By focusing on teaching people the essentials of what makes food taste good rather than simply handing them recipes, Samin Nosrat’s début took the cookbook world by storm. She joined GT’s David Matthews in the studio with some salt, fat, acid and heat to discuss a key cooking question: what is it that actually makes a good meal good?

In an Australian exclusive and as part of just a handful of international media given access, Noma invited Gourmet Traveller to walk through the yet-to-open Noma space. Your tour-guide? None other than charismatic and visionary chef René Redzepi himself. Readers and listeners can join the tour in a special extended version of the Gourmet Traveller podcast, Set Menu out today.Split across seven buildings joined by glass and steel walkways, the restaurant is set in an urban farm next to a manmade lake, and will become a new restaurant every four months as the season shifts focus from seafood to vegetables to game.It’s an ambitious launch, with Redzepi gambling his reputation, his business and the livelihood of his team on a restaurant like no other. And the stakes are all or nothing, he says. Eleven buildings, 250,000 screws, 80 staff, 40 seats, a 10-week waiting list, $475 a head. “If it doesn’t work out, there’s nothing else.”

Elizabeth McCall is a whiskey master taster, sensory scientist and Kentucky native. This week she sits down with Gourmet Traveller’s Pat Nourse and a few bottles of Woodford Reserve.

Chief Restaurant Critic Pat Nourse and Mitch Edwards from Australian Pork deliver the ham hacks you’ll need to get you prepped for Christmas day and we chat entertaining with Melbourne chef Matt Wilkinson and his partner, Sharlee Gibb.

In this episode we chat with Australia’s seafood maestro, Josh Niland of St Peter in Paddington. He sits down with Gourmet Traveller’s Dave Mathews to discuss his whirlwind year and how to cope with any seafood-related Christmas angst. Also on the show Gourmet Traveller Editor Sarah Oakes talks to our Senior Food Editor Lisa Featherby about how to get out of some classic tight spots in the kitchen on Christmas day.

We have a caffeine-heavy chat with Single O Coffee buyer Wendy De Jong and the team behind Melbourne’s Tivoli Rd Bakery, Michael and Pippa James call in to the office.  Plus the opening of our pop up Christmas boutique.

Mark Megahey of Redfern’s Ciccone & Sons tells us about the art of making really good gelato.

In this episode of Set Menu our host Samantha Teague talks to Harriet Leigh, the Head of Hospitality at Archie Rose Distilling Co in Sydney about gin drinking, distilling and mixing. Harriet, in her wisdom, makes a very strong case for the gin old fashioned.

“It’s amazing what two wog boys from Melbourne can do,” says Chris Lucas (owner of Chin Chin and Kisume). Lucas sits down with Maurice Terzini (Icebergs) to compare their long history of opening restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne. Kristen Allen walks us through making our own cheese at home and we pop ​in to Ramblin' Rascal in Sydney for a quick Negroni masterclass.

In this episode we hear the incredible story of Orana, Gourmet Traveller’s new restaurant of the year. Through his food and his foundation Orana Chef Jock Zonfrillo is redefining what we think of as ‘Australian food’.