Journalist Rebecca Rosman tells us about the feuds and lawsuits surrounding France’s top-secret steak sauce. Plus, we chat with Saturated Ice Cream founder Lokelani Alabanza who invents new ice cream flavors, from peanuts and coke to Nashville hot chicken; we make Mexican Sweet Corn Cake; and Alex Aïnouz tells us why we should forget homemade sourdough and bake white bread instead. (Originally aired August 27th, 2020.)

This episode is brought to you by MasterClass.

Questions in this episode:

“When I make a strawberry cake, the recipe always calls to use a paddle attachment. I used someone else’s mixer who only had a whisk attachment and for some reason the cake came out much better. It was much less dense and lighter crumb. Why was this?”

“I was preparing a root vegetable gratin. It contained whole milk, heavy cream, cheese, and butter that separated into clear liquid and milk solids when we served the gratin. I'm wondering how to prevent this separation from happening?”

“I spoke to you recently about my problem with blueberry smoothies—when I would make them, they would gel. I tried Sara’s suggestion and wanted to report back on the results.”

“I work in food service and we are trying to transition to a more sustainable seafood menu. We met with local fishermen and they proposed selling us dogfish, among other under-utilized species. We tried serving dogfish in the past, but customers said that the ammonia flavor was unappetizing. Do you have any suggestions for how to neutralize a flavor like ammonia in this type of fish?”

“I've recently made a couple of different sorbets. I would like to have a little less sugar in the recipes. Is it possible to adjust the amount of sugar without affecting the consistency of the dessert?”

“I found a recipe that calls for carob molasses. Can I substitute with regular molasses?"