Special Sauce with Ed Levine

You wouldn't think I'd find some of the best fresh pasta I'd ever had on Martha's Vineyard, but I did. The maker of that pasta, Katie Leaird, tells serious eaters about how and why she ended up on an island raising two children under the age of 6 by herself while churning out pounds of fresh pasta every week. It ain't easy!  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It seems like every season of 'The Bear' is subject to more scrutiny and analysis than any play by The Bard himself,  Shakespeare. Every scene and every character's persona is being sifted through like cake flour. So like many serious eaters I know, I got hooked on the Bear. I have binge-watched all four seasons, including the latest, which I watched in two sittings. On a previous episode of Speci...

Nina Mae Levin has been making world-class pizza on Martha's Vineyard for five years now. And she sells every pie she makes during the Vineyard summer season! So why is it so hard for Nina to make a sustainable living on this idyllic but complicated island? We find out on today's episode of Special Sauce. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Today's guest on Special Sauce, the New York Times' insanely prolific Melissa Clark has written or co-written a ridiculous, astounding total of 46 cookbooks. She wrote a column for the paper for 5 years between 2007 and 2012 before going on staff there in 2012. And get this! She has published more than a thousand recipes in the Old Gray Lady. How does she do it? We find out how on today's episode...

Donald Trump's ICE raids have had a devastating effect on the Los Angeles taco community. On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to the great website lataco.com 's editor in chief Javier Cabral about his site's comprehensive coverage of this still unfolding tragedy.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Serious eaters have watched with horror and dismay as President Trump has tasked ICE agents with carrying out his grand mass deportation scheme. Why are we so upset? Because this cruel scheme has impacted the lives of millions of farm workers all over the country. Here to offer his invaluable perspective on all these genuinely existential issues facing immigrants, both documented and undocumented,...

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to avocado farmer Norm Kachuck and Los Angeles Times reporter Daniel Miller about the crisis facing California avocado growers as they try to compete with Mexican avocados.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The late, truly great Marcella Hazan taught many of us what real Italian food is and how to cook it. And yet many people, including me, didn't know much about this remarkable woman. But now there's a terrific documentary about her life and work, 'Marcella'. We talk to Pete Wells of The New York Times and the director of 'Marcella', Peter Miller, about the many aspects of her life that have gone un...

The The New York Times's national food correspondent Kim Severson gives us the 411 on meat's improbable comeback. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It's only 450 Square Feet, but L.A.'s Now Serving Cookbook Store is so much more than a place to buy food books. Its co-founder Ken Concepcion explains how his tiny bookstore became home base for Serious Eaters in LA. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Is being an international pizza consultant the world's best job? Anthony Falco explains all. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to Meghan McCarron and Adam Chandler about the surprisingly important role casual sit-down dining chains like Chili's and Olive Garden play in Americans' lives. I know, I know, I was skeptical, too.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce, we revisit our extraordinary conversation with the great Mexico City-based chef Lalo Garcia and the journalist Laura Tillman, who chronicled his extraordinary journey from undocumented migrant farm worker to world-famous chef. Given everything that's happening right now in the world of immigration, we thought this episode might resonate anew.  Learn about your ad...

On this episode of Special Sauce we revisit our provocative conversation with the food activist, farmer, and force of nature Karen Washington, one of the stars of the terrific documentary 'Food and Country'. In times like these, when many of our cherished institutions are coming under attack, we need more voices like hers. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to White Oak Pastures' Will Harris about nothing less than the future of farming. Harris has become one of the leading voices of the regenerative farming movement.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Last September Asheville, North Carolina was devastated by Hurricane Helene. The damage is estimated to be $60 billion. Especially hard hit was the close-knit food community that has attracted millions of visitors to Asheville every year. The New York Times's Pete Wells did some stellar reporting last fall when he spent a few days interviewing chefs and farmers in the picturesque western Carolina...

When the documentary Food and Country came out last year, we had Ruth Reichl on Special Sauce to talk about the film as a whole and the farmers that are actually the stars and heroes of the movie. One of those farmers is Bob Jones, CEO of The Chef's Garden in Ohio. Given the various extraordinary challenges farmers are set to face in the coming years, we thought it would be great to have Bob on th...

The great street photographer, red beans and rice cook, and New Orleans food community organizer Pableaux Johnson died recently while doing what he was put on this earth to do: taking pictures of a second line parade. Here to talk about Pableaux Johnson and what he meant to the hundreds of people who called him a friend and the thousands of people who admired his work are my old friend New York Ti...

Is the L.A. Smorgasburg the best street food festival in America? We talk to the two people most responsible for it, Zach Brooks and Fernando Lopez. Zach has the dream job of tasting all the food and choosing the vendors; and Fernando runs the beer garden at Smorgasburg in Los Angeles and also helps run his family's famous James Beard Award-winning Oaxacan restaurant Gualaguetza.  Learn about your...

Today on Special Sauce we welcome back writer and former assistant to both Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain, Laurie Woolever. Laurie has just published 'Care and Feeding', a candid, funny, and often devastating memoir about her adventures and misadventures making her way through the food world while navigating addiction, motherhood, a cultural reckoning, and an unexpected tragedy. Learn about you...

With the passing of legendary pizzaiolo Patsy Grimaldi, the pizza world has lost one of its true giants. I discuss his legacy with Scott's Pizza Tours founder and pizza scholar Scott Wiener, and another great pizzaiolo, Una Pizza Napoletana's Anthony Mangieri on this episode of Special Sauce.  For more on the show, visit thespecialsaucepodcast.com . Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad...

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to the Los Angeles Times' Bill Adddison and Jenn Harris about the calamitous effect of the recent devastating fires on the L.A. food community. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce, Adam Chandler talks about his new book '99% Perspiration' which explores the history of work in America.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we revisit our chocolate-centric conversation with Mr. Chocolate himself Jacques Torres just in time for Valentine's Day. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Super Bowl is coming up, so for Super Bowl party food advice who better to turn to than Kenji. The man loves chicken wings and pizza and he gives us some sage advice about making them at home. But he does not love football.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices