The Splendid Table

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So often, conversations regarding healthy eating go straight to health matters below the neck - things like weight management, heart health, managing cholesterol and diabetes.  But some doctors believe that we should be focused on feeding what’s above the neck – our brains.  Dr. Drew Ramsey calls himself a nutritional psychiatrist. He’s an avid researcher of the connection between food, brain function, and mental health at Columbia University – and, he’s a farmer. Contributor Shauna Sever spoke to Dr. Ramsey about his work and how we can work more brain-boosting foods into our diet.
This story is part of a larger collaborative partnership with our colleagues at Call To Mind, an initiative from American Public Media to foster new conversations about mental health, for Mental Health Awareness Month. Listen to our full episode Food & Mental Health, in which we spend the entire hour exploring issues around food and mental health. The show features a conversation with Chef David McMillan about substance use disorder and recovery in the restaurant world.  Activist Virgie Tovar talks to us about fat discrimination, shame and body image. And, we hear from playwright and screenwriter Stephanie Covington Armstrong about her very personal experience with an eating disorder.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• May 7, 2019

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The food scene in Philadelphia is booming and we’re taking you there for an event recorded live at WHYY. Francis Lam talks to three of the people at the forefront of the culinary scene in Philly: award-winning chef and writer Michael Solomonov of Zahav, chef Eli Kulp from Fork and High Street on Market, and Malaysian chef Ange Branca of the James Beard Award-nominated Saté Kampar. And, because who can resist a controversy? America’s Test Kitchen takes a stand on what sandwich is really the sandwich of Philadelphia!
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• May 4, 2018 (originally aired)
• April 26, 2019 (rebroadcast)

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Chetna Makan is a trained fashion designer, who was born in Jabalpur, India. As a contestant on The Great British Bake Off, she baked her way right into the semifinals and charmed the world with her enthusiastic approach to Indian baking and cooking. The latest of her three cookbooks is called Chetna’s Healthy Indian: Everyday Meals Effortlessly Good For You. In an interview with contributor Melissa Clark, Chetna explains that most Indian food is healthy by nature and there's an never-ending variety of what you can do with ingredients like lentils, vegetables, chilies and spices. She shared with us her recipes for Mango & Mint Salad, Black Lentils with Red Kidney Beans, Masala Black Chickpeas, and Spicy Chicken & Chickpeas Curry Bake.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• April 23, 2019

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We’re spending the hour with one of America’s rising chefs, Kwame Onwuachi of Washington DC’s Kith/Kin. His new memoir is Notes From a Young Black Chef. Francis Lam and Kwame talk about growing up and exploring food from all over the world, cutting his culinary teeth on an oil spill responder ship, and the layers of joy and frustration he experienced -- and what he learned -- from opening and closing the highly-anticipated The Shaw Bijou. Sally Swift also talks with Dan Souza from America’s Test Kitchen to learn about two ‘chef-y’ techniques for your kitchen: nitro cold-brew coffee, and cooking with koji.
 
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• April 19, 2019

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We're traveling to eat this week, and looking at foods that have gone through international transformations. We hear from Dr. Lucy Long, director and founder of the Center for Food and Culture, about the difference between being a food tourist and a food pilgrim, and why it's important to consider cultural responsibility in either case. We learn about the amazing culinary scene in Dubai with Arva Ahmed of Frying Pan Adventures. Chefs Mourad Lahlou and Louis Maldonado talk about the intersection of Morrocan and Mexican cuisines. Writer and taco historian Gustavo Arellano comes to the defense of flour tortillas and provides us with an amazing history lesson. Plus, America’s Test Kitchen heads to Wisconsin to figure out what makes the spicy cheese bread at the Dane County Farmers' Market so addictive - and yes, there is a recipe! Plus, Francis takes listener questions about making extra-creamy feta cheese at home and how to "fix" an accidentally scorched Irish stew meat, or at least salvage the high quality sirloin steak.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• April 20, 2018 (originally aired)
• April 12, 2019 (rebroadcast)

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It's estimated that in the United States we waste up to 40 percent of our entire food supply; that equals out to about 150,000 tons of food being wasted each day. And food waste isn’t just an American problem, it’s a global epidemic. Mads Refslund and Tama Matsuoka Wong are doing their best to combat the issue by using the toss-away parts of food into ingredients with a new purpose. Mads is a Danish chef and a pioneer of New Nordic cuisine, possibly best known as the cofounder of noma in Copenhagen. Tama is a forager, weed eater and home cook who graduated from Harvard law school. Together, they wrote Scraps, Wilt and Weeds: Turning Wasted Food into Plenty. Contributor Melissa Clark spoke with both of them about their approach to ‘trash cooking.’ She also got their recipe for Seared Romaine Lettuce Bottoms, Coffee Grounds PannaCotta and Coffee Grounds Biscotti.
 
 
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• April 9, 2019

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This week, human rights advocate and award-winning food writer Yasmin Khan takes us inside the kitchens of Palestine, where she spent months talking to cooks for her book Zaitoun. We dive deep into the diversity of Nigerian food and cooking techniques with Philadelphia chef Shola Olunyolo. We are introduced to frozen burrito royalty in California, the Ruiz family. And, the Proof podcast from America’s Test Kitchen wonders how and why “bowl food” has taken over the culinary world.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• April 5, 2019

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Splendid Table Selects is our podcast that highlights conversations that make us better, more worldly cooks. In this episode we hear from Kian Lam Kho, a self-described tech geek who transformed himself into a chef and food writer. Kho’s Red Cook blog features authentic Chinese recipes from his native Singapore. His first cookbook Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees is an wonderful introduction to Chinese home cooking organized by cooking techniques and methods. Contributor Melissa Clark met up with Kian in New York to learn more. Kian was also kind enough to share his recipe for Red-cooked Pork.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• March 26, 2019

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This is Splendid Table Selects, our mini-podcast about the stuff that makes us better cooks and eaters. There’s nothing better than a properly cooked scallop, but they have a reputation for being temperamental and hard to cook. And sourcing the right scallop is as important as how it is cooked. Molly Birnbaum and her colleagues at America’s Test Kitchen have very strong opinions about scallops, so Managing Producer Sally Swift went to her with some questions.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• March 12, 2019

For all the bad news in our world today, we're happy to report there is some good news on the food front. In this episode, we consider some of the positive things that are happening. In her book, Big Chicken, journalist Maryn McKenna says the chicken industry is largely to blame for our enormous overuse of and exposure to antibiotics. But, as she explains to Francis Lam, she's found real reasons for hope for the future. Forager Pascal Baudar talks with contributor Russ Parsons about the restorative result of recent destructive California wildfires on some of his favorite wildcraft spots. Barton Seaver is an award-winning chef whose work now focuses on sustainability in the fish and seafood industries. He talks with Francis about how certain species of fish come in and out of favor with fisherman and cooks. The increasingly popular beet salad gets an upgrade thanks to Molly Birnbaum from America’s Test Kitchen. And restaurant owner Alpana Singh was the youngest woman to pass the Master Sommelier exam when she did so in her mid-20s. She talks with Shauna Sever about the struggles going on in her life that made passing the exam essential to her livelihood.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• March 2, 2018 (originally aired)
• March 1, 2019 (rebroadcast)