Tip of the Tongue

This is an encore presentation of this podcast. In yesterday’s ComplEAT Kitchen I wrote about my meal at Pasta Night , Renato’s restaurant in Brooklyn. I thought that listening to this podcast again, where he speaks about his new restaurant, would be fun. If you eat breakfast in Brooklyn you have probably eaten at Ciao, Gloria. Italian baking and lots more. Renato Poliafito’s 5th book, Dolci! Amer...

There are fusion restaurants everywhere. Sometimes they are contrived, and frankly the fusion doesn’t happen. Usually they work best when the people involved have a foot in the food culture of the place where the restaurant is and in the culture of the source of fusion. There are no rules. But you know when it is successful, just as you might recognize something that isn’t. Koi Asian Fusion works....

Food and food culture does not observe political boundaries. Thus some important state foodways may be overshadowed by more well-known or more highly marketed foodways. In Louisiana, most people identify the food of south Louisiana when they think about the state’s foodways. Chef Hardette Harris wants to encourage us to remember the wonderful foodways of the northern part of the state, a place abu...

There is lots to say about food writing and how it has changed. Dianne Jacob is right on top of it all. She is the author of the multiple award-winning book, Will Write for Food , which is now 20 years old and in its 4th edition. She is a writer herself, a writing instructor, and a writing coach. She has a newsletter on Substack. Dianne is unlocking her article with Emily Weinstein next week. You...

Rachel Hope Cleves has written a book full of sex and transgression. The book is all about food, the development of restaurants, and how we left some of the prejudices about good food and sex behind us in the world of foodies. Today we think of healthy eating as our path to good sex. You can also find Rachel on Blue Sky . If this podcasts interests you, I recommend a conversation that Rachel and I...

Do remember Saveur magazine from the 1990’s? Well, it’s back. Kat Craddock, who grew up reading and admiring the magazine, who found her first dream job working there in the test kitchen, is now the Editor and CEO. We talk to Kat about Saveur and its new incarnation. Listen, it’s on Tip of the Tongue. Kat’s New Book written with Dr. Marie Pierre St. Onge Get full access to Tip of the Tongue at tip...

Caroline Chambers has made her much deserved reputation of Substack. Her new book, What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking is out there. She tells her story and muses on the future. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue. You can read more about Caro on her website. The interview is fun and personal. The cookbook has great ideas for food that is either very easy, when that is what you need, and a...

Ilan Stavans and Margaret E. Boyle have written a book, Savor Judío, which explores the influences of Jews on the cuisine of Mexico. The book is full of sidebars that explain origins and happy mash-ups that can made of a delightful new dish reflecting both Jewish and Mexican cultures. The book discusses holiday treats and surprises like Baba Ganoush con Chile. Ilan Stavans is Lewis-Sebring Profess...

The Port of New Orleans has been importing green coffee from the Americas for centuries. Green coffee distribution has been an industry in the city for a long time. And roasting and selling roasted coffee, while a newer industry, has serious roots in the city too. And coffee shops abound. Local ones, not only national chains. French Truck Coffee is one of those local ones that has grown from one s...

If you eat breakfast in Brooklyn you have probably eaten at Ciao, Gloria. Italian baking and lots more. Renato Poliafito’s 5th book, Dolci! American Baking with an Italian Accent is out and it makes you want to bake and eat everything. We talk to Renato about baking, Italian food, and so much more. Listen, it’s on Tip of the Tongue. Get full access to Tip of the Tongue at tipofthetongue.substack.c...

There are many influences on New Orleans cuisine. It is constantly changing and adapting to all of the delicious things being brought to the city. One of those influences that has been in New Orleans since the late 70s is Vietnamese. And there are mutiple generations of people who have Vietnamese jeritage in the city cooking and eating and sharing their food. Listen to Chef Nini Nguyen as we talk...

Are you ready for an opera about macaroni and cheese? Will we recognize ourselves in an opera about a cooking contest with contestants representing America and the different versions of macaroni and cheese that can be found all over the country? Listen to the conversation with conductor, Josh Slater, and General Manager of the New Orleans Opera, about the opera, The Cook-Off. It is performed at th...

The world of food is very broad, and it seems that Jessica Carbone has worked in every part of it. She has worked in restaurants, edited cookbooks, studied it at Harvard, consulted to the entertainment industry, worked in magazines, and worked at the Smithsonian. She has survived it all with a broad and deep understanding of the field. And she has the ability to look at it all from the ground and...

This is a reprise of my interview with Paul Freedman about his book Why Food Matters. We talked in 2021, shortly have the book came out. As we approach Thanksgiving, a holiday about gratitude that uses food and communal eating as its primary symbol - move over symbolic turkey - I thought that it would be interesting to hear Paul Freedman discuss this book about so many of the reasons that food rep...

There are lots of baking books out there. And even though I have considered myself baking averse, I am trying to bake my way out of this affliction. Reading and cooking out of Pan y Dulce by Bryan Ford has been excellent therapy. Listen as Bryan and I talk about New Orleans and its food culture - which I am happy to say we both love - as well as Bryan’s journey to baking and his current journey. A...

Women in the South have been both frugal and extravagant in their baking, but it is usually delicious. Morgan Bolling has edited a terrific new book - When Southern Women Cook - with an introduction by the James Beard Foundation award-winning Toni Tipton Martin, published by America’s Test Kitchen. You will be intrigued, excited, and itching to get into the kitchen. Besides 300 recipes, the book i...

The Poor Boy Festival in New Orleans celebrates all of the cultural quirks of New Orleans, including the culinary ones. I was asked to moderate a panel with Winston Ho and Miss Linda Greene, aka, The Yaka Mein Lady. Unfortunately Miss Linda was unable to attend, so Winston and I waltzed our way around yaka mein and a few other very New Orleans topics. It seems that Winston has found yaka mein in A...

Bella McDow grew up in America and in El Salvador. She is living in New Orleans these days and exploring her roots through baking. She is resolving the various tugs from different cultures by baking. She is learning the business through a special program and popup. Her company is SemitaMamita. I have eaten her semitas, and they are delicious. She is just starting on her adult path in life, and she...

Recreating her mother’s table inspired Melissa M. Martin to create the Mosquito Supper Club in New Orleans. Her first book, Mosquito Supper Club, reflected the recipes from her mother’s table. But Bayou: Feasting Through the Seasons of a Cajun Life, goes beyond those recipes. And the Mosquito Supper Club is expanding as other plans are unfolding. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue. Get full access...

Olia Hercules has made a profound journey to the comforts of food. This episode from 2022 seems so apt today, that I am offering it again. Even if you have heard it before, you will hear new things in a second listening. Hercules is a Ukrainian journalist who has also lived in Cyprus and Italy and now England. She describes the comfort of food as a reminder of home and as a way to establish home....

Marilee Bramhall and I discuss women vintners in France and Italy and her company, Iola Wines. We talk about the nuances of natural wines and simply the joy of wine at the table. Have you tasted natural wine? Do you only like big, bold wines or do you enjoy wine with food that is very specific to place? Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue. Be sure to look at her events and her wine club. Get full ac...

How to stay grounded in the world. How to remain connected to others. How to remain in the now when performing everyday tasks. We talk about this with Misty Bell Stiers and her new book, Light, Fire, and Abundance: Harness the Power of Food & Mindful Cooking to Nourish the Body & Soul. Learn more about Misty, including other writing, by visiting her website. Get full access to Tip of the Tongue at...

Food has been used as a metaphor for sex and sexual attraction in many a song and play and movie. But in poetry it can mean even more. Andy Young uses food, and fruit in particular, in her poems. Her newest collection is Museum of the Soon to Depart, published by Carnegie Mellon University Press. She is also a translator and teacher. We talk about and listen to her poems. It’s on Tip of the Tongue...

I thought that you would enjoy this encore release from Julia Skinner. Julia is doing so much - combining art, nature, and food - that it is good to be reminded how grounded she is. Listen to hear about all that she is doing making a life for herself in food and in other areas that interest her. Get full access to Tip of the Tongue at tipofthetongue.substack.com/subscribe

Anne Byrn is the master of cakes of all kind. In her new book, Baking in the American South: 200 Recipes and Their Untold Stories, she really makes southern baking of all sorts come alive. We talk about the book, baking, and other kitchen talk. The book is a treasure trove of information and talking about what motivated her and what it all means motivated lots of talk. You can listen, it’s on Tip...