
Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio
Every week, Milk Street Radio travels the world to find the most fascinating stories about food—a detective who tracks down food thieves and a look inside the most famous (and often scandalous) restaurant kitchens—and interviews with culinary icons such as José Andrés, Padma Lakshmi, Jacques Pépin, and Marcus Samuelsson. And on Milk Street Radio you can always find the unexpected: the comedian who ranks apples using an elaborate 100-point system, the scientists who study if vegetables have souls, and the journalist who reveals the world’s 10 biggest food lies. We also answer our listeners’ cooking questions, find out how to make the perfect cup of coffee, and share how to eat your way through Italy.
Latest episodes

Jul 21, 2023 • 51min
Rent A Falcon, Save Your Vineyard! The New Airborne Security Guards
Falcons are smart, fast and lethal––but they can also be a farm’s greatest defense against losing an entire harvest. Master falconer Alina Blankenship tells us about protecting fields of grapes and blueberries with her flock of highly-skilled birds, from the falcon that operates like a jet-fighter to the hawk that patrols crops like a bouncer. Plus, Kim Severson reports on Gen Z’s “milk shame” and what the dairy industry is trying to do about it; Alex Aïnouz pursues perfect creme brûlée; and we learn to make a vegetarian Carbonara where you won’t miss the meat.Get this week's recipe for Zucchini Carbonara here.We want to hear your culinary tips! Share your cooking hacks, secret ingredients or unexpected techniques with us for a chance to hear yourself on Milk Street Radio! Here's how: https://www.177milkstreet.com/radiotipsListen to Milk Street Radio on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jul 14, 2023 • 51min
Sidewalk Salad: Foraging with Alexis Nikole Nelson
This week, we chat with TikTok star and expert forager Alexis Nikole Nelson about the most delicious weeds in your backyard, the joys of mushroom jerky and her cross-country journey to make seaweed panna cotta. Plus, Kevin Fortey takes us inside the competitive world of giant vegetable growing, J. Kenji López-Alt reveals the secret to perfect French fries, and we make Italian Flourless Chocolate Torta. (Originally aired August 12, 2021.)Get this week's recipe for Italian Flourless Chocolate Torta here.We want to hear your culinary tips! Share your cooking hacks, secret ingredients or unexpected techniques with us for a chance to hear yourself on Milk Street Radio! Here's how: https://www.177milkstreet.com/radiotipsListen to Milk Street Radio on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jul 7, 2023 • 51min
Exploding Chickens, Shrimp Cannons and Biscuit Bazookas: Food Myths with Adam Savage
Adam Savage of “MythBusters” fame joins us to break down his favorite food experiments, including the time he dropped an Olympic swimmer into a giant vat of syrup. Plus, reporter Rebecca Rosman investigates America Week at a popular French grocery store; J. Kenji López-Alt cracks the code on Chicago thin-crust pizza; and we travel to Rome for Cloud Bread.Get the recipe for Roman Cloud Bread with Mixed Greens and Fennel Salad here.We want to hear your culinary tips! Share your cooking hacks, secret ingredients or unexpected techniques with us for a chance to hear yourself on Milk Street Radio! Here's how: https://www.177milkstreet.com/radiotipsListen to Milk Street Radio on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jun 30, 2023 • 51min
Our July Fourth Show: Live-Fire Grilling, 50 Pies for 50 States and the Ketchup/Mustard Smackdown
On this Fourth of July, baker Stacey Fong shares highlights from her 50 States/50 Pies project, which includes odes to Nevada’s all-you-can-eat buffets, West Virginia’s pizza rolls and Tennessee icon Dolly Parton. Plus, live-fire cooking expert Genevieve Taylor reveals show-stopping tips for your backyard barbecues; Dan Pashman debates the finer points of ketchup and mustard; and we dress up charred pineapple with spiced honey and coconut ice cream. (Originally aired July 1, 2022.) Get the recipe for Charred Pineapple with Spiced Honey and Coconut Ice Cream here.We want to hear your culinary tips! Share your cooking hacks, secret ingredients or unexpected techniques with us for a chance to hear yourself on Milk Street Radio! Here's how: https://www.177milkstreet.com/radiotipsListen to Milk Street Radio on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jun 23, 2023 • 51min
Dining Disasters, Crazy Chefs, and a Michelin-Starred Nightmare: True Restaurant Stories
This week, we share stories from the world of fine dining. Maître d' Michael Cecchi-Azzolina has encounters with mobsters, fainting celebrities and unruly guests at New York’s top restaurants and reveals the secrets to great service. Writer Geraldine DeRuiter sits down for the world’s strangest Michelin-starred meal: She eats rancid cheese, slurps foam out of a ceramic mouth and is forced to watch the kitchen staff play extreme sports. Plus, historian Rebecca Spang uncovers the invention of the restaurant, Sara Moulton reveals the most baffling thing she ever witnessed in her career as a chef, and actors tell us how waiting tables unexpectedly helped their theater careers. We want to hear your culinary tips! Share your cooking hacks, secret ingredients or unexpected techniques with us for a chance to hear yourself on Milk Street Radio! Here's how: https://www.177milkstreet.com/radiotipsListen to Milk Street Radio on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jun 16, 2023 • 51min
Tomato Sauce Cooked 1,000 Times: One Woman's Culinary Odyssey
Literary scholar Rebecca May Johnson earned her PhD studying Homer’s Odyssey, but now she’s analyzing a new kind of text: Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce recipe. Johnson reveals how studying a recipe isn’t all that different from studying Ancient Greek, and what you can learn from cooking the same recipe a thousand times. Plus, Hetty McKinnon celebrates vegetables and her father's legacy in her latest cookbook, Tenderheart; Kenji López-Alt and Chris close out their egg-peeling debate with help from our listeners; Dan Pashman cements tinned fish as much more than a passing fad; and we prepare Chicken Fatteh from Jordan.Get the recipe for Chicken Fatteh here.We want to hear your culinary tips! Share your cooking hacks, secret ingredients or unexpected techniques with us for a chance to hear yourself on Milk Street Radio! Here's how: https://www.177milkstreet.com/radiotipsListen to Milk Street Radio on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jun 9, 2023 • 51min
Frontiers of Food Science: Do Sound and Color Affect Flavor?
Experimental psychologist Charles Spence introduces us to gastrophysics, the science of how the brain melds color, smell and sound to create powerful multisensory taste experiences. Plus, Nicola Twilley investigates the rise of alternative sugars; Alex Aïnouz goes on a hunt for the ultimate knife; and we offer a recipe inspired by Tel Aviv’s Shlomo & Doron, where hummus gets a Mexican twist.Get the recipe for Hummus with Chipotle Black Beans and Tomato Salsa here.We want to hear your culinary tips! Share your cooking hacks, secret ingredients or unexpected techniques with us for a chance to hear yourself on Milk Street Radio! Here's how: https://www.177milkstreet.com/radiotipsListen to Milk Street Radio on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jun 2, 2023 • 51min
Chocolate Flan, Cactus Sorbet and Guava Doughnuts: The Amazing World of Mexican Desserts
This week, we taste the sweeter side of Mexican cuisine with chef Fany Gerson. Traveling from Mexico City to Veracruz to Oaxaca, we explore regional confections like chili-flavored paletas and guava and cheese doughnuts. Plus, we take a seat at the Noir Bar with writer and television host Eddie Muller, who infuses classic cocktails with a cinematic twist; Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett of “A Way With Words” unpack the history hidden in your spice cabinet; and we prepare a very crispy Korean Fried Chicken.Get the recipe for Korean Fried Chicken here.We want to hear your culinary tips! Share your cooking hacks, secret ingredients or unexpected techniques with us for a chance to hear yourself on Milk Street Radio! Here's how: https://www.177milkstreet.com/radiotipsListen to Milk Street Radio on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 26, 2023 • 51min
Cooking Over Fire: Lessons From the Levant
This week, Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich, the husband-and-wife team behind London’s Honey & Co., tell us about chasing the smell of smoke through the alleyways of Jordan and the markets of Egypt in search of the secrets of grilled food in the Middle East. Plus, pizza consultant Anthony Falco shares tips for making great pizza at home, Grant Barrett and Martha Barnette explain why we say “soup to nuts,” and we learn to make Honey & Co.’s recipe for Almond-Coconut Cake with Cherries and Pistachios. (Originally aired May 21, 2021.)Get the recipe for Almond-Coconut Cake with Cherries and Pistachios here. We want to hear your culinary tips! Share your cooking hacks, secret ingredients or unexpected techniques with us for a chance to hear yourself on Milk Street Radio! Here's how: https://www.177milkstreet.com/radiotipsListen to Milk Street Radio on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 19, 2023 • 51min
White House Noshes: What Presidents Really Eat
Jefferson ate capon, Eisenhower craved squirrel soup and Grant had a habit of throwing bread across the table. This week, we go into the White House with Alex Prud’homme to hear culinary stories from presidential history, like how Julia Child charmed her way into a state dinner and why Eleanor Roosevelt may have used Jell-O salad to get revenge on FDR. Plus, the late Raghavan Iyer reflects on curry, Indian cuisine and his legacy as a culinary educator; Alex Aïnouz experiments with AI in the kitchen; and we learn a recipe known as “killer spaghetti.”Get the recipe for Charred Red Sauce Spaghetti here.We want to hear your culinary tips! Share your cooking hacks, secret ingredients or unexpected techniques with us for a chance to hear yourself on Milk Street Radio! Here's how: https://www.177milkstreet.com/radiotipsListen to Milk Street Radio on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.