Proof – Details, episodes & analysis

In a matter of months, Kelli Nevarez went from first-grade music teacher to pitmaster of the Texas Monthly Top 50 barbecue joint La Vaca Barbecue. Reporter Eliza Rothstein shares the story of how Nevarez is reshaping the future of barbecue.

Craving more barbecue tips? Join our grilling expert, Morgan Bolling, as she takes a deep dive into smoke rings.

This podcast miniseries is an audio companion to a forthcoming book from America's Test Kitchen called When Southern Women Cook: History, Lore, and 300 Recipes from Every Corner of the American South. You can preorder the book where books are sold:

• IndieBound
• America's Test Kitchen Store
• Amazon

Special thanks to our intern Jonny Leonidas who helped make this series a success.

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Transporting a Southern tradition to the North might seem like a tall order, but Cook's Country grilling expert Morgan Bolling knows just how to do it with her annual whole hog roast. Producer Alex Curran-Cardarelli shares the history of whole-hog roasts and Morgan's own story of growth and resilience.

Try a taste of Morgan's home state with her recipe for North Carolina Barbecue Pork. 

This podcast miniseries is an audio companion to a forthcoming book from America's Test Kitchen called When Southern Women Cook: History, Lore, and 300 Recipes from Every Corner of the American South. You can preorder the book where books are sold:

• IndieBound
• America's Test Kitchen Store
• Amazon

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Where does the word "cocktail" come from? Who invented it? We explore these questions and the backstories of two drinks from America's early days as a nation: The Mint Julep and the Sazerac. (Special thanks to Joe Gitter and Yiorgos Tsivranidis for their voice acting in this episode.)

Try making our Mint Julep and Sazerac recipes at home!

Further Reading:

"A Brief History of Bitters" Smithsonian Magazine by Peter Smith

Difford's Guide for Discerning Drinkers

Drink & Learn

"The Ice King was a Tudor" Wall Street Journal by Eric Felten

Juke Joints, Jazz Clubs & Juice - Cocktails from Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks by Toni Tipton-Martin

"NEW ORLEANS: A TIMELINE OF ECONOMIC HISTORY" Tulane University by Richard Campanella

The Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails (Edited by David Wondrich & Noah Rothbaum)

Travels of four years and a half in the United States of America by John Davis

Whenham Great Pond by John C. Phillips from The Peabody Museum, Salem, Massachusetts

"Who Is the Real Father of the Cocktail?" The Daily Beast by Philip Greene

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Few drinks have gone through the ringer the way Chartreuse has. Since the 1700s, a silent group of monks in the Southeast of France have produced and protected this elixir-turned-liqueur through evictions, natural disasters, and other trials and tribulations of history. Today, Chartreuse is a crucial ingredient that helped spur the modern craft cocktail movement. Proof's managing producer and self-professed "pro-sumer" of cocktails, Yumi Araki, digs into the history of the spirit that just wouldn't die. Take our Season 8 survey here.

For further reading on the history of Chartreuse: Chartreuse the Liqueur.

A note from our sponsors:

Listeners get 15% off of their first order at porterroad.com/proof.

Get high quality cured meats and charcuterie in stores and online at Veroni USA.

Use code ATK15 for 15% off on OXO.com.

Visit nakedwines.com/summerproof for $100 to spend on wine.

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The smell of certain foods imprint themselves in our brains and can transport us to different places and our past. One scent in particular--the smell of za'atar--brought two Palestinian women together through social media. Nadia Tommalieh and Lulu Abura instantly shared a bond over their love for the herb and the spice blend that reminds them of their homeland. Reporter Haley Gray reports. Take our Season 8 survey here.

Follow Nadia Tommalieh on Instagram here.

Follow Lulu Abura on Instagram here.

A note from our sponsors:

Get high quality cured meats and charcuterie in stores and online at Veroni USA.

Use code ATK15 for 15% off on OXO.com.

Visit nakedwines.com/summerproof for $100 to spend on wine.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On a cold night in January 2017, five comedians gathered around a table in the back of a cramped restaurant in New York’s Greenwich Village called the Olive Tree Cafe. The comedian weren't scheduled to perform at the downstairs Comedy Cellar that night, but they had come to hang out at a place they called home: a family dinner around the most important table in American stand-up comedy. This restaurant--and the famous comedian's table--have long served as home base for comedians like Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, Aziz Ansari, and Dave Chappelle--the five comedians who ended up performing at what would be remembered as the Billion Dollar Comedy Night. Reporter Stephen Calabria digs into the history of the Olive Tree Cafe and how it fuels some of America's most famous stand-up comedians.

A note from our sponsors:

Listeners get 15% off of their first order at porterroad.com/proof.

Get high quality cured meats and charcuterie in stores and online at Veroni USA.

Use code ATK15 for 15% off on OXO.com.

Visit nakedwines.com/summerproof for $100 to spend on wine.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

June Pinks. Candy Stripes. Leather Britches, and Fall Roses. These are the names of just a few apple varieties that have been lost to time. But one man, Tom Brown, is on a mission to find them—and especially one variety called the Junaluska—before it’s too late. Will Tom Brown succeed? Claire Donnelly reports.

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Pineapple cakes. Pork-wrapped pineapple. Pineapple bento boxes, and beef pineapple noodle soup. Reporter Kai McNamee started seeing the spiky fruit everywhere—at restaurants, at convenience stores and at bakeries—after China banned pineapple imports from Taiwan earlier this year. A pineapple-related hashtag also took social media by storm. So what was the #FreedomPineapple campaign all about? Kai investigates in this episode of Proof.

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Ethereal, contained, and rife with ingredients like cottage cheese, whipped cream, and fruit. The Jello salad was a mainstay of many American households throughout the 1950s and the '60s. They were a feast for the eyes, with mixed results about whether they were a feast for the stomach. Still, housewives made them, until a shift happened that upended the way women--and men--thought about cooking. In the season eight premiere of Proof, producer Karen Given tells us about the rise and fall of Jello and gelatin. It’s a story that begins in the Middle Ages, features handsome door-to-door gelatin salesmen on horseback, and goes all the way to Julia Child.

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This season, we're back with a new lineup, and a new host, Kevin Pang! We kick off the season with a story about gelatin and the heyday of Jell-O. We ride along an apple hunter’s journey in search of a lost apple variety. We look at the place--and the food--that’s nurtured some of the best comedians in America, and how a drink made by a silent group of monks has survived over centuries, against all odds. All that, and more on season 8 of Proof from America’s Test Kitchen.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.