 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
February 2002
February 2 - February 9 - February 16 - February 23
(How to listen)
February 2: Offbeat Food | Listen
It's a look at the unusual, the unexpected, and the extraordinary aspects of food and food culture this week with Alan Ridenour, author of Offbeat Food: Adventures in an Omnivorous World. From how Betty Crocker has changed through the years to the dangers of Pez dispensers and a history of pie throwing, we promise an entertaining look at popular culture that we hope sparks a dinner table conversation or two.
Jane and Michael Stern got lost in Texas but found great New Mexican Soul Food. Wine Maverick Joshua Wesson wants us to try the unfamiliar but luscious Eiswein, and Chinese scholar Li Ping Wang gives our hungry reporter, Scott Haas, a lesson on celebrating Chinese New Year and a recipe for New Year's Feast Fish. New York Times columnist Amanda Hesser reports on restaurant surveillance, a new privacy issue that should give you the willies.
Featured clip: Joshua Wesson on Eiswein
February 9: A Valentine Classic | Listen
If you've ever wondered who comes up with the messages printed on those little heart-shaped candies that appear every year at this time, tune in for the story behind a Valentine's Day classic from the New England Confectionary Company.
The always original Jane and Michael Stern are dining inside a longhorn skull in Amado, Arizona. Wine wizard Joshua Wesson has the scoop on Argentina's Malbec. Is this the next big red? We'll recall one of the great 1960s scenes with Jamie Bernstein Thomas, daughter of Leonard Bernstein and author of A West Side Story in the February issue of Gourmet magazine.
John Willoughby talks watercress and shares a recipe for Watercress and Endive Salad with Pears, Blue Cheese, and Orange-Beet Dressing from Lettuce in Your Kitchen. We'll visit College of the Atlantic, home of "America's best campus food," and Lynne gives us a menu and recipes (including her wickedly sensuous Panna Cotta) for a cozy Valentine's Day dinner at home.
February 16: Fast Food Nation | Listen
Americans will spend over $110 billion this year on take-out food, a frightening sum when we consider what's really in those burgers, fries, and sodas. Journalist Eric Schlosser, author of the New York Times best-seller Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, takes a look at this grim statistic and says the fast food industry should be exposed to the same scrutiny given tobacco and drug companies.
On a brighter note, Jane and Michael Stern are eating old-fashioned apple dumplings at Southern Kitchen in Charleston, West Virginia, and our cheese guy Steve Jenkins is back with advice on picking American Cheddars. Ari Weinzweig, founder of Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has the scoop on some exotic varieties of olives. And Lynne shares her recipe for Siracusa Market Pasta, inspired by the black olives Italian farmwives sell at the Sicilian port town's morning market.
February 23: Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards | Listen
This week Lynne talks with Paul Draper, CEO of Ridge Vineyards, and the winemaker who elevated California Zinfandel to world-class status by shunning market-driven, high-tech methods in favor of ancient techniques. The resulting wines are simply the essence of refinement, intensity, and complexity.
Jane and Michael Stern are eating in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, at the Wolf Lodge Inn, and our hungry reporter Scott Haas is behind the kitchen door learning how to get good restaurant service. We'll hear from architectural historian Jim Heimann, author of California Crazy & Beyond, about those wacky restaurants shaped like walk-in donuts and giant burgers. And zoo archaeologist Deborah Rusilo reveals "the secrets of the bones." Dorie Greenspan, whose new book is Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme, evaluates rolling pins—an essential tool for making Lynne's Caramelized Almond Tart.
Featured clip: Dorie Greenspan on Rolling Pins
Follow along as 15 bloggers from around the country commit to eating a local diet. Locavore Nation® will chronicle their ups and downs throughout 2008 as they try to make a difference through sustainable eating.
Follow the Nation!
Weeknight Kitchen® is a free weekly e-mail newsletter full of new recipes and tips from Lynne and our guests.
Sign up now!
The Splendid Table®, is now available for free in podcast form. Follow the Sterns as they travel the country, hear all our unique and wonderful guests and, as always, Lynne takes your calls, downloaded direct to your computer every week.
Get the podcast
Get our recipes delivered straight to your iGoogle account with our new Google Gadget. It's free. It's easy. Find out how you can install this new feature on your Google Homepage.
Learn More