On this episode of To Taste, host Cody Reiss interviews his oldest friend, Ben Bechelli about HOT SAUCE — just in time for pepper season! Ben is chef, gardener, and owner of the hot sauce company Fantasma, churning out seasonal, ingredient-forward hot sauces using Ben's homemade peppers, out of Oceanside, California. Cody and Ben talk about growing peppers, fermenting the essential ingredients, blending, balancing, and coming up with unique flavors. After you listen, head to the market, grab some peppers, and make yourself a batch of hot sauce. And let us know in the comments who we should interview next :) 

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Ben Bechelli is a chef, currently running the food program at Steady State coffee shop in Carlsbad California. He's also the owner of Fantasma hot sauce, for which he grows all the peppers in his backyard. You can follow him at instagram.com/sustainably_braised. 

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To Taste is made by Cody Reiss (@codyreiss), with art by Ben Bechelli (@sustainably_braised), and Music by Justin Kohlberg (@m.o.o.n.r.u.n). If you liked this episode, give us a follow, set alarms for future episodes, and leave us a review :) Also make sure to check out Cody's food and travel writing Substack at www.codyreiss.substack.com. Thanks for listening and let us know who else we should interview and what other topics we should cover in the comments!

CAKE! Chocolate cake, carrot cake, olive oil cake... honestly... cake! Today host Cody Reiss chats — you guessed it — cake with Sasha Piligian, the wonderful pastry chef supplying her own beautiful baked goods to some of LA's best cafes. Cody and Sasha talk about oil-based cakes, cody's failures, and frosting options. Sit down, grab a fork, and enjoy <3 

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Sasha Piligian is a pastry chef who's worked at Gjusta and Sqirl, and now runs her own baking business in Los Angeles, supplying baked goods to places like Canyon Coffee, The Community Goods, lil east coffee among others. She offers bespoke cake commissions for weddings & events, and you can follow her on instagram at @sashimi1

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To Taste is made by Cody Reiss (@codyreiss), with art by Ben Bechelli (@sustainably_braised), and Music by Justin Kohlberg (@m.o.o.n.r.u.n). If you liked this episode, give us a follow, set alarms for future episodes, and leave us a review :) Also make sure to check out Cody's food and travel writing Substack at www.codyreiss.substack.com. Thanks for listening and let us know who else we should interview and what other topics we should cover in the comments!

Eric Sze, chef and co-owner of 886 and Wenwen in New York City, joins host Cody Reiss to talk about: SCALLION PANCAKES! Expect a deep dive into the ingredients and process of making scallion pancakes, and Eric's one big, surprising non-negotiable. 

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To Taste is hosted by Cody Reiss (@codyreiss), with art by Ben Bechelli and music by Justin Kohlberg of Moonrun. Make sure to give us a follow, leave a review, and set alerts for new episodes please dear god. You can follow us on Instagram @totastepodcast, and if you like this kind of stuff you'll probably also like Cody's Substack, To Taste (codyreiss.substack.com). Ok. Okay. Enjoy <3 

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To Taste is made by Cody Reiss (@codyreiss), with art by Ben Bechelli (@sustainably_braised), and Music by Justin Kohlberg (@m.o.o.n.r.u.n). If you liked this episode, give us a follow, set alarms for future episodes, and leave us a review :) Also make sure to check out Cody's food and travel writing Substack at www.codyreiss.substack.com. Thanks for listening and let us know who else we should interview and what other topics we should cover in the comments!

The one and only ALICE WATERS of Chez Panisse joins us this week to talk about SALAD!!!! Alice, of course, is an absolutely legend of california cuisine that has done so much for the world of organic food and produce, local and seasonal eating, and food education, and in this episode she talks us through her salad awakening and how she thinks about them when she makes them at home. 

To Taste is a podcast by Cody Reiss that explores the intuitive side of cooking by diving deep into a new food every episode. Let us know in the comments what chef or food person we should interview next, and what dish or ingredient you want us to explore. 

Whether it's a caesar salad, cobb salad, chopped salad, or yes, even tuna salad, there's nothing quite like it... that's because, well...it's... just...salad! 

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To Taste is made by Cody Reiss (@codyreiss), with art by Ben Bechelli (@sustainably_braised), and Music by Justin Kohlberg (@m.o.o.n.r.u.n). If you liked this episode, give us a follow, set alarms for future episodes, and leave us a review :) Also make sure to check out Cody's food and travel writing Substack at www.codyreiss.substack.com. Thanks for listening and let us know who else we should interview and what other topics we should cover in the comments!

On the debut episode of To Taste, Cody talks with Lex Weibel, a senior staff editor and recipe developer at NYT Cooking, about the art of grilled cheese, and how to become a more intuitive cook. 

Follow us on instagram @totastepodcast, and let us know who else you want to see on the show and what topics you want to hear about! 

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To Taste is made by Cody Reiss (@codyreiss), with art by Ben Bechelli (@sustainably_braised), and Music by Justin Kohlberg (@m.o.o.n.r.u.n). If you liked this episode, give us a follow, set alarms for future episodes, and leave us a review :) Also make sure to check out Cody's food and travel writing Substack at www.codyreiss.substack.com. Thanks for listening and let us know who else we should interview and what other topics we should cover in the comments!