Vanilla-infused crème anglaise. Butterscotch pudding. Crème brulee (complete with a blowtorched sugar topping). Learn tips and tricks to wowing your dinner guests with these delectable egg-based custards, all the while strengthening your confidence in the sometimes tricky art of baking with eggs on the stovetop or in the oven. By the end of this lesson, you'll discover just why custards make a great dessert choice: they're surprisingly easy to bake...

Find out why spices help make Mediterranean cuisine so rich and exciting. Some of the many diverse spices you'll learn about here: ras el hanout, a complex spice mix from Morocco; charmoula, a thick vinaigrette from North Africa; za'atar, the Egyptian blend of thyme, sesame, and sumac; and even preserved lemons.

Here, get an authoritative look at stir-frying. First, get a solid introduction to this cooking technique by making a Vietnamese dish of noodles and stir-fried vegetables. Then, test your skills with a more complex Chinese stir-fry that will also make you more comfortable with handling and cooking tofu.

In this episode, learn first about distinctive African foodways that predated extensive outside contact, encompassing traditions such as rich stews and "fufu" (starch-based porridges), regional eating rituals, and important indigenous foodstuffs. Then review the surprising variety of Australian plant and animal species used in aboriginal cookery but never adopted by European settlers.

English cookery's unflattering reputation conceals a rich and varied culinary past. Consider the religious and political factors that produced a "schizophrenic" gastronomy, contrasting native and foreign influences, courtly and country cooking. Learn about the wide range of British foods, and compare recipes using odd, baroque embellishments with ideologies promoting simple, traditional fare.

Whip your more advanced baking skills and techniques into shape in this final lesson devoted to light and luscious mousses and creams. After learning how to make your own whipped cream, chocolate mousse, dessert sauces, and vanilla bean panna cotta, you'll watch Chef Durfee as he demonstrates the best ways to unmold, plate, and present your desserts with flair and your own unique touch--just like a professional chef.

Alexander's conquests heralded an era where previously unconnected cultures mixed on a large scale. Trace the diffusion of foodstuffs over vast trade networks in the Hellenistic period. Study early dietary regimens based in Galen's famous theory of the body's "humors," and the influence on food culture of philosophical schools such as the Stoics and Epicureans.

Science is transforming both how we prepare foods and the foods themselves. First, witness the meeting of science and fine dining in the ingenious creations of "modernist" cuisine. Then grasp the principles of the genetic modification of foods, its promise and potential dangers, and the implications of technologies such as cloning and hydroponics.

Embrace everything you've learned about cooking with spices by taking a classic American dish--fried chicken--and using spices to give it unique cultural twists. You'll see how a mastery of spices is the key to creating Indian, Latin American, Chinese, and Mediterranean chicken dishes, each with its own captivating flavors and aromas.

Swing down to the Caribbean to sample the flavor of the islands. Start with a skirt steak in orange mojo sauce, and move on to an original jerk chicken recipe. Then hop over to the Yucatán for a unique twist on a traditional Mexican dish. Traditionally made with marinated pork, your cochinita pibil dish here is a barbeque halibut with fire-roasted salsa and tortillas.