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

Indian chef Vikas Khanna joins us with a lesson in humility, gratitude and a vegetarian take on the Thanksgiving feast. His latest book is Indian Harvest . Australia's Donna Hay brings us inspiration for updating our Thanksgiving side dishes. Bon Appetit's editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport has tips for being a good guest, and Jane and Michael Stern of Roadfood.com weigh in on the stuffing-versus-dress...

In addition to our regular episodes, we occasionally offer Splendid Table Sides - extended interviews and other bonus cuts that don’t make it into the broadcast show. For this Side, Anthony Bourdain joins Lynne Rossetto Kasper talk about his new book, Appetites , the stress of cooking for five people versus 500, making Spam musubi for his daughter's school lunch, and his Oval Office-approved opini...

We look at the bitters craze with Mark Bitterman, author of Bitterman’s Field Guide to Bitters and Amari . Blogger Alana Chernila joins us with her new book, The Homemade Kitchen . Alan Muskat explains his forage-to-table tours, while the Sterns visit The Cupboard Restaurant in Memphis. And in honor of the show's 20th anniversary, we revisit a piece with journalist Anna Badkhen, author of Peace Me...

Ruth Reichl joins us with the backstory of her latest book, My Kitchen Year , and we talk to Emeril Lagasse about the recipes he finds essential. His latest book is Essential Emeril . Chef Lidia Bastianich shares what she cooked for the pope, and Jane and Michael Stern are at the Garnet Café in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Broadcast dates for this episode: October 9, 2015 (originally aired) October 21, 2...

This week we have a conversation between Michael Ruhlman, author of The Book of Schmaltz,  and celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern about cooking with fat, the Sterns join us with their take on the best regional American pizza, Bon Appétit’s Adam Rapoport teaches us a simplified duck confit recipe, and travel and food writer Anya Von Bremzen talks about her memoir, Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking . B...

It’s Serious Eats’ science superstar J. Kenji Lopez-Alt with his new book, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science . Mary Karr, author of The Art of Memoir , talks about the role of smell and taste in memory. Musician Sammy Hagar, author of Are We Having Any Fun Yet? , compares cooking to writing a song. James Nienhuis, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, explains what paintings...

It’s a conversation with Craig LeHoullier, author of Epic Tomatoes: How to Select and Grow the Best Varieties of All Time . We talk to Nicole Bermensolo about her book , Kyotofu: Uniquely Japanese Desserts , and we get kitchen design and philosophy from Gabrielle Stanley Blair, creator of the blog and book Design Mom . Cara Nicoletti, author of Voracious , shares dishes from her favorite novels, w...

This week we talk to chef Pierre Thiam about his new book on modern Senegalese cuisine, Senegal , and Melanie Dunea, author of My Last Supper , explains the art of capturing chefs on film. Writer Elissa Altman is having a difficult time feeding her aging mother, and the Sterns seek out the best pimiento burgers. We also revisit an old segment with award-winning chef Daniel Patterson, who tells us...

This week we talk to Leanne Brown, author of Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day . Wendy Suzuki, author of Healthy Brain, Happy Life , shares recent evidence that you can benefit your brain by giving it a smell and taste workout. In his latest project, “To Live and Dine in L.A.,” Josh Kun looked at a collection of over 9,000 menus dating back to 1875. And Cathy Erway, author of The Food of Taiwan ,...

We talk to Darra Goldstein, editor of The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets ; we meet Douglas Quint, one of the founders of New York City's Big Gay Ice Cream Truck; and we learn the simple art of Italian dumplings with chef Jenn Louis, author of Pasta By Hand . Keith Wilson, curator of the exhibit "Ancient Chinese Jades and Bronzes" at the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.,...

Will Allen tells us how he feeds 10,000 people a year from a three-acre farm in the poorest part of Milwaukee. We talk to Amy Bentley, author of Inventing Baby Food . Adam Leith Gollner explored Abruzzo, Italy, which he says is "hidden in plain sight," and Barbara Mazur discovered The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook in the rare book room at YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. The Sterns share their soul...

We're in the New York City kitchen of legendary chef Daniel Boulud for another installment of The Key 3 . David Tanis tries to convince us to eat seaweed, and we play Stump the Cook with Frank DeCaro, author of The Dead Celebrity Cookbook . Broadcast dates for this episode: June 23, 2012 (originally aired) June 15, 2013 (rebroadcast) July 1, 2016 (rebroadcast)

This week Michael Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn College, and student Chanson Goodson tell us why the Dallas school converted its football field into a garden. Contributor Noelle Carter looks at the world of sake making with sake brewer Gordon Heady. Contributor Melissa Clark talks to food critic Robert Sietsema about his new book, New York in a Dozen Dishes . Freelance journalist Jason Strother...

Guest host David Leite talks to Augusten Burroughs about the latter's new memoir, Noelle Carter explores the food of Lima with Virgilio Martinez, and Shauna Sever discusses Italy's history of food preservation with Domenica Marchetti. Plus, David builds the perfect pie crust with Art of the Pie 's Kate McDermott, and Lynne Rossetto Kasper checks in with Jekka McVicar on the wonders of lemon balm....

This week we hear about the eating strategies of the world’s healthiest people with Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones Solution: Eating and Living Like the World’s Healthiest People . We look at the past, present and future of the most popular fruit, the banana, with Nicole Vitello, president of Equal Exchange Bananas. Chef Rick Bayless gives us a lesson in the Mexican way with vegetables. His...

Brian Wansink, author of Slim by Design , shares the latest findings on why we eat what we do, beer expert Greg Engert gives us a taste of the delicious world of spontaneous fermentation and Maryann Tebben joins us to talk about her book, Sauces: A Global History . Carla Seidl visits the mill Carolina Ground, and Richard Wrangham, author of Catching Fire , explains the role cooking played in the e...

Journalist Barry Estabrook exposed the dark side of Florida’s tomato crop in his best-selling book Tomatoland . He now takes on the pork industry with his latest book, Pig Tales . We get exuberant and professional help with our picnics from Jen Stevenson, a member of The Portland Picnic Society and co-author of the book The Picnic . Robyn Lea, author of Dinner with Jackson Pollock , shares how she...

This week we talk to David Gelb, creator of the Netflix series Chef's Table. We get indoor gardening advice from Elizabeth Millard, author of Indoor Kitchen Gardening . Diana Henry shares ideas for cooking chicken, and Tara Whitsitt explains Fermentation on Wheels, her mobile fermentation project. We also revisit a piece about Nikolai Vavilov, a Russian botanist who collected seeds, with author Ga...

Contributor Melissa Clark digs into the fragrant food of Lebanon with Maureen Abood, author of Rose Water & Orange Blossoms . Jeremy Nolen, author of New German Cooking , says German food is more than sauerkraut and schnitzel. Kimberly Jung co-founded Rumi Spice, a business that buys saffron directly from Afghan farmers. We meet up with a man with synesthesia -- he tastes what he hears -- and...

We’re talking to journalist Tom Philpott of Mother Jones about the dark side of everyone’s favorite nut, the almond. Sarah Copeland, author of Feast , explains what it means to eat 90 percent vegetarian. The Sioux Chef's Sean Sherman specializes in Native American food with indigenous ingredients. Jane and Michael Stern share a regional treasure from Pennsylvania, the zep. Broadcast dates for this...

This week we hear about a group of renegade Montana farmers and their quest to change the farming industry from Liz Carlisle, author of Lentil Underground: Renegade Farmers and the Future of Food in America . We talk to chef Eric Ripert about his recent travels, and we have an encore performance of the day Lynne taught violinist Joshua Bell how to cook pasta. Broadcast dates for this episode: Marc...

We are looking at the history of the chicken with Andrew Lawler, author of Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?   Lynne blind tastes California olive oils, and Edd Kimber explains the proper way to make scones. In honor of our 20th anniversary we’re revisiting a 2008 interview with David Lett, the groundbreaking American winemaker behind The Eyrie Vineyards. Broadcast dates for this episode: Febru...

Perfumer and chef Mandy Aftel explains the connection between scent and emotion. Her book is Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent . The Sterns have found a first-rate gluten-free bakery at Mama’s Cheese Bread Factory in Brookfield, Connecticut, and Lisa Gross talks about The League of Kitchens, an organization where immigrants teach others to cook. J. Kenji Lopez-Alt debunks five myths about cast ir...

This week we talk to Kat Kinsman, editor in chief of Tasting Table, about the ethics of food journalism. We turn to Michael Ruhlman, author of Ruhlman's How to Roast , about the essentials of that cooking technique, and meet Azalina Eusope, a fifth-generation street vendor from Malaysia who is setting San Francisco’s food scene on fire. Broadcast dates for this episode: January 30, 2015 (originall...

This week it’s Jennifer McLagan with her book Bitter: A Taste of the World’s Most Dangerous Flavor, with Recipes , Jimi Yui, one of the world’s leading restaurant kitchen designers, explains how he works with chefs to make their kitchens their own, and Food & Wine magazine's Ray Isle talks about American wines. The Sterns are in Idaho, and the BBC's Lucy Hooker has the story of one man's missi...