This week, we dedicate the entire episode to answering your bread baking questions with two brilliant bakers and teachers, King Arthur’s very own Jessica Battilana, Staff Editor, and Martin Philip, King Arthur’s Baking Ambassador. While King Arthur has taught millions of people to bake through their school, website, and classic cookbooks. They only now have published a book devoted entirely to bread, The King Arthur Baking Company’s Big Book of Bread . Francis, Jessica, and Martin take listener ...
Mar 07, 2025•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we're all about the world of restaurants and flavor. First, we talked with Andrew Friedman about his career, writing about American food culture, chefs, and the restaurant scene. He talks to us about his latest project, spending time behind the swinging doors of a restaurant and how all the kitchen roles—from the butcher to the delivery drivers to the dishwasher make the dish you sit down to enjoy. His latest book is The Dish: The Lives and Labor Behind One Plate of Food . Then we...
Feb 28, 2025•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're taking the show on the road this year to celebrate our 30th Anniversary! This week, we bring you to our first stop, Indianapolis, in partnership with WFYI. We dig into the local food scene with restaurateur Martha Hoover, founder of Cafe Patachou and the Patachou Foundation. We talk to her about her start as a prosecutor turned restaurateur and how the restaurant scene has changed over her 35-plus years running a restaurant in Indianapolis. Then, we welcome Samir Mohammad of 9th Street...
Feb 22, 2025•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we talk to two award-winning authors about their latest work. First, The New York Times cooking columnist Melissa Clark talks to us about her deep dive into the world of salt. From exploring salt harvesting in France to the history and revival of artisanal salts, she walks us through different types of salt and their uses in cooking. She sticks around to answer your cooking questions. Melissa Clark's latest book is Dinner in One , and for a taste of her style, check out her recipe...
Feb 14, 2025•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, food columnist for The New York Times Magazine, Lisa Donovan, joins us to talk about what she's been cooking up recently and help answer our listeners' kitchen conundrums, from making the best tomato paste despite out-of-season tomatoes to using unsweetened chocolate in baking recipes. Lisa is the author of the memoir Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger , and she leaves us with a recipe for a lovely Tarte Tatin to add to our repertoire. Then, we head over to Philadelphia, where we me...
Feb 07, 2025•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week it’s a look at the different Lunar New Year celebrations in China, Vietnam, and Korea. First, Sarah and Kaitlin Leung talk about their Chinese New Year traditions and the symbolism behind the dishes they serve at their new year table. Sarah and Kaitlin, along with their parents, Judy and Bill, are the family behind The Woks of Life blog and cookbook, and they shared their family recipe for Poached “White Cut” Chicken . Then, Andrea Nguyen, author of Vietnamese Food Any Day , talks abou...
Jan 31, 2025•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we’re all about the Mediterranean dish. First, we sit down with New York Times bestselling author Suzy Karadsheh. Suzy talks about “eating the Mediterranean way,” growing up in a region with a plant-forward cuisine, Levantine cooking, using dried fruits in savory recipes, and making simplified Mediterranean recipes at home like her Flaky Veggie Phyllo “Pizza.” Suzy is the founder of The Mediterranean Dish.com and the author of The Mediterranean Dish: Simply Dinners. Then, we step into...
Jan 24, 2025•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we welcome the cold with delicious soup! Food Stylist Mariana Velásquez Villegas, author of Colombiana: A Rediscovery of Recipes and Rituals from the Soul of Colombia talks us through Colombia's biodiversity and regional identity and the unique foods it inspires like Sancocho . This hearty stew brings people together in a communal dining experience. Be sure to listen to her playlist while preparing it! Then, we talk about Haitian cuisine with award-winning chef Gregory Gourdet as ...
Jan 17, 2025•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we’re spending the hour with the charming and beloved Irish cooking teacher and writer Darina Allen. It’s a spirited conversation about growing up in a country kitchen, her love of eating, and the single moment she decided to pursue her career in cooking. She tells us about her organic farm at the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland, shares her unusual and brilliant teaching style, and explains why learning to cook and connect to nature is one of the greatest life skills anyone can a...
Jan 10, 2025•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we explore some of the iconic dishes of the Midwest. First, we talked to chef Paul Fehribach about Midwestern cuisine and the history of its unique dishes as they evolved from generations of immigrants. From the evolution of Midwestern-style barbecue to Cincinnati chili , considered by Paul to be one of the oldest examples of fusion cooking. Paul Fehribach is the author of Midwestern Food, A Chef’s Guide to the Surprising History of a Great American Cuisine. Then, we take a field trip...
Jan 03, 2025•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we have just what you need to prepare for this holiday season. First, award-winning author and food scientist Nik Sharma shares his favorite holiday traditions and food pairings that will make your vegetables shine at the table. He is the author of Veg-Table, Recipes, Techniques and Plant Science for Big-Flavored, Vegetable-Focused Meals , and he left us with his recipe for Stuffed Cabbage Rolls . Then, the internet’s most beloved cooking star, Claire Saffitz, brings us her top holida...
Dec 27, 2024•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we’re all about community and coming together for the holidays. First, we talk to Lisa Kyung Gross, founder of The League of Kitchens , a unique cooking school where women from all over the world, welcome you into their homes and teach you how to make one of their family recipes. She talks about the delicious recipes she has collected in her new book, The League of Kitchens Cookbook: Brilliant Tips, Secret Methods & Favorite Family Recipes from Around the World. She leaves us with...
Dec 20, 2024•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we’re all about discovering the secret of cooking—and exploring an iconic French Dish. First, Award-winning food historian Bee Wilson talks to us about her latest book, The Secret of Cooking: Recipes for an Easier Life in the Kitchen . She talks about how to find the joy in cooking with real-world advice, from embracing your favorite kitchen tool to considering cooking as a remedy. She left us with her recipe for Magic Pasta with Mushrooms, Garlic Cream, and Wine . Then, food writer S...
Dec 13, 2024•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s the holiday season, and we’re kicking it off this week with some sweet treats. First, food editor and recipe developer Ben Mims joins us with his latest project, covering over 300 cookie recipes from Asia to the Levant to Scandinavia to the Caribbean. The varieties are astonishing. We get into cookie styles, the fascinating ingredients in regional cookies, and the hundreds of flavor combinations. Ben is the author of Crumbs: Cookies and Sweets from Around the World . And he left us with a r...
Dec 06, 2024•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s our favorite time of year – Fall Cookbook season! We’re joined by baker Samantha Seneviratne, author of Bake Smart , who tells us about her favorite baking techniques, including a butter trick that creates the creamy texture in her Gooey Cranberry Crumb Cake . Then, chef and content creator Jon Kung talks about his debut cookbook, Kung Food: Chinese American Recipes from a Third-Culture Kitchen . He tells us about his cultural identity as a “third-culture kid,” how he experienced multiple c...
Nov 29, 2024•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Join us for Turkey Confidential , our must-listen-to annual Thanksgiving Day broadcast! This year’s guests are Andrea Nguyen author of Ever Green Vietnamese, Super Fresh Recipes Starring Plants from Land and Sea , Dallas-based chef Tiffany Derry of Roots Southern Table and The Great American Recipe on PBS, Washington Post Food Editor and author of Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking , Joe Yonan and pastry chef Paola Velez author of Bodega Bakes, Recipes for Sweets and Treats Inspired by My ...
Nov 28, 2024•2 hr 56 min•Transcript available on Metacast We are a week away from Thanksgiving, and this week, Award-winning authors J. Kenji Lopez-Alt and Deb Perelman give us the best advice on making the perfect Thanksgiving spread. From gravy hot takes to best brining practices and the ideal way to cook a perfect turkey we have you covered. J. Kenji López-Alt and Deb Perelman are co-hosts of "The Recipe with Kenji and Deb" podcast. Deb left us her recipe for delicious dinner rolls, Sour Cream & Chive Fantails . Then, we move on to del...
Nov 22, 2024•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we are all about getting you ready for your Thanksgiving feast! First, cookbook author Amy Thielen sets us up with tips on keeping the holiday stress-free and enjoyable. She shares her remarkable thinking around “turkey secrets,” talks us through some of her favorite techniques for stuffing and starters, and leaves us with her amazing alternative to mashed potatoes, Fun House Baked Potatoes . Her latest book is Company: The Radically Casual Art of Cooking for Others. Then, Chef Eric R...
Nov 15, 2024•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora This week, we talk about comfort food around the world. First, Yotam Ottolenghi tells us about his latest book, which is filled with recipes for his favorite comfort foods. He talks about what it is about specific dishes that evoke emotional reactions, from taste to texture to memory like his recipe for “Thousand” Hole Pancake. Yotam’s latest book is Ottolenghi Comfort written with his collaborators Helen Goh, Verena Loch...
Nov 08, 2024•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast When it comes to cooking, do you follow a recipe to a T, or do you do a little improv? This week, we learn a lot about cooking by feel with the star of the Peabody and Emmy-award-winning show A Chef’s Life, Vivian Howard. She talks to Francis about how she “deprogrammed’ herself from precision cooking and started thinking outside of a written recipe. Plus, she sticks around to help answer your cooking questions. Vivian’s latest book is This Will Make It Taste Good . Then , we take advice from th...
Nov 01, 2024•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Cookbook season is back, and we talk to the authors of some of our favorite picks. We're joined by Carolina Gelen, who talks to us about learning how to cook, her favorite Romanian dishes, and how she comes up with her signature recipes like Butter Beans alla Vodka , a fast, one-pot dish inspired by the famous vodka pasta sauce. Carolina is the author of Pass the Plate: 100 Delicious, Highly Sharable, Everyday Recipes. Then, Sonoko Sakai tells us how to “wafu” our food! Wafu means Japanese i...
Oct 25, 2024•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we dedicate the hour to the fabulous Dorie Greenspan. We talk about her start in food, from burning her kitchen down when she was a pre-teen to her love for project baking early in her career and becoming the iconic writer and cookbook author we know today. She shares stories about meeting Julia Child, working alongside high-level pastry chefs, including France’s Pierre Hermé, and her highly- creative process for writing recipes. Dorie is the author of 14 Cookbooks, including the best...
Oct 18, 2024•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we sit down with two chefs at the top of their craft. First, we talk to legendary baker Richard Hart about the inspiration behind his new book, Richard Hart Bread: Intuitive Sourdough Baking. He fills us in on why he thinks that humble bakers are the best bakers, how he really is just a simple “yeast farmer” and he shares his r ealistic thoughts on how to keep a sourdough starter. Check out his amazing recipe for Rye Wrapped in Fig Leaves . Then, we talk with chef Ashleigh Shanti abou...
Oct 11, 2024•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we dive into the new spice trade, its history, and two specific companies' commitment to their farmers and direct trade. First, we talk to Sana Javeri Kadri, founder of Diaspora Co. She talks about her research on what the spice trade should look like today and what inspired her to base her business on the stories of spice farmers worldwide. Check out this recipe for Almond Turmeric Potatoes to put your turmeric to work. Then, we talked to Ethan Frisch, Co-Founder of the direct tr...
Oct 04, 2024•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we sit down with Evie McGee Colbert to talk about her latest book, co-authored with her husband, Stephen Colbert. She tells us about the dynamics in her family’s kitchen, the joys and challenges of cooking together during the pandemic, Charleston food traditions, and we take a listener question from one special caller! Evie’s latest book with her husband, Stephen Colbert, is Does This Taste Funny?: Recipes our Family Loves. She leaves us with her recipe for Salt and Pepper Wings . The...
Sep 27, 2024•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
