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

This week it's a look at why we prefer some foods more than others with Dr. Julie Menella of the Monell Chemical Senses Center. Dr. Menella studies taste preferences in infants and explains why one kid won't eat broccoli and another hates carrots.Jane and Michael Stern return to Keaton's, one of Jane's top five road food favorites, for the outrageous fried chicken and southern-style side dishes. When they're dining at home, the Sterns might whip up some Lemonade Fried Chicken from their book, Blue Plate Specials and Blue Ribbon Chefs.David Rosengarten talks travel guides and reveals his new top pick. Culinary adventurer Naomi Duguid, co-author of Seductions of Rice, takes us along the rice trail into West Africa and has another citrus-based recipe: Lemon Chicken. We turn to Stephen Beaumont to fill us in on Imperial Stout, and we'll learn about Cloaca, one artist's take on human digestion currently installed at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City.Broadcast dates for this episode:March 16, 2002 (originally aired)March 22, 2003 (rebroadcast)

We're eating Appalachian this week with food writers Ted and Matt Lee, two brothers who rented a pickup truck and headed for the back roads of Eastern Kentucky in search of the elusive pawpaw fruit. Along the way, they discovered that good food is more about human ingenuity than rich resources. Read more about their adventure in the article, "On the Appalachian Trail" in the March 2002 issue of Food & Wine magazine.Jane and Michael Stern are eating "a little slice of heaven" at Carminuccio'sin Newton, Connecticut. We'll hear how Julia Child's Cambridge kitchenended up at the Smithsonian, take a peek inside her "junk drawer," and share recipes for Primal Soups from her book, Julia's Kitchen Wisdom. Patricia Volk, author of Stuffed: Adventures of a Restaurant Family, tells of the heartbreak of falling in love with a taste, and Joshua Wesson talks Cava - the bargain bubbly from Spain. Finally, we'll hear about a new and quite strange take on peanut butter.Broadcast dates for this episode:March 9, 2002 (originally aired)March 8, 2003 (rebroadcast)

Can you be addicted to sugar? We'll find out when Robin Edelman joins us on this week's show. Robin is the nutrition editor for Eating Well magazine and author of the article "Sweet Addiction" in the Fall 2002 issue.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 it the next big red? And we'll recall one of the great 1960s scenes with Jamie Bernstein Thomas, daughter of Leonard Bernstein and author of "A West Side Story" from the February 2002 issue of Gourmet magazine.Plus, 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 shares a menu and recipes for a cozy dinner (including her wickedly sensuous Panna Cotta)!Broadcast dates for this episode:March 1, 2003

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.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 23, 2002 (originally aired)February 15, 2003 (rebroadcast)

Art historian Carolin Young, author of Apples of Gold, Settings of Silver, takes us back to 1753 and a seduction supper with Casanova himself. In those days, romantic dinners were an art form, and this one has an interesting twist. It's all about who is seducing whom.Jane and Michael Stern have found romance and old-style Italian food at Gargiulo's on Coney Island. Sally Schneider tells us what's so special about Meyer lemons and what to do with these gems. A good start is Sally's recipe for Meyer Lemon Curd. We have an eater's guide to Chicago from Bill Rice, author of "Eating It Up: The Good Lover's Guide to Chicago" from the February 2003 issue of Gourmet magazine.Maria Rodale tells the story of her grandfather, J. I. Rodale, an agricultural pioneer and founder of the organic movement. We hear from Melissa Wagner, co-author of The Field Guide to Stains, and Lynne has a recipe forSicilian Blood Orange Salad.Broadcast dates for this episode:February 8, 2003

Restaurant critic John Heckathorn takes us to Honolulu, one of Lynne's favorite food cities, for an insider's dine-around and guide to eating like a local. In a town notorious for high prices, John's advice and restaurant picks guarantee great eating for little money.Jane and Michael Stern investigate the Frontier restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the legendary cinnamon rolls are a foot wide! The definitive winner of The Washington Post's canned chicken broth tastingis revealed by food editor Jeanne McManus. Lynne used it in her Modena's Spiced Soup of Spinach and Cheese and agrees this broth is good! Reporter Mary Stuckey has a lesson in self-sufficiency and sustainability from the island of Cuba. Mary Ewing Mulligan talks wine glasses, we'll have a report on yak cheese, and Lynne takes your calls.Broadcast dates for this episode:December 1, 2001 (originally aired)February 1, 2003 (rebroadcast)

We'll take a look at small-batch bourbons with Kentucky bourbon maker Frederick Booker Noe, the grandson of Jim Beam and one of the pioneers in this new take on American whiskey. Forget bourbon and soda—this is stuff you'll want to leisurely swirl and sniff before taking a sip. Some experts claim these whiskeys are right up there with the great brandies and single-malt scotches.Texans take their pie very seriously, as Jane and Michael Stern discovered at the Blanco Bowling Club in Blanco, Texas, home of some of the best meringue anywhere. Anya Von Bremsen takes us to Spain, the country she says is the most exciting place on earth to eat. For tips, check out her article in Travel & Leisure magazine. Beer expert Stephen Beaumont has the scoop on India Pale Ale and the spicy foods that go with it (think curries). Poet and naturalist Diane Ackerman, author of Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden, muses over bread, and Lynne shares her recipe for Marble Cutter's Soup, just the thing for a cold winter night.Broadcast dates for this episode:January 5, 2002 (originally aired)January 25, 2003 (rebroadcast)

Chef and author Anthony Bourdain described his first book, Kitchen Confidential, as an "obnoxious and over-testosteroned" account of his life in the restaurant business. Still, the book remained on the New York Timesbestseller list for weeks. Now the food world's outrageous bad boy is at it again with his new book, A Cook's Tour, the chronicle of his planet-circling jaunt in search of the ultimate meal. Mr. Bourdain likes his adventure with a generous dose of risk and an occasional touch of the bizarre—like dodging Cambodian minefields to have cocktails in Khmer Rouge territory and eating poisonous blowfish in Japan.By comparison, the normally over-the-top Jane and Michael Stern are simply eating pie at the Coffee Cup Cafe in Sully, Iowa. Steve Jenkins returns to talk about goat cheese, which inspired Lynne to create a recipe for Aged American Goat Cheese with Salad of Honey-Piquant Greens and Apples. Reporter Scott Haas checks out the secret of Belgium's sensational frites, we'll hear from a dairy farmer who practices Reiki on his cows, and Lynne shares her mail-order source for exquisite dried fruits for holiday gifts.Broadcast dates for this episode:December 8, 2001 (originally aired)January 4, 2003 (rebroadcast)

This week we're off to a region of Italy only 20 minutes outside Venice—yet known and visited by few. The wonderful cuisine here could be called a fusion of "Northern Italian Soul" meets the Arabian Knights. The greatest varieties of wines in all of Italy come from the area, and the scenery is pretty good too. It's Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and our guide is none other than culinary explorer Fred Plotkin, author of the new book La Terra Fortunata. Fred shares a few undiscovered wine bargains from the region and a recipe for Polenta With Five Flavors, a dish containing most of the classic foods of central Friuli.Jane and Michael Stern are across the pond as well, eating Couscous Royale at Relais des Six Boules, a French version of the truck stop. Who but the Sterns goes looking for road food in France? Beer expert Stephen Beaumont, author of Premium Beer Drinker's Guide, reports on Lambic, an eccentric style of commercially made beer. Movie critic Rex Reed reminisces about eating with Tennessee Williams. Lynne has a trivia question about baby food and cotton candy and leaves us with her recipe for Dark and Moist Gingerbread.Broadcast dates for this episode:November 10, 2001 (originally aired)December 28, 2002 (rebroadcast)

This week it's talk of life, food, and Christmas dinner with television food star Nigella Lawson. Her show Nigella Bites (which also happens to be the title of her latest book,) is all about the sheer lustiness of food. Get ready to be a guest at your own party with holiday eats from Nigella. It's the perfect menu for entertaining, because everything is made in advance!The Sterns suggest we spend New Year's Eve at a gospel supper in an Indiana cafeteria. Tickets are on sale now. Wine maverick Joshua Wesson expounds on the art of the toast, and reporter Scott Haas tells the story of how a kid from the projects became the star chef of Boston's Beacon Hill. Lynne haslast-minute gift ideas, and Francis Ford Coppola fills us in on Christmas at the vineyard.Broadcast dates for this episode:December 21, 2002