We chat with Yotam Ottolenghi about keeping it simple. Also on this week’s show: recipes for a homemade Christmas with Yvette Van Boven; the secret of Taiwan’s beef noodle soup; how to make herb salts; and J. Kenji López-Alt on the science of vinaigrettes.

Questions in this Episode

“I would like to challenge Milk Street to help me perfect a recipe that I have unsuccessfully tried many times. It is called Bienenstich and it comes from Germany! It is a pastry with a vanilla pudding whipped cream filling with an honey almond topping. The filling and topping are not a problem. However the pastry is. Since the flour is very different here than Europe, the pastry is too dry and tough. I hope that you will accept this challenge and can recreate this marvelous dessert.”

" I recently inherited my grandmother’s Guardian waterless aluminum roasting pan. I’m familiar with cast iron and feel comfortable with it, but when I look up waterless aluminum, I mostly just find videos of people making what appears to be a soggy roast chicken. I would love to know some tips on how to use it effectively and also how to clean it so that I don’t ruin it.

"The Scottish style sticky pudding you have listed on your website baked in a Bundt pan looks very interesting. I have a fine quality German steaming pan I have used for Christmas puddings in the past and would like to do the sticky pudding in it instead of the Bundt pan. Do I need to make any alterations to the recipe if I use my steaming pan instead of the Bundt listed in the recipe?”

This episode is brought to you by Bob’s Red Mill, Ferguson, and Butcher Box.