Special Sauce with Ed Levine

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

After falling in love with Italy, my good friend engineer and serial entrepreneur Bob Lang and his wife, environmental writer Alice Outwater, decided to buy a three acre vineyard called La Collina Delle Amici (The Hill of Friends) in Piedmont in 2021. How's it going for them so far?  Well, we're going to find out in this week's episode of Special Sauce. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.or...

On this episode of Special Sauce, grassroots food activist and farmer Karen Washington joins us to spread her message of food justice, the concept that healthy, nutritious food is a human right. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we go deep into the definition, history, and evolution of the New York pizza slice with Scott's Pizza Tours founder Scott Wiener.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we pay tribute to the great author, chef and cooking teacher Raghavan Iyer. He introduced much of America to the joys of cooking and eating Indian food.  We talked to Raghavan last in March of 2023 about his life, his work, and the last book he ever wrote, "On The Curry Trail". Raghavan talked openly and movingly about his terminal Stage 4 cancer diagnosis and the...

With the new year fast approaching we thought we would help bring it in by re-releasing -- or should I say reheating -- one of our favorite 'Special Sauce' episodes of all time. It features both my extraordinary conversation with  Michelle Zauner and a great talk about the relationship between food and music with Kenji. Michelle is the founder and lead singer of the great indie rock band Japanese...

On this episode of Special Sauce serious eaters will meet Roy Shvartzapel, who makes transcendent panettone at his LA online bakery From Roy.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

With the holiday season in full swing, this serious eater's attention turns to eating and baking cookies. And who better to shoot the breeze with on this rich topic than author and baker Erin Jeanne McDowell, who has been called the fairy godmother of baking. She's got some tricks for us. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As we go about planning our upcoming holiday feasts, it's a pretty good bet that at some point we're going to pick up a bottle of wine or two to share with family and friends. That's why I'm returning to my conversation with someone who's been a guiding light for wine connoisseurs and beginners alike, Eric Asimov, the wine critic for The New York Times. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.or...

Thanksgiving leftovers can sometimes be a freighted topic for serious eaters. Last year, trying to quell my own Thanksgiving leftovers anxiety and confusion, I had Deb Perelman and J. Kenji Lopez Alt, longtime friends and co-hosts of their own podcast The Recipe, on Special Sauce. We covered a lot of ground in our discussion, everything from the joys of eating leftover cold pie for breakfast to th...

Thanksgiving and the holiday season are upon us and that means this serious eater's thoughts turn to pie! And so I thought I would perform a public service by inviting perhaps our greatest pie baking teacher, Erin Jeanne McDowell from the YouTube series 'Happy Baking', to come on Special Sauce and talk about all things pie. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If you're like me, you're probably already worrying about holiday dinners and parties that you might have to bring stuff to. And at least some of us might be a little punchy at the thought of cooking or baking for friends. So to the rescue comes friend of Special Sauce, Smitten Kitchen's Deb Perelman.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce The New York Times's wine writer Eric Asimov shares his democratic and unsnobby approach to both food and wine, which invites newcomers and longtime enthusiasts to explore their own wine experiences. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce I talk to author and fellow pie lover Stacey Mei Yan Fong about her new book '50 Pies, 50 States, An Immigrant's Love Letter to the U.S. Through Pie'. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices