This week on Cooking Issues, Dave Arnold and Nastassia Lopez are talking gummies, meringue, studying food science, and sous vide! Tune in to hear Dave offer his suggestions for making a small appetizer that includes prawns and herb gels. Find out if food processors ruin the flavor of lemongrass. Listen in and learn more about spinning lemon and lime juice, exotic spices, and the best way to cook a prime rib! Dave answers a listener question about continuing education in food science; is it better to learn in a restaurant or in an academic setting? Can melatonin be used as an antioxidant in food? Can pig bladders be used for light sous vide work? Find out on this episode of Cooking Issues! This program has been brought to you by Tekserve.

"If you're going to use a dehydrator, you want to dehydrate [a methylcellulose meringue] at 130-5 degrees Fahrenheit, but you're going to want to store it 110-120 degrees- much lower than 135 degrees- because if you store it at a high temperature and cook it for a long time to hold it, it's going to start tasting cooked." [6:45]

-- Dave Arnold on Cooking Issues

This week on The Naturalist, Bernie Wides and Carol A. Butler recap the year in science. Tune in to learn some about fascinating recent developments in the scientific community including the possible sale of genetics tests in Wallgreens! Tune in and learn more about global warming, climate change, Alzheimer's Developments & Similarities between Humans and Worms. This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch; the nations largest single-source supplier of grassfed and grass-finished beef.

Dr. Craig Venter

This week on Taste Matters, Mitchell Davis has a conversation about the science of good taste with guest Barb Stuckey, author of "Taste What You're Missing." Find out why smell, sight and other senses play more into taste than you realize. What happens when a food's color doesn't match it's taste? How do eating environments affect how we taste things? Hear more interesting questions and conversations on sensory perception on this week's show. This program was sponsored by Hearst Ranch.

"Innovation has to hurt a little bit, otherwise you aren't innovating."

"We have so many choices when it comes to food in this country. If people buy something that they don't like, there's something right around the corner that will satisfy their taste desires. It's about creating something that people crave and enjoy first, and nutrition usually comes second."

"We taste using our tongue and there are only five things that we taste; sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and umami. Anything else we experience is not a taste, it's something else all together."

--Barb Stuckey, author of "Taste What You're Missing" on Taste Matters