Hello, Home Cooking with Ham El-Waylly

Hello, Home Cooking with Ham El-Waylly

From Cooking Issues with Dave Arnold by Cooking Issues

March 22, 2026 · 1h 2m

About this episode

Dave Arnold interviews chef Ham El-Waylly about his new cookbook and various cooking techniques and cultural influences.

This week, Dave is joined by writer and chef Ham El-Waylly to talk about his new book, Hello, Home Cooking, out March 24. The conversation bounces from book-tour fatigue and the strange rituals of cookbook promotion to Ham’s childhood in Qatar, censored video game magazines, and the eternal question of how much pronunciation flexing is too much. From there: Brazilian hot dog parties, frozen pearl onions, pickled quail eggs, tostones technique, mashed potatoes cooked directly in milk, breakfast sausage without sage, tea as broth, and why sweet potato fries are still on thin ice. Ham also gets into the real mission of the book—helping people cook food that is actually achievable on a weeknight, without pretending every meal needs to be the greatest thing ever made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Dave Arnold

Guest: Ham El-Waylly

Topics covered

  • cookbook promotion
  • home cooking
  • weeknight meals
  • cooking techniques
  • cultural influences

Keywords

  • cookbook
  • home cooking
  • cooking techniques
  • weeknight meals
  • Qatar
  • Brazilian hot dogs
  • pickled quail eggs
  • mashed potatoes
  • sweet potato fries

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Hello, Home Cooking

Places: Qatar

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