The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

Latest Episodes:

The Connoisseur's Guide to Sushi Sep 29, 2007

Show notes

This week it's everything sushi—the things you didn't know you need to know, like what should not be in your soy sauce, and the big clue to whether the sushi maker is a master or not. Our guide is Dave Lowry, author of The Connoisseur's Guide to Sushi: Everything You Need to Know About Sushi Varieties and Accompaniments, Etiquette and Dining Tips and More. It's burgoo and mutton barbecue for Jane and Michael Stern. They're dining at George's in Owensboro, Kentucky.

Paris food critic Daniel Young takes us to the City of Lights for a look at where the locals go every night: the bistros, brasseries, and wine bars. Choucroute Garnie with Salmon is from his latest book, The Bistros, Brasseries, and Wine Bars of Paris. Sylvan Brown, co-author of The Slow Food Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area: Restaurants, Markets, Bars, has advice about where to eat in the City by the Bay.

Our refrigerator game, Stump the Cook, is back with Lynne and Christopher Kimball, our celebrity stump master. Lynne has some new Italian wines to try—winners of the Gambero Rosso® Three Glasses Award for 2006, and we'll hear about Marshmallow Peeps and Peep Research currently underway.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

April 15, 2006 (originally aired)
September 29, 2007 (rebroadcast)

Donuts Sep 22, 2007

Show notes

Food historian John T. Edge joins us this week with a dissertation on the little ring of dough that became a patriot, a movie star, and stirred up some good old American ingenuity. The recipe for Zingerman's Roadhouse Donuts is from John's new book, Donuts: An American Passion.

It's dynamite food in the midst of New Mexico's chile fields for Jane and Michael Stern. They're eating the incredible chile rellenos at Chope's in La Mesa. Food & Wine magazine's Lettie Teague talks true Chablis, the French gem nobody knows.

We'll hear from Dr. David Bedford, one of the creators of the award-winning Honeycrisp apple about what makes this luscious variety so sought after. Keeping to the theme, Lynne shares her recipe for an Apple Citron Turnover that makes the most of these gems called one of the 25 innovations that changed the world.

Russ Parsons, columnist for the Los Angeles Times, tells all about the fresh fig. This fruit can make you blush! His article, "Seduction By Fig," appeared in the September 6, 2006 issue of the newspaper. To find it, go to latimes.com and search for "Seduction By Fig." We'll hear from Will Sillin, an artist who brought Julia Child to a cornfield and, as always, the phone lines will be open for your calls.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

September 23, 2006 (originally aired)
September 22, 2007 (rebroadcast)

Marion Nestle Sep 01, 2007

Show notes

It's back-to-school time and the question facing every parent in America: the lunch box issue. How do you pack healthy food that the kids will actually eat? Consumer rights warrior and mom Marion Nestle has answers. Marion's new book is What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating.

The Sterns report from Barberton, Ohio, where they're eating a Hungarian feast at Al's Corner Restaurant. And all for six dollars! Wine wizard Josh Wesson has us "thinking pink" with his recommendations for lush rosés.

Chef Mai Pham talks grilling Vietnamese style. It's all about bright, zingy flavors and fast cooking. She leaves us her recipes for Green Papaya Salad with Shrimp and Vietnamese Rice Noodles with Grilled Pork.

Tom Beller, author of How to Be a Man: Scenes from a Protracted Boyhood, tells of an adolescent epiphany on the streets of New York, and we have the scoop on the very clever and very cool new dinnerware from Orikaso.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

August 26, 2006 (originally aired)
September 1, 2007 (rebroadcast)

Extreme BBQ Aug 25, 2007

Show notes

This week we're grilling with all-American ingenuity, or what our guest, Dan Huntley, calls "contraption cooking." It's all about a special league of cooks who have cobbled together brilliant and often wacky cooking rigs. Dan leaves us his recipe forPyro's Burnt Endsfrom his bookExtreme Barbecue: Smokin'Rigs and Real Good Recipes.

The Sterns are eating soul food with local preachers at Niecie's in Kansas City, Missouri. Karan Feder takes us back to the 1950s when Liberace, that era's king of bling, was playing outrageous excess to the hilt and cooking the same way. The recipe for In Italian, Zucchini Means Italian is from Karan's book Joy of Liberace: Retro Recipes from America's Kitchiest Kitchen.

Journalist Scott Huler lampoons the always prolific zucchini and Lynne offers her recipe for Crisp Fried Zucchini Flowers as an antidote to that summer garden excess. It's street food paradise in Penang, Malaysia with reporter Maria Bakkalapulo and Dan Barber, chef and co-owner of Blue Hill in New York, talks new technology for farmers.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

August 25, 2007

Fred Plotkin's Italy Aug 18, 2007

Show notes

We're off to Italy this week with Italian food and culture authority Fred Plotkin. He takes us to the luscious and evocative region of Marche, an area little known to Americans where the charm rivals Tuscany but you aren't likely to run into your neighbor. The recipe for Scampi al Prosciutto is from Fred's book, Italy for the Gourmet Traveler.

It's Chicago but no hot dogs for the Sterns. This time they're tucking into chicken with 18 soulful vegetables at Feed. That master chef of the herb garden, Jerry Traunfeld, is back and he's talking herbal cocktails. His refreshing Sage Rush is from his latest book, The Herbal Kitchen: Cooking with Fragrance and Flavor.

Cynthia Zarin shares a vacation memoir of trying to blend a family over the broken fantasy of an island in Maine. Stump Master Christopher Kimball presides over a new round of "Stump the Cook," we have the scoop on a new perfume that will have you smelling like a cheese tray, and Lynne takes your calls.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

August 5, 2006 (originally aired)
August 18, 2007 (rebroadcast)

August 11: Artisan Cheese Aug 11, 2007

Show notes

Broadcast dates for this episode:

August 11, 2007

August 4: Jasper White's Summer Shack Aug 04, 2007

Show notes

Broadcast dates for this episode:

August 4, 2007

July 28: The Cowboy Cookbook Jul 28, 2007

Show notes

Broadcast dates for this episode:

July 28, 2007

Robbing the Bees Jul 14, 2007

Show notes

This week it's the wonder and biology of honey and the bees that make it. Journalist and beekeeper Holley Bishop, a woman who fell for bees the way one might fall for a puppy, tells the story. Holley is the author of Robbing the Bees: A Biography of Honey, the Sweet Liquid Gold that Seduced the World. Her Berry Striped Pops are the perfect icy snack for these dog days of summer.

The Sterns are in Seattle where Jane says they've found "the best doughnuts in the world" at Top Pot Doughnuts. Wine Maverick Josh Wesson talks France's unsung whites. The good news is the bargain prices.

It's a look at bottled water with New York Times reporter Julia Moskin. We want to know why we're spending nine billion dollars a year for what comes out of the tap virtually free. We join the Sterns in Seattle for adventures you can have on a tank of gas. Our guide is Hsiao-Ching Chou, food editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

It's the art and technique of competitive eating with many-times champ and hip hop artist Eric Badlands Booker. His latest cd is "Hungry and Focused II." Lynne shares her recipe for cool and refreshing French Greens and Melon Salad with Fresh Goat Cheese and takes your calls.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

July 22, 2006 (originally aired)
July 14, 2007 (rebroadcast)

Dr. Ernst Loosen Jul 07, 2007

Show notes

This week it's contemporary food's most friendly wine: Riesling. We're in Germany on the fruity, classy little gem's home turf with our guest, award-winning Riesling master Dr. Ernst Loosen.

The Sterns are multi-tasking in El Paso, eating Huevos Rancheros and Menudos while watching their car go through the cycle at H & H Car Wash. Smart cook Sally Schneider turns dross into gold with her smart saves for so-so vinegars. She leaves us her ideas for Vinegar Improvisations and a recipe for Peppery or Bitter Greens with Seasonal Fruits and Roasted Nuts

American food historian, Andy Smith, takes us back to the birth of lunch. It was all about being a worker or a woman. Otherwise, you did "dinner."

We have another round of our wildly popular refrigerator game, Stump the Cook, with guest Stump Master Christopher Kimball. Larry Wu, consumer strategist for Iconoculture, talks "conscientious consumption." He claims it drives our choices in the market. Lynne has recipes for A Classic Pesto of Genoa, and an Old Time Bar Lunch Sandwich in honor of Andy Smith's discussion of the beginnings of lunch in America. And in the second half of the show, the phone lines will be open for your calls.

Broadcast dates for this episode: