Hungry for Words

In this episode of my food-focused podcast Hungry for Words, I chatted with Robyn Eckhardt. She’s a widely published food writer whose works has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Saveur and many other publications.

While living and working in Asia, she and her husband, photographer David Hagerman, were looking for a sunny, yet inexpensive place to go on vacation. They knew little about the country before their first visit. After just a couple weeks, they fell in love with the food, the people and the country itself.

They returned to Turkey as often as they could. Finally, they ditched their day jobs and headed there to write a book about it. They spent 16 months traveling to every corner of the country by car. They tasted and researched the cuisine as they went, even venturing the edge of two war zones.

The result is their fabulously insightful book, Instanbul & Beyond: Exploring the Diverse Cuisines of Turkey (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

In this podcast episode, we discussed how many people dismiss Turkish food as simply a lot of kebabs. In this fascinating conversation, we explored the remarkable diversity of the country’s cuisine and how the geography dramatically affects it. We also chatted about her time covering street food in Asia for The Wall Street Journal, a fascinating assignment.

In this episode of my food podcast, Hungry for Words, I interviewed Holly Hughes, the editor of the long-running Best Food Writing series.

We talked about the lengths she went to unearth great food writing., reading as many as 1,500 stories a year to curate each annual volume.

We explored her life before the series, as executive editor of Fodor’s travel books. When she started the series in 2000, many people didn’t think she could find enough food writing to fill a book.

We delved into what separates bland food writing from the best examples. I read aloud some of my favorite leads and we discussed why that particular piece intrigued her enough to include it. I worked up the nerve to ask why none of my work was ever included — and she offered an unexpected answer.

Be sure to listen to the end of the podcast; there’s some surprising news about The Best Food Writing series.

Michael Harlan Turkell is an author and podcaster. He's the host of the popular podcasts " Food Scene," "Modernist Breadcrumbs" and Food 52's "Burnt Toast." He's the author of the books Acid Trip: Travel in the World of Vinegar, The Beer Pantry and Offal Good. For this podcast, I made Sea Foam Candy from his book, Acid Trip. Get the recipe at the episode page on kathleenflinn.com

Special Guest: Michael Harlan Turkell.

Before you listen to this podcast, please know I have a confession. I have long been a fan of Eating from the Ground Up, the no-nonsense love-your-garden blog by Alana Chernilla. I was happy to host her in my kitchen (back when you could do that sort of thing). Her first book, The Homemade Pantry, was an instant classic. I admit, I’ve made about half the recipes; my husband, Mike, loves the from-scratch pop tarts. Since then, she has followed with two more books, The Homemade Kitchen and Eating from the Ground Up. (All Clarkson Potter)

We covered a lot of ground (pun intended), including an inspirational chat about why home cooks should be kind to themselves. She also shared some great tips for using up kitchen scraps you might otherwise throw away. In these days when so many people are cooking – and perhaps tired of it – I found her message particularly encouraging.

As always, I made a recipe from one of her books to snack on while we chatted. I have made many recipes from her books, so choosing one was a challenge. Yet another batch of homemade pop tarts? Or the from-scratch goldfish crackers that I have made at 1 a.m. while on a writing binge? The easy yet addictive roasted potato salad? I the end, I chose dill popovers from The Homemade Kitchen. My choice, in part, stems from my ongoing adoration for the late satirist Dorothy Parker. Popovers were a fixture of the famed boozy lunches at New York’s Algonquin Hotel. (Read more about that here.)

Get the recipe from this show, dill popovers, at kathleenflinn.com

Special Guest: Alana Chernila.

Host Kathleen Flinn talks with food writer Joe Ray about his experience co-authoring the book Sea and Smoke with famed genius chef, Blaine Wetzel, as they sip a most unusual broth. Joe Ray is an award-winning widely published food and travel writer who regularly contributes to Wired magazine. Get more information on Joe and the recipe for madrona broth at http://hungryforwords.show

Special Guest: Joe Ray.

Host Kathleen Flinn talks with PBS cooking show host and award-winning cookbook author Joanne Weir about her culinary life as part of a discussion about her 17th book, Kitchen Gypsy, from her early days at Chez Panisse to cooking across Europe to life owning her own acclaimed restaurant in San Francisco. To learn more about Joanne and to get the awesome recipe for fish skewers with green salsa verde, visit http://HungryForWords.show

Special Guest: Joanne Weir.

Host Kathleen Flinn talks food with culinary linguist Dan Jurafsky, author of "The Language of Food" as they nibble on coconut macaroons. Get the recipe and more about Dan on the episode page at http://hungryforwords.show

Special Guest: Dan Jurafsky.

Host Kathleen Flinn talks with culinary icon Darra Goldstein, founding editor of Gastronomica magazine and author of numerous books, most recnetly the Scandinavian-focused cookbook, "Fire and Ice." Get more details about Darra and the recipe for the apple and juniper soup featured in this episode at the episode page.

Special Guest: Darra Goldstein.

Host Kathleen Flinn talks to noted Vietnamese food writer and author Andrea Nguyen about everything from dumplings to pho to her dramatic escape from her home country in 1975 at the height of the war. Get more about Andrea - plus the recipe for the Rotisserie Chicken Pho from the episode - at http://hungryforwords.show

Special Guest: Andrea Nguyen.