Obsessed with the Best: Extended Cut

·36 min·3 clips

Christopher Kimball finally speaks openly about food after 45 years, teasing a fight-filled interview with obsessive tester Ella Quintner.

This episode features an extended interview between host Christopher Kimball and guest Ella Quintner, author of the cookbook 'Obsessed with the Best.' Kimball introduces the episode by promoting his new Substack and teasing a food-focused discussion. The interview begins with Kimball comparing Quintner's obsessive testing to his own past behavior, referencing Julia Child. They debate the definition of 'best' in recipes, using poached eggs as an example where Kimball prefers a shortcut egg cup method while Quintner insists on traditional poaching for texture. Quintner explains her book includes both elaborate and quick recipes, like a two-day brined chicken versus a one-hour version. The conversation shifts to biscuits, with Kimball favoring fast recipes and Quintner preferring fussy, frozen batches. They then argue over Quintner's complex bacon recipe involving two pots and a pound symbol arrangement. Kimball and Quintner find common ground on using rye or buckwheat flour in cookies to balance sweetness. They discuss white wine in cake, with Quintner explaining alcohol's role in reducing gluten formation. The pair admit the limitations of food science knowledge, with Kimball noting experts often simplify answers. Quintner shares her preference for dry brining over wet brining for crispy poultry skin, except for shrimp where she uses a baking soda brine. She predicts cabbage will be the next trendy vegetable, citing stuffed cabbage dishes in New York restaurants. Quintner reveals her surprising discovery that freezing fresh pasta before boiling makes it chewier, based on tests in Italy and Japan. The episode concludes with plans for a future biscuit taste test and mutual appreciation.

As heard by us

A bacon test meets a cowboy breakfast, balancing careful technique with the pleasures of a messier pan.

Ella Quintner's Obsessed with the Best registers as a cookbook shaped by side-by-side testing, and this Milk Street Radio conversation is at its best when it gets precise.

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Why you'd press play

You get a bacon method, a cowboy breakfast, and a useful argument about how much fuss breakfast deserves.

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