Hey, Milk Street listeners. As fall approaches, I've asked Stella Parks to help me answer your baking questions.

So from spice cakes to Halloween candies and much more, we're opening the phone lines to tackle your autumn baking projects.

Please email us at questions at milkstreetradio.com.

One more time, send questions to milkstreetradio.com and we'll be in touch.

This is Milk State Radio from PRX. I'm your host, Christopher Kimble.

Today we're learning about real Japanese home cooking from one of the country's most

renowned culinary instructors,

Sonoko Sakai. She'll give us a crash course in Japanese pickles, how to make the world's

easiest broths, and the surprising way she needs her noodle dough. A kitchen aid can only need so much,

and then it gets kind of hot, and, you know, you have to stop the kitchen aid and let it rest.

And your feet can just keep going.

And the stomping on the dough activates the gluten.

Also coming up, we share our recipe for a fresh take on the chocolate cookie.

And later, Dan Pashman and I discuss the art of eating alone on Valentine's Day.

First up today, we're chatting with journalist Dave Herbert about his article, The Caviar Khan.

Dave, welcome to Milk Street.

Thanks for having me.

So let's talk about caviar.

Only the row of Baluga, Russian sturgeon, Persian sturgeon, et cetera, is considered to be authentic caviar.

And the really good stuff is incredibly expensive, right?

So after the fall of Soviet Union, all of a sudden, it's hard to get the good stuff and prices go up.

So what happens? People look for substitutes and where do they go?

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