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

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)

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Spotify | PandoraOur Splendid Table Selects podcast spotlights conversations that inspire us to cook in creative ways. Mandy Aftel is an artisan perfumer with a deep knowledge of natural essential oils. Her book Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent, co-authored by chef Daniel Patterson, features scent-crafting skills and perfume ingredients in cooking to highlight the difference just one drop of essential oil can make in a dish. Splendid Table contributor Jennifer 8 Lee met up with Aftel to talk about cooking with five particularly powerful aromas: cinnamon, mint, frankincense, ambergris and jasmine. Check out Mandy’s recipes for Rose and Ginger Soufflé and Fragrant Raspberry Bubbly. See the FDA's list of Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) essential oils.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 12, 2019

Bon Appetit’s Editor-in-Chief Adam Rapoport joins us with a rather intense take on sandwich making, our Dinner Party Download pals Brendan Francis Newnam and Rico Gagliano help us throw a dinner party, Anya Von Bremzen talks to Melissa Clark about the home restaurants of Cuba, America’s Test Kitchen teaches us how to make a veggie broth concentrate, and Doc Willoughby on country-style pork ribs. Francis takes calls from listeners to give suggestions for make-ahead Korean party food. He also explains what cream of tartar is and how to use for making homemade baking powder.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 9, 2018 (originally aired)February 1, 2019 (rebroadcast)

How important are sauces in the world of food? In French kitchens, the most respected cook is the saucier – the person who makes the sauces. You can’t have tacos without salsa. And, Beyoncé keeps hot sauce in her bag. So, obviously, sauces are essential. But what is a sauce? And how did we start making them? Maryann Tebben is a food historian, the head of the Center for Food Studies at Bard College at Simon Rock, and wrote an entire book on the subject called Sauces: A Global History. Contributor Noelle Carter talked with Tebben about the origins of sauces, the difficulty of defining them throughout the centuries, and what the saucy future looks like. If they inspire you to make your own sauces at home, check out "Five sauces that bring a world of flavor into your kitchen," plus our Sauce Recipe Collections on our website and on Pinterest. Broadcast dates for this episode:January 29, 2019

This is a show about restaurants, but not necessarily about the chef. It's about the lives of kitchen workers, their triumphs and troubles, and the extended family they often find on the line. We talk to Amy Thielen, author of Give a Girl a Knife, about what life was like for her working in some of the great kitchens in NYC. In 'Chefs With Issues,' Kat Kinsman offers a place for kitchen and service industry workers to gather online to share their stories of dealing with mental health issues. We visit an old-school Indian restaurant in London, The India Club. It is a place frozen in time and facing an uncertain future. And Molly Birnbaum of America’s Test Kitchen teaches us the chef-y but surprisingly simple technique of the salt-cured egg yolk.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 2, 2018 (originally aired)January 18, 2019 (rebroadcast)

Welcome to Splendid Table Selects, our podcast on the stuff that makes us better cooks and eaters. It's January. It’s cold. It’s dark. You may find yourself fighting off a case of the sniffles, along with those eight pounds you gained over the holidays. Do not despair. We’ve got something to make your cold winter world a little more colorful – and it’s soup.  But, not just ordinary soup; we’re talking about a soup some people obsess over. One of those people happens to be our own Managing Producer Sally Swift. She talked with the cookbook author and filmmaker Anna Thomas about her recipe for an amazing Basic Green Soup.Broadcast dates for this episode:January 15, 2019