs. female rabbit, getting pu-erh tea flavor into baked goods, browning breakfast sausage, low-temperature pasteurization, blood bread, cucumber cocktails, and the pursuit of better home seltzer. Hosted on Acast. See…

2. 

   14 Oct 2026 · 1 hrNew

   Dryads: Spirits of the Trees with Brian Hoefling

   Author Brian Hoefling joins Dave and the crew to explore Dryads: Spirits of the Trees , his deep dive into distilled spirits made from tree sap and other tree-derived sugars. They get into Sri Lankan arrack, Filipino lambanog, maple spirits, wild fermentation, palm sugar, garum, Roman cooking, and the surprising range of things humans have figured out how to ferment and distill. Along the way, Nastassia reports from the road on bus-made pickled eggs, pot roast, and a newly delivered Searzall Pro; Dave recaps eating and drinking his way through Houston; Quinn experiments with sesame focaccia;…

3. 

   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,…

4. 

   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…

5. 

   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…

6. 

   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.…

7. 

   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.

8. 

   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…

9. 

   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.