This Is TASTE

Genevieve Ko is a deputy editor of New York Times Cooking and the Food section, as well as a prolific cookbook author and collaborator. Here we have such a great time catching up about all things cookbooks, food media, and what it’s like to help run one of the best, and most popular, sections at the New York Times. We talk about Genevieve’s collaborations with chefs like George Mendes, Pichet Ong, and many others. We also discuss the problem with calling an ingredient “trendy” and share some thoughts on the recipe reply guy. I really loved catching up with Genevieve, and I hope you enjoy this talk.Read more from Genevieve Ko: Pulled Pork Is Easier Than You Think [New York Times] The Irresistible Thrill of Kung Pao [New York Times] The Endless Torment of the ‘Recipe?’ Guy [New York Times] Read: My Portugal: Recipes and Stories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tokyo-based journalist Craig Mod is part journalist, part ethnographer, and part performance artist, and we’re really happy that he stopped by the studio for a lively chat. While he may not be a household name (yet), those in the know about such topics as digital book publishing, Japan, and multiday walks around Japan respect Craig’s incredible body of work. This is a wide and deep conversation about food trends in Japan, where you should visit in the country outside Tokyo, and Craig’s unique style of publishing—all based around his Special Projects membership program. It was such a pleasure to get to know Craig Mod, and we hope you enjoy this conversation. And subscribe to Craig’s latest walk around the Kii Peninsula, taking place October 4-17.More from Craig Mod: Electric Bike, Stupid Love of My Life [official] I Walked 600 Miles Across Japan for Pizza Toast [Eater] The Life of One Den [Ridgeline] A Long Walk in a Fading Corner of Japan [New York Times] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reem Assil’s cookbook, Arabiyya, shows that great hospitality is easy to pull off—as long as you have enough pomegranate molasses to go around. In this lively episode, we talk to the Bay Area chef and activist about her inspiring career, which has taken her between the kitchen and the community—and sometimes to the poker table. Yes, Reem is a hell of a poker player, and we dive into that. We also talk about her zaatar hookup and how she is crystallizing  a “Pali-Cali” (that would be Palestinian-Californian) style of cooking. Get to know Reem Assil a little better on this fun episode.More from Reem Assil: Sumac Spiced Chicken and Muhammara [Today Show] Reem’s California [official] Telling the Story of Arab Home Cooking, from Beirut to the East Bay [TASTE] Ramy [Hulu] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s not often that we get to speak with an NBA legend on the show, but Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler is no average NBA legend. He’s a coffee geek, just like us, and we talk about his exciting new company, BIGFACE, and what inspires Jimmy’s love for all aspects of coffee, including the farming, cupping, and barista work. We also talk about food in the NBA and hear about the coffee orders of some of his Heat teammates. Also on the show, we catch up with Ashley Rodriguez. Ashley is the boss barista behind the popular podcast and newsletter Boss Barista, and we welcome her to the show to talk about all things coffee. We learn about Ashley’s long history working in coffee—as a writer and leader in a movement toward education and equality. We talk about the idea of “sweetness” in coffee, and together we go through her method in tasting and grading coffee. We also tackle the big topic of espresso. Is it a net positive for coffee? I loved catching up with Ashley and hope you learn a little bit more about one of the world’s most popular beverages.More from Jimmy Butler and Ashley Rodriguez: Jimmy Butler Wants to Sell You a $100 Cup of Coffee [Fast Company] Loyalty Isn't Real [Boss Barista] How to Actually Taste Coffee and Forget About Those “Notes of Blueberries” [TASTE] The Coffee Issue [TASTE] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve long been fans of cookbook author and creative thinker Molly Baz, and many of you have, too. With a signature voice and absolutely wild recipe development skills (as well as years of professional cooking under her belt), Molly has won over millions of fans worldwide. Her book Cook This Book was a New York Times Best Seller, and we talk about some of the many things she’s been up to since its release a little over a year ago. We find out about her move from New York to the West Coast, as well as what it was like growing up in New York’s Hudson Valley. We really enjoyed catching up with Molly on this really great episode.Also on the show, contributing editor Aliza Abarbanel joins Matt to talk about what’s on their minds: Quarter Sheets, late-summer apples, samgyetang roasted chicken, A24 merch, the great B. O. Boys podcast. They also play a game involving Chex Original Party Mix and ASMR. More from Molly Baz: The Club by Molly Baz [official] Hit the Kitch [Youtube] Baz to Basics [TASTE] Into It With Sam Sanders [official] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stefano Secchi is a modern pasta master and the chef behind New York City’s hit restaurant Rezdôra. In this entertaining episode, we dive into the ins and outs of making hundreds (sometimes thousands) of fresh tortellini, ravioli, and gnocchi a day. We also talk about what it’s like running the restaurant attached to one of New York’s most difficult reservations, and how screening an episode of the TV show The Bear might hit a little too close to home for the chef. We loved getting to know Stefano, and we hope you do, too.More from Stefano Secchi: At Rezdôra, a Fresh Voice in Italian Cooking for New York [New York Times] Make Fresh Pasta in Literally 5 Minutes [Youtube] Where to Eat in Piedmont, According to a Chef Who Mastered His Craft There [Bon Appetit] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bettina Makalintal is a reporter at Eater who previously served as associate print editor at Bon Appétit and a staff writer at VICE’s Munchies. We’re big fans of Bettina’s erudite and internet-first journalism, and we wanted to have her on the show to discuss it all. We talk about her home cooking feeds on Instagram and TikTok, and we dive into how her natural curiosity drives her to find answers to the most esoteric food and cooking questions. Why are so many cakes shaped like domes? Why are reservations for hot tables so impossible to land these days? This is such a great conversation with one of food media’s strongest voices today.Also on the show Matt catches up with Contributing Editor Aliza Abarbanel to talk about two recent New York Times articles that got them thinking.More from Bettina Makalintal and NYT Food: The Unlimited Potential of Meat-Free Asian Cookbooks [Eater] The Return of the Hot Table [Eater] It’s Time to Take Suburban Food More Seriously [Vice] Does Anyone Drink Hot Coffee Anymore? [NYT] The Endless Torment of the ‘Recipe?’ Guy [NYT] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Bear. We all love The Bear, the hit restaurant drama from FX. And we love The Bear for good reason. The show was the talk of TV this summer, and it’s still gaining popularity. Courtney Storer is a Los Angeles–based chef and the show’s culinary producer. That means she’s behind the show’s hyperrealistic cooking scenes that are now legendary. On the show today, we find out how Courtney translates her decade of professional cooking experience for the actors, and how growing up in Chicago informed the way she thinks about food. Get to know Courtney Storer on this entertaining episode of the TASTE Podcast.More from Courtney Storer: The Bear Glossary [Uproxx] At Home with Courtney Storer [L&G] TASTE Podcast 123: Ayo Edebiri [TASTE] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you found your way into the world of Suzy Karadsheh and the megapopular YouTube channel and website The Mediterranean Dish? We sure have, and it’s changing the way we cook. Born and raised in the cosmopolitan Mediterranean city of Port Said, Egypt, Suzy was just a boat ride away from countries like Italy, Turkey, Lebanon, Greece, and Israel. In this episode, we hear Suzy’s unique story that had her leaving Egypt to attend college in the United States and eventually settle in Atlanta, Georgia. We talk about her new cookbook, The Mediterranean Dish, and what excites her in the kitchen today. Also, loud hummus!Also on the show, we catch up with Salvadoran poet and author Javier Zamora about his remarkable new book, Solito. This is such a great episode, and we hope you enjoy it.More from Suzy Karadsheh: Kofta-Seasoned Ground Beef Pita Sandwich [Mediterranean Dish] Mediterranean Cooking Expert Suzy Karadsheh’s Favorite Things [Barrons] Buy: The Mediterranean Dish and Solito. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alice Feiring is our guest today, and we have a great conversation that goes to some unfamiliar places. Alice is a journalist and celebrated wine writer, and she’s also the author of many great wine books, including 2019’s Natural Wine for the People, a prophetic look at the natural wine movement that has swept the drinking world away. She also wrote The Battle for Wine and Love: or How I Saved the World from Parkerization. That would be a reference to wine critic Robert Parker, and we talk about major shifts in the wine world over the past decade, as well as Alice’s interest in the wines of the country of Georgia. But we mostly talk about her incredible new memoir, To Fall in Love, Drink This. We read it in two sittings, and it has so many great stories to cover. What a fun episode.More from Alice Feiring: The Feiring Line [official] How a Wine Writer Spends Her Sundays [NYT] So Everything’s a Natural Wine Bar Now? [PUNCH] Buy: To Fall in Love, Drink This Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices