Arielle Johnson, bitters enthusiast and flavor chemical collector, joins Dave Arnold and Nastassia Lopez in the studio for this week's episode of Cooking Issues. Listen in to hear Dave talk about his mashed potato nightmares, and why a swinging bucket centrifuge is the ideal centrifuge for a home kitchen. Want to cook a burger in seconds? Try ohmic heating! Later, hear answers to questions about the food safety considerations of re-using soda bottles for carbonation. Dave, Arielle, and Nastassia give some tips on making vermouth at home, and what can be done to enhance the apertif's flavor and color. Want to make better rice noodles? Finally, learn some wheat science on this week's Cooking Issues! This program has been brought to you by Fairway Market.

"Another way to cook things is to strap electrodes to the food and use the food itself as a resistor. That's the principle behind ohmic heating." [26:35]

"Whenever you're bringing liquid nitrogen into the bar, you need to have a lot of safety training." [53:15]

-- Dave Arnold on Cooking Issues

What do we taste in a glass of wine? Here to help answer that question on Taste Matters is Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni, an entrepreneur, accomplished industrial designer and fine art consultant – not to mention the owner of Querciabella, one of Tuscany's most prestigious wine-producing estates. Sebastiano and Mitchell discuss the importance of biodynamic wines, terroir and taste. Learn more about how the soil ends up dictating the taste of wine and why cover crops are so essential in biodynamic wine production. Hear about lunar and solar gravity as it relates to plants and sustainable agriculture models that can help preserve the earth. This program was sponsored by Whole Foods Market.

"A good glass of wine is a wine that has a sense of place, history and breed. What I find interesting in a wine is when it tells me a different story."

"If you use chemical products, you're poisoning the planet, the plants and the final product."

"Cover crops are really the key to biodynamic wines."

--Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni on Taste Matters

This episode of Taste Matters is not for the squeamish! This week the topic is blood, as guest host Izabela Wojcik gets bloody delicious with guest Brad Farmerie of Public, Saxon + Parole & AvroKO. Tune in as they discuss why game, organ meats, ofal and blood gets chefs so excited and why it will always be a secret handshake amongst the food elite. Why are these foods considered taboo? How does whole animal cooking promote sustainable eating? Is a pig blood popsicle really something you want to eat? Find out why the answer is YES on a bloody good edition of Taste Matters. This program was sponsored by Hearst Ranch.

"Once you understand the chemical makeup of blood, cooking with it becomes much easier"

"Blood will never be trendy. It will always be the secret handshake amongst chefs and food people."

--chef Brad Farmerie on Taste Matters