Kochleffel (From Let's Talk About Food)

Today, we hear from Jenny Best. It’s a story of a top tier New York City ballerina, who conquered her own struggles with food, and then was gob-smacked when it came time to begin feeding solids to her own firstborn son. And that was even before the twins! 

Jenny leaped into action and became the founder of a remarkable on-line information resource called Solid Starts.com. It’s a multi-disciplinary and very comprehensive website that offers parents guidance as babies take their very first bites and begin the journey towards a healthy and joyful life with food.

Photo Courtesy of Jenny Best.

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Nina Simonds is simply one of America’s culinary superstars. Trained in Taiwan in the 70’s by China’s culinary royalty, author of 11 cookbooks, former Asia editor for Gourmet, and reporter for the New York Times. So, it was a huge shock to her system that when she got Covid, it stole her sense of taste and smell. So far, it hasn’t come back. 

Photo courtesy Nina Simonds.

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As the Corporate Director of Exercise Physiology for the world-famous Canyon Ranch wellness resorts, Mike Siemens knows a thing or two about food. And health. And how the two go together. The good. The bad. and how we get back to post Pandemic health. His love for food began as a kid growing up in East Central Illinois, walking the fence row, searching for wild asparagus. Don’t know what “exercise physiology” is? Have a listen and Mike will explain.

Photo Courtesy of Mike Siemens & Canyon Ranch.

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Today we talk to Kate Sullivan. She is the host of the PBS Series, To Dine For ––now in its third season. An accomplished television reporter, she crafted a fantasy job for herself – having a meal and a one-on-one conversation with visionaries at their favorite hometown restaurants. Howard Schultz of Starbucks, Norman Lear, Mark Cuban­­––and someone we all revere, chef Jose Andrés. In this episode we’ll eavesdrop on Kate’s own dinner with Andres in Barcelona – and how her hunch that bonding over a meal would make for great TV storytelling.

Photo Courtesy of Kate Sullivan.

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Today we are having a chat with my good friend, Charles Draghi --universally called "Chuck."  Chuck inhabits the rarified strata of top chefs in Boston, mentor to many, revered by diners at his restaurant Erbaluce, and lauded by the critics. Before all that, he was a chef in Boston's North End, one of the country's last Little Italys, where locals and tourists go for color and red-sauce flavor.  It's where Chuck served up the kinds of dishes unheard of in this traditional iconic Italian neighborhood. The restaurant was called Marcuccio's. And yes, there are a few gangsters involved.

Photo Courtesy of Chris Glionna

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“It was as though somebody had poked a hole in the hull of a ship and we were sinking.”

Chef Jody Adams is one of a very few chefs in town whose first name alone makes her instantly recognizable. Like Cher. Or Barack. Jody is a rock-star chef-owner with more than 30 years of success. She’s earned every national accolade including numerous James Beards, Food & Wine, Top Chef). Jody Adams is a formidable leader — a major force in the food world­­––championing female chefs, feeding the hungry, and taking a leadership role in getting the embattled restaurant industry government help during the COVID crisis. I asked Jody Adams, how a young woman from a gentle New England background, became a nationally acclaimed chef.

Photo Courtesy of Ken Rivard and Jody Adams.

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Her mother told her “Never Take Candy from a Stranger.”

Especially in Moscow. Darra Goldstein was a young Russian graduate student, working on a US trade show in the USSR in the 70’s when a seemingly sympathetic Muscovite offered her a bag of candy as a thank-you. It’s a great story. Darra is now an Emeritus professor of Russian at Williams college and the founding editor of Gastronomica, the Journal of Food Studies. 

Photo Courtesy of Darra Goldstein.

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Dan Michaud "Ron, Jade Valley and the Power of Place" 

When his soon-to-be stepfather Ron rolled into teenage Dan’s mother’s house in an orange Fiat convertible. They began a thirty-year conversation. Dan’s tribute to “Ron who gave me Shakespeare, Miles Davis, and winter picnics” (plus a killer recipe for Beef Stroganoff).

Alvin Crawford "The Luckiest Guy"

Family dinners are not always happy moments. Our storyteller, Alvin Crawford, with his father remembers his dinners with his father as stressful rituals, more of an inquisition than a time to come together around food. Alvin, now a non-profit executive, recounts how he survived those meals and grew to understand, if not accept, his father’s intensity. And, ultimately, to learn how to enjoy meals with his own young family. 

Photos Courtesy of BJ Versoy

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Every good Rom-Com starts with a “Meet Cute” story. And what could be cuter than a first date story that revolves around food? In this episode we share two: a cheese-infused one from Sarah and Chris Blackburn, who met, married and are now the publishers and editor of Edible Boston; and one from Dena and Noah Kowaloff. This one features an unlikely star: broccoli. Let’s have a listen.

Photo Courtesy of Bethany Versoy

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In this episode we’ll hear from the President of the Greater Boston Food Bank, Catherine D’Amato and from Northeastern University’s Dining Director, Maureen Timmons.

Most of us are inspired to cook meals for those we love. And then, there are those who choose to feed the many. They are a different breed. Gracious, committed and generous. Why do they do it? 

To us, they are exceptional heroes, especially in this time when food insecurity is soaring, and supply struggles to keep up with crushing demand. We cannot allow hunger cannot be the new normal. For information on how to help, visit www.gbfb.org

Heritage Radio Network is a listener supported nonprofit podcast network. Support Let’s Talk About Food by becoming a member!

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