The aquacultural benefits of eating purple sea urchins. Making rice salad and savory breakfast. America’s Test Kitchen on perfect home-cooked falafel.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• July 27, 2018 (originally aired)

• August 2, 2019 (rebroadcast)

• April 16, 2021 (rebroadcast)

This week, we navigate seafood counters and frozen fish aisles with the help of Senior Editor for NYT Cooking, Genevieve Ko and seafood advocate Jennifer Bushman

Jorge Gaviria on tortillas, Steve Alvarez on Mexington, ATK on chilaquiles, Wesley Avila on tacos, Fany Gerson on flan, the importance of Mitla Cafe

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• January 12, 2018 (originally aired)

• January 4, 2019 (rebroadcast)

• March 26, 2021 (rebroadcast)

We are all in on pasta this week!  Francis joins Evan Kleiman, host of Good Food on KCRW, and Dan Pashman of The Sporkful to debate the merits of different pasta shapes in front of a live audience. Then, we talk to Dan about his years-long quest to create his very own pasta shape, cascatelli. And then a true pasta obsessive, Chef Douglass Williams of MIDA in Boston, is in-house to help Francis take your pasta questions.

From baking and Cajun cuisine to vegetarian and historically inspired Mughal dishes, we talk with the authors of four wonderful new cookbooks.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• March 13, 2020 (originally aired)

• March 12, 2021 (rebroadcast)

This week, we spend an hour with Deborah Madison, the legendary chef and cookbook author who helped revolutionize vegetarian cuisine in America.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora

This episode is all about food... and marriage. We’ve an international love story built around Bosnian food with the couple behind Balkan Treat Box. We get dumpling and relationship advice from a long-married Uzbek couple, Damira Inatullaeva and Sahib Aminov. We’ve a story from writer Michaele Weissman about discovering that the key to understanding her husband is in the rye bread he loves. And, we sit down with Washington Post Food and Dining Editor Joe Yonan (author of Cool Beans) and his husband Carl Mason to get the real story behind what it’s like to be married to a cookbook author.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• February 28, 2020 (originally aired)

• February 26, 2021 (rebroadcast)

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This week we sit down with Grace Young, one of the greatest culinary historians of Chinese American food to talk about her career and her mission to save Chinese restaurants in the age of Covid.

We look at the world of drinking with a secret barrel room, the spiritual side of mezcal, the language of wine, and the trend of being sober curious.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• February 14, 2020 (originally aired)

• February 12, 2021 (rebroadcast)

Award-winning baker, Cheryl Day brings us advice on breakfast baking and Nick Cho of Wrecking Ball Coffee & Your Korean Dad fame gives us the lowdown on brewing a perfect cup

This week’s show was recorded live at the Hot Docs Podcast Festival in Toronto. Francis and his team of intrepid eaters tackle a tantalizing question: what makes Canada so delicious? Guests include Matty “The Flavor Lord” Matheson (Just a Dash); Greater Toronto Area food, drink and travel writer Suresh Doss; and New York Times food columnist and host of our Weeknight Kitchen podcast Melissa Clark, who impresses everyone with her quick thinking in a game of Stump the Cook.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• January 24, 2020 (originally aired)

• January 29, 2021 (rebroadcast)

Vivian Howard, star of A Chef's Life, and the scientist-turned-cook, Nik Sharma, talk about applying intuition to their recipes.

Cold weather cooking to carry us through the winter from Alissa Timoshkina, Maangchi, Tyler Kord, Andy Baraghani and Paul Kahan.

Jenn Louis stops by to talk about the essentials for a great soup and takes on your questions. Plus, the Splendid team holds a taste-off of store-bought chicken stock.

We spend an hour with one of the great champions of Southern foodways, award-winning chef Sean Brock. Raised in rural Virginia, Sean has spent 20 years highlighting the unique culinary characteristics of the South. He is the author of the best-selling book, Heritage, and the newly published, South. Francis talks with Sean about microregional cuisines of the South, the importance of curiosity in the kitchen, and how he survived workaholism.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• November 1, 2019 (originally aired)

• January 1, 2021 (rebroadcast)

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Festive discussions of celebration, community, and cooking with Questlove, Toni Tipton-Martin, Raquel Pelzel, and Claudia Fleming.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• December 20, 2019 (originally aired)

• December 25, 2020 (rebroadcast)

We close this rollercoaster of a year with the wonderful Ina Garten and answer some of your cooking questions. Plus, Kristen Miglore brings in some of her favorite Genius recipes of the year.

Carla Capalbo traveled extensively throughout the nation of Georgia gathering stories and recipes for her gorgeous new book, Tasting Georgia. She explains to Francis Lam the many dishes you're likely to find on a Georgian feast table, and some of the rituals you can expect to take part in. The French dish of pot au feu is an easy, homey one-pot dish that can be made while hosting a party or doing other chores around the house. Justin Spring is the author of The Gourmands' Way; he talks with contributor Melissa Clark about the homey dish, and how it can be stretched into a full week of meals. Rev. Bill Golderer expounds upon the life-affirming power of an invitation. Lisa McManus is the head of ingredient and equipment testing for America's Test Kitchen; she tells us about some of her favorite kitchen tools for home cooks taking a cue from restaurant kitchens. Plus, in this week's new video, Lynne Rossetto Kasper discusses the five foods that define her as a cook and curious eater.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• December 8, 2017 (originally aired)

• December 21, 2018 (rebroadcast)

• December 11, 2020 (rebroadcast)

This week, legendary food science writer Harold McGee joins us to talk about how he’s seen food change, and his new passion -- the science of smell

This year’s Thanksgiving show celebrates with some of America’s great foreign-born chefs: Ann Kim, Hugo Ortega, Miroslav Uskokovic and Maneet Chauhan.

All four chefs have their stories and recipes included in the wonderful new book, A Place at the Table: New American Recipes from the Nation's Top Foreign-Born Chefs, from the Vilcek Foundation, a group dedicated to raising awareness of immigrant contributions in American and fostering appreciation of the arts and sciences.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• November 15, 2019 (originally aired)

• November 27, 2020 (rebroadcast)

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Francis Lam hosts the 2020 pre-recorded edition of our popular Thanksgiving show. Francis is joined by special guests Samin Nosrat, Chef Michael Solomonov, Jacques Pépin, Nora McInerny, and Sohla El-Waylly to answer your pre-recorded questions.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• November 26, 2020

This week, we’ve stories of how Thanksgiving looks for Americans from all over the world - Vietnam, Mexico, and Somalia. And America’s Test Kitchen helps us downsize this years menu.

We are talking about Japanese home cooking this week, and not ramen or sushi! Think curry, omelets, and quick fried noodles. Tomoko Imade Dyen, culinary director of Japan House in Los Angeles, shares the everyday foods enjoyed by Japanese families. Sonoko Sakai, author of Japanese Home Cooking, tells us about the origins of the Japanese curry everyone makes at home. Ivan Orkin and Chris Ying (The Gaijin Cookbook) give us a lesson in Japanese kid-food, and chef Shintaro Okuda, of NYC's Bar Moga, teaches us how to make the delicious fried rice omelet, omurice.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• October 18, 2019 (originally aired)

• November 13, 2020 (rebroadcast)

We’re working on connecting this week with advice from Sam Sanders on making real conversation, food gifting with Deb Perelman, and the art of gathering with Priya Parker.