This Is TASTE

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

Andy Baraghani started his professional cooking career as a teenager at the legendary Berkeley, California, restaurant Chez Panisse, and he was truly just getting started. After working as a line cook at Estela in New York City, he was hired as the food editor at Tasting Table and eventually found his way to the Bon Appétit test kitchen, where he worked for over six years and won the hearts of many with his exceptional cooking instruction and kind heart. Andy’s rich story and sharp recipe writing chops come together so beautifully in his new book, The Cook You Want to Be. In this episode, we talk about the book and some of the recipes inspired by his Iranian heritage, as well as learning some of Andy’s golden cooking rules. We also find out about the three-course tasting menu that he cooked to land his gig at BA so many years ago. What a great conversation!Buy: The Cook You Want to Be Additional Reading: Andy Baraghani’s Essential Kitchen Tools [Bon Appetit] How Andy Baraghani Became the Internet Boyfriend of Our Dreams [Out] Andybaraghani.substack.com [Substack] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve been talking a lot about food TikTok in the office, and we’ve written about TikTok, too, but we haven’t had a bona fide TikTok star on the show until now. Eitan Bernath has over two million followers on the platform, and we talk about what makes a great TikTok video, what he ate growing up in Teaneck, New Jersey, and how his first cookbook, Eitan Eats the World, expresses his love of many foods, including a deep interest in Indian cuisine. It’s a really great conversation.Buy: Eitan Eats the World  More from Eitan Bernath:   @eitan [TikTok]  $500 Wagyu Steak: Amateur vs. Chef [YouTube] Spaghetti & Meatballs | Brother vs. Chef: Cooking Challenge [YouTube] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was such a treat to have Sara Jenkins on the TASTE Podcast, and this conversation really delivers. Matt has followed Sara’s career for over a decade, dating back to her amazing restaurants Porchetta and Porsena in New York’s East Village. We talk about her childhood growing up in Beirut and Italy—and how, to this day, she returns to the Tuscan farmhouse her family bought in the 1970s for their annual olive harvest and some of her recent writing on TASTE.Also in this episode, TASTE editors Anna Hezel and Matt Rodbard discuss three things each of them have been excited to eat, cook, watch, and read lately.Additional Reading and Listening: Who Called the Carbonara Police? [TASTE] A Very Roman Rice Ball [TASTE]  Substack’s Food Fellows [release] TASTE Podcast 71: Eric Kim  Buy: Olives and Oranges and The Four Seasons of Pasta Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of the TASTE Podcast, we talk to chef, writer, and activist Jenny Dorsey. Jenny has beat Bobby Flay on Beat Bobby Flay and shown the internet how to make Spam-filled wontons, but she’s also the founder of the nonprofit Studio ATAO, which creates educational tools for food publications and organizations to think inclusively and equitably about their work. We talked about how VR goggles can shift the social dynamics at a dinner table, what makes a good neighborhood restaurant, and the astounding amount of research she put into writing the official cookbook for Avatar: The Last Airbender.Buy: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Official CookbookAdditional Reading:  The Virtuous, and Virtual, Activism of Studio ATAO [TASTE] Toolkit for Recognizing, Disrupting, and Preventing Tokenism in Food Media [Studio ATAO] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve made it to 100 episodes, and it feels like we’re just getting started. Thank you for listening—we have some amazing things in the works and can’t wait to share them with you. Our guest this episode is a legend in the food podcasting world. Dan Pashman is the creator and host of the long-running podcast The Sporkful. In this fun conversation, we learn about how Dan pivoted his career from producing radio (including a stint with Marc Maron at Air America) to launching his own series that dives deep into all areas of food. We discuss what makes a great Sporkful episode and learn about Dan’s recent adventure of inventing a pasta shape. How do you invent a pasta shape? We’ll find out. We also ask Dan about some of his home cooking adventures and hear about an exciting new book in the works.Additional Reading and Listening: Everything You Need to Know About Cascatelli [The Sporkful] Are The Jell-O Heirs Cursed? [The Sporkful] Are Shallots Bull$#!t?  [The Sporkful] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For coffee fans and professionals, there is no more critical resource than the website and media company Sprudge, and we were really happy to have a lively conversation with Sprudge’s cofounder Jordan Michelman. While we do discuss the evolution of the so-called third-wave coffee bar around the globe, we also dive into Jordan’s career in journalism and discuss some of his memorable stories for TASTE and beyond. He won a James Beard Award for his PUNCH story on mineral water, and we talk about how he reports on topics with an interest that borders on obsession.Buy: The New Rules of Coffee Additional Reading: The Future of Ice Cream Is Here, and It’s Vegan [TASTE] Seltzer Is Over. Mineral Water Is Forever. [PUNCH] My Favorite Cold Brew Isn’t Cold Brew at All [TASTE] What Your Hangover Food Says About You [TASTE] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For many followers of the home cooking internet, Jenny Rosenstrach’s Dinner: A Love Story has been a steady hand holding the whisk for the past decade. She recently released the New York Times best seller The Weekday Vegetarians. As the name suggests, Jenny’s vision is of a world where plant-based eating becomes more of a Monday-through-Friday habit than a life-altering stricture. In this fun conversation, we talk about cookbooks, writing a weekly newsletter, and what’s next for one of our favorite food writers around.Also in this episode, TASTE editors Anna Hezel and Matt Rodbard discuss three things each of them have been excited to eat, cook, match, and read lately.Additional Reading, Listening, and Cooking: The Weekday Approach to Eating Less Meat [TASTE] The Roast Chicken Conspiracy [Cup of Jo] Black Calamari Orzo [Kalustyans] Should You Write a Cookbook? [Everything Cookbooks] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices