'Anything's Pastable' and 'My Life in Recipes' explore viral pasta and family history
Sep 6, 2024
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Dan Pashman, a James Beard Award-winning podcaster, and Joan Nathan, a celebrated cookbook author, explore the intersection of food and culture. Pashman discusses his innovative pasta projects and shares how he created a viral pasta shape, encouraging home cooks to embrace simplicity. Nathan dives into her Jewish heritage, highlighting the importance of family recipes, such as matzo ball soup, that connect personal history with culinary traditions. Together, they celebrate food's ability to tell stories and foster family bonds.
Dan Pashman's cookbook encourages home cooks to creatively experiment with non-traditional pasta sauces, promoting culinary innovation and versatility.
Joan Nathan's 'My Life in Recipes' intertwines memoir and Jewish culinary heritage, illustrating how family history shapes food traditions and recipes.
Deep dives
The Evolution of Recipes Over Time
Time is a crucial ingredient in cooking, as recipes evolve and adapt with each generation. As families share their food traditions, they often make slight modifications or significant changes to reflect their personal tastes and experiences. This natural progression highlights how communal knowledge impacts cooking, allowing flavors and techniques to grow and diversify over the years. Acknowledging these transitions enriches the culinary landscape and offers fresh perspectives on classic dishes.
Dan Pashman's Innovative Approach to Pasta
Dan Pashman gained recognition for creating a new pasta shape called Cascatelli, designed to enhance the eating experience by improving forkability, sauce clingage, and tooth sinkability. His passion for experimenting with food is reflected in his cookbook, 'Anything's Possible', which encourages home cooks to try non-traditional pasta sauces and break free from the common red sauce recipes. For instance, he suggests innovative pairings like scallion oil bucatini with a fried egg and a cavatelli with roasted artichokes, demonstrating the versatility of pasta beyond the conventional options. Pashman's work promotes creativity in the kitchen, making it clear that culinary experimentation is accessible to everyone, regardless of their cooking background.
Joan Nathan's Personal Culinary Journey
Joan Nathan's new cookbook, 'My Life in Recipes', serves as both a memoir and a culinary exploration of her Jewish heritage through recipes. She emphasizes the importance of memories and family traditions, often reflecting on how her matzah ball soup varies from her ancestors' methods, fostering a connection to her roots. The book includes anecdotes about her life, her family's influence on her cooking techniques, and the evolution of recipes through migration and adaptation. With a focus on the emotional ties to food, Nathan's work encapsulates not just cooking, but also the stories and cultural history that each dish embodies.
Anything's Pastable and My Life in Recipes, new cookbooks from Dan Pashman and Joan Nathan, get personal in very different ways. Pashman, the James Beard Award-winning podcaster, sets out to revolutionize our relationship with pasta, while Nathan's 12th cookbook blends recipes and memoir to trace her family history through Jewish cuisine. In today's episode, Here & Now's Robin Young talks with Pashman about food innovation, his viral pasta shape and why home cooks shouldn't sweat over homemade sauce. Then, NPR's Ari Shapiro joins Nathan at her home to discuss Jewish holidays, her family's immigration story and the perfect matzo ball soup.
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