In this episode of Eat.Drink.Think., we sit down with Marisel Salazar, author of the new cookbook Latin-ish. The book delves into the rich diversity of American Latino cuisine, exploring how migration and cultural blending have shaped its evolution. Salazar explains the significance of the "ish" in the title, emphasizing her mission to inspire culinary exploration and foster appreciation beyond traditionally rigid ideas of what "authentic" cuisine should be. During our conversation, she shares the fascinating origins of some dishes featured in the book and celebrates the way they’ve been adapted and transformed through migration and cross-cultural exchange.

In this episode, host Amy O’Neill Houck speaks with self-proclaimed seafood evangelist, Barton Seaver. Barton is a trained chef who stepped away from successful restaurant work to dive into a career in food systems, sustainability, and specifically sustainable seafood. He’s the author of several books and cookbooks, including, The Joy of Seafood, and was a speaker at Edible Institute 2024.

We discuss the state of seafood, its impact on feeding the world's growing population, and its effects on those who rely on harvesting it. And of course, we talk about the delights of cooking and eating food from the sea, and even share some recipes.

Find show notes and a full transcript of the episode here.

In this episode, host Amy O’Neill Houck speaks with Nicola Twilley, a journalist and frequent contributor to The New Yorker, and host of the podcast Gastropod. Nicola tells us about her new book, Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves and lets us in on the global effects that keeping food cold has had on the food system, on humans as eaters, and on our warming planet.

Over the last 150 years, refrigeration has reshaped how we produce, distribute, and consume food, sparking the industrialization of agriculture and influencing everything from meat production and nutrition to food waste. Yet, this cold revolution hasn’t come without costs—refrigeration is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions due to its energy demands and refrigerant gasses. Twilley explores how we might reimagine refrigeration for a food system that prioritizes public health, environmental sustainability, and equitable food access.

Find show notes and a full transcript of the episode here.

In this episode of Eat.Drink.Think., host Gibson Thomas learns from Stanley Cheng, inventor, innovator and CEO of Meyer Corporation and founder of Hestan. Starting with his invention of the flat bottomed-wok while he was still in college, Cheng has innovated his way to the top of the cookware world and elevated both the science, and the art, of cooking for the rest of us. The owner of Hestan, Anolon, Circulon, Faberware and more, Cheng’s popularization of safe non-stick cookware for home cooks, has also become the “go to” for some of the world’s most renown professional chefs including Thomas Keller, Tyler Florence and Corey Lee. Celebrity chef David Chang even calls him the "Mt. Rushmore of Cookware” thanks to his legendary impact on cookware technology. In this episode, Cheng walks us through the ABCs of cookware and demystifies the safety concerns surrounding properly made non-stick cookware. Spoiler alert: It is safe! Tune in to get your cooking juices flowing and be prepared to want to fight for the right to experience the joy of doing the dishes!

For a full transcript and show notes, visit EdibleCommunities.com

This episode is brought to you by Hestan, creators of chef-inspired cookware that combines innovative craftsmanship with superior performance and timeless design. From their extensive collection of cookware and culinary tools, Hestan is dedicated to elevating your kitchen experience—discover the pinnacle of cookware at HestanCulinary.com.

In this episode of Eat. Drink. Think., host Amy O’Neill Houck speaks with Julia Turshen, a cookbook author and recipe developer, teacher, writer, and podcaster.

Her last book, Simply Julia is a bestseller. Julia’s newest book, What Goes with What is hot off the presses, and is a collection of 100 recipes, but more than that, it’s a visual guide to putting meals together and a method for cooks of all experience levels to get more comfortable using their personal taste and intuition.

Find show notes and a full transcript of the episode here.

In this episode of Eat. Drink. Think. we speak with culinary historian Sarah Lohman, author of Endangered Eating, a culinary travelog with a distinct purpose: telling the story of foods and food traditions that are in danger of disappearing. We talk about how Sarah found these vanishing foods, and how eating these endangered foods may or may not be the key to saving them.

Find show notes and a full transcript here.

Steve Sando, the self-proclaimed bean freak and founder of Rancho Gordo, joins host Amy O’Neill Houck to talk beans. Drawing from 25 years of experience in growing, sourcing, and cooking beans, Sando shares recipes, tips and entertaining anecdotes that will have you reaching for your own beans to boil. We dive into his latest project, The Bean Book, a combination of guide and cookbook featuring 100 recipes. Tune in as we explore what Sando calls his "Bean Strategy."

Find show notes and a full transcript here.

In this episode of Eat.Drink.Think. sponsored by the Farmers Market Coalition, host Amy O’Neill Houck speaks with Sagdrina Jalal and Nino Budabin McQuown about the farmers market movement, and how markets can be a place of empowerment and connection for everyone, but especially folks from marginalized communities. We talk about the delight of growing and sharing food to feed one another and discuss the upcoming 25th anniversary of Farmers Market Week and how market goers and managers can take action.

Find show notes and a full transcript here.

In this episode of Eat. Drink. Think., we interview Austin Frerick, an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy, and the author of Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry.

The book uses the idea of “barons”—individuals and families who have surprising, outsized control in the food industry—to share the danger that monopoly poses not only to our food system but to our democracy. Frerick’s compelling book tells the stories of our industrial food system braided with accessible threads on the history of antitrust policy, agriculture and more, while offering some hopeful solutions to the seemingly intractable problem of corporate consolidation.

Find show notes and a full transcript here.

In this episode of Eat.Drink. Think., Marion Nestle, author of Slow Cooked, A Memoir in Food Politics, returns to Eat. Drink. Think. to help us think critically about food policy and politics. We talk about following the money when scientific studies are used as food marketing tools, and she gives us practical tips to navigate the news and identify what food system changes will rely on policy versus individual actions.

Find show notes and a full transcript here.