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Burnt Toast

Food52food52.com
Food intersects with our lives in more ways than we think. Food52's Burnt Toast podcast chases those stories to give listeners the perfect pieces of snackable dinner-party fodder—all inside of a commute's time.
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Episodes

Part II: Meet the Inventor of the Roto-Broil 400

After our episode about the vintage rotisserie machine that still has a cult following, we received an email from the son-in-law of the inventor, Leon Klinghoffer. Today’s episode is his story.

Jun 29, 201715 minEp. 63

Twin Peaks' Kyle MacLachlan Makes a Damn Fine Cherry Pie

(It's true!) Kyle MacLachlan swings by the Food52 offices to make a cherry pie with us, and we sit down to ask him about Agent Dale Cooper's approach to food, his own, and how he got into winemaking.

Jun 15, 201717 minEp. 62

Chicken Boy

The story of a 22-foot tall fried chicken mascot that became the Statue of Liberty of Los Angeles—and one artist’s decades-long quest to find him a new home.

Jun 01, 201723 minEp. 61

Myths and Magic of Milk

Throughout history, the same thing we eat with our morning cereal has inspired myth, magic, and superstition—like the fact that if you don't sit still after drinking a glass, it'll turn to cheese in your stomach. We speak with historian Deborah Valenze to dig into our complicated relationship with milk, sparing none of the strangest misconceptions.

May 18, 201718 minEp. 60

The Worst Food in White House History

One presidential term goes down in history as serving borderline inedible food to the thousands of guests who dined there. What was on the menu, who was responsible, and the revenge theory behind it all. This episode of Burnt Toast was produced by Gabrielle Lewis and Kenzi Wilbur. Thanks also to Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, the founders of Food52— and to Laura Mayer and Andy Bowers at Panoply. Our ad and theme music is by Joshua Rule Dobson; All other music in this episode is by Blue Dot Se...

May 04, 201720 minEp. 59

Meet the Roto-Broil 400

This countertop rotisserie has a lively cult following for producing the juiciest, spit-roasted birds. Our reason to be suspicious? It was made in the 1950s. We put one to the test to find out if this machine *really* makes the best chicken,

Apr 06, 201715 minEp. 57

Why is There No Pie Emoji?

We ask—and then we try to change emoji history. Learn how an emoji gets made as we submit our pie emoji proposal to Unicode.

Mar 23, 201717 minEp. 56

The Kit Kat Jingle That Almost Wasn't

We track down the composer of one of the catchiest jingles of all time—the jingle that opened new factories it was so popular—to learn its surprising origin story.

Mar 09, 201715 minEp. 55

Season 2....Coming Very Soon!

We'll be back on March 9th with a new season --and a whole new look. Here's a sneak peek.

Mar 06, 20171 minEp. 54

I Propose a (Wedding) Toast (Rebroadcast)

This episode digs into the art of the wedding toast—let it serve as an example of what to do, what not to do, and what to never even think of doing if you're asked to speak. We asked for your best and worst toast stories—here they are. This episode is a rebroadcast from June 30, 2016.

Feb 23, 201727 minEp. 53

Jonathan Gold on L.A. Food, Anonymity, and Thousand-Year Eggs (Rebroadcast)

Getting 30 minutes in a room with L.A. restaurant critic and Pulitzer-winning food writer Jonathan Gold is a little like feeding the man himself a single taco. We do it anyway. Listen as we discuss City of Gold—the new documentary featuring him—plus the role of a critic, the insignificance of anonymity, and the great mosaic that is L.A. food. This episode was originally released on March 24, 2016.

Feb 09, 201730 minEp. 52

Simply Nigella Lawson (Rebroadcast)

Nigella Lawson, the domestic goddess herself, on cooking as necessity over therapy, how she doesn't entertain, and about making up her own words. This episode is a rebroadcast from November 5, 2015.

Jan 26, 201732 minEp. 51

Michael Pollan, Ten Years After the Omnivore’s Dilemma (Rebroadcast)

Does Michael Pollan always follow his own food rules? Does he truly believe sustainability is economically feasible? We talk to journalist and one of today's important voices in food about these things—and you tell us how his work has impacted your life. This episode was originally released on August 11, 2016.

Jan 12, 201721 minEp. 50

Fat Isn’t Bad, Stupid Is Bad (Rebroadcast)

Or so says food writer Michael Ruhlman, who wants to know if you know what’s in your food. He wants to restart the conversation around this—and change the way we talk about what we eat. Today, we hear why he thinks kale isn’t healthy, and what we can do to be better cooks, eaters, and shoppers. This episode was originally released on February 11, 2016.

Dec 29, 201626 minEp. 49

Someone Put A Diaper On The Turkey (Rebroadcast)

We asked you to share your holiday disasters—the biggest flubs, the most comically tragic things that inevitably happen when everyone comes together for the holidays. You delivered. Here are the best of the worst—and here’s to reminding ourselves that whatever happens this year, it could probably be worse. This episode was originally released on December 17, 2015.

Dec 15, 201618 minEp. 48

Man vs. Meatloaf (Rebroadcast)

Kenji López-Alt of Serious Eats’ Food Lab fame just published a book, and it’s 900 pages of hard cooking science and strong opinions. We learn what makes him and his recipes tick, then decide to tackle his 8-page meatloaf recipe on our own. Is it all worth it? This episode was originally released on October 22, 2015.

Dec 01, 201628 minEp. 47

Calvin Trillin's Thanksgiving Campaign: Spaghetti Carbonara Day (Rebroadcast)

In honor of Trillin's campaign to change the national Thanksgiving dish from turkey to spaghetti carbonara, we ask him to read his 1981 essay. Listen to him tell the tale of the very first Thanksgiving dinner, and then maybe start a campaign of your own. Happy Thanksgiving, turkeys. This episode was originally released on November 24, 2015.

Nov 17, 201610 minEp. 46

On Co-Authoring and Chef Whispering (Rebroadcast)

We talk to New York Times writer and prolific cookbook author Melissa Clark about co-authoring. We find out what it’s like to get inside someone else’s voice, why the process is a little like dating, and all about the infamous Tuna Casserole Bread from the first cookbook she ever wrote. This episode was originally released on July 18, 2015.

Nov 03, 201625 minEp. 45

Who Wins the 2016 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks? (Rebroadcast)

Today's the first day of our annual NCAA-style cookbook tournament, so we asked for your predictions. Hear who our judges and readers think is going to win—and hear from a bookstore owner who's running her own competition—in today's episode. This episode was originally released on February 25, 2016.

Oct 20, 201613 minEp. 44

The Genius Recipes that Change the Way We Cook (Rebroadcast)

Kristen Miglore— our mighty Creative Director and colleague—has been surfacing recipes from food luminaries that promise to change the way we cook for the past 5 years. She collects them in her James Beard Award-nominated column, Genius Recipes, and also in a New York Times best-selling book by the same name. This episode goes behind the scenes on how she chooses them, those that have taken on a life of their own, and what it is, really, that makes a recipe genius . This episode was originally r...

Oct 06, 201628 minEp. 43

What’s Different About Getting a Food Job Now?

We revisit a topic from one of our earliest episodes of Burnt Toast—and the one you’ve listened to most: first food jobs, and advice for future food writers. Listen to how co-founder of Food52 Amanda Hesser and founder of Lucky Peach Peter Meehan got to where they are now, and hear if any of their advice has changed.

Sep 09, 201623 minEp. 41

The World of Wacky, Wonderful Road Trips

Go see the World's Largest Peanuts (yes, there are two) or the World's Oldest Ham—We'll tell you what to eat and what to listen to along the way. Welcome to the great American road trip season. Happy travels, listeners.

Aug 26, 201624 minEp. 40

Michael Pollan, Ten Years After the Omnivore’s Dilemma

Does Michael Pollan always follow his own food rules? Does he *truly* believe sustainability is economically feasible? We talk to journalist and one of today's important voices in food about these things—and you tell us how his work has impacted your life.

Aug 11, 201620 minEp. 39

That Time We Tried to Ship Turkeys Across the Country

We go behind the scenes of the Food52 Shop, which celebrates it's third anniversary this summer, and talk with founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs about what it's like to run a food business, what we've learned, and the mistakes we've made--including, yes, shipping fresh turkeys on Thanksgiving.

Jul 29, 201624 minEp. 38

Simply Nigella Lawson (Rebroadcast)

Nigella Lawson, the domestic goddess herself, on cooking as necessity over therapy, how she doesn't entertain, and about making up her own words. This episode is a rebroadcast from November 5, 2015.

Jul 14, 201632 minEp. 37

I Propose a (Wedding) Toast

This episode digs into the art of the wedding toast—let it serve as an example of what to do, what not to do, and what to never even think of doing if you're asked to speak. We asked for your best and worst toast stories—here they are.

Jun 30, 201626 minEp. 36

Judith Jones and Her Life in Food

This is part two of a conversation with the legendary editor. Last time, we talked Julia Child and Judith’s work as a cookbook editor—but Judith is a cook herself, too. This time we go inside Judith’s kitchen and talk about her own personal intersection with food.

Jun 16, 201615 minEp. 35

Lunch with Judith Jones at the Best Restaurant in Manhattan

In part one of a two-part series, we talk to Judith Jones, legendary editor of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Hear about her work with cookbooks and their authors (think: Marcella Hazan, Marion Cunningham), and learn why, even still, she wouldn’t call herself a cookbook editor. And: There’s a Julia Child impression or two in here, just for fun.

Jun 02, 201621 minEp. 34

What We Cook When We Don't Feel Like Cooking

This was the subject of our most popular post on Food52 last year, so we asked more of you for your back-pocket, too-tired-to-cook meals. We all have them—here's what you said, plus our tips for riffing and making them even faster.

May 19, 20169 minEp. 33
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