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

This week, former bartender turned culinary historian Bobby Hicks joins us to talk about his passion for retro cooking. He gives us a history lesson on how recipes evolved thanks to industrial advances, and explains the thinking behind his redos of post-World War II-era recipes, like his carrot croquettes. Bobby Hicks is the author of Retro Recipes: Vintage Dishes with a Modern Twist, and he left us with an amazing recipe for Tomato Aspic. Then, we turn to the science behind human taste with Italian scientists Davide Risso and Gabriella Morini. They talk about distinguishing taste from flavor, how humans use a combination of senses to taste, how preferences change over time, and how understanding the fascinating taste preferences of animals (mosquitoes!) helps us understand taste in humans. Davide Risso is a molecular biologist with a PhD from the University of Bologna, and Gabriella Morini is a professor of taste and food sciences at the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, Italy. They co-authored On Taste in Humans and Other Animals. Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews!Broadcast dates for this episode:August 28, 2026 (originally aired)Generous listeners like you make The Splendid Table possible. Donate today to support the show

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora | Amazon Music | YouTubeThis week’s stop in our road trip series is Thailand: We’re revisiting an episode from a couple of years ago where we talked to Salvadoran chef Karla T. Vasquez and food journalist Austin Bush, author of The Food of Southern Thailand.

This week, we bring delicious island flavors and home hacks to your kitchen. First, Puerto Rican home cook Omi Hopper joins us to talk about her love letter to Puerto Rico and the journey that started it all. She teaches us her secrets, aka the key seasonings to delicious traditional Puerto Rican dishes like her Mofongo, mashed plantains with garlic and pork cracklings. Omi’s latest book is Cooking con Omi: A Love Letter to Puerto Rican Home Cooking. Then, we take a trip to another island with Top Chef finalist Sheldon Simeon to explore the global flavors of Hawaii. Sheldon shares his favorite home cooking hacks and the family recipes he learned from his dad. He leans on everyday pantry items to create family-style meals that are easy to whip up and delicious, like his over-the-top Loaded Mandoo recipe. Sheldon is the author of Cook Real Hawai’i, and his latest book is Ohana Style: Food from Hawai’i, for Your Family.Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews!Broadcast dates for this episode:August 14, 2026 (originally aired)Your support is a special ingredient in helping to make The Splendid Table. Donate today

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora | Amazon Music | YouTubeYou’re listening to a collection we’re calling road tripping! This week, it’s a journey to monasteries, temples, and other sacred spaces around the world to find their amazing food with Jody Eddy, author of Elysian Kitchens.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora | Amazon Music | YouTubeYou’re listening to The Splendid Table's special podcast series, Road Tripping. This week, we are off to Korea with Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard on how Korean cuisine has taken the world by storm.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora | Amazon Music | YouTubeYou’re listening to The Splendid Table's special podcast series, Road Tripping, a compilation of interviews exploring food destinations, culture, and unforgettable dishes from around the globe. For this series, we will be revisiting 6 conversations with writers and storytellers who know them best.This week, we talk with photojournalist and documentarian Kate Medley about her decade-long project documenting gas stations across the South. Have a listen!

This week, we explore traditional foods and identity with two amazing chefs. First, Food editor and author Monti Carlo talks about her visit home to Puerto Rico after many years away and how reconnecting with her roots shaped her approach to cooking traditional dishes, even adding her own spin, like her Bacalaíto Battered Onion Rings recipe. Monti Carlo is the Senior Food & Dining Editor at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and author of the latest book, Spanglish. Then, we get into the spicy, savory, sticky food of Laos with Saeng Douangdara. Saeng talks about his upbringing in Wisconsin, why sticky rice is a huge identifier of Laotian culture, and shares his favorite recipes, including his take on the Laab Taco. Saeng Douangdara is the author of The Lao Kitchen: Lao Flavors and Stories Told Through Family Recipes.Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews!Broadcast dates for this episode:June 12, 2026 (originally aired)Generous listeners like you make The Splendid Table possible. Donate today to support the show

This week, we get some seasonal Italian inspiration and delicious Italian sweets. First, we sit down with chef and cookbook author Hillary Sterling to talk about some of her signature dishes, how her obsession with Italian cooking began, and what it takes to get an exquisite dish on the table. Famous for her Creamy Parmigiano-Braised Beans, Hillary Sterling is the chef of Ci Siamo in New York City and author of Ammazza! Culinary Adventures from New York to Italy and Back Again. Then, we are on to Italian sweets with award-winning writer Domenica Marchetti. Domenica has written a book that is kind of a cookie travelogue! She joins us to talk Italian cookies, from North to South, everything from soft macaroons to crunchy amaretti, ready for dunking. Domenica is the author of Italian Cookies, Authentic Recipes and Sweet Stories from Every Region, and she left us with her recipe for Amaretti from Sardinia.Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews!Broadcast dates for this episode:May 8, 2026 (originally aired)Your support is a special ingredient in helping to make The Splendid Table. Donate today

When it comes to cooking, do you follow a recipe to a T, or do you do a little improv? This week, we learn a lot about cooking by feel with the star of the Peabody and Emmy-award-winning show A Chef’s Life, Vivian Howard. She talks to Francis about how she “deprogrammed’ herself from precision cooking and started thinking outside of a written recipe. Plus, she sticks around to help answer your cooking questions. Vivian’s latest book is This Will Make It Taste Good. Then, we take advice from the scientist-turned-cook Nik Sharma, author of The Flavor Equation, on how to be intuitive with our food.  Broadcast dates for this episode:January 22, 2021 (originally aired)January 28, 2022 (rebroadcast)November 1, 2024 (rebroadcast)When you shop using our links, we earn a small commission. It’s a great way to support public media at no extra cost to you!Celebrate kitchen companionship with a gift to The Splendid Table today.

We sit down with Dorie Greenspan to talk about her newest book, Baking with Dorie. She tells us about her "sweetheart" recipe collection, how she stays inspired after publishing 14 books, and how she dared makeover her famous World Peace Cookies. She left us with a delicious Caramel Apple Crisp recipe, perfect for the season and sticks around to answer your cooking questions. Later, our dear friend Abra Berens joins us to talk about her new book Grist: A Practical Guide to Cooking Grains, Beans, Seeds and Legumes. Soak or not to soak? Water or stock? And the last word on how to cook rice!Broadcast dates for this episode:October 22, 2021 (originally aired)October 28, 2022 (rebroadcast)September 20, 2024 (rebroadcast) Generous listeners like you make The Splendid Table possible. Donate today to support the show

This week, we’re spending an hour with Culinary Historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris. We talk about her start in food writing, how she started making connections between what she ate in Africa and what she ate in America, learn about one of her greatest influences, her mother who she calls her “culinary secret weapon”, and hear the many different ways she studied food, from reading Columbus’ journal to her experiences as a travel editor. She is the author of twelve books including, Iron Pots and Wooden Spoon: Africa’s Gifts to New World Cooking, her memoir, My Soul Looks Back, and High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America.Broadcast dates for this episode:January 7, 2022 (originally aired)January 27, 2023 (rebroadcast)May 17, 2024 (rebroadcast)

Have you ever wondered why things in the world have the smells that they do? Food science writer Harold McGee, long a fan of flavor, explored the world of smell to find out. He joins Francis to talk about his discoveries, explaining how he “listens” to smells, and what it can teach us about our lives. He’s one of the legends of food science writing and is the author of On Food and Cooking, the beloved, best-selling, game-changing culinary guide. His latest book is Nose Dive: A Field Guide to The Smells of the World. Broadcast dates for this episode:December 4, 2020 (originally aired)December 10, 2021 (rebroadcast)January 5, 2024 (rebroadcast)

This week, we talk to BBC Food journalist Dan Saladino about how saving endangered foods might save the world and indigenous foods activist Karlos Baca

This week, we get into cooking with winter vegetables with Hetty McKinnon, author of To Asia, With Love and Chef Amanda Cohen of Dirt Candy 

This week, we get into the beauty of mushrooms with wild foods expert Eugenia Bone and Anna L. Tsing, author of The Mushroom at the End of the World

We’re gearing up for the holidays with Von Diaz's Puerto Rican Christmas, great baking with Vallery Lomas, and a little slowdown poetry with Ada Limón

A holiday guide with The New Yorker’s Helen Rosner, Serious Eats' Daniel Gritzer, & Leah Bonnema & Nick Leighton of the Were You Raised by Wolves show

This week, we’ve surprisingly simple desserts with amazing bakers & chefs, Anne Byrn, Dave Beran, Aran Goyoaga, & Paola Velez

We talk with the authors of some of our favorite fall cookbooks: Mooncakes & Milk Bread, Gastro Obscura, Flavors of the Sun, and Sandor Katz’s Fermentation Journeys.

This week we sit down with Grace Young, one of the greatest culinary historians of Chinese American food to talk about her career and her mission to save Chinese restaurants in the age of Covid.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 19, 2021 (originally aired)February 25, 2022 (rebroadcast)

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

Francis Lam and renowned chef Michael Solomonov get to the soul of Israeli food, swap disaster stories and tag team calls from listeners.Broadcast dates for this episode:December 28, 2018 (originally aired)January 3, 2020 (rebroadcast)December 31, 2021 (rebroadcast)

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

Francis Lam hosts the 2021 pre-recorded edition of our popular Thanksgiving show. Francis is joined by special guests Cheryl Day, Pati Jinich, J.Kenji Lopez-Alt, David Chang, and Priya Krishna to answer your pre-recorded questions.Broadcast dates for this episode:November 25, 2021

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

Chef Lucas Sin talks about the evolution of Chinese food & we meet the Ng family, beloved restaurateurs of Kansas City's Bo Lings. 

This week for Thanksgiving we meet up with Chef Marcus Samuelsson for a new take on the turkey. His latest book is New American Table. Historian Andy Smith reminds us of the real origin of Thanksgiving Day, and Lynne takes on the great feast ... vegetarian style.Broadcast dates for this episode:November 21, 2009