Chef Andrea Nguyen, author of "Vietnamese Food Any Day," discusses her early life in Vietnam, Hostess fruit pies and why chicken stock is better with an apple. Plus, we chat with filmmaker Andrew Rodgers about Kinder Surprise, a chocolate egg that’s beloved worldwide but illegal in the United States; we make a simple dump-and-bake Lemon-Almond Pound Cake; and our Paris correspondent, Alex Aïnouz, explains why a good croissant is straight, not crescent-shaped.

This episode is brought to you by KiwiCo.

Questions in this Episode:

“I have decided to take my great grandmother’s cake recipe and add buttermilk to it. Is there anything I have to do if I substitute buttermilk for milk?”

“I make a lot of oven baked chicken and roasted veggies and I’ve typically used a regular pan. I’ve replaced many a pan because they’re constantly rusting. What’s your advice to get around this?”

“I often find myself cooking dishes that call for toasting spices to bring out the flavor. Every time I try to accomplish this I end up burning them or not changing the flavor at all. What am I doing wrong?”

“I have trouble cooking eggplant. When I sauté it, it’s so greasy and when I bake it, it’s not as good. So I’m wondering the best way to cook it.”

“I made a shrimp boil and I had an issue with the potatoes. After preheating the oven to 425 degrees, I placed four potatoes in the oven for 20 minutes. I taste tested the food and everything came out spectacular however the potatoes came out hard and barely edible. I placed them back in the oven for an additional 15 minutes and still the potatoes did not change. Any advice on how I can change that to make sure I get the best results without ruining the rest of the meal?”