This Is TASTE

Michelle and Suzanne Rousseau are two sisters on a mission. They want the wide world of home cooks to think of Caribbean food as more than just jerk chicken. As they explore in their latest book, Provisions: The Roots of Caribbean Cooking, the food from the West Indies is layered with the history of colonialism, slavery, plantations, and the food businesses and home cooking that arose after emancipation.On this episode, we talk about some of the women throughout history responsible for preserving these traditions and propelling the food into the 21st century. We also talk about some of the ingredients (think breadfruit, plantains, culantro) that have created a common thread in the cuisines of these islands.Later on in the episode, Matt speaks to author Gretchen Rubin, author of books including, most recently, Outer Order, Inner Calm. They talk about some of the surprising ways that a philosophy of calmness and order can apply to cooking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is no journalist I would rather talk to about Italy—and, really, talk about food in general—than Katie Parla. Her mind, her spirit, her willingness to drive around the wonderfully off-the-grid cow towns of Calabria for the sake of a book project. It’s all really special. In this episode, we talk about her decade-long obsession with the Italian South (and how this is a different thing entirely than “southern Italy”).We discuss her visiting places in Italy that “haven’t seen the Google van” and how her new cookbook, Food of the Italian South, documents it all through a really smart and articulate selection of recipes and stories. Also, Parla debunks a big myth surrounding Italian wedding soup. And that is: Most Italians wouldn’t be caught dead serving soup at a wedding. So where does its name come from? There is a story!Later on I catch up with Amy Zitelman of the remarkable Philadelphia company Soom Foods. She and her two sisters make what many (this writer included) consider to be the best tahini available in the United States. Her story about the rise of tahini in American restaurants is fascinating. And she gives some great advice about how to cook with it at home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I swear Akira Akuto and I only talked a little bit about the sandwich. What sandwich? The Sandwich. You can read about it in The New York Times: The Egg Salad Sandwich That Drew Eyes on Instagram. Sandwiches are beautiful; sandwiches are fine. But Akuto, a crazy-talented Los Angeles chef with New York City lineage, sure doesn’t want to make them all the time. In this wide-ranging interview, we talk about the opening of his new Echo Park restaurant, Konbi, and how he ditched the world of investment banking and got his start cooking in NYC at Momofuku and Franny’s. He also talks honestly about what it’s actually like to open a restaurant in L.A. these days.Also on today’s show, TASTE contributor Max Falkowitz answers a burning reader question: What exactly is uni? There’s a lot to…unpack here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Los Angeles food world has the most low-key power couple. And they are very OK keeping it low-key. Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis are the chefs and owners of two of the buzziest and most influential restaurants in the city: Bestia and Bavel. They are also the authors of a cool new cookbook: Bestia: Italian Recipes Created in the Heart of L.A. During this interview, conducted before service at Bavel, we talk about Ori’s time spent in the Israeli army and how the experience informed the way he cooks today. They also list their favorite L.A. restaurants (they name the names!), Ori reveals what Instagram is saying about Genevieve’s pastries (she isn’t on social media so has no idea), and Ori breaks down the anatomy, and runaway success, of his most popular dish: the lamb neck shawarma. I love these people.Also on the episode, Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman plays the game F, Marry, Kill with three favorite chocolates. I love Deb, too! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

British journalist and cookbook author Yasmin Khan writes about Palestinian food tasting alive. But what does that mean? So much, it turns out, and we have a really great conversation about this incredible cuisine and history. Khan spent years reporting for her new book, Zaitoun: Recipes from the Palestinian Kitchen, and she discusses her on-the-ground reporting process. And she does something remarkable: Explaining za’atar (a cool though sometimes confusing Middle Eastern spice blend) in the most succinct, clear manner I’ve ever read. In recipe form! Tune in to find out all about that. Oh yeah, New Yorkers: The best knafeh can be found hidden in Park Slope. Tune in to find out!Also on the show is writer Rebekah Peppler, author of a great new book: Apéritif: Cocktail Hour the French Way. She talks about the three meanings of the apéritif. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Los Angeles chef Minh Phan has a really cool story to share with us. She is the owner of a highly original restaurant, Porridge + Puffs, located in the city’s Historic Filipino Town neighborhood. It’s a mushy good time—you know you like mushy foods. We all do. And the Puffs part, what does that mean? Tune in to find out. Phan talks about P+P’s journey from farmer’s market pop-up to breakout hit restaurant and how her time working in Denmark shaped her vision as a chef. Also on the show chef Daniel Holzman answers my burning food question: Why is Etxebarri the most important grill restaurant in the world? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listener, subscriber: This is a good one. Pete Wells is the longtime restaurant critic at the New York Times and a man of slight mystery and sound judgment—or bad taste, if you ask some of the chefs he’s goose-egged during his prodigious reviewing career. Before being named critic in 2011, he was an editor at Details and Food & Wine, and we talk about the process of writing the review week after week—and how he thinks like an editor with weekly writing.I also ask him: What should the next New York City mayor do to help improve safety and financial stability for the city’s restaurants? The situation is pretty apocalyptic, and his answers are really interesting. And Pete gives his hot takes on the dollar slice, barbecue, and Mexican food in New York. Oh yeah, about the illustration? There’s a story for that too.Also on the show, Anna interviews Charlene Johnson-Hadley, executive chef of the Brownsville Community Culinary Center, a culinary training program that educates and inspires participants to excel in the food-service industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicole Rucker is a star baker and the co-owner of Los Angeles restaurant Fiona. She’s also competed in national pie-making competitions and will publish her first cookbook about fruit pastry in the fall. And she’s simply a pleasure to speak with: She’s honest, she’s articulate, and she’s got some amazingly honest thoughts about running a restaurant and the buildup to her recent review in the Los Angeles Times. “Tacos are a public service,” she says, wisely, of the city’s most iconic foodstuff, comparing it to the slice in NYC. “I’m not a taco head, because I grew up with it. They are like cereal to me.” So yes, tacos are discussed as well.Also on the show, Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman gives her advice on transforming a couple of cans of tuna into an exciting dinner. We challenged Deb Perelman, and she very much delivered. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Ivan Orkin story has been well documented. In summary—and you can read it in the excellent memoir-cookbook he wrote with Lucky Peach editor Chris Ying, or stream it on Orkin’s also excellent episode of Chef’s Table—ebullient white man lives in Japan, makes magic with ramen, stays humble, works hard; the crowds and critics and media swarm. In this episode of the TASTE Podcast, we catch up with Orkin to tell the story of how he first brought his unique style of ramen to America, through a legendary pop-up at Momofuku Noodle Bar in 2012. We also hear about his popular restaurants in America, including a new slice shop.Also on the show, Smitten Kitchen’s Deb Perelman plays the game F, Marry, Kill: Sandwich edition. Grilled cheese, corned beef, pb&j? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Laurie Woolever is a fresh and highly original voice in the food writing game. She’s a journalist—having worked as an editor at Art Culinaire and Wine Spectator—and was Anthony Bourdain’s longtime assistant. On this episode we talk to Woolever about the two Bourdain book projects she is busy working on and a story she wrote for TASTE about cooking the whole damn heart. She also talks about Carbface, the podcast she does with Chris Thornton (aka Shit Food Blogger). And finally, we get her take on a variety of random topics that only Laurie can respond to. Pigs in a blanket, grocery-store ham, and the idea of the “poor man’s recipe.”Also on the show we have Ryan Angulo and Doug Crowell, the duo behind the new cookbook Salt & Kindness. They talk about their popular Brooklyn restaurants, Buttermilk Channel and French Louie, and about that one night a certain very famous couple (coughBey and Jay) celebrated New Year’s Eve in their restaurant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices