We explore culinary secrets from Yewande Komolafe to change the way you cook. Plus, Gustavo Arellano takes us on a journey down the great American chile highway; we make a hearty beef stew from central Mexico; and Adam Gopnik tells us how a trip to Italy spawned an epiphany.

This episode is brought to you by Master Class.

Questions in this Episode:

“I read an article on Carbon Steel pans being better than nonstick, so I decided to buy one. But it didn’t say which size the surface area of the pan was. So I decided to get a 9-inch and when it arrived, I was disappointed that it was the size of my crepe pan. It was tiny. I wanted a 9-inch in surface area. How does one go about finding the surface area if you don’t have the pan in front of you?”

“Hello. I have a baking question. I am not a baker but a couple of days ago entered an Irish soda bread competition at my local library. My recipe came from the Sunset Bread Book. It was good, but not special. How do you get the nice, rounded, tall, craggy exterior that some of the other loaves had?”

“I have a real struggle getting baked sweet potato French fries to come out remotely crispy. I feel like I've tried everything. I soaked them overnight, I've baked them at different temperatures, I've used different types of oil, I've even coated them in flour. I would be very grateful to you if you could help me solve this riddle.”

“I see a lot of recipes that use all-purpose flour for pasta making. My Sicilian mother in law uses all-purpose flour, and semolina is pretty available, here in San Diego. Is there a real difference in the flours? Would semolina be the better choice? ”

“I’m currently in a debate as to whether it is ok to put ground spices in the freezer. I have small containers for my spice drawer, so I like to buy a bit more and store that in the freezer until needed. Am I wasting my money? Should I just buy what I need more frequently?”