Special Sauce with Ed Levine

The idea that food is medicine has been around for centuries. On this week's Special Sauce The New York Times's Kim Severson and the Aspen Institute's Corby Kummer talk about how doctors, the government, and even insurance companies have been engaged in a half-century long process to treat various medical conditions with food cooked healthily that the government and health insurers pay for. Chicken soup is indeed good for the soul.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Last November ICE launched Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, terrorizing both restaurant customers and workers in immigrant communities all over the Windy City.We heard firsthand accounts of ICE's violent misdeeds by Chicago Tribune reporter Zareen Syed and restaurateur Marcos Carbajal of the esteemed Carnitas Uruapan. I checked in with Zareen and Marcos this week to get an update on the situation.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Tom Valenti, one of my favorite chefs of all time (who also happened to be a swell, generously spirited human being), died suddenly last week. Tom was a friend of mine, so I gathered writer Andrew Friedman (who co-wrote Tom's cookbooks) and Dinosaur Bar-B-Que founder John Stage to celebrate the life and times of the best chef you might never have heard of.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As someone who has spent the greater part of a half-century searching for and obsessing about where to find the best of any kind of foodstuff, I was immediately drawn to Ella Quittner's book Obsessed with the Best. Quittner and I delved into the pleasures and pitfalls any writer encounters when he or she tackles this most subjective undertaking.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Smitten Kitchen's Deb Perelman explains why she and many other recipe developers and food writers regard AI as an existential threat on this week's episode of Special Sauce.  This is serious business, serious eaters. Listen up! Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

According The New York Times, Noma chef and co-owner René Redzepi physically and verbally abused more than thirty of his kitchen staff between 2010 and 2017. To find out what that means, I sat down with longtime restaurant critic Bill Addison of The Los Angeles Times, and best selling author and youtuber, Kenji Lopez-Alt. Kenji worked in many serious restaurant kitchens in Boston for a number of years after graduating from college, before opening his own restaurant Wursthall in San Mateo, California. Can fine-dining restaurant kitchens become kinder and gentler places? What should happen to Redzepi? We mull over these questions and more on this episode of Special Sauce. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week we're reheating one of our favorite recent episodes on the ongoing struggle between ICE and the immigrant-driven food cultures of major American cities. LA Taco's editor-in-chief  Javier Cabral explains how and why his website became one of the leading voices of ICE resistance in the "City of Angels'.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On part 2 of our revealing and refreshingly honest conversation with three of the best food critics in America, Hannah Goldfield of The New Yorker, Bill Addison of The Los Angeles Times, and Elazar Sontag of The Washington Post, all three are not feeling particularly sanguine about the future of restaurant criticism in general. And it's not just social media to blame.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Are restaurant critics dinosaurs in the age of social media? We discuss that and more in part one of our critic's roundtable with The New Yorker's Hannah Goldfield, The Washington Post's Elazar Sontag, and The Los Angeles Times' Bill Addison.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week Pete Wells and I talk about our mutual worst food enemy, our addiction to sugar. Pete explains how the hidden added sugars in many packaged and processed foods just compound our dietary problems. We also talk about how the mixed messages we get from the government add to our dietary woes.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this first of two episodes featuring The New York Times's Pete Wells, the former Times restaurant critic explains how he learned to eat differently after a trip to his doctor scared the crap out of him. Yes he eats many more whole grains and avoids added sugar any way he can. But as you'll hear his health and diet journey revealed just as many unexpected truths about how to eat right.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

For millions of serious eaters the Super Bowl has turned into a food event almost on a par with Thanksgiving. With the Super Bowl coming up we thought it would be fun and edifying to reheat last year's Super Bowl episode featuring Kenji Lopez-Alt giving serious eaters sage advice about making pizza and wings at home. I've had Kenji's wings and his pan pizza, and they are both seriously delicious and pretty simple to make. We should note that Kenji is no sports fan. In all the years I've known him I can't remember one conversation about sports. But maybe as a resident of Seattle he has found a reason to root for the Seahawks.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce the Minneapolis Star-Tribune's Sharyn Jackson reports on the devastating effect of the ICE operation on the Twin Cities' restaurant and food community. ICE's terrifying tactics in Minneapolis have been met with many creative forms of resistance. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we go deep into the story of the not famous enough Jewish roll known as a bialy (which is far superior to its kind of distant cousin, the bagel) with the celebrated chef, Mark Strausman, who is merely one of the great bialy bakers of our time. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce the Washington Post's Tim Carman and the Los Angeles Times's Stephanie Breijo discuss the enormous headwinds facing restaurants all over the country in 2026. High food costs, tariffs, the uncertain economy, and the ICE Raids' chilling effect on restaurant workers, and business in general, have left restaurant owners wondering about their survival. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce, The New York Times's superb wine critic Eric Asimov details the many challenges facing the wine industry. He cites high prices, over-production of factory wine, and the snootiness of too many wine enthusiasts AND the people that serve and sell wine. Eric even offers his prescription for many of the problems that plague the wine biz.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode we talk to Cherry Bombe founder, Kerry Diamond. Cherry Bombe is a media company celebrating women in the world of food  and drink. Her mission from day one has been to support women in the industry by shining a spotlight on them, sharing their stories, and bringing them together in person and virtually. As you will hear, it hasn't been easy, but according to Kerry, it's all been worth it.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We decided to leave 2025 behind by reheating an episode from 2023 that features the remarkable Hamissi Mamba, who came to Detroit from his native Burundi searching for a better life, leaving his wife Nadia behind not knowing she was pregnant with twins. Despite not speaking English and knowing no one in the motor city Mamba has in a few short years opened a successful restaurant Baobab Fare, a food truck Waka by Baobab, and Soko, a retail business selling East African curated sauces, coffee and beverages, chocolate jewelry, and apparel. Mamba's story is especially resonant given the cruel anti-immigrant policies of the Trump administration.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

ICE invaded Charlotte a couple of weeks ago and have wreaked their usual havoc on the vibrant food community there. Charlotte food business owner (Manolo's Bakery) and immigration activist Manolo Betancur courageously shared his own experiences dealing with ICE. ICE has completely devastated what is a thriving immigrant population in Charlotte. Joining Manolo is the terrific food writer Kathleen Purvis, who was the longtime food editor of the Charlotte Observer.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The world's gone mad for matcha, and the The New York Times's Pete Wells has the scoop on today's episode of Special Sauce.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this week's Special Sauce the Washington Post's Tim Carman and Warren Rojas explain how ICE Raids and the National Guard deployment in the nation's capital have terrified immigrant restaurant workers and owners.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Kenji Lopez-Alt and Smitten Kitchen's Deb Perelman discuss (what else) how they deal with Thanksgiving leftovers in this classic Special Sauce episode from 2023. Leave the meat on the bone or in the fridge or slice it off right away? Stuffing waffles, anyone? Is pie the only thing to have for breakfast after Thanksgiving? They don't always agree, but Kenji and Deb always have a great time when they get together.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This year for Turkey Day we reheat a gem of a Thanksgiving call-in show featuring two of the biggest turkey lovers I know; Kenji Lopez-Alt and Stella Parks. Also known as "Brave Tart". They answered serious eater's questions about anything and everything about cooking a Thanksgiving meal. Like, "Is it dangerous to cook your stuffing inside the bird?" (Kenji says the answer is yes) Or "What kind of salt to use in your pie dough?" Stella even suggests how to toast sugar to make your desserts a little less sweet!  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Many beloved candy bars are now being made without cocoa butter and here to tell us why and how the likes of Rolo, Mr. Goodbar and Almond Joy have been reformulated to exclude the plant-based fat is The New York Times climate reporter, Claire Brown. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Over the summer we checked in with LA Taco's Javier Cabral about the scary ICE raids  in L.A. and their terrifying effect on the food community there. But the situation in Chicago is in many ways equally dire. ICE raids as part of Trump's Operation Midway Blitz have terrified Latino neighborhoods in Chicago. Street vendors are scared to set up shop and many restaurants find themselves with many empty tables that were previously filled. Here to keep us up to speed about what's happening in the Windy City is the Chicago Tribune's Zareen Syed and Marcos Carbajal, the second generation Mexican-American owner of Carnitas Uruapan. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Are Yemeni coffee shops the next big thing? On this episode serious eaters will meet Mokhtar Alkhanshali, who has braved gunfire and jail and AK-47s as he tries to bring single origin Port of Mokha Yemeni coffee to the world. His story is the stuff of movies.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to Kenji Lopez-Alt and his partner concert violinist Tessa Lark about their Reese's obsession. Just in time for Halloween.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Former Serious Eats editor and writer Sho Spaeth talks to us about his new book, Homemade Ramen. Sho is the most passionate and knowledgeable Ramen geek I know. He truly believes in the power of ramen.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

How and when and why did sushi become one of America's most popular convenience foods? The Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times food reporter Julia Moskin explains all on this episode of Special Sauce.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to the terrific Southern food writer John T. Edge about his memoir House of Smoke: A Southerner Goes Searching for Home. His journey from a childhood in a small town in Georgia that in many ways still celebrated the Confederacy to running the Southern Foodways Alliance is a remarkable one.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to Island Grown Initiative (IGI) co-executive director Caroline Pam about her organization's efforts to combat food insecurity on Martha's Vineyard during the Trump era. As much as 20% of the island's year-round population suffers from some form of food insecurity.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On June 27th we posted a great conversation I had with L.A. Taco editor-in-chief Javier Cabral about what's going on in California with the cruel, inhumane and dangerous ICE raids that have had a devastating effect on L.A.'s vibrant and diverse taco culture. I haven't been able to stop thinking about the situation both in California and all over the country. So I thought that this week would be an appropriate and even necessary moment to reheat Javier's episode. Obviously much has happened in LA and elsewhere in the ensuing weeks and months, none of it good, in fact all of it truly awful. And L.A. Taco continues to do some incredible reporting on the situation in L.A. It's also aggregating reliable news stories about the nightmarish anti-immigration crackdown from elsewhere. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to the restaurateur's restaurateur Drew Nieporent about his lifelong love affair with restaurants. Nieporent partnered with Nobu Matsuhisa and movie star Robert DeNiro to open Nobu in NY. And even before Nobu, Nieporent played a leading role in establishing NYC's Tribeca neighborhood restaurant scene when he opened Montrachet in 1985.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Brazilian immigrants, who now comprise 20% of the year-round population, have added immeasurably to the quality of life on Martha's Vineyard. On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to Brazilian grocer, owner and compulsive entrepreneur, Elio Silva, about Brazilian foodways and life on the island. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Labor Day weekend is here and for many serious eaters that means it's burger time. Most of my favorite burger recipes come from today's guest on Special Sauce is the James Beard Award-winning chef and food writer J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. You'll hear really helpful cooking tips for all kinds of burgers; smashed, turkey, black bean, and vegan. So listen up to get the most out of your cookout this weekend!  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As Labor Day approaches my thoughts invariably turn to burgers. In fact, I have embarked on a quest to find the best burger to be had on Martha's Vineyard. And when I think of burgers the first person I think of is burger scholar and Hamburger America owner George Motz. George was such a great guest on Special Sauce a couple of years ago that listeners have been clamoring for us to reheat one of his episodes, so that's what we're posting this week. I just texted George, who told me that the fourth completely revised and expanded edition of his terrific book Hamburger America will be published next year. That's great news for burger lovers! Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Farms on Martha's Vineyard have been disappearing for a hundred years now. The land is just too valuable. On today's Special Sauce we hear how one farmstead, Morning Glory Farm, has managed to feed people year-round on the Massachusetts island for 50 years now.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Phil Rosenthal, the host and creator of Netflix's Somebody Feed Phil, works harder than just about any person I know in food media. What is he working on these days? A concert tour, a diner named after his parents (and co-stars) Max and Helen, a charitable initiative Somebody Feed the People, and so much more.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

There are so many compelling chef origin stories to be told, but I am hard-pressed to think of a more compelling and heart-rending one than today's guest on Special Sauce, Cristina Martínez, the James Beard Award winning chef-owner of two extraordinary world-class Philadelphia restaurants, South Philly Barbacoa and Casa Mexico. As she wrote on her website, "My name is Cristina Martínez, and my story is one of resilience, passion, and courage, full of deep and painful challenges." Listen to her story now.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

You wouldn't think I'd find some of the best fresh pasta I'd ever had on Martha's Vineyard, but I did. The maker of that pasta, Katie Leaird, tells serious eaters about how and why she ended up on an island raising two children under the age of 6 by herself while churning out pounds of fresh pasta every week. It ain't easy!  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It seems like every season of 'The Bear' is subject to more scrutiny and analysis than any play by The Bard himself,  Shakespeare. Every scene and every character's persona is being sifted through like cake flour. So like many serious eaters I know, I got hooked on the Bear. I have binge-watched all four seasons, including the latest, which I watched in two sittings. On a previous episode of Special Sauce I discussed the first season of 'The Bear' with Kenji Lopez-Alt and The New Yorker's Helen Rosner. As food writers, and in Kenji's case as someone who's cooked in restaurants like the one depicted in the series, they offered invaluable perspective. And though I have been devouring all the informed takes on season 4, one struck me as being particularly incisive and just spot on. That one is by James Poniewozik, the chief TV critic of The New York Times which means according to his NYT bio, that he has the largest beat in the world. And that beat now includes joining the conversation on Special Sauce.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Nina Mae Levin has been making world-class pizza on Martha's Vineyard for five years now. And she sells every pie she makes during the Vineyard summer season! So why is it so hard for Nina to make a sustainable living on this idyllic but complicated island? We find out on today's episode of Special Sauce. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Today's guest on Special Sauce, the New York Times' insanely prolific Melissa Clark has written or co-written a ridiculous, astounding total of 46 cookbooks. She wrote a column for the paper for 5 years between 2007 and 2012 before going on staff there in 2012. And get this! She has published more than a thousand recipes in the Old Gray Lady. How does she do it? We find out how on today's episode of Special Sauce.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Donald Trump's ICE raids have had a devastating effect on the Los Angeles taco community. On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to the great website lataco.com's editor in chief Javier Cabral about his site's comprehensive coverage of this still unfolding tragedy.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Serious eaters have watched with horror and dismay as President Trump has tasked ICE agents with carrying out his grand mass deportation scheme. Why are we so upset? Because this cruel scheme has impacted the lives of millions of farm workers all over the country. Here to offer his invaluable perspective on all these genuinely existential issues facing immigrants, both documented and undocumented, is Antonio De Loera-Brust, Communications Director for UFW. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to avocado farmer Norm Kachuck and Los Angeles Times reporter Daniel Miller about the crisis facing California avocado growers as they try to compete with Mexican avocados.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The late, truly great Marcella Hazan taught many of us what real Italian food is and how to cook it. And yet many people, including me, didn't know much about this remarkable woman. But now there's a terrific documentary about her life and work, 'Marcella'. We talk to Pete Wells of The New York Times and the director of 'Marcella', Peter Miller, about the many aspects of her life that have gone unnoticed until now.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The The New York Times's national food correspondent Kim Severson gives us the 411 on meat's improbable comeback. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It's only 450 Square Feet, but L.A.'s Now Serving Cookbook Store is so much more than a place to buy food books. Its co-founder Ken Concepcion explains how his tiny bookstore became home base for Serious Eaters in LA. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Is being an international pizza consultant the world's best job? Anthony Falco explains all. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to Meghan McCarron and Adam Chandler about the surprisingly important role casual sit-down dining chains like Chili's and Olive Garden play in Americans' lives. I know, I know, I was skeptical, too.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce, we revisit our extraordinary conversation with the great Mexico City-based chef Lalo Garcia and the journalist Laura Tillman, who chronicled his extraordinary journey from undocumented migrant farm worker to world-famous chef. Given everything that's happening right now in the world of immigration, we thought this episode might resonate anew.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we revisit our provocative conversation with the food activist, farmer, and force of nature Karen Washington, one of the stars of the terrific documentary 'Food and Country'. In times like these, when many of our cherished institutions are coming under attack, we need more voices like hers. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to White Oak Pastures' Will Harris about nothing less than the future of farming. Harris has become one of the leading voices of the regenerative farming movement.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Last September Asheville, North Carolina was devastated by Hurricane Helene. The damage is estimated to be $60 billion. Especially hard hit was the close-knit food community that has attracted millions of visitors to Asheville every year. The New York Times's Pete Wells did some stellar reporting last fall when he spent a few days interviewing chefs and farmers in the picturesque western Carolina city. Now, six months down the road, Special Sauce checked in with Pete and James Beard Award-winning chef-restaurateur Meherwan Irani to update us on the state of Asheville's recovery.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

When the documentary Food and Country came out last year, we had Ruth Reichl on Special Sauce to talk about the film as a whole and the farmers that are actually the stars and heroes of the movie. One of those farmers is Bob Jones, CEO of The Chef's Garden in Ohio. Given the various extraordinary challenges farmers are set to face in the coming years, we thought it would be great to have Bob on the podcast to tell us his story and to tell us what the future might hold for all farmers. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The great street photographer, red beans and rice cook, and New Orleans food community organizer Pableaux Johnson died recently while doing what he was put on this earth to do: taking pictures of a second line parade. Here to talk about Pableaux Johnson and what he meant to the hundreds of people who called him a friend and the thousands of people who admired his work are my old friend New York Times food writer, Brett Anderson, and television and food writer, my good pal, Lolis Eric Elie.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Is the L.A. Smorgasburg the best street food festival in America? We talk to the two people most responsible for it, Zach Brooks and Fernando Lopez. Zach has the dream job of tasting all the food and choosing the vendors; and Fernando runs the beer garden at Smorgasburg in Los Angeles and also helps run his family's famous James Beard Award-winning Oaxacan restaurant Gualaguetza.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Today on Special Sauce we welcome back writer and former assistant to both Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain, Laurie Woolever. Laurie has just published 'Care and Feeding', a candid, funny, and often devastating memoir about her adventures and misadventures making her way through the food world while navigating addiction, motherhood, a cultural reckoning, and an unexpected tragedy. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

With the passing of legendary pizzaiolo Patsy Grimaldi, the pizza world has lost one of its true giants. I discuss his legacy with Scott's Pizza Tours founder and pizza scholar Scott Wiener, and another great pizzaiolo, Una Pizza Napoletana's Anthony Mangieri on this episode of Special Sauce.  For more on the show, visit thespecialsaucepodcast.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to the Los Angeles Times' Bill Adddison and Jenn Harris about the calamitous effect of the recent devastating fires on the L.A. food community. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce, Adam Chandler talks about his new book '99% Perspiration' which explores the history of work in America.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we revisit our chocolate-centric conversation with Mr. Chocolate himself Jacques Torres just in time for Valentine's Day. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Super Bowl is coming up, so for Super Bowl party food advice who better to turn to than Kenji. The man loves chicken wings and pizza and he gives us some sage advice about making them at home. But he does not love football.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

After falling in love with Italy, my good friend engineer and serial entrepreneur Bob Lang and his wife, environmental writer Alice Outwater, decided to buy a three acre vineyard called La Collina Delle Amici (The Hill of Friends) in Piedmont in 2021. How's it going for them so far?  Well, we're going to find out in this week's episode of Special Sauce. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce, grassroots food activist and farmer Karen Washington joins us to spread her message of food justice, the concept that healthy, nutritious food is a human right. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we go deep into the definition, history, and evolution of the New York pizza slice with Scott's Pizza Tours founder Scott Wiener.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we pay tribute to the great author, chef and cooking teacher Raghavan Iyer. He introduced much of America to the joys of cooking and eating Indian food.  We talked to Raghavan last in March of 2023 about his life, his work, and the last book he ever wrote, "On The Curry Trail". Raghavan talked openly and movingly about his terminal Stage 4 cancer diagnosis and the work he was doing on healing comfort food. His voice occasionally wavered -- you could hear the pain in it -- but he was clear-headed and just as articulate as ever. Raghavan had so much to say, we devoted two episodes to his story, which we have condensed into one. Tragically, he died just as the two episodes dropped. So give a listen to the wit and wisdom of Raghavan Iyer.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

With the new year fast approaching we thought we would help bring it in by re-releasing -- or should I say reheating -- one of our favorite 'Special Sauce' episodes of all time. It features both my extraordinary conversation with  Michelle Zauner and a great talk about the relationship between food and music with Kenji. Michelle is the founder and lead singer of the great indie rock band Japanese Breakfast. And her NYT best-selling memoirist is titled 'Crying in H Mart'.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce serious eaters will meet Roy Shvartzapel, who makes transcendent panettone at his LA online bakery From Roy.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

With the holiday season in full swing, this serious eater's attention turns to eating and baking cookies. And who better to shoot the breeze with on this rich topic than author and baker Erin Jeanne McDowell, who has been called the fairy godmother of baking. She's got some tricks for us. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As we go about planning our upcoming holiday feasts, it's a pretty good bet that at some point we're going to pick up a bottle of wine or two to share with family and friends. That's why I'm returning to my conversation with someone who's been a guiding light for wine connoisseurs and beginners alike, Eric Asimov, the wine critic for The New York Times. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Thanksgiving leftovers can sometimes be a freighted topic for serious eaters. Last year, trying to quell my own Thanksgiving leftovers anxiety and confusion, I had Deb Perelman and J. Kenji Lopez Alt, longtime friends and co-hosts of their own podcast The Recipe, on Special Sauce. We covered a lot of ground in our discussion, everything from the joys of eating leftover cold pie for breakfast to the wisdom of waffling your leftover stuffing. We had so much fun that I decided it was worth reheating and serving to serious eaters again this year. Enjoy! Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Thanksgiving and the holiday season are upon us and that means this serious eater's thoughts turn to pie! And so I thought I would perform a public service by inviting perhaps our greatest pie baking teacher, Erin Jeanne McDowell from the YouTube series 'Happy Baking', to come on Special Sauce and talk about all things pie. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

If you're like me, you're probably already worrying about holiday dinners and parties that you might have to bring stuff to. And at least some of us might be a little punchy at the thought of cooking or baking for friends. So to the rescue comes friend of Special Sauce, Smitten Kitchen's Deb Perelman.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce The New York Times's wine writer Eric Asimov shares his democratic and unsnobby approach to both food and wine, which invites newcomers and longtime enthusiasts to explore their own wine experiences. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce I talk to author and fellow pie lover Stacey Mei Yan Fong about her new book '50 Pies, 50 States, An Immigrant's Love Letter to the U.S. Through Pie'. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In part two of our discussion, Ruth Reichl and I get into how the American government has played a major role in corrupting our food system. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce legendary food critic Ruth Reichl talks about the documentary film "Food & Country" which she stars in and co-produced.   Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk to Sullivan Street Bakery founder Jim Lahey about his revolutionary no-knead bread making technique. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce, Kenji and I dig deep into his (almost) foolproof pan pizza recipe.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we meet Rollen Chalmers, a third-generation African-American rice farmer based in South Carolina, who is reclaiming his roots one grain of Carolina Gold rice at a time.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

What happens when food writers take Ozempic? New York Magazine's Adam Platt and I discuss our experiences with the weight loss drug on this episode of Special Sauce.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Ah potatoes! How do we love them? Let me count the ways. Perfectly crispy, salty french fries, golden brown herb coated roasted potatoes, creamy smooth mashed potatoes. The not so lowly spud has  been an intense field of inquiry for our friend Kenji Lopez Alt for years now.  For this week’s re-heated episode, he and I take a deep dive into some of the now famous posts he wrote for Serious Eats back in the day. In one, he delves into the mystery of McDonald’s French fries and in another he unlocks the secrets of oven roasted potatoes. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

For this episode of Special Sauce Sasha Marx and Katie Leaird return for more pasta wisdom and pleasure. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

For this episode of Special Sauce we’re re-heating our conversation with Kenji Lopez-Alt from last summer about veggie grilling tips. And we'll be back this fall with fresh episodes featuring Alice Waters, Kenji, and the latest trends in pizza. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we're talking all things pasta with Chefsteps.com's editorial director Sasha Marx and Martha's Vineyard Pasta's Katie Leaird, who makes the best fresh bucatini I have ever tasted.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Spice Whisperer Lior Lev Sercarz is back on Special Sauce this week to school serious eaters on how to spice up our food in our own kitchens.  You can find all our episodes at thespecialsaucepodcast.com. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce the NYT's Kim Severson gives us the lowdown on Kamala Harris' passion for cooking. Plus we discuss the history of presidential cooking in the White House. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week we're re-sharing our episode with Justin Pichetrungsi, chef-owner of the award-winning Anajak Thai in Sherman Oaks, California.  There was a technical glitch the first time we published it, so here's another chance to listen to it. Enjoy! Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we talk to the Spice Whisperer, chef and owner of the online spice store La Boite NY, Lior Lev Sercarz. Lior is on a mission to inform people about where spices come from, how they grow, what they look like in their natural environment, and ultimately, how to be inspired by them in the kitchen. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce you'll meet 13 time world pizza champion Tony Gemignani, who is determined to spread his good pizza gospel to every corner of the U.S.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce violin virtuoso Jame Ehnes dishes on his live cooking and musical collaboration with Kenji that's coming up in Seattle on July 19th.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This episode of Special Sauce is particularly special. You'll hear the remarkable life story of celebrated Mexican chef Lalo Garcia as told by Lalo himself and his biographer Laura Tillman.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Ever wonder what's happening with the United Farm Workers union? I did, so I interviewed the UFW Communications Director Antonio De Loera-Brust. It turns that there's a lot happening, actually.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode we go deep into the life of a Greenmarket farmer, Kevin Caplicki of Woodthrush Farm. Kevin's lettuce is the stuff that dreams are made of.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Grilling season is here and Kenji offers up some great grilling tips so that even the most casual backyard cook can up their game. Who knew that mayo can be your secret grilling weapon.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Totonno's, the iconic, century-old Coney Island Brooklyn pizzeria, has been put up for sale by the family who founded it. On this episode of Special Sauce we talk about Totonno's pizza, legacy, and future prospects with NYT restaurant critic Pete Wells and the eminent pizza scholar Scott Weiner, the owner of Scott's Pizza Tours.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The great pastry chef and chocolate maker Jacques Torres wrote one of my all time favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes. On this episode we chat about that recipe, the role of salt, and what chocolate to use. Plus we hear from some serious eaters on the crispy vs. gooey cookie debate. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we take a deep dive into the beyond desperate hunger situation in Gaza with humanitarian Sulieman Mleahat who has been working in the Middle East for more than twenty years.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

NYT's Pulitzer Prize-winning food culture reporter Kim Severson gives Special Sauce listeners fascinating insights into Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen operations in Gaza and elsewhere.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Channing Frye had so much to say about wine, hoops, and life we decided to devote a second episode to him and his company Chosen Family Wines. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

How do you go from being an NBA champ to starting a wine company? Find out on this episode of Special Sauce when we interview Chosen Family Wines founder Channing Frye. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We're back with more wit and wisdom from Justin Pichetrungsi, the chef-owner of the award-winning Anajak Thai in Sherman Oaks, California. We'll hear about the origins of Thai Taco Tuesday and so much more. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we hang out with Justin Pichetrungsi, the James Beard Award-winning chef-owner of the justifiably heralded Anajak Thai in Los Angeles (Sherman Oaks to be exact). How and why he went from working in animation at Disney to taking over his family's restaurant makes for quite a story. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce I talk to my old friend Phil Rosenthal about the new season of Somebody Feed Phil, his national tour, and Just Try It, the children's book that he wrote with his daughter Lily Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we talk teriyaki with Kenji, who is on a quest to visit every chicken teriyaki joint in Seattle. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we talk hot chocolate with Mr. Chocolate himself, Jacques Torres. Jacques makes my favorite hot chocolate mix. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we get the backstory of Deb Perelman and J. Kenji Lopez Alt's brand new podcast The Recipe. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we hear the remarkable story of Chantha Nguon, a Cambodian woman who suffers unbearable losses and unspeakable tragedies suffered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge by imagining the taste of her mother's cooking. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce Dorie Greenspan zooms in from Paris with lots of helpful cookie baking advice. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce, James Beard Award-winning chef and baker Nancy Silverton talks about her new book ‘The Cookie that Changed My Life’. Any serious eater who loves to bake should check it out. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we get some brilliant, common sense home baking advice from home baking wizard Dorie Greenspan. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special we continue our deep dive into the world of dried spices with Ethan Frisch and Ori Zohar, founders of Burlap & Barrel. And we hear from some serious eaters about their experiences with buying, using and storing their dried spices. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

For Valentine's Day I dug up this classic interview with Mr. Chocolate, Jacques Torres. He gives us a succinct master class in making bean to bar chocolate, from growing the cacao beans to making milk, dark, and white chocolate creations to sell in his shops and online. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce I talk with former Kentucky Poet Laureate Crystal Wilkinson, author of the culinary memoir, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we talk to the good guy spice whisperers Ethan Frisch and Ori Zohar, who are the founders of the socially conscious spice company Burlap & Barrel. They are on a mission to to build new international spice supply chains that are equitable, transparent, and traceable. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we delve deeper into Toni Tipton Martin's seminal research into African-American cooking and cocktails. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we talk African American Cookbooks with Cook's Country editor in chief, food historian, and writer Toni Tipton Martin. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we hear part 2 of one of our favorite interviews of 2022 with the inimitable Tami Treadwell, the charismatic founder of Harlem Seafood Soul. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we're repeating the first of two great interviews with Harlem Seafood Soul's Tami Treadwell. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we hear more about what makes a great burger with Hamburger America's George Motz Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Ths week on Special Sauce I catch up with my old running partner George Motz, America's first bona fide burger scholar. George has just opened his very own burger joint Hamburger America. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we go really deep into Fuschia Dunlop's latest book, ‘Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food’. It just got a rave front page review from NYT book critic Dwight Garner. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce, we’ll hear about Fuchsia Dunlop’s journey from her first Chinese cooking classes to the researching and writing of her 7th book, Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food. We'll find out what she's learned about the country's history and culture in her many years of exploring Chinese cuisine, and why she says she'll never get bored of eating and writing about Chinese food. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce Kenji Lopez Alt and Smitten Kitchen's Deb Perelman come to our rescue with some helpful hints about what to do with Thanksgiving leftovers. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce Kenji and Smitten Kitchen's Deb Perelman give us some tips on how to cook up a Thanksgiving feast in a small space without stressing out. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we hear more about the joy of vegetables and the importance of family with “Tenderheart” author Hetty McKinnon. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this week's Special Sauce I talk to food writer Hetty Liu McKinnon.With her five vegetarian cookbooks, her popular Substack newsletter, and her ingenious vegetarian recipes for the New York Times, food writer Hetty has been called the vegetable whisperer, and rightfully so. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Last week, we got an inside look at the father son relationship at the heart of the YouTube series, Hunger Pangs. This time we pick up our conversation with Kevin Pak, the Editorial director of Digital at America's Test Kitchen and his dad, Jeffrey, and learn about how they transformed their success online into a new book, A Very Chinese Cookbook: 100 Recipes from China & Not China (But Still Really Chinese). Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce I talk to food writer Kevin Pang and his dad Jeffrey about how they bridged their substantial generation gap through their shared love of food and cooking. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce the great "pie-stress" Chrissy Kinsman is back with pie tips for amateur baking. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce the great pie baker Chrissy Kinsman of Pie Chicks on Martha's Vineyard tells us about the trials and tribulations of trying to make a living selling pies year round on a sparsely populated island. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we revisit my nifty 2016 conversation with the legendary baker and cookbook author Dorie Greenspan, which became one of our most popular episodes of all time. Fast-forward to the fall of 2023, when many a serious eater's thoughts normally turn to baking. When I listened to Dorie's old episode I was struck by how relevant our nearly ten year-old conversation still was in 2023. So we thought it would be fun to re-post the old episode now. And rest assured that the indefatigable Ms. Greenspan has not been idle in the interim. She has published three more cookbooks since then, including the cookie book she refers to in the episode, the James Beard Award-winning Dorie's Cookies. She also writes a free, delightful newsletter xoxo Dorie. So here is Dorie Greenspan redux. It's definitely worth repeating. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce Ann Kim talks about the evolution of her relationship with her Korean parents. You won't believe what happened when Ann invited her parents to her about to open first restaurant Pizzeria Lola. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce I talk to the James Beard award winning chef Ann Kim. Ann opened her first restaurant, Pizzeria Lola, in Minneapolis in 2010 without ever having cooked professionally. In fact, she was a working actor before she realized that it was cooking that made her happy. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special we dig still deeper into America's regional hot dog styles with food writer JJ Goode, who just wrote an entertaining and informative guide to American regional hot dog styles for the NYT. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we go deep into dogs, hot dogs that is, with JJ Goode, who wrote a guide to regional hot dogs styles for the NY Times. We also checked in with a few hot dog devotees and got their hot take on one of the world's most popular foods. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce Kenji is back with some tips for grilling vegetables. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce Kenji is back with some surefire (pun intended) tips for grilling chicken and fish. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce, we talk about the joys of grilling pizza with Kenji. J. Kenji Lopez Alt is a New York Times cooking columnist and the host of Kenji's Cooking Show on YouTube. He’s also the best selling author of The Wok, The Food Lab, and the children's book Every Night is Pizza Night. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce we talk to pastry chef extraordinaire Natasha Pickowicz. Natasha is as the title of her new book More Than Cake implies, much more than a baker. Natasha is an original thinker, a fine writer, and a thoughtful soul. Her path to making delicious pastries is anything but typical. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce Part 2 of my conversation with chef Hamissi Mamba, who runs the amazing East African spot Baobab Fare in Detroit with his wife Nadia Nijimbere. With the restaurant, their African market called Soko, and their street food pop-up Waka, Mamba and Nadia are building a cultural bridge between Detroit and their native Burundi. They fled their home country as refugees, determined to build new lives in the US with their children - and the traditional dishes they grew up with became the foundation. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week I'm talking with Hamissi Mamba about the long road to success from his native Burundi to the vibrant food scene in Detroit. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On the second Special Sauce episode Kenji and I did live from the Bell House in Brooklyn, NY last March we talked about his latest book ‘The Wok’, Kenji and I successfully cooked eggs and tomatoes in a wok onstage and I didn’t get fired as his sous-chef for inadequately chopping the scallions.  Kenji also answered questions from the audience ranging from the best oil to cook with in a wok to how to involve young children in cooking. He also told us what happened when he made a  creme brulee for an architecture class project at MIT. I'm not sure it went well. Kenji and I had so much fun we thought people would enjoy listening again. Kenji of course has been very busy since we taped this episode last year. He was a judge on the Roku Channel's sushi competition show Morimoto's Sushi Master. And Kenji's Cooking Show on Youtube continues to entertain and inform millions of subscribers. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Last March we did our first ever live to tape episode of Special Sauce with our great friend J. Kenji Lopez Alt. It was taped before a wildly appreciative audience at the Bell House in Brooklyn. We were celebrating the publication of Kenji's book ‘The Wok’. With Kenji's mother and my wife in the house it was a family affair with lots of laughter and love emanating from the stage. This past May ‘The Wok’ won a James Beard Award for best Single Subject Book, so we thought it would be fun to revisit the lovely evening we spent at the Bell House. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce pitmaster, chef, and whole hog barbecue evangelist Rodney Scott gives serious eaters great tips for our July 4th backyard barbecues. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce I talk to NYT Cooking contributor Ali Slagle about her path to becoming a recipe developer. Slagle just published her first cookbook ‘I Dream of Dinner (so you don't have to)’. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce, we have a chef who suggests you DON’T try his recipes at home.It’s part 2 of my conversation with Rick Easton, owner of Bread and Salt, the casual spot in NJ that draws rave reviews for its Italian breads, pizza & sandwiches. We also take a deep dive into ‘Bread and How to Eat It’, the book Rick wrote with his partner Melissa McCart. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week's guest on Special Sauce is the extraordinary bread baker, chef and pizzaiolo Rick Easton, who owns the terrific weekends- only Bread and Salt Bakery in Jersey City. Rick and his partner Melissa McCart have co-authored the provocative new book ‘Bread and How To Eat It’. In his review of Bread & Salt's Roman style pizza, sandwiches and bread, NYTimes food critic Pete Wells declared: "Mr. Easton has a singular vision, and it is the reason the food is so compelling." Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce, we’ll revisit my conversation with one of our greatest food writers, Jessica Harris, who introduced many of us to the food of the African Diaspora. Jessica was awarded the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. The hit Netflix series ‘High on the Hog’, hosted by Stephen Satterfield, was based on Jessica’s book of the same name. The show is returning for its second season later this year. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we're talking about the film ‘Fresh’, which Amy Nicholson in the New York Times described as a wickedly funny cannibal romance. The movie stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sebastian Stan and Jonica T. Gibbs Helping me savor the best cuts of the film are two terrific food writers and film enthusiasts, J. Kenji Lopez Alt and the Smitten Kitchen's Deb Perelman. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode we revisit our conversation with Fly by Jing founder Jing Gao. Jing has not been idle since we spoke to her last August. She's getting ready to open Sua, a restaurant/market in LA in July. And in September her first cookbook, The Book of Sichuan Chili Crisp: Spicy Recipes and Stories from Fly By Jing's Kitchen, is being published. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce James Beard Award Winning Chicago Chef Beverly Kim tells us how how she went beyond serving food to serving her community. Kim explains how she juggles motherhood, running two restaurants, and her activism. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce Ed Levine talks about the difficulties of work-life balance in the restaurant biz and much more with the James Beard Award-winning chef Beverly Kim. Her first restaurant Parachute is the critically acclaimed contemporary Korean restaurant in Chicago she runs with her husband Johnny Clark. Together they won Best Chef in the Great Lakes category, at the James Beard Awards in 2019. These days Beverly and Johnny are also busy with their second restaurant, Wherewithal, and with raising their three children. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce, Kenji and film critic Glenn Kenny dig into The Menu, the satirical horror comedy film set in an exclusive restaurant on a private island. The film, starring Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor Joy, skewers foodies, the ultra wealthy, celebrity chefs, and so much more. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce, we're revisiting a great 2022 episode about pizza featuring the great pizzaiolo Anthony Mangieri and his friend and fellow pizza lover Billions co-creator Brian Koppelman. At the time pizza purist Mangieri had just reopened Una Pizza Napoletana on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Now because Tony loves sipping espresso in cafes he has recently turned Una into a cafe on Saturday mornings serving coffee, pastries like an olive oil layer cake, and even a mortadella sandwich on house-baked bread. And now in a surprise twist Anthony Mangieri now has a line of frozen pizzas made in Italy with buffalo mozzarella called Genio della Pizza. And when I caught up with Koppelman he told me that he's been so busy with writing and producing season 7 of Billions that will see the return of Damian Lewis and his character Bobby Axelrod, AKA Axe, he hasn't even had time to do much pizza exploring. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce Kenji goes deep into his foolproof pan pizza recipe, which is one of Serious Eats' most popular posts of all time. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Kenji created quite a stir recently with his column on Chicago Thin Crust Pizza in the New York Times. We're gonna talk about that column and many other pizza related topics on this episode of Special Sauce. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

*It is with much sadness that we acknowledge the passing of this week's guest on Special Sauce, Raghavan Iyer. Raghavan died just after we posted the second part of our extraordinary conversation. Iyer was a passionate, fierce advocate for Indian food and culture. As I mentioned in the episode he probably taught more Americans to cook Indian food than anyone else. And he faced his longtime battle with cancer with uncommon grace, courage, and determination.  This week on Special Sauce we continue our conversation with Indian food evangelist Raghavan Iyer. You'll hear more of Raghavan's insights on curry history, and we'll hear how living with his cancer diagnosis changed his outlook on food and life. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Raghavan Iyer has written 6 influential cookbooks on Indian food, including the all-time classic 660 Curries. On this episode of Special Sauce we’re going to hear about his own personal food journey, from the family table in Mumbai to a publishing lunch at Betty Crocker that changed his life. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce Kenji waxes (pun intended) poetic on the secrets to both seriously delicious french fries that taste just like McDonald's when they are fresh out of the fryer (that's when you have to eat 'em). He also gives some seriously helpful tips on roasting potatoes. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce hilarious cookbook author JJ Goode is back to go into detail about why he insists he's "America's best worst cook." JJ explains why and how he's ruined innumerable grilled cheese sandwiches at home. And yet JJ insists that his cooking cluelessness makes him a better collaborator on chef's cookbooks. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce, we're revisiting my conversation with Joanne Lee Molinaro, AKA The Korean Vegan. When we last spoke Joanne had already gone from corporate litigator to writing the James Beard Award-winning ‘The Korean Vegan Cookbook’. Now less than two years later Joanne has become a social media superstar. Joanne's Youtube channel has over a million subscribers and she has over 3 million followers on Tik Tok. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk chef cookbook collaborations with the extraordinary James Beard Award-winning food writer JJ Goode. JJ has collaborated with everyone from Iron Chef Morimoto to Sam Kass, who cooked for the Obamas at the White House. JJ has accomplished it all in spite of physical limitations that might have held him back. JJ's essay in Gourmet magazine about trying to cook with only one arm was selected for The Norton Anthology of Nonfiction Writing. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

When I interviewed Milk Bar co-founder Christina Tosi last summer we talked about her extraordinary journey from home baker to pastry chef to entrepreneur. Tosi had an inspirational story to tell, and we thought it was a story worth repeating. Of course the peripatetic businesswoman has hardly been resting on her laurels since then. Boxes of Milk Bar soft baked cookies are coming to a grocery store near you, as are pints of Milk Bar ice cream. Christina published All About Cookies: A Milk Bar Baking Book, in November of 2022. And just for good measure (pun intended) the second season of the baking competition show she hosts Bake Squad, is just out on Netflix. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce Kenji, The New Yorker's Helen Rosner, and I dig further into the first season of ‘The Bear’ and also muse about what we'd like to see in the second season of the show, which is coming to FX this summer. We're all rooting for Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) to find some peace so that Sydney (Ayo Edibiri) can do her thing without being driven crazy. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Kenji and The New Yorker's Helen Rosner reflect on the first season of the compelling TV show The Bear, now streaming on Hulu. J. Kenji Lopez Alt is of course the author of bestselling cookbooks like the Food Lab and the Wok and who cooks on-camera for his own YouTube series, Kenji's Cooking Show. He worked in restaurant kitchens in Boston for many years, and he did a silly thing and opened his own restaurant, Wursthall in San Mateo. The New Yorker's Helen Rosner has spent years writing about restaurants and food and chefs for Eater, Saveur, and Grub Street, among others. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week I decided to revisit my interview with the extraordinary Grace Young, Why? Well, for starters Grace, cookbook author, cultural anthropologist, and wok therapist, is a wonder, a Chinese-American treasure. And when someone else might be resting on their laurels Young, who has won every award a cookbook author can win, has embarked on a new career and quest as a Chinese-American community activist and advocate. And as you will hear Grace, who was named the James Beard Foundation's Humanitarian of the Year in 2022, is still at it combating Asian-American hate with a new social media campain. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we take a deep dive into scrambled eggs with eggspert egg maker J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. He tells us about his latest eggprerimentation with one of the world's favorite egg preparations. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce The New York Times’s Pete Wells and Brett Anderson, and The New Yorker's Hannah Goldfield all weigh in on what serious eaters are likely to see (and taste) when they walk into restaurants in 2023. They all tell us both what they're excited about and what they're worried about moving forward. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce I talk to The New York Times's Pete Wells and Brett Anderson, and the New Yorker's Hannah Goldfield about what and where they ate in 2022, and where they think restaurants and the food culture in general are headed. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In 2022 I got a chance to chew the fat with so many interesting people on Special Sauce. I couldn't possibly pick a favorite episode to leave you with, but I can certainly say with confidence that my conversation with NYT food writer Eric Kim is right up there. Eric is thoughtful, a fine recipe developer, and a lovely writer. His book Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home, is terrific. So as the new year approaches I thought we'd leave you with Eric's episode. It's definitely worth another listen or if you didn't have a chance to do so when we first posted it in July, you are in for a treat. And in case you're wondering what Eric is up to these days he texted me that he is hard at work on a new book, a collection of essays. And Eric's next column for the NYT Magazine is a New Year's column on rice cake soup. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce I talk holiday food with Kenji. In Kenji's case we get to hear about holiday traditions in his Colombia-born wife's family. And we also get to hear about his own family's holiday traditions growing up. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On part 2 of our extraordinary conversation with Harlem Seafood Soul's Tami Treadwell you will hear that Tami's success is bittersweet. Why? Because she's had to overcome so many heartbreaking obstacles to discover that being on the street, and feeding people, is where she truly belongs. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Food truck Harlem Seafood Soul's Tami Treadwell tells her truly remarkable story in this week's episode. I first heard part of her story on the N.Y. episode of Netflix's ‘Street Food’ series. It's a story that features so many setbacks that would have stopped many people, but not the indomitable and resilient Ms. Treadwell. What you'll hear is a story that will stay with you for a long time. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This week on Special Sauce it's Claire Saffitz part two. She gives us her take on holiday baking. Cookies will be discussed, of course. Purple Black and White cookies, anyone? Claire also digs deep into her new book ‘What's For Dessert’. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

With the holiday season upon us I thought it would be great to talk to the great baker and YouTube star Claire Saffitz, whose new book is called What's For Dessert: Simple Recipes for Dessert People. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This time on Special Sauce we talk turkey and everything else Thanksgiving-related with Kenji just in time for the holiday this year. He adds a little bit of soy sauce to his gravy! And he gives us his unexpected takes on Stovetop Stuffing and instant mashed potatoes. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This time on Special Sauce, another helping of Thanksgiving cooking tips from our podcast archive. This was a special call-in episode with Kenji and Stella Parks, who intelligently and empathetically handled every question from serious eaters. We talk turkey of course, but also pies, stuffing and holiday cookies. Hope you enjoy! Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce I’ve gone into the podcast vaults to fetch you this classic Thanksgiving themed episode of Special Sauce. Listeners emailed us vexing Turkey Day questions that Kenji and Stella Parks answered in typically wise and funny fashion. Think of it as Special Sauce Reserve. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce serious eaters will hear all about Christine Ha's post MasterChef life. That life includes owning or co-owning two restaurants in Houston and advocated on behalf of people suffering from NMOSD. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce serious eaters will hear the first part of blind chef-restaurateur Christine Ha's incredible story. She wins Gordon Ramsey's MasterChef competition TV show without being able to see. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we check in with Kenji, who tells us about the magic of mayo as a marinade. He also talks about all things guacamole and avocados. Plus he explains his love affair with the mortar and pestle. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce Anson Mills founder Glenn Roberts takes us on his wild journey through the preservation of Ancient Grains that started with his family losing everything. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce food blogger Kristina Cho (Eat Cho Food) details her unlikely career path from architectural designer to two time James Beard Award-winning author. In her book, Mooncakes and Milk Bread, Kristina re-creates re-imagines both sweet and savory staples of Chinese bakeries and cafés. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce Vishwesh Bhatt, James Beard Award-winning chef and author of ‘I Am From Here: Recipes and Stories from a Southern Chef’, details his remarkable journey from India to Oxford, Mississippi. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce Fly by Jing founder Jing Gao talks about finding herself through the foods her company makes, things like chili crisp and soup dumplings. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce chef (Late August in Houston) and former world champion track star Dawn Burrell talks about her greatest leap of all, from Olympic broad jumper to Top Chef finalist. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce the NYT's Eric Kim talks about his new book ‘Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home’. Besides being a terrific cookbook it's also a moving tribute to his Korean-born mom. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi talks about her new book Dessert Can Save the World, which really is her guiding philosophy in both life and business. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this episode of Special Sauce we continue the pizza conversation with Una Pizza Napoletana founder and pizzaiola Anthony Mangieri and Billions co-creator Brian Koppelman, who loves UPN so much he put Mangieri in the show. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Some health problems derailed our Special Sauce production schedule this week, so serious eaters will just have to wait two more weeks before you get to listen to more fresh pizza talk with Una Pizza Napoletana's Anthony Mangieri and Billions co-creator Brian Koppelman. In the meantime, to keep the slices coming, here's the provocative interview we did with Modernist Pizza co-author Nathan Myrvhold a couple of months ago. Nathan turns out to be a fan of both Anthony Mangieri's and Dan Richer. Enjoy, serious pizza eaters. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this week's Special Sauce Dan Richer, chef and owner of Jersey City's Razza, one of the country's best pizzerias, talks to us about his obsessive Joy of Pizza, which just so happens to be the title of his new book. And because NYT restaurant critic Pete Wells gave Razza an unprecedented three stars in his review in 2017, I also had to talk to Pete about Razza and Dan. He was game, but only if he and I visited Razza one more time to see if Dan was still at the top of his game. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this week's Special Sauce Detroit food activist and Food Lab Detroit founder Devita Davidson has a lot to say about how government, entrpreneurs, and the private sector can and should work together to form a better food system. Plus chef-restaurateur Ji Hye Kim of Miss Kim's in Ann Arbor tells us about how she has embraced Food Lab Detroit's methods to mutually benefit her business and the employees that work there. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On Part II of our live Special Sauce, Kenji and I successfully cooked eggs and tomatoes in a wok onstage and I didn't get fired as his sous-chef for inadequately chopping the scallions. We also revived the Ask Kenji feature as he talks about everything from cooking with his 5 year old daughter to his experiences in science classes in high school. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

For our first ever live Special Sauce Kenji and I talked about his new #1 NYT Best-Seller The Wok, how family life has become the center of his existence, and how Sir Paul McCartney gave him an autograph after McCartney's security team tackled him on the street in NYC. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, NY State Senator and Food and Labor Activist Jessica Ramos returns to talk about the next set of problems she's tackling. And Kenji tells us about the Colombian soup that is his wife's favorite.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, Japanese Breakfast's Michelle Zauner returns to talk about her two Grammy nominations and writing the script for a  Crying in H Mart feature film. Plus, Kenji weighs in on the natural kinship between food and music.  Special Sauce podcast Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

On this week’s episode of Special Sauce, Ed catches up with writer Laurie Woolever, author of Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography. Like many people during the pandemic she's turned to sourdough bread baking because she's writing a bread book with acclaimed British bread baker Richard Hart. She also offers some fresh perspective about grappling with Anthony Bourdain's tragic passing.  Special Sauce Laurie Woolever | Site | Twitter Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices