The Sporkful

Top Chef judge Gail Simmons never thought she’d have a career in food. Sure, her mom ran a cooking school in their home growing up. Yes, she worked in the kitchen on a kibbutz in Israel. And it’s true, she wrote restaurant reviews for her college paper. But was food really what she wanted to do? It turns out: yes. Once Gail snagged a job on that as-yet-unknown reality TV cooking competition, she never looked back. Now, ahead of the Top Chef season 20 finale, Gail talks with Dan about how she’s become a better judge on the show while letting go of judgment in other parts of her life.The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Jared O'Connell, and Nora Ritchie, with production on this episode by Abigail Keel.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

In the 1980s, six women on an island off the coast of Massachusetts began selling lobster rolls as a church fundraiser. Today people travel by car, boat, and plane just to taste these hallowed summer treats. This week, one of those people is Dan. He travels to Martha’s Vineyard to uncover Grace Church's secret recipe. Plus, Daniel Gritzer from Serious Eats breaks down the science of why frozen lobster might be better than fresh.On Saturday, June 3, Dan will be moderating a panel at a food festival on Martha’s Vineyard called Martha’s Vineyard Flavors. It’s a weekend of talks, demonstrations, and delicious meals. You can buy tickets to part of the event or the whole thing here.This episode originally aired on June 17, 2019, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Ngofeen Mputubwele, with editing by Peter Clowney. The Sporkful production team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Jared O'Connell, and Nora Ritchie.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Comedian and podcaster Jamie Loftus set out on a cross-country road trip to try to figure out: Why do hot dogs have such a hold on American culture? And why does she continue to find them so damn delicious? Over the course of her Hot Dog Summer, she tried all kinds of regional American dogs, from a bacon-wrapped Sonoran dog in Tucson, to a bologna-wrapped dog in Baltimore, to one that involved SpaghettiOs. She also visited the famed Nathan’s 4th of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, where she learned there was a darker story behind the celebrated ritual. The trip changed the way she thought about hot dogs — but also how she felt about America and herself. Jamie’s new book is Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

When the California government stepped in to try and prevent abalone from going extinct, it also criminalized the food traditions of indigenous people in the region. In this episode from our friends at the podcast Copper and Heat, we look into the history of this now luxury ingredient — a tale that involves San Francisco bohemians, Japanese fishermen, and a Pomo-Paiute woman who has risked jail time and fines in order to keep these food traditions alive.The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, and Jared O'Connell.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

This week we're exploring the musical history of jelly, from the Harlem Renaissance to Beyoncé and beyond. Along the way, we hear the story of a famous moment in internet history, explore depictions of Black women in music, and learn how jelly became an affirmation for LGBTQIA+ identity. And then, for our grand finale, we write an original song about JELLY!This episode originally aired on August 12, 2019, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Ngofeen Mputubwele, with editing by Peter Clowney. Original music by the Reverend John DeLore and Allison Leyton-Brown. The Sporkful production team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Jared O'Connell, and Nora Ritchie.Info and tickets available here for Dan’s appearance at Martha’s Vineyard Flavors.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

ChatGPT can use artificial intelligence to generate high school essays, emails, cover letters, and a lot more. But can it write an episode of The Sporkful? Eater senior reporter Bettina Makalintal joins us to discuss, and to tell us what happened when she asked ChatGPT to write a “stinky lunchbox immigrant memoir.” Do the results reveal something about the way immigrants and food are represented in media today? And what does all this mean for creativity in food and beyond?Bettina’s story for Eater is called “Great! AI Can Generate All the Diaspora Food Writing Tropes.”The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Cookbook author Andrea Nguyen helped change the tone of Vietnamese cookbooks when she published her first in 2006. “They had these long, long ingredient lists that kind of exoticized the cuisine,” Andrea tells Dan. “But we're here in America. Why can't we talk about Vietnamese food in America?” Several cookbooks later, Andrea has continued to demystify Asian cooking without dumbing it down. Over lunch at Sidestreet Pho in Alameda, California, Andrea talks with Dan about her approach to writing recipes, including for her new vegetable-centric cookbook Ever-Green Vietnamese: Super-Fresh Recipes, Starring Plants from Land and Sea. They also meet Hanh Nguyen, owner of Sidestreet Pho and daughter of some of the first Vietnamese restaurant owners in the U.S.To enter to win a copy of Ever-Green Vietnamese, subscribe to our newsletter by May 8. Open to US/Canada only.Info and tickets available here for Dan’s appearance at Martha’s Vineyard Flavors.The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Crunchy, creamy, squishy, slimy… the list goes on. Texture might not be the first thing you think of when describing your favorite foods, but it plays a big role in the foods you love and the foods you hate. And it’s not just an individual preference; culture can help determine whether you love crunchy or squishy foods. On today’s show, we’re bringing you an episode from our friends at Gastropod that dives into the world of food texture and the scientists who study it.The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Bill Nye is a goofball nerd to the core, and he’s built a career on making science fun and accessible for everyone. So can Bill give Dan some satisfying answers to big, and small, food science questions? Like what’s the deal with the five second rule? And how should we think about GMOs? Then, Bill and Corey S. Powell, his co-host on the podcast Science Rules!, chat with listeners to explain the science of salting pasta water, and what the deal is with lab-grown meat. This episode originally aired on July 22, 2019, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Ngofeen Mputubwele. The Sporkful production team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

How do you eat ice cream on a first date? When should you start meal prepping when you’re in a new relationship? What’s the perfect tailgating food? Sam Sanders, Saeed Jones, and Zach Stafford, the hosts of the podcast Vibe Check, join us to chat about food issues and obsessions in their lives. And they help us settle some listener food disputes about repeat recipes, and Chipotle bowls. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.