This podcast is short and funny! My famous foodie friend Mairlyn Smith and I champion underdog vegetables – brussels sprouts and parsnips. May it remind you to expand your culinary horizons and eat your greens!

Tune in here: https://www.marionkane.com/podcast/foodie-friend-champion-underdog/  

Congratulations to Matty Matheson on 11 years of sobriety! I interviewed Matty in 2017 when he was still newly sober. His joie de vivre was apparent in our conversation and today he still broadcasts messages of love for his new lease on life. Matty's authenticity is part of his charm - he is big, gregarious, tattooed,  creative, down-to-earth and principled. And I highly recommend his recipe for fluffy pancakes!
 
Listen to my conversation with Matty Matheson here: https://www.marionkane.com/podcast/chef-matty-matheson-addiction/
 
Find the recipe for the world's best, fluffiest pancakes here: https://www.marionkane.com/recipe-2/matty-mathesons-fluffy-pancakes/d’s Best

My friend pastry chef Joanne Yolles made Tarte Tatin together at least six times before we perfected the recipe. We went through a lot of apples and butter - but oh my, was it worth it! Practice makes perfect. Tune into this episode to learn the recipe the hacks we discovered after baking this ultimate apple scrumptious dessert: https://www.marionkane.com/podcast/talk-tarte-tatin-joanne-yolles/
Here is the Ultimate Tarte Tatin recipe: https://www.marionkane.com/recipes/recipe-tarte-tatin/ and the story behind it https://www.marionkane.com/recipe-2/pastry-chef-joanne-yolles-core/


For more recipes of all kinds, join my Facebook Group, Sittin' in the Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SittinInTheKitchen

Douglas Quint and Bryan Petroff are partners in life and in business. They started their Big Gay Ice Cream enterprise with a food truck in New York. Now they operate several ice cream shops and have a snazzy book called Big Gay Ice Cream.

I chat with Francis Lam at the Terroir Symposium in Toronto about his childhood food memories, his appearances as a judge of TV food show ‘Top Chef Masters’ and his unusual, delicious rendition of ratatouille.

I chat with Daniel Young of the award-winning website youngandfoodish.com about his passion for fish and chips. Formerly a restaurant critic in New York, he now lives in London where we met at Camden Town's upscale eatery 'Hook'.

I first met Vikram Vij two decades ago and visited his hugely popular Vancouver restaurant Vij's in January 2015. We met a few weeks later at CBC in downtown Toronto and chatted about his mini-empire comprising two restaurants, cookbooks, a line of Indian food products and gigs on television.

I interview Michael Schwartz in the lobby of The Raleigh South Beach. He explains why he moved to Miami from Philadelphia 20 years ago and how he has been at the helm of a food and beverage empire that includes a lovely restaurant at this hotel. Esther Williams performed her famous swimming scenes in the hotel's stunning pool.

Dr. Vera Tarman is medical director of Renascent Treatment Centre in Toronto and a confessed food addict. In her book, Food Junkies, she outlines her controversial approach to food addiction. Tarman advocates abstinence from trigger foods such as sugar, fat, salt, flour and caffeine.

A chef and her husband leave the city of Toronto to restore a vintage farmhouse near the village of Creemore in southern Ontario. Their focus is locally-grown seasonal food carefully prepared at the lovely bed and breakfast Mad Maple.

I helped organize three gala fundraisers for which a team of Toronto's top female chefs donated their time and food. The money raised helped renovate and equip Sistering's wonderful new kitchen. We celebrated with a kitchen party.

I chat with Danny Zimmerman about how his father Zoltan was one of the first Jewish merchants in downtown Toronto's Kensington Market. Decades later, in early 2015, they are handing the torch to Potsothy "Pots" Sallapa and a new group of food vendors.

I chat with Susan Wisniewski whose family has owned and operated the glorious, vintage Harbord Bakery in downtown Toronto for 70 years.

Apples are my favourite fruit, and I particularly love the McIntosh. It's truly part of Canada's culinary heritage, originating as a wild seedling in the Ontario village of Dundela. The story of the McIntosh is compelling, with moments of triumph and tragedy. Listen further to learn about the dramatic history of the McIntosh:

https://www.marionkane.com/podcast/core-mcintosh-apple-story/

My recipe for Apple Crumble works best with tart apples. Try making it with a mix of McIntosh, Northern Spy and Cortlands: https://www.marionkane.com/recipe-2/apple-crumble-crisp-crunchy-and-delish/

For more recipes of all kinds, join my Facebook Group, Sittin' in the Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SittinInTheKitchen

Chef Alida Solomon owns a busy Italian restaurant in downtown Toronto. Its name, Tutti Matti, means "everybody's crazy" and she admits she must be to have chosen this adrenaline-charged career.

I go to the source when sleuthing the hot topic of Southern food. Charlotte Observer food editor Kathleen Purvis relishes the chance to give her take on grits, cornbread and, of course, barbecue.

I chat by phone with Julia Child's longtime personal assistant Stephanie Hersh from her home in New Zealand in 2012.

I interview Judith Jones, Julia Child's longtime editor and good friend, at her Upper East Side apartment in 2012.

I'm in Memphis talking with Tony Geraci, Executive Director of Memphis City Schools Nutrition Services, about his amazing work feeding school children.

Greg Couillard began his career as a chef in Toronto in the early '70s. With a reputation as an unpredictable bad boy he's back at age 61 from his home in Mexico with plans to open a restaurant.

A peach sundae is the big attraction at the midsummer Winona Peach Festival in southern Ontario.

I chat with Ryan Brooks at Brooks' House of Bar-B-Q - the hugely popular restaurant in Oneonta, New York. They have been dishing out their delicious version of Cornell barbecued chicken for more than 50 years.

I chew the fat with owner Chris Corrigan at his vintage tavern turned eatery, the Lancaster Smokehouse, about the best way to barbecue ribs and his experience judging competitions in the southern US. His large restaurant in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada is always packed due to the delicious food.

After a delicious lunch at Rochelle Canteen, the East London restaurant co-owned by British chef Margot Henderson, I chew the fat with her in the kitchen of the flat she shares with her celebrity chef husband Fergus and their three children.

BBQ guru Rob Firing taught me two important lessons about grilling steak. First is to use a coulotte cut of beef; for the uninitiated, the coulotte is boneless, has the flavour of a flank steak but is less chewy. (Bonus: Coulotte is usually reasonably priced). The second piece of advice Rob gave me was to reverse-sear. This method requires slow, low temp cooking before briefly searing the juices in. Trust when I say that reverse-searing guarantees a tender, juicy steak, every time!

Listen to my podcast episode with Rob Firing here: https://www.marionkane.com/podcast/grill-rob-firing-barbecues-steak/

For more instruction on the reverse-sear method of cooking steak, read my blog post here: https://www.marionkane.com/toronto/grill-cookbook-author-rob-firing/

For more recipes of all kinds, join my Facebook Group, Sittin' in the Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1573678999552442

Two underdog vegetables, Brussels sprouts and parsnips, get a bad rap mostly because they have been victims of overcooking. My friend Mairlyn Smith and I rush to their defence with recipes and cooking tips that bring out the best in these wrongly-maligned foods.

Kerstin Rodgers aka Ms Marmite Lover - queen of London's underground restaurants - chats with me in her kitchen in Kilburn, North London. Topics du jour: the Aga oven, homemade Marmite and women's relationship with food.

Toronto pastry chef Joanne Yolles and Marion Kane Food Sleuth® discuss apple desserts in general and that delicious French confection Tarte Tatin in particular.

In mid-June, 2013, I sleuthed the inaugural butter tart festival in Midland, Ontario, and chatted with the contest judges including artist Charlie Pachter, Midland’s mayor and police chief and the fest’s honourary Queen of Tarts. The winning tart, out of 80 entries, was baked by Nancy Dillen of Barrie.

"Where Chefs Eat" is a collection of 2500 places - from high-end restaurants to hot dog stands - recommended by 450 chefs from around the world. Its editor is British restaurant writer Joe Warwick.

In this podcast, I’m talking cookbooks: Why they’re so popular, why we hold them so dear and why I was so devastated when many cherished volumes from my 1,000-plus cookbook library went missing. I tell that story and speak with two people who know plenty about this subject: retired librarian Alison Sutherland and manager of The Cookbook Store in Toronto, Alison Fryer.

French-born celebrity chef Marc Thuet starred in a reality TV series called Conviction Kitchen, wrote a cookbook and was at the helm of many successful restaurants. He now owns Petite Thuet bakeries in downtown Toronto. But for years, this tattooed chef with the spiky blonde hair had a secret that ruled his life - and nearly destroyed it. His drug addiction is something he says will always be waiting in the wings.

John Higgins is a Scottish chef who, despite his rapid rise to fame, has both feet firmly planted on the ground. Now, as director of George Brown College's Chef School in Toronto, John helps prepare young students for the fine balance that's crucial to health and success in the high-pressure hospitality industry.

In the early 1980s, British chef Michael Quinn was at the height of his game. A celebrity in his own right, Michael oversaw the kitchen at London's Ritz Hotel and was internationally renowned. But a few years later, everything vanished. Michael's struggle with alcoholism eventually cost him his job, his home and his family. Now sober for many years, he is dedicated to raising awareness about addiction and helping others in the hospitality industry via the organization he founded called ArkGlobal. I spoke to him by telephone.

I chatted with executive chef David Garcelon as he prepared a Waldorf Salad on the 18th floor of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in midtown Manhattan. With clips from Cole Porter’s famous song: 'You’re the top' and the hilarious bit from Fawlty Towers about the renowned salad.

Should peaches be crunchy or soft? What is the best peach dessert? Are peaches an aphrodisiac? Find out these things and more when you listen to my podcast episode about the Winona Peach Festival which takes place this weekend August 25-27.


https://www.marionkane.com/podcast/sleuth-ultimate-dessert-annual/

Visit the Winona Peach Festival website for more information: http://winonapeach.com/

I have an outstanding recipe for Peach Galette. It uses a trick I learned from chef Jacques Pepin - layering ground almonds to prevent a soggy bottom crust. https://www.marionkane.com/recipes/recipe-peach-galette/
Love to cook? For recipes of all kinds, join my Facebook Group, Sittin' in the Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1573678999552442

There's a battle going on for the soul of Kensington Market in downtown Toronto. The closing of landmark butcher European Meats caused a stir this April (2012). Many old-timers felt it was a sign of gentrification. I investigate the issue in this personal story about a place I love and call my home. Hear from old-time merchants and the new wave of food entrepreneurs coming to the market, along with comments from city councillor Adam Vaughan.

Tanya Steel is editor-in-chief of the grande dame of online food sites: epicurious.com. It has a huge database culled from magazines Gourmet and Bon Appetit along with recipes from chefs and home cooks around the world. Now 17 years old, it was the first site I consulted for recipes and is still my favourite. She is also the author of The Epicurious Cookbook. I talked with her on the Toronto leg of her promotional book tour in late 2012.

Marion Kane, Food Sleuth interviews Dr. Robert Baker, the man who invented the chicken nugget

Today is the birthday of my mentor and friend Julia Child. In 2014, I interviewed Julia's long-time assistant Stephanie Hersh. She confessed to me that she told a fib to get her job! She also shared a story about a time Julia made her break the law. Stephanie affectionately thinks about Julia every day: https://www.marionkane.com/podcast/stephanie-hersh-talks-beloved/

After Julia passed, Stephanie Hersh sent me the most warm, beautiful reflection on our dear friend. You can read Stephanie's touching email here: https://www.marionkane.com/julia-child-100/raise-a-toast/

For recipes of all kinds, join my Facebook Group, Sittin' in the Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1573678999552442

Newly elected mayor of Toronto Olivia Chow has long been an advocate for social reform. In 2015, I visited Olivia in her downtown home just weeks before she announced her NDP candidacy in the federal election. We chatted about our mutual passion for food and cooking, in particular our wish for a Canadian national program offering nutritious food for all schoolchildren. Like her late husband, Jack Layton, she had a message of hope.

In 2018, I went to Miami and interviewed the delightful food journalist Carlos Frias. Carlos spoke lovingly of his father, who was saved from hard labour in a Cuban prison camp by his ability to cook. It is clear from this interview how much Carlos's father influenced his love of food. Carlos and I also talk about our shared love of yucca, recommends Miami’s Palacio de los Jugos and how to make mojo. I should be in Miami now – fun in the sun! You can listen to the full interview here: https://www.marionkane.com/podcast/carlos-frias-insider-tips-cuban/ Carlos recently made the jump from print journalist to radio host. You can listen to him Monday-Thursday at 1 p.m. on WLRN 91.3 FM, South Florida's NPR affiliate.
Here's Carlos' recipe for Picadillo. It is a sweet and simple meat dish – a kind of Cuban version of mince'n'tatties: https://www.marionkane.com/recipe-2/miami-herald-food-editor-carlos/

More more recipes of all kinds, join my Facebook group, Sittin' in the Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1573678999552442

Confession: I love fish & chips! Growing up in London, I joined the Girl Guides because weekly meetings were followed by a trip to The Regent, a fish & chips shop around the corner. I wasn’t interested in slip knots or lighting a bonfire. I went there for the chips. In 2015, I sat down with food journalist Daniel Young - aka @youngandfoodish - a fish & chips expert, to discuss the merits of this tasty dish in London U.K.: www.marionkane.com/podcast/fish-chips-hot-school-haute/

If you're in Toronto and have a hankering for fish & chips, I recommend Len Duckworth’s (on Danforth) and Fresco’s (in Kensington Market). Both are excellent.

Join me in my Facebook Group, Sittin' in the Kitchen, for recipes and more food-related content: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SittinInTheKitchen

Thinking outside the box is Len Senater's special talent. Ten years ago, Len set out to create a space where cooks, chefs and communities could collaborate. The Depanneur became a hub for food creativity in Toronto, attracting a loyal following to its many pop-up dining events. I had a memorable meal there, made by the brilliant Greg Couillard, one of Toronto's most talented chefs. Len also came up with a brilliant idea of how to use The Depanneur to empower Syrian refugees in a project-turned-non-profit known as Newcomer Kitchen. I sat down with Len in my Kensington Market kitchen to chat about his experiences and endless fascination with food.

For recipes of all kinds, join my Facebook group, Sittin' in the Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1573678999552442

Len Senater often shares stories of his adventures on sabbatical. You can follow Len and his adventures here: https://www.facebook.com/lsenater

Smoked meat and bagels. Both of these foods were made popular in Montreal's Mile End neighbourhood which, at one time, was mainly home to Jewish immigrants. It is also where my father grew up. On a recent trip to dad's old stomping grounds, I spoke to two general managers of Mile End's culinary institutions: Schwartz's Deli and St-Viateur Bagel. We chatted about the history of their businesses and the enduring popularity of their food. Both destinations were favourites of Anthony Bourdain and Leonard Cohen. Listen to the podcast here:



In my accompanying blog post, I pay a loving tribute to my parents and their Montreal roots: www.marionkane.com/montreal/roots-city-montreal/



For recipes of all kinds, join my Facebook group, Sittin' in the Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SittinInTheKitchen

Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year, is approaching on October 2 to 4.The Gefilteria is the brainchild of Brooklyn NY residents Liz Alpern and Jeffrey Yoskowitz, champions of Jewish cuisine. Their specialty: gefilte fish that far surpasses the versions that have given this dish a bad name. I interviewed the authors of The Gefilte Manifesto in 2016; tune in to hear us talk about Jewish foods and a touching anecdote about the renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks' last meal: 
https://www.marionkane.com/podcast/brooklyn-duo-champions-gefilte/

On a 2014 trip to a food writers’ convention in Memphis, I learned that virtually every topic related to Southern food is a matter of debate. Does sugar belong in cornbread? Should we pronounce it pe-cahn or p-can? Fortunately, my friend and expert on Southern culture Kathleen Purvis was on hand to settle these and other matters of culinary debate. Tune in to hear me pepper Kathleen, currently a freelance food journalist, with questions about Southern food – she is a real gem! www.marionkane.com/podcast/food-writer-kathleen-purvis-shares/

For recipes of all kinds, join my Facebook group, Sittin' in the Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1573678999552442

There are some people in this world who have a light that shines so bright, it illuminates everyone around them. My friend Wendy Bray is one such person. Wendy, Senior Fund development Manager at the Red Door Family Shelter in Toronto, has an enduring positive outlook on life - something we both learned from a mutual friend who survived Auschwitz. Listen to my recent podcast interview with Wendy and you'll be reminded that even in the darkest times there is room for hope.

Donate to support her work at reddoorshelter.ca.

NYC's iconic Katz's Deli - yes, that deli from the movie When Harry Met Sally - has served their famous pastrami to hungry customers since 1888. Katz's is New York's oldest deli and has survived two pandemics: the flu of 1918 and now, Covid. In 2015, I had a conversation with the deli's delightfully funny owner Fred Austin shortly before he retired.

Read the podcast transcript here: https://www.marionkane.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Katzs-Deli-Transcript.pdf

For recipes of all kinds, join my Facebook group Sittin' in the Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SittinInTheKitchen

I teamed up with my trusty recipe tester chef Lesleigh Landry to perfect home-cooked chicken wings. My criteria for superior wings: they must be salty, spicy, crunchy and crispy. Lesleigh and I taste-tested 7 recipes - baked & fried. Find the winning versions plus my special recipe for Blue Cheese Dip here: www.marionkane.com/recipe-2/lesleigh-landry-loves-work-recipe/