Noah Rothbaum and David Wondrich help us uncover the history of the cocktail, from the invention of drinks like the Long Island Iced Tea to the colorful characters who left their mark on the art of bartending. Plus, we learn the story behind the iconic Kit Kat jingle, “Gimme a Break,” Adam Gopnik considers the pleasures of cooking and eating with your hands, and we use powerhouse pantry ingredients to make a quick noodle sauce.

This episode is brought to you by Matter of Fact.

Questions in this episode:

"I’m Ukrainian and my wife is Polish, so I make a lot of pierogis. I’ve found that whenever I double the dough recipe to make a big batch of any sort of dumpling, I always end up with less dough than I expect. What could I be doing wrong?"

"I have a question about washing vegetables before roasting them. For example, if I wash cauliflower or Brussel sprouts before putting them in the oven, they don’t get caramelized. What’s the solution?"

"I received a gigantic three liter bottle of olive oil as a gift. I usually try to buy small quantities of olive oil so it doesn’t go rancid, so I’m wondering how I should store this olive oil once I open the bottle."

"Why does tahini seize when you add water to it?"