This week, we explore our most essential pantry staple: salt. Naomi Duguid takes us around the world to learn its history, from Cambodia to Basque Country to an underground salt cathedral in Poland, while Alex Aïnouz gets obsessed with making gourmet salt in his lab. Plus, writer Doug Mack tells the odiferous details of the Great Midwest Cheese Duel of 1935, and we make Hungarian Paprika-Braised Potatoes.

Questions in this episode:

"What are the different uses for a cloche?"

"How do I season my flat-bottomed wok without a gas stove?"

"How would you go about making a peach-cobbler oatmeal?"

"What kind of salt should I use in baking?"

"I’m following up on my alfajores recipe now that I’ve baked them with various kinds of flour."