The Sporkful

By: Dan Pashman and Stitcher
  • Summary

  • We obsess about food to learn more about people. The Sporkful isn't for foodies, it's for eaters. Hosted by Dan Pashman, who's also the inventor of the new pasta shape cascatelli. James Beard and Webby Award winner for Best Food Podcast. A Stitcher Production.
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Episodes
  • Reheat: Can A Restaurant Be For Everyone?
    Nov 15 2024

    "White people are comfortable anywhere," says restaurateur Andy Shallal. "In order for a Black person to walk into a space, there need to be signals that say, 'You're welcome.'" In this week's show we decode those signals, which include the decor and music, the staff and other customers, and more. These codes tell you what kind of place a restaurant is, and whether it's for you. So what happens when a restaurant uses these signals to bring certain people in, and keep others out? This week we visit three very different restaurants in Washington D.C. to talk with the owners and customers about the different signals these places send, and what those codes can tell us about larger questions of race and culture. This episode is co-hosted by writer and reporter Kat Chow, formerly of the NPR podcast and blog Code Switch.

    This episode originally aired on October 9, 2016, and was repeated on May 20, 2020. It was produced by Dan Pashman and Anne Saini. Edited by Rebecca Carroll, Lee Hill, and Arwa Gunja. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Publishing by Shantel Holder and transcription by Emily Nguyen.

    Every other 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.

    Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

    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.

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    44 mins
  • How Judith Jones Changed Cookbooks Forever
    Nov 11 2024

    What do Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and The Diary of Anne Frank have in common? A woman named Judith Jones fought for both of them to be published. Judith was an editor with a vision, someone who was able to see the potential in books that so many others dismissed. This week Dan talks with Sara B. Franklin, author of the new biography The Editor: How Publishing Legend Judith Jones Shaped Culture in America. Sara met Judith a little over a decade ago, when she was hired to do a series of oral history interviews with Judith. That project grew into this biography, in which Sara tells the story of one of the most influential people ever to work in the world of cookbooks, or any books.

    The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Nora Ritchie, Jared O'Connell, and Giulia Leo. Publishing by Shantel Holder and transcription by Emily Nguyen.

    Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

    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.

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    44 mins
  • Reheat: The Rice Cooker That Changed Jake Cohen’s Life
    Nov 8 2024

    Jake Cohen didn’t care much about Jewish food when he went to culinary school and worked in high end restaurants. But when he met his future husband, Jake was introduced to the Middle Eastern Jewish recipes of his in-laws, like tahdig and kubbeh. Soon, he was mining his own family’s Eastern European Jewish recipes, and putting his spin on matzo ball soup and kasha varnishkes. Earlier this year Jake published his first cookbook, Jew-ish: Reinvented Recipes From A Modern Mensch, and he’s become a social media star. Ahead of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), Dan and Jake talk about the controversial ingredient Jake adds to tahdig, whether Rosh Hashanah brisket is overhyped, and why personality is so important in online food videos.

    This episode originally aired on August 30, 2021, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, and Andres O'Hara. Edited by Tracey Samuelson. Mixed by Jared O’Connell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Publishing by Shantel Holder and transcription by Emily Nguyen.

    Every other 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.

    Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

    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.

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    34 mins

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Come for the food porn, stay for the education 😋

Wow, this show is food and cooking techniques all rolled around in pop culture powder. I got a history less on indigenous life while listening to some of the best poetry I've ever hear. Laughed so hard, that I started to chock.

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What happened to Dan?

Wow. What happened to Dan in this episode? Normally, he asks really great questions and pushes back a little against establishment ideas. But when his guests talk about how no one is forcing people to work at Noma and they shouldn't complain about not getting paid, he doesn't push back at all. Instead, he waited to do a voice over to address the inequality inherent in unpaid internships. This whole episode seemed like another "millennials are ruining this industry" piece that is really disappointing. At no point does anyone address that people probably aren't going to these restaurants because we can't afford our rent, let alone a 900$ meal. For the record Vivian, I don't prefer counter service, I just can't afford to participate in your "dining room experience". And no one is forcing you to serve flat bread that takes 3 days and 8 people to make.

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