Food Network’s Giada De Laurentiis tells us about the importance of moderation, her hatred of cauliflower rice, and her initial reluctance to go on TV. Plus, we find out how a beer archeologist revives ales from antiquity, Adam Gopnik explains how a wine opener can be a symbol of your mortality and we learn to make a recipe for the Venetian dish of rice and peas known as risi e bisi. (Originally aired March 19, 2021.)

Questions in this episode:

"My husband recently bought an outdoor pizza oven. As a result, our family has been eating a lot of pizza for dinner. Do you have any suggestions for gourmet or unique pizza recipes? What about any good pizza cookbooks?"

"I am an orchestra conductor and just finished my doctoral degree, writing a dissertation about a Suite assembled by Gustav Mahler. In one of the major biographies of Mahler, they give a recipe for his favorite dessert: Marillenknödel, Austrian apricot dumplings. I'd love to get some help with the recipe."

"I make a tonic from ground ginger root starting with about 2 pounds of ginger root. When I get done with the ginger tonic, I have a cup or two of finely ground ginger root. Do you have any good ideas of what to do with the ground ginger root that I assume is much less flavorful than before I blended and extracted some of its spicy ginger-ness?"