Are Shallots Bull$#!t?

02/28/22 • 29 min

10 Listeners

Do you actually need to heat the oil in the pan before adding onions? Are fresh vegetables always better than frozen? And what’s so special about a shallot? You have lots of burning questions about recipes, ingredients, and food science, and this week, we get some answers. Daniel Holzman and Matt Rodbard, authors of Food IQ: 100 Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts, bring their culinary knowledge to The Sporkful, and take your calls. They reveal the secret ingredient for the best baked mac and cheese, explain when to start worrying about the color of raw ground beef, and separate fact from fiction around salting your pasta water.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Johanna Mayer, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. This week's episode was mixed by Marina Paiz.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Johanna Mayer, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. This week's episode was mixed by Marina Paiz.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com

Previous Episode

Mission: ImPASTAble 8 | The Pursuit Of Viscoelasticity

When cascatelli first went viral, Dan heard from dozens of listeners who wanted to try it, but couldn’t because they were gluten-free. Well, challenge accepted: Dan sets out to make a version of cascatelli without gluten, a project that’s now nearly a year in the making. Along the way, he learns about the science of starch with an Italian pasta researcher; he cold messages pasta execs on LinkedIn; and he meets a kindred spirit pasta maker who tries to make his gluten-free dreams come true. If you thought regular ruffles were a challenge, just wait until you try to make them gluten-free.

Buy Banza cascatelli made from chickpeas here!

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Johanna Mayer, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell, with help this week from Mary Diduch, Gianna Palmer, and Nora Ritchie.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Next Episode

Is Halal Pork Impossible?

Many of us grew up with rules or customs around food. For Aymann Ismail, a practicing Muslim, that meant not eating pork. But as he got older, he became curious about why eating pork was a line that even less observant Muslims wouldn’t cross. So when a new loophole product hit the market, Aymann was faced with a choice — one that brought up questions of faith, tradition, and whether changing your food habits changes who you are.

Check out Aymann Ismail’s writing and podcasts, and find Leah Koenig’s writing and cookbooks on her website.

The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Johanna Mayer, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. Editing help this week from Fernanda Aguero.

Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.