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A Must -Visit Museum For Southern Food & Beverage

For anyone curious about southern food and beverage culture, a visit to the Southern Food and Beverage Museum (a.k.a. SoFAB) is a must-stop when you visit New Orleans. Located at 1504 Oretha C. Haley Boulevard, the museum is chock full of culinary culture and ephemera, ranging from the history of Popeye’s Fried Chicken and traditional New Orleans foods to the many foods, products and culinary curiosities native to each southern state. There is a demonstration kitchen; cooking classes and other educational programs are offered regularly. www.southernfood.org

Inside SOFAB. Museum hours are Thursday to Monday, 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

SoFAB also houses the Museum of American Cocktail (MOTAC), a fascinating history of America’s cocktail culture, and the John & Bonnie Boyd Hospitality & Culinary Library, containing over 11,000 volumes of culinary books, food and cocktail menus, pamphlets, archival documents and a growing number of important collections, other literature and ephemera, collected by and donated to SoFAB. It’s also home to the Nitty Grits Podcast Network, a selection of audio and video podcasts addressing food and drink topics.

The museum may appear small at first but, trust us when we tell you to take your time walking through the exhibits. There is much to digest, especially if you enjoy learning about the history of food and drink. The exhibits on New Orleans’ culinary history alone, ranging from the impact of Hurricane Katrina to the history of cooking with beans and a tribute to the late Leah Chase, offer much to reflect on.

Learn the history of New Orleans' famous Popeye's fried chicken and its dynamic founder, Al Copeland.
Learn the history of New Orleans’ famous Popeye’s fried chicken and its dynamic founder, Al Copeland.

Meet SoFAB’s Founder

The Southern Food and Beverage Museum (SoFAB) was founded in 2004 by Elizabeth Williams, who wanted a place where the intersection between culture and food could be studied. The museum began with pop-up exhibits and was the first official exhibit for what is now the Museum of American Cocktail. Over time, individuals began donating family artifacts to the museum, requiring the need for more space. SoFAB has been at its current location since 2014.

Williams, who joined us as our guest on The Connected Table LIVE May 5th, was born and raised in New Orleans to a family with Sicilian heritage. She notes in her bio that she was “always fascinated by the way the lure of nutmeg and peppercorns motivated the exploration of the world.”

Elizabeth Williams, President of the National Food & Beverage Foundation
Elizabeth Williams, President of the National Food & Beverage Foundation

A lawyer by training, Williams has had a long career working with foundations and museums. She served as President & CEO of the University of New Orleans Foundation and UNO Research and Technology Foundation, Inc. working in foundation budget management and financing, development and fundraising and management for properties including UNO Studio Center, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, and the D-Day Museum, now the National World War II Museum.

Since 2004 she has served as founding President of the National Food & Beverage Foundation and established the Southern Food & Beverage Museum. She has researched and written on the subject of food policy and is coauthor with Stephanie Jane Carter of The Encyclopedia of Law and Food (Greenwood Publishing, 2011).

Over lunch at Café Reconcile, a nonprofit restaurant and hospitality training ground for at-risk youth ages 16 to 24, Williams shared some of her projects for the National Food & Beverage Foundation, which includes the cookbook library and culinary archives, the SoFAB Meat Lab, a state-of-the-art facility offering classes and demonstrations on everything meat-related, from butchering to grilling, and the Nitty Grits podcast studio and other programs around culinary history and education.

SoFAB’s repository library includes The John & Bonnie Boyd Hospitality & Culinary Library  which contains over 11,000 volumes of culinary books, food and cocktail menus, pamphlets, archival documents and a growing number of important collections, other literature and ephemera, collected by and donated to the Southern Food & Beverage Museum.  The collection is non-circulating but available for reference. The library also contains a collection of books written by members of Les Dames d’Escoffier, a nonprofit organization of leading women in food fine beverage and hospitality.

Williams is encyclopedic on food and drink culture, especially when it comes to New Orleans. Listen to our conversation on everything from Mississippi tamales and Alabama white sauce to New Orleans Krewe of Red Beans on this edition of The Connected Table. Click below or this link

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Cookbook RESTAURANTS AND CHEFS THE CONNECTED TABLE RADIO SHOW

Chef Marc Murphy- Global Citizen & Family Man

Marc Murphy

Chef Marc Murphy has one of the most eclectic bios we’ve ever read. First, he’s a nationally recognized chef whose restaurants have included Landmarc and Ditch Plains, each with two locations in New York. Second, he is a regular judge on The Food Network’s wildly popular “Chopped” shows in their various renditions. But there’s much more to his story than what people see on screen and read in media.

 

 

Dig deeper and you learn that this devoted husband to wife, Pamela Schein Murphy, and father to Callen and Campbell, has a little international man of mystique about him. A few examples:

Before the age of 12 he’d lived in Milan, Paris, Villefranche, Washington DC, Rome and Genoa, and he is fluent in four languages. His parents live in Monaco and, get this, Prince Albert was his babysitter! He is still a dual citizen of the United States and France.

He originally wanted to be a race car driver but switched gears (literally) because he didn’t have the money to buy a car. Instead, he decided to become a chef and enrolled in the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE). He still loves and rides motorcycles. Melanie once road down the FDR Drive on the back of his Ducati after an event.

He is a fan of opera, the ballet, classical music and hip hop equally. Between jobs in the 1990s, he worked with the choreographer, Jerome Robbins. He believes good scotch should be serve with one ice cube and all meals should be served in the company of good wine and great company.

He is author of Season with Authority: Confident Home Cooking his debut cookbook which was released in April 2015 and continues to be a top seller. Yet, he confesses he can’t spell and battled dyslexia as a young boy.

 

Buy Marc’s book on Amazon.

 

From Hotshot Young Chef to Global Citizen

He was opening chef at Cellar in the Sky at Windows on the World, so having him join us on September 11 is particularly poignant. He later was recruited uptown to serve as executive chef for La Fourchette. Former New York Times Restaurant Critic Ruth Reichl awarded the restaurant two stars, writing that Marc has an “open desire to transform food [so that] in his hands, even a simple green salad … Looks like a ruffled hat in a painting by Renoir.”

In 2012 Marc joined the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Culinary Partnership, where he takes part in public diplomacy programs that engage foreign audiences abroad as well as those visiting the United States. He has traveled to Italy, China and Turkey as part of this program.

Melanie and Marc Murphy at Citi Taste of Tennis in New York City August 22

Marc is also involved with numerous industry and charitable organization. He is the President of the Manhattan chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association, both a board member and Food Council member of City Harvest, and a member of the Food + Finance High School’s Industry Advisory Board. He sits on the Leadership Council for Share our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign and has been a national spokesperson for Share Our Strength’s Dine Out For No Kid Hungry initiative.

Marc has been a friend who was delighted to offer a supportive blurb for Melanie’s debut book, Getting Things Off My Chest which she wrote after surviving breast cancer. As high as his star has risen since we first came to know Marc as a young, motorcycle-riding, hotshot chef, as humbled and grounded he has remained as a caring father, husband and community citizen. We’ve celebrated many occasions at Marc’s various restaurants and are delighted to spend time with him September 11 on The Connected Table LIVE!

Chef Marc Murphy
Chef Marc Murphy

 

Listen to The Connected Table LIVE with Marc Murphy- Click below.

 

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Secrets of the Southern Table with Virginia Willis

Our August 14 edition of The Connected Table LIVE comes with a southern drawl and a discussion about food that left listeners (and us) drooling, courtesy of  Virginia Willis, author  of "Secrets of the Southern Table" and southern food chronicler.

The South is a delicious hodgepodge when it comes to its culinary heritage and it is one of the most fascinating places to visit because of it. Many customs are rooted in traditions that blend diverse cultures: Irish, Scottish, English, French, African, Hispanic, Vietnamese and Greek, just to name a few. In fact, the upcoming Les Dames d'Escoffier International Conference October 24-27 in Nashville has a seminar focused on sorghum and honey and another on the culinary influence of immigrants past and present in the state of Tennessee. Diversity is the fabric of the south, and it's delicious. Hopefully this unique cultural heritage will endure and achieve greater appreciation.


In Secrets of the Southern Table (Houghton Mifflin), Willis introduces us to the farmers, producers and fisherman who supply the foods many of us enjoy at the restaurants throughout the south. Some are multi-generational families; others are (relatively) newer enterprises born from the dedication of immigrants who settled in pockets of the south. It’s a culinary tour that runs the gamut from sweet potatoes and grits to gospel birds and game birds to sweet shrimp and sausages. Throughout the book you can’t help but ponder about what truly defines “heritage” in the new south. It’s a richer place today thanks to the many cultures you find there. We should never take that for granted.

Willis has written cookbooks covering everything from single subjects (okra and grits) to the complete southern table with Bon Appetit Y’all and Basic to Brilliant, Y'all. And then after filling us all up with rich delicious recipes, she taught us how to “Lighten Up Ya’ll” with a tailored approach to preparing southern dishes. - trimming the fat without losing the taste. Her  articles and recipes can also be found at her  "Cooking with Virginia" column in Southern Living magazine.

Read more about Virginia Willis on her website and blog: www.VirginiaWillis.com

Listen to The Connected Table LIVE with Virginia Willis here. Click image below:

 

Buy Secrets of the Southern Table Here. Click Image below.

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A Visit with Amanda Hesser, Co-Founder & CEO, Food52

Amanda Hesser, Food52 co-founder and CEO,

For anyone who aspires to build a brand that embraces the culinary lifestyle from all sides and seasons, look no further than Food52. The brainchild of journalists and authors, Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, Food52 has amassed a devoted community of culinary enthusiasts who engage and share recipes and appoint their kitchens with carefully curated products. And with the mission of “eating thoughtfully and living joyfully,” visualized in stunning photography and video shots, it’s no surprise that Food52 has hit two million followers on Instagram alone.

We first came to know Hesser when she worked as a reporter and food editor at The New York Times, where her The Essential New York Times Cookbook was a NYT bestseller. One of her “star” moments was playing herself in Nora Ephron’s movie, “Julie and Julia.” She’s also the author of Cooking for Mr. Latte: A Food Lover’s Courtship, with Recipes and The Cook and the Gardener, and several Food52 cookbooks, including her newest (with co-author, Merrill) A New Way to Dinner.

The story behind the creation of Food 52 in 2009 is a case study in a successful digital enterprise that took foresight and calculate risk. The co-founders parlayed a cookbook advance into a successful destination website which has grown substantially to become an experiential experience. Hesser has been named one of the 50 most influential women in food by Gourmet, created the Twitter app Plodt, and served on President Obama’s Commission on White House Fellowships.

Listen to our show with Amanda Hesser here:

 

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What Would Julia Say?

I’m a bit clumsy in the kitchen and have a habit of making a big mess. David just shrugs his shoulders and grabs my knife to save my fingers.

But when I’m really inspired, I put my hands together, look upward and ask, “What would Julia say?” Will I ever be a good cook or just better at making reservations?”

“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook – try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!” ― Julia Child, My Life in France

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.” ― Julia Child

And when I spend a week eating greens after a weekend of what feels like gluttony, I wonder, “What would Julia say?” Is it worth giving up food with taste to trim my waste?

“The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.” ― Julia Child

And, when I finished breast cancer treatment in 2010 and debated when and whether I could eat what I want and drink wine again without fearing for my health, I looked upward and asked, “What would Julia say?” She was a sister survivor who lived well, long and fearlessly.

…small helpings, no seconds, no snacking, and a little bit of everything. –  
― Julia Child

And when I realize every day that much of what I do is a labor of love working hard to monetize, and the time clock is ticking, I ask myself, “What would Julia say?” She found her greatest success in her fifties and well into her eighties. Can I do it?

I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate.-  Julia Child

Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.
― Julia Child

Julia Child photo courtesy of Schlesinger Library at Harvard University

Happy Birthday Julia Child! August 15, 1912- August 12, 2004

While researching an article I’ve written to remember Julia Child on her birthday that appears in Wine4Food this week, I spoke to a few people close to her. Each shared some delightful Julia memories. I could not include them all in the story. I am sharing a few more here.

Dorie Greenspan

Dorie Greenspan, co-author, “Baking with Julia” – At the end of a day of shooting, we’d sit on the set, which was her kitchen, eat Goldfish, drink wine and talk.  I’d never been a fan of (Pepperidge Farm) Goldfish before, but ever since, I’ve snacked on them to bring back the memories of those good times.

Julia Child and Sara Moulton. Photo provided by Sara Moulton.

Sara Moulton, Chef, TV Host of “Sara’s Weeknight Meals” (PBS) and and protégé of Julia Child – “One of my favorite Julia Child quotes hangs in my kitchen, ‘Never apologize. Never explain.’ You don’t have to strive for perfection. After all, there is almost nothing you can’t fix. If your soufflé falls, just call it pudding cake.”

 

Geoffrey Drummond

Geoffrey Drummond, Executive Producer, “Julia & Jacques: Cooking at Home,” “In Julia’s Kitchen,” and “Baking with Julia.” – She was forever curious…relentless in wanting to know how things were done, and why, and then wanted to share what she learned. 

 

Julia-and-Jacques-Cooking-at-Home. Photo courtesy of The Schlesinger Library at Harvard-University

Jacques Pepin, Co-Host, “Julia & Jacques Cooking at Home” – She thought you should enjoy eating as much as cooking. She used to say, “If you don’t eat it with gusto and happiness, you are missing out.

 

Chef Patrick O’Connell, Inn at Little Washington, serving Julia Child on her 90th birthday

 

At The James Beard Foundation Awards in 1997. From Melanie’s photo archive.

 

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Lidia’s American Dream: Sharing Memories

I have three favorite personal memories of Lidia Bastianich. The first was a Sunday lunch at her home in Queens many years ago. Her son, Joe, and I had been chatting about Zinfandel wines and my desire to try more of them. So, he decided to host a lunch with Lidia with a selection of Zinfandels (a.k.a. a Zinful Sunday). It was small, and I was embarrassingly late due to Hamptons traffic. I remember an endless parade of amazing food dishes, copious amounts of wine and Felix, Lidia’s husband at the time, playing an accordion and singing. Bastianich family members were there, plus me, writer, Jerry Shriver, and one or two others.

I wondered to myself, “Is this a typical Sunday lunch at the Bastianich house?” I’d never experienced anything like at home in Chattanooga since my parents tended to hole away in the office or bedroom on Sundays, leaving me to fend for myself. Most Sundays in NYC I found myself worked extra hours or in transit from an airport or the Hamptons. But, that Sunday, I felt like a member of the Bastianich family.

I felt that same feeling of family at Joe Bastianich’s wedding at the Plaza Hotel February 19, 1995. It was a much bigger party with even more food, wine and music. I still have the commemorative bottle of wedding wine in our cellar (Joe told me it is probably great vinegar by now). I remember feeling very much like the single woman I was at the time being seated next to the wedding priest and chatting with very nice young gay man on the other side of me, while watching Lidia cut a rug on the dance floor. She was the Pride of the Party along with the Bride. What a wedding!!!

Finally, I recall running into Lidia at the Milan Airport in 2009. David and I were on a whirlwind wine trip and hauling our carry-on bags like two sherpas. Lidia glided down the stairs carrying absolutely nothing! I don’t think she even held a handbag. It was like she lived in the airport and never needed to lug her stuff around. I marveled at that free feeling. We embraced and chatted briefly before going our ways. She glided off. We trudged onward.

Lidia makes everything – from cooking to entertaining to running a restaurant or demonstrating a recipe on camera- seem effortless, and she makes everyone feel part of her family. I think that’s the secret sauce to her success.

Lidia has picked up an Emmy Award for her TV series, six James Beard Foundation Awards  (chef, books, broadcast, Who’s Who) and a Les Dames d’Escoffier International Grand Dame Award. She’s written best-selling books, produces a wildly successful specialty food line, LIDIA”s, and owns our acclaimed restaurants. She’s cooked for Pope Benedict (in 2008) and Pope Francis (in 2015) during their visits to New York City.

She’s living the American Dream! For all these reasons, it’s why her new memoir, “My American Dream: A Life of Love, Family and Food (Penguin Random House, is appropriately named. Born poor and living behind the unbearably restrictive Communist Iron Curtain in a small town on the Istrian Peninsula, Lidia’s family spent two years living in a refugee camp before escaping across the border to Trieste, Italy. In 1958, the family came to New York, thanks to the aid of Catholic Charities.

Resilience formed her backbone; cooking was her skill, family was her bond and gratitude lifted her up. She notes in her book, that complete strangers and nonprofit organizations reached out to help give her a family a home, fill their cupboards with food and help her parents find work.

There’s never enough time to spend with Lidia to hear her amazing story. We were grateful to spend a 30 minutes with recently on The Connected Table Live! You can listen here:

 

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Chronicler of Chefs – Andrew Friedman

Talk about noshing down memory lane!  You must be living under a rock if you work in the restaurant business and have not heard about Andrew Friedman’s new book, Chefs, Drugs and Rock & Roll: How Food Lovers, Free Spirits, Misfits and Wanderers Created a New American Profession.

We read it with relish because we knew just about everyone in the book! Andrew is a detailed, disciplined journalist and storyteller, and this book is an engaging documentary about America’s culinary revolutions from the 1980s through the 2000s. It ends just around when the worlds come crashing down (both the World Trade Center after September 11th and the stock market crash a few years later).

Andrew spotlights chefs on his Heritage Radio show “Andrew Talks with Chefs,” and he has written over two dozen cookbooks, with the likes of Alfred Portale, Tom Valenti, Michael Lomonaco, Michael White, Bill Telepan and Jimmy Bradley, to name a few. Of course, being tennis buffs, we were impressed by his New York Times best seller with tennis champion, James Blake, entitled “BREAKING BACK: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life (2007). You can see them all here on his website, appropriately named Toqueland.

Andrew Friedman is author of “Chefs, Drugs and Rock & Roll: How Food Lovers, Free Spirits, Misfits and Wanderers Created a New American Profession.” The book explores America’s restaurant evolution from the 1970s to 2000s and the people who shaped it.

This show aired broadcast live on Wednesdays May 2 at 2PM ET on W4CY Radio – (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (http://www.talk4radio.com/) on the Talk 4 Media Network (http://www.talk4media.com/).

Listen to our show with Andrew Friedman and Peter Mondavi Jr (Charles Krug Winery) at this permanent iHeart link:

 

Buy this book on Amazon:

 

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All Rise! The James Beard Foundation Media Awards


Congratulations to all the winners of The James Beard Foundation Media Awards, which comprises books, broadcasting and journalism. The Awards were presented April 27 at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers. I had the pleasure of attending and sitting with four nominees, Writers/Authors Kathleen Squires, Robert Simonson, Restaurateur/Chef and Author Maricel Presilla and Chef Gonzalo Gonzales Guzman, whose book, Nopalito, won in the International Category.

JBF Media Awards Host- TV Journalist Tamron Hall, who is active with the charity, Common Threads.

The Media Awards are usually overshadowed by the glitzier Restaurant and Chef Awards, which take place May 7 at Chicago’s Lyric Opera House. I feel they are as important. Writers and journalists are the chroniclers of our culture, news and history. It was evident by the nominated articles – several that addressed diversity and sexual harassment in the industry- that writers are the people who raise our consciousness through words. These words propel the rest of us to take action.

Cookbook of the Year Recipient Michael Twitty

Particularly poignant were speeches by Pati Jinich, Michael Twitty and Betty Fussell.  Pati, recipient of “Outstanding TV Host,” recounted her mixed emotions while shooting her show. “Pati’s Mexican Table,” at the Tijuana border. Michael, recipient of Cookbook of the Year for The Cooking Gene, talked about searching for his African roots and what it means to be a “fat, gay, black and Jewish.” Betty, resplendent at 91 and ever eloquent with her words, wowed everyone as she stepped up to the stage to receive the Cookbook Hall of Fame Award for her writings.

Pati Jinich- Best TV Host

The theme of the Awards is RISE. Participating Guest Chefs, which included dinner chefs, Michael Anthony (Gramercy Tavern, NYC), Ashley Christensen (Poole’s Diner, Raleigh, NC – who made the best tomato tart!), and Hugo Ortega (H-Town Restaurant Group, Houston), all have risen to the occasion to help support those in need. And the reception and pastry chefs, also RISE for consciousness and caring: Emma Bengtsson (Aquavit), Daniel Alvarez (Union Square Cafe, NYC), April Anderson (Good Cakes and Bakes LLC, Detroit), Claudia Fleming (North Fork Table & Inn, Southhold, NY) and Zachary Golper (Bien Cuit, NYC). As always, Pier Sixty, executed a magnificent event. A special “Thank You” to them and to Host Chef Philip DiMaiolo.

It made me proud to be part of this professional community and motivated to Rise further to make an impact.  MY

The amazing Betty Fussell, Cookbook Hall of Fame Recipient.
(I’ll have what she’s having to look this good!)

 

Here is a link to the press release announcing all Media Award recipients.

Photos by  by Kent Miller.

 

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Chinese New Year Bites- Gung Hay Fat Choy!

We never need a holiday to enjoy Chinese food, but we always partake a bit more for Chinese New Year for good luck!  We started celebrating the Year of the Dog February 14th on The Connected Table Live! with guest, Hsiao-Ching Chou, author of “Chinese Soul Food.”

Hsiao-Ching’s parents, came to the U.S. from Taiwan and owned a Chinese restaurant in Missouri. She worked in the restaurant after school. After earning her college degree in journalism Hsiao-Ching became a successful food writer, most recently working at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for many years, Hsiao-Ching teaches cooking and shares her recipes on her blog, MyChineseSoulFood.com.

Hsiao-Ching Chou's dumplings ("Chinese Soul Food")
Hsiao-Ching Chou’s dumplings (“Chinese Soul Food”)

On February 15 we attended Lucky Rice Founder Danielle Chang’s Lunar Year Celebration at Canal Street Market (NYC) which continues through February 28. Different food and drink stalls served bites that were more global than Chinese, like Silk Road Falafel Wrap with Pickled Cabbage, Scallions, Crushed Cashews, Ginger and “Silk Road” Harissa Sauce from Ilili Box and Miso Lucky Salad (Brown Rice Topped with Miso-Marinated Beets. Bok-Choy and Avocado with Sesame Seed Dressing (loved!). Danielle Chang will join us on The Connected Table Live April 4th.

Danielle Chang, Founder of Lucky Rice (center)

My favorite discovery at this event was the Lunar Year Kakigori from Bonsai Kakigori, which  created powdery shave ice topped with icy snow drifts of mango and ginger and cream. Theo Friedman, the cofounder of Kakigori showed me how his Japanese shave ice machine worked and let me taste another Kakigori topped with shave ice matcha green tea.

Mango-Ginger Kakigori (snow ice) from Bonsai Kakigori

Our February 16 visit was to Red Farm NYC on the Upper West Side, where Owner Ed Schoenfeld recommended some “long life” and “prosperity” dishes. Ed said he was heading to London this month to open a Red Farm there. It was fun to see families celebrating Chinese New Year together and their kids all dressed up. This place always is one of our favorites.

Black truffle chicken soup dumpling at Red Farm NYC

Here is a link to our Chinese New Year show with Ed Schoenfeld and Chris Cheung, East Wind Snack Shop which aired live in 2016. Now on iHeart:

Listen to our show with Hsiao-Ching Chou here:

 

Purchase Chinese Home Cooking now on Amazon:

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The Art & Science of Making Bread

What’s your favorite childhood bread memory? For David it’s his mother’s cinnamon toast, most likely sweetly dusted homemade English Muffin Bread.  For me, it’s my Aunt Rachel’s homemade challah, braided into a shiny brown loaf and all pillowy inside. My mother made challah French toast for every holiday brunch and still does for Christmas (challah + Christmas? That’s right.)

Making good bread is both an art and a science. And Modernist Bread is a 2,642-page tome on the craft of baking bread as well as bread’s future.  The five-volume masterpiece is the culmination of over four years of nonstop research, photography, experiments, writing, and baking. The books cover the science, history, cultures, and personalities behind bread, along with tools you can use to shape its future.

 

The authors are Nathan Myhrvold and Chef Francisco Migoya.

After retiring from Microsoft in 1999 as its Chief Technology Officer, Myhrvold established Intellectual Ventures and pursued several lifelong interests in photography, cooking, and food science.  The Cooking Lab is his state-of-the-art research kitchen in Bellevue, WA. Nathan is lead author of Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking and Modernist Cuisine at Home and author of The Photography of Modernist Cuisine. 

Nathan Myhrvold

Chef Migoya grew up in Mexico and studying art (painting, sculpture and drawing). But a stage (internship) at a restaurant at age 16 sparked his passion for cooking. He attended culinary schools in Mexico and France and went on to work at some major restaurants in the USA such as French Laundry, Bouchon Bakery and most recently, as a professor at the Culinary Institute of America. Chef Migoya is author of three books on pastry: “Frozen Desserts”  (2008), “The Modern Cafe” (2009) and “The Element of Dessert” (a 2014 International Association of Culinary Professionals  cookbook award recipient.

Chef Francisco Migoya

So, besides four years of research with over 230 recipe testers and expert contributors, what other fun facts should you know about Modernist Bread? Statistic nerds take note:

Number of pages: 2,462

Weight of book:  50 lb.

Weight: of ink: 4 lb

Words: 1,000,000+

Number of recipes: 1500

Photos: 3,000+

Loaves baked: 36,650+

 

 

 

Modernist Bread’s Chef Francisco Migoya joined us November 29, The Connected Table LIVE! Here is the show:

 

We bring you the dynamic people who work front and center and behind the scenes in food, wine, spirits and hospitality. Listen anytime on iHeart.com and the iHeart and live Wednesdays, 2pm EST onW4CY.com. Connect with us on Twitter@connectedtable,Instagram@theconnectedtable and Facebook@connectedtable

 

Photo credits: Nathan Myhrvold / The Cooking Lab, LLC.

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120 Turkish Recipes. Many Published for the First Time in English

We’re talking about Robyn Eckhardt’s new book, “Istanbul & Beyond- Exploring the Diverse Cuisines of Turkey.” In the book’s introduction, Robyn says she traveled some 15,000 miles, village to village and market to market to chat up local farmers, fishermen, groups of women making grape molasses, families on a picnics and other local folks to learn about Turkish food traditions.

More than 120 recipes. Many published in English for the first time.

Robyn’s sidekick is husband, David Hagerman, the incredibly talented photographer, who captures Turkish landscapes and foodscapes with equal finesse. If you are not familiar with Robyn’s work, check out her award-winning blog “Eating Asia.” It’s on our short list for inside information when we finally plan our trip. They lived on Asia for many years and are now based in Italy. (wanderlust envy alert!) Robyn’s articles have also appeared in The New York Times, Travel & Leisure and Saveur.

Robyn Eckhardt explores the world, and we are hungry to learn more

 

Listen to our show with Robyn here on The Connected Table LIVE – iHeart.com

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This Herbalist Does Not Waste Thyme- The Connected Table LIVE! August 23

Herbalist Brittany Nickerson teaches people about the health attributes of herbs and how to use them in cooking in her workshops at Thyme Herbal.  She also offers a three-year Herbal Apprentice Program, teaches at the University of Massachusetts and is author of The Everyday Living Series for your home. We’re all about trying to simplify and create a healthier home.

Brittany Nickerson

In “The Herbalist’s Kitchen,” Brittany explains kitchen medicine and categorizes herbs by sweet, salty, sour, pungent and bitter and their health benefits. The book’s recipes are separated into seasons, and there are also some easy recipes to make your own lavender skin scrub and rosemary hair rinse.

 

Listen to Brittany here on iHeart.com

 

 

 

 

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