The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

Francis Lam spends a fascinating hour with René Redzepi, the groundbreaking chef of Copenhagen’s Noma. His book, The Noma Guide to Fermentation , is a master tome on the technique that he believes is the future of the way we cook.  Francis and René talk about Noma’s influence on the global palate, where Redzepi finds inspiration, and how he achieves an enjoyable work/life balance. America’s Test K...

As we move into fall, our pull to the oven grows stronger. Cooking in the oven is not only soul-warming, but it happens to be a real time-saver. Food writer Diana Henry has spent nearly two decades traveling across the globe for culinary inspiration. However, inspiration for the recipes for her latest book,  From the Oven to the Table ,  began much closer to home -- with her oven. Diana spoke with...

When you think about Whoopi Goldberg, you likely think of her as an actor, entertainer and television host. But what you probably don’t know about Whoopi is that she is a passionate hostess who takes the art of setting the table and entertaining very serious. Her new book, Whoopi Goldberg: The Unqualified Hostess , is full of creative tablescapes and suggestions for making people feel welcome in y...

Francis inherited a chunk of pu'er tea from his grandfather years ago and has never tasted it. This week he learns the story of that inheritance and tastes it for the first time with tea master, Tim Hsu. Cecile Richards is a national leader for women’s rights and economic justice, and she finds that cooking with her family is exactly what she needs to take care of herself in these turbulent pre-el...

Melissa comes home to an empty refrigerator save for eggs, scallions and some sad sage and ends up showing us an amazing recipe and technique for  Olive Oil Fried Eggs with Scallions, Sage and Turkish Red Pepper . She also has a surefire way to tell if your eggs are fresh, explains how to make the creamiest of scrambled eggs, and how to get those addictive hard-cooked eggs with the perfect jammy c...

Adeena Sussman is one of those food writers who immerses themselves into a subject. To say she is enamored of Middle Eastern food, flavors and culture may be an understatement. An American who visited Israel regularly throughout her life, Adeena decided to make Tel Aviv her home in 2015. She has a great gift for teaching others how to embrace the flavors of Israeli cuisine by using border-crossing...

Broadcast dates for this episode: September 4, 2019

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts | Stitcher |  Google Podcasts  | Spotify |  Pandora The summer is flying by. And while we can’t slow down time, we can take full advantage of summer vegetables in their full glory. Hetty McKinnon is a Chinese Australian cook and food writer with a passion for vegetables. She’s written a new book on the subject; it’s called Family: New Vegetarian Comfort Food to Nourish E...

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts | Stitcher |  Google Podcasts  | Spotify |  Pandora Welcome to Splendid Table Selects, where we often take a deeper look at the ingredients that change the way we cook. One such ingredient is miso, the fermented bean paste that packs a major umami punch. A lot of us think of miso as an ingredient that makes a soup base, but it’s so much more interesting and complex than...

We are excited to share this trailer for a new podcast that we're working on with our dear friend, cookbook author and New York Times food writer Melissa Clark. Weeknight Kitchen with Melissa Clark takes on one of the biggest dilemmas of busy people: what are we going to eat? In each episode, you’ll join Melissa in her own home kitchen, working through one of her favorite recipes and offering help...

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts | Stitcher |  Google Podcasts  | Spotify |  Pandora We are in the throes of summer fruit season, when the markets and farm stands are teeming with many different kinds of berries and stone fruits. And if you’re like us, you may go a little overboard. So, we brought in an expert to help put all of that beautiful fruit to very good use. Nicole Rucker is a fruit whisperer o...

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts | Stitcher |  Google Podcasts  | Spotify |  Pandora Summertime means it’s farmers' market season, where you might find yourself surrounded by all sorts of gorgeous and inspiring produce. Andy Schloss has a different idea for what to do with overflowing bags of strawberries, bell peppers, fennel, and fresh herbs – head to the liquor cabinet! He is the author of Homemade L...

In this episode, we look at three amazingly versatile ingredients: peppers, onions and butter. Host Francis Lam visits the home kitchen of Latin food scholar and chef Maricel Presilla. Her latest book is Peppers of the Americas: The Remarkable Capsicums that Forever Changed Flavor . She shows Francis how she makes a few essential pepper-rich sauces and dishes. Speaking of peppers, can't find Hatch...

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts | Stitcher |  Google Podcasts  | Spotify |  Pandora Ahhh, cake! That sweet four-lettered word that conjures images of comfort and celebration. But for non-bakers, the thought of making a cake usually ends up with a trip to the bakery or supermarket to pick up a store-bought version. That’s where Odette Williams comes in. She has written a book called Simple Cake . The pr...

This week we talk to chef Martin Morales about his book Andina: The Heart of Peruvian Food . While many people know Peruvian cuisine for its seafood and coastal influence, Morales says to get to the soul of the country's food, you need to head for the mountains. We also visit with Keith Dresser from Cook's Illustrated and America’s Test Kitchen to learn how to make Peruvian fish ceviche. Francis L...

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts | Stitcher |  Google Podcasts  | Spotify |  Pandora Do you scroll through your Instagram feed, looking all of these gorgeous, perfect food photos, and instead of feeling inspired, you start to feel bad? Like what you're eating that day doesn't quite stack up? Take comfort! You are not alone. The British food writer, journalist and historian Bee Wilson says one of life’s...

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts | Stitcher |  Google Podcasts  | Spotify |  Pandora We’re looking at trash from all different angles. Chef Abra Berens, author of Ruffage , rifles through Francis's kitchen to show him the missed opportunities. Visit with Homa Dashtaki of The White Moustache, a yogurt company based in Brooklyn. Homa is determined to turn her yogurt-making waste, whey, into the next kombu...

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts | Stitcher |  Google Podcasts  | Spotify |  Pandora Maple syrup is not just for pancakes and French toast. More and more people turn to it when they want to sweeten something without using refined white sugar. Beth Dooley and Mette Nielsen cowrote the book,  Sweet Nature:  A Cook’s Guide to Using Honey and Maple Syrup,  in which they revel in maple syrup’s magical way of...

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts | Stitcher |  Google Podcasts  | Spotify |  Pandora May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and this week we’re devoting the entire hour to personal stories about how food and the food industry can impact our mental health. Restaurateur David McMillan, of Joe Beef in Montreal, talks candidly about his challenge with sobriety in the restaurant world and how it changed the w...

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts | Stitcher |  Google Podcasts  | Spotify |  Pandora So often, conversations regarding healthy eating go straight to health matters below the neck - things like weight management, heart health, managing cholesterol and diabetes.  But some doctors believe that we should be focused on feeding what’s above the neck – our brains.  Dr. Drew Ramsey calls himself a nutritional p...

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts | Stitcher |  Google Podcasts  | Spotify |  Pandora The food scene in Philadelphia is booming and we’re taking you there for an event recorded live at WHYY. Francis Lam talks to three of the people at the forefront of the culinary scene in Philly: award-winning chef and writer Michael Solomonov of Zahav, chef Eli Kulp from Fork and High Street on Market, and Malaysian ch...

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts | Stitcher |  Google Podcasts  | Spotify |  Pandora Chetna Makan is a trained fashion designer, who was born in Jabalpur, India. As a contestant on The Great British Bake Off , she baked her way right into the semifinals and charmed the world with her enthusiastic approach to Indian baking and cooking. The latest of her three cookbooks is called Chetna’s Healthy Indian:...

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts | Stitcher |  Google Podcasts  | Spotify |  Pandora We’re spending the hour with one of America’s rising chefs, Kwame Onwuachi of Washington DC’s Kith/Kin. His new memoir is Notes From a Young Black Chef .  Francis Lam and Kwame talk about growing up and exploring food from all over the world, cutting his culinary teeth on an oil spill responder ship, and the layers of j...

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts | Stitcher |  Google Podcasts  | Spotify |  Pandora We're traveling to eat this week, and looking at foods that have gone through international transformations. We hear from Dr. Lucy Long, director and founder of the Center for Food and Culture, about the difference between being a food tourist and a food pilgrim, and why it's important to consider cultural responsibilit...

Listen on:  Apple Podcasts | Stitcher |  Google Podcasts  | Spotify |  Pandora It's estimated that in the United States we waste up to 40 percent of our entire food supply; that equals out to about 150,000 tons of food being wasted each day. And food waste isn’t just an American problem, it’s a global epidemic. Mads Refslund and Tama Matsuoka Wong are doing their best to combat the issue by using...