Here's a clip from the hotly anticipated upcoming season of PBS's The Mind of a Chef, which as previously reported, features Kentucky's Edward Lee and Sweden's Magnus Nilsson. In the clip above, Lee talks about using bourbon barrel staves not as a tool, but an ingredient: "I've always dreamt about using this as food, because it smells great and actually has a flavor," Lee says. "I cook with ash, I cook with fire, I cook with wood, I cook with smoke — why can't we cook with charred bits of bourbon barrel?"

Lee explains how bison meat picks up the charred flavor from the wood, which, like any animal product, comes from a living thing. Thusly, Lee says, "I treat [it] with a lot of respect." Go, watch:

Video: Chef Edward Lee makes Bourbon Bison Carpaccio

· Chef Edward Lee makes Bourbon Bison Carpaccio [YouTube]

· All Mind of a Chef Coverage on Eater [-E-]