Paella

Paella

Paella isn't the rice — it's the pan. Or at least, that's where the name comes from. And in Valencia, where the dish was born, there's even a body that certifies which versions have earned the name and declares the rest "crimes against rice." Yet the seafood paella the whole world orders? The purists barely count it. We get into the authenticity war, the official ten-ingredient list, why a whole category gets written off as "rice with stuff," the one ingredient that starts fights, and how a field worker's lunch became a prince's dish. Plus the no-stir rule behind a crispy socarrat, and the dry Sherry that goes in the pan before it goes in the glass. For the glass, the Tonic con Cosas — a low-ABV cooler of Manzanilla Sherry, dry Spanish vermouth, citrus, and tonic, built off a Rebujito and a Bamboo and finished with a rosemary sprig. For the full recipes and more, become a premium subscriber at https://sauced.supercast.com/ [https://sauced.supercast.com/] Follow us on Instagram: @sauced.pod [https://www.instagram.com/sauced.pod/] Thanks to all of this week's partners: G4 Tequila: https://pkgdgroup.com/g4-tequila/ [https://pkgdgroup.com/g4-tequila/] Underberg: https://underbergamerica.com/ [https://underbergamerica.com/] Check out Wikipaella: https://wikipaella.org/ [https://wikipaella.org/]

Steak au Poivre

Five Paris chefs claimed to have invented Steak au Poivre in the early 20th-century. Four of them wrote letters of complaint to the same 1950 culinary magazine. The fifth had the best story. We dig into the origin fight, Julia Child's surprising position on the flambé, the chemistry behind why pre-ground pepper is inferior, and a red wine pairing that mirrors the pepper on a molecular level. For the glass, Americans in Paris — an Armagnac sipper built off the Vieux Carré, finished with a fresh crack of pepper over the top. For the full recipes and more, become a premium subscriber at https://sauced.supercast.com/ [https://sauced.supercast.com/] Follow us on Instagram: @sauced.pod [https://www.instagram.com/sauced.pod/] Thanks to all of this week’s partners: El Ateo Tequila: https://pkgdgroup.com/#our_brands/ [https://pkgdgroup.com/#our_brands/] Underberg: https://underbergamerica.com/ [https://underbergamerica.com/]

Beer Can Chicken

Beer can chicken is the dish that defies its own science. The most credible American barbecue scientists tested it and concluded the beer in the can does almost nothing the cook thinks. Backyard chefs from Memorial Day to Labor Day have kept doing it anyway — and so will we. Today, we dig into the contested origins — including a 1993 Houston Chronicle article that puts the technique in former President George H.W. Bush's kitchen — the science that quietly buried it, the geometry that actually makes the bird crisp, and a thought experiment about a Mexican spirit at the right strength. We pair it with Coq au Can — a beer-cocktail highball in light and dark. Follow us on Instagram: @sauced.pod [https://www.instagram.com/sauced.pod/] Thanks to all of this week’s partners: Asil Raicilla de la Sierra: https://pkgdgroup.com/#our_brands/ [https://pkgdgroup.com/#our_brands/] Underberg: https://underbergamerica.com/ [https://underbergamerica.com/]

Clams Casino

Clams Casino has a paperwork problem. A Rhode Island maître d' named Julius Keller claimed to invent the dish at the Narragansett Pier Casino in 1917 — but a January 1900 menu from the Central Park Casino in New York City, held in the New York Public Library, predates him by 17 years. And neither one was a gambling house. We dig into both origin claims, the Portuguese-American "stuffies" tradition in Rhode Island that may pre-date both, and how to take a working man's ingredient and dress it up — a three-way move on the pork, a strong opinion on breadcrumbs, and a rethink of which booze actually belongs in the topping. We pair it with the Central Park Casino — an aquavit dirty Martini with a pureed olive brine, named for the 1900 menu that started the argument. For the full recipes and more, become a premium subscriber at https://sauced.supercast.com/ [https://sauced.supercast.com/] Follow us on Instagram: @sauced.pod [https://www.instagram.com/sauced.pod/] Thanks to all of this week's partners: Mezcal Ultramundo: https://pkgdgroup.com/post/ultramundo/ [https://pkgdgroup.com/post/ultramundo/] Underberg: https://underbergamerica.com/ [https://underbergamerica.com/]

Tiramisu

Tiramisu's origin is contested. One claim puts it in a Treviso restaurant in 1972. Another places it in Friuli, more than a decade earlier. But zabaglione — the dish's direct ancestor — has always been defined by sweet Marsala. The booze was the family inheritance dropped at Tiramisu's birth, and added back by everyone since. This week: the 1972 Le Beccherie story, the rival Friuli claim that pre-dates it, why the original was kept deliberately sober, egg-safety concerns, and where we actually land on the booze. The cocktail: The Red Hook — Vincenzo Errico's 2003 Manhattan variation from Milk & Honey NYC, with a coffee-bitters thumbprint that ties it back to the dessert. For the full recipes and more, become a premium subscriber at https://sauced.supercast.com/ [https://sauced.supercast.com/] Follow us on Instagram: @sauced.pod [https://www.instagram.com/sauced.pod/] Thanks to all of this week's partners: Arriesgado Ancestral Tequila: https://pkgdgroup.com/#our_brands/ [https://pkgdgroup.com/#our_brands/] Underberg: https://underbergamerica.com/ [https://underbergamerica.com/]