Good Food: Recent Episodes
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Everything you wanted to know about good cooking and good eating from LA chef, author, radio host and restaurateur Evan Kleiman.
From nopales and horchata to matzoh balls and Manischewitz, Ilan Stavans and Margaret Boyle merge Mexican and Jewish foods. Rachel Gordin Barnett and Lyssa Kligman Harvey celebrate the unique and diverse food history of Jewish South Carolina. Hannah Dreier reports on child labor in the poultry broiler belt. Brigit Binns reflects on her dysfunctional LA childhood and how it delivered her to the kitchen and writing.
An audio folk story examining the tradition of Black watermelon long-haulers, who drive to farms in the South for watermelon and sell them in Black neighborhoods around the US. This is a special bonus edition from KCRW's Lost Notes.
Sylvio Martins gives us a glimpse into The Infatuation's blind taste test to determine the 10 best croissants in Los Angeles. Yotam Ottolenghi and Verena Lochmuller craft globally-inspired comfort food in a new cookbook. Seeking Turkish cuisine, LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison finally finds it in a Santa Monica coffee shop. Chef Juan Ferriero creates inspired salads for his menu at Great White.
Jim Meehan asked some of the best bartenders on the planet for their favorite cocktail recipes — and put them in a book. Archaeologist Tate Paulette explores ancient beers. Market correspondent Gillian Ferguson explores how California farmers handled the latest heat wave. Investigative journalist Sharon Lerner unpacks how 3M lied to its employees — and by extension the American people — about the dangers of PFAS and PFOS. New York Times correspondent Kim Severson reports on the attempts to replace plastics in the grocery store.
On the 20th anniversary of Sideways, Hitching Post owner Frank Ostini reflects on changes in the Santa Ynez Valley. Filmmaker Jason Wise joins Vahe Keushguerian in a conversation about making wine from Iranian grapes for the first time in half a century. Maanvi Singh reports on corporations buying up water rights, often in drought-stricken areas, and selling them to other communities, sometimes hundreds of miles away. Growing up in Northern California with a Kenyan mother and Nigerian father, Kiano Moju celebrates her family's AfriCali cuisine. At the farmers market, chef Dan Barber visits with Alex Weiser who is growing a new allium — garleek.
Kristyn Leach and a network of farmers work to preserve cultural heritage through seed saving. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison visits Perilla in Echo Park for Korean banchan and dosirak. Photographer Lucy Schaeffer captures the nostalgia and personal memories behind school lunch. Peter Miller pens an ode to the midday meal. Politics professor Aaron Bobrow-Strain looks at the history of white bread in America and how it became so popular and industrialized. Wax Paper in LA pays homage to NPR personalities with their sandwiches, and co-owner Peter Lemos explains what goes into an “Ira Glass.”
Georgina Hayden makes her family's Greek-Cypriot recipes more achievable. Amber Guinness entices the palate with coastal Italian snacks and seaside refreshments. Rosa Jackson goes beyond Salad Niçoise to embrace the rustic cuisine of France's fifth largest city. Inspired by her family's beloved bundt cake recipe, Daphane DeLone is whipping up whoopie pies at Connie & Ted's. The owners of Koda Farms, who grow rice in Merced County, decide to retire their grandfather's legacy.
Reporter Adam Iscoe exposes the auctioneers and private clubs making a profit on restaurant reservations. Behind most kitchen doors, restaurants are hemorrhaging money. Heather Sperling documented every dollar her restaurant spent over the course of a month. Stephanie Breijo spent months talking to chefs and restaurateurs about operating in crisis mode. Daniel Hernandez and the Food section team at the LA Times canvassed the city to find its best tacos. Aaron Lindell from Quarter Sheets uses summer melons from Weiser Family Farms in playful ways.
Diane Kochilas reveals the secrets of Ikaria, a Greek island known for the longevity of its inhabitants. Margie Mason and Robin McDowell uncover an unlikely source of labor in our food chain — maximum security prisons. Podcast host and food historian Jessica Gingrich shares the story of Robert King, a member of the Angola 3, who survived 31 years in prison where he cut sugarcane. Memo Torres shares his latest recommendations of where to eat across Los Angeles. Pastry chef Sam Robinson of All Day Baby bakes up sweet summer corn cakes with peach preserves.
Dan Hong considers the role food has played in diplomacy and politics. Ruth Reichl weaves art and fashion into The Paris Novel, in which her heroine finds herself through food. Sara B. Franklin pays tribute to Judith Jones, the editor responsible for bringing Julia Child and Edna Lewis to American kitchens. At the farmers market, chef Daniel Cutler puts tomatoes and peaches to work at two different restaurants.
Mary Beth Sheridan details how drug cartels in Mexico have begun extorting tortilla vendors. Stef Ferrari raises a glass to stuzzichini, Italian bites served during aperitivo. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison reviews Baroo, which he recently named Restaurant of the Year. Julia Sarreal pores over yerba mate, an iconic South American beverage that has been revered and vilified. Catherine Roberts reports on pesticide residues lurking in 59 common fruits and vegetables.
Alexandra Stafford shares her easy techniques for making pizza at home — no kneading or stand mixers required. Alyse Whitney dives into summer with riffs on crowd-pleasing dips that are perfect for communal dunking. Want to make a smooth, creamy queso? Swetha Sivakumar reaches into the medicine cabinet. When Jeff Horwitz wanted to get rid of his allergic reaction to poison oak, he started consuming it. Summer tomatoes have arrived at farmers markets!
It's Good Food's 2024 James Beard Award winners show! More than three decades after her father passed away, Hetty Liu McKinnon honors him with a tender cookbook about his legacy and her love of vegetables. Abi Balingit, a self-described "dork who baked," turned her passion into a cookbook of Filipino desserts. Becoming a chef wasn't in Jason Hammel's plan but he now operates Chicago's Lula Cafe, a leader in the hospitality industry. Sohla El-Waylly teaches us the "why" behind kitchen techniques. Bill Addison reviews Filipino favorite Kuya Lord, which started as a garage pop-up and now has a brick-and-mortar spot in Melrose Hill.
Nicola Twilley takes a cold plunge into the history of refrigeration. Lucas Sin explains how to use the freezer to improve cooking. Adrienne Borlongan jettisoned a career in nursing to explore ice cream production. For two decades, Michael Buch has watched Silver Lake change around his shop, Pazzo Gelato. At the farmer's market, Elaine Marumoto-Perez and her brother use apricots to make ice cream and donate portions of each pint to charity.
Food writer Khushbu Shah reflects on how Bisquick and Cream of Wheat fit into the Indian American diaspora. Michelle T. King recounts the life of Fu Pei-mei, a culinary star who taught generations of Taiwanese women how to cook. Reporter Elena Kadvany explains the elimination of restaurant surcharges and the last ditch effort to keep them intact. Historian Xaq Frohlich unpeels nutrition labels and why they leave the onus of good health on consumers. Finally, what does a California ban on salmon mean for the livelihood of fishermen?
Chef and culinary activist Lelani Lewis returns to her Caribbean roots with classic recipes. Steve Hoffman dreamed of moving his family to France… until he moved them to the wrong town in France. Kevin and Jeffrey Pang cook up some father-son bonding over plates of Mongolian Beef and General Tso's Chicken. Avid outdoorsman and conservationist Steven Rinella cooks what he hunts and catches. At the farmers' market, peach season is anything but the pits.
In a new cookbook filled with Lebanese recipes, Hana El-Hibri invokes the spirit of "mayylu," an invitation for visitors to pop in. Jo Flashman pairs Southern California hikes with microbreweries. Kitty Morse opens a tattered leather valise and uncovers a WWII journal from her French forbearers — with photographs and some very special recipes. Chef Jordan Kahn ushers in a new era at Vespertine. Gustavo Arellano weighs in on a proposed California law that would require folic acid to be added to masa. Finally, there's a new face at the farmer's market.
Franco-Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan is on a mission to document and share Palestinian foods, traditions, and the work of home cooks. Filmmaker Peter Byck casts a lens on the maverick farmers and scientists working to solve the climate crisis. Chefs Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson bring the bold Mediterranean flavors of Kismet to a new cookbook. Cindy Carcamo reports on why California's once flourishing asparagus farms are disappearing.
Author and illustrator Mark Kurlansky peels back the cultural, historical, and gastronomical layers of the onion. Jonathan Kauffman explains how "hippie food" went mainstream. Forget meat alternatives, Lukas Volger develops veggie burger recipes using whole foods. Flexitarian Pamelia Chia canvases chefs for show-stopping Asian vegetarian recipes. Forget meat alternatives, Alicia Kennedy unpacks the history of vegan and vegetarian eating in America. Two small voices sing the praises of seeds in the book A Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds.
Memo Torres uncovers hidden gems and family-run businesses across Los Angeles. Adam Reiner takes a closer look at the products behind the tongue-in-cheek labels on the shelves of Trader Joe's. Olga Massov and Sanaë Lemoine have tons of recipes devoted to the limitless possibilities of the sheet pan. Farmer Laura Ramirez explains the seasonality of the avocado while chef Stephanie Izard sticks to local ingredients.
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We think you'll enjoy this episode of Life Examined, a KCRW podcast that explores science, philosophy, and finding meaning in the modern world. You're probably already familiar with Michael Pollan's writing on food and psychedelics. In this bonus episode, he talks with Jonathan Bastian about his study of how humans and plants interact.
After she became a mom, journalist Angela Garbes shifted her focus from food to the invisible, unpaid labor that goes into raising children. On the podcast Your Mama's Kitchen, beloved author Judy Bloom opens her mother's recipe box and reveals her kitchen anxiety dreams. After traveling the world at a young age, Priya Krishna presents global recipes for a new generation of eaters. Climate advocate Puneeta Chhitwal-Varma shares low-waste recipes for maintaining a healthy diet and planet. Finally, Meredith Bell from Autonomy Farms balances raising animals and a daughter.
Historian Hadley Meares looks at how Hollywood sips cocktails on the big screen. From Prohibition bourbon to dolce vita amaro, journalist Aaron Goldfarb follows collectors hunting for vintage spirits. Frank La of Be Bright Coffee heads to Busan to compete in the World Barista Championship. Memo Torres of L.A. Taco introduces us to the Carnitas Queen of Los Angeles. Finally, Clémence de Lutz heads to the farmer's market for cherries she can feature at Petit Grain Boulangerie, her new bakery.
Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard think the worldwide appeal of K-pop and Korean cinema has boosted modern Korean food. Operating out of a gas station, how does Arezou Appel make some of LA's best cookies? Jennifer Yee of Baker's Bench talks about the joys and pitfalls of vegan pies. Dan Pashman dives into the global pantry to develop innovative pasta recipes. Sweet spring strawberries arrive at SoCal farmers markets.
With only a week left until PieFest, baker Nicole Rucker shows us how to make a scrumptrilescent apple pie. From Baghdad and Buenos Aires to Montreal and Mexico City, Naama Shefi taps the Jewish diaspora to fill her holiday table. When Karla Vasquez couldn't find an English-language Salvadoran cookbook that she loved, she created her own. After writing a book on Northern Thai food, Austin Bush explores the spicy, colorful cuisine of Southern Thailand. When soulful Southern restaurant Joyce opened in DTLA, LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison had to check it out. Michael McCarty reflects on 45 years of success at his eponymous Santa Monica restaurant.
Journalist, activist, and founder of the blog Gaza Mom, Laila El-Haddad discusses how she keeps the cuisine of Gaza alive as she tries to find solace during Ramadan. After struggling with drugs and addiction, Toriano Gordon hit reset and became a chef, opening two vegan barbecue and soul food trucks. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison knows where you should stop and eat on your way to Coachella. Pie judge and cooking instructor Clémence De Lutz tells us how to master berry pies for this year's Pie Contest. Finally, what do you do with the green almonds that are at farmers markets right now?
Author and illustrator Mark Kurlansky peels back the cultural, historical, and gastronomical layers of onions. Journalist Shane Mitchell won two James Beard Awards for shining a light on the exploitation in America's onion fields. Pastry chef Sherry Yard has tips on how to make award-winning hand pies. Dina Begum navigates the six seasons of Bangladesh, sharing traditional recipes and childhood memories. Bill Addison heads to an upscale Chinese restaurant where the roast duck comes with a fire show.
Marian Bull weighs in on the popularity of orange egg yolks. Chef Ludo Lefebvre details what goes into his famous omelet, which is on the menu at Petit Trois. Lisa Steele is a fifth-generation chicken keeper and the founder of Fresh Eggs Daily, a blog that has been viewed more than 50 million times. Tove Danovich loves raising backyard chickens, a tradition that dates back to her great-grandmother. Margaret Magat describes eating balut, an embryonic egg delicacy enjoyed across the Philippines. Lizzie Stark hatches stories exploring the cultural history and uses of eggs while sharing her personal story.
Explaining how taste and smell interact, why smell is related to emotion, and the patterns of flavor, Arielle Johnson chases deliciousness by taking science and making it fashion. Christy Spackman tracks how municipal water systems have spent billions eliminating taste from our tap water. Flexitarian Pamelia Chia canvases Asian chefs for show-stopping vegetarian recipes. Baker Rose Wilde shows us how to bring edible flowers onto our plates.
Life is driven by flavor. The seductress that is flavor often leads us down the rabbit hole of food studies. If you run a restaurant or you're in the food business, you know that flavor is power and it needs to hit in the first few bites. But what exactly is flavor? And how do we create it in our own heads? We've been following the interests of Arielle Johnson for years. Her new book is Flavorama: A Guide to Unlocking the Art and Science of Flavor.
Evan Kleiman: When I hear the term "flavor scientist," my mind goes to the industrialized food world. I think of someone working for a big company, like Kraft or Kellogg, who's trying to create the next viral snack or food trend. But that is not what you do. How does your work differ from that of most other flavor scientists?
Arielle Johnson: Most food scientists and most flavor scientists are employed by large food companies, largely because that is who hires people like that and pays for the field to exist. I'm at a little bit of a right angle to what they do. [What I do] intersects in the chemistry and in the sensory science but I'm much more interested in understanding flavor as an everyday experience, as an expression of biology, culture and ecology, and as something to use in the kitchen. So I do apply it but in a different way than it is typically applied.
Are you often contacted by chefs who are trying to create something or push something further, and they need science to help them take a leap?
Often, they don't necessarily know what science they need but they know that I am good at solving problems using science. Often, a chef has been working in one direction or another, maybe trying to do a fermentation project or get a flavored ice to behave a certain way. When I can, which is a lot of the time, actually, I like to step in and try to cherry pick what area — is it biology? is it chemistry? is it molecules reacting? is it volatility or something like that? — and set them on the right path to get what they want.
That must be eminently satisfying.
Incredibly. That's my favorite thing.
What intrigues me about flavor is how personal it can be. I sat across from noted restaurant critic Jonathan Gold each week for a couple of decades, listening to him describe flavor. I would always ask myself, is that how I perceive what he's talking about? Often, in my own mind, it was no, I'm perceiving it differently but how interesting it is, what he's perceiving. Could you speak a little bit about that, the personal nature of flavor?
One of the things I find most exciting and attractive about flavor is that it sits at this intersection of the extremely concrete — it's based on molecules, which we can measure, real matter — and the personal. Flavor doesn't happen until you put something in your mouth and the signals get sent to your brain and then from there, all bets are off. But one important piece to the connection between flavor and the personal, is that flavor is not just taste, it is also smell.
Smell is a huge, essential part of flavor. Smell, more than any of our other senses, is deeply tied in a physical, neurological way to our emotions and memories. Once we gather smell molecules and build a smell signal and pass it to the rest of the brain, the first place that it goes is the limbic system in places like the amygdala, places where we keep our most emotional, personal memories and associations. So with smell, and therefore with flavor, we'll often have our personal history, our emotional reaction to it, come up before we can even recognize or articulate what it is that we are smelling and tasting.
Chefs and restaurants around the globe enlist the help of flavor scientist Arielle Johnson to give them a leg up on deliciousness. Photo by Nicholas Coleman.
It's so interesting to me that these days, on social media in particular, where people are constantly giving their takes on whatever they're eating or the latest restaurant thing, it's always within these parameters of better or worse. Yet I think very few of us have spent the time to actually parse what it is we like and why.
I think that's true. I think science really has nothing to say about questions of aesthetics and taste — taste in the philosophical sense, not the physiological sense. What is the ultimate? What is the best? These are subjective questions. Science can enhance that understanding but can't really tell us what it is.
Let's get into the science. What is flavor?
Flavor is a composite sense, combining mostly taste and smell, as well as some information from all the other senses but taste and smell are the two big ones.
Taste, meaning sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami, is something a lot of people know about but let's focus on smell. In the book, you say, "Right now, as you read this, you have brain cells dangling out of the bottom of your skull, exposed to the air inside your nose at all times, and we all walk around like this is totally normal."
I know that is how it works. I know it's a real thing. And still, every time I think about it, it blows my mind that that is how smell works. We have neurons that are attached on one end to a structure called the olfactory bulb in our brain and then those neurons, those brain cells, pass through small holes in the base of our skull and just kind of hang out, waiting to grab on to smell molecules on the inside of our nasal cavity.
Amazing. You compare smell to a QR code. What do you mean by that?
It's probably best understood by comparing it to taste. With taste, we have very distinct matches between specific molecules, specific receptors, and specific perceptions. When you taste something sour, acid molecules will go onto your tongue. They will interact with the sour receptor, which pretty much only interacts with them and with nothing else, and the signal that gets sent to your brain is like pressing a key on a piano. So sour, loud, and clear. Very simple, very one-directional.
With smell, we don't have a finite set of smells the way we do with taste. We have the five basic tastes. With smell, we have about 400 different types of receptors and the way that we collect smell information is rather than having these one-to-one pairings, like acid to sour receptor and sugar to sweet receptor, all volatile smell molecules can interact with several of these 400 receptors. And any receptor might grab on to a few or dozens of molecules in a different way.
You have some rules for flavor that you list in the book. I think the one that is the most useful for home cooks is the fact that flavor follows predictable patterns, and that if people understand the patterns, they can unlock the ability to improvise. Is it possible to train your palate to become attuned to that?
Absolutely. A lot of people when I'm talking to them and they hear that I study flavor, they're like, "Oh, I have such a bad palate. I could never do that." The fact is that most humans are very, very good at distinguishing differences between flavors, we're just very bad at naming them. Fortunately, we can learn how to do that with practice. Most of us are just out of practice. I've actually, in my academic career back in the day, trained a few dozen people to become very precise analytical tasters. What we do in the lab, you can essentially replicate on a simpler level at home. It's really just a process of smelling and tasting things very carefully, paying attention, trying to name any associations that you have, and then basically doing this over and over again. Most people are bad at it at first and it feels very out of our comfort zones and uncomfortable, but eventually, you will get very good at it.
Let's get into specific ingredients. What is meat?
Meat, from the perception of a flavor scientist, is a mostly flavorless but texturally interesting sponge of proteins soaked full of water with a relatively tiny amount of flavor-active molecules in it.
Those flavor molecules are like precursors and they create a meaty flavor once that meat is cooked.
Yeah, so if you smell ground beef or taste beef tartare from a restaurant or a supplier that is reputable enough to give you raw meat, you'll notice it doesn't taste beefy like beef stew, necessarily, or like cooked meat. That beefy flavor really doesn't exist until you start heating up the meat and the different ions and enzymes and things like that interact with things like cell membrane lipids and free amino acids, stuff that's floating around. Once all these components meet and get shaken up in the heat, they'll make these very beefy flavored molecules. That is the flavor of meat that we know and love.
Objectively, do vegetables have more flavor than meat from a molecular standpoint?
Yes. In terms of raw product, vegetables have a lot more flavors than raw meat. Definitely.
Okay, spice. We're here in LA. You had a burrito for breakfast. Why do different versions of chilies hit differently?
In terms of spiciness, chilies have a very, very spicy molecule in them called capsaicin. The range of spicy in chilies is pretty much a one-to-one correspondence with the concentration of this molecule capsaicin that they make. The weird and fun thing about spicy is that it feels like a taste but it is not actually a taste because we do not sense it with our taste buds. We sense it with a pain receptor. Technically, spicy is a part of touch.
Wow, I love that. For some unknown reason, I have about two pounds of cocoa nibs in my pantry.
Nice problem to have.
You gave me the gift, in your book, of cocoa nib lemon butter. How do we make it and what do we do with it?
Cocoa nib lemon butter is a compound butter. It's a recipe I wrote to highlight and showcase how good fat is as a carrier of aromas. Specifically, any compound butter is really about taking some kind of flavorful solid ingredient, folding it together with butter, and letting it hang out for a little while. With cocoa and lemon butter, you get these deep, roasted fruity notes from the cocoa nibs, some bitterness and also this very light, sprightly, heady citrus flavor from lemon zest. The nice thing about compound butter is that it's easy to make. And by giving these aromatic, flavorful ingredients a chance to hang out with the butter for a little while, you'll get something that is infused with the character of the flavors but also has these intense pops of it. It's a dynamic eating experience that I really like.
It's really interesting. The reason I have so many cocoa nibs is that I really love making biscotti with cocoa nibs. I think I'm going to make that butter and then use the butter in the recipe.
That sounds delicious. That's exactly the kind of thinking I hope people take away from reading about flavor. Basically, any time you're cooking and bringing ingredients together, you have an opportunity to bring them together in a more flavorful, more delicious way. Any time you're adding fat to a recipe, whether it's butter or oil or anything like that, if you combine it with the flavorful ingredients early on, you'll get a much more intense, round, well-infused flavor. Making this compound butter and then using the butter to make the biscotti, I think you'll probably get quite a different taste experience.
Cacao Nib–Lemon ButterMakes about 1 cup
This is a salty-sweet dessert on some rich brioche or challah. It’s also great on squashes, summer or winter.
Ingredients * 2 sticks (about 225 g) softened, best-quality unsalted butter (grass-fed and cultured, if you can find it!) * 2 tablespoons (20 g) lightly toasted, crushed cocoa nibs * a scant ½ teaspoon (2.5 g) fine sea salt * 3 g lemon zest (just short of 1 medium lemon, zested)
Instructions1. In a medium to large bowl, combine all the ingredients. 2. Mix together well, then pile on a piece of plastic wrap and roll into a log. Chill, well wrapped, in the fridge until use. Consume within 3 weeks.
Reprinted from Flavorama by arrangement with Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Copyright © 2024, Arielle Johnson.
Tell me about your Peanut Russian.
The Peanut Russian is my take on a White Russian, which is coffee liqueur and half-and-half. Watch The Big Lebowski. I don't know if people still drink them regularly. I like them a lot. It's this idea of an alcoholic beverage that's got this deep coffee, bitter brown goodness and a lot of creaminess. But in this case, instead of a dairy product, you use peanut milk, which is like making soy milk but with peanuts instead of soy beans. It's extracting all the flavor of the peanut into this creamy "milk" and then using a coffee-infused rum in the place of a Kahlúa to make a really creamy, nutty, also vegan cocktail experience.
It sounds so good to me. Why are you a fond evangelist, someone who goes so far as to cook giant trays of chicken that you're then going to dispose of because you have stabbed it so many times to let the juices flow out and caramelize on the pan?
The fond is, as you say, when you're cooking a piece of meat and the juices leak out, they make this brown layer that sticks to the pan. This, to me, is the perfect concentrated essence of meatiness. Whenever I brown a piece of meat or I'm trying to make gravy or roasting a piece of meat, I always, always, always deglaze the pan and find a way to incorporate the fond, the brown meaty parts into either the meat itself or into a sauce.
During previous Thanksgivings, when we've grilled our turkey and we're not roasting it in a pan, so we did not have a fond, I did not want terrible gravy (I think fond is essential for good gravy) so we roasted sheet pans of chicken drumsticks that I stabbed all over while they were cooking, which you're not supposed to do. You're not supposed to stick your knife too many times into a piece of meat to check because it'll let the juices run out. In this case, I wanted the juices to run out because I wanted them to collect on the pan and make an extra, extra large fond to use wherever I wanted. In this case, [it was] for delicious gravy. In my defense, I didn't actually throw the drumsticks away. I did use them to make a light stock. But in this case, you're really taking that flavorless sponge and separating it from the meat juice, which you get to experience as its own concentrated essence.
Does texture have anything to do with flavor or is it just a bonus?
No, texture is a huge part of flavor. The texture of salt grains, for example, can have a really significant impact on how salty you perceive a salt to be. Things like astringency in red wine. If you drink a young red wine and it makes the inside of your mouth feel like sandpaper, you'll have a bit of a different flavor experience overall than if you were just drinking it without tannin.
Is that because the tannins are actually having a physical effect on the surface of your tongue?
Not on the surface of your tongue. Your entire mouth is lubricated with saliva. (Sorry for saying "lubricated" and "saliva." I know those are gross words.) What makes saliva a good lubricant, in this case, is because it has different types of proteins, sometimes what are called glycoproteins, floating around in it. Tannins, which are groupings of polyphenols that make red wine red and other fruits and flowers the colors that they are, react with the proteins and pull them out of solutions. It'll actually make your saliva a much less efficient lubricant. Astringency is the unmediated feeling of your tongue touching the inside of your mouth.
I love that. It's such a nerd fest. Do you think that one reason why a lot of good restaurant food happens is because chefs take advantage of opportunities to create layered flavor, they take the time to do that, whereas at home, we just want to feed ourselves?
Absolutely. In a restaurant, since you are doing all of your prep in advance and then executing many dishes over the course of a night, the structure is really set up that allows you to pre-make or pre-prep a lot of different components then bring them together on the final plate. I'd say yeah, the biggest difference between really complex-tasting restaurant food and home cooking is this singular focus on making each component as flavorful as possible, often regardless of how inefficient and time-consuming that is.
This is where all of the infusions, extractions, dehydrated situations come into play.
Fermentation, things like that, if you want to start your prep months before you're going to eat a dish.
Like at Noma.
Exactly.
We have to talk about pie because we're kind of pie-obsessed. And specifically apple pie. We have a big contest coming up in a few weeks and there are two apple categories this year. How is the flavor of an apple transformed by heat?
When you heat up smell molecules, since those molecules are volatile, they are able to basically spend time as a gas and float through the air. Once you heat them up, they will start to essentially boil off and dissipate. This is how a reed diffuser or one of those candle rings that you put essential oils into works. You heat up small molecules and they'll go up into the air more. They won't all do it at the same rate and to the same degree.
When you cook apples, or heat up pieces of fruit but specifically apples, you'll tend to boil off some of the lighter, tutti fruity and green top notes. What you're left with are a lot of what a perfumer might call the base notes, the physically and chemically heavier smell molecules that, in the case of apples, have this really decadent, plush, rose petal, cooked fruit, caramel, tobacco character. That's one of my favorite flavors.
My favorite apple molecule is called beta-Damascenone. It is a norisoprenoid. It's one of these apple base notes.
Do you have any advice on how to enhance the flavor of an apple pie?
Yes. One is to enhance the flavor of the apples themselves by trying to induce chemical reactions that will create more flavors than the apples already have. So if you were to roast or caramelize the apples a little bit, or if not all of the apples, some of the apples beforehand, you'll be introducing more flavor molecules into the pie, literally. If you include any fats or butter in the cream, in the filling itself, let the apples and the spices mingle together with any fat for maybe a day in the fridge before you put them all together and you'll get a much more permeated, infused flavor expression of all of those things.
If you wanted to go crazy, you could enhance the apple flavor of the apple filling by using a bit of apple molasses, which is really just reduced apple juice or apple cider. If you juice some of the apples and simmer [the juice] very gently until you make a syrup, you'll get a super concentrated essence of apple that you can then really beef up the apple pie with.
As water reduces, flavor gets a boost, giving apple pie a concentrated taste when the fruit bakes. Illustration by Arielle Johnson.
That's what I do.
Great minds think alike, I guess.
There are a couple apple farms that make an exceptional cider extract — boiled cider. It's so delicious.
I think that's a great example of how thinking about the science of flavor doesn't have to feel like an organic chemistry class. It can be a little enhancement to your existing culinary intuition. I'm glad you already figured that one out.
If you can exhort us to take on board one technique at home to create more flavor, what would it be?
I think one of the easiest ways to embrace this is to embrace the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction is a reaction between amino acids to the building blocks of proteins and sugars. Chemistry aside, it is the source of all of the browned, toasted, roasted flavors in things like chocolate, coffee, roasted meat, chicken skin, toast, brown butter. It's a reaction that has many different faces. Chocolate doesn't taste the same as coffee although they're both sort of brown-tasting.
The easiest way to use this to add extra layers of flavor to whatever you're cooking is to heat up any ingredients that you have, whether that's butter or a piece of meat, so that these things have a chance to react with each other and to, as much as possible, do things like dab the outside of meat before you sear it so that there isn't as much water. [That way], the water doesn't absorb all of the heat, the heat can go into the meat and then create this delicious browning reaction. A lot of the precursors, the building blocks for this stuff, are just hanging out in the ingredients that we're using all of the time. All you have to do is be a little bit clever about how you're applying heat to them and you'll reap all of these flavor rewards.
"Flavorama: A Guide to Unlocking the Art and Science of Flavor" explores the building blocks of yumminess. Photo courtesy of Harvest.
Sous chef Kamran Gill discusses the challenges he faces while fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. Laura Strange develops recipes and travel guides for those living a gluten-free life in a gluten-centric world. Reporter Susanne Rust explains why California's plastic bag ban created more waste. Dr. Alex Ketchum showcases feminist restaurants and the essential role they played in multiple social justice movements. A springtime delicacy, sugar snap peas are in season at the farmer's market.
Crystal Wilkinson recounts stories and recipes from five generations of Black Appalachian cooks. Poised to open a restaurant complex in Los Angeles, Rose Previte traveled spice trade routes to see how cooking traditions informed each other. Food writer Bill Esparza shows us where to find Dominican food. Sommelier Courtney Kaplan explains shochu, Japan's indigenous distilled spirit. At the farmer's market, chef Daniel Matho shops for butternut squash while Lettie Garcia talks grapefruit.
Dr. Lauren Crossland-Marr explains how the gene editing technology CRISPR is impacting our food chain. Scholar and editor Darra Goldstein detonates the flavor bombs of preserved condiments. Kevin Wilson, aka the CEO of Chai, describes how a simple cup of tea can bring solace amid our mad world. Food and ag journalist Tom Philpott debunks the pro-ethanol POV. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison visits Yess, a new Japanese restaurant in the Arts District. At the farmer's market, chef Deau Arpapornnopparat shops for Holy Basil, his Atwater Village Thai restaurant.
Saba Alemayoh shares her mother's story of civil war, migration, and divorce — all of it bound up with Tigray culture and food. What happens to food reality show contestants once the cameras stop rolling? Derek Corsino weighs in after his time on the Spring Baking Championship while journalist Victoria Namkung focuses on the bigger picture. Journalist Sarah Larson profiles Spencer Sheehan, a lawyer who sues food companies for false advertising. Andrew Friedman documents the life of ingredients and how they make it from the farm to the plate at one Chicago restaurant. At the farmers market, citrus continues to shine.
What does the Tulare Lake Basin water crisis mean for the future of farming in California? Carolyn Quick Tillery celebrates the 25th anniversary of a cookbook that pays homage to the Tuskegee Institute. Memo Torres has ideas about where to eat this weekend with his latest recommendations for Apple Maps. Eat!, a digital delivery program, gives customers access to farmers' markets across Los Angeles. Proposed budget cuts threaten Market Match, a program that gives low-income Californians additional savings on fruits and vegetables at farmers' markets.
Director Tran Anh Hung and actress Juliette Binoche discuss the recipe for subtle seduction in The Taste of Things. Foley artist Olivier Thys reveals which foods he uses to simulate the on-screen sounds of bones breaking and vampires biting necks. Journalist Ada Tseng visits Costco twice a week — for gas, deals, and hidden Asian treasures. Chocolatier Christine Sarioz taps into her art background to create sculptural chocolates. Cathy Asapahu shops for berries for a dessert tasting at Ayara Tha
With restaurants dedicated to global rice dishes, JJ Johnson explores 28 varieties in his latest cookbook. Chef Eric Adjepong explores assimilation, culture and home in a new children's book. Reporter Helena Bottemiller Evich unravels issues with the global food chain in the case of cinnamon applesauce pouches tainted with lead. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison visits Victor Heights for Korean banchan and dosirak. Barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn weighs in on the state of Texas barbecue. Austrian chef Bernhard Mairinger visits the farmers market to shop for his new restaurant, Lustig.
Zarghuna Adel learns classic recipes from older Afghans living abroad and reintroduces them to a younger generation living in the country. LA Times reporter Stephanie Breijo reflects on the closure of some of the city's most cherished dining destinations. Yazeed "Chef Yaz" Soudani of Miya Miya brings Jordanian-style shawarma to Smorgasburg LA. Lisa Hamilton looks at one Hmong woman's struggle to survive war, loss and displacement while holding onto her identity. Sheng Yang and Sami Scripter collaborate on a new edition of the first Hmong American cookbook.
Journalist and author George Monbiot has a radical idea for fixing farming's environmental devastation — but can a post-agricultural world feed the planet? Once a social scientist and now a farmer, Chris Smaje offers a defense of small-scale farming and a robust critique of industrialized food production. The Ecology Center is a blue dot in a red sea. How did Evan Marks come to run this 28-acre regenerative farm in Orange County? Reporter Alexander Sammon visits Cherán, where armed militias guard the area to prevent rogue avocado farming.
Erewhon sells an $18 dollar smoothie named after Hailey Bieber. Mary Beth Albright considers how drinking it will make us feel.
Journalist Laura Tillman phoned Máximo Bistrot, a restaurant riding the wave of Mexico City's popularity as a fine dining destination, in hopes of interviewing its chef, Eduardo "Lalo" García Guzmán. Tillman had covered immigration for the past 10 years and she was interested in speaking with dishwashers, cooks, waiters, and purveyors working in high-end restaurants, where economic inequalities are pronounced. It was 2016, and as the US presidential election made pawns of Mexican immigrants, the chef was eager to share his story.
Tillman spent the next five years speaking with García, his family, and those who worked with him, following his journey from the fields as a young migrant farm worker to the kitchens of the American South then back to Mexico, where along with his wife, he has built a restaurant group that employs hundreds of people. Tillman tells his story in the book The Migrant Chef: The Life and Times of Lalo García — but ultimately, this is Lalo's journey. It's a singular epic, complete with a cruel twist that reveals so much about the relationship between Mexico and the United States, the two countries that shaped García.
Terrified of the ocean in her youth, Valentine Thomas is now a champion spearfisherwoman. Maggie Harrison describes the "maniacal rigor" with which she seeks out beauty through winemaking. "The McSatan" and "The Bruja" are on the menu at Evil Cooks, where Alex Garcia and Elvia Huerta are on a mission to "Make Tacos Great Again." Kate Reid was a successful Formula 1 engineer who designed race cars before shifting gears to make croissants. Out of the studio and into the wild, Good Food takes on the Great Outdoors.
Fuchsia Dunlop distills the history of Chinese food through a menu of 30 dishes. Kevin and Jeffrey Pang cook up some father-son bonding over plates of Mongolian beef and General Tso's chicken. Marc Rose and Med Abrous prepare for Christmas Eve, the busiest night of the year at Chinese restaurant Genghis Cohen. Using their respective lenses as an anthropologist and a historian, mother and son Merry White and Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft examine the way the world eats.
Rose Wilde encourages bakers to develop a relationship with heirloom grains and alternative flours. Abi Balingit, a self-described "dork who baked," turned her passion into a cookbook of Filipino desserts. Restaurant critic Bill Addison runs down his selections for the LA Times 101 Best Restaurants. Sohla El-Waylly teaches us the "why" behind kitchen techniques. Chef Roberto Alcocer shares how he celebrates Las Posadas, a ten-night event commemorating Joseph and Mary's journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
Hungry for more? Check out Good Food's Best Of 2023.
With a competitive spirit, Nancy Silverton sets out to make the best versions of classic baked goods. James Park grew up on kimchi, but when he discovered chili crisp, his world changed. Paul and Jill Fulton embarked on a vanilla voyage, learning to make extracts in their home kitchen. At the farmers market, everything's coming up roses (and snake gourds) for floral designer Sophia Moreno-Bunge.
Bookstore owner Celia Sack shares her list of notable cookbooks of 2023 — perfect for gift-giving. Yewande Komolafe connects the dots of her Nigerian past, visiting Lagos and returning with a new cookbook. Cooking through grief, food writer Bee Wilson keeps recipes simple and finds joy in the process. Artist and curator Suzanne Joskow collects cookbooks written by everyday people. At the farmer's market, Chef Jeremy Fox of Birdie G's shops in preparation for his Hanukkah(ish) collaboration dinner series.
In High on the Hog's second season, producers Fabienne Toback and Karis Jagger continue to explore how Black hands in the pot influence what America eats. Screenwriters Seth Reiss and Will Tracy tackle issues of class, consumerism, and privilege in The Menu. With nearly 40% of the food bought in the US getting tossed, Tamar Adler finds delicious destinies for leftovers. Sisters Margaret and Irene Li crack the code for using wilted, nearly expired, and only-needed-a-tablespoon ingredients. The pandemic and an impulse to curb food waste led Balo Orozco to create Sunset Cultures, an artisanal kombucha and preserves company.
Molecular biologist turned cookbook author Nik Sharma joins Evan Kleiman to talk turkey and all the trimmings. Hetty Lui McKinnon has led a life surrounded by vegetables and shares a riff on a potato gratin. Fahara Zamorano promises nobody will be upset if you open a bottle of champagne but she has thoughts on other wines to pair with your Thanksgiving feast. After spatchcocking, butter brining, and breaking down her bird, recipe developer and author Sohla El-Waylly has found the turkey she plans to make for the rest of her life. Chef Mei Lin recalls how her family incorporated their Chinese heritage into holiday meals. At the farmers market, chef Zach Jarrett does anything but loaf around for his ingenious take on stuffing. Nik Sharma puts his science background to use to tackle your pie problems. Finally, let your leftovers become tomorrow's mise en place.
And if you need recipe inspiration, here you go!* 91 vegetarian and vegan Thanksgiving recipes * 75 Thanksgiving side dish recipes * 45 of our best Thanksgiving pie recipes
With temperatures dipping below 80 degrees, it must be pasta weather in Southern California. This week, Good Food heads to Italy. Rachel Roddy combines 50 pasta shapes with sauces, creating iconic dishes of everyone's favorite carb. When Saghar Setareh landed in Rome from Tehran, she uncovered a Venn diagram of overlapping flavors. Silivia Nacamulli looks back at Jewish influences on Italy's culinary history, which stretch back 2,000 years. Clifford Wright hones in on the culinary traditions of Emilia-Romana. At the farmer's market, Melissa Lopez finds eggplant to top one of her must-have pies
With temperatures dipping below 80 degrees, it must be pasta weather in Southern California. This week, Good Food heads to Italy. Rachel Roddy combines 50 pasta shapes with sauces, creating iconic dishes of everyone's favorite carb. When Saghar Setareh landed in Rome from Tehran, she uncovered a Venn diagram of overlapping flavors. Silivia Nacamulli looks back at Jewish influences on Italy's culinary history, which stretch back 2,000 years. Clifford Wright hones in on the culinary traditions of Emilia-Romana. At the farmer's market, Melissa Lopez finds eggplant to top one of her must-have pies
It's that time of year. Summer is officially over and kids are back in school. And sending kids to school means figuring out what they're going to eat for lunch… unless your child eats the lunch provided by their school. Then you're done and dusted. A team of experts has figured all of that out for you, right?
On the James Beard award-winning podcast Pressure Cooker, hosts Jane Black and Elizabeth Dunn explore the Herculean task of providing nutritious food that children will actually want to eat. If you've never thought about the inner workings of the school lunch program, you're about to get a crash course.
This week on Good Food, we're rebroadcasting two episodes from Pressure Cooker. In "The Twisted History of School Lunch in America," Black and Dunn dig into the origins of the school lunch program to figure out how we got to where we are today. It's a surprising tale involving desperate farmers, skittish military generals, shortsighted bean counters, pizza lobbyists, and a network of underground caves filled with cheese.
Who owns Taco Tuesday? Gustavo Arellano weighs in on the legal skirmish around the phrase. Using slices, pieces, and crumbs, baker Rick Easton treats bread as an ingredient. Sisters Margaret and Irene Li crack the code for using wilted, nearly expired, and only-needed-a-tablespoon ingredients. Krista Burton makes a cross-country pilgrimage to visit the last lesbian bars in the US. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison sets his sights on a newish spot that brings Korean fine dining to Los Angeles. Meredith Pangrace delves into Midwest pies and their origins in a new cookbook.
Meliz Berg praises the overlapping cultures of the slow-cooked meats and herby salads of a Cypriot diet. Third-generation Alaskan Julia O'Malley reports on salmon fishermen trying to keep their head above water amid a lawsuit and starving orcas. Maunika Gowardhan reconfigures tandoori cooking for the home oven, replicating the flavors of the traditional clay pot. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison heads to Beverly Grove for a union between the Goat Mafia and Saucy Chick. Food historian Judith Tschann breaks down the often farcical etymology of food words. Finally, Chef Matthew Schaler at Birdie G’s celebrates tomato season with a sandwich layering the nightshade in every component.
Sophie Donelson looks at modern kitchens, leaving plenty of wiggle room for comfort and realistic living. Anya von Bremzen travels to six food capitals in search of the connection between cuisine and identity. Learning the tricks of the trade, journalist Jaya Saxena discovers that performing at a Benihana teppanyaki grill isn't as easy as it looks. Daniel Gritzer lays out the tenets of marinades and discusses whether they're worth the effort. Chef Justin Pichetrungsi of Anajak Thai shops for market mangos for a traditional Thai dessert.
Memo Torres shares three under-the-radar dining destinations on his monthly Apple Maps list. Gloria Swanson is ready for her close-up as a health food advocate (with a little help from LA historian Hadley Meares). Forget meat alternatives. Lukas Volger develops veggie burger recipes using whole foods. TikTok Jell-O revivalist Otto Markel is documenting every recipe from a 1963 cookbook. "Jiggle Daddy" Ken Albala showcases gelatin cuisine using some eyebrow-raising ingredients. Erika Chan visits the farmers market to find melons for a gelatin dessert at Dunsmoor.
Terrified of the ocean in her youth, Valentine Thomas is now a champion spearfisherwoman. An obsession with a bluefin tuna named Amelia led journalist Karen Pinchin on a deep dive into the future of fish. Saltie Girl owner Kathy Sidell recommends her favorite tinned fish among an ocean of possibilites. Gilberto Centina keeps racking up accolades at Holbox, a top-shelf seafood counter located in Mercado La Paloma. From a five-acre shellfish lease to a legendary Northern California seafood business, Hog Island Oyster Company is the pearl of the Bay Area.
Culinary producer Courtney Storer and actor Liza Colón-Zayas from The Bear show us how they prepped for Season 2. When Uli Nasibova found ice cream and gelato too sweet, she decided to make her own. Dominick DiBartolomeo started working at the Cheese Store of Beverly Hills as a pre-med student and now has keys to the front door. Joanne Lee Molinaro found a (probably) AI-generated knockoff of her award winning cookbook, The Korean Vegan, being sold on Amazon. Italian cooking instructor Viola Buitoni offers ideas for using summer produce.
Historian Amy Brady chips away at the 200-year-old history of ice in America. Martin Riese's fascination with the taste of water began as a child in Germany, where more than 500 brands are sold. Memo Torres namechecks a dozen must-try tacos in Van Nuys. Susan Jung pays homage to fried chicken across East and Southeast Asia. After a two-year wait, Jihee Kim brings her banchan to a brick-and-mortar in Echo Park.
What happens when you equip three podcast producers and a host with two tents, an egg spoon, and some marshmallows? We decided to find out. We sent the Good Food team camping but we knew they'd need a little help. So we called some experts.
Podcast host Ivy Le ventures outside to answer the couch-surfers' burning questions. Canadian food journalist Chris Nuttall-Smith eschews cans of beans for cocktails and campfire paella. Seasoned camper and local chef Shannon Swindle swings by the farmer's market to help pack the cooler. Monique Caulfield shares the secrets of axe throwing. Ashley Jones collects and refurbishes vintage cast iron skillets.
PS - We've also come up with a KCRW Picks: Campfire Songs playlist filled with great tunes for the great outdoors.
This week, Good Food highlights conversations with authors and journalists who took home a 2023 James Beard Media Award. Irina Georgescu hungered for familiar Easter recipes while baking her way through the overlapping cultures of Romania. Professor Psyche A. Williams-Forson considers the stereotypes and stigmas of race and diet. Andy Baraghani takes the lessons he learned working the line at restaurants and applies them to the home kitchen. LA pitmaster Kevin Bludso describes how his grandmother's tough love and rap video catering gigs led him to barbecue success. Chef Vishwesh Bhatt reflects on his childhood in India and how his cooking took shape in the American South. "Diasporican," the first cookbook by food columnist Illyanna Maisonet, explores Puerto Rican cuisine off the island.
David Cooley reminiscences about The Abbey, the West Hollywood cafe and bar he opened in 1991. Rax Will discusses gender-neutral greetings and recommends a few queer pop-ups in LA. Stacey Mei Yan Fong bakes pies to represent all 50 states, as seen through the eyes of an immigrant. Daniel Miller delves into the history of sushi in Los Angeles and how two businessmen scoured Japan for the next great food product. Finally, growing stone fruit for the better part of his life, Troy Regier has peaches and nectarines ripe for the perfect summer sandwich.
Hetty Liu McKinnon navigates grief with an ode to her father and vegetables. Chef José Andrés says the pickiest eater in his family wasn't one of his three daughters, but his wife. Chef Alisa Reynolds travels the world finding food that feeds both body and soul. Ryan Mitchell returns to North Carolina to continue a multigenerational barbecue business. In anticipation of his Echo Park restaurant opening, Miles Thompson shops the farmer's market for his Baby Bistro pop-up.
Virginia Sole-Smith exposes society's anti-fat bias and the issues surrounding childhood obesity. Restaurateur Karan Gokani revels in his first tastes of Sri Lankan food and traditional hoppers made of fermented rice and coconut. Mark Arax looks at the future of water in California's Central Valley. At Chao Krung, Katy Noochlaor explains how her parents put familiar Chinese dishes on their menu to lure in customers before Thai food was popular. Finally, Bob Wiebe brings his short-lived plucots to market while chef Macklin Casnoff shops for his newly-opened Melrose cafe.
Jean Trinh shares the story of her refugee family's connection to Chinese crullers. Cookbook author, teacher, and omnivore Andrea Nguyen offers vegetarian Vietnamese recipes for the home cook. Bill Addison finds comfort at Luyixian in Alhambra. Chef Evan Funke shops for Swiss chard to use at his eponymous new Beverly Hills restaurant.
Abra Berens, a native Michigander, uses peak-of-the-season fruits in a wide array of preparations. From the Underground Railroad to the Oregon Trail, KCRW's Tyler Boudreaux traces the history of the Black Republican cherry. High in sugar and acid, cherries are in full swing at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market, and Clemence de Lutz has a recipe for the clafoutis she grew up making. Banana diversity in India makes the fruit ubiquitous and vital to the country's culture, as anthropologist Deepa Reddy explains. Kate Lebo's curiosity about fruit is endless, despite all the pits and its brief window of ripeness.
Ron Salisbury reminisces on 100 years of El Cholo, California's oldest Mexican restaurant, opened by his grandparents in 1923. Antonia Hitchens reports from the Taco Bell innovation kitchen on the frontlines of the stunt food wars. Bricia Lopez and Javier Cabral join forces for the perfect asada. British writer Louise Gray evaluates how far her produce travels compared to fruit and veg for a typical Californian. Parked at Sunset Triangle Plaza, blue food truck Simón doles out mariscos and asada with a twist.
Anissa Helou explains the importance of preserving your heritage through food. With the world, and New York Times critic at large Tejal Rao, watching, grandmothers are the new influencers of the online kitchen. California girl Claire Ptak moved to London; her new cookbook pays homage to both homes. Based in Amsterdam, Natasja Sadi imitates nature to create floral arrangements using sugar. Chef Chris Ono shops for blooming produce at the farmer's market. Finally, Asma Khan runs the only professional Indian kitchen in the world with an all-female staff; she pays tribute to the woman behind the food in her latest cookbook.
Oliver Kaplan shares his method for making a 1st Place blueberry pie. Nevada Berg holes up in her cozy Norwegian farmhouse where she bakes along with the seasons. Scientist and historian Marci R. Baranski explores the legacy of the Green Revolution and its effects on the global wheat market. Filmmaker Raj Patel shines a light on Anita Chitaya, who fights climate change from her village in Malawi. Minh Phan reopens Historic Filipinotown favorite Porridge + Puffs. Chef David Almany searches for lettuces and fresh veg for his crudité platters at the farmer's market, steps away from his restaurant.
With nearly 40% of the food bought in the U.S. tossed out, Tamar Adler finds delicious destinies for leftovers. The pandemic and an impulse to curb food waste led Balo Orozco to create Sunset Cultures, an artisanal kombucha and preserves company. Expat Nancy Singleton Hachisu, an expert on Japanese home cooking, showcases vegetarian dishes in her latest cookbook. Bill Esparza espouses the mariscos life and shares two local recommendations for Sinaloan seafood. Professor Linda J. Seligmann illuminates the politics of quinoa, a minor crop that became a global foodstuff. At the farmer's market, Gather for Good walks the cake walk for reproductive justice.
Culinary wunderkind Flynn McGarry's memoir demonstrates passion, discipline and maturity — and he's only 24. Zee Husain cultivates laksa leaves, huacatay, sambar cucumbers and kadipatta (curry leaf) plants. Halva, a popular sweet throughout Armenia, the Middle East and India, has a deeper significance for Liana Aghajanian. Caleigh Wells breaks down everything you need to know about composting in your kitchen. Valerie Gordon explains what makes a superior custard pie, just in time for this year's Pie Contest. Bill Addison reviews Azizam, where the spring menu is filled with creative uses of fresh produce.
Los Angeles Times columnist and KCRW contributor of "Orange County Line" Gustavo Arellano discusses the importance of recognizing Anaheim's Little Arabia neighborhood. Chef José Andrés drops by to discuss his new LA restaurants and his work with World Central Kitchen. From Beijing through Mongolia to Moscow, New Orleans-based artist and author Emma Fick illustrates her journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway in watercolors. Raghavan Iyer passed away in March leaving behind a love letter to a spice blend celebrated around the world. Writer Anusha Kulal explains the significance of the savory porridge haleem and its connection to Ramadan.
Lizzie Stark hatches stories exploring the cultural history and uses of eggs while sharing her personal story. Cookbook author Irina Georgescu hungered for familiar Easter recipes while baking her way through the overlapping cultures of Romania. Tove Danovich loves raising backyard chickens, a tradition that dates back to her great-grandmother. Margot Anne Kelley revisits utopian back-to-the-land movements throughout American history. Craig McNamara turned to restorative farming as he grappled with the legacy of his father's involvement in the Vietnam War.
Kate Reid was a successful Formula 1 engineer who designed race cars before shifting gears to make croissants. Jenny Yee makes vegan croissants at Bakers Bench, where she uses a plant-based substitute for butter. Tejal Rao breaks down "Party Down," the series about the mundane lives of LA cater waiters. Chanie Apfelbaum puts a fresh spin on Passover favorites while remaining "Totally Kosher." Paula Forbes weighs in on the great bay leaf debate.
If RuPaul, Rose Nylund and Julia Child had a baby, she'd be Bertha Mason, a Midwestern pie-baking drag queen with a killer sour cream and raisin pie recipe. Shanita Nicholas and Amanda-Jane Thomas put their legal careers in the rearview mirror to open a coffee spot in Inglewood to inspire community. “Fresh is boring,” according to fishmonger Liwei Liao, who operates the only market dry-aging fish in the country at The Joint along Ventura Boulevard. Neither rain nor hail can stop chefs from frequenting the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers Market.
Joe and Celia Ward-Wallace opened South LA Cafe with a mission to fight racial, social and economic inequality. Their next project? Overseeing the Natural History Museum's entire food and beverage program. The first season of "The Last of Us" concluded last Sunday, and mushrooms played a big role in this new, dystopian world. Tejal Rao asks: Are fungi here to destroy us or save us? Visoth Tarak Ouk aka Chef T was born in a refugee camp in Thailand to parents who survived the genocide of the Khmer regime in Cambodia. His family eventually settled in Long Beach, where the chef developed a love for cooking and became a pillar of Southern California's Khmer community. Planning to enter the cream category of this year's PieFest? Margarita Manzke of Republique, Manzke, and Sari Sari is a judge, and she has tips on how to win a ribbon. From Haruki Murakami's stir fry to Maurice Sendak's chicken soup with rice, Adrienne LaFrance recalls the 12 most unforgettable descriptions of food in literature. Finally, Bill Addison finds Shanghainese cuisine among a field of Sichuan-dominant restaurants.
Just in time for the Academy Awards, journalist and historian Hadley Meares uncovers two of LA's earliest celebrity restaurants. Tejal Rao, critic at large at the New York Times and a KCRW PieFest judge, talks about the beauty, the versatility, and the wow factor of savory pie. "The McSatan" and "The Bruja" are on the menu at Evil Cooks where Alex Garcia and Elvia Huerta are on a mission to "Make Tacos Great Again." JR Ryall went from student to pastry chef at Ballymaloe House in County Cork, Ireland. At the farmers market, blood oranges are getting a squeeze.
After a three-year, in-person hiatus, KCRW's Good Food PieFest & Contest returns — with a vengeance. Claire Saffitz answers the most burning after-dinner question with a new cookbook. Noah Galuten opens the cupboard and looks at pantry staples with fresh eyes. Reclaiming her identity, Homa Dashtaki abandons a legal career to make yogurt. Chef Farokh Talati explores his Parsi roots in his first cookbook. Finally, Alex Weiser brings fingerling potatoes to Santa Monica Farmers Market and chef Chuy Cervantes of Damian puts them to work.
From Malibu to the San Gabriel Valley, the documentary "The Oldest Vine" explores the history of winemaking in Los Angeles. Amy Luftig and her business partner launched the first winery to open in Los Angeles since Prohibition. Hannah Che reimagines classic Chinese dishes for the vegan palate. Serena Alagappan explores the techniques and culture of eating with our hands. Former filmmaker Adam Alexander discovered an unusual pepper on location in Ukraine. It set him on a quest to unearth rare varieties of vegetables. A traveling farmers market celebrates its second anniversary at the California African American Museum.
Matt Haines has sampled more than 80 king cakes from New Orleans bakeries, just in time for Carnival season. Professor Psyche A. Williams-Forson considers the stereotypes and stigmas of race and diet. Beekeeper Adam Novicki breaks down the exacting process of almond tree pollination in California. Michael Martinez of LA Compost has an update on the ins and outs of the green composting bin. Malli chefs Elizabeth Heitner and Nestor Silva pop up in Virgil Village at Jewel for a President's Day brunch.
With a modest Kickstarter campaign, Jenny Nguyen decided to flip the script on the traditional sports bar, opening a watering hole dedicated to supporting women’s athletics. Avish Naran puts a twist on traditional sports bar fare with an Italian-American and Indian mashup at Pijja Palace. Beny Ashburn and Teo Hunter of Crowns & Hops team up with Allagash to curate beer with purpose. Mara Herbkersman and Emily Bielagus are poised to bring the lesbian bar back to LA with Ruby Fruit. Sunyoon Choi and Eric Watkins document the meals and menial tasks of domestic life in Korean American Cooking Comics. Finally, independent producer Gideon Brower uncovers the quirky tale of edible underwear.
Tanya Holland recalls her family’s migration and how settling in California influenced her own brand of soul food. Asma Khan runs the only professional Indian kitchen with an all-female staff and her latest cookbook pays tribute to the women behind the food. When Sonal Ved decided to untangle the origins of Indian cuisine, she decided to tackle one specific dish — the samosa. Chef Johnny Lee steps back from Pearl River Deli to reassess the model, despite its accolades and notorieity. Jacques Pépin has been painting chickens almost as long as he has been roasting the poultry. Finally, peas are already at the farmers’ market.
Mexican chef Margarita Carrillo Arronte says Americans have the wrong impression of food which isn’t all about comfort — fat and fried. When a chef told Carolina Aboumrad and Ricardo Olvera that his dream product was huitlacoche, they decided to import it to the U.S. Ricardo Ortega aims to make tortillas using honest ingredients at his tortilleria, Kernel of Truth Organics. Lexis-Olivier Ray of L.A. Taco rounds up the city’s best meat markets and carnicerías. New York Times critic Tejal Rao runs down her favorite veggie sandwiches across Los Angeles. Finally, the Crenshaw Farmers’ Market has relocated again, with better visibility and a match program for CalFresh benefits.
Simran Sethi explores how to reconnect with the earth through mushrooms in her series “Fruiting Bodies” for the Museum of Food and Drink. Andrea Gentl shares how her experiences photographing mushroom hunters inspired her to reconnect with her upbringing and bring mushrooms into her home kitchen. Rain means mushrooms for Tutti Frutti. Barbara Whyman tells us about foraging them and Travis Hayden has ideas for how to cook with them. Food historian Julia Skinner explores the roots of fermented foods, from bread and kimchi, to coffee and cheese. Forager Pascal Baudar uncovers place-based vinegars across various landscapes. Finally, Lisa Gill of Consumer Reports outlines dangerous bacterias found in ground beef.
Amid news that he is again shifting concepts at Noma, René Redzepi discusses the restaurant’s reinvention. “The Woks of Life” documents the Leung family’s history through food. Sylvia Wu brought an Angeleno sensibility to Chinese food, expanding the cuisine and its fans. Tejal Rao explains her impact and legacy. Yotam Ottolenghi and Noor Murad embrace make-ahead condiments, dressing, and sauces in their latest test kitchen cookbook. Chef Zarah Khan culls carrots at the farmer’s market for a new dish at Rustic Canyon. Finally, from a garage pop-up to a brick and mortar in Melrose Hill, Bill Addison reviews Filipino favorite, Kuya Lord.
Mary Beth Albright discusses the new field of psychology that examines how food and eating are linked to mood. After sitting on a panel with five billionaires, Douglas Rushkoff began exploring how the megarich are preparing for the end of the world. Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft returns with an update on cultured meat. Curators Zane Cerpina and Stahl Stenslie rethink eating habits, challenge food taboos, and explore new recipes for humanity’s survival in a new cookbook. Chef and children’s book author Cybille St. Aude-Tate explains the origins of Haiti’s independence day dish, soup joumou.
This episode originally aired on October 15th, 2022
Some people measure the passing of time by the weather. Some people measure it by holidays. Good Food measures it in tortillas. Every year, for the last five years, host Evan Kleiman helps Gustavo Arellano judge KCRW's Tortilla Tournament. Every year, it has gotten bigger and more competitive. Every year, listeners learn a little more about the subtleties of texture, flavor, density, and consistency. But in half a decade, one thing has remained the same — at the heart of any truly great tortilla or pupusa or tamal, you'll find one ingredient — masa.
This week, the Good Food team revisits their favorite segments of the year. KJ Kearney, founder of Black Food Fridays, works to recognize the contributions of his ancestors every week. Anthropologist Deepa Reddy explains banana diversity in India which makes the fruit ubiquitous and vital to the country’s culture. Food scholar Darra Goldstein describes the evolution of Russian cuisine despite scarcity and isolation. To understand his cultural history and deepen his culinary passion, Austin-born Rick Martinez moved to Mexico and visited 32 states. Coinneach MacLeod spent much of his time during the pandemic baking. Soon, he became a TikTok star. At Bé Ù, Uyên Lê serves Vietnamese comfort and street food while promoting equity and sustainability.
Screenwriters Seth Reiss and Will Tracy tackle issues of class, consumerism, art, and privilege in "The Menu." Katianna and John Hong, the husband-and-wife duo behind Korean American restaurant and deli Yangban Society, discuss their blended Hanukkah and Christmas traditions. Michael W. Twitty, an African American Jewish writer and culinary historian, considers the "braid of influences" that have shaped his Hanukkah traditions. Want a new twist on the latke? Chef Chris Scott’s herbed potato and onion waffle is the perfect Hanukkah treat. From the ancient history of the tamal (which existed before the tortilla), to the variety of fillings, to regional twists, to different methods of preparation, Indigenous culinary anthropologist Claudia Serrato talks about tamales, top to bottom. Food writer Aleksandra Crapanzano shares the French approach to making dessert at home. Finally, chef Scott Zwiezen reopens Elf Cafe in Echo Park with a new look and some new additions to the menu.
Soup is delicious, easy to make, versatile, and a great way to use leftovers. But despite its many virtues, it's not terribly chic or exciting. Journalist and cultural commentator Anne Helen Petersen aims to change that. Born of peasant food to become a national dish, food writer and cook Zuza Zak dedicates a new cookbook to the Polish pierogi. Chris Scott, a chef known for his Brooklyn soul food restaurant Butterfunk, draws out the Dutch and German influences in soul food. Italian grandmothers are still waking early to make pasta by hand and author Vicky Bennison is here for it. With a $350 tasting menu and a mere 35 guests a week, Bill Addison crowns Hayato with the top spot on the LA Times 101 Best Restaurants list.
Bookstore owner Celia Sack shares her annual picks for best cookbooks with a surprising trend from first generation authors. Anna Voloshyna, a Ukrainian-born food writer and cooking instructor living in the Bay Area, she gets closer to home by sharing family favorites and modern reimaginings of traditional recipes. Ghetto Gastro’s cookbook “Black Power Kitchen'' aims to change the narrative of Black food through history, art, culture, and recipes. Naomi Duguid traveled the world to research how the essential ingredient of salt is collected and used. Raghanvan Iyer’s upcoming book is a love letter to a spice blend that is celebrated among cultures around the world.
Author and essayist Priya Basi, the co-founder of Authors for Peace, reflects on hospitality and the roles of host and guest beyond the act of feeding someone. Environmentalist Paul Greenberg examines his relationship with his father and fishing. Environment lawyer Thomas Linzey looks at the rights of water from the point of view of water itself. Journalist Lucy Jones reflects on how the return to nature aids both the body and mind. Filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg sets the stage for a story of rebirth, rejuvenation, and regeneration in his documentary "Fantastic Fungi."
As America prepares for its biggest cooking holiday of the year, Good Food taps cook and food writer Andy Baraghani to co-host a special Thanksgiving episode with Evan Kleiman. Peppering in answers to listeners’ most troubling kitchen and hosting dilemmas, the duo is joined by chef and artist DeVonn Francis, who has unique entertainment activities to keep the conversation lively while leaving politics and religion off the table. Pitmaster Kevin Bludso shares all you need to know about smoking and frying the Thanksgiving bird. Evan and Andy riff on turkey alternatives and their favorite side dishes. New York Times cooking editor Genevieve Ko developed nine new pie recipes, including a dessert inspired by breakfast. Finally, go beyond the turkey sandwich when using leftovers.
Food writer Rossi Anastopoulo shares the not-always-sweet history of pie in America. Rose Levy Beranbaum delivers the gospel of snickerdoodles in an epic cookbook devoted to cookies. Brian Levy deploys fruits, nuts, grains, and dairy to create "no sugar" desserts. Former Gramercy Tavern pastry chef Claudia Fleming is back with her first cookbook in 20 years, focusing on both savory and sweet baking. Local pie maven Nicole Rucker reveals what inflation and the rising cost of staples like sugar, flour, butter, and eggs means for professional bakers. Finally, baker Sasha Piligian readies herself for Thanksgiving with a sweet potato purchase at the farmer’s market.
“Diasporican,” the first cookbook by food columnist Illyanna Maisonet, explores Puerto Rican cuisine off the island. Lulady Moges brings Ethiopian dishes to the table in under an hour. In an excerpt from his three-part KCRW series “Exploring Africa in LA: A Little Ethiopia Story,” independent producer and LA native Shaka Mali Tafari introduces listeners to Mr. Fekere, owner of Rosalind’s, the city’s first Ethiopian restaurant on Fairfax Ave. Nigella Lawson brings her infinite kitchen wisdom to her new book, “Cook, Eat, Repeat.” What happens when a British rocker lands in LA and there are no pubs to be found? He opens one himself. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison reviews Saffy’s, the latest spot from Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis. And Good Food remembers New York restaurant critic Gael Greene, who passed away this week at the age of 88.
Graduate student Rosie Grant pays respects by baking recipes found on tombstones. Jessica Stevenson waxes nostalgic about vintage Halloween candy and today’s sour favorites. W. Scott Poole, who teaches a course in the history of horror, explains perennial fears of trick or treating, from razor blades to rainbow fentanyl, and the role the media plays. Growing up across the street from the panaderia, Esteban Castillo recreates his favorite Chicano sweets in a new cookbook. Ignacio Murillo embraces fall fruits, including pears, for his new cocktail menu at A.O.C. Finally,Victor Hazan weaves a spooky yarn about his wife Marcella’s search for a human skull.
In his new memoir, Chef Keith Corbin reflects on his childhood in Watts and awakening his palate in prison. Marion Nestle is best known for her groundbreaking work “Food Politics” but her path to get there was winding, as she shares in a new memoir. For Mazuba Kapambwe-Mizzi, when she was planning her wedding in her native country of Zambia, ichilanga mulilo was a part of the celebrations. Award-winning chefs Jody Williams and Rita Sodi have nurtured a legion of devoted diners in Greenwich Village and share their recipes in a new cookbook. Phil Rosenthal visits Philadelphia, Austin, Croatia, and Santiago in the sixth season of Netflix’s “Somebody Feed Phil.” Finally, La Princesita took home the gold at last weekend’s Tortilla Tournament. To commemorate their win, Good Food revisits a conversation with Monica Ramirez and Enrique Rodriguez.
Some people measure the passing of time by the weather. Some people measure it by holidays. Good Food measures it in tortillas. Every year, for the last five years, host Evan Kleiman helps Gustavo Arellano judge KCRW's Tortilla Tournament. Every year, it has gotten bigger and more competitive. Every year, listeners learn a little more about the subtleties of texture, flavor, density, and consistency. But in half a decade, one thing has remained the same — at the heart of any truly great tortilla or pupusa or tamal, you'll find one ingredient — masa.
Wine critic Esther Mobley looks back at the legacy of Fred Franzia, who championed inexpensive wine and brought Two Buck Chuck to the masses. Chef Vishwesh Bhatt reflects on his childhood in India and how his cooking took shape in the American South. Dr. Nancy Rawson provides an update on her research on the loss of smell and taste as a symptom of COVID. As a child, Grace Young stood in line to meet Julia Child. Now she’s being honored with an award named after her culinary icon. Political reporter Ximena Bustillo explains the agenda of the White House Food Conference. Chef Spencer Bezaire is roasting squash in a 600-degree oven at his Silver Lake restaurant Eszett.
Rare apple hunter Tom Brown, who's been crisscrossing his native North Carolina and beyond, is on a mission to find and save America's rare apples. Co-owners Chelsey Rosetter and Benny Farber are the duo behind Benny Boy Brewing, where they go beyond beer and are fermenting Basque-style and other fruited ciders. Emily Eversman of Proof Bakery has started research and development for fall recipes using apples from the farmer’s market. Gustavo Arellano gears up for the fifth consecutive Great Tortilla Tournament, breaking down brackets and the faceoff between corn and flour. Carrying on a legacy, Alexis Navarette recalls working on the weekends as a kid and connecting with the culture of his parents’ South LA restaurant. Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel penned a definitive guide to the medicinal plant knowledge of Ashkenazi herbal healers, from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.
With her cookbook “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking,” Marcella Hazan introduced a legion of Americans to a new cuisine — changing the way many cook and eat. Kimjang is a celebration in Korea. Eric Kim describes the days-long process of making kimchi that has been recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage that needs to be preserved. Russian native Vlasta Pilot takes to TikTok, sharing her pickle fetish with the masses. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison refers to David Rosoff as the “fun, opinionated wine guru” of Los Angeles, who has taken over a block of Silver Lake. Chef Brian Dunsmoor shops for ingredients for his albacore crudo — a dish that is emerging as his restaurant’s signature dish.
Cookbook author Melissa Clark reaches for a single pot or pan to create entire meals in one fell swoop. When Bobby Green heard there might be a chance to revive the popular Tail O’ the Pup hot dog stand, famous because it was an 18-foot-shack shaped like a giant hot dog, he bit into the opportunity. After hitting pause for two years, Sonia Hong and Lawrence Long team up to reopen Irv’s Burgers in West Hollywood with the same doodles on plates and a simplified menu. At the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market, Phoenix-bred chef Chris Bianco revels in Southern California produce.
Food & Wine Best New Chef Ji Hye Kim puts a Midwestern spin on classic Korean dishes to celebrate the harvest festival known as Chuseok. Journalist Ruth Conniff describes the complicated relationship between midwestern dairy farm owners and the undocumented immigrants who keep them running. Banana diversity in India makes the fruit ubiquitous and vital to the country’s culture. Anthropologist Deepa Reddy explains. Attorney generals in Republican states have filed a lawsuit against the USDA and its non-discrimination policies which may leave some students with empty lunch trays. Chef Reem Assil went from advocating for social justice rights to finding a community through bread. In the midst of a heatwave, chef Shiho Yoshikawa shops for black mission figs for ice cream.
Boiling and blending, filmmaker Peter Strickland likens creating music in a band to layering ingredients in a recipe. His satirical horror film is “Flux Gourmet.” Zimbabwean winemaker Tinashe Nyamoduka strives to demystify the vine and promote inclusivity. Documentary producer-director Lori Miller followed natural winemakers during California’s devastating wildfires who are still working to maintain the ancient beverage’s integrity. Curious to know if her highly-frequented restaurant survived the pandemic, animator Elizabeth Ito found the subject of her new film. Actor Jeremy Allen White describes his role as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, a chef with struggles both in and out of the kitchen, in the wildly popular series “The Bear.” Obligation, responsibility, and respect are factors in the fight to reclaim white sage in Rose Ramirez and Deborah Small’s new documentary.
Indian chef and author Maunika Gowardhan celebrates thali — a complete meal served on one plate that offers six taste sensations. Anthropologist Deepa S. Reddy takes a deep look at the Indian soup rasam and its cultural-socio meanings. Craig Fear pays homage to the seafood of New England with chowders, bisques, boils, and stews. Natural wine enthusiast Alice Feiring chronicles the vintages that chronicle her life in a new memoir. From casual Taco Tuesdays to an omakase experience that's booked through September, Anajak Thai is named Restaurant of the Year by LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison. Chinese eggplant and dates have their day in the sun at the farmers market.
Bugra Arkin runs Dolan's, one of only a handful of Uyghur restaurants in the United States. He had an unlikely, and not entirely happy, path to becoming a restaurateur. Coinneach MacLeod spent much of his time during the pandemic baking. Then, he became a TikTok star. Professors Emily Contois and Zenia Kish analyze Instagram’s influence on how we eat, what we eat, and even how restaurants design and create their menus. Nancy Matsumoto and Michael Tremblay visited 35 artisanal sake breweries while researching the fermented rice beverage. Kato bar manager Austin Hennelly crafted a one-of-a-kind non-alcoholic beverage pairing. Ripe, summer tomatoes hit the farmer’s market.
Geologist David R. Montgomery and biologist Anne Biklé explore the relationship between soil health and human health. Senegalese chef Pierre Thiam works to make fonio a global grain while keeping its production in Africa. Chef Bonnie Frumkin Morales explains the simplicity of making kvas at home and why more people don’t know about the beverage. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison feasts on Colombian fare at Selva in Long Beach. Yolanda Evans likens rum houses in Barbados to British pubs with a sense of community and conviviality.
KJ Kearney, founder of Black Food Fridays, works to recognize the contributions of his ancestors one day at a time. LA Times Food Editor Daniel Hernandez and chef Gabriela Camara remember Mexican food and culture icon Diana Kennedy. Spirits writer Camper English tells the tale of booze as a cure-all throughout history. Joe Egender and Maciel Bañales Luna open the first vegan butcher shop in Los Angeles. Finally, Sonoko Sakai shops for peppers for furikake at the farmers market.
Sea levels are rising. The amount of sea ice is shrinking. Record-breaking temperatures are scorching countries that are woefully unprepared for the heat. In California, drought has become a semi-permanent feature of daily life. And fires, which were once a seasonal menace, are now a year-round threat. People like to say "Save the Earth," but the truth is, climate change isn't destroying our planet. The Earth will go on turning, give or take 8 billion humans. Climate change is destroying us… or if not us, then our way of life.
Then there's society itself. Wages in the United States haven't kept up with the cost of housing, education, or healthcare. The wealth gap has grown so wide it's a canyon. Corporations and governments want to use technology to spy on our every move.
This week's episode of Good Food leans into the current state of the world without sugarcoating. Oliver Milman paints a picture of a world without insects. Investigative journalists Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins dive into the unappetizing world of salmon farming. Kevin Loria reports on the “forever chemicals” found in food packaging. Elena Conis shares the rise of the toxic compound DDT. Nick Romeo examines why things cost so much, and shares the concept of true pricing. Finally, Dr. Anita Oberholster is working to prevent smoke produced by wildfires from permeating into grapes.
Food scholar Darra Goldstein describes the evolution of Russian cuisine despite scarcity and isolation. Environmentalist and author Paul Greenberg recalls fishing with his father but says the time has come to eliminate the “trophy catch.” Andy Baraghani takes lessons he learned working the line around the country and applies them to the home kitchen in a new cookbook. Growing up in Gabon, Anto Cocagne had aspirations outside of homemaking and left Africa for France, touting the cuisine of the Sub-Sahara. Melvin Blanco, an oncology nurse, opened Juan & Nita’s Bagnet-Silog during the pandemic to feed frontline workers. Finally, it’s summer and that means mangoes at the farmers market.
Journalist Jori Lewis weaves together the history of the peanut from its beginnings in Bolivia, to cultivation in Senegal, and its ties to slavery. Horticulturist Yvonne Savio shares secrets to watering the garden during high temperatures. Michael Martinez works to return food waste back to the soil at LA Compost and has an update on new composting regulations in California. Hevelynn Nealy maintains a community composting site in South Pomona. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison revisits Kato in its new location. Summer means melon season at the farmers’ market.
Historian and professor Natalia Molina reveals how her grandmother’s restaurant, Nayarit, brought the immigrant community together in 1960s Echo Park. In the new FX series “The Bear,” actor Jeremy Allen White plays Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, a chef with struggles both in and out of the kitchen. A creamy base like sour cream, dried aromatics and a bit of acid, cooking columnist Ben Mims levels up homemade dips. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison heads to South Central for a Oaxacan specialty. When Gacia Tachejian couldn’t find coffee she liked in the Valley, she began roasting her own before opening Laidrey in Tarzana. Christina Tran of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council explains the findings of a recent report that examines why 600,000 residents eligible for SNAP benefits have not accessed resources.
Good Food revisits conversations with newly-minted James Beard Award winners and the podcast that took home the medal for Audio Programming. Alexis Nikole Nelson, aka The Black Forager, found her audience on TikTok but has grown her following as she forages for wild vegetation and her cultural roots. Ruth Tam and Patrick Fort explore American Chinese food delivery and how it shaped the takeaway model of dining. Adrian Miller chronicles how Black barbecuers, pitmasters, and restaurateurs developed American foodways. Kristina Cho shares recipes for sweet and savory pastries popular in Chinese bakeries. In his film "Gather," Sanjay Rawal documents the growing movement of Native Americans reclaiming their identity through food sovereignty.
Vicky Bennison adapted her popular YouTube series “Pasta Grannies” into a cookbook that shares the secret’s of Italy’s best home cooks. Benedetta Jasmine Guetta gives a lesson in the history of Jewish cooking in Italy. Tour guide and author Sophie Minchilli embraces the art of “dolce far niente,” or the sweetness of doing nothing. Talia Baiocchi and Leslie Pariseau take a trip down the spritz trail and explain the daily ritual of the aperitivo in Italy. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison gets his fill of pasta at Mother Wolf in Hollywood. Finally, Zen Ong is making ice cream using heritage grain corn tortillas.
Food writer and master home cook Nicole Taylor lays out a spread of ribs, red drinks, and potato salad in the first cookbook devoted entirely to a Juneteenth celebration. Tyler Boudreaux encountered a cherry variety with a name that sent her down a rabbit hole to discover the history and roots of the Black Republican. Kevin Bludso describes some tough love from his grandmother and catering on rap videos in Compton in his new cookbook. When Dr. Howard Conyers isn’t designing rocket ships for NASA, he mans the barbecue pit. Wafts of smoke from Texas barbecue fill the air at Heritage Barbecue, directly across the street from the San Juan Capistrano mission.
Each week on Good Food, host Evan Kleiman speaks to experts in their field of food, interjecting with personal anecdotes. Francis Lam turns the tables and invites Kleiman to share her experiences — from her considerable shyness, hearing men talking about food other than barbecue for the first time on a train in Italy, and her beloved restaurant, Angeli Caffe, on Melrose. Evan Kleiman is Lam’s guest on “The Splendid Table.” Also, market correspondent Ben Mims catches up with Francesco Lucatorto of Ceci’s Gastronomia as he shops for Swiss chard.
Chef Kwame Onwuachi follows up his memoir with his first cookbook, offering a different culinary vantage point for growing up in America. Janette Villafana reports on the displacement of street vendors from the El Salvador Corridor in Koreatown. Professor Karen Tongson discusses the expansion of the Filipino fried chicken chain, Jollibee. Sana Javeri Kadri is raising money through spice sales to support the political and economic crisis in Sri Lanka. Food and travel writer Eleanor Ford researched the significance of nutmeg in the global spice trade. Finally, Ben Mims visits an urban farm in Silver Lake in search of rose geranium.
Poised to open an all-day Middle Eastern cafe in East Hollywood, chefs Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis pay homage to their heritage in their sophomore restaurant cookbook, “Bavel.” After a year in the kitchen and embracing DIY projects, journalist Danielle Dreilinger traces the history of the surprising science behind home economics. TASTE editor Anna Hezel weighs in on the benefits of nonstick cookware. Australian chef Josh Niland approaches fish butchery with sustainability and suggestions on how to use every component of a fish. Market correspondent Ben Mims talks about flowering broccoli with Justin Peach of Anajak. Los Angeles Times restaurant critic Bill Addison heads south to Anaheim for Yemeni cuisine.
After retiring from sailing a barge down the Thames River, Gerald Stratford took a different route than most septuagenarians — becoming a Twitter sensation while imparting his gardening prowess. Ali Slagle eschews mise en place and incorporates prep into her recipes for perfectly low-effort meals. Tejal Rao tracks down the artisans creating the plastic food models displayed in the windows of Japanese restaurants. Helena Bottemiller Evich reports on the baby formula shortage and the precursors leading to national panic. Finally, cherry season is short, but it’s happening now at the farmer’s market.
A child of the 1970s, chef Rick Martinez grew up in Austin before moving to Mexico in search of his heritage. Food workers and farmers are galvanizing and forming unions to push for fair practices. Chef and activist Suzanne Barr didn’t have aspirations to own a restaurant, but cooking for her ailing mother sent her career on a new trajectory. Eddie Lin remembers Yening “Lupe” Liang of Hop Woo, a Chinatown institution. Felix Böck was inspired to develop a recycling system for reusing chopsticks. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison visits the new location of Shunji. Dragan Ivanovic drives a refrigerated truck with his forage that he brings directly to chefs’ doorsteps.
Chefs reflect on the life lessons their mothers taught them in the kitchen. Author Kim Fay weaves together a story of friendship and food in her epistolary novel, “Love & Saffron.” Food writer Barbara Hansen reminisces about introducing international flavors to her Angeleno audience. If you’re ready to make mom breakfast in bed, Cathy Barrow has a five-ingredient recipe for homemade bagels. Ellen Freund and Mara LePere Schloop discuss the research involved to bring the food and cooking of “Pachinko” to the screen. Finally, Ben Mims talks to pastry chef Hannah Ziskin about her excitement for Meyer lemons.
“I’ll Have What She’s Having” is a new exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center that explains the roots of the Jewish delicatessen in New York and the migration of the pastrami sandwich and matzo ball soup to the West Coast. A new generation of deli owners in Los Angeles are supporting each other by sharing knowledge and recipes, while paying homage to their predecessors. Megan Tucker of Mort & Betty’s is creating deli favorites that cater to vegans. The taste for cannabis edibles is on the rise and LA Times staff writer Stephanie Breijo samples local, chef-driven products on the market. Político reporter Ximena Bustillo has a rundown of President Biden’s 2023 budget and allocations that support agriculture and food programs. Finally, it’s strawberry season at the farmer’s market.
In celebration of Earth Day, John and Molly Chester mark the decade-long restoration of their land with the film “The Biggest Little Farm: The Return.” Liz Carlisle and Neil Thapar discuss how five women of color are using regenerative farming to grow food and connect with their ancestral heritage. Filmmaker Liz Marshall follows a former cardiologist who is growing cultivated meat in the lab. Newly appointed LA Times Food Editor Daniel Hernandez tracks down his favorite Mexican fermented drinks on this side of the border. Bill Addison reviews a Malaysian coffee shop in Alhambra. Finally, Ben Mims finds sunchokes at the farmer’s market.
Sofika Zielyk has been making pysanka, Ukrainian Easter eggs, since she was a young girl, and now she’s using her craft to help contain the outrage and heartbreak over the political strife in her wartorn home country. Zaynab Issa has solutions for keeping iftar, the evening meal, stress-free during Ramadan. Fifth generation chicken keeper Lisa Steele shares recipes and techniques for showcasing the versatility of eggs. Benedetta Jasmine Guetta provides a history of Jewish Italians and dishes to bring to the seder table this Passover. Finally, tangerines are at their sweetest this time of year at the farmer’s market.
Natasha David found inspiration in her mother’s white wine spritzers to create low-alcohol cocktails with a happy buzz. Lauren Lemos of Wax Paper took to social media to air grievances about the predatory practices of online delivery apps. Vanessa Cecena helped compile a behemoth of a cookbook celebrating Mexican food.Soraya Kishtwari was innocently reporting on the Cyprian cheese halloumi when she discovered a world of geopolitics and regional pride. Uyen Le is striving for equity and sustainability at her Vietnamese restaurant, Bé Ù. Finally, David Tanis is fanatical about asparagus while shopping at the farmer’s market.
Eric Kim, cooking columnist for the New York Times, headed to Atlanta during the pandemic where he worked on his first cookbook, “‘Korean American,” and unlocked the tricks to his mother’s kimchi. Pomologist Adam Leigh Gollner explains the history behind the USDA’s extensive catalog of watercolors depicting fruits and nuts. Rick Martínez shares his recipe for capirotada, a Mexican bread pudding served during Lent. Siobhan McDonough reports on how the conflict between Russia and Ukraine will affect the global food supply. Yuko Wantanabe finds solace baking among plants for an edition of “In the Weeds.” Finally, Kismet chef Sara Kramer uses honeydew radishes from the farmer’s market in a crudo.
Brothers Craig and Shaun McAnuff, born in South London to Jamaican parents, embrace the Ital diet of Rastafarians, which includes plant-based recipes using spice and natural flavors. The Associated Press’ Adam Beam reports on how California farmers are looking for alternatives to irrigate their crops as drought continues in the state. Americans annually consume $4 billion of carbonated water — is that better than its flat counterpart? Chef and author Naz Deravian explains how Afghans celebrate Nowruz at the table. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison grabs a spot at the counter at Clark Street Diner. Finally, green garlic is at the farmer’s market, where correspondent Ben Mims talks about shrimp curry with Rashida Holmes of Bridgetown Roti.
Chef J. Kenji López-Alt breaks down the science behind cooking in his New York Times column. His first cookbook focuses on the wok and its versatility in the kitchen. Good Food contributor Kenny Ng researches the history of fried rice and shares his personal experiences with the dish. Chowhound birthed many local food bloggers as an early website and gathering place for food enthusiasts, and it’s going offline this week. Leah Hyslop has a brownie recipe for every occasion and mood. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison has a breakdown of the James Beard Award finalists. Finally, the spring equinox is Sunday, and correspondent Gillian Ferguson talks Nowruz and herbs with Chef Debb Michail at the farmer’s market.
The culinary influence of the Transatlantic Slave crossing is evident throughout the American South. In the Costa Chica area of Oaxaca, Mexico, the heritage is equally rich but not often recognized or discussed, says food writer Bill Esparza. Michelle Bishop of Harlem Needle Arts describes the work behind The Legacy Quilt, on display in the “African/American: Making the Nation’s Table” exhibit at the Museum of Food and Drink. Lauren Ko is designing pies that are made for Instagram. Lucy Haro, a grant recipient from Re:Her, is serving Peruvian soul food at Qusqo Bistro. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison reviews Yangban Society in the Arts District. Tomatoes are ripe at the farmer’s market.
Maite Gomez-Rejón has spent the past decade exploring the intersection of art and culinary culture. She describes corn as the lifeforce of the Americas and was the co-curator of the first exhibit at LA Plaza Cocina, a new museum dedicated to Mexican food. Curtis Kimball made friends and brought a neighborhood together by serving up pancakes. Lisa Gill investigated heavy metal in pantry spices for Consumer Reports. Rachel Baron reported on the benefits of using foreign language characters and words in cookbooks. Chefs Andrew Marco and Ralph Hsiao are bringing that neighborhood bodega feel to Koreatown via Open Market. Finally, Jesus Ramirez-Arteaga is shopping for beets at the farmer’s market for a salad at natural wine bar, Good Clean Fun.
Roy Choi confronts social justice issues such as employee inequity and gentrification in the second season of his Emmy Award-winning series “Broken Bread.” Yale history professor Paul Freedman explores the cultural significance of food and why it matters in breaking down stereotypes and understanding taste. Journalist Michele Maynard reports from Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig opened Zingereman’s, an empire 40 years in the making that is built on customer satisfaction. In Leimert Park, Nesanet Abegaze and her mother are pivoting to an Ethiopian-Mexican fusion concept at Azla Vegan. Signs of spring appear at the market where peas make their debut.
Brad Johnson arrived in Los Angeles from New York City where he cut his teeth in the restaurant business. Soon he had the hottest place on the Sunset Strip — the Roxbury, spoofed by Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan on Saturday Night Live. Johnson has a podcast that showcases his years and Black voices in the business. Multitasking and perfection are in Leanne Brown’s DNA, yet sometimes her self-worth falters in favor of anxiety, so she turns to the kitchen to remind herself that she is good enough for nutrition and self-care. Nikita Richardson shares her avatar in the life simulation video game, “The Sims,” where characters learn to cook and experience new foods. Jet Tila, the prince of Thai cuisine in Los Angeles, shares his favorite dishes to make. Chef Alisa Reynolds is modernizing Southern comfort food, making gluten-free favorites in her kitchen at My 2 Cents. Finally, seedless and easy-to-peel winter citrus are chefs’ favorites this time of year.
With the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day around the corner, Good Food talks to Brad Kintzer, who has created a series of plant-based chocolates at TCHO. Food writer Alicia Kennedy says nooch, the cheesy-flavored powder more commonly known as nutritional yeast, is rising in popularity. Chef Charity Morgan stands behind a plant-based diet and cooked the Tennessee Titans into the NFL playoffs. Shelley Leopold has the lowdown on where to pick up the best Super Bowl eats across town and where to go to cheer on the hometeam with fellow Rams fans. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison visits Echo Park for the city’s latest Italian spot. Finally, sustainable prawns are coming to the farmer’s market.
Natalia Pereira shares her life in recipes, canvassing photography, art, and poetry inspired by her memories of the Brazilian cuisine of her youth. Los Angeles Times restaurant critic Bill Addison marvels at the Iranian breads of Kouzeh Bakery. Icelandic chef Gísli Matt honors traditional ingredients while using modern techniques. Food journalist Dan Saladino researches generations of food eaten and those at risk. It may be winter, but tropical fruit is at Southern California farmers’ markets. Finally, engineer Richard Gomez is pimping a new food cart soon to hit the streets of Los Angeles.
When Joe Coulombe conceived of Trader Joe’s, he catered to a new customer who was overeducated and underpaid. Horticulturist Shannie McCabe champions heirloom varieties of seeds, sharing their histories and those of the farmers who grow them in the Baker Creek Seed Catalog. Hannah Marler funded her education by selling seeds. Sharon Wee prepares for Lunar New Year and describes the traditions of her Peranakan heritage. Bill Addison has recommendations for modern Filipino wine bar, Lasita. Finally, it’s time to make marmalade with citrus from the farmer's market.
With a penchant for design, Corinne Mynatt became obsessed with discovering the history and functions of kitchen tools from flea markets around the world. David Owen considers the environmental consequences of the kitchen’s largest tool — the refrigerator. Amanda Hesser tackles the herculean task of combing through over 150 years of New York Times recipes. Rhea and Marcel Michel combine their heritages for the ultimate rotisserie chicken. Los Angeles Times restaurant critic Bill Addison visits a new market hall in San Gabriel Valley. Baby kale is the new darling at the farmer’s market.
Arts journalist Carolina Miranda asks in her essay remembering California native Joan Didion. Miranda recounts Didion’s reference of her family’s potato masher in her work, “Where I Was From.” Podcaster and author Cathy Erway recommends sprucing up the pantry by springing for high-quality sesame oil. Evan Halper reports on California’s charge to eliminate the use of gas in homes and businesses. Chef Kavachi Ukegbu is on a mission to expand the audience of West African cuisines and its staple — fufu. LA Times restaurant Bill Addison returns with a review of Horses in Hollywood. Finally, conehead cabbage has an expected look with an unexpected sweetness and can be found across Los Angeles farmers’ markets.
Good Food looks back on the team’s favorite segments of the past year. In her acclaimed memoir “Crying in H Mart,” Michelle Zauner, who performs under the name Japanese Breakfast, recalls growing up in the Pacific Northwest and reconnecting with her Korean heritage following her mother’s terminal cancer. Sarah Everts explores the mysteries of sweat, a feature that distinguishes humans from other mammals. Culinary historian Adrian Miller discusses the complicated history of barbecue in America. Professor Dorinne K. Kondo examines how the APPI community is represented in the media, citing the most recent season of “The Great British Bake Off.” Finally, baker Roxana Jullapat hones in on eight ancient grains that are making a comeback though they never went anywhere.
Whether cooking basmati, jasmine or red, everyone has a way to make rice. Measure up to the first knuckle? Wash until the water runs clear? Stovetop or rice cooker with bells and whistles? This week, Good Food gets granular with rice — how it's grown, how it's cooked, and how it's eaten. Dr. Amber Spry opens her identity politics class each semester by asking students to share how their family cooked rice. Culinarian historian Michael Twitty shares how red rice came to the American South by way of Western Africa. Rice royalty Robin Koda documents her family’s legacy of growing Japanese rice in California. Matt Goulding explores the controversy over paella in Spain. The history of the rice cooker is explained by Anne Ewbank. Finally, Sophia Parsa is making tahdigs with her mother for this week’s edition of “In the Weeds.”
Winding down another year of the pandemic, Good Food looks back on the pivots, persistence, and perseverance of featured “In the Weeds” restaurants. Rashida Holmes brings the roti she first tasted visiting family in Barbados to the Arts District. Justin Pichetrungsi left an animation career to keep the wok heated at industry darling Anajak Thai. The heart of Keegan Fong and his mother’s Historic Filipinotown spot are the beef noodles and wings. Mother-daughter duo Maria Del Socorro Vazquez and Zacil Vazquez combine home and street food at Sazón in Huntington Park. The liquid gold flows at Crown & Hops, Beny Ashburn and Teo Hunter’s brewery in Inglewood. Michelle Munoz supported her husband Andrew’s backyard Texas barbecue hobby into a full blown brick and mortar restaurant, Moo’s Craft Barbecue.
Fish sauce is the backbone of South Asian cooking. Chef Diep Tran is using Red Boat Fish Sauce in everything from a breakfast banh mi to pasta marinara. Journalist Gab Chabran has his picks for the top holiday tamales across the city. Food writer Bill Esparza discusses the wave of Mexico City restaurants opening in Los Angeles. Latin American cuisine is a story of global fusion that spans centuries, and Peruvian chef Virgilio Martínez compiled a compendium of recipes from Chile to Mexico. Matt Biancaniello swaps spinach for stinging nettles and shares a beautiful winter cocktail. Finally, Melissa Acedera is combating food injustice with a mobile pantry that travels the Southland.
‘Tis the season for Good Food’s annual roundup of cookbooks. Celia Sack of Omnivore Books in San Francisco shares her recommendations for the bakers, vegans, and jammers on your list. One of her favorite comfort food how-to’s over the last year is Missy Robbins’ book about pasta, which she says is the only book one needs on the subject. For anyone in LA who wants homemade lasagna and focaccia straight from the oven, head to Ceci’s in Silver Lake, where Francesco Lucatorto and Francesca Pistoria are making traditional favorites from Genoa and are the subjects of this week’s “In the Weeds.” Regional baking is perhaps nowhere as pronounced in the United States than the South, and pastry chef Cheryl Day is paying homage to her ancestors’ ovens. Pomegranates are having their moment at the farmer’s market just in time to celebrate the winter solstice. Finally, LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison announces his picks for the best restaurants in the city.
The landscape of food media is diverse, and until recently the female voice has been faint and overshadowed by male counterparts. Writer and professor Mayukh Sen researches and reports on seven immigrant women who revolutionized how modern America cooks and eats. Yotam Ottenghi and test kitchen chef Noor Murad reach into the pantry, freezer, and fridge and have created recipes for forgotten ingredients. Master preserver Delilah Snell has tips on preserving this holiday season that go beyond canning. Filmmaker Scott Gawlik dives into the strange and wonderful world of table setting competition. Persimmons are plentiful at the farmer’s market. Finally, Arturo Enciso and Ana Salatino took their backyard baking project to greater heights, making kouign amann with masa and perfecting their concha for this week’s “In the Weeds.”
The long holiday weekend calls for time to veg out. If you had too many helpings of mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving, well it’s time to be a couch potato and tune into some of Good Food’s favorite movie segments from past years. Sanjay Rawal directed the film “Gather” and discusses the growing movement of Native Americans working to reconnect with their spiritual and cultural identity. Michael Sarnoski and Vanessa Block are the duo behind “Pig,” starring Nicolas Cage, and they share what it takes to bring authenticity to restaurant and food culture in a script. Director Morgan Neville pays tribute to Anthony Bourdain in his film “Roadrunner,” with moments of joyful remembrances and revelations that things aren’t always as they appear. Pixar’s “Bao” is an eight-minute film directed by Domee Shi that follows a Chinese Canadian mother who becomes lonely after her son leaves home, and she gets a second chance at motherhood when a steamed bun comes to life in her kitchen. Quentin Tarantino joins Elvis Mitchell in conversation about using food as a metaphor for power in his work. Nathan Park reveals the hidden backstory of economic insecurity and fried chicken in the Academy Award-winning film “Parasite.”
The countdown to the Super Bowl of the food world has begun — Thanksgiving. It’s an imperfect holiday, rife with historical baggage, and a lot of likes and dislikes swirling around the table. However, it is the one holiday that is focused entirely on food, and after covering this celebration for so many years, what brings Good Food host Evan Kleiman the most joy is how every family makes it their own.
Kleiman is joined throughout the show by Genevieve Ko, senior editor at the New York Times, as they answer some of the most frequently asked cooking questions. Guests also share stories of their first Thanksgiving celebrations, new traditions, and the generosity that can be extended across the table.
Julia Child completely changed how Americans thought about cooking, and a new side of the culinary phenom is shown in the documentary by Julie Cohen and Betsy West. Lien Ta announces that Here’s Looking At You is reopening in Koreatown and shares the ups and downs of the restaurant during the pandemic. Claudia Roden is credited with introducing Middle Eastern cuisine to a larger audience and has a new cookbook cataloging recipes from the Mediterranean. Beth Lee prepares to bake up a storm for Hanukkah. New York Times California critic Tejal Rao discovers baby celery and other ingredients at the Torrance Farmer’s Market for vegetarian Thanksgiving dishes. Lastly, Priya Fielding-Singh researches food injustice and some misconceptions connecting class and diet.
It’s fall, so fire up the oven and get baking! Dorie Greenspan explores savory spins on classic sweet recipes. Former farmer and chef Abra Berens dives into grains, seeds, and legumes, with ideas on how to stretch a pot of boiled black beans into a whole week of meals. Professor Bartow Elmore spent a decade researching the troubling and jaw dropping history of Monsanto and the company’s impact on how America eats. Computer engineer, recipe developer, and blogger Amisha Dodhia Gurbani uses California ingredients to modernize traditional Indian recipes. At the farmer’s market, Valerie Gordon shops for the makings for her pumpkin pies.
James Beard Award-winning chef and educator Bryant Terry aims to bring BIPOC voices to the forefront of the culinary conversation and debuts the first output from 4 Color Books, the publishing imprint where he serves as editor-in-chief. Then, Sandor Katz logs his fermentation romp around the world. Closer to home, Alex Hozven of The Cultured Pickle Shop in Berkeley talks about how she started producing kraut before the trend to pickle everything within arms reach caught on. Across the Bay, chef Heena Patel recalls childhood memories of Diwali as she prepares her restaurant menu. Finally, correspondent Gillian Ferguson does a double take of Tahitian squash at the farmer’s market.
Chef and food justice activist Zoe Adjonyoh returns to Ghana to explore her cultural ancestry and gather recipes. Julia Sherman has entertaining ideas and candy alternatives for Halloween. Delilah Snell shares traditions of Día de los Muertos, including the construction of altars and the significance of offerings left to welcome back the souls of deceased relatives. This week’s “In the Weeds” features Jonathan Yang, who opened Thank You Coffee in Chinatown to give back to the community and draw people back to legacy businesses. Christine Tran of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council explains a new county report showing better food insecurity statistics but trends with unemployment rates. Finally, Naomi Shim is making pastry with farmer’s market pears.
Attorney Joanne Lee Molinaro went vegan five years ago, modernizing the traditional Korean foods of her childhood and documenting the journey on TikTok as the Korean Vegan. She shares recipes and her family’s immigrant story in her new cookbook. Burritos La Palma is the winner of this year’s Great Tortilla Tournament of Champions, and owner Albert Bañuelos has been receiving congratulations from Jerez, where his father started the tortilleria over 40 years ago. At the farmer’s market, a Mexican delicacy known as huitlacoche is making a rare appearance. Kristina Cho uses her background in architecture to bake a perfectly versatile milk bread. There’s no looking back for pastry chef Hannah Ziskin who opened the doors of House of Gluten during the pandemic, and shares what’s next for “In the Weeds.” Finally, LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison visits Agnes in Pasadena.
The gloves are off as Gustavo Arellano breaks down the Fuerte Four finalists in the flour and corn tortilla categories leading up to Sunday’s final judging at Smorgasburg for the Great Tortilla Tournament. Food and travel journalist shares her picks for top boba spots in the San Gabriel Valley. Luv 2 Eat chefs Noree Pla and Fern Kaewtathip brought their Thai cuisine from Phuket to Hollywood, and chronicle their journey in this week’s “In the Weeds.” Chef and restaurateur Peter Hoffman explains why restaurants and diners need to work together to improve the industry. It’s date season at the farmer’s market. Finally, LA Times restaurant critic travels to Little Ethiopia for a global pop-up.
What’s the old adage — there’s no use crying over spilt milk? The same goes for burnt toast, according to Cal Peternell. He offers hacks and fixes for the most common kitchen flubs. Next, mother and daughter Maria and Cindy Vera share their battle with the city to keep their family business called La Gloria, which has been making flour tortillas since 1954. Gustavo Arellano returns to share the Eso 8 in the flour and corn brackets of the Great Tortilla Tournament of Champions. H. Claire Brown reports on herbicide’s losing battle against superweeds. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison bites into an array of savory pancakes in Koreatown. And quince is having its day at the farmer’s market.
Eighteen months into the pandemic, the days of hoarding toilet paper are mercifully over. But that’s not to say there aren’t disruptions in the supply chain causing shortages on grocery store shelves, along with inflation. Laura Reiley reports on the business of food and why groceries are going to cost more through the end of the year. Gustavo Arellano is back with the annual Great Tortilla Tournament, which has been narrowed down to the Suave 16. Katerina Nitsou shares comfort food recipes from Macedonia that are perfect for the cooling forecast. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison discovers homestyle Lebanese recipes made from a kitchen in Hollywood. And market correspondent Gillian Ferguson tracks down guava and perilla at the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market that are ripe for this Indian Summer.
In her new book “We Are Each Other’s Harvest,” author Natalie Baszile brings together the narratives and histories of Black farmers in America. She co-hosts this edition of Good Food with Evan Kleiman, as they speak to those who are tied to the land and profiled in the book. “Farmers are living ancestors for Black people,” explains Baszile, whose personal history includes a connection to farming.
Clyde W. Ford provides a historical account of how the American government has failed Black farmers. Willie Earl Nelson and his son Adrain explain the discriminatory tactics deployed to deny Black farmers of capital to purchase land. O’Neal Bluefort remembers early days on his family’s tobacco farm and his grandfather’s final gift, and shares how he plans to continue his legacy. Baszile recounts a visit from her grandmother and her recipe for dirty rice. Finally, Naima Penniman, an activist behind Soul Fire Farm, reads her poem for future generations.
Photographer Lucy Schaeffer captures the nostalgia and personal memories behind school lunch. Internal medicine doctor Rupa Marya and research professor Raj Patel discuss the disconnect between health and social justice in their book “Inflamed.” Iconic chef and restaurateur Alice Waters celebrates the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking Berkeley institution, Chez Panisse. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison runs down the best breakfast burritos in the city. Finally, cue the sweet peppers at the farmer’s market.
Books and movies have acted as a balm during the pandemic. Food writing provides a sort of fantastical consumption that requires using your imagination and wonder. In a new film starring Nicholas Cage, creators Michael Sarnoski and Vanessa Block worked with Portland chefs in creating the lead role of a truffle hunter in the Oregon wilderness. Science fiction writer Eli Lee taps into personal food memories and the familiar to create imaginary meals in her latest work. From “The Hobbit” to “Star Wars,” Leslie Bilderback recreates dishes described in favorite childhood stories and films in her new cookbook. Stuck on the couch, Folu Akinkuotu started a newsletter during the pandemic that combined her love of snacks and itch to travel. For this week’s “In the Weeds,” Beny Ashburn and Teo Hunter talk about what's on tap at Crowns & Hops, a Black-owned brewery in Inglewood. Finally, it’s apple season at the farmer’s market.
Why would coffee smell like gasoline and fried chicken like garbage? People are experiencing troubling sensory side effects from COVID. Dr. Nancy Rawson of the Monell Institute of Smell in Philadelphia explains the difference between anosmia and parosmia. Journalist Sarah Everts gets up close and personal to discover the curious science of sweat. LA Times restaurant critic reviews Morihiro in Atwater Village. “In the Weeds” follows the mother-daughter duo behind Sazòn in Huntington Park. Finally, it’s the final days of mangoes at the farmer’s market.
Chef Jenee Kim of Park’s BBQ recalls opening the restaurant nearly two decades ago and how she persevered during the pandemic for a new edition of “In the Weeds.” Paul Greenberg has tips on lowering carbon emissions by consuming consciously. Chef Alan Bergo forages the familiar and exotic with new ways of looking at a sunflower and milkweed. Tomatoes are all the rage at the farmer’s market. Beth Dooley shares how a newly developed grain is regenerating the land in the Upper Midwest. Finally, Bill Addison reviews the Brentwood location of Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne’s second outpost of A.O.C..
I’ve been thinking a lot about comfort, and what that might look like or sound like right now. Usually when we talk about comfort on this show, we’re talking about a brothy bowl of beans, and yes, we will go there today. But for me comfort right...
“Wash your hands” is a universal mantra now more than ever. One man meditatively uses soap and water to create a little zen while completing the kitchen’s dirtiest task. Meanwhile, coronavirus is impacting school lunch programs and farmers.
The restaurant business has always been like those circus funhouse mirrors. What the diner sees is distorted -- not the reality that owners deal with. Due to a wave of food delivery services and elaborate hot bars in grocery stores, traditional...
From the lab to the garden, Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft and Bryant Terry explore proteins through a meat-free lens. Jennifer E. Gaddis documents the changing role of the school lunch lady. Plus: an ode to leap year with Chef Donald Link.
Simplicity, tradition, and seasonality are all hallmarks of Japanese eating. We hear about the artisans who are keeping ancient techniques alive and the ways homecooks can benefit from their passion. Plus, we travel to Little Tokyo for a weekly...
In the turbulent days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., white McDonald’s franchisees fled their inner-city locations. How did the fast food company emerge as a community hero then and subsequently, following the 1992 L.A. Riots...
Maria Zizka suggests making dinner together at home is the real romantic move for V-Day. Amanda Shapiro reflects on her summer of attempting to date sans alcohol. Plus: Gideon Bower’s unofficial history of edible underwear.
Frieda Caplan and Woody Phillips rose to the top of their fields in Los Angeles, ushering in exotic produce and barbecue, respectively. We look at how they cemented their place in our city’s culinary history. Plus: Lior Lev Sercarz adds a bit of...
Fergus Henderson introduced nose-to-tail eating over two decades ago. We talk with Josh Niland, an Aussie chef who is cooking fin-to-fin, working with every part of the fish. And we’ll stay near the coastline and dive into shrimp and abalone....
This week we’re looking at several films from 2019 in which food was a subtle yet powerful storytelling device. Plus: we’re looking at the never-ending quest for a hangover cure.
It’s the last show of the year, which it’s time for our annual look back at some of our favorite food stories! From menu psychology, to Salvadoran food, to cooking with scraps, 2019 was a year to remember.
For some Angelenos, there’s no greater gift during the holidays than a steaming hot tamale. We’re also looking at some fascinating developments in the produce world, including the comeback of an ancient spud. Plus: an organization fighting food...
The LA Times 101 restaurant rankings are here. Yale historian Paul Freedman traces the history of American cuisine. Journalist Charlotte Druckman shares what she learned from more than 100 women in the food world. Plus: a look at the surprising...
The holidays are fast approaching, which means it’s time to learn about the year’s best cookbooks. We’re also learning about other gift ideas for the food lover in your life. Plus: chef Jet Tila joins us to discuss the closure of his...
Sean Brock speaks on the past and future of Southern cuisine. We learn about the origins of eggnog and talk with a self-described “Mississippi vegan.” Plus a look back at two centuries of African-American cuisine.
It’s holiday baking season! Shauna Sever saw local baking traditions through fresh eyes when she moved back to the midwest. Third-generation baker Apollonia Poilane talks about maintaining her family’s tradition of excellence. Plus: we’re...
Alison Roman and Evan Kleiman team up to answer your burning Thanksgiving questions. Fuchsia Dunlop talks the canon of Sichuan cookery. Plus: an investigation of chamoy from Richard Parks III.
Kate Leahy and Ara Zada explore the nuances of Armenian lavash. Thalassa Skinner is a master of cheese boards. Plus: the wine industry looks inward as a top sommelier is accused of sexual misconduct.
Bricia Lopez and Javier Cabral team up to tell the story of Guelaguetza, LA’s most storied Oaxacan restaurant. Meanwhile, bananas are in the crosshairs of a deadly fungus. Can genetic science come to the rescue?
David Chang has made a remarkable pivot into food media over the past couple years, as seen in his latest Netflix show. Plus: food writer Hanna Raskin’s investigation of food festivals. Also, we’re celebrating World Pasta Day with Garfield’s...
Sometimes the “inauthentic” can lead to delicious results. Just ask Ivan Orkin and Chris Ying about Japanese diner food. Chef Josef Centeno says Tex-Mex is premised on inauthenticity. Also, Patricia Escárcega visits a taquero who’s...
The friendship between director Jon Favreau and chef Roy Choi creates space for authenticity and discovery in “The Chef Show.” Plus, a hit YouTube show celebrates the Italian grannies making pasta by hand. We’re also talking about baking...
Curtis Stone goes abroad for some R&D in his new PBS show. Not to be outdone, Besha Rodell visited six continents in search of the world’s best restaurants. Meanwhile, Houston chef Chris Shepherd says exploring your own city and community can...
Generational shifts in our eating habits have had an incalculable impact on our health and world, says Bee Wilson. Ahead of the High Holidays, we look at the tradition of “Cucina Ebraica,” or the Jewish-Italian table. Plus: online ordering is...
Filipino American History Month is coming up, so we’re revisiting our special on Filipino food from earlier this year, when Evan and friends embarked on a food crawl of Northeast LA. We also heard from voices of the new Filipino food movement...
For chef Evan Funke of Felix Trattoria, hand-rolling pasta is a high calling. Esquire’s Jeff Gordinier dishes on his travels with Rene Redzepi. Musso and Frank celebrates 100 years of serving Tinseltown’s legends. Plus: exploring the wealth of...
As the Great Tortilla Tournament heads to the finals, we dive into Tex-Mex flour tortillas. Yes Plz makes coffee blends with ‘zines. Natural wine doesn’t have to be intimidating, says Alice Feiring. Plus a visit to the Mar Vista Farmers Market.
The Amazon rainforests are burning—what do burgers have to do with it? Meanwhile, the Tortilla Tournament narrows down to eight contenders. We revisit a chicken beauty contest in Ventura, and Evan Kleiman samples Japanese fried chicken downtown.
A dispatch from the Iowa State Fair, where presidential candidates stuffed their faces with assorted foods on a stick. Two states over, there are growing fears of white supremacy at farmer’s market in Bloomington, Indiana. Here at home, Josiah...
Sonoratown looks to defend its crown in this year’s tournament. Sohui Kim is your guide to building a Korean pantry at home, and Jet and Ali Tila are improving on the classics. Also, Gustavo Arellano visits a Syrian ice cream maker in Anaheim.
KCRW and Gustavo’s Great Tortilla Tournament makes its triumphant return. An LA writer is working to preserve Salvadoran recipes and history. Sandwiches inspired by Japanese convenience stores are the main draw at Konbi in Echo Park. Plus: a SoCal...
Director Lulu Wang uses food as a storytelling device in “The Farewell.” A Southern California couple embarks on a journey to become sustainable farmers. Plus a conversation with the directors of “Honeyland,” the most awarded film at...
When Jonathan Gold passed last year, we gathered the voices of colleagues, friends, chefs, and listeners to celebrate the man who taught us how to eat and live in LA.
Amy Scattergood of the LA Times remembers her partnership with Jonathan Gold, one year after his passing. Eater releases its Best New Restaurants list. Lawry’s celebrates 80 years by doing something it’s not especially known for: changing.
Serious Eats founder Ed Levine looks back on the Wild West days of the food media business. Grace Young can be your wok therapist. Pok Pok chef Andy Ricker waxes philosophical on noodles, while a special “club” for Northern Thai food appears in...
David Gelb tells the human stories of Asia’s street food vendors in his latest show for Netflix. The legendary Madhur Jaffrey says the Instant Pot is your friend. Nicole Rucker is known for pie, but her first cookbook is an ode to baking with...
Emily Elyse Miller spent three years asking what people around the world eat for breakfast. Bay Area kitchen incubator La Cocina helps women food entrepreneurs get a leg up. Elizabeth Minchilli explains how Italians actually eat. Finally, the Market...
June 25 has been declared Bourdain Day, a day to celebrate the life of the late chef and raconteur Anthony Bourdain. Join us as we revisit some of Bourdain's classic interviews with Good Food. Plus, a visit to a remarkable memorial in New York....
This week we remember the pioneering Creole chef Leah Chase. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Bragg has written a loving ode to his mom’s Southern table. Plus, we get an education on the origins of tiki bars as well as the nuances of sake.
Chef José Andrés is unleashing veggie power in his first cookbook in nearly a decade. The Pollans are all about the plant-based diet, too. California’s Michelin Guide is out—who got stars or snubbed? Plus: the Market Report makes its...
Caroline Eden has studied the food of the Black Sea, a region rich in culture and history. Plus a look at the hidden psychology of LA's restaurant menus. Do we read them, or do they read us? Plus Bill Addison pays a visit to West Adams for a taste...
James Beard-winner Kwame Onwuachi unpacks his experience as a young black chef. Gabriela Camara of Contramar is one of Mexico City's most celebrated chefs. Aaron Franklin is talking steak in time for Memorial Day weekend, and Carla Lalli Music has...
With his new TV show, Roy Choi’s on a mission to spotlight both the broken and beautiful sides of Los Angeles. Plus an insider’s look at the world of high-end catering, and a new taco fest arrives in LA.
This week we’re revisiting conversations with recent James Beard winners, including Samin Nosrat on her hit Netflix show “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat.” Plus LA Times restaurant critic Patricia Escárcega visits Anaheim to try a selection of Mexico...
Cinco de Mayo is around the corner, so we’re looking at the sometimes complicated history of Mexican food in LA. Also, Evan talks to “Bar Chef” Christiaan Rollich, and Elisa Callow explores LA’s Eastside for culinary inspiration. Plus: the...
This week we’re gearing up for KCRW’s 10th Annual Pie Contest by talking to the authors of “The New Pie” and chef Sherry Yard. Plus anecdotes about the secret world of private chefs, and Michael’s in Santa Monica celebrates 40 years....
Lent comes to an end this weekend, so we’re looking at two stars of the meat-free burger craze: the Superiority Burger and the Beyond Meat patty. Plus Bill Addison checks out a Uyghur restaurant, and LA Times Food editor Peter Meehan joins with a...