Season 6

What a treat it was to go up to Jacques Pépin‘s home in Connecticut and interview Jacques, his daughter Claudine Pépin, and her husband Rollie Wesen on the occasion of the publication of the 50th Anniversary  edition of Pépin’s seminal work La Technique. Pépin was even more charming in person. Thank you, Jacques, for taking...

This week on Special Sauce we go way back into the Internet time machine (2015!) with the brilliant Susie Essman regaling us with hilarious stories about her years of dues paying in comedy clubs, renouncing vegetarianism when the smell of bacon just became too much for her; and coming up with comedy legends Larry David,...

James Beard Award-Winning chef and restaurateur Meherwan Irani has written ‘Number 1 Best Indian Cookbook in the World’, a book that celebrates the Indian street food he serves at his restaurants Chai Pani and Botiwalla. On Special Sauce Irani insisted that Indian street food is the best street food in the world. Bold claim!  Learn...

After reading about ICE’s ongoing appalling treatment of an Argentine-born Chicago chef Carlos Cantatore  in the new online food publication Ravenous, I invited Ravenous‘ Ashok Selvam and Marcos Carbajal, Chicago-born restaurateur-chef and owner of the esteemed Carnitas Uruapan, on Special Sauce to bring us up to date.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce, reporter Heather Haddon and columnist Adam Chandler of The Wall Street Journal  give us the lowdown on why securing a restaurant reservation is damn near impossible these days.   Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

There are quite a few beautiful Dolly Parton remembrances that have been published since her death, but only one that talked about Dolly’s love of food and the many contributions Parton made to the food culture. Today’s guest on Special Sauce, Amy McCarthy, former Eater writer and editor and one of Ravenous’ employee owners, wrote...

This week the terrific writer and podcaster Tommy Tomlinson gives us a poignant and hopeful update on his lifelong battle with his weight. Thanks to GLP-1 drugs he has lost more than 130 pounds in the last 2 years. Tommy and I share our GLP-1 drug experiences.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we talk to Goldbud Farm‘s Chuck Mansfield, who happens to grow the best peaches in the world. He’ll even tell serious eaters how he does it.   Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we take a deep dive into the world of cheesemongering with two of the stars of the documentary ‘The Big Cheese’, Adam Jay Moskowitz and Courtney Johnson.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this reheated episode of Special Sauce, former Serious Eats editor and writer Sho Spaeth talks to us about his book, Homemade Ramen, a 2026 James Beard Foundation Book Award nominee. Sho is the Lead Editor and Writer at ChefSteps, and the most passionate and knowledgeable ramen geek I know. He truly believes in the...