Salt & Spine

"Food plays into the rural experience in a really interesting way. I think my personal experience is unique because I grew up in a very rural place. I felt shame around being from there, then I moved to a city. I've very much considered myself urban, and then I moved back and have made most of my adult life in this rural place. So I really kind of understand the sensibilities of both groups. … When we have pride in ourselves and our place, then we feel as if we want to invest in that more, whether it's emotionally or financially. Being rural really is a win-win for everyone, and food is so important here."This week, we're excited to welcome Vivian Howard to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.Vivian wears many hats: mom, chef, storyteller, television personality—all of which you’ll hear more about it in our conversation. Most recently, Vivian is the author of her second cookbook, This Will Make It Taste Good: A New Path to Simple Cooking.‍Vivian was born in

"I just thought about so many Black women who came before me who have been cooking amazing food in this country for centuries and how we don't know their names. But the stories of the women I do know in my family—my great-great aunt, my two grandmothers, my mother—I could tell the stories that I do know about them. So that was just crucial for me and, you know, it was very emotional as I was writing it."This week, we're excited to welcome Vallery Lomas to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.Vallery grew up in Southern Louisiana, learning to cook from her mother and grandmothers—her signature dish as a child was her Grandmother Leona’s Strawberry Delight—but she didn’t always plan to be a baker. Vallery went to USC to study pre-med, and it was only because of a requirement to study foreign languages that she stumbled into learning French and eventually abandoned the pre-med track for French and Psychology. Vallery graduated into the recession of 2008 and fi

This week, we're excited to welcome Abra Berens to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.Abra is the chef at Granor Farm in Three Oaks, Michigan, and the author of two cookbooks: Ruffage: A Practical Guide to Vegetables and Grist: A Practical Guide to Cooking Grains, Beans, Seeds, and Legumes.START COOKING TODAY: Omnivore Books | Bookshop | Hardcover Cook. | IndieBoundGrowing up in Michigan on a pickle farm, Abra took an interest in food early on. She worked at the beloved Zingerman's Deli in college and, before long, moved to Ireland to attend the farm-centered Ballymaloe Cooking School. Coming back to the states, she ran her own farm—called Bare Knuckle—for awhile, before landing at Granor Farm, where she hosts regular farm dinners to showcase their farming practices and produce. (Michigan is the second-most agriculturally diverse state in the country, second to California.)Abra joined us remotely for this week’s show to #TalkCookbooks. We've got a

**Today's episode is brought to you by Chronicle Books. Salt + Spine listeners can use the code SALT25 to get 25% off orders—with free ground shipping on orders over $25—through the end of 2021.**This week, we're excited to welcome Rodney Scott to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.Rodney is the owner of Rodney Scott's Whole Hog BBQ in Charleston, South Carolina (and a new location in Birmingham, Alabama, and a forthcoming spot in Atlanta). His debut cookbook, Rodney Scott's World of BBQ, tells the story of Rodney's life starting with his childhood in South Carolina through his James Beard Best Chef Award and features classic barbecue recipes.START COOKING TODAY: Omnivore Books (signed) | Bookshop | IndieBound | AmazonGrowing up in Hemingway, South Carolina, Rodney's family ran several businesses, from a gas station to a barbecue spot. His parents opened Scott's Variety Store and Bar-B-Q in 1972.In 2017, Rodney moved to Charleston and opened the first Rodney Scott's Whole H

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**Today's episode is brought to you by Chronicle Books. Salt + Spine listeners can use the code SALT25 to get 25% off orders—with free ground shipping on orders over $25—through the end of 2021.**This week, we're excited to welcome Chef Matthew Raiford to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.Matthew is a self-titled "CheFarmer"—that is Chef and Farmer—and the author of Bress ‘n’ Nyam: Gullah Geechee Recipes from a Sixth-Generation Farmer.Matthew was raised in Brunswick, Georgia, where his formerly enslaved great-great-grandfather, Jupiter Gilliard, had amassed more than 450 acres of land by 1874. Today, about 40 acres remain—where Matthew grew up farming alongside his grandmother, his father, and his sister, who now helps run Gilliard Farms with Matthew. Growing up, Matthew spent a lot of time in the kitchen, too, where he learned from his family how to prepare many of the dishes he still loves today.But before Matthew became a chef, he left the

NOTE: This is a two-part conversation. We suggest starting with the episode featuring our conversation with Jesse (one earlier in your podcast feed) and continuing with this chat with Julie.This week, we're excited to welcome actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson and chef/food writer Julie Tanous to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.Jesse and Julie are the co-authors of Food Between Friends, their debut cookbook that features recipes inspired by both of their upbringings and favorite dishes they like to cook together.After a serendipitous meeting at a dinner party, Jesse and Julie formed a quick friendship. Before long, they were cooking together regularly and friends began asking for recipes. A food blog was born. And then, Clarkson Potter took notice and the duo had a cookbook deal.The book is heavy on dishes inspired by the authors' childhoods: Julie's Alabama roots (think a fried green tomato salad or an ode to buttermilk biscuits with three recipes) as well as Jesse's New Mexico upbrin

NOTE: This is a two-part conversation. We suggest starting with this episode featuring our conversation with Jesse and continuing with our conversation with Julie (next in your feed).This week, we're excited to welcome actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson and chef/food writer Julie Tanous to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.Jesse and Julie are the co-authors of Food Between Friends, their debut cookbook that features recipes inspired by both of their upbringings and favorite dishes they like to cook together.After a serendipitous meeting at a dinner party, Jesse and Julie formed a quick friendship. Before long, they were cooking together regularly and friends began asking for recipes. A food blog was born. And then, Clarkson Potter took notice and the duo had a cookbook deal.The book is heavy on dishes inspired by the authors' childhoods: Julie's Alabama roots (think a fried green tomato salad or an ode to buttermilk biscuits with three recipes) as well as Jesse's New Mexico upbringi

This week, we're excited to welcome Reem Kassis to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.Born in Jerusalem, Reem moved to the United States at 17 to attend university—and she was determined not to end up in the kitchen. After receiving an MBA from Wharton Business School and a Master's in cultural psychology from the London School of Economics, Reem spent time working at major corporations from McKinsey to The World Economic Forum.But when Reem had her first daughter, Yasneem, she took the opportunity to slow down and reflect on the legacy that she would leave her children. And that’s when Reem pivoted. In 2017, Reem published her first, incredibly successful cookbook, The Palestinian Table.‍Despite her first book’s success, Reem didn’t expect to write a second cookbook—but her passion for sharing the complicated history of Arab cuisine pushed her to begin researching her latest book, The Arabesque Table. The Arabesque Table is a rich history of Ar

This week, we're excited to welcome Chef Brandon Jew and food writer Tienlon Ho to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.Brandon Jew and co-author, Tienlon Ho, joined us to talk about their recent cookbook: Mister Jiu's in Chinatown: Recipes and Stories from the Birthplace of Chinese American Food.PURCHASE THE COOKBOOK: Bookshop | IndieBoundMister Jiu's—the restaurant on which the book is based—sits in San Francisco's Chinatown on Waverley Place. In 2013, when the famed restaurant Four Seas closed down, Brandon decided to open his own place. But before Mister Jiu's, Brandon was cooking in some of the best kitchens in the Bay; a student of Judy Rogers at Zuni Cafe and Michael Tusk at Quince, Brandon started his cooking career with California cuisine, riffing on French and Italian classics and always, always honoring the ingredients.But when Brandon's paternal grandmother passed away from cancer, he realized that her culinary knowledge and skill could be lost, too. In the b

This week, we're excited to welcome Lindsay Gardner and Katianna Hong to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.Lindsay's debut book, Why We Cook: Women on Food, Identity, and Connection, features interviews, recipes, and essays from more than 100 women in food.PURCHASE THE COOKBOOK: Omnivore Books | Bookshop | IndieBound | AmazonAn artist whose illustrations and watercolor works have appeared in numerous media, Lindsay is an avid home cook herself and began to take a greater interest in cooking after having kids—a milestone that shaped how she began to think about the connections between food and her identity as a woman. Those connections often came back to this question: “We do we cook?” As Lindsay talked with more and more women in food media, restaurants, and the broader industry, she found both similar and totally unique responses to that question.Which led to the concept for her first book. The volume is beautifully illustrated throughout with Lindsay’s w

This week, we're excited to welcome Farmer Lee Jones to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.Lee grew up in Ohio, where his family has farmed for about six generations. Fresh into college at just 19 years old, Lee saw everything his family owned gone in a day—their farm, their house, their car—after a hail storm devastated their crops, and interest rates were sky-high. At that moment, the family pivoted to smaller-scale farming, catering to farmers’ markets.And it was at a farmers market in Cleveland, Ohio, that a chef approached them. asking where she could buy the type of vegetables she was used to cooking with in Europe, meaning organic, heirloom, chemical-free produce. Lee was in his early 20s, and the family took a vote—and decided to transition to growing only quality ingredients for chefs to use in their restaurants. And that paved the path forward.Today, Lee’s family farm has become The Chef’s Garden, which focuses on regenerative farming and suppli

Episode 110👤 THE GUEST: Molly Baz📗 THE BOOK: Cook This Book: Techniques That Teach & Recipes to Repeat🍴 THE RECIPES (for paid subscribers): Strip Steaks au PoivreThis week, we're excited to welcome Molly Baz to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.Molly became well-known as an editor in the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen, where she hosted videos on the magazine’s Youtube page. You may know herfrom the time she butchered an entire pig or when she learned to cook ostrich eggs.Molly grew up in upstate New York, near the Culinary Institute of America, but it wasn’t until later as a college student that Molly learned to love food while on a study-abroad program in Italy. When Molly graduated from Skidmore College, she took a job at Beacon Hill Bistro, where she says she really got her chops.Now, Molly has published her first cookbook, Cook This Book: Techniques that Teach and Recipes to Repeat. In Cook This Book, Molly tests the bounds of cookbook writing, in

This week, we're excited to welcome  Claire Saffitz to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.Claire became a household name during her time at the Bon Appetit test kitchen, where she starred in many of the channels’ videos, including her own series: Gourmet Makes. In that show, she reversed engineered popular processed treats, ranging from Sour Patch Kids to Doritos. After growing up in the Midwest, Claire landed at Harvard where she studied History and Literature before moving to Paris where she studied French cuisine and pastry. And that's not the end of her academic career, but before long, she found her way into food media. Today, Claire has her own YouTube channel. In addition to contributing to the New York Times food section, Claire joined us this week to discuss her debut cookbook, titled Dessert Person: Recipes and Guidance for Baking with Confidence, which became an instant New York Times bestseller when it was published last fall. START COOKING TODAY: Bookshop |

This week, we're excited to welcome Hetty McKinnon to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.Hetty’s entry to cookbooks began back in 2011, when she started a salad business, delivering lunch via bicycle around her neighborhood in Sydney, Australia. Before long, she found herself writing her first cookbook to catalog her creations and satisfy her customers, who had begun asking for her recipes. That early salad business built a community — the ritual of delivering a salad would lead to, as Hetty writes, “lively conversation, exuberant laughter and a constantly evolving hunting and gathering of stories and histories.”That first cookbook — titled Community: Salad Recipes from Arthur Street Kitchen — quickly became quite popular, leading to a second cookbook aptly titled Neighborhood: Hearty Salads and Plant-Based Recipes from Home and Abroad. (And then her third: Family: New Vegetarian Comfort Food to Nourish Every Day.) And Hetty's publishing path co

This week, we're excited to welcome Ayesha Curry to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.Ayesha is the modern food & lifestyle mogul. Growing up obsessed with cooking, Ayesha always had her eyes set on acting — but her foray into food blogging has launched a massive career.Her first cookbook, The Seasoned Life, cemented her status on the culinary landscape. Soon followed restaurants, television shows, a new lifestyle magazine, a new in-person store, and more! And of course, philanthropy: Ayesha and her husband, Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry, launched Eat. Learn. Play., their charity dedicated to ending childhood hunger, encouraging healthy lifestyles, and improving access to quality education. In fact, since the start of the COVID pandemic, they’ve served more than 16 million meals, partnering with locally-owned restaurants to keep workers employed. Ayesha’s built an empire, and it was fueled by that first cookbook. And now, Ayesha’s published

This week, we're excited to welcome Jeff Mauro to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.A Chicago native, Jeff has been beaming into your home TVs via Food Network since 2011, when he was crowned the winner of season seven of "Food Network Star" (and then, later that year, under another crown as the host of "Sandwich King.") And then more shows followed: Food Network’s "The Kitchen," which he’s co-hosted since 2014, and most recently his new show, "Kitchen Crash".A born performer who grew up in a big family, Jeff’s always had a knack for entertaining — both the putting-on-a-show definition and the having-people-over-to-eat definition. That’s translated well into his career and, now, into his first cookbook. It’s titled Come On Over: 111 Fantastic Recipes for the Family That Cooks, Eats, and Laughs Together. And it’s loaded with recipes from Jeff’s childhood — from Chicago classics to smoking & grilling favorites to, of course, sandwiche

HAVE A LISTEN: Loading Dock Talks is the new podcast hosted by Salt + Spine friend chef Preeti Mistry, where each week they talk with chefs, cookbook authors, and activists. Subscribe here.ABOUT THIS EPISODE:Preeti talks with Zoe Adjonyoh - chef, activist, and author - about connecting to her ancestral Ghanaian roots and building community through food, being a queer black woman in the industry, and about some of her favorite West African spices and ingredients.For more from Zoe:Her websiteHer spices (and other fun things)Her cookbookTwitter: @ZoeAdjonyohInstagram: @zoeadjonyoh @ghanakitchenBlack Book: Website  |  Instagram You can find Preeti:Twitter |   Instagram  | Website Produced by Copper & Heat See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Get full access to Salt + Spine at saltandspine.substack.com/subscribe

This week, we're excited to welcome Marcus Samuelsson and Osayi Endolyn to Salt + Spine, the podcast on stories behind cookbooks.Chef Marcus Samuelsson has become a household culinary name, building his restaurant empire from Red Rooster in Harlem to now more than a dozen eateries around the globe. He's won multiple James Beard Awards and is a regular on food TV, from winning both "Top Chef Mastersæ and "Chopped All-Stars" to hosting No Passport Required," his show with Vox Media's Eater. And he's written several cookbooks and a New York Times-bestselling memoir, Yes, Chef.For his latest book, The Rise, Marcus teamed up with James Beard-winning food writer Osayi Endolyn whose wide reaching-work includes writings in The Washington Post, TIME, and Food & Wine. She's also working on a forthcoming book, focused on systemic racism in American restaurants and dining culture.PURCHASE THE COOKBOOK: Omnivore Books | Bookshop | IndieBoundIn The Rise, Marcus and Osayi bring together dozens of Black pe

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