The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Spotify | PandoraChetna Makan is a trained fashion designer, who was born in Jabalpur, India. As a contestant on The Great British Bake Off, she baked her way right into the semifinals and charmed the world with her enthusiastic approach to Indian baking and cooking. The latest of her three cookbooks is called Chetna’s Healthy Indian: Everyday Meals Effortlessly Good For You. In an interview with contributor Melissa Clark, Chetna explains that most Indian food is healthy by nature and there's an never-ending variety of what you can do with ingredients like lentils, vegetables, chilies and spices. She shared with us her recipes for Mango & Mint Salad, Black Lentils with Red Kidney Beans, Masala Black Chickpeas, and Spicy Chicken & Chickpeas Curry Bake.Broadcast dates for this episode:April 23, 2019

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Spotify | PandoraWe’re spending the hour with one of America’s rising chefs, Kwame Onwuachi of Washington DC’s Kith/Kin. His new memoir is Notes From a Young Black Chef. Francis Lam and Kwame talk about growing up and exploring food from all over the world, cutting his culinary teeth on an oil spill responder ship, and the layers of joy and frustration he experienced -- and what he learned -- from opening and closing the highly-anticipated The Shaw Bijou. Sally Swift also talks with Dan Souza from America’s Test Kitchen to learn about two ‘chef-y’ techniques for your kitchen: nitro cold-brew coffee, and cooking with koji. Broadcast dates for this episode:April 19, 2019

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Spotify | PandoraWe're traveling to eat this week, and looking at foods that have gone through international transformations. We hear from Dr. Lucy Long, director and founder of the Center for Food and Culture, about the difference between being a food tourist and a food pilgrim, and why it's important to consider cultural responsibility in either case. We learn about the amazing culinary scene in Dubai with Arva Ahmed of Frying Pan Adventures. Chefs Mourad Lahlou and Louis Maldonado talk about the intersection of Morrocan and Mexican cuisines. Writer and taco historian Gustavo Arellano comes to the defense of flour tortillas and provides us with an amazing history lesson. Plus, America’s Test Kitchen heads to Wisconsin to figure out what makes the spicy cheese bread at the Dane County Farmers' Market so addictive - and yes, there is a recipe! Plus, Francis takes listener questions about making extra-creamy feta cheese at home and how to "fix" an accidentally scorched Irish stew meat, or at least salvage the high quality sirloin steak.          Broadcast dates for this episode:April 20, 2018 (originally aired)April 12, 2019 (rebroadcast)

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Spotify | PandoraIt's estimated that in the United States we waste up to 40 percent of our entire food supply; that equals out to about 150,000 tons of food being wasted each day. And food waste isn’t just an American problem, it’s a global epidemic. Mads Refslund and Tama Matsuoka Wong are doing their best to combat the issue by using the toss-away parts of food into ingredients with a new purpose. Mads is a Danish chef and a pioneer of New Nordic cuisine, possibly best known as the cofounder of noma in Copenhagen. Tama is a forager, weed eater and home cook who graduated from Harvard law school. Together, they wrote Scraps, Wilt and Weeds: Turning Wasted Food into Plenty. Contributor Melissa Clark spoke with both of them about their approach to ‘trash cooking.’ She also got their recipe for Seared Romaine Lettuce Bottoms, Coffee Grounds PannaCotta and Coffee Grounds Biscotti.  Broadcast dates for this episode:April 9, 2019

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Spotify | PandoraThis week, human rights advocate and award-winning food writer Yasmin Khan takes us inside the kitchens of Palestine, where she spent months talking to cooks for her book Zaitoun. We dive deep into the diversity of Nigerian food and cooking techniques with Philadelphia chef Shola Olunyolo. We are introduced to frozen burrito royalty in California, the Ruiz family. And, the Proof podcast from America’s Test Kitchen wonders how and why “bowl food” has taken over the culinary world.Broadcast dates for this episode:April 5, 2019

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Spotify | PandoraSplendid Table Selects is our podcast that highlights conversations that make us better, more worldly cooks. In this episode we hear from Kian Lam Kho, a self-described tech geek who transformed himself into a chef and food writer. Kho’s Red Cook blog features authentic Chinese recipes from his native Singapore. His first cookbook Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees is an wonderful introduction to Chinese home cooking organized by cooking techniques and methods. Contributor Melissa Clark met up with Kian in New York to learn more. Kian was also kind enough to share his recipe for Red-cooked Pork.Broadcast dates for this episode:March 26, 2019

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Spotify | PandoraThis is Splendid Table Selects, our mini-podcast about the stuff that makes us better cooks and eaters. There’s nothing better than a properly cooked scallop, but they have a reputation for being temperamental and hard to cook. And sourcing the right scallop is as important as how it is cooked. Molly Birnbaum and her colleagues at America’s Test Kitchen have very strong opinions about scallops, so Managing Producer Sally Swift went to her with some questions.Broadcast dates for this episode:March 12, 2019

For all the bad news in our world today, we're happy to report there is some good news on the food front. In this episode, we consider some of the positive things that are happening. In her book, Big Chicken, journalist Maryn McKenna says the chicken industry is largely to blame for our enormous overuse of and exposure to antibiotics. But, as she explains to Francis Lam, she's found real reasons for hope for the future. Forager Pascal Baudar talks with contributor Russ Parsons about the restorative result of recent destructive California wildfires on some of his favorite wildcraft spots. Barton Seaver is an award-winning chef whose work now focuses on sustainability in the fish and seafood industries. He talks with Francis about how certain species of fish come in and out of favor with fisherman and cooks. The increasingly popular beet salad gets an upgrade thanks to Molly Birnbaum from America’s Test Kitchen. And restaurant owner Alpana Singh was the youngest woman to pass the Master Sommelier exam when she did so in her mid-20s. She talks with Shauna Sever about the struggles going on in her life that made passing the exam essential to her livelihood.Broadcast dates for this episode:March 2, 2018 (originally aired)March 1, 2019 (rebroadcast)

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Spotify | PandoraWelcome to Splendid Table Selects, our podcast that features interviews that make us think more about the food we love to eat and cook. Our guest this episode is Andrea Nguyen, best-selling cookbook author and expert on Vietnamese cooking. Nguyen says, in the past, cooking Vietnamese food in America meant multiple shopping trips to specialized Asian markets or substituting ingredients that just couldn't be found here. Thankfully, times have changed and more authentic Vietnamese ingredients are more readily available in the U.S. Nguyen's newest book, Vietnamese Food Any Day includes recipes that can be made from these more ubiquitous ingredients. She talked with Managing Producer Sally Swift about three specific ingredients and also shared her recipes for Sizzling Rice Crepes and Turmeric Fish, Seared Dill, and Green Onion Noodle Bowls.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 26, 2019

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Spotify | PandoraIn this episode, we're looking at food and identity. Francis Lam talks with Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morris, the duo behind the podcast Still Processing, about how social media is changing the way we look at and enjoy food. America’s Test Kitchen takes on the latest culinary cult, the Instant Pot. ATK's Hannah Crowley puts multicookers to the test to see if the Instant Pot is the best brand in the land. Jonathan Kauffman, author of Hippie Food, talks about the role that the counterculture movement of the 1960s and 1970s played in redefining bread in America. First-generation Asian-American chef James Syhabout takes us through the extreme feelings of regret and joy he discovered while emerging himself in the food of his homeland. Plus, psychologist and neuroscientist Rachel Herz researches the science behind our relationship with food in her book, Why You Eat What You Eat; she tells us about some very interesting conclusions on our eating -- and food shopping -- behaviors.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 23, 2018 (originally aired)February 15, 2019 (rebroadcast)