Good Food

<p dir="ltr">Julia Child reporting fellow Gabriela Glueck heads to Humboldt to speak with a community of seaweed evangelists. Brant Cox plays soothsayer and predicts what's on trend for restaurants in 2025. Joe Yonan proves that plant-based cooking is anything but boring. Heidi Pickman outlines the new licensing steps for home cooks who want to legally prepare foods to sell. "What if we slowed down and savored flavors, smells, and textures?" asks Betsy Andrews while considering the science behind pacing ourselves.</p> <p> </p>

<p>In this excerpt from <em>The Treatment, </em>chef René Redzepi unpacks the complicated history of global ingredients in "Omnivore," an eight-part series for Apple+. Known for his examination of nature on the plate, Michael Pollan alters consciousness in this clip from <em>Life Examined.</em></p>

<p>The Good Food team — host Evan Kleiman and producers Gillian Ferguson, Laryl Garcia, and Elina Shatkin — choose their favorite segments of the year. Nicola Twilley takes a cold plunge into the history of refrigeration. 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. In her latest docuseries, Pati Jinich showcases the politics, culture, and cuisine of the US/Mexico borderlands.</p>

<p>Restaurant critic Bill Addison recruited Jenn Harris to help him divide and conquer as they determined LA's best restaurants. Culinary historian Jessica B. Harris lays out the symbolism and traditions of Kwanzaa. Adeena Sussman continues her mother's tradition of Shabbat and shares a recipe for her grandmother's potato kugel. Chef Brian Polcyn knows his way around a meat pie. Rose Levy Beranbaum preaches the glory of cake.</p>

<p>Food scholar Darra Goldstein traces the lineage of early fermented beverages, which were offered to deities and used in rituals. Sociologist Nicola Nice takes a look at how women brought the cocktail home. Lesley Jacobs Solmonson explains how liqueurs went from the hands of the apothecary to those of the mixologist. Balo Orozco shops the farmers' markets to make seasonal shrubs.</p>

<p>Reporter Jessica Roy delivers the bad news about those plastic kitchen utensils. Anne Byrn composes an exhaustive guide on Southern baking. Chef Ashleigh Shanti goes beyond cast iron fried chicken and cornbread in exploring Black influences on Southern foodways. Local cooking instructor and food writer Sonoko Sakai explains the deep meaning of "Japanese in style" cuisine. Celia Sack of Omnivore Books reveals her favorite cookbooks of the year for everyone on your list.</p>

<p>Director Tran Anh Hung and actress Juliette Binoche discuss the recipe for subtle seduction in <em>The Taste of Things.</em> On the 20th anniversary of <em>Sideways</em>, 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. Zimbabwean winemaker Tinashe Nyamoduka strives to demystify the vine and promote inclusivity. Nathan Park talks about the link between the Academy Award-winning film <em>Parasite</em> and fried chicken.</p>

<p>Evan Kleiman taps flavor scientist Arielle Johnson to co-host Good Food's annual Thanksgiving episode. Food science writer Harold McGee breaks down brining, spice, and the best way to prep that giant Thanksgiving bird. Khushbu Shah forgoes the turkey for squash filled with biryani, a tikka masala-inspired mac and cheese, and Mexican food. Homemade cranberry sauce is all about the crackle and pop for Harold McGee. Sommelier Ian Krupp goes beyond Beaujolais in his Thanksgiving wine pairings. Arielle Johnson opts for two types of cardamom in her pumpkin pie recipe. Brian Polcyn assembles the perfect pot pie with turkey leftovers.</p>

<p>Austin-based chef Jesse Griffiths is on the hunt for the majestic wild turkey. Pastry chef Nicola Lamb sifts through the essential ingredients of baking — flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. Memo Torres runs down his top five tacos in Los Angeles. Having eaten his way around China, Michael Zee recreates breakfast favorites at home. Courtney Storer of <em>The Bear</em> joins Gillian Ferguson at the farmers market to shine a light on winter squash.</p>

<p>Food writer and recipe developer Ben Mims scours the world for great cookie recipes. Former professional basketball player Laurent Correa is turning out some of LA's best croissants. Dr. Naa Oyo Kwate unveils the insidious relationship between fast food and the African American community. Lindsey Beatrice explores the creative ways millennials are acquiring land they can farm. Food Access LA raises funds to keep two farmers' markets afloat, and Nick Fisher of Fluffy McCloud's is drawn to fuyu persimmons for their shape.</p>

<p>Anthropologist Susan Greenhalgh describes how soda companies have influenced the science around sugary drinks. Health and nutrition reporter Alice Callahan breaks down "ultra-processed foods," a newish term to describe the evil that lurks on supermarket shelves. National Park guide Joseph C. Ward explains how a Cheetos bag altered the ecosystem in a New Mexico cavern. Physician and journalist Bryce Y. Lee reveals how scientists are using the food dye found in Doritos to make see-through mice. Breadmaster Jim Lahey reminisces on the 15th anniversary of his revolutionary no-knead bread-making book. Chef Aric Attebery shares tips for incorporating seasonal farmers market ingredients into the bowls we make at home.</p>

<p>Hetal Vasavada prepares for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, by baking gorgeous, colorful sweets. The intersection of Gothic novels and food offers a rich, spooky tradition for literary scholar Dr. Alessandra Pino and food writer Ella Buchan. Food scholar Darra Goldstein shows us how to make candied pumpkin, a creative autumn treat. In the docuseries <em>La</em> <em>Frontera</em>, Pati Jinich showcases the politics, culture, and cuisine of the US/Mexico borderlands. From Sonoran tacos to Hawaiian short ribs, Memo Torres returns with five great places to eat this month.</p>

<p>Pastry chef Victoria Granof relishes the diverse, and often misunderstood, sweets of Sicily. Essayist and poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil explains the laborious process of cultivating vanilla and the fragile state of its existence. Rowan Jacobsen travels deep into the Bolivian Amazon to uncover the chocolate's origins. Molecular biologist Raven Hanna shows us how to produce tree-to-bar chocolate. At the farmer's market, Klementine Song reminisces about the jujubes her parents grew while farmer Terry Kashima shares the fruit's health benefits.</p>

<p>Ben Blount and Bryan Kett created a chocolate bar to explain why our congressional districts have such weird shapes (hint: gerrymandering). <em>Left, Right and Center</em> host David Greene discusses how gerrymandering impacts our elections. Lola Milholland discusses how community living can help us develop life skills and flex our generosity muscle. <em>LA Times</em> restaurant critic Bill Addison finds a magical and civilized weeknight wine bar on Melrose. Chemist and baker Kat Cermelj conquers recipes without gluten, dairy, or eggs. Tommy Brockert started making pizza as a way to bring people together during the pandemic. Now, he has two LaSorted's locations.</p>

<p>To tell the stories of Syrians living in the world's largest refugee camp, Karen Fisher collected their recipes. For Kim-Joy, one of <em>The</em> <em>Great British Bake Off's </em>most memorable contestants, baking isn't just about flavor or cuteness — it's also about mental health. Julie Guthman critiques tech entrepreneurs whose proposed food system "fixes" ignore the underlying problems they claim to address. Alvaro Bautista recovers more than half of his date harvest, which perished in last year's rain, while Companion, a new restaurant in Venice, opens with a Quarter Sheets alum.</p>

<p>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. </p>

<p>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. </p>

<p dir="ltr">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.</p> <p> </p>

<p>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. <em>New York Times </em>correspondent Kim Severson reports on the attempts to replace plastics in the grocery store.</p>

<p>On the 20th anniversary of <em>Sideways</em>, 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.</p>

<p>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.”  </p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <em>LA Times</em> canvassed the city to find its best tacos. Aaron Lindell from Quarter Sheets uses summer melons from Weiser Family Farms in playful ways.</p>

<p dir="ltr">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.</p> <p> </p>

<p>Dan Hong considers the role food has played in diplomacy and politics. Ruth Reichl weaves art and fashion into <em>The Paris Novel</em>, 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.</p>

<p>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. <em>LA Times</em> 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.</p>

<p>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!</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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?</p>

<p>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 <i>wrong</i> 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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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 <i>A Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds</i>.</p> <p></p>

<p>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.</p> <p>It’s our Spring Pledge Drive at KCRW. Click <a href="https://join.kcrw.com/">here</a> to support Good Food.</p>