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

This week it's a show of American iconoclasts starting with winemaker Randall Grahm of Boony Doon Vineyard. His latest book is Been Doon So Long, A Randall Grahm Vinthology. We then meet the true originator of the no-knead bread technique, Jim Lehey of New York City's famed Sullivan Street Bakery. His book is My Bread, The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method.Broadcast dates for this episode:November 7, 2009 (originally aired)November 27, 2010 (rebroadcast)

This week we'll get you ready for the Thanksgiving feast with chef Eric Ripert, author of Avec Eric. Grace Young brings us the very American story of Chinese immigrants in the Mississippi Delta. Her latest book is Stir-Frying To the Sky's Edge. And we get stuffing strategy from the New York Time's Melissa Clark, author of In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite.Broadcast dates for this episode:November 20, 2010

We discuss the cuisine of Portugal with David Leite author of The New Portuguese Table. Jane and Michael Stern have found stellar Creamed Chipped Beef at The Breakfast Shoppe in Severna Park, MD, plus we check in with the Hungry Scientist society, and we'll get a few tips for traveling on the cheap from the frugal traveler.Broadcast dates for this episode:October 10, 2009 (originally aired)October 30, 2010 (rebroadcast)

This week we have a look at school lunch programs, from a lunch lady's eyes. Our guest is Jean Ronnei of the St. Paul, MN public schools. Mario Batali addresses the issue of family meals, and the Sterns are eating soul food in the Arizona desert at Mrs. White's Golden Rule. Plus, we get a guide to making simple cured meats at home from Karen Solomon author of Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It and Other Cooking Projects.Broadcast dates for this episode:October 3, 2009 (originally aired)October 9, 2010 (rebroadcast)

What makes man, man and an ape an ape? According to Richard Wrangham it is not one's ability to fashion tool, but rather the ability to cook. He is the author of Catching Fire, How Cooking Made Us Human. The Sterns are in LA eating a French Dip at its origin, Philippe's French Dip Restaurant, and there is a new movement sweeping across America — group canning sessions.Broadcast dates for this episode:September 26, 2009 (originally aired)September 11, 2010 (rebroadcast)

We're looking at the art of the Asian pickle with Alex Hozven creator of the Cultured Pickle Shop in Berkely, CA, the Sterns are visiting Moonlight BBQ in Owensboro, KY, Fred Plotkin teaches us how to take an eaters vacation without a rental car, and Amy Stewart author of Wicked Plants: A Book of Botanical Atrocities introduces us to the darker side of Mother Nature.Broadcast dates for this episode:September 12, 2009 (originally aired)September 4, 2010 (rebroadcast)

What does a chef consider the most important tool in the kitchen? Chef and writer Daniel Patterson has a surprising answer for all of those who love to cook. He is the author of Aroma. Jane and Michael Stern are looking at the phenomenon of the "slider" and Elizabeth Karmel author of Soaked, Slathered and Seasonings, fills us in on the latest developments in outdoor grilling.Broadcast dates for this episode:August 15, 2009 (originally aired)August 14, 2010 (rebroadcast)

This week we have lessons in greening your kitchen with Kate Heyhoe, author of Cooking Green: Reducing Your Carbon Footprint in the Kitchen. New York Times columnist Melissa Clark gives us a lesson in blended summer soups, and cheesemonger Steve Jenkins explains the real cost of artisan cheeses. The Sterns are dining at (probably) the best delicatessen in America, and Lynne answers your calls.Broadcast dates for this episode:August 1, 2009 (originally aired)August 7, 2010 (rebroadcast)

We're in Lynne's kitchen to learn about one of our most elusive immigrant cuisines, that of the Hmong people of Southeast Asia. Our guides are the authors of Cooking From the Heart: the Hmong Kitchen in America. Jane and Michael Stern are eating pancakes near the fountain of youth at the Old Spanish Sugar Mill in De Leon Springs, FL, and we get the perfect summer sauce from Michael Ruhlman, author of Ratio: The Simple Codes Behiond the Craft of Everyday Cooking.Broadcast dates for this episode:July 11, 2009 (originally aired)July 10, 2010 (rebroadcast)

We're talking to food activist Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food about the intersection between sustainable foods, and our real life pocketbooks. Jane and Michael Stern have been researching the green chile cheeseburger in New Mexico and we look at the origins of the American potato chip with Dirk Burhans author of Crunch, A History of the Great American Potato Chip.Broadcast dates for this episode:July 18, 2009 (originally aired)July 3, 2010 (rebroadcast)

Lynne guides us on a tour of resourcefulness of all kinds. British food writer Tamasin Day-Lewis, author of Supper for a Song, shares her rather militant stand on how and why to cook at home, an adoring newlywed finds a cheaper alternative for his bride's breakfast, and we hear the story Remembering Smell —how Bonnie Blodgett's loss of smell changed everything she knew about food and taste. Also on the show, a roundup of indoor composters, the trivia challenge, and Lynne's expert advice on your kitchen conundrums.Broadcast dates for this episode:June 19, 2010

The Mayo Clinic's Dr. James Levine is convinced that we are moving animals, not sitting animals and that is the key to keeping our weight in check, He is the author of Move A Little, Lose A Lot. The Sterns have met the happy cows behind the divine ice cream at Woodside Farm in Delaware, and we learn the art of the grown-up popsicle from Karen Solomon author of Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It.Broadcast dates for this episode:June 13, 2009 (originally aired)June 12, 2010 (rebroadcast)

This week, Lynne talks with Ethnobiologist, conservationist and farmer Gary Nabhan about the story of a profound visionary who set out to end famine, and the price he paid. Gary's latest book is Where Our Food Comes From: Retracing Nikolay Vavilov's Quest to End Famine. James Villas, the southern gentleman of the food world, stops by to talk about his new book, Pig: King of the Southern Table, Ian Cheney talks about truck farming, the Sterns tell us about Sacramento's Squeeze Inn, and Lynne answers your kitchen questions.Broadcast dates for this episode:May 29, 2010

Lynne takes us deep into the issues facing independent cheese producers with Gordon Edgar, author of Cheesemonger, A Life on the Wedge. She also discusses local dairies and small-scale farming with Tracey Ryder. Also on the show, the Sterns have found first-rate seafood at Sting Ray's in Cape Charles, VA, Sally Schneider re-uses her kitchen cabinets, and Scott Hule tells us why it's not so bad to break a wineglass. And of course, a healthy dose of Lynne's expert advice on your kitchen questions.Broadcast dates for this episode:May 22, 2010

This week we've a modern wine mystery with Benjamin Wallace author of The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine. Jane and Michael Stern are noshing donuts at Round Rock Donuts in Round Rock, TX, Sally Schneider author of The Improvised Life website introduces us to the allure of Orange Flower Water, and David Rosengarten, the man behind the opinionated Rosengarten Report talks about how gazpacho is made on its home turf of Spain.Broadcast dates for this episode:August 30, 2008 (originally aired)May 15, 2010 (rebroadcast)

This week historian John T. Edge tells the story of Seattle’s obsession with all things teriyaki, Jane and Michael Stern have found the ultimate hangover cure in New Orleans — a dish called Ya-Ka Mein — and we get a take on the 5 Stages of Grief, "pea" grief that it is, from Emily Franklin, author of Too Many Cooks.Broadcast dates for this episode:May 8, 2010

This week it's Bryant Terry, author of Vegan Soul Kitchen, Jane and Michael Stern are at M & M Cigar Store in Butte, MT, Michael Ruhlman explains the culinary codes behind every successful recipe. He is the author of Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, and we hear a story of grieving and revival at the farmer's market with Suzanne Pirret, author of The Pleasure is All Mine.Broadcast dates for this episode:May 2, 2009 (originally aired)April 17, 2010 (rebroadcast)

This week we're meeting up with one of the world's master blade smiths, Bob Kramer, the Sterns are at Pizzeria Lauretano in Bethel, CT, and we look at the new world of edible landscapes with Rosalind Creasy, author of Rosalind Creasy's Recipes from the Garden.Broadcast dates for this episode:April 25, 2009 (originally aired)April 3, 2010 (rebroadcast)

It's a look at America's soul food with Frederick Opie, author of Hog and Hominy, Jane and Michael Stern are getting a two-for-one deal on corned beef at McBob's in Milwaukee, WI, and Food & Wine Magazine's Ray Isle tells us where to look for the best global wine values.Broadcast dates for this episode:April 11, 2009 (originally aired)March 20, 2010 (rebroadcast)

We're exploring the mind and ethics of the hunter with Steve Rinella, author of American Buffalo, In Search of a Lost Icon, we get advice on kitchen cleanup music with Tom Moon, author of 1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die and we meet bean-obsessed Steve Sando, author of Heirloom Beans.Broadcast dates for this episode:March 28, 2009 (originally aired)March 13, 2010 (rebroadcast)

We're taking you on an eating trip to Mexico City this week. Lynne and our managing producer, Sally Swift, recently returned from a week of total culinary immersion. We have it all: the tastes, the sounds and the generosity of local experts, including a lesson in authenticity from Diana Kennedy as she opens her Mexican eco house to us. It's an hour you won't want to miss!Broadcast dates for this episode:February 28, 2009 (originally aired)February 27, 2010 (rebroadcast)

How do restaurateurs get us to eat what they want us eat? We'll find out with William Poundstone author of Pricesless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of it). We'll check-in with the Sterns, who are at The Cove in Crisfield, MD; and we look at the lure of ice fishing with Greg Breining author of A Hard Water World: Ice-Fishing and Why We Do It.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 20, 2010

This week we're being introduced to the lush foods of Senegal with Pierre Thiam, author of Yolele: Recipes from the Heart of Senegal. Jane and Michael Stern are at Sahagún in Portland, OR, and we learn the art of cooking on your car engine with Bill Sheller, author of Manifold Destiny.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 14, 2009 (originally aired)February 13, 2010 (rebroadcast)

This week we're looking at how other countries deal with their obesity issues with Barry Popkin author of The World is Fat. Jane and Michael Stern are at B & W Bakery in Hackensack, NJ, and we learn about the link between a Korean soap opera and the rise of Korean court food in Asia with Debra Samuels, author of The Korean Table.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 7, 2009 (originally aired)February 6, 2010 (rebroadcast)

We're looking at the country cooking of Ireland with award-winning writer Colman Andrews. And this week, the Sterns are introducing us to the cousin of the Po'Boy in New Orleans.Broadcast dates for this episode:January 30, 2010

This week we learn the art of cupping with Portland's legendary Stumptown Coffee; Joshua Wesson introduces us to the world's iconic grapes, and we play a round of "Stump the Cook" with Stumpmaster Christopher Kimball of Cook's Illustrated.Broadcast dates for this episode:January 24, 2009 (originally aired)January 23, 2010 (rebroadcast)

This week we meet the woman behind the wine guide considered by most to be the most comprehensive ever published. England's Jancis Robinson, author of The Oxford Companion to Wine. Jane and Michael Stern are visiting Dave's Carry-Out in Charleston, SC, and Gourmet Magazine's John Willoughby introduces us the restaurants of Istanbul.Broadcast dates for this episode:January 10, 2009 (originally aired)January 2, 2010 (rebroadcast)

What does a world-class chef cook for the family Christmas? This week we meet up with Grant Aschatz of Chicago's famed Alinea, Jane and Michael Stern are at the Silvermine Tavern in Norwalk, CT, Sally Schneider, author of The Improvisational Cook, teaches us the easy way to make homemade chocolates, Martha Holmberg, author of Puff introduces us to simplest of fancy ingredients, puff pastry, and mixologist Dale DeGroff, author of The Essential Cocktail joins us with his take on holiday imbibing.Broadcast dates for this episode:December 20, 2008 (originally aired)December 25, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week we have British chef Heston Blumenthal author of Further Adventures in Search of Perfection. Jane and Michael Stern are at Singleton Seafood Shack in Mayport, Fl. We talk with Chef Vitaly Paley, author of The Paley's Place Cookbook, and Jenn Garbee, author of Secret Suppers: Rogue Chefs and Underground Restaurants in Warehouses, Townhouses, Open Fields and Everywhere in Between.Broadcast dates for this episode:November 15, 2008 (originally aired)November 28, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week for Thanksgiving we meet up with Chef Marcus Samuelsson for a new take on the turkey. His latest book is New American Table. Historian Andy Smith reminds us of the real origin of Thanksgiving Day, and Lynne takes on the great feast ... vegetarian style.Broadcast dates for this episode:November 21, 2009

We talk to Paul Roberts author of The End of Food, about global food prices. Jane and Michael Stern authors of 500 Things To Eat Before It's Too Late, are at Famous Fourth Street Delicatessen in Philadelphia, PA, and Shirley Corriher, author of BakeWise, The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking, brings us some practical baking advice as we head into high baking season.Broadcast dates for this episode:November 8, 2008 (originally aired)November 14, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week, we talk about feeding a bunch of guys with Lucinda Scala Quinn, author of Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys; and we're learning about the relationship between food and gangster movies with Rebecca Epstein. Plus, Lynne talks with Andrea Nguyen, who shares her techniques for mastering Asian Dumplings. The Sterns are eating huge portions at Rocky & Carlo's Restaurant in Chalmette, LA. Plus your calls, our weekly trivia question, and a rousing edition of Stump the Cook!Broadcast dates for this episode:October 31, 2009

This week we go into the kitchen with Andy Ricker, the man behind Portland's legendary Thai restaurant Pok Pok. Jane and Michael Stern are noshing kolaches in West, Texas, and wine authority Josh Wesson suggests some smooth sips for rough times.Broadcast dates for this episode:November 1, 2008 (originally aired)October 24, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week we're catching up with Italian food authorities Marcella and Victor Hazan. Marcella's latest project is her autobiography, Amarcord, Marcella Remembers. Jane and Michael Stern are eating Czech food at Belgrade Gardens outside of Akron, OH, and Harold McGee, author of the seminal On Food and Cooking explains the remarkable link between extra-virgin olive oil and ibuprofen.Broadcast dates for this episode:October 4, 2008 (originally aired)October 17, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week we are meeting a winemaking legend, David Lett of Oregon's famed Eyrie Vineyard, Jane and Michael Stern are eating ice cream at Ici in Berkeley, CA and New York City food authority Mike Colameco introduces us to Izakayas, Japanese drinking places.Broadcast dates for this episode:September 20, 2008 (originally aired)September 19, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week it's all things tomato with Amy Goldman author of The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table, Jane and Michael Stern are at the Formica Brothers Bakery in Atlantic City, NJ, and writer David Leite, editor of the Web site Leite's Culinaria takes on the Toll House Cookie.Broadcast dates for this episode:September 13, 2008 (originally aired)September 5, 2009 (rebroadcast)

Historian John T. Edge take a look back at one of America's great food treasures, Craig Claiborne, the Sterns share their pick of great public markets on both coasts and wine writer Paul Lukacs from Wine Review Online introduces to the wines of Priorat.Broadcast dates for this episode:August 29, 2009

This week it's the domestic goddess of the British Isles, TV star and author Nigella Lawson talking those oh-so-evocative summer fruit dishes of England - from fools to flummeries to an unusual take on raspberry jam. Nigella's latest book is Nigella Express. It's burnt ends sandwiches at LC's Bar-B-Q in Kansas City, Missouri for Jane and Michael Stern. Wine wizard Joshua Wesson says we need to be putting a chill on some of those reds. He'll tell us which ones. Chad Ward, author of An Edge in the Kitchen: The Ultimate Guide to Kitchen Knives, has advice for getting the best knives for your money, and Dave Broom has some surprises from the World Whisky Awards.Broadcast dates for this episode:August 23, 2008 (originally aired)August 22, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week we're meeting one of the pioneers in America's artisan cheese movement, our very own Steve Jenkins author of The Food Life: Inside the World of Food with the Grocer Extraordinaire at Fairway. Jane and Michael Stern are at Halibut in Portland, OR and we look at the Southern way with picnics, with Jean Anderson author of A Love Affair with Southern Cooking: Recipes and Recollections.Broadcast dates for this episode:August 16, 2008 (originally aired)August 8, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week's guest claims that without fruits we'd still be swinging from trees eating bugs. Fruit-obsessed journalist Adam Leith Gollner joins us for a look at the fruit leggers and their stories as told in his book The Fruit Hunters: The Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce and Obsession. The Sterns experience a religious moment at the church of heavenly barbecue - Louie Mueller's in Taylor, Texas. Wine maverick Joshua Wesson talks cool wines for steamy days, and food scientist Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, explains what's really going on with those color-enhanced steaks in the meat case.Broadcast dates for this episode:July 26, 2008 (originally aired)July 25, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week we're celebrating the Fourth of July and the start of high summer. Gourmet magazine's John Willoughby talks smoke roasting, a much-ignored technique worthy of revival for its easy and succulent results. John's latest book, Grill It!: Recipes, Techniques, Tools, co-authored with fellow grilling guru Chris Schlesinger, is hot off the press. The Sterns feast on only-in-America fried clams and onion rings at Champlin's Seafood Deck in Narragansett, Rhode Island. Sally Schneider, author of The Improvisational Cook, has ideas for summer coleslaw. Gary Nabhan, co-author of Renewing America's Food Traditions, looks at America's endangered foods, and David Rosengarten, creator of The Rosengarten Report newsletter, talks burger bliss.Broadcast dates for this episode:June 28, 2008 (originally aired)July 4, 2009 (rebroadcast)

All those people talking about a wine's "terroir", meaning the place the grapes come from. Can we really taste it? We get the scientific last word from Harold McGee author of the seminal On Food and Cooking. Jane and Michael Stern are at Woodyard Bar-B-Que in Kansas City, KS, and novelist Nicole Mones tell us about the time in Chinese culinary history which she used as a framework for her latest novel, The Last Chinese Chef.Broadcast dates for this episode:June 2, 2007 (originally aired)May 24, 2008 (rebroadcast)June 27, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week it's the seeds and bark that changed the planet. We're talking spices, the stuff of wonderment and avarice in the medieval world with Paul Freedman, author of Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination. It's a St. Augustine, Florida special for Jane and Michael Stern at Saltwater Cowboy's. We talk with Peter Shafer, our Gastrosexual for the month of June. Tea purist Bill Waddington, proprietor of St. Paul's TeaSource, has summer in a glass — iced teas for the lazy at heart, and culinary improv artist Sally Schneider has a brief on the wallflower of the farm stand… the beet.Broadcast dates for this episode:July 12, 2008 (originally aired)June 20, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week it's the making of a wine merchant with Neal Rosenthal, one of the wine world's most respected importers. We'll hear the story of how he learned his craft and much more. His book is Reflections of a Wine Merchant.It's world class chili with the Sterns at Joe Roger's Chili Parlor in Springfield, Illinois; and we're eating on the cheap abroad with Anya Von Bremzen. Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones, has secrets for flourishing well into our tenth decade, and we'll hear about a new kind of eatery in Denver named So All May Eat.Broadcast dates for this episode:June 21, 2008 (originally aired)June 6, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week it's a look at the American kitchen—from the sanitized scientific outpost of yesteryear to today's family-oriented center of cherry cabinets, granite countertops and culinary toys galore. Our guest is Steven Gdula, author of The Warmest Room in the House: How the Kitchen Became the Heart of the Twentieth-Century American Home. Who but the Sterns would have found a snack cake worth a journey? It's the Twinkie of Michael's dreams at Bette's Oceanview Diner in Berkeley, California.Wine expert Joshua Wesson is back and he's talking Grüner Veltliner, the centerpiece of Austria's wine industry. Greg Patent tells how he tracked the great recipes of America's immigrant families while researching his latest book A Baker's Odyssey. He shares a recipe for Fatayar, a Lebanese lamb and onion pie.Professor of German Chris Wickham fills us in on Food in the Arts, a symposium of academics from around the world at the University of Texas at San Antonio. We'll hear the story of New Orleans jazz man Kermit Ruffins and his band called the BBQ Swingers, and Lynne shares the seafood websites that keep her in the loop about environmental and health concerns and fish that's okay to eat.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 23, 2008 (originally aired)May 30, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week it's a look at the noodle foursome that's the heart of Japan's beloved noodle cuisine: udon, somen, soba and ramen. Our guide is Chef Takashi Yagihashi, author of Takashi's Noodles. He talks noodle cooking, noodle etiquette, and the Japanese way with noodles that may even outflank Italy.Jane and Michael Stern are forking into some of the most sublime banana cream pie anywhere at Betty's Pies on Minnesota's North Shore.Indian food expert Raghavan Iyer has the fastest, lustiest breads you'll ever make. Forget the oven; for this quick bread you need to fire up your grill. Raghavan's latest book is 660 Curries: The Gateway to Indian Cooking.American Public Media commentator and dad John Moe tells of a little experiment in dinner table politics. Parents of picky little eaters will want to tune in!Brendan Newnam takes an off-center approach to the dinner party and it all starts with a joke. Then poet Nikki Giovanni reads her poem "So Enchanted with You" from her book Bicycles: Love Poems.Broadcast dates for this episode:May 23, 2009

This week, it's a fashionista in the kitchen. We'll talk with designer Isaac Mizrahi, who has some strong opinions about cookbooks and some "issues" with entertaining.For the Sterns it's the cream of the cremas (and pastries) at Crema in Portland, Oregon. Produce maven Russ Parsons talks how to find the ever-elusive great strawberry, Lettie Teague is back with new trends in house wines, we'll play a new round of Stump the Cook with celebrity stump master Christopher Kimball, and Richard Wiles has a shoppers guide for avoiding pesticides in produce.Broadcast dates for this episode:June 7, 2008 (originally aired)May 16, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week we're looking at the wine cork controversy with journalist George Tabor, author of To Cork or Not to Cork: Tradition, Romance, Science and the Bottle for the Wine Bottle. Jane and Michael Stern are taking us to upstate NY to raise our "hot dog consciousness" at Ted's in Tonawanda, NY, and the Wine Spectator's Matt Kramer introduces us to his favorite white wine, reisling. Broadcast dates for this episode:May 31, 2008 (originally aired)May 9, 2009 (rebroadcast)

Today we are learning how to build a curry with award-winning teacher Raghavan Iyer, author of 660 Curries. Jane and Michael Stern have found pecan pie worth the trip at the Texas Pie Company in Kyle, TX. Joshua Wesson brings us wines for the picnic basket and we look the misunderstandings behind MSG with The New York Time's Julia Moskin.Broadcast dates for this episode:May 18, 2008 (originally aired)April 18, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week it's a look at the golden age of Islamic food and conquest with guest Charles Perry, historian of Arab cuisine. Mr. Perry authored the foreword to Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World: A Concise History with 174 Recipes.It's clam chowder Rhode Island style for Jane and Michael Stern at Kitchen Little, just over the border in Mystic, Connecticut.Baking authority Dorie Greenspan talks the one and only Paris macaroon — a local obsession — and leaves us a recipe for Chocolate Macaroons.Lynne and Mannaging Producer Sally Swift bring us round two of "Back to the Table" — with the basic rules of the stir-fry.Kim Adams, one of seven Detroit area wine crazies who created the website Gang of Pour has a beginner's guide to making your own vinegar from leftover wine.Professor Henry Petroski chats about the toothpick, the latest ordinary object to catch his attention and the focus of his latest book, The Toothpick: Technology and Culture; and, as always, the phone lines will be open for your calls.Broadcast dates for this episode:March 1, 2008 (originally aired)April 4, 2009 (rebroadcast)