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

Latest Episodes:

Reflections of a Wine Merchant Jun 06, 2009

Show notes

This week it's the making of a wine merchant with Neal Rosenthal, one of the wine world's most respected importers. We'll hear the story of how he learned his craft and much more. His book is Reflections of a Wine Merchant.

It's world class chili with the Sterns at Joe Roger's Chili Parlor in Springfield, Illinois; and we're eating on the cheap abroad with Anya Von Bremzen. Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones, has secrets for flourishing well into our tenth decade, and we'll hear about a new kind of eatery in Denver named So All May Eat.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

June 21, 2008 (originally aired)
June 6, 2009 (rebroadcast)

The Warmest Room in the House May 30, 2009

Show notes

This week it's a look at the American kitchen—from the sanitized scientific outpost of yesteryear to today's family-oriented center of cherry cabinets, granite countertops and culinary toys galore. Our guest is Steven Gdula, author of The Warmest Room in the House: How the Kitchen Became the Heart of the Twentieth-Century American Home. Who but the Sterns would have found a snack cake worth a journey? It's the Twinkie of Michael's dreams at Bette's Oceanview Diner in Berkeley, California.

Wine expert Joshua Wesson is back and he's talking Grüner Veltliner, the centerpiece of Austria's wine industry. Greg Patent tells how he tracked the great recipes of America's immigrant families while researching his latest book A Baker's Odyssey. He shares a recipe for Fatayar, a Lebanese lamb and onion pie.

Professor of German Chris Wickham fills us in on Food in the Arts, a symposium of academics from around the world at the University of Texas at San Antonio. We'll hear the story of New Orleans jazz man Kermit Ruffins and his band called the BBQ Swingers, and Lynne shares the seafood websites that keep her in the loop about environmental and health concerns and fish that's okay to eat.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

February 23, 2008 (originally aired)
May 30, 2009 (rebroadcast)

A Slurper's Quartet May 23, 2009

Show notes

This week it's a look at the noodle foursome that's the heart of Japan's beloved noodle cuisine: udon, somen, soba and ramen. Our guide is Chef Takashi Yagihashi, author of Takashi's Noodles. He talks noodle cooking, noodle etiquette, and the Japanese way with noodles that may even outflank Italy.

Jane and Michael Stern are forking into some of the most sublime banana cream pie anywhere at Betty's Pies on Minnesota's North Shore.

Indian food expert Raghavan Iyer has the fastest, lustiest breads you'll ever make. Forget the oven; for this quick bread you need to fire up your grill. Raghavan's latest book is 660 Curries: The Gateway to Indian Cooking.

American Public Media commentator and dad John Moe tells of a little experiment in dinner table politics. Parents of picky little eaters will want to tune in!

Brendan Newnam takes an off-center approach to the dinner party and it all starts with a joke. Then poet Nikki Giovanni reads her poem "So Enchanted with You" from her book Bicycles: Love Poems.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

May 23, 2009

Isaac Mizrahi May 16, 2009

Show notes

This week, it's a fashionista in the kitchen. We'll talk with designer Isaac Mizrahi, who has some strong opinions about cookbooks and some "issues" with entertaining.

For the Sterns it's the cream of the cremas (and pastries) at Crema in Portland, Oregon. Produce maven Russ Parsons talks how to find the ever-elusive great strawberry, Lettie Teague is back with new trends in house wines, we'll play a new round of Stump the Cook with celebrity stump master Christopher Kimball, and Richard Wiles has a shoppers guide for avoiding pesticides in produce.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

June 7, 2008 (originally aired)
May 16, 2009 (rebroadcast)

The Cork Controversy May 09, 2009

Show notes

This week we're looking at the wine cork controversy with journalist George Tabor, author of To Cork or Not to Cork: Tradition, Romance, Science and the Bottle for the Wine Bottle. Jane and Michael Stern are taking us to upstate NY to raise our "hot dog consciousness" at Ted's in Tonawanda, NY, and the Wine Spectator's Matt Kramer introduces us to his favorite white wine, reisling.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

May 31, 2008 (originally aired)
May 9, 2009 (rebroadcast)

660 Curries Apr 18, 2009

Show notes

Today we are learning how to build a curry with award-winning teacher Raghavan Iyer, author of 660 Curries. Jane and Michael Stern have found pecan pie worth the trip at the Texas Pie Company in Kyle, TX. Joshua Wesson brings us wines for the picnic basket and we look the misunderstandings behind MSG with The New York Time's Julia Moskin.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

May 18, 2008 (originally aired)
April 18, 2009 (rebroadcast)

Islamic Kitchens Apr 04, 2009

Show notes

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)

The Queen of Fats Mar 21, 2009

Show notes

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)

Buyology Mar 14, 2009

Show notes

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

Bananas and Politics Mar 07, 2009

Show notes

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: