A year in the life of food.  Michael Shaikh tells the stories of people preserving their culinary traditions amid war and violence. Ted Genoways considers José Cuervo's colorful history, from eluding Pancho Villa's death threats to bringing tequila north of the Mexican border. Sarah Ahn's viral food videos of her mom have captivated millions of viewers with their behind-the-scenes look at Korean cooking and multigenerational life. Humberto Raygoza aka the Chori-Man links four generations using one chorizo recipe. Olivia Haver loves cheese so much, she has devoted her career to babysitting it. Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

Generational family recipes take center stage. Kathy Fang spent her childhood shaped by 24 square blocks of San Francisco, where her father manned a wok, feeding hungry customers at the House of Nanking. Forager Pascal Baudar hunts down wild seeds and grains. Jess Shadbolt helms the kitchen at King, the ingredient-focused New York City restaurant with an aesthetic of eating simply but lavishly. One of the world's foremost authorities on libations, former Shakespeare professor David Wondrich delivers the history of the cocktail in comic book form. Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

A breakfast odyssey begins.  Food & Wine contributing editor Khushbu Shah shares where to grab the best stack of pancakes in Los Angeles.  Hetty Lui McKinnon puts salad at the center of the table for intimate gatherings.  Molecular biologist Nik Sharma tests taste buds with Sichuan peppercorns. Golden Delicious apples come to the Mar Vista Farmers Market. Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

Fire up the oven and get creative with your holiday baking.  Kat Lieu offers 108 Asian cookie recipes that you can bring to your next cookie exchange. Maureen Abood unlocks memories as she finds inspiration in the Lebanese bakeries of Dearborn, Michigan. An American baker living in Berlin, Laurel Kratochvila dips into the Polish canon with black breads, bagels, sour rye breads studded with caraway, and challah.  Jūrgen Krauss, everyone's favorite trombone-playing Great British Bake Off contestant, prepares for the holidays with traditional German Christmas treats. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison visits Sora Craft Kitchen, a Turkish restaurant in DTLA. Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

It's a cookbook bonanza! Celia Sack of Omnivore Books on Food shares a roundup of the year's best cookbooks, including graphic novel memoirs and one of the only Cambodian cookbooks written in English. Bee Wilson explores how quotidian kitchen items become powerful symbols, representing friendship, grief, love, superstition, safety, and even political resistance. Design curator and writer Corinne Mynatt became fascinated with culinary objects she found at flea markets and began researching their history and function. New York Times reporter Rukmini Callimachi follows a Haviland china set that has graced the table of five generations of women. Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

All the best food with people you actually like? We're in! We kickstart Thanksgiving with Nashville chef Arnold Myint, author of Family Thai, who joins Evan Kleiman to co-host a special Thanksgiving episode about chosen family. Although Minneapolis chef Yia Vang cooks Hmong food that's rooted in his family's refugee story, he treats tradition as something living and adaptable. Atlanta chef Deborah VanTrece, who has been transforming narratives about soul food, brings us a bunch of killer sides. Bar expert and cocktail consultant John deBary has just the thing for keeping your holiday libations fun, festive, and nonalcoholic. What better way to complete the Thanksgiving meal than a few unapologetically sweet desserts from pastry chef Justin Burke? Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

Raw fish reaches its apex on a stretch of Ventura Blvd. that's home to the highest concentration of sushi restaurants in the US.  Brant Cox of The Infatuation surveys the sushi restaurants of Ventura Boulevard. Chef and TV host Andrew Zimmern imparts lessons from his time on the water to set up home cooks for seafood success. Ixta Belfrage creates recipes that embrace her multicultural lens and Brazil's layered cuisine. For nearly two decades Aldo Sohm has poured wine at Le Bernardin in New York City, creating harmony between what's in the glass and on the plate. Chef Michael Fiorelli of Fiorelli Pizza pairs Brussels sprouts with persimmons and pomegranates in a salad that screams autumn. Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

Pull out that package of ramen and get ready to dress it up! Instant ramen is most frequently associated with tired clichés about quick dorm room eats but Peter J. Kim wants us to rethink the dried noodles. Beloved baker Dorie Greenspan takes the cake in a new collection of recipes. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison pays a visit to Cafe 2001. Fighting our food confusion with science, journalist Julia Belluz and scientist Dr. Kevin Hall attempt to answer, "Why do we eat the way we eat?" Chef Harry Posner of Tomat explores farmers market pomegranates. Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

Exploring African flavors, Japanese fermentation, and a Paris farmers market. Ruby Tandoh traces how our culinary tastes have transformed in our 24/7 food obsession. Yasmin Khan manages stew recipes without meat. Kenji Morimoto was tasked with making pickles in his family's kitchen and that assignment blossomed into a love of fermentation and putting his DIY projects to use. Born in a refugee camp in Somalia, Meymuna Hussein-Cattan ended up launching a celebrated refugee aid organization as well Flavors from Afar, which earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand. For the Market Report, Gillian Ferguson heads to Paris where she catches up with chef David Lebovitz at the Marche d'Aligre. Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

Hosting a Halloween party, veganizing Korean cuisine at home, and the horrors of labor throughout the food system: Elvira, Mistress of the Dark AKA Cassandra Peterson IRL dons her towering black beehive and blood-red lipstick for a collection of hair-raising recipes just in time for Halloween. When we last talked to her, three years ago, Rosie Grant had already gone TikTok viral for prowling cemeteries to find the tastiest gravestone recipes. Now, she has an entire book devoted to these dishes as well as interviews with the families of the dearly departed. Joanne Lee Molinaro AKA the Korean Vegan shares her love of tofu and a recipe for a Kimchi Queso Mac and Cheese in her newest cookbook.  Underpaid, undervalued, and unsafe — that’s the trifecta of problems plaguing food system workers, according to Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern and Teresa M. Mares, who chronicle labor across our food chain. Memo Torres delivers an update on the fallout of ICE raids in the hospitality industry. Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

Celebrating Diwali, Thai roots meet Nashville soul, a soju party, yaupon as a potential coffee alternative, and green satsumas: Khushbu Shah shares how she celebrated Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, growing up in the Midwest, and this year's plans. Chef Arnold Myint, who grew up at his family’s beloved International Market & Restaurant, which introduced Thai food to Nashville, has a new book, Family Thai, that's both a primer on Thai cooking and a tribute to the flavors he inherited from his mother. At Orion Bar in Brooklyn, Irene Yoo and her husband, Nick, get playful with soju and upend Korean alcohol traditions. How expensive does coffee need to get before we start looking for alternatives? Writer KC Hysmith considers yaupon, the only caffeinated plant grown in North America, for its potential as a coffee alternative. Chef Miles Thompson shops for green satsumas at the farmers market. Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

Samin Nosrat discovers "Good Things"; a bar devoted to women's sports; winter squash at the farmers market. Samin Nosrat chats about the pressure she felt following the success of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, relinquishing perfectionism, and the importance of ritual in connecting with others and yourself. Married couple Janie Trinh and Stephanie Ellingwood founded Silver Lake's Untamed Spirits, a bar devoted to women's sports. Gillian Ferguson takes us to the farmers market to meet Ben Norton, the chef behind Darling, Sean Brock's grill house and hi-fi lounge in West Hollywood. Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

How do you fix a food system that isn't simply broken but has been captured, top to bottom, in the name of profit? Our food system isn't simply broken, it has been captured, top to bottom, in the name of profit. Austin Frerick shares the stories of seven agricultural titans, their rise to power, and the consequences for the rest of us. For almost a decade, renowned Mexican chef Enrique Olvera veered away from serving tacos at Pujol, his Michelin-starred Mexico City restaurant. Now, he celebrates them with taco omakase at the bar. Oaxacans claim if you eat chapulínes (grasshoppers), you will return to Oaxaca. Anthropologist Jeffrey H. Cohen looks at the consumption of these insects and the women who make a living selling them. Travel and food writer Caroline Eden hiked between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, discovering recipes along the way. Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

Passionfruit, overlapping food crises, and what federal spending cuts mean for local food banks Seven years after chef Jeremy Fox released On Vegetables, he offers a cookbook with a different focus, On Meat. Michael Flood of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank explains what the massive cuts to SNAP, USAID, and DOGE mean for local food assistance programs. Dr. Stuart Gillespie analyzes the cascade of overlapping crises impacting our food system — and he proposes solutions. At the farmers market, passionfruit from Carpinteria goes into an LA mole. Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

The real story behind "no tax on tips" and the best vegan cheese Eyal Press reports on the fight to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers Animal and food activist Miyoko Schinner prides herself on making dairy-free butters, creams, and cheeses Chloe Sorvino exposes the hidden corruption and corporate greed within the meat industry Mike Cirone travels from See Canyon near San Luis Obispo to share his apples with farmers market shoppers. Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

Going garden-to-table and how immigration raids are impacting LA's restaurant workers Canning evangelist Kevin West puts his home garden to work in the kitchen Journalist Andrew Lopez reports on how ICE raids are impacting Boyle Heights Rudy Espinoza shares how Inclusive Action supports communities affected by the immigration raids Journalist Kim Severson explores the creation of the perfect peanut Vannak Tan serves Cambodian-style seafood at A&J Seafood from a shack in San Pedro Alvaro Bautista brings dates from Mecca to the farmers market in Santa Monica Connect with Good Food host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

Is America any healthier, yet? Mother and son Jyoti and Auyon Mukharji stay rooted in their Indian heritage while living in the Midwest. Journalist Lisa Held sorts through the details of the recently leaked draft of the MAHA strategy report, a year after Make America Healthy Again debuted. Public health advocate Marion Nestle was cautiously optimistic in the early days of MAHA. What's her perspective now? Lior Lev Sercarz explores the many varieties of peppercorns. The weekly market report features chef Zach Pollack's use of sweet peppers. Sign up for our weekly Good Food newsletter and connect with host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

Elizabeth Mateo expands her family's 40-year-old paletas business. Filmmaker Eddie Schmidt weaves together scenes of the men and women who drive ice cream trucks from in his documentary, Popsicle Culture. Adrienne Borlongan of Wanderlust Creamery makes ice cream inspired by travel and adventure. On a stroll, David Owen uncovered the remnants of Berkshire Ice Company, a century-old business which shipped ice around the world. His curiosity sent him on a journey investigating the history of refrigeration and cooling technologies, which along with convenience, harbor harsh impacts on the environment. Bee Wilson embraces room temp dishes while acclimatizing food temperatures to the weather. Connect with host Evan Kleiman by subscribing to KCRW's Good Food on Substack.

The protein powder boom, anchovies, ancient Roman recipes, and more! Whey, the liquid byproduct of cheese making, was once considered waste. It's now a key ingredient in the protein powders that dieters and weightlifters are downing in ever-greater amounts — and that means big changes for the dairy industry, reports Kevin Draper. Horror film producer turned food historian Christopher Beckman chronicles the anchovy's place in the European cooking canon. Sally Grainger reinterprets Roman recipes taken from Latin texts. As students head back to school, we catch up with Jack Bobo, Executive Director of the UCLA Rothman Family Institute for Food Studies. Sign up for our weekly Good Food newsletter and connect with host Evan Kleiman on Substack.

Grocery store feasts, eggplant, the Jonathan Gold menu project and more! Ukrainian chef Olia Hercules shares family stories and recipes passed down through four generations Tien Nguyen opens the LA Public Library's archives to explore vintage restaurant menus and remembers Jonathan Gold's crucial essay about eating on Pico Blvd Vanessa Anderson — aka the Grocery Goblin — profiles grocery stores where you can grab a great meal Meera Sodha has low-effort, high-reward dinner ideas that use summer vegetables When eggplant hits farmers markets, chef Evan Algorri knows what to do with it Sign up for our weekly Good Food newsletter!

You better bee-lieve it, we're talking about honeybee headaches. Former beekeeper Adam Novicki explains the causes of this year's historic honeybee die-off Sawdust covered floors, free peanuts, and stiff martinis are hallmarks of Chez Jay, which celebrates 66 years along Route 66 Jenny Linford explores cooking, eating, and drinking through objects in the British Museum's collection Chef Katie Reicher of legendary San Francisco restaurant Greens shares vegetarian recipes from her repertoire Baker Nicole Rucker adopts a fruit tree and sets her sights on a glazed peach pie Sign up for Good Food's weekly newsletter!

When everything falls apart, food is sometimes all we can cling to. Michael Shaikh looks to those who are preserving their food and culinary traditions in the aftermath of war, displacement, and global violence Lee Svitak Dean and Linda Svitak are Minnesota sisters who collaborated on a book that highlights people from vastly different circumstances all over the globe Toni Tipton-Martin showcases the creativity of women who bring soul to Southern cuisine In his new novel, Mark Kurlansky explores how an ancient cheesecake recipe and a conniving landlord change one Manhattan block forever Get happy, it's tomato season at the farmers market!Sign up for our weekly Good Food newsletter!

Although Good Food loves pie, we're also Team Galette! Podcaster Ben Naddaff-Hafrey dives into the legal tussle hidden in the nooks and crannies of Thomas' English muffins Artist and cook Linda Dangoor leaves a trail of recipes from Baghdad and Beirut to Ibiza and Paris Fátima Juárez and Conrado Rivera of Komal explain that the secret to great masa starts with great corn It's peak summer fruit season, which means it's time for recipe developer and stylist Rebecca Firkser to explore the art of the galette With all the recent closures of classic LA restaurants, reporter Jennifer Swann explains why crowds are lining up around the block to get one last taste of the past At Lucia, chef Adrian Forte shares how he uses shado beni (aka culantro, not to be confused with culantro) in his Caribbean dishes Sign up for our weekly Good Food newsletter!

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Good Food explores the Golden State! LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison drove up and down the state to determine California's 101 best places to eat Chef Scott Clark left the pressure cooker of Michelin-starred restaurants to cook in a train caboose on the side of Highway 1 Chef and fisherman Conner Mitchell says "yes" to locally caught bluefin tuna Bernadette Berterretche Helton preserves Basque food and traditions at Centro Basco in Chino Coming from a family of dairy operators, Vivian Straus honors Northern California's agricultural roots with the Cheese Trail Sign up for Good Food's weekly newsletter!

How one man's fruity side hustle became a cash cow There are many ways to look at the Louvre but writer Elaine Sciolino invites us to view the largest museum in the world through the lens of food  Journalist Lisa Held documents the power and influence of the pesticide industry Since stress for farmers is deeply intertwined with the land, social worker Kaila Anderson developed a tool to treat depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues among farmers Omar Vaid didn't set out to be one of Southern California's most prolific mango dealers — he had greatness thrust upon him At SoCal farmers markets, no one has better or more interesting melons than Alex Weiser Sign up for our weekly Good Food newsletter!

Three cheers for these James Beard winners! LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison visits Kato in its new location at the Row DTLA Pastry chef Nicola Lamb sifts through the essential ingredients of baking — flour, sugar, eggs, and butter Chef Ashleigh Shanti goes beyond fried chicken and cornbread to reconsider Southern cuisine Bartender Jim Meehan considers cocktails from a culinary perspective Adam Reiner takes a closer look at the products behind the tongue-in-cheek labels on Trader Joe's shelves Sign up for Good Food's weekly newsletter!

Bottoms up for vino? Between declining alcohol consumption and increasing tariffs, Esther Mobley updates us on how California's wine industry is meeting this moment Olivia Haver loves cheese so much, she has devoted her career to babysitting it Exploring her roots, recipe developer Noor Murad dives into the food of Bahrain At RVR in Venice, chefs Travis Lett and Ian Robinson blend Japanese influences with Southern California produce Sign up for Good Food's weekly newsletter.

From the latest on ICE raids in Los Angeles to the legacy of Creole cuisine: Memo Torres reports on how immigration raids are impacting local food businesses Hawa Hassan, who escaped civil war in Mogadishu, shares stories of displacement in eight other regions of the world Nina Compton makes a case for New Orleans and the Caribbean sharing a similar "self of being" Journalist Christina Cooke visits Patrick Brown on his farm in North Carolina, where he is reclaiming his family's history and land Sign up for our weekly Good Food newsletter.

When the going gets tough, the tough go for pozole. Tony Ramirez dusts off the barbecue for summer grilling and adds Filipino flair to live fire TikTok darling Claire Dinhut has a thing for condiments and finds creative ways to use them Casey Elsass helps you decide what to bring to the party based on what type of guest you are Memo Torres discovers a pozole palace in the San Fernando Valley Charlotte Biltekoff explores how the public's mistrust of processed foods and the food industry's misunderstanding of these concerns Sign up for our weekly Good Food newsletter!

This week, we take physical and historical journeys to East Africa and South America. John Birdsall traces the evolution of queer food through the 20th century In her new series Panamericana, Pati Jinich travels the roads and highways linking North and South America, connecting with people along the way As a child of East African immigrants, Zaynab Issa uses her suburban childhood to create a cooking style all her own Humberto Raygoza took his family's chorizo recipe and built a business, one link at a time At the farmers market, chef Ed Cornell prepares for summer with apricots and soft serve Sign up for Good Food's weekly newsletter!

It's time to get grlling! And sipping! Men of barbeque loom large in America but Toni Tipton Martin and Morgan Bolling remind us that women also know their way around the pit Cathy Park rounds up the best matcha lattes in Los Angeles. Zach Mangan of Kettl in Los Feliz considers the downside to the matcha boom Lila Seidman reports on the tricky process of removing rare steelhead trout from the Palisades Fire burn area At the farmers market, chef Viktoriya Campos gets an early start, stalking seasonal asparagus. Sign up for our weekly Good Food newsletter!

Bottoms up! We're all about the tipple this week. Historian Hadley Meares looks at how Hollywood sips cocktails on the big screen Aaron Goldfarb follows collectors hunting for vintage spirits Sociologist Nicola Nice takes a look at how women brought the cocktail home Lesley Jacobs Solmonson explains how liqueurs went from the hands of the apothecary to those of the mixologist Evan Rail plays detective, looking back on an absinthe enthusiast who became a con artist Don't forget to sign up for Good Food's weekly newsletter!

The joy of cooking with Roy Choi... Kogi king Roy Choi has health on his mind in a new collection of recipes How do you become a restaurant critic? Besha Rodell explains in her memoir Marie Mitchell shares dishes from the Caribbean and its diaspora It's cherry season at the farmers market and which means the lines are long at the Murray Family Farm stand Sign up for our newsletter and catch up on all Good Food episodes!

It's Mother's Day weekend and we head to the sea Sarah Ahn's viral food videos of her mom have captivated millions of viewers with their behind-the-scenes look at Korean cooking and multigenerational life Environmental photographer Arati Kumar-Rao goes night fishing alongside dolphins on the Brahmaputra River Tyler Harper dons a wetsuit, often during storms, and heads out into the turbulent surf to fish for striped bass in the secretive and dangerous sport known as "wetsuiting" Ari Kolender of Found Oyster and Queen St. Raw Bar & Grill has tips for cooking fish and shellfish with confidence The Santa Monica Farmers Market says goodbye to longtime vendor Kandarian Organic Farms Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter.

It's a perfect party trifecta of tequila, margaritas, and salsa. Plus, we dig into the latest on food dyes. Ted Genoways considers José Cuervo's colorful history, from eluding Pancho Villa's death threats to bringing tequila north of the Mexican border Caroline Pardilla serves up 60 recipes for your next batch of margaritas Rick Martinez chops, blends, and crushes more than tomatoes for endless variations of salsa Dr. Jessica Knurick deciphers fact from fiction in the MAHA agenda. Although they're available year-round, blueberries actually have a season and they're ripe for the picking. Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter!

What baking beliefs can you do without? Nicole Rucker rekindled her love for baking by tinkering with her favorite recipes and eliminating the fuss Gabriela Glueck visits the "Torture Orchard," where California's nut trees are pushed to the brink so they can withstand the curveballs thrown by climate change Nasim Alikhani spent decades working various jobs before realizing her calling — opening a restaurant to showcase the food of Iran Evan Kleiman recalls the crazy ride of the 1980s LA restaurant scene with Francis Lam, host of The Splendid Table Often overlooked among springtime greens, chef Dashiell Nathanson is anything but sorry to use sorrel in his cafe dishes Sign up for our weekly Good Food newsletter!

What do we buy? And what does that say about us? Emily Mester examines what happens when consumption begins to consume you Journalist Ada Tseng visits Costco twice a week for gas, deals, and hidden Asian treasures Benjamin Lorr explores how the sliding doors at American grocery stores stay open Patty Civalleri tells us about the man who created Trader Joe's, which started in Pasadena in 1967 Gustavo Arellano recalls the legacy of Frieda Caplan, who introduced Angelenos to all sorts of exotic produce LA transplant Vanessa Anderson, aka The Grocery Goblin on Tiktok, documents the city by visiting its markets. Sign up for the weekly Good Food newsletter!

Passover and Easter are here — and we have food ideas for both holidays. Hèléne Jawhara Piñer unravels the thread connecting the Spanish Inquisition to modern Jewish food practices In a new memoir, Joan Nathan reflects on her life through the lens of food Jeff Chu abandoned his career as a journalist to work the land and attend seminary, tilling up life lessons as well as a sense of calm Great British Bake Off alum Giuseppe dell-Anno celebrates a sweet Easter with Italian desserts Chef Nestor Silva plucks leaves from the fava plant for a new dish at French Japanese bistro Camélia You can listen to every Good Food episode here. And don't forget to sign up for our newsletter.

From takeout boxes to feeling boxed in, growing up as a "restaurant kid" is a unique experience. Curtis Chin and Rachel Phan share memories of growing up in their parents' Chinese restaurants Cookbook author Irina Georgescu finds inspiration east of the Danube River in Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria Jeremy Salamon reconnects with his Hungarian Jewish heritage and the charming childhood created by his grandmother Chef Harry Posner takes advantage of the short window for green almonds Here are all the SoCal James Beard finalists. And don't forget to sign up for the weekly Good Food newsletter!

Explore the spiritual side of food and modern Ghanaian recipes. Jody Eddy spent two years visiting sacred spaces and meeting the people who cook in them Inspired by childhood visits to Ghana, Eric Adjepong debuts his first collection of recipes Andrea Nguyen questions the accuracy of those Prop 65 warning labels on many foods Evan Rail plays detective, looking back on an absinthe enthusiast who became a con artist Restaurant critic Tom Sietsema blows his cover in the CIA dining room Listen to all the episodes and be sure to sign up for the weekly Good Food newsletter.

A Black chef and cookbook author finally gets her due! Deb Freeman traces the life of Edna Lewis, author of "The Taste of Country Cooking," in a new documentary. While some people spent the pandemic starting sourdough, Jesse Valenciana got busy perfecting his birria. Memo Torres visits an Inglewood backyard, where three generations of the Sandoval family make birria using an abuela's recipe. Carolyn Kormann shares alarming facts about how microplastics have made their way into our bodies. Chef Caroline Leff of Stir Crazy turns up at the farmers market for a favorite root vegetable. Don't forget to sign up for the Good Food newsletter!

Celebrate the Persian new year with fresh herbs and new recipes Known to his followers as the Caspian Chef, Omid Roustaei prepares to celebrate Nowruz.  Economist Betty Resnick lays out the reasons behind the US's agricultural trade deficit. Alissa Timoshkina ventures beyond cabbage in a new cookbook dedicated to vegetables in Eastern European cuisines. Whales that get caught in Dungeness crab fishing gear have left fishermen and environmentalists scrambling for a solution. Don't forget to sign up for the Good Food newsletter!

The story behind the famous orange chicken at Panda Express and more! Dora Herrera remembers her mother, Socorro, who took orders at Yuca's in Los Feliz for nearly 50 years. Tejal Rao visits the renovated Panda Inn, where a precursor to orange chicken took flight. Honor May Eldridge follows our obsession with the Hass avocado, which was developed right here, in Southern California. In his new cookbook, Tu David Phu reconciles his family's trauma with his perceptions of what ingredients are deemed worthy. In shades of pinks and greens, farmers market chicories are favored by chefs for creating balance in dishes.  Check out Good Food's newsletter and don't forget to subscribe!

Karen E. Fisher shares stories of Ramadan at Zaatari, the world's largest Syrian refugee camp located in Jordan. Helena Bottemiller Evich introduces the new administration's appointments charged to “Make America Healthy Again.” Dr. Christopher Gardener drops some wisdom about seed oil. Caroline Eden reflects on her travels through Central Asia and Eastern Europe and considers how the kitchen is a unique space to tell human stories.

Eat Thai street food and maple tofu sticks while sipping makgeolli. Designer-turned-food-writer Kristina Cho celebrates her Chinese heritage with delicious and approachable recipes Bill Addison dives into pad see ew and other iconic Bangkok street food dishes at Holy Basil Chef Govind Armstrong cracks into spiny lobster while celebrating a popular Santa Monica Pier restaurant's 25th anniversary Dakota Kim embraces the modern boom in an ancient Korean drink — makgeolli. Monique King mourns the loss of Fox's, a family restaurant in Altadena, while trying to support her staff Pastry chef Sasha Piligian uses olive oil and farmers market citrus in a cake destined for a charity bake sale Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date with all things Good Food!

From chocolate grown in a petri dish to the latest updates on bird flu, this is a sciencey episode along with a few beans, lemons and eggs. Gabriela Glueck puts lab grown chocolate under the microscope. Apoorva Mandavilli reports on the bird flu crisis and what items to avoid when you're shopping. Genevieve Ko offers alternatives for recipes that involve eggs. Steve Sando and Julia Newberry of Rancho Gordo share their ideas for using 50 varieties of beans. Bethany Harris puts the squeeze on farmers market citrus. Find all the recipes and sign up for our weekly newsletter on the Good Food site!

We explore candied fruit, small-batch cookies, how to make maple syrup and an ancient fruit — the date. Rawaan Alkhatib takes us on a hot date, offering a global perspective on the ancient superfood. Chewy and gooey, small batch bakes are perfect when you want just a little sweetness — and Edd Kimber knows how to mix them up. Camilla Wynne shows us how to make stunning candied fruit. Peter Gregg pursues happiness via maple syrup. Baker and chocolatier Valerie Gordon explains how she sugars rose petals for her bestselling petits fours. Subscribe to our newsletter at kcrw.com/goodfood

An Altadena bar owner works to be a good neighbor while a cooking school taps home chefs from around the globe. After the Eaton Fire, Randy Clement, who owns Good Neighbor Bar, used wine delivery software to canvas Altadena, informing neighbors whether or not their homes had survived. Sergio Olmos reports on the recent immigration raids in Kern County. Lisa Kyung Gross founded the League of Kitchens Cooking School, where women from around the world act as instructors; now, they've compiled their recipes into a cookbook. Mother and daughter Patricia Tanumihardja and Juliana Evari Suparman share recipes from their Indonesian kitchen. Finally, Good Food looks back on a conversation with Slanted Door chef Charles Phan, who died unexpectedly last week. More at KCRW.com/GoodFood. And sign up for our newsletter!

New York Times reporter Rukmini Callimachi follows a Haviland pattern of china that has set the table for five generations of women. LA transplant Vanessa Anderson, aka The Grocery Goblin on Tiktok, documents the city by visiting its markets. Julia Van Soelen Kim shares advice for gardeners concerned about how ash from the Palisades and Eaton fires might impact their crops. Mother and daughter Hsiao-Ching Chou and Meilee Riddle prepare for the Lunar New Year with recipes from their new cookbook. Chef Travis Hayden lost his home in the Palisades Fire but is finding time to feed first responders and other fire victims.

We all saw it unfold in real time, some of us from our phones, others witnessing the devastation firsthand. Our beautiful, complicated, and geographically vast Los Angeles has been brought to its knees. Our heart goes out to everyone who finds themselves struggling and unmoored through all the types of loss, whether it be family, a home or a neighborhood. As the days have passed, one aspect of this tragedy has kept us going — the extraordinary kindness and generosity of the citizens of Los Angeles. This week, we speak with those affected by the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire, and those who have selflessly stepped up to help. Wendy Escobedo of World Central Kitchen explains how the organization mobilizes — with a little help from chefs and restaurateurs like Roy Choi, Kim Prince, and Greg Dulan — to feed evacuees and first responders. Christine Moore, owner of Little Flower in Pasadena, fought flames in her neighborhood and is now feeding the community while navigating her own displacement. Dina Samson offers perspective on how the fires are impacting LA's already struggling hospitality industry. Teddy and Andy Leonard, owners of The Reel Inn in Malibu, look back on their restaurant, which succumbed to fire after 36 years of selling seafood on the Pacific Coast Highway.

Julia Child reporting fellow Gabriela Glueck heads to Humboldt to speak with a community of seaweed evangelists. Brant Cox plays soothsayer and predicts what's on trend for restaurants in 2025. Joe Yonan proves that plant-based cooking is anything but boring. Heidi Pickman outlines the new licensing steps for home cooks who want to legally prepare foods to sell. "What if we slowed down and savored flavors, smells, and textures?" asks Betsy Andrews while considering the science behind pacing ourselves.

In this excerpt from The Treatment, chef René Redzepi unpacks the complicated history of global ingredients in "Omnivore," an eight-part series for Apple+. Known for his examination of nature on the plate, Michael Pollan alters consciousness in this clip from Life Examined.

The Good Food team — host Evan Kleiman and producers Gillian Ferguson, Laryl Garcia, and Elina Shatkin — choose their favorite segments of the year. Nicola Twilley takes a cold plunge into the history of refrigeration. Chef Fadi Kattan is on a mission to document and share Palestinian foods, traditions, and the work of home cooks. Filmmaker Peter Byck casts a lens on the maverick farmers and scientists working to solve the climate crisis. In her latest docuseries, Pati Jinich showcases the politics, culture, and cuisine of the US/Mexico borderlands.

Restaurant critic Bill Addison recruited Jenn Harris to help him divide and conquer as they determined LA's best restaurants. Culinary historian Jessica B. Harris lays out the symbolism and traditions of Kwanzaa. Adeena Sussman continues her mother's tradition of Shabbat and shares a recipe for her grandmother's potato kugel. Chef Brian Polcyn knows his way around a meat pie. Rose Levy Beranbaum preaches the glory of cake.

Food scholar Darra Goldstein traces the lineage of early fermented beverages, which were offered to deities and used in rituals. Sociologist Nicola Nice takes a look at how women brought the cocktail home. Lesley Jacobs Solmonson explains how liqueurs went from the hands of the apothecary to those of the mixologist. Balo Orozco shops the farmers' markets to make seasonal shrubs.

Reporter Jessica Roy delivers the bad news about those plastic kitchen utensils. Anne Byrn composes an exhaustive guide on Southern baking. Chef Ashleigh Shanti goes beyond cast iron fried chicken and cornbread in exploring Black influences on Southern foodways. Local cooking instructor and food writer Sonoko Sakai explains the deep meaning of "Japanese in style" cuisine. Celia Sack of Omnivore Books reveals her favorite cookbooks of the year for everyone on your list.

Director Tran Anh Hung and actress Juliette Binoche discuss the recipe for subtle seduction in The Taste of Things. On the 20th anniversary of Sideways, Hitching Post owner Frank Ostini reflects on changes in the Santa Ynez Valley. Filmmaker Jason Wise joins Vahe Keushguerian in a conversation about making wine from Iranian grapes for the first time in half a century. Zimbabwean winemaker Tinashe Nyamoduka strives to demystify the vine and promote inclusivity. Nathan Park talks about the link between the Academy Award-winning film Parasite and fried chicken.

Evan Kleiman taps flavor scientist Arielle Johnson to co-host Good Food's annual Thanksgiving episode. Food science writer Harold McGee breaks down brining, spice, and the best way to prep that giant Thanksgiving bird. Khushbu Shah forgoes the turkey for squash filled with biryani, a tikka masala-inspired mac and cheese, and Mexican food. Homemade cranberry sauce is all about the crackle and pop for Harold McGee. Sommelier Ian Krupp goes beyond Beaujolais in his Thanksgiving wine pairings. Arielle Johnson opts for two types of cardamom in her pumpkin pie recipe. Brian Polcyn assembles the perfect pot pie with turkey leftovers.

Austin-based chef Jesse Griffiths is on the hunt for the majestic wild turkey. Pastry chef Nicola Lamb sifts through the essential ingredients of baking — flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. Memo Torres runs down his top five tacos in Los Angeles. Having eaten his way around China, Michael Zee recreates breakfast favorites at home. Courtney Storer of The Bear joins Gillian Ferguson at the farmers market to shine a light on winter squash.

Food writer and recipe developer Ben Mims scours the world for great cookie recipes. Former professional basketball player Laurent Correa is turning out some of LA's best croissants. Dr. Naa Oyo Kwate unveils the insidious relationship between fast food and the African American community. Lindsey Beatrice explores the creative ways millennials are acquiring land they can farm. Food Access LA raises funds to keep two farmers' markets afloat, and Nick Fisher of Fluffy McCloud's is drawn to fuyu persimmons for their shape.

Anthropologist Susan Greenhalgh describes how soda companies have influenced the science around sugary drinks. Health and nutrition reporter Alice Callahan breaks down "ultra-processed foods," a newish term to describe the evil that lurks on supermarket shelves. National Park guide Joseph C. Ward explains how a Cheetos bag altered the ecosystem in a New Mexico cavern. Physician and journalist Bryce Y. Lee reveals how scientists are using the food dye found in Doritos to make see-through mice. Breadmaster Jim Lahey reminisces on the 15th anniversary of his revolutionary no-knead bread-making book. Chef Aric Attebery shares tips for incorporating seasonal farmers market ingredients into the bowls we make at home.

Hetal Vasavada prepares for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, by baking gorgeous, colorful sweets. The intersection of Gothic novels and food offers a rich, spooky tradition for literary scholar Dr. Alessandra Pino and food writer Ella Buchan. Food scholar Darra Goldstein shows us how to make candied pumpkin, a creative autumn treat. In the docuseries La Frontera, Pati Jinich showcases the politics, culture, and cuisine of the US/Mexico borderlands. From Sonoran tacos to Hawaiian short ribs, Memo Torres returns with five great places to eat this month.

Pastry chef Victoria Granof relishes the diverse, and often misunderstood, sweets of Sicily. Essayist and poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil explains the laborious process of cultivating vanilla and the fragile state of its existence. Rowan Jacobsen travels deep into the Bolivian Amazon to uncover the chocolate's origins. Molecular biologist Raven Hanna shows us how to produce tree-to-bar chocolate. At the farmer's market, Klementine Song reminisces about the jujubes her parents grew while farmer Terry Kashima shares the fruit's health benefits.

Ben Blount and Bryan Kett created a chocolate bar to explain why our congressional districts have such weird shapes (hint: gerrymandering). Left, Right and Center host David Greene discusses how gerrymandering impacts our elections. Lola Milholland discusses how community living can help us develop life skills and flex our generosity muscle. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison finds a magical and civilized weeknight wine bar on Melrose. Chemist and baker Kat Cermelj conquers recipes without gluten, dairy, or eggs. Tommy Brockert started making pizza as a way to bring people together during the pandemic. Now, he has two LaSorted's locations.

To tell the stories of Syrians living in the world's largest refugee camp, Karen Fisher collected their recipes. For Kim-Joy, one of The Great British Bake Off's most memorable contestants, baking isn't just about flavor or cuteness — it's also about mental health. Julie Guthman critiques tech entrepreneurs whose proposed food system "fixes" ignore the underlying problems they claim to address. Alvaro Bautista recovers more than half of his date harvest, which perished in last year's rain, while Companion, a new restaurant in Venice, opens with a Quarter Sheets alum.

From nopales and horchata to matzoh balls and Manischewitz, Ilan Stavans and Margaret Boyle merge Mexican and Jewish foods. Rachel Gordin Barnett and Lyssa Kligman Harvey celebrate the unique and diverse food history of Jewish South Carolina. Hannah Dreier reports on child labor in the poultry broiler belt. Brigit Binns reflects on her dysfunctional LA childhood and how it delivered her to the kitchen and writing.

An audio folk story examining the tradition of Black watermelon long-haulers, who drive to farms in the South for watermelon and sell them in Black neighborhoods around the US. This is a special bonus edition from KCRW's Lost Notes.

Sylvio Martins gives us a glimpse into The Infatuation's blind taste test to determine the 10 best croissants in Los Angeles. Yotam Ottolenghi and Verena Lochmuller craft globally-inspired comfort food in a new cookbook. Seeking Turkish cuisine, LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison finally finds it in a Santa Monica coffee shop. Chef Juan Ferriero creates inspired salads for his menu at Great White.

Jim Meehan asked some of the best bartenders on the planet for their favorite cocktail recipes — and put them in a book. Archaeologist Tate Paulette explores ancient beers. Market correspondent Gillian Ferguson explores how California farmers handled the latest heat wave. Investigative journalist Sharon Lerner unpacks how 3M lied to its employees — and by extension the American people — about the dangers of PFAS and PFOS. New York Times correspondent Kim Severson reports on the attempts to replace plastics in the grocery store.

On the 20th anniversary of Sideways, Hitching Post owner Frank Ostini reflects on changes in the Santa Ynez Valley. Filmmaker Jason Wise joins Vahe Keushguerian in a conversation about making wine from Iranian grapes for the first time in half a century. Maanvi Singh reports on corporations buying up water rights, often in drought-stricken areas, and selling them to other communities, sometimes hundreds of miles away. Growing up in Northern California with a Kenyan mother and Nigerian father, Kiano Moju celebrates her family's AfriCali cuisine. At the farmers market, chef Dan Barber visits with Alex Weiser who is growing a new allium — garleek.

Kristyn Leach and a network of farmers work to preserve cultural heritage through seed saving. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison visits Perilla in Echo Park for Korean banchan and dosirak. Photographer Lucy Schaeffer captures the nostalgia and personal memories behind school lunch. Peter Miller pens an ode to the midday meal. Politics professor Aaron Bobrow-Strain looks at the history of white bread in America and how it became so popular and industrialized. Wax Paper in LA pays homage to NPR personalities with their sandwiches, and co-owner Peter Lemos explains what goes into an “Ira Glass.”

Georgina Hayden makes her family's Greek-Cypriot recipes more achievable. Amber Guinness entices the palate with coastal Italian snacks and seaside refreshments. Rosa Jackson goes beyond Salad Niçoise to embrace the rustic cuisine of France's fifth largest city. Inspired by her family's beloved bundt cake recipe, Daphane DeLone is whipping up whoopie pies at Connie & Ted's. The owners of Koda Farms, who grow rice in Merced County, decide to retire their grandfather's legacy.

Reporter Adam Iscoe exposes the auctioneers and private clubs making a profit on restaurant reservations. Behind most kitchen doors, restaurants are hemorrhaging money. Heather Sperling documented every dollar her restaurant spent over the course of a month. Stephanie Breijo spent months talking to chefs and restaurateurs about operating in crisis mode. Daniel Hernandez and the Food section team at the LA Times canvassed the city to find its best tacos. Aaron Lindell from Quarter Sheets uses summer melons from Weiser Family Farms in playful ways.

Diane Kochilas reveals the secrets of Ikaria, a Greek island known for the longevity of its inhabitants. Margie Mason and Robin McDowell uncover an unlikely source of labor in our food chain — maximum security prisons. Podcast host and food historian Jessica Gingrich shares the story of Robert King, a member of the Angola 3, who survived 31 years in prison where he cut sugarcane. Memo Torres shares his latest recommendations of where to eat across Los Angeles. Pastry chef Sam Robinson of All Day Baby bakes up sweet summer corn cakes with peach preserves.

Dan Hong considers the role food has played in diplomacy and politics. Ruth Reichl weaves art and fashion into The Paris Novel, in which her heroine finds herself through food. Sara B. Franklin pays tribute to Judith Jones, the editor responsible for bringing Julia Child and Edna Lewis to American kitchens. At the farmers market, chef Daniel Cutler puts tomatoes and peaches to work at two different restaurants.

Mary Beth Sheridan details how drug cartels in Mexico have begun extorting tortilla vendors. Stef Ferrari raises a glass to stuzzichini, Italian bites served during aperitivo. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison reviews Baroo, which he recently named Restaurant of the Year. Julia Sarreal pores over yerba mate, an iconic South American beverage that has been revered and vilified. Catherine Roberts reports on pesticide residues lurking in 59 common fruits and vegetables.

Alexandra Stafford shares her easy techniques for making pizza at home — no kneading or stand mixers required. Alyse Whitney dives into summer with riffs on crowd-pleasing dips that are perfect for communal dunking. Want to make a smooth, creamy queso? Swetha Sivakumar reaches into the medicine cabinet. When Jeff Horwitz wanted to get rid of his allergic reaction to poison oak, he started consuming it. Summer tomatoes have arrived at farmers markets!

It's Good Food's 2024 James Beard Award winners show! More than three decades after her father passed away, Hetty Liu McKinnon honors him with a tender cookbook about his legacy and her love of vegetables. Abi Balingit, a self-described "dork who baked," turned her passion into a cookbook of Filipino desserts. Becoming a chef wasn't in Jason Hammel's plan but he now operates Chicago's Lula Cafe, a leader in the hospitality industry. Sohla El-Waylly teaches us the "why" behind kitchen techniques. Bill Addison reviews Filipino favorite Kuya Lord, which started as a garage pop-up and now has a brick-and-mortar spot in Melrose Hill.

Nicola Twilley takes a cold plunge into the history of refrigeration. Lucas Sin explains how to use the freezer to improve cooking. Adrienne Borlongan jettisoned a career in nursing to explore ice cream production. For two decades, Michael Buch has watched Silver Lake change around his shop, Pazzo Gelato. At the farmer's market, Elaine Marumoto-Perez and her brother use apricots to make ice cream and donate portions of each pint to charity.

Food writer Khushbu Shah reflects on how Bisquick and Cream of Wheat fit into the Indian American diaspora. Michelle T. King recounts the life of Fu Pei-mei, a culinary star who taught generations of Taiwanese women how to cook. Reporter Elena Kadvany explains the elimination of restaurant surcharges and the last ditch effort to keep them intact. Historian Xaq Frohlich unpeels nutrition labels and why they leave the onus of good health on consumers. Finally, what does a California ban on salmon mean for the livelihood of fishermen?

Chef and culinary activist Lelani Lewis returns to her Caribbean roots with classic recipes. Steve Hoffman dreamed of moving his family to France… until he moved them to the wrong town in France. Kevin and Jeffrey Pang cook up some father-son bonding over plates of Mongolian Beef and General Tso's Chicken. Avid outdoorsman and conservationist Steven Rinella cooks what he hunts and catches. At the farmers' market, peach season is anything but the pits.

In a new cookbook filled with Lebanese recipes, Hana El-Hibri invokes the spirit of "mayylu," an invitation for visitors to pop in. Jo Flashman pairs Southern California hikes with microbreweries. Kitty Morse opens a tattered leather valise and uncovers a WWII journal from her French forbearers — with photographs and some very special recipes. Chef Jordan Kahn ushers in a new era at Vespertine. Gustavo Arellano weighs in on a proposed California law that would require folic acid to be added to masa. Finally, there's a new face at the farmer's market.

Franco-Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan is on a mission to document and share Palestinian foods, traditions, and the work of home cooks. Filmmaker Peter Byck casts a lens on the maverick farmers and scientists working to solve the climate crisis. Chefs Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson bring the bold Mediterranean flavors of Kismet to a new cookbook. Cindy Carcamo reports on why California's once flourishing asparagus farms are disappearing.

Author and illustrator Mark Kurlansky peels back the cultural, historical, and gastronomical layers of the onion. Jonathan Kauffman explains how "hippie food" went mainstream. Forget meat alternatives, Lukas Volger develops veggie burger recipes using whole foods. Flexitarian Pamelia Chia canvases chefs for show-stopping Asian vegetarian recipes. Forget meat alternatives, Alicia Kennedy unpacks the history of vegan and vegetarian eating in America. Two small voices sing the praises of seeds in the book A Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds.

Memo Torres uncovers hidden gems and family-run businesses across Los Angeles. Adam Reiner takes a closer look at the products behind the tongue-in-cheek labels on the shelves of Trader Joe's. Olga Massov and Sanaë Lemoine have tons of recipes devoted to the limitless possibilities of the sheet pan. Farmer Laura Ramirez explains the seasonality of the avocado while chef Stephanie Izard sticks to local ingredients. It’s our Spring Pledge Drive at KCRW. Click here to support Good Food.

We think you'll enjoy this episode of Life Examined, a KCRW podcast that explores science, philosophy, and finding meaning in the modern world. You're probably already familiar with Michael Pollan's writing on food and psychedelics. In this bonus episode, he talks with Jonathan Bastian about his study of how humans and plants interact.

After she became a mom, journalist Angela Garbes shifted her focus from food to the invisible, unpaid labor that goes into raising children. On the podcast Your Mama's Kitchen, beloved author Judy Bloom opens her mother's recipe box and reveals her kitchen anxiety dreams. After traveling the world at a young age, Priya Krishna presents global recipes for a new generation of eaters. Climate advocate Puneeta Chhitwal-Varma shares low-waste recipes for maintaining a healthy diet and planet.  Finally, Meredith Bell from Autonomy Farms balances raising animals and a daughter.

Historian Hadley Meares looks at how Hollywood sips cocktails on the big screen. From Prohibition bourbon to dolce vita amaro, journalist Aaron Goldfarb follows collectors hunting for vintage spirits. Frank La of Be Bright Coffee heads to Busan to compete in the World Barista Championship. Memo Torres of L.A. Taco introduces us to the Carnitas Queen of Los Angeles. Finally, Clémence de Lutz heads to the farmer's market for cherries she can feature at Petit Grain Boulangerie, her new bakery.

Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard think the worldwide appeal of K-pop and Korean cinema has boosted modern Korean food. Operating out of a gas station, how does Arezou Appel make some of LA's best cookies? Jennifer Yee of Baker's Bench talks about the joys and pitfalls of vegan pies. Dan Pashman dives into the global pantry to develop innovative pasta recipes. Sweet spring strawberries arrive at SoCal farmers markets.

With only a week left until PieFest, baker Nicole Rucker shows us how to make a scrumptrilescent apple pie. From Baghdad and Buenos Aires to Montreal and Mexico City, Naama Shefi taps the Jewish diaspora to fill her holiday table. When Karla Vasquez couldn't find an English-language Salvadoran cookbook that she loved, she created her own. After writing a book on Northern Thai food, Austin Bush explores the spicy, colorful cuisine of Southern Thailand. When soulful Southern restaurant Joyce opened in DTLA, LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison had to check it out. Michael McCarty reflects on 45 years of success at his eponymous Santa Monica restaurant.

Journalist, activist, and founder of the blog Gaza Mom, Laila El-Haddad discusses how she keeps the cuisine of Gaza alive as she tries to find solace during Ramadan. After struggling with drugs and addiction, Toriano Gordon hit reset and became a chef, opening two vegan barbecue and soul food trucks. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison knows where you should stop and eat on your way to Coachella. Pie judge and cooking instructor Clémence De Lutz tells us how to master berry pies for this year's Pie Contest. Finally, what do you do with the green almonds that are at farmers markets right now?

Author and illustrator Mark Kurlansky peels back the cultural, historical, and gastronomical layers of onions. Journalist Shane Mitchell won two James Beard Awards for shining a light on the exploitation in America's onion fields. Pastry chef Sherry Yard has tips on how to make award-winning hand pies. Dina Begum navigates the six seasons of Bangladesh, sharing traditional recipes and childhood memories. Bill Addison heads to an upscale Chinese restaurant where the roast duck comes with a fire show.

Marian Bull weighs in on the popularity of orange egg yolks. Chef Ludo Lefebvre details what goes into his famous omelet, which is on the menu at Petit Trois. Lisa Steele is a fifth-generation chicken keeper and the founder of Fresh Eggs Daily, a blog that has been viewed more than 50 million times. Tove Danovich loves raising backyard chickens, a tradition that dates back to her great-grandmother. Margaret Magat describes eating balut, an embryonic egg delicacy enjoyed across the Philippines. Lizzie Stark hatches stories exploring the cultural history and uses of eggs while sharing her personal story.

Explaining how taste and smell interact, why smell is related to emotion, and the patterns of flavor, Arielle Johnson chases deliciousness by taking science and making it fashion. Christy Spackman tracks how municipal water systems have spent billions eliminating taste from our tap water. Flexitarian Pamelia Chia canvases Asian chefs for show-stopping vegetarian recipes. Baker Rose Wilde shows us how to bring edible flowers onto our plates.

Life is driven by flavor. The seductress that is flavor often leads us down the rabbit hole of food studies. If you run a restaurant or you're in the food business, you know that flavor is power and it needs to hit in the first few bites. But what exactly is flavor? And how do we create it in our own heads? We've been following the interests of Arielle Johnson for years. Her new book is Flavorama: A Guide to Unlocking the Art and Science of Flavor. Evan Kleiman: When I hear the term "flavor scientist," my mind goes to the industrialized food world. I think of someone working for a big company, like Kraft or Kellogg, who's trying to create the next viral snack or food trend. But that is not what you do. How does your work differ from that of most other flavor scientists? Arielle Johnson: Most food scientists and most flavor scientists are employed by large food companies, largely because that is who hires people like that and pays for the field to exist. I'm at a little bit of a right angle to what they do. [What I do] intersects in the chemistry and in the sensory science but I'm much more interested in understanding flavor as an everyday experience, as an expression of biology, culture and ecology, and as something to use in the kitchen. So I do apply it but in a different way than it is typically applied. Are you often contacted by chefs who are trying to create something or push something further, and they need science to help them take a leap? Often, they don't necessarily know what science they need but they know that I am good at solving problems using science. Often, a chef has been working in one direction or another, maybe trying to do a fermentation project or get a flavored ice to behave a certain way. When I can, which is a lot of the time, actually, I like to step in and try to cherry pick what area — is it biology? is it chemistry? is it molecules reacting? is it volatility or something like that? — and set them on the right path to get what they want. That must be eminently satisfying. Incredibly. That's my favorite thing. What intrigues me about flavor is how personal it can be. I sat across from noted restaurant critic Jonathan Gold each week for a couple of decades, listening to him describe flavor. I would always ask myself, is that how I perceive what he's talking about? Often, in my own mind, it was no, I'm perceiving it differently but how interesting it is, what he's perceiving. Could you speak a little bit about that, the personal nature of flavor? One of the things I find most exciting and attractive about flavor is that it sits at this intersection of the extremely concrete — it's based on molecules, which we can measure, real matter — and the personal. Flavor doesn't happen until you put something in your mouth and the signals get sent to your brain and then from there, all bets are off. But one important piece to the connection between flavor and the personal, is that flavor is not just taste, it is also smell.  Smell is a huge, essential part of flavor. Smell, more than any of our other senses, is deeply tied in a physical, neurological way to our emotions and memories. Once we gather smell molecules and build a smell signal and pass it to the rest of the brain, the first place that it goes is the limbic system in places like the amygdala, places where we keep our most emotional, personal memories and associations. So with smell, and therefore with flavor, we'll often have our personal history, our emotional reaction to it, come up before we can even recognize or articulate what it is that we are smelling and tasting. Chefs and restaurants around the globe enlist the help of flavor scientist Arielle Johnson to give them a leg up on deliciousness. Photo by Nicholas Coleman. It's so interesting to me that these days, on social media in particular, where people are constantly giving their takes on whatever they're eating or the latest restaurant thing, it's always within these parameters of better or worse. Yet I think very few of us have spent the time to actually parse what it is we like and why. I think that's true. I think science really has nothing to say about questions of aesthetics and taste — taste in the philosophical sense, not the physiological sense. What is the ultimate? What is the best? These are subjective questions. Science can enhance that understanding but can't really tell us what it is. Let's get into the science. What is flavor? Flavor is a composite sense, combining mostly taste and smell, as well as some information from all the other senses but taste and smell are the two big ones. Taste, meaning sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami, is something a lot of people know about but let's focus on smell. In the book, you say, "Right now, as you read this, you have brain cells dangling out of the bottom of your skull, exposed to the air inside your nose at all times, and we all walk around like this is totally normal." I know that is how it works. I know it's a real thing. And still, every time I think about it, it blows my mind that that is how smell works. We have neurons that are attached on one end to a structure called the olfactory bulb in our brain and then those neurons, those brain cells, pass through small holes in the base of our skull and just kind of hang out, waiting to grab on to smell molecules on the inside of our nasal cavity. Amazing. You compare smell to a QR code. What do you mean by that? It's probably best understood by comparing it to taste. With taste, we have very distinct matches between specific molecules, specific receptors, and specific perceptions. When you taste something sour, acid molecules will go onto your tongue. They will interact with the sour receptor, which pretty much only interacts with them and with nothing else, and the signal that gets sent to your brain is like pressing a key on a piano. So sour, loud, and clear. Very simple, very one-directional.  With smell, we don't have a finite set of smells the way we do with taste. We have the five basic tastes. With smell, we have about 400 different types of receptors and the way that we collect smell information is rather than having these one-to-one pairings, like acid to sour receptor and sugar to sweet receptor, all volatile smell molecules can interact with several of these 400 receptors. And any receptor might grab on to a few or dozens of molecules in a different way. You have some rules for flavor that you list in the book. I think the one that is the most useful for home cooks is the fact that flavor follows predictable patterns, and that if people understand the patterns, they can unlock the ability to improvise. Is it possible to train your palate to become attuned to that? Absolutely. A lot of people when I'm talking to them and they hear that I study flavor, they're like, "Oh, I have such a bad palate. I could never do that." The fact is that most humans are very, very good at distinguishing differences between flavors, we're just very bad at naming them. Fortunately, we can learn how to do that with practice. Most of us are just out of practice. I've actually, in my academic career back in the day, trained a few dozen people to become very precise analytical tasters. What we do in the lab, you can essentially replicate on a simpler level at home. It's really just a process of smelling and tasting things very carefully, paying attention, trying to name any associations that you have, and then basically doing this over and over again. Most people are bad at it at first and it feels very out of our comfort zones and uncomfortable, but eventually, you will get very good at it. Let's get into specific ingredients. What is meat?  Meat, from the perception of a flavor scientist, is a mostly flavorless but texturally interesting sponge of proteins soaked full of water with a relatively tiny amount of flavor-active molecules in it. Those flavor molecules are like precursors and they create a meaty flavor once that meat is cooked. Yeah, so if you smell ground beef or taste beef tartare from a restaurant or a supplier that is reputable enough to give you raw meat, you'll notice it doesn't taste beefy like beef stew, necessarily, or like cooked meat. That beefy flavor really doesn't exist until you start heating up the meat and the different ions and enzymes and things like that interact with things like cell membrane lipids and free amino acids, stuff that's floating around. Once all these components meet and get shaken up in the heat, they'll make these very beefy flavored molecules. That is the flavor of meat that we know and love. Objectively, do vegetables have more flavor than meat from a molecular standpoint? Yes. In terms of raw product, vegetables have a lot more flavors than raw meat. Definitely. Okay, spice. We're here in LA. You had a burrito for breakfast. Why do different versions of chilies hit differently? In terms of spiciness, chilies have a very, very spicy molecule in them called capsaicin. The range of spicy in chilies is pretty much a one-to-one correspondence with the concentration of this molecule capsaicin that they make. The weird and fun thing about spicy is that it feels like a taste but it is not actually a taste because we do not sense it with our taste buds. We sense it with a pain receptor. Technically, spicy is a part of touch. Wow, I love that. For some unknown reason, I have about two pounds of cocoa nibs in my pantry.  Nice problem to have.  You gave me the gift, in your book, of cocoa nib lemon butter. How do we make it and what do we do with it?  Cocoa nib lemon butter is a compound butter. It's a recipe I wrote to highlight and showcase how good fat is as a carrier of aromas. Specifically, any compound butter is really about taking some kind of flavorful solid ingredient, folding it together with butter, and letting it hang out for a little while. With cocoa and lemon butter, you get these deep, roasted fruity notes from the cocoa nibs, some bitterness and also this very light, sprightly, heady citrus flavor from lemon zest. The nice thing about compound butter is that it's easy to make. And by giving these aromatic, flavorful ingredients a chance to hang out with the butter for a little while, you'll get something that is infused with the character of the flavors but also has these intense pops of it. It's a dynamic eating experience that I really like.  It's really interesting. The reason I have so many cocoa nibs is that I really love making biscotti with cocoa nibs. I think I'm going to make that butter and then use the butter in the recipe.  That sounds delicious. That's exactly the kind of thinking I hope people take away from reading about flavor. Basically, any time you're cooking and bringing ingredients together, you have an opportunity to bring them together in a more flavorful, more delicious way. Any time you're adding fat to a recipe, whether it's butter or oil or anything like that, if you combine it with the flavorful ingredients early on, you'll get a much more intense, round, well-infused flavor. Making this compound butter and then using the butter to make the biscotti, I think you'll probably get quite a different taste experience. Cacao Nib–Lemon Butter Makes about 1 cup This is a salty-sweet dessert on some rich brioche or challah. It’s also great on squashes, summer or winter. Ingredients  2 sticks (about 225 g) softened, best-quality unsalted butter (grass-fed and cultured, if you can find it!) 2 tablespoons (20 g) lightly toasted, crushed cocoa nibs a scant ½ teaspoon (2.5 g) fine sea salt 3 g lemon zest (just short of 1 medium lemon, zested) Instructions In a medium to large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mix together well, then pile on a piece of plastic wrap and roll into a log. Chill, well wrapped, in the fridge until use. Consume within 3 weeks. Reprinted from Flavorama by arrangement with Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Copyright © 2024, Arielle Johnson. Tell me about your Peanut Russian. The Peanut Russian is my take on a White Russian, which is coffee liqueur and half-and-half. Watch The Big Lebowski. I don't know if people still drink them regularly. I like them a lot. It's this idea of an alcoholic beverage that's got this deep coffee, bitter brown goodness and a lot of creaminess. But in this case, instead of a dairy product, you use peanut milk, which is like making soy milk but with peanuts instead of soy beans. It's extracting all the flavor of the peanut into this creamy "milk" and then using a coffee-infused rum in the place of a Kahlúa to make a really creamy, nutty, also vegan cocktail experience. It sounds so good to me. Why are you a fond evangelist, someone who goes so far as to cook giant trays of chicken that you're then going to dispose of because you have stabbed it so many times to let the juices flow out and caramelize on the pan? The fond is, as you say, when you're cooking a piece of meat and the juices leak out, they make this brown layer that sticks to the pan. This, to me, is the perfect concentrated essence of meatiness. Whenever I brown a piece of meat or I'm trying to make gravy or roasting a piece of meat, I always, always, always deglaze the pan and find a way to incorporate the fond, the brown meaty parts into either the meat itself or into a sauce.  During previous Thanksgivings, when we've grilled our turkey and we're not roasting it in a pan, so we did not have a fond, I did not want terrible gravy (I think fond is essential for good gravy) so we roasted sheet pans of chicken drumsticks that I stabbed all over while they were cooking, which you're not supposed to do. You're not supposed to stick your knife too many times into a piece of meat to check because it'll let the juices run out. In this case, I wanted the juices to run out because I wanted them to collect on the pan and make an extra, extra large fond to use wherever I wanted. In this case, [it was] for delicious gravy. In my defense, I didn't actually throw the drumsticks away. I did use them to make a light stock. But in this case, you're really taking that flavorless sponge and separating it from the meat juice, which you get to experience as its own concentrated essence. Does texture have anything to do with flavor or is it just a bonus? No, texture is a huge part of flavor. The texture of salt grains, for example, can have a really significant impact on how salty you perceive a salt to be. Things like astringency in red wine. If you drink a young red wine and it makes the inside of your mouth feel like sandpaper, you'll have a bit of a different flavor experience overall than if you were just drinking it without tannin. Is that because the tannins are actually having a physical effect on the surface of your tongue? Not on the surface of your tongue. Your entire mouth is lubricated with saliva. (Sorry for saying "lubricated" and "saliva." I know those are gross words.) What makes saliva a good lubricant, in this case, is because it has different types of proteins, sometimes what are called glycoproteins, floating around in it. Tannins, which are groupings of polyphenols that make red wine red and other fruits and flowers the colors that they are, react with the proteins and pull them out of solutions. It'll actually make your saliva a much less efficient lubricant. Astringency is the unmediated feeling of your tongue touching the inside of your mouth. I love that. It's such a nerd fest. Do you think that one reason why a lot of good restaurant food happens is because chefs take advantage of opportunities to create layered flavor, they take the time to do that, whereas at home, we just want to feed ourselves? Absolutely. In a restaurant, since you are doing all of your prep in advance and then executing many dishes over the course of a night, the structure is really set up that allows you to pre-make or pre-prep a lot of different components then bring them together on the final plate. I'd say yeah, the biggest difference between really complex-tasting restaurant food and home cooking is this singular focus on making each component as flavorful as possible, often regardless of how inefficient and time-consuming that is. This is where all of the infusions, extractions, dehydrated situations come into play. Fermentation, things like that, if you want to start your prep months before you're going to eat a dish. Like at Noma. Exactly. We have to talk about pie because we're kind of pie-obsessed. And specifically apple pie. We have a big contest coming up in a few weeks and there are two apple categories this year. How is the flavor of an apple transformed by heat? When you heat up smell molecules, since those molecules are volatile, they are able to basically spend time as a gas and float through the air. Once you heat them up, they will start to essentially boil off and dissipate. This is how a reed diffuser or one of those candle rings that you put essential oils into works. You heat up small molecules and they'll go up into the air more. They won't all do it at the same rate and to the same degree.  When you cook apples, or heat up pieces of fruit but specifically apples, you'll tend to boil off some of the lighter, tutti fruity and green top notes. What you're left with are a lot of what a perfumer might call the base notes, the physically and chemically heavier smell molecules that, in the case of apples, have this really decadent, plush, rose petal, cooked fruit, caramel, tobacco character. That's one of my favorite flavors. My favorite apple molecule is called beta-Damascenone. It is a norisoprenoid. It's one of these apple base notes. Do you have any advice on how to enhance the flavor of an apple pie?  Yes. One is to enhance the flavor of the apples themselves by trying to induce chemical reactions that will create more flavors than the apples already have. So if you were to roast or caramelize the apples a little bit, or if not all of the apples, some of the apples beforehand, you'll be introducing more flavor molecules into the pie, literally. If you include any fats or butter in the cream, in the filling itself, let the apples and the spices mingle together with any fat for maybe a day in the fridge before you put them all together and you'll get a much more permeated, infused flavor expression of all of those things.  If you wanted to go crazy, you could enhance the apple flavor of the apple filling by using a bit of apple molasses, which is really just reduced apple juice or apple cider. If you juice some of the apples and simmer [the juice] very gently until you make a syrup, you'll get a super concentrated essence of apple that you can then really beef up the apple pie with. As water reduces, flavor gets a boost, giving apple pie a concentrated taste when the fruit bakes. Illustration by Arielle Johnson. That's what I do. Great minds think alike, I guess. There are a couple apple farms that make an exceptional cider extract — boiled cider. It's so delicious.  I think that's a great example of how thinking about the science of flavor doesn't have to feel like an organic chemistry class. It can be a little enhancement to your existing culinary intuition. I'm glad you already figured that one out. If you can exhort us to take on board one technique at home to create more flavor, what would it be? I think one of the easiest ways to embrace this is to embrace the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction is a reaction between amino acids to the building blocks of proteins and sugars. Chemistry aside, it is the source of all of the browned, toasted, roasted flavors in things like chocolate, coffee, roasted meat, chicken skin, toast, brown butter. It's a reaction that has many different faces. Chocolate doesn't taste the same as coffee although they're both sort of brown-tasting.  The easiest way to use this to add extra layers of flavor to whatever you're cooking is to heat up any ingredients that you have, whether that's butter or a piece of meat, so that these things have a chance to react with each other and to, as much as possible, do things like dab the outside of meat before you sear it so that there isn't as much water. [That way], the water doesn't absorb all of the heat, the heat can go into the meat and then create this delicious browning reaction. A lot of the precursors, the building blocks for this stuff, are just hanging out in the ingredients that we're using all of the time. All you have to do is be a little bit clever about how you're applying heat to them and you'll reap all of these flavor rewards. "Flavorama: A Guide to Unlocking the Art and Science of Flavor" explores the building blocks of yumminess. Photo courtesy of Harvest.

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