The Sporkful

Thirty years into her career as a chef and cookbook author, Carla Lalli is releasing a book many people told her she shouldn’t write. It’s called Food Is A Feeling , and it’s a lot more personal than her others. It has plenty of great recipes, but at its core it’s a series of essays about her divorce, and how it changed her relationship with food. Carla talks with Dan about what she made the night she and her ex-husband told the kids they were separating, and how she learned to embrace cooking just for pleasure. Plus, she tells us why she put a recipe for a failed tuna melt in the book. And if you want to enter to win a copy of Carla’s book, just sign up for our newsletter ! Sign up by September 25th and we’ll pick one lucky winner to receive a copy of Food Is A Feeling . If you’re already subscribed to our newsletter, then you are already entered to win. US residents only. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of The Sporkful ad-free. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You know that friend of yours who rails against the evils of high fructose corn syrup? The one who’s obsessed with where every single morsel of their food comes from? Writer Michael Pollan — author of The Omnivore's Dilemma , Food Rules , and Cooked — may have made your friend like that. But as we hear in this conversation, Michael himself isn’t like that at all. This week, he opens up about everything from how he likes to eat Cracker Jack to the time a fan caught him eating a candy bar in a gas station. And in the later part of this Reheat, Madre Chocolate's Nat Bletter explains that you can tell a chocolate's quality by the sound it makes when you break it. Nat also delineates three types of chocolate eaters: melters , chompers, and chomelters. Nat says different chocolate bars are made for different styles, so if you know your type you'll know your chocolate. These episodes originally aired on September 9, 2014, February 22, 2016, and March 5, 2018, and were produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, Peter Clowney, and Kristen Meinzer. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at hello@sporkful.com , and include your name, your location, which episode, and why. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of The Sporkful ad-free. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Fernando Frías was a successful cafe and restaurant owner in Havana. But when Fidel Castro came to power, the government nationalized Fernando’s businesses and imprisoned him when he tried to leave the country. Eventually he got out, settling near Miami like so many other Cuban expats. Even though Fernando never went back to Cuba, he was always searching for pieces of his homeland in the Cuban-American community in Miami. This week Dan talks with Fernando’s son, Carlos Frías , who’s now an investigative editor at USA TODAY . Carlos was close with his father until Fernando was tragically murdered in 2020. In his grief, Carlos sought a new connection with his father by writing about Miami’s first ventanita . This episode originally aired on June 27, 2022, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Kimmie Gregory, and Jared O’Connell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of The Sporkful ad-free. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Negin Farsad loves to negotiate. And when it comes to negotiating, nothing is off-limits — even religious law. "I feel like Allah would be like, 'Get the pork chop but don't kill anybody,'" the Iranian-American Muslim comedian and host of Fake the Nation says. This week, Negin uses her lamb kebab to school us on campaign finance reform. (Can you tell she's a former policy advisor?) This episode originally aired on February 19, 2018, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Peter Clowney. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at hello@sporkful.com , and include your name, your location, which episode, and why. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of The Sporkful ad-free. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In New Jersey, the tomato is king. Almost a century ago, a scientist at Rutgers University developed a variety that became the tomato that lined grocery store shelves for decades. Now, Rutgers scientists are at it again — they’ve invented a new grape tomato called Scarlet Sunrise . Will it become the next hot item in the produce aisle? How do you even invent a new tomato? And why are new varieties of fruits and veggies becoming more popular than ever? We team up with Kenny Malone from Planet Money to find out, and to see if this hot new tomato can win over a longtime grape tomato skeptic. From Planet Money , this episode was produced by James Sneed, edited by Keith Romer, fact checked by Sierra Juarez, and engineered by Cena Loffredo and Jimmy Keely. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When Dan had to plan his mom’s big 80th birthday dinner, he knew just where to take the whole family: Myrtle Beach, SC. The group of ten celebrated at Hook and Barrel , a sustainable seafood and wine restaurant owned by restaurateur Heidi Vukov, who’s a legend in Myrtle Beach. She started out as a single mom who opened a small bakery, and 31 years later became the city’s first James Beard semifinalist. Dan also takes his wife and kids to Tidal Creek Brewhouse , known for its ales, its burgers, and — believe it or not — their menu for dogs. This episode is sponsored by Visit Myrtle Beach . The city has more than 2,000 restaurants along 60 miles of beaches, and is now one of the major food destinations in the south. So plan your trip today ! The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Additional production on this episode by Grace Rubin. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Can “functional” candy be delicious? Why are people ordering from a fake food delivery app? And should tomatoes be banned from sandwiches? We cover all of these questions and more in this week’s Salad Spinner, our rapid-fire roundtable discussion of the hottest food news of the moment. Joining us in the Spinner this week are Tanya Sichynsky , a New York Times editor and author of the forthcoming Veg Everything , and Zach Stafford , host of the Vibe Check podcast. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Chef Marcus Samuelsson was taught in culinary school that French cuisine is the gold standard of cooking. One day, he realized, “somebody lied." Samuelsson, a black Swede and the youngest chef to ever receive a three-star review from The New York Times (at age 23), has forged a new culinary ethos that permeates his restaurants in Harlem, Montreal, and London. His flagship restaurant, Red Rooster Harlem , combines Swedish and Ethiopian influences into dishes that have helped launch an empire. The menu includes cornbread with lingonberry butter, a salad with berbere vinaigrette, and his own take on fried chicken: a hot honey yardbird. In this conversation, taped live on stage at the Museum of the City of New York , Samuelsson talks about the life experiences that have informed his approach to food. He responds to criticism of his Red Rooster restaurants, and tells us about a dish he’s working on that gives a rare window into the mind of a chef. This episode originally aired on August 5, 2019, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, Ngofeen Mputubwele, Peter Clowney, and Jared O'Connell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at hello@sporkful.com , and include your name, your location, which episode, and why. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Like palm trees, the Everglades, Disney World, and “Florida Man,” the orange is a classic symbol of the Sunshine State. But maybe not for much longer. Production has declined more than 95% in less than 25 years, setting off alarm bells across the industry. So what happened? It’s a produce murder mystery—and reporter Alex Sammon and our friends at Decoder Ring are on the case. The suspects include insects, hurricanes, mortgage-backed securities, and the American habit of not reckoning with enormous, load-bearing flaws until it’s way too late. Check out Decoder Ring wherever you get your podcasts. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. The Decoder Ring team includes Katie Shepherd, Evan Chung, Josh Levin, Willa Paskin, Max Freedman, and Merritt Jacob. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

At the 1964 New York World's Fair, Belgian waffles were introduced to America. They became a sensation. But a half-century later, the woman who sold those waffles says her family's legacy has been co-opted. She joins Dan to share her memories of that World's Fair, and to explain why her mother still blames her father for everything that went wrong. Plus, we introduce her to an innovative, young waffle-maker who’s shaking things up. And then, in part two of this Reheat, Sporkful listeners call in for Dan's advice on family food feuds. Matt in Ohio can't abide his brother's non-traditional pancake toppings, and Chloe and Jason in Baltimore need help settling a serious cookie conflict. But it turns out these domestic disputes are really about love. And also pancakes and cookies. These episodes originally aired on May 20, 2014, August 24, 2015, and October 12, 2015, and were produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, Kristen Meinzer, and Irene Trudell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at hello@sporkful.com , and include your name, your location, which episode, and why. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Rao family in Maryland knew that something was different about their younger daughter, Ayoni, almost as soon as she was born. But it took them until she was five to get a diagnosis of Prader-Willi Syndrome , a rare genetic condition that causes extreme, insatiable hunger. Food needs to be locked away from many of these patients, or they might eat until their stomachs actually rupture. Dan visits the Raos at their home to learn more about how they manage Ayoni’s condition, then cooks and eats dinner with the family. Dan also talks with Zayd Anwarzai, a 25-year-old with PWS, about what it’s like when he knows he’s eaten enough, but his stomach tells him otherwise. And Dan speaks with Dr. Jennifer Miller , the leading PWS expert in the country. Check out Colors of Hope , the organization that Dini Rao founded to help families of color who are living with PWS. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, Jared O'Connell, and Glydel Go. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The musical Sweeney Todd is about a barber who goes on a killing spree and disposes of his victims by baking them into meat pies. In an off-Broadway production, they serve you an actual meat pie before the show begins. Dr. Pamela Dalton , a researcher at the Monell Chemical Senses Center , helps us understand how food flavors and smells can affect our brains while we’re watching this kind of immersive theater. Then, food Helen Rosner joins Dan to eat the pies, see the show, and report back. This episode originally aired on April 24, 2017, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Dan Charles. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at hello@sporkful.com , and include your name, your location, which episode, and why. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mandy Naglich is an award-winning home brewer who also writes and teaches about beer. Now she wants to become a Master Cicerone — basically the beer equivalent of a master sommelier. There’s only a handful in the world, and the majority are men. If Mandy wants to join this rarefied group, she’ll need to pass a grueling two-day exam that includes identifying beers by taste and smell, pairing beers with food, and fixing a broken draft line. Dan selflessly offers himself up as Mandy’s beer-tasting study buddy, and we get a glimpse of the depth of her knowledge. But will it be enough for her to become a Master Cicerone? Pick up a copy of Mandy’s book How To Taste , and subscribe to her Substack Today In Taste . This episode originally aired on January 3, 2022, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O’Connell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why do our brains go crazy for the melted cheese on Philly's iconic cheesesteak? What is it about scrapple’s crispy fried goodness? How does surface-area-to-volume ratio make the roast pork sandwich more delicious? This week, we take a road trip to the City of Brotherly Love to feast on some classic Philadelphia fare. We also learn about the science of appetite with a researcher at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in West Philadelphia. It's hard work, but we're making the big sacrifices for science. This episode originally aired on February 23, 2015, and July 8, 2019, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Ngofeen Mputubwele. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at hello@sporkful.com , and include your name, your location, which episode, and why. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Is there anything better than hearing the sound of an ice cream truck approaching? Today we’re bringing you two stories of ice cream trucks, past and present. First, Sporkful managing producer Emma Morgenstern tells the tale of her great-uncles, who owned a fleet of trucks starting in the 1940s — complete with sibling rivalries, California dreaming, and the exact right speed to drive a truck to maximize profits. Then, Dan hangs out with Caner Halis, a soft-serve truck driver and local celebrity in Dan’s neck of the woods. Caner breaks down the intricacies of the business, and Dan tries to convince Caner to try vanilla soft-serve with olive oil and sea salt. If you live in the area and want to book Caner for your next party, text him at (631) 947-5518 or find him on Instagram @halisicecream . The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Carla Hall is known for her quirky, energetic personality on TV. But in some ways she’s very different today from the woman who first appeared as a contestant on Top Chef almost two decades ago. "I didn't want to show up as my Blackness if it wasn't going to be accepted," the former co-host of The Chew says of her first foray into food media. When Carla started her career, she turned her back on the food she grew up with. Her journey back included false starts, U-turns, and a mail truck full of sandwiches. Carla's one-woman show, Please Underestimate Me , is closing this weekend, but there are still a few tickets left! Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at hello@sporkful.com , and include your name, your location, which episode, and why. This episode originally aired on November 26, 2018, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, Aviva DeKornfeld, Gianna Palmer, and Dan Dzula. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We’re back with our annual game show: Two Chefs And A Lie! This year our contestant is Rachel Martin , host of the NPR podcast Wild Card and an old friend of Dan’s. The game goes like this: Rachel talks with three guests. Two of them are real chefs, one is an impostor. She can ask each of them just five questions, then has to guess who the liar is. You can play along too! Can Rachel, and you, spot the fake chef? The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Is the perfect burrito a feat of engineering or art? We debate burrito construction and the Los Angeles/San Francisco rivalry with Jesse Thorn (founder of Maximum Fun and host of Bullseye ) and Evan Kleiman (host of KCRW's Good Food ). Matt Yglesias (cofounder of Vox Media and author of the Slow Boring newsletter) compares Chipotle burritos to iPhones. And then, Dan and cookbook author/YouTuber Kenji López-Alt take some calls: A wife objects to her husband's embarrassing food hacks, and Kenji explains the science of tomato storage. These episodes originally aired on September 3, 2012, July 1, 2013, May 4, 2015, May 29, 2017, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Dan Charles. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at hello@sporkful.com , and include your name, your location, which episode, and why. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Recent studies say that somewhere between 12 and 16 percent of Americans have used GLP-1s like Ozempic, Wegovy, or Zepbound. Many people who take these drugs report that the meds have fundamentally changed their relationship to food. Jason Diamond is a writer who covers food, men’s fashion, and culture. Throughout his life he’s had a complicated relationship with both food and medication, which played a big role in how he thought about whether or not, as a new dad, to start taking GLP-1s. Jason’s story in New York Magazine is “ Eating With My Daughter and My Zepbound .” The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

“The time has come for us to change the coffee brand that we offer and we want your input!” The email came from Myiesha Gordon in the HR Department at WNYC. Like many others, Myiesha hated the office coffee. This week we follow her as she sets up a taste test and an office-wide coffee election. We'll find out why office coffee is so important to people, plus we'll talk to a caffeine researcher about whether it makes us better at our jobs. Then a behavioral economist weighs in about whether coffee is something companies should be spending money on. This episode originally aired on January 16, 2017, and October 19, 2020, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, Shoshana Gold, and Dan Charles. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at hello@sporkful.com , and include your name, your location, which episode, and why. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.