This Is TASTE

Today we have a really cool conversation with Andrea Nguyen, the author of many popular cookbooks, including Vietnamese Food Any Day, The Pho Cookbook, The Banh Mi Handbook, Asian Dumplings, and Asian Tofu. Andrea is a writer we’ve had the pleasure of getting to know over the years, and this conversation dives into her incredible history as a cookbook author and food educator. We talk about the story behind her first book, Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, with then indie publisher Ten Speed Press, and her interaction with the enigmatic Ten Speed founder Phil Wood. We also hear Andrea’s candid thoughts on the loneliness of cookbook writing, and how her thirst for community inspired her excellent new podcast, Everything Cookbooks. It’s a really amazing chat.Also on the show, we catch up with Bianca Cruz. Bianca is an editorial assistant at Clarkson Potter and also currently attending culinary school. We wanted to have her on to talk about the ins and outs of her culinary education and what it’s like to take an actual culinary school exam. More from Andrea Nguyen: One Bottle of Fish Sauce Is Not Enough [TASTE] Killer Tofu [Chef Steps] Photographing Your Cookbook [Everything Cookbooks] Buy Andrea’s books! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re excited to welcome Dawn Davis to the show. Dawn is the editor in chief of Bon Appétit and Epicurious and a really fun person to get to know a little better. Before joining Condé Nast in August 2020, she was a longtime book editor, most recently at Simon & Schuster. So what was it like to move from the relatively glacial world of books to always-on digital and print media? It’s been a transition, no doubt. We find out how Dawn edits a modern food publication and what the modern home cook actually looks like (spoiler: there are many modern home cooks). We also find out about Dawn’s childhood in Los Angeles and what food was like growing up in one of the world’s most interesting food cities. Finally, what is Dawn’s go-to busy mom dinner? Find out.Also on today’s show, we have a great conversation with Hanna Raskin, the well-regarded journalist behind The Food Section, a Substack covering the food and culture of the American South. We talk about the ups and downs of independent publishing, and how one food reporter is driven by scoops and sunshine laws over recipe aggregation.         More from Dawn Davis and The Food Section: The Five Courses of Giancarlo Esposito’s Fantasy Garden Soirée [BA] A Restaurant Called JewFro [BA] A community over The Barrel [The Food Section] Taking down a mammy complex [The Food Section] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re so excited to be speaking with the Michigan chef Ji Hye Kim. We’ve followed Ji Hye’s incredible career in Ann Arbor, where she runs the wonderful Korean restaurant Miss Kim. Ji Hye is a Food & Wine Best New Chef and has been nominated for multiple James Beard Foundation Awards. But what makes Matt most excited about this conversation on Korean food is the chef’s deep knowledge of Korean food’s modern (and less modern) history. We talk about some of our mutual favorite Korean dishes—gamjatang certainly comes up—and we discuss how Ji Hye worked her way through the Zingerman’s training program and eventually opened her own place.Also on the show, we catch up with Jane Kelly and Jenny Hartin, two dedicated cookbook fans behind the active online community Eat Your Books. We talk about some of their favorite books from the busy spring season and the types of books they wish they saw more of in cookbook publishing.More from Ji Hye Kim: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became a Restauranteur [Medium] Ann Arbor Chef Named One of America’s Best [Detroit Free Press] Best New Chef 2021 [Food and Wine] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on the show, we welcome Molly Stevens into the studio. Molly is the cookbook author behind the “All About” trilogy—that would be All About Braising, All About Roasting, and All About Dinner. Molly is also a food educator and one of the cohosts of an amazing podcast, Everything Cookbooks, that covers the ins and outs of writing cookbooks—the highs, the lows, and the many edits. Stevens has great insight into the cookbook industry, and we were thrilled to share the mic with her.Also on today’s show, we have a talk with Lorenzo Carcaterra, the writer behind the book Sleepers, which was adapted into a 1996 film starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro. We talk about what food was like when he was growing up in Hell’s Kitchen and about his latest book, Nonna Maria and the Case of the Missing Bride.More from Molly Stevens: Grown-Up Chicken Nuggets with Herb and Radish Salad [Food and Wine] Molly Stevens Makes Roasted Carrots [YouTube] Buy: All About Braising, All About Roasting, All About Dinner  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we have some serious pizza talk—Chicago pizza talk, specifically—with a legitimate Chicago pizza expert. His name is Steve Dolinsky, and in Chicagoland, he’s known simply as the “Food Guy” (formerly the “Hungry Hound”). Steve is an absolute legend in the food writing game, and Matt talked to him about his two books on Chicago pizza, as well as diving into some other cool spots in the Windy City, one of America’s greatest food cities. We also smash a slight beef between Dolinsky and TASTE’s Anna Hezel while clearing up some misinformation about the Chicago pie (or is it a “casserole”?) that might be on your mind. More from Steve Dolinsky: A Chicago Tradition for 75 Years and Counting [NBC 5] Tavern-style Chicago Pizzas in the Pacific Northwest [Pizza City Podcast] Buy: The Ultimate Chicago Pizza Guide Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on the show, Matt is speaking with Rick Martínez, a chef, Youtube food creator, and author of the wonderful New York Times Bestselling book Mi Cocina: Recipes and Rapture From My Kitchen in Mexico. We’ve long followed Rick’s career at Bon Appétit and Food52, but we got to know him a lot better during this candid conversation. We talked about what food was like growing up in Austin, Texas, and how he switched from working a high-flying career in advertising (and living a very Mad Men–style existence, by Rick’s account) to dropping everything to work in restaurant kitchens, including at ABC Kitchen. That’s when things got interesting.Rick began working in food editorial at the Food Network and later Bon Appétit, where he worked in and out of the test kitchen—and on and off camera. We also talk about his book, which makes a great cookbook and an even better travel book. Plus, we dig into some of the regional dishes he channeled in his fresh and flavorful recipe writing. More from Rick Martínez: Regional Mexican Cooking, the Rick Martínez Way [TASTE] Author Rick Martinez on Traveling 20,000 Miles Through Mexico [CN Traveler] Rick Martínez Is on a Mission to Smash Misconceptions About Mexican Cuisine [Today] Diana Kennedy Says Goodbye to her Cookbooks [TASTE] Buy: Mi Cocina: Recipes and Rapture From My Kitchen in Mexico Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Yellow Rose opened shop in the East Village in 2020, the fresh flour tortillas and silky bean-and-cheese filling took the city by storm—never mind the early-pandemic limitations that left restaurateurs juggling between takeout and outdoor dining. In this episode of the TASTE Podcast, we talk to co-owner and chef Dave Rizo about some of these challenges, and why he and co-owner Krystiana Rizo decided to bring their style of Texan cooking to the East Village.Also on this episode, hosts Anna Hezel and Matt Rodbard make a special announcement, and producer Pat Stango joins us for a brief departure from regular programming.More from the living legend Anna Hezel: The New Rules of Nonstick [TASTE] The Great Camp Cooking Boom [TASTE] Wait, Canned Salmon Is Good? [TASTE] Why Does This One Couch From West Elm Suck So Much? [The Awl]  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve long admired the work of chef and author Einat Admony, who is behind one of America’s best falafels (New York’s Taïm) and the cookbooks Balaboosta and Shuk. In this lively conversation, we talk about Einat’s life growing up in Israel and the fine-dining career that led her to working at some heavy institutions in New York City. We also discuss her frequent television appearances and why she is the ultimate balaboosta, which is the Yiddish word that translates to “perfect housewife.” What a great talk.More from Einat Admony and Israeli food on TASTE: Chef Einat Admony Cooks From Home – and the Heart – in Kerhonkson [HV Mag] A Pita Is Born in New Jersey [TASTE] The Israel Issue [TASTE] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To the Last Bite is home cook and Tasty video star Alexis deBoschnek’s homage to her home region of New York, the Catskills! In this really fun episode, we talk about Alexis’s life growing up in a rural mountain town and how that upbringing informed the way she cooks. We also discuss her career at Tasty, where she worked on some of the internet’s most popular cooking videos of all time, including the legendary “Can This Chef Cook a 3-Course Meal With Power Tools?” video stunt. Spoiler: The chef (Alexis) most definitely can.Later in the episode, hosts Anna Hezel and Matt Rodbard talk about the weird and wonderful interactions of the chocolate chip cookie and why theses recipes and technique make for such great content.Buy: To the Last Bite     Additional Reading: Can This Chef Make a 3-Course Meal in a Coffee Maker? [Youtube] My Favorite Brussels Sprouts Recipe [Youtube] Welcome to the Chocolate Chip Cookie Wars [TASTE] Looking for Cookies in All the Wrong Places [TASTE] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Peter Reinhart, life is just one big pizza quest—a journey of flavors and textures that he encapsulates in his latest cookbook, Pizza Quest. The book offers at-home riffs on some of the most inventive, original pizzas from around the country, remixing classic regional styles with lowcountry seafood boils, bagel toppings, and (why not) potato chips. We talked about the convivial, collaborative nature of the pizza community and the pitfalls of trying to pick a favorite pie.Also on the show, hosts Anna Hezel and Matt Rodbard talk about some of the ingredients, coffee news, and vintage reality TV that’s been fueling their cooking lately.Buy: Pizza Quest and Perfect Pan PizzaAdditional Reading: The Future of Pizza Is Crunchy and Square [TASTE] The Flour Tortilla Has Ascended [TASTE] Morgan Eckroth’s 2022 US Barista Championship Winning Routine [YouTube] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices