Louisiana Eats

Halloween is once again upon us, which means it's time to indulge our fascination with the mysterious, the macabre, and the world beyond the grave! On this week's show, we delve into the stories, traditions, and history that give Louisiana its enduring interest in the supernatural.

We begin with our old friend Sally Asher of Red Sash Tours, who on Halloweens past has taken us on special tours of three New Orleans cemeteries. Sally joins us in our studio to share what she discovered while researching her new book, Flaming Hearts and Weeping Angels: Secrets and Symbols in New Orleans Cemeteries. Sally also tells us about her new nonprofit, Tomb Do You Love, which works to restore historic tombs in the Crescent City.

Then, we explore the curious history of spiritualism in America with Dr. George Schwartz of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. He talks about the spiritualist movement's surprising ties to New Orleans, its role in empowering women and abolitionists, and what all of this has to do with the 100th anniversary of Harry Houdini's death this Halloween.

Finally, we meet Rosie Grant, who stumbled upon a curious discovery: recipes carved into gravestones. Her book, To Die For: A Cookbook of Gravestone Recipes, brings these recipes together, along with the stories of the people who chose to preserve them in stone. It's a book about food, but it's really about memory – the meals that define us, and how we carry the people we've lost into our kitchens, long after they're gone.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

Flour, butter, yeast, and sugar are all simple ingredients, but together they can produce extraordinary things. This week, we look at baking from the neighborhood bakery to the home kitchen.

First, we catch up with Kelly Jacques and Samantha Weiss, whose Ayu Bakehouse in New Orleans continues to earn both local and national accolades. The duo has come a long way since we first met them in 2022. We get an update and take a closer look at the delights they are serving up daily in the city's Marigny neighborhood.

Then we learn about a popular bakery just down the road, and its owner who has helped shape the baking scene in the Big Easy in over 20 years. Bywater Bakery's Chaya Conrad joins us for a conversation about her career and how she came to invent the New Orleans dessert staple: the Chantilly Cake.

Chaya also shares some of the ingredients behind her bakery's offerings, before food writer Anne Byrn explains why choosing the right flour matters.

Finally, we meet baker and author Heidrun Metzler, who grew up in a family of German women with a passion for baking. In her debut book, German Heritage Baking, she celebrates recipes shaped by memory, family, and a culture where baking is woven into everyday life.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

Food can tell us a lot about where we come from – and sometimes, about how we misunderstand one another. On this week's show, we look at what happens when food crosses borders, cultures, and identities.

We begin with Anna Sulan Masing, a writer, poet, and academic whose work explores food, culture, and identity. Based in London, Anna comes from a family whose story crosses continents and cultures. She was born in Australia to an indigenous Iban father from Borneo and a New Zealander mother of predominantly Scottish heritage. Her debut book, Chinese and Any Other Asian, considers how mixed identities are shaped – and often distorted – by language, stereotypes, and cultural appropriation. Anna joins us to discuss her family's remarkable story and what food and restaurants can reveal about how we understand other cultures.

Then, we look at what happens when a cuisine takes root somewhere new. We meet Chef David Schuttenberg, co-owner of two Chinese restaurants in Charleston, South Carolina: Kwei Fei focuses on Sichuan cooking, and Beautiful South showcases the cooking of Southern China. David talks to us about learning a cuisine from the outside, staying true to its traditions, and adapting those traditions to a new place.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

New Orleans is one of the oldest cities in America, but its acclaimed cuisine is hardly stuck in the past. Today, the local food scene is bolder, more diverse, and more inventive than ever. That’s what food writer Beth D'Addono discovered when researching her latest publication, "City Eats: New Orleans." Offering an extensive overview of the local restaurant landscape, the book also provides over 50 recipes from the Big Easy's top chefs. Beth joins us to discuss this talented new guard of chefs and restaurateurs – many who found their footing during the pandemic.

Then, we dig into two restaurants featured in Beth’s book. From Addis NOLA, we hear from Dr. Biruk Alemayehu and Prince Lobo, the mother-and-son team bringing their authentic Ethiopian dining experience to historic Bayou Road. That includes injera bread and honey wine that have been served in the Horn of Africa for thousands of years.

Finally, we take a field trip to the kitchen of GW Fins, an upscale seafood restaurant in the French Quarter, where we learn about Chef Michael Nelson's innovative work with dry-aging fish. The result is an elevated dish that is denser, more tender, and more flavorful.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

Food has a way of carrying a place with it. A recipe can preserve a memory. A bottle of wine can carry a taste of home across an ocean. This week, we explore the food of the eastern Mediterranean – from Cyprus and Greece to Lebanon – and the stories that come with it.

First, we speak with Anissa Helou, author of Lebanon: Cooking the Foods of My Homeland. Anissa tells us about the cuisine she grew up with in Beirut – much of which sounds surprisingly familiar to the food traditions of Louisiana. Now based in Sicily, she has continued to write to preserve these culinary traditions and knowledge for future generations.

Next, we hear from first-generation Greek-American writer and comedian Gus Constantellis. When Gus unexpectedly lost his mom to a sudden stroke in 2023, he began writing down his memories of her and the recipes she made for their family. The result was a deeply personal and humorous tribute to his mother called My Greek Mom's Recipes: She Died. I Wrote This Cookbook.

Finally, we speak with Ari Kyriakides, a Cyprus native who has called New Orleans home for decades. Ari's the owner of Ambeli Wine Imports and Distribution, a Louisiana company he created to make Cypriot wine widely available in the U.S. He tells us how he's working to put Cyprus on the map one bottle at a time.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

The more you learn how to perceive something, the more there is to experience. Just ask any sommelier. For them, what was once simply "wine" became acidity, tannin, texture, aroma, balance, and finish. The wine hasn’t changed – they just learned to better appreciate what was there all along. This week, we explore how we can improve our enjoyment of food and drink by learning to taste with intention.

We begin with Mandy Naglich, author of How to Taste: A Guide to Discovering Flavor and Savoring Life. Mandy explains how sight, smell, sound, and even expectation can affect your experience at the table. She wants us all to slow down, pay attention, and become more aware of the experiences we're having – to savor what's in front of us, rather than simply consume it.

Next, we meet Dr. Arielle Johnson. She a flavor scientist whose work takes her into the kitchens, restaurants, and bars where new ideas about food and drink are being developed. Her book, Flavorama: A Guide to Unlocking the Art and Science of Flavor, empowers readers to use the science of food to improvise, experiment, and cook with confidence.

Finally, we look at what happens when one of those hidden ingredients of flavor is suddenly gone. Author Molly Birnbaum recounts the story of losing the sense that made her want to become a chef – and discovering a new way forward.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

The Slow Food movement sprang to life in 1986, when the first McDonald's in Italy was set to open at the foot of the Spanish Steps in Rome. Founder Carlo Petrini was so horrified by this fast food invasion that he began Slow Food to combat the effects of homogenization and to preserve and celebrate the flavors of regional cuisine.

Now 40 years later, the grassroots movement has spread to over 160 countries with more than 70 chapters here in the U.S. On this week's show, we speak with people who are working to further Slow Food's mission to educate, inspire, and mobilize people toward good, clean, fair food.

We begin with Danny Childs, author of the James Beard Award-winning book, Slow Drinks. The trained ethnobotanist and bartender shares how he creates seasonal, foraged, and fermented beverages using local ingredients.

Next, we speak with members of the Slow Food USA movement who wrote The Ark of Taste: Delicious and Distinctive Foods That Define the United States. The book provides an in-depth look at some of the stories behind our country’s disappearing flavors.

Finally, we chat with Sarah Lohman, author of Endangered Eating: America’s Vanishing Foods. Sarah recounts her adventure researching some of the rarest ingredients in the U.S.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini passed away in May at the age of 76. This week's episode is dedicated to him and the amazing food revolution he brought to this world.

Every Labor Day weekend, tens of thousands of members of the LGBTQ community from around the world gather in New Orleans for the five-day party known as Southern Decadence. To celebrate, this week, we bring you stories of culinarians expressing queerness through food.

First, we hear from John Birdsall, author of "What Is Queer Food? How We Served a Revolution." He tells us about the often-unknown gay influence on modern American cuisine and some of the hidden heroes who have contributed so much to how and what we eat. And, perhaps most importantly, he answers the titular question of his book.

Then, we catch up with our New Orleans friends, Kitten N' Lou. You may know them as the couple who put on spectacular shows that combine drag, dance, burlesque, and a theater. By day, they're the owners of Chance In Hell SnoBalls in the New Orleans' Bywater neighborhood. We visit the dynamic duo, who have moved their operation from a front porch pandemic project to a popular brick-and-mortar shop.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

From north to south, Louisiana's Latin food scene has been reaching new heights over the past decade. On this week's show, we explore the rich and dynamic flavors of Latin cuisine in our state.

We begin in the Crescent City, where Ana and Lydia Castro are turning heads with their Mexican seafood restaurant, Acamaya. Chef Ana returns to our studio – this time, with her sister Lydia – to discuss their business partnership and to talk about their new breakfast and lunch spot, Casimiro.

Next, we sit down with Juan and Tatiana Lock, the husband-and-wife duo behind Tito's Ceviche and Pisco. The New Orleans restaurant serves up the bold flavors of Peru with a taste of the Louisiana Gulf. And fans of pisco – a clear grape brandy produced in Peru – will find a long bar at Tito's that offers all manner of the country's national spirit. Juan and Tatiana talk about their restaurant, pisco, and Peruvian cuisine.

Finally, we speak with Gabriel Balderas who runs two of the most popular restaurants in Shreveport: El Cabo Verde and Zuzul Coastal Cuisine. Gabriel, who emigrated from Mexico when he was 16, has also just opened a new restaurant, Papalotl, in his hometown of Oaxaca. The Shreveport chef discusses his career and explains why he insists on using locally sourced ingredients.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

In 2023, Chef Edgar "Dook" Chase IV made his public television debut in the WYES cooking series, "The Dooky Chase Kitchen: Leah's Legacy." Dook, the grandson of Louisiana legend Leah Chase, is now back with a brand-new PBS series called "Dook Chase: A Chef's Journey." Each episode takes viewers on a food tour of New Orleans, as Dook meets with chefs, restaurateurs, and local culinary talent. On this week's show, we sit down with Chef Dook and speak with two guests featured on his show about their chef journeys.

After Dook tells us about the show and companion cookbook of the same name, we chat with Kaitlin Guerin, the New Orleans gal who was the first baker in the U.S. to become a finalist in the emerging chef category of the prestigious James Beard Awards. We hear how she reached that lofty position and what she's creating at Lagniappe Bakehouse, her Central City shop that's getting such national attention.

Finally, we speak with Meg Bickford, the first female to ever rise to the executive chef's position at Commander's Palace. There's an awful lot of talent and power in that tiny little frame.

For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.