This week, we’re chatting with foodie podcaster and author extraordinaire, Dan Pashman.

Dan is the two-time James Beard and Webby Award-winning creator and host of The Sporkful, which he started way back in 2010, before many of us had even heard of a podcast.

The Sporkful is still going strong, and Dan is just getting started.

In 2021 Dan released cascatelli, a new pasta shape that he invented. Cascatelli went on to be named one of Time Magazine's best inventions of the year, and you can now buy it online and in stores across the country. Dan recounted his three-year journey to create cascatelli in the Sporkful series Mission: ImPASTAble, which the New York Times named one of 10 Best Podcasts of 2021.

And this week, Dan adds another feather to his cap: the publication of his first cookbook. It’s called Anything's Pastable: 81 Inventive Pasta Recipes For Saucy People. The launch will be accompanied by a Sporkful series about the making of the book.

Dan is also heading out on a book tour, which swings through Florida on March 28. He’ll be Sanctuary of the Arts in Miami, in conversation with James Beard Award winner and former Zest guest Carlos Frías.

Dan chatted with Dalia from his recording studio in New York about the good, bad and ugly of writing a cookbook, his favorite outside-the-box pasta recipes and what he looks forward to eating when he visits Florida.

Thanks to this week's guest host, Chandler Balkcom.

Related episodes:

• Miami Herald’s Carlos Frías on Cuban Coffee, Edible Iguanas & Winning the James Beard Award

• Pasta Packs Co-Founders Nic & Greg Bryon on Pandemic Dinner Parties, the Flour Your Pantry Needs and Cooking While Black

• How to Start a Cottage Food Business in Florida: Lessons from the Lentil House