The Splendid Table

This week it's a look at the golden age of Islamic food and conquest with guest Charles Perry, historian of Arab cuisine. Mr. Perry authored the foreword to Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World: A Concise History with 174 Recipes.
It's clam chowder Rhode Island style for Jane and Michael Stern at Kitchen Little, just over the border in Mystic, Connecticut.
Baking authority Dorie Greenspan talks the one and only Paris macaroon a local obsession and leaves us a recipe for Chocolate Macaroons.
Lynne and Mannaging Producer Sally Swift bring us round two of "Back to the Table" with the basic rules of the stir-fry.
Kim Adams, one of seven Detroit area wine crazies who created the website Gang of Pour has a beginner's guide to making your own vinegar from leftover wine.
Professor Henry Petroski chats about the toothpick, the latest ordinary object to catch his attention and the focus of his latest book, The Toothpick: Technology and Culture; and, as always, the phone lines will be open for your calls.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• March 1, 2008 (originally aired)
• April 4, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week it's a look at the fat we hear so much about—Omega-3—and why it's gone missing from our diet. Science writer Susan Allport joins us with ideas for replacing this endangered "good" fat. She is the author of Queen of Fats: Why Omega-3s Were Removed from the Western Diet and What We Can Do to Replace Them.
The Sterns claim the folks at Skylight Inn Bar-B-Q in Ayden, North Caroline make the world's best and purest whole-hog barbecue. We'll have a report. Russ Parsons of the Los Angeles Times is back talking the glory of spring peas, including the overlooked fresh fava. He shares a recipe for Sugar Snap Pea Soup with Parmesan Cream from his book How to Pick a Peach.
It's a look at the battle for Barolo with Food & Wine magazine's Lettie Teague. Experts are turning themselves inside out over the controversy. Lettie tells all. Freelance writer Julie Hauserman has a tale of little nippers and an addiction, and software developer Thunder Parley talks life as the in-house critic for Google's eighteen employee restaurants and cafes.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• March 22, 2008 (originally aired)
• March 21, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week it's a look at why we buy. What drives us to purchase nonsense, even when we're watching every penny? Branding consultant Martin Lindstrom examined this behavior with neuroscientists at Oxford University. The findings convinced him that mysterious forces we aren't even aware of propel us to open our wallets for things we don't need or want. His book is Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy.
The Sterns have been wandering the Louisiana bayous, where they found great eats at Mosca's, a vintage Italian roadhouse in Avondale. Wine maverick Josh Wesson gives American Riesling its due. It's the perfect wine for how we eat today. We check in with Chef Gabrielle Hamilton at Prune in New York City. She shines at her restaurant stove, but feeding two toddlers at home is another story.
Then it's to the opposite coast and Portland, Oregon where little money gets you brilliant feasting at the city's food carts; and New York Times reporter Julia Moskin reveals the hottest new cooking tool you'll never find on the equipment sites and in the cookware stores.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• March 14, 2009

This week it's a different look at the seemingly simple and innocent banana. It's played a role in building regimes, toppling governments, partnering with the CIA and even gave Elvis his legendary grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich. Our guest is Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World.
The Sterns have found five-star Mexican food at Rosita's in the small Great Plains town of Scottsbluff, Nebraska.
Sally Schneider is back talking savory ideas for lemons. Try her recipe for Risotto with Dry Sherry and Lemon from her book, The Improvisational Cook.
Reporter Guy Hand tells of the morphing of the tater tot. From the ridiculous to the sublime, it's the story of what happened to those crispy little nuggets that started out as cattle feed in the Pacific Northwest and ended up in trendy bars all across America.
Lynne and Christopher Kimball of Cook's Illustrated fame play another round of Stump the Cook with Chris from St. Louis.
Professor Jessica Harris, the first scholar-in-residence to hold the chair endowed by Ray Charles at Dillard University, talks about the musician's great generosity, how he loved to eat, and his support of African-American culture.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• March 15, 2008 (originally aired)
• March 7, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week it's a peek into the life of a waiter at one of the world's most demanding restaurants. It's a profession and high craft, and not for the faint of heart. Our guest is Phoebe Damrosch, former waiter at Chef Thomas Keller's acclaimed Per Se in New York City. Phoebe tells all in her book Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter.
The Sterns are at Grove Café in Ames, Iowa, where they're forking up pancakes true to their name-huge, pan-size disks of thick and fluffy deliciousness.
Cheesemonger Steve Jenkins is back with a look at the cheeses of the Pyrenees. Improvisational cook Sally Schneider talks the theory and practice of meat loaf and shares her recipe for Lamb Meat Loaf with Cumin, Coriander and Fennel.
Pierre Laszlo, Professor Emeritus of chemistry at the University of Liege in Belgium, tells the story of what happened when a group trying out Utopia in California wrote a letter to the USDA. Professor Laszlo wants us to try his recipe for Tarte au Citron from his latest book, Citrus: A History.
Streit Matzo, the last family-owned matzo factory in the country is moving from its long-time home on New York's Lower East Side. Fourth-generation family member Aaron Gross explains why.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• February 16, 2008 (originally aired)
• February 21, 2009 (rebroadcast)

This week it's the one recipe that can make all the difference: stock. Author Michael Ruhlman guides us through the steps to creating that essential elixir that, when well made, can turn a new cook into a good cook, or a good cook into a great one. His recipe for Basic Brown Veal Stock gets us started. Michael's new book is The Elements of Cooking: Translating the Chef's Craft for Every Kitchen.  Jane and Michael Stern chomp down on the "Pastraminator" at the All-Star Sandwich Bar in Cambridge, Massachusetts. One person says yams, another says sweet potatoes, one of them is wrong.
Los Angeles Times food and wine journalist Russ Parsons, author of How to Pick a Peach cracks the confusing codes behind yams and sweet potatoes and leaves us his recipe for Sweet Potato Puree with Hazelnut Soufflé Top. Historian Ken Albala talks beans-all 18,000 varieties in all their confounding glory. Ken is the author of Beans: A History. Zak Rosen celebrates 100 years of Faygo pop, the beloved quirky beverage from Motown. Susanna Short, author of Bundt Cake Bliss, talks the come-back gâteau and shares her recipe for Pine Nut and Chili Bundt with Chili Glaze.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• January 26, 2008 (originally aired)
• January 31, 2009 (rebroadcast)

We are taking a look at our Locavore Nation project. 15 adventurous souls took on the challenge to eat a sustainable, local diet for a year. We will weigh in with the results. Locavore novelist Barbara Kingsolver, author of Animal, Vegetable. Miracle: A Year of Food Life joins us for a commentary on the results.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• January 17, 2009

Our guest this week is Padma Lakshmi, host of TV's reality show, "Top Chef." Her famous line is "please pack your knives and go." Padma packed her knives, cooked her way around the world, then came home to write her new book Tangy Tart Hot Sweet: A World of Recipes for Every Day. Her food, including Two Hens Laughing, is some of the most alluring to come along in some time.
Great smoked fish lured Jane and Michael Stern to Duluth, Minnesota (in the winter, no less) and the Northern Waters Smokehaus. Also in Duluth, the Damiano Center is feeding hundreds of folks every day with perfectly good food that stores, restaurants and farmers throw away. It's the kind of good-news story we love.
Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg stop by to tell us how we can make our own artisan bread in five minutes a day (no kidding). Five-Minute Artisan Bread is from their book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery that Revolutionizes Home Baking.
Christopher Kimball of Cook's Illustrated fame is back for another round of Stump the Cook, and David Wallechinsky, author of The New Book of Lists, reveals the one he claims isn't yet complete.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• December 15, 2007 (originally aired)
• December 27, 2008 (rebroadcast)

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• December 13, 2008

This week it's the story behind the wine world's most revered and feared critic. One bad review from him can take a wine down. He's Robert Parker, Jr. and his power is both rare and absolute. We'll find out what shapes and informs his legendary palate. Look for the 7th and latest edition of his classic Parker's Wine Buyer's Guide in bookstores now.
Who but the Sterns would go for apple pancakes with potato pancakes on the side? They're at the Northside Grill in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Christopher Kimball of America's Test Kitchen stops by with this year's crop of top kitchen gadgets just in time for holiday gifting.
Food scientist to the pros and award-winning author Shirley Corriher is back and she's talking cookie control - what we need to know for successful baking that no one else tells us. Her wonderful book, BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking, is hot off the press.
Tea merchant Bill Waddington shares some interesting tea customs, and Hillary Carlip (www.hillarycarlip.com), author of A la Carte: The Secret Lives of Grocery Shoppers, lets us in on an unusual kind of culinary collectible.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• December 6, 2008