The Splendid Table

This week it's the story of a life-altering sweet tooth. Our guest, Steve Almond, author of Candyfreak, has lived his entire life for candy and surely knows more about candy history than Mars and Hershey combined. The Sterns are choosing between democracy and dictatorship at Hallo Berlin, a sausage cart on the streets of New York.  Travel writer Anya Von Bremzen reports on world food markets worth...

Funny and frank journalist Linda Ellerbee joins us this week to talk travel, eating, and the meaning of life. She shares a recipe for Mama's Rescued Fudge Pie from Take Big Bites: Adventures Around the World and Across the Table, her recently published memoirs. The Sterns celebrate Grilled Cheese Month at Clementine in Los Angeles where the banana cream pie is to die for! Deborah Madison stops by...

When our guest, Lawrence Osbourne, wondered if he could trust his own palate he went inside the wine world to find out. He'll tell us what he learned. His book is The Accidental Connoisseur: An Irreverent Journey Through the World of Wine. The Sterns are getting their licks at one of America's last great ice cream factories—the Big Dipper in Prospect, Connecticut. Sally Schneider talks duck and cl...

Paul Dolan, president of Fetzer Vineyards and author of True to Our Roots: Fermenting a Business Revolution, has made some unconventional changes at one of America's most successful wineries. We'll hear how this big producer is practicing what usually works only on a small scale. It could be the new way of wine. The Sterns settle a meat pie debate at Cousin Jenny's Gourmet Cornish Pasties in Trave...

California Chef Paul Bertolli, author of Cooking by Hand, gives new meaning to "cooking from scratch." He makes his own balsamic vinegar, cures his own salami and hams and grinds his own flours. We'll learn what drives this talented artisan and owner of the award-winning restaurant Oliveto in North Berkley. He leaves us with his recipe for Boiled Chicken with Vinegar Sauce. The Sterns are surround...

British journalist Christy Campbell joins us this week with the story behind the plague that threatened to destroy the world's vineyards. The fascinating account of how scientists working with vintners stopped a near disaster is documented in Mr. Campbell's book, The Botanist and the Vintner: How Wine Was Saved for the World. The Sterns are half way between Miami and Havana, eating Cuban home-styl...

"Our guest is BBC journalist Fuchsia Dunlop, the first foreigner invited to study at the professional chef's school in Sichuan, China. She fell in love with the spicy, hot, and unique cuisine the Chinese call "audacious cooking," and went on to pen Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking. She leaves us her recipe for Fish-Fragrant Eggplant from the book. For the Sterns, it's French...

This week it's heartbreak, glory, and big money. We're talking cooking contests with Amy Sutherland, author of Cookoff: Recipe Fever in America. If you think the Superbowl is competitive, wait until you hear how serious cooks go for the gold! The Sterns dine family-style at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House in Savannah, Georgia. Food forager Ari Weinzweig delights chile heads with talk of the great peppe...

This week it's the story of two Southern cooks from different generations, different places, and different races. Young chef Scott Peacock talks about his special friendship with Edna Lewis, a cook, writer, and octogenarian who is one of our national culinary treasures. Scott leaves us his recipes for Sugared Raspberries and Scott's Chicken Stock from The Gift of Southern Cooking, the book he co-a...

Brush the snow off the Weber! Steven Raichlen is back and he's talking winter grilling. Never mind that the wind chill is 10 below. Steven's Green Lightning Shrimp, from his book BBQ USA, will warm you to your toes. The Sterns get a jolt from the Tabasco Ice Cream at Robin's Restaurant in Henderson, Louisiana. "Bright Lights, Big City" guy Jay McInerney wants us to think Rose Champagne for Valenti...

This week Miles Cahn, creator of Coach handbags and, ultimately, Coach Farm Goat Cheese, tells the story of trading big-city life for dairy farming in the Hudson Valley. It's a tale of one man's journey from successful businessman to being held hostage by 1,000 goats. His book is The Perils and Pleasures of Domesticating Goat Cheese. Jane and Michael Stern are eating pancakes at Dot's Diner in Wil...

Did you know that one quarter of all vegetables eaten in America are french fries? Our guest, Dr. Kelly Brownell, Director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders and author of Food Fight, thinks huge advertising budgets have more to do with this frightening statistic than our lack of will power. But Dr. Brownell says there's hope on the horizon. He joins us for a look at some of the vi...

We're cooking in the raw, vegan style, with renowned Chicago chef Charlie Trotter, co-author of a new book aptly titled Raw. It's stunning food using new techniques like those in his recipe for Cauliflower Soup with Balsamic Red Onions and Wilted Lettuce. The Sterns are nibbling succulent shrimp while basking on the sunny deck at the Anchor Line in South Carolina's James Island. David Rosengarten...

We're off to Manhattan's Lower East Side, one of the Big Apple's great culinary neighborhoods with our guide Ben Watson, co-author of The Slow Food Guide to New York City. From street pickles and lox to bialys and gelato, it's all about small businesses making exceptional foods in old-fashioned ways.   On the opposite coast, the Sterns are dining with Tinsel Town's power brokers and celebs at Muss...

This week it's Christmas with England's Nigella Lawson, the lustiest, yet pragmatic, cook we know. She'll talk the feast, with ideas for taking the pressure off and having some fun. She leaves us her recipes for Bread Sauce and Easy-Action Christmas Cake from her latest book, Feast. The Sterns feast at El Farolito, an adobe hut in the middle of nowhere about 40 minutes from Santa Fe. Andrea Immer...

Lynne talks with Harold McGee, the man who took food science from the laboratory into home kitchens. He recently updated his classic tome from twenty years ago: On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. He fills us in on the discoveries contained in the 21st century edition.vIt's crawfish and zydeco in the back woods of Louisiana for the Sterns. They're partying at D.I.'s in Basile...

Diana Kennedy, one of the food world's great trailblazers, takes us on a tamale tour of Mexico. Ms. Kennedy has spent her career tracking every nuance of regional Mexican food and her books are in-depth explorations of that country's fascinating cuisine. She shares her recipe for Tamales Filled with Poblanos and Cheese from her latest book, From My Mexican Kitchen: Techniques and Ingredients. The...

It's our annual Thanksgiving show and we're doing the big bird, big time. Famed San Francisco chef Judy Rodgers, author of The Zuni Café Cookbook, shares a Thanksgiving Menu that's at once modern and homey. For those who prefer reservations on Thanksgiving, the Sterns have turkey three ways, in three states! Josh Wesson suggests bubblies and after-dinner sippers to take along when you're a guest,...

Renowned architect Sarah Susanka, whose latest book is Not So Big Solutions for Your Home, believes houses should be designed for how we really live, not how we think we should live. She joins us this week with practical ideas for putting this philosophy to work in our kitchens. Jane and Michael Stern are "pig pickin" at Sweatman's BBQ in Holly Hill, South Carolina. After tasting his way through h...

We're bringing you the show we recorded live on stage at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City to kick off the second annual Gourmet Institute weekend. Our guests include John Willoughby, executive editor of Gourmet, and Chef David Pasternak of Esca talking The Big Apple's food scene. Bad boy Chef Anthony Bourdain and the consummate perfectionist Chef Thomas Keller team up to tell ho...

Spain is where to go now to experience the latest culinary evolution. In restaurants where the country's top young chefs preside over the kitchen, new meaning is given to "cutting edge," and the food looks and tastes like nowhere else. Global restaurant critic Anya Von Bremzen has been tracking the developments for a decade and joins us with a report. Her recipe for Paella Valenciana comes from he...

Renowned Mexican chef Rick Bayless and his daughter Lanie join us this week with a multigenerational take on food and cooking. Their book, Rick and Lanie's Excellent Kitchen Adventures, is hot off the press. The recipes, like Moroccan Meatballs in Tomato Sauce, reflect their worldwide travels.  For the Sterns, it's a classic Wisconsin fish fry at Klinger's East in Milwaukee. Chris Kimball of Cook'...

Some of the world's most intriguing cooking comes from a place where the living hasn't always been easy. It's Scandinavia, and Norwegian food authority Andreas Viestad, author of Kitchen Light, takes us there. He shares his recipes for Spicy Gravlaks with Aquavit and an interesting "Mock" Aquavit. The Sterns are knocking back oyster shooters with oyster burger chasers at Pacific Oyster in Bay City...

This week it's all about sweets. We'll take a look at the great candy civilizations—ancient India and Persia—and their contribution to our modern day sweet tooth. Our guest is Tim Richardson, author of Sweets: A History of Candy. The Sterns are in Charlevoix, Michigan where Jane says she ate the pancake of her life at Juilleret's. Cook and author Sally Schneider was inspired by Alice B. Toklas and...

This week it's food and the sexes. Naturalist Susan Allport, author of Primal Feast, examines how gender shapes food behavior for humans and other animals. It's an interesting take on food, foraging, and sex in the animal world. The Sterns are into Hot Truck, a deeply local specialty of Ithaca, New York. Wine maverick Josh Wesson has advice for wines to drink with sweet corn. Dorie Greenspan check...