The Splendid Table

Those tangibles of the American food revolution — take-out sushi at the gas station, salads of organic baby lettuces and obscure herbs, star chefs, restaurants as Mecca — are no coincidence according to our guest David Kamp, author of The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation. He believes a parade of freewheeling originals — from Julia Child to Michael Pollan — led us out of the culinary dark ages. We have the story.
The Sterns unveil a transcendental sweet potato pancake at Nashville's Pancake Pantry. Deborah Krasner talks culinary vacations and what you need to know before you hand over the credit card. Her new book The New Outdoor Kitchen: Cooking Up a Kitchen for the Way You Live and Play is due out in February.
It's the New York City burger war with Mike Colameco, our go-to guy in the Big Apple. Singer Alex Kapranos of the Franz Ferdinand band takes us on tour for a look at a rocker's road food. He's the author of Sound Bites: Eating on Tour with Franz Ferdinand.
Eli Winkleman tells the story behind Challah for Hunger, a national student organization addressing humanitarian issues in a unique way. Lynne shares her Homage to California Cuisine: Garlic Bread, Green Bean and Tomato Salad and a recipe for Carrots with Apricots and Pistachios. And the phone lines will be open for your calls.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• January 13, 2007 (originally aired)
• February 2, 2008 (rebroadcast)

This week we're cooking and eating the vegan way with our guest Isa Chandra Moskowitz, author of Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook. It's less about tofu and more about dynamite vegetables and inventive cooking. Her recipe for Asparagus Quiche with Tomatoes and Tarragon is a delicious introduction.
For Jane and Michael Stern it's that great southern triumvirate—biscuits, ham and sweet tea—at the Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. David Rosengarten takes us to Hyderabad, the Indian city where the rich and regal food of the north meets up with the zing and zap of the cuisines of the south.
Aaron Woolf, director of King Corn, tells the back story behind the new feature documentary about two guys from Boston, one acre of corn, and the subsidized crop that drives our fast-food nation. We'll meet up with Laura Solorio, the first of the 15 "locavores" to participate in our year-long project called Locavore Nation. James Villas, the southern gentleman of the food world, stops by to talk one of those guilty pleasure foods—bacon—and leaves us his recipe for Bacon and Peanut Butter Chocolate Truffles from his new book The Bacon Cookbook.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• January 19, 2008

Science writer Jennifer Ackerman joins us this week for a scientific take on how our bodies use food and drink. What really controls our appetite and hunger? We'll have some answers. Jennifer's new book is Sex, Sleep, Eat, Drink, Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body. The Sterns' fondness for prison gift shops led them to some great hush puppies and shredded pork sandwiches at Hocutt's Carolina Barbecue. It's right across from the Big House in Moundsville, West Virginia.
Culinary improviser Sally Schneider, author of The Improvisational Cook takes the intimidation out of the soufflé. Her cheese soufflé recipe is a step-by-step guide to perfect results. Wine writer Natalie MacLean is always game for a new wine experience. When she became a restaurant sommelier for a night she came away with some good tips to share. Natalie is the author of Red, White, and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass.
Professor Steven Kaplan, a man who has French bakers shaking in their shoes, stops by to talk French bread. We'll hear about an oyster shell recycling program from Sabrina Varnum of the North Carolina Department of Marine Fisheries, and, as always, Lynne takes your calls.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• January 12, 2008

This week we take a look at what controls our eating. Is it real hunger or something more complex? We'll have answers from our guest, Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Laboratory. His new book is Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. It's an endangered species for the Sterns — an old-time American chili parlor that's alive and well at Mike's Chili Parlor in Seattle.
Food writer Francine Maroukian shares her idiosyncratic approach to building a cookbook library and shares some favorite titles from her own shelves. Then Lynne weighs in with some sources to check when starting or adding to a cookbook collection. That brilliant culinary trickster, Chef Michel Richard, has tips that make the new kitchen technology doable for home cooks. The recipe for Low Carb-O-Nara is from Chef Richard's book Happy in the Kitchen: The Craft of Cooking, the Art of Eating.
Celebrity Stump Master Christopher Kimball returns for another round of Stump the Cook, we have a report on bottled waters, and the phone lines will be open for your calls.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• January 6, 2007 (originally aired)
• January 5, 2008 (rebroadcast)

Writer and Director Nora Ephron, author of the best-seller I Feel Bad About My Neck, joins us this week with observations on life and the American food scene, including a provocative take on how the duo of the birth control pill and Julia Child shaped the social history of the late 20th Century.
The Sterns report that the endangered chicken in a pot bubbles proud and free at the Chutzpah in Fairfax, Virginia. Sally Schneider, author of The Improvisational Cook, has her usual effortless take on great hors d'oeuvres, including her recipe for Pancetta Tartines. It's gifts for wine geeks from a master geek himself, The Wine Spectator's Matt Kramer. His latest book is Matt Kramer's Making Sense of Italian Wine.
Fred Plotkin, our pleasure activist and author of Italy for the Gourmet Traveller, talks Vienna, the perfect winter destination, and lines up the must-do coffeehouses. We'll take a look at the new nanny nutrition dilemma, and, as always, Lynne takes your calls
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• December 16, 2006 (originally aired)
• December 29, 2007 (rebroadcast)

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• December 22, 2007

This week it's a look at the pivotal cookbooks of our time with Judith Jones, the woman who brought them to print. She didn't set out to edit cookbooks. Then she discovered Julia Child, Marcella Hazan and a clutch of other "greats." The rest is history. Judith's recipe for Frenchified Meatloaf is from her latest book, The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food.
Jane and Michael Stern stop by with their report on Lupie's in Charlotte, North Carolina. They say the squash casserole is worth a trip.
Consummate cookbook author and baker Dorie Greenspan simply cannot resist testing kitchen gadgets. It's led to some great stocking stuffers. Gail Monaghan, author of Lost Desserts, takes a look at antique desserts. Her recipe for Red Wine Jelly is a stunner no one has seen for at least a century.
We have the story of Will Scott, one of California's last African American farmers, and the chef who carries on his cultural and culinary traditions at Farmerbrown restaurant in San Francisco. Author and photographer Melanie Dunea tells us about a perfect gift for all the chef groupies on your holiday shopping list: her book titled My Last Supper: 50 Great Chefs and Their Final Meals and, as always Lynne takes your calls.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• December 8, 2007

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• December 1, 2007

When our guest, Saveur magazine executive editor James Oseland, was 19, he spent a summer in Indonesia. He returned home but his heart and appetite stayed behind. After 23 years of exploring the region, James has written Cradle of Flavor: Home Cooking from the Spice Islands of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. He joins us for a look at an enchanting cuisine and a world of new flavors and traditions. The recipe for Beef Rendang is from his new book.
Extra crispy fried chicken has Jane and Michael Stern clucking at Price's Chicken Coop in Charlotte, North Carolina. Wine maverick Josh Wesson claims boxed wines rock and so do ones in cans! He shares his picks. Dorie Greenspan brings us a baking pro's prime secret: goodies you never knew you could make ahead and freeze. Cocoa-Buttermilk Birthday Cake comes from Dorie's latest must-have book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. Joanna Pruess, author of Seduced by Bacon: Recipes & Lore About America's Favorite Indulgence, reviews the lush new bacons showing up in the market and shares an intriguing recipe for Pecan-Brown Sugar and Bacon Ice Cream.
Seth Kugel reports on the New York City Pushcart Awards. He writes the "Weekend in New York" column for The New York Times and is co-author of Nueve York: The Complete Guide to Latino Life in the Five Boroughs.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• November 11, 2006 (originally aired)
• November 24, 2007 (rebroadcast)

This week it's our annual Thanksgiving show. We're bringing you a line up of experts for a look at why we eat what we eat on this day. Chef Jonathan Waxman, author of A Great American Cook, tells how he and his little daughter lay out the feast. His recipe for Apple and Chicken Liver Mousse is to die for and guaranteed to keep hungry relatives at bay while the turkey cooks.
It's an early morning carbo-loaders dream breakfast for Jane and Michael Stern at the Kozy Korner Café and Bar in Winnett, Montana.
Deborah Madison, author of Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, is back with a Vegetarian Thanksgiving Feast that will knock anyone's socks off. For turkey eaters, Lynne's Fast and Crisp Roast Turkey Scented with Apple and Basil fills the bill.
Those sweet potatoes with marshmallows that appear on many holiday tables may trace their beginnings back to an ancient Arab medical handbook according to Yale history professor Paul Freedman, author of Food: The History of Taste. He joins us for a look at what shaped our tastes for this holiday.
We have a post-punk Thanksgiving for vegans; and Mary Murray Bosrock, author of Asian Business Customs & Manners: A Country-by-Country Guide gives a lesson in etiquette from across the sea.
Broadcast dates for this episode:

• November 17, 2007