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

This week, we amp up your home cooking with nostalgic dishes, perfect recipes, and pro cooking techniques. First, we talk with Chef Ham El-Waylly about his favorite dishes that were inspired by his wildly international upbringing and what draws him to comfort foods. From his mom’s cheesy empanadas to his riff on cinnamon toast cereal, he gets imaginative with recipes like his Tahini Roasted Swordfish. Ham El-Waylly is the author of Hello, Home Cooking: Do-Able Dishes for Every Day. Then we dive into the brilliant mind of food writer Ella Quittner, who shares her obsessive search for the perfect techniques to make the very best recipes. She traveled the world to learn how to make buckwheat soba noodles and find the secret to getting the best flavor in tsukune, Japanese chicken meatballs. Ella Quittner’s latest book is Obsessed with The Best, and she left us with her recipe for Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Insurance Cheese.Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews!Broadcast dates for this episode:March 27, 2026 (originally aired)Generous listeners like you make The Splendid Table possible. Donate today to support the showWhen 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.

This week, we’re all about the diverse and delicious foods of Ghana and Nigeria. First, Food Network Star Eric Adjepong joins us from his childhood home to talk about the connection to food when eating with his hands, the community that happens around the Ghanain table, and his take on traditional dishes like his recipe for Roasted Banana Grits with Seasoned Shrimp. Eric is the chef and owner of Elmina in Washington DC and the author of Ghana to the World: Recipes and Stories That Look Forward While Honoring the Past. Then, geologist turned food blogger Ozoz Sokoh takes us into the world of Nigerian cuisine. From iconic Nigerian breakfasts like sweet fermented rice cakes known as Māsā̀, to corned beef sauce paired with West African Yams. We couldn’t leave without getting a recipe for her Classic Nigerian Jollof Rice. Ozoz is the author of Chop Chop: Cooking the Food of Nigeria and the blogger behind Kitchen Butterfly. Broadcast dates for this episode:March 21, 2025 (originally aired)March 20, 2026 (rebroadcast)Donate to The Splendid Table today and we will show our appreciation with a special thank-you gift.Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews!

Sho Spaeth, ramen author and cookbook writer focused on homemade techniques. He traces ramen’s arrival in Japan and the invention of instant noodles. He breaks ramen into five key elements and explains kodawari, regional broths like tonkotsu versus clear chintan, and how to make approachable homemade ramen with mise-en-place, stocks, tare, fats, noodles, and toppings.

This week, we dedicate the entire episode to answering your bread baking questions with two brilliant bakers and teachers, King Arthur’s very own Jessica Battilana, Staff Editor, and Martin Philip, King Arthur’s Baking Ambassador. While King Arthur has taught millions of people to bake through their school, website, and classic cookbooks. They only now have published a book devoted entirely to bread, The King Arthur Baking Company’s Big Book of Bread.  Francis, Jessica, and Martin take listener questions on everything from the “why” behind the flavor of English Muffins, best proofing practices, what to do with extra laminated dough (if you can imagine having that problem!), and why they consider "toast" a food group all its own. Don't miss their recipe for Masa Honey Toasting Bread.Broadcast dates for this episode:March 7, 2025 (originally aired)March 6, 2026 (rebroadcast)Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews!Celebrate kitchen companionship with a gift to The Splendid Table today.

Jamie Oliver, restaurateur and bestselling cookbook author known for championing nutrition, reflects on growing up above a pub and learning at the River Cafe. He recounts becoming The Naked Chef, using his platform for public-health food campaigns, and practical ways to make veggies, tinned fish, and affordable swaps more appealing.

We're taking the show on the road this year to celebrate our 30th Anniversary! This week, we bring you to our first stop, Indianapolis, in partnership with WFYI. We dig into the local food scene with restaurateur Martha Hoover, founder of Cafe Patachou and the Patachou Foundation. We talk to her about her start as a prosecutor turned restaurateur and how the restaurant scene has changed over her 35-plus years running a restaurant in Indianapolis. Then, we welcome Samir Mohammad of 9th Street Bistro, Zoë Taylor of Borage, and food writer and Eater correspondent Brian Garrido to the stage to talk about the present: Indianapolis's new and booming food scene. Then, we close the show with a heartwarming story of Isaac Roman and Thomas Hayes re-opening Indy's beloved Rene's Bakery.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 21, 2025 (originally aired)February 20, 2026 (rebroadcast)Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews!Generous listeners like you make The Splendid Table possible. Donate today to support the show

Jerrelle Guy, cookbook author and recipe developer known for joyful, accessible dishes, talks about making everyday meals feel celebratory with easy hacks and imaginative finishes. Bee Wilson, British food writer and memoirist, explores the sentimental power of kitchen objects and the stories they carry. They dive into mindful cooking, playful garnishes, nostalgic tools, and the small rituals that make food meaningful.

This week, food columnist for The New York Times Magazine, Lisa Donovan, joins us to talk about what she's been cooking up recently and help answer our listeners' kitchen conundrums, from making the best tomato paste despite out-of-season tomatoes to using unsweetened chocolate in baking recipes. Lisa is the author of the memoir Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger, and she leaves us with a recipe for a lovely Tarte Tatin to add to our repertoire. Then, we head over to Philadelphia, where we meet the founder and owner of Down North Pizza, Muhammad Abdul-Hadi. Muhammad tells us about his mission-driven restaurant dedicated to helping formerly incarcerated people rebuild their lives. Muhammad's new cookbook is We The Pizza: Slangin’ Pies, and Savin’ Lives and he leaves us with his signature pizza sauce recipe, Norf Sauce.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 7, 2025 (originally aired)February 6, 2026 (rebroadcast)Your support is a special ingredient in helping to make The Splendid Table. Donate today

Henrietta Lovell, founder of the Rare Tea Company who hunts fine teas worldwide, and Nik Sharma, food scientist and cookbook author who decodes flavor. They tour tea terroir, tasting complexity, and a cold-brew iced tea tip. Then Nik breaks down flavor-forward techniques like tandoori salmon, a baking-soda brine hack, lemon-braised chicken, and a quick romesco to elevate simple dishes.

We took the show on the road for a live event at the Hawaii Theatre Center in Honolulu. First, we spoke to Hawaii Public Radio’s Culture and Arts reporter Jayna Omaye and Chef Sheldon Simeon of Tin Roof Maui about Hawaiian cuisine’s unique mix of cultures. Then, James Beard award-winning chef Robynne Maii of Fête in Chinatown, Honolulu, and chef-owner of Mud Hen Water, Ed Kenney, explained how native Hawaiian traditions influence their cooking. And then, we talked to three legacy business owners about the importance of beloved local institutions in the food scene: Chris Kanemura, co-owner of Fujiya Hawai’i, Emma Bello, goat and dairy farmer at Sweet Land Farm, and Kevin Yim of Zippy’s. The live event at Hawaii Theatre was co-presented by Hawai‘i Public Radio and the Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Kapi‘olani Community College and sponsored by Hawaiian Airlines, Alohilani Resorts, and FarmLovers Markets.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 3, 2023 (originally aired)February 2, 2024 (rebroadcast)January 23, 2026 (rebroadcast)Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews!