The Sporkful

The native Minnesotan explains why a little internal bleeding can't keep her from a treat, and why the way she eats salad is like the way she deals with depression.This episode originally aired on April 24, 2016, and again on April 15, 2019. It was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Ngofeen Mputubwele, with editing help from Gianna Palmer and special thanks to Paula Szuchman. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Julia Russo.Every other Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at hello@sporkful.com, and include your name, your location, which episode, and why. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Fuchsia Dunlop has written some of the best known English-language books on Chinese cooking, spending years at a time immersing herself in different regions of China in order to learn the area’s dialect and culinary specialties. But as she tells Dan, that wasn’t her original plan. She moved to Chengdu in her 20s because she wanted to live abroad and knew the food there would be great. Still, she says it took years before she stopped eating “like a European.” Her latest book, Invitation to a Banquet, tells a sweeping story of Chinese food through dishes like sweet-and-sour pork balls (an English takeaway standby) and fire-exploded kidney flowers (one of her favorite dishes of Chengdu).The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Julia Russo, with production this week by Johanna Mayer.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Jody Scaravella lost his grandma, his mom, and his sister within a few years, he opened a restaurant in their honor, as a way of dealing with his grief. But the restaurant, Enoteca Maria on Staten Island, NY, had a twist: the chefs were all Italian grandmas, or nonnas. After a few years, Jody started inviting grandmas from all over the world to cook at his restaurant. In this week's show, we attend Enoteca Maria's annual holiday party, one of the few days when all the nonnas come together. Dan is besieged on all sides by grandmas trying to feed him, and we find out whether the restaurant has done for Jody what he hoped it would.This episode originally aired on December 9, 2019 and was produced by Dan Pashman and Ngofeen Mputubwele, with editing by Tracey Samuelson. The Sporkful production team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Julia Russo.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Starting this week we're pulling one classic Sporkful from the deep freezer every other Friday and sharing it with you! We're calling these episodes "Reheats." If you have one you want to hear, email us at hello@sporkful.com! This week to kick things off: We discuss the beauty and tyranny of tradition, as well as the Wheel Of Infinite Thanksgiving Anxiety, with legendary food writer Mimi Sheraton, Milk Street Kitchen's Christopher Kimball, and cookbook author Kian Lam Kho. And yes, we're serious. (Here's Kian's recipe for leftover pumpkin pancakes.)This episode originally aired on November 13, 2017, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Margaret Kelley. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Julia Russo. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tiffanie Barriere is an award-winning bartender and cocktail educator who goes by the title “The Drinking Coach.” As the holidays approach, Tiffanie joins us to share some cocktail inspiration, talking with Dan about drinks for every season. She’s also created a cocktail perfect for this season — find it on Dan’s Instagram and in our newsletter! Tiffanie reflects on going from bartending at Applebee’s to being the beverage director at a place known as one of the best airport bars in the world, and discusses her collaboration with the esteemed food journalist Toni Tipton-Martin on Toni’s new book, Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs, and Juice: Cocktails from Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks. Get your Sporkful collection pastas, a signed copy of Dan's cookbook, and limited edition cascatelli posters in time for the holidays!The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Julia Russo.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Discover how the U.S. military created a pizza that soldiers could eat on the battlefield, learning about ration bars made with ultrasonic technology and the challenges of keeping cheese the right color in extreme conditions. The podcast explores the history of MREs, the development of a battle-ready pizza, and highlights the importance of sensory requirements and comfort in food consumption for soldiers. The episode concludes with recommendations for other podcasts and books.

Sohla El-Waylly, chef and YouTube star, discusses her new cookbook as an antidote to culinary school, her love for cooking shows like Top Chef, and her struggles and heartwarming moments in culinary school and high-pressure restaurants.

Major announcement! Dan’s first cookbook, Anything’s Pastable, is available for preorder wherever books are sold starting today! This collection of non-traditional pasta sauces is not your nonna’s cookbook. It has kimchi carbonara, cacio e pepe with chili crisp, roasted artichoke with preserved lemon, and a dish called spaghetti all’assassina, or assassin’s spaghetti, which is pan fried until the pasta turns charred and crispy crunchy. Plus much more. Preorder Anything’s Pastable: 81 Inventive Pasta Recipes for Saucy People right now -- there’s also an option to preorder a signed copy as part of a holiday pasta gift box from Sfoglini! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Back in 2018, we talked with chef and recipe developer Yewande Komolafe about her experience as an undocumented immigrant. She grew up in Nigeria, but after immigrating legally to the U.S. a clerical error led to her losing her immigration status. For years she felt she had to hide parts of herself, for fear of being outed as undocumented. And because of her status, she couldn’t go back to Nigeria. This week we’re replaying that episode, followed by a new conversation with Yewande in which she updates her story, and talks about the release of her first cookbook, My Everyday Lagos.If you want to win a copy of Yewande's cookbook, sign up for our newsletter by November 12. If you’re already subscribed, then you’re already eligible to win.The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Julia Russo. The team that originally produced parts of this episode was Anne Saini, Aviva DeKornfeld, Rob McGinley Myers, and John DeLore.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We are back with the Salad Spinner! This is our rapid fire roundtable discussion of the latest food news, from significant to silly, surprising to strange. And in the Spinner this week are Amanda Mull, a staff writer at The Atlantic, and Doug Mack, who writes the newsletter Snack Stack. They discuss the genius of Bass Pro Shops, the truth behind Van Halen’s brown M&Ms story, and the weirdness of brand collaborations, like Van Leeuwen’s Hidden Valley Ranch Ice Cream.The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Julia Russo.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.