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From paletas to patbingsu, a wide range of icy, creamy treats to keep cool this summer. We’re going around the world to taste the creations from five different countries. We’ll help you avoid brain freeze.

Definitely more frequently than Chinese and Indian or Swedish and Thai, it seems like whenever a cook wants to bridge two cuisines in their kitchens, it’s Mexican and Korean; or maybe Mexican and Southern. Coming up on this week’s show’s, a chat with a pair of chefs talk Mexican Fusion. First, the co-owner of a successful chain in Atlanta and Nashville, Eddie Hernandez joins us to talk about a new book, Turnip Greens & Tortillas, all about his blending of Mexican and Southern cooking. Then, a Korean-American who has adopted tacos and burritos, and given them a kimchi twist for college kids and millennials. David Choi, the chef and owner of Seoul Taco talks about Korean and Mexican flavors.

Dan Salls has worked in bars, did a two-year stint as a financial advisor, then took the leap and started a company called The Salsa Truck, which not only served busy Chicagoans lunch, but did catering as well. Since the summer of 2016, he has been the owner and driving force behind Quiote, one of the city’s most dynamic, casual yet modern Mexican restaurants, with a serious mezcal program. Dan accepted our challenge this week, using potatoes as the main ingredient. He and Rick both attempt to make an easy weeknight meal in 15 minutes or less.

We are talking coffee this week. First Rick and Steve welcome Metric Coffee’s Xavier Alexander to the show. Metric Coffee is a collaboration between the owner of Caffe Streets in Chicago and the former Roasting Manager at Intelligentsia. It roasts all of its beans on a restored, 1961 Probat UG 15 coffee roaster. (Just now, a few coffee geeks listening got super-excited.) Then, they are joined by Hannah Neuschwanger, the Communications Director at World Coffee Research, whose mission is to grow, protect and enhance supplies of quality coffee while improving the livelihoods of the families who produce it.

The annual Pizza Expo draws several hundred vendors and thousands of attendees, for a three-day conference. Steve Dolinsky is in the middle of writing a book on pizza, so headed to Las Vegas for the annual event. He wanted to take a more holistic approach to the subject of pizza, so he began by looking for someone who knows something about flour to make a great crust. Then he went in search of the perfect toppings to create a perfect pie.

In the Midwest, Memorial Day is the serious start of the summer and grilling season. On this week’s show: we talk grilling with Mr. How To Cook Everything, Mark Bittman. Then chat with Ethan Brown, the guy behind Beyond Meat, a company selling products in more than 20-thousand stores and restaurants in the U.S., including his Beyond Burger, the first plant-based meat to be sold in the meat aisle.

On this week’s show, a rhubarb challenge with Debbie Gold, the Chef of Tied House in Chicago, as she and Rick attempt to come up with an easy weeknight meal in 15 minutes or less, using just some rhubarb, plus five extra ingredients you can find pretty much anywhere.

Belgium is a tiny country. You might think of chocolate as its most famous export, but beer is just as important, if not more so. There are nearly 200 breweries in this country of about 11 million people, so you know beer there is practically a religion. Belgian beers have been the go-to, the Valhalla, the king of the beer geeks’ preferred beverage. Coming up on this week’s show, we dive deep into the world of Belgian beers, with a few experts. We’ll talk to a legendary bar owner, Michael Roper, carries more Belgians than just about any bar in the U.S. Then we’ll meet a pair of brewers, each of whom are producing some Belgian-style beers, right here in the middle of the country. Claudia Jendron, the Head Brewer at Pipeworks Brewing here in Chicago. Claudia has worked has brewed beers for some of Chicago’s best breweries. And Tom Korder is the Founder of Penrose Brewery in bucolic Geneva, Illinois gives us a lesson in Belgian-style session ales, aged in oak barrels with alternative fermentation.

The James Beard Awards, yes, the food industry’s “Oscars” are set to take place yet again in Chicago on Monday, May 7th, but you can bet a lot of industry people are in town the weekend before, and they all have one thing on their mind: where do we eat (and drink)? So, we’re giving you the lowdown on where to do both, like a local, as we talk with Michael Gebert, the founder of the local food site fooditor.com that does quite a bit more than just listicles and Top 7 places to grab brunch. Then, we’ll meet Sharon Bronstein, one of the women behind the first-ever Chicago Style, a cocktail conference going on for four days after the Beards. Talk about a hangover. We’ll have all that, plus a note about pizza tours in Chicago. We’re rolling out the red carpet, and you don’t even need an invitation.

We do an annual cookbook show in December, intended as ideas for holiday gifts, but it seems like every week there’s another book or two to check out. Coming up on this week’s show, we dive deep into two books. Chef Bill Kim has been the driving force behind such restaurants as Urban Belly and Belly Q. He joins Rick and Steve to talk about his new cookbook Korean BBQ: Master Your Grill in Seven Sauces. Then we switch to kefir, that glorious fermented milk with Julie Smolyansky, CEO of Lifeway joins them to talk about her new book The Kefir Cookbook.

Fennel has the potential to be as divisive as cilantro, in that either you love it or hate it. It’s so closely associated with anise and licorice – another polarizing item. On this week’s show, a fennel challenge with the Chef Jill Barron of Mana Food Bar in Chicago, as she and Rick attempt to come up with easy weeknight meals in 15 minutes or less, using just some fennel, plus five extra ingredients you can find pretty much anywhere.

A taste of Chinese food from the source, but not the usual dim sum or Peking duck. This time, it's all about the fiery, chili-laced food of the Sichuan Province. Rick Bayless talks to a few chefs about what it's like to cook there, then Steve Dolinsky joins him for a visit to Chicago's Chinatown to see how the hot pot experience stacks up.

On this week’s show, we dive deep into the world of Italian rice, with the author of a new book on the subject. Chef John Coletta is a respected veteran in the Chicago food community as Executive Chef and Managing Partner of Quartino Ristorante & Wine Bar. He is the author of the new cookbook, Risotto and Beyond. Rick and Steve talk about risotto of course, but also soups, one-pot meals and even dessert.

It is Spring and for many people in the beer-loving community, that means Bock. German in origin, it’s a strong lager, usually dark, malty and lightly hopped. This week we dive deep into maibocks, helles bocks and don’t forget doppelbocks. We might even spot an eisbock along the way. We’ll talk to a couple of bar owners who know as much about beer as my co-host does about Mexican food. Then a pair of brewmasters stop by to share some of their handiwork.

You may have thought pistachios were just for eating out of hand or maybe sprinkling on a Middle Eastern dessert like kanafeh or baklava. But coming up on this week's show: a Pistachio challenge with Stephen Gillanders the Chef and Owner of S.K.Y. here in Chicago, as both he and Rick attempt to come up with an easy weeknight meal in 15 minutes or less using just some pistachios, plus five extra ingredients you can find pretty much anywhere.

Building a food business, running a farm and marketing a new product all take skill and know-how; and of course money. Coming up on this week's show, The Good Food Expo comes to Chicago. We'll talk to some of the key players and discover why it's become one of the leading events of its kind in the Midwest, if not the entire country. Jim Slama, the C-E-O of Family Farmed and Producer of the Annual EXPO, the Executive Chef of Fat Rice in Chicago, Abe Conlon, and one of the nation's leading experts, Michael Harlan Turkell, author of "Acid Trip: Travels in the World of Vinegar" tell us why we should care about these potent potables. Garden Educator, Corenna Roozeboom from Big Green schools us on gardening programs for students. And Kara Babinec is the Director of Sales and Marketing at Gunthorp Farms in LaGrange, Indiana on Meat Labeling: What's the Meaning Behind the Label?".

We've heard for years that overfishing is a problem and farm-raised fish often have diseases. How do we as consumers, sort through the confusion presented by both sides? Coming up on this week's show, we talk with Sean Dimin creator of "Sea To Table," a distribution company that partners only with wild caught fisheries on both coasts to help bring the best fish to your door. Then, we learn about "craft raised" salmon. We talk with Max Depondt, Midwest Marketing Manager at Skuna Bay Raised Salmon. They maintain nets off the Western coast of Vancouver Island, where they assure customers there is a way to responsibly raise seafood. And finally Steve and Rick talk with Peter Adame, Seafood Watch Engagement Coordinator for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. They monitor ocean health and created a standard that restaurants, fisherman and farmers all subscribe to.

Coming up on this week's show: service. How to hire, train staff and then deliver it with the utmost grace and professionalism. We'll talk with the founder of one of the most successful restaurant groups in the country, then spend time behind the bar with a successful Bar Manager on a busy night, and finally, shadow a server and Floor Captain at one of the world's best restaurants. We're happy to make special arrangements, accommodate dietary restrictions and do whatever we can to ensure you have a pleasant listening experience.

Coming up on this week's show, a Winter Citrus challenge with Bo Fowler, chef and owner of Owen & Engine here in Chicago, as both she and Rick attempt to come up with an easy weeknight meal in 15 minutes or less using just some citrus, plus five extra ingredients you can find pretty much anywhere. Fowler emigrated from Korea and was raised in Minnesota, where she attended the University of Minnesota and, like all future chefs, got a bachelor's degree in Chemistry. She has opened two restaurants in Chicago: Fat Willy's Barbecue Shack and just up the street, an English gastropub called Owen & Engine, where the menu features much more than just ale and meat pies. She joins us here in the test kitchen, to work out a main dish relying on winter citrus.

The issue of sexual harassment in the food and beverage industry. On this week's show, we talk with Brett Anderson, reporter at The Times Picayune in New Orleans who broke the John Besh story, then speak with two women - both of whom are chefs working within successful companies - one in Chicago, the other in New York City - and hear from them about what they feel the industry needs to do to right the ship. Dana Cree, pastry chef for the Publican in Chicago stops by to talk to us about the story she wrote recently for Food & Wine Magazine, then Amanda Cohen, the chef and owner of Dirt Candy in New York City talks with us about her online essay that ricocheted around the industry.