We chat with research chef Shola Olunloyo about the cutting-edge culinary projects he undertakes at his experimental food laboratory, Studiokitchen. He tells us about mashing up tortellini and soup dumplings, how to make bread that tastes like a malted milkshake and why he looks to jazz musicians for culinary inspiration. Plus, New Zealand chef Monique Fiso teaches us about Maori cuisine, Dan Pashman shows us how to make better pasta salad, and we make Shrimp, Orzo and Zucchini with Ouzo and Mint.

This episode is brought to you by MasterClass.

Questions in this episode:

"Why can’t I find mutton anywhere?"

"My cooking question is about French toast. For my last batch, I used vanilla flavored soy milk and it was a game changer. I’m wondering what about the soy milk made it taste so good."

"I am a novice baker and have been really intimated by the numerous varieties of apples. Are there certain varieties that are best to bake with?"

"My son and I enjoy making crepes, and we've been using the same recipe for a while. It calls for mixing the flour, water, milk, eggs, and melted butter in a blender and then letting the batter sit at least 30 minutes. It works well, but cleaning the blender is extra work and the waiting period makes it hard to whip up crepes on weekday mornings. Are both of those steps necessary?"

"Most recipes that use whole chickens call for a 3 1/2 to 4 pound chicken. But I now see whole chickens in the store that are 5 1/2 to 6 pounds! Does this skew the cooking time and the proportion of flavoring ingredients?"