Kochleffel (From Let's Talk About Food)

Happy Anniversary to us! And Thank You. Today we remember our very first show with chef Lydia Shire, chef Will Gilson, chef Jasper White and Annie Copps! They are all fun -- and remind why we need to get back to the live stage!

Photo Courtesy of Lydia Shire.

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Hannah Howard is the author of two memoirs, Feast: True Love In and Out of the Kitchen and Plenty: A Memoir of Food and Family. We loved both her books, beautifully written, clear on her struggle between loving food and wrestling with food issues and body image. She is funny, moving, smart, and when she writes about cheese, the earth stands still. We start this episode with Hannah reading from her first book, Feast. You will love her crisis in the cheese cave. What a writer!

Photo Courtesy of Michelle Chin.

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We are gob-smacked to have her on our podcast. 

Her daily blog, “Letters from An American” is required reading for many of us. I wake up and read her first thing. Others, can’t get to sleep without taking in her incredible and seemingly effortless gift of putting the news of the day--no matter how distressing – into a un-stuffy, almost chatty, historical context. We know she’s been up til the wee hours writing it –with footnotes! Her podcast, Now & Then, is a joy. And her Facebook live lectures…don’t even get me started. The woman never sleeps. 

But––who knew she was a foodie? She cut her teeth making whoopie pies with her sisters in Maine. She’s an expert bread baker, the keeper of the family recipes…a lover of community cookbooks working on her own. In our conversation, she uses her uncanny insights to put food into a political, historical, and cultural context. Who knew that Popeye and Olive Oyl had an interesting origin story?

Photo Courtesy of Heather Cox Richardson.

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Congressman Jim McGovern is our man in Congress. He represents Worcester, Massachusetts, but he really represents all of us who care about food. Not only is he the chair of the powerful rules committee, but he is lobbying for a White House Conference on Food & Nutrition. The last time that happened, Richard Nixon was president.

Photo Courtesy of Congressman Jim McGovern.

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When Charles Hunter jumped the chasmic divide from NYC to Boston to helm City Winery, he never bargained for a pandemic. He came with a long resume in the hospitality business with everything from a stint at IHOP (he says the boysenberries are real) and owning and managing his own spots in NYC and NJ. If there is a poster boy for grit, graceful pivoting and dedication to first principles of making it all about the guest, it is Charles Hunter.

Photo Courtesy of Charles Hunter

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You might think it’s obvious that the story of food, of cookbooks is central to understanding our culture and history. But it was not always so. Our storyteller today is Barbara Haber, a towering figure in making sure that “food,” and “women” and cooking were recognized as critical to the study of American Culture and American History. As curator of books at Harvard’s Schlesinger Library for more than 30 years, she collected more than 16,000 cookbooks plus the papers of notables like her friend, Julia Child, and argued (controversially!) for the recognition of Culinary History as a serious academic departments, now all over the country. . If you don’t yet know who Barbara Haber is, prepare to be amazed.

Photo Courtesy of Barbara Haber

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Michel Nischan grew up working on his grandparent’s farm in Missouri and developed a deep appreciation for sustainable agriculture and those who work the land. His passion for healthful cooking supported by a local sustainable food system propelled Michel to the front of the culinary scene. Michel expanded his work into the world of food equity when he founded the non-profit organization, Wholesome Wave, whose mission is to inspire underserved consumers to make healthier food choices by increasing affordable access to fresh, healthful fruits and vegetables. His vision was to catalyze a meaningful shift in food commerce to support local farmers, retailers, and food entrepreneurs through purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables in their home communities.

Author of three cookbooks and a director of the Jacques Pepin Foundation, Chef’s Collaborative, CIA Advisory Council, Modern Farmer, Good Food Media Network, The National Young Farmers Coalition, and the ReFresh Working Group. The James Beard Foundation honored him with the 2015 Humanitarian of The Year. To learn more about Chef Nischan, follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and visit www.chefnischan.com  For more about Wholesome Wave visit www.wholesomewave.org

Photo Courtesy of Michel Nischan

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In mid-Summer, although fully vaccinated, Michel and his wife Laurie got Breakthrough Covid after a business trip to Nashville. We had to postpone our original conversation, but when we did connect, Michel shared his experience with us. We were moved. And think you will be too.

Tune in for more from Michel on our next episode!

Photo Courtesy of Michel Nischan

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Former Massachusetts Governor, Deval Patrick, is a major foodie. But you might not know that if you simply focused on his remarkable biography. Raised on the South Side of Chicago in tough circumstances, scholarship to a New England boarding school, graduate of Harvard and Harvard Law School, a senior member of the US Justice department, and a high-level corporate career – all before becoming the Bay State’s first African-American governor. Twice. And just last year, a run for the US Presidency. If there’s a testament to how talking about food is the great leveler, the great ice breaker, our conversation with Deval Patrick is it!

Image courtesy of Deval Patrick.

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Sara Baer-Sinnott is the President of Oldways, a nonprofit focused on improving public health through cultural food traditions and lifestyles. If you think you haven’t heard of Oldways, you are wrong. Oldways’ tentacles touch almost everything you think about food today. It was the organization that brought the Mediterranean Diet to the forefront, the champion of whole grains in food products – and the creator and convener of a wide swath of the “culinary community” inviting huge bands of chefs, writers, retailers and food producers from all over the world to gather together to revere and preserve the value and joy of artisanal food – in short…the Oldways.

Culinary folks from today's episode:
Rick Bayless
Madhur Jaffrey
Nancy Harmon Jenkins
Corby Kummer
Tim Lang
Elisabeth Luard
Marion Nestle
Maricel Presilla
Jeffrey Steingarten
Faith Willinger
Paula Wolfert
Naomi Duguid
Susan Loomis
Melissa Clark
Ihsan and Valerie Gurdal
Anya von Bremzen
Bobby Flay
Gordon Hamersley
Jessica B. Harris
Joan Nathan
Fred Plotkin
Martha Rose Shulman
Lynne Rossetto Kasper
Lorna Sass
Molly Stevens
Nora Pouillon
Barry Estabrook
Rux Martin
Annie Copps

Photo courtesy of Oldways.

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