Explore every episode of the podcast Tip of the Tongue

Starting from her family's kitchen in Detroit, Michigan, Chef Celeste has become a fixture on the food scene in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She was important to the development of the downtown market. And she has just written a cookbook, Chef Celeste’s Louisiana Kitchen: Simplifying Cajun and Creole Cuisine, which is full of personal stories and delicious recipes. Listen, it’s on Tip of the Tongue.

And her book . . .

Not many companies that are still operating in the United States were started in the 1700s. Laird and Company is one of them. We have a lively conversation with Lisa Laird Dunn, President and Global Ambassador. She is the 9th generation to operate the business, and her children have joined the company. Imagine 10 generations of apple brandy! Listen to what Lisa has to say. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

You can read about the history of the company and all of its products.

And if you are interested in recipes, there are plenty of cocktail recipes on the website. There is even a cookbook available.

If you want to cook efficiently and make best use of your resources, you will love Mary Bryant Shrader’s The Modern Pioneer Pantry: A Complete Guide to Preserving Food. It will help you eliminate waste and really make use of your resources. You’ll be prepared for disasters and for those days when you have been so busy that you haven’t had a chance to go to.the store. It is a great supplement to her previous book, The Modern Pioneer Cookbook.

You can listen to an earlier podcast with Mary. She talks about her first cookbook, The Modern Pioneer Cookbook.

Do you love grilling and smoking, but you have limited space to do it? Are you new to smoking, but want to experiment? Do you just want to have fun outdoors? Watch Morgan Bolling as she experiments, very successfully, with backyard grilling. No fancy equipment, just the ordinary stuff that we all might have. The perfect equipment for fun and learning! We talk to Morgan about the show, how it came about, and whether there will be more of it. Listen, it’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Here is the cache of recipes from the show.

You probably know Morgan from America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country. And she is the author of When Southern Women Cook.

Sam Gugino has had a varied career as a chef, a writer, and an actor. He has truly invented himself. He talks about all of it, including his new book, Eat, You’ll Get Hungry.

We have a conversation about his various careers and we speak a lot about his Sicilian family. The table was the center of his home and the cookbook tells the story. His recipes are delicious and reflect the old-fashioned nature of that table.

Read the book, learn about Sam, and take a few pointers from him. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Chef Ashwin Vilkhu opens his dream restaurant - The Kingsway - in New Orleans. It is a modern prix fixe restaurant that features the chef’s interpretation of the foods of Asia. We discuss opening a restaurant in these times. When and how you know it’s right for the restaurant, the staff, and the diners.

Born in India, Chef Vilkhu grew up in New Orleans, absorbing not only the vibe and flavors of the city, but the eclectic culinary attitudes of his family. His father, Chef Arvinder Vilkhu and his mother, Pardeep Vilkhu, have been exciting the taste buds of New Orleans for years. They opened Saffron NOLA, with Chef Ashwin. It is twice nominated for James Beard Foundation awards. Listen, it’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Arvinder and Ashwin Vilkhu

Listen to the podcast with both Chefs at Saffron NOLA.

Are you a food writer? a food person? a writer? Adam Roberts is all of these things. After having written cookbooks, food blogs, television shows, and articles, Adam has written his first novel, Food Person.

You read about Adam, his podcast, his other books, and more here.

Other books by Adam Roberts. . .

Adam’s newsletter is The Amateur Gourmet.

There was a time when there were many gentlemen’s dining clubs. There is something very 19th century about them. And there are probably not that many that are descended from a club that has been around for a good while. Although it is a 20th century club, the New Orleans club - the Escargot Society - is a spiritual descendant of those clubs where gentlemen met to appreciate good wine and food. Dominic Massa, a member of the Escargot Society, joins us to talk about the club’s history. Listen, it’s on Tip of the Tongue.

The snail on the wall at Antoine’s designed by John Chase

Dominic Massa

Imagine being part of the United Cajun Navy and helping people during a disaster! They help people during floods, fires, and freezing storms to recover from natural destruction and devastation. In addition the organization, made up of volunteers, has embraced solving the problem of food insecurity.

We talk with Brian Trasher, spokesperson and vice-president of the United Cajun Navy. Listen. It’s on TIp of the Tongue.

Go on the website if you are interested in volunteering or donating.

Do you like tequila? Ted Genoways has written an exciting, cinematic account of the Cuervo family and the development of the tequila industry. With research deep into records in longhand in Spanish, French, and English, Genoways pieced together the fascinating and exciting story that parallels the development of modern Mexico as well as the modern tequila industry.

He tells us all about it. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

I recommend that you drink your favorite tequila cocktail while you listen to the podcast.

We would all benefit from living well and eating well, with a goal of holistic living. But how does anyone accomplish such a goal? We talk to Erin Clifford about her new book that not only explains the goals, but that functions as a workbook for getting there.

Read more about Erin. and her new book.

Who knew that there was more for Meathead to teach us about grilling and barbecue? His new book, The Meathead Method, is full of new information, great recipes, and terrific photos. It gives us great tips, clear instructions, warnings of pitfalls, and lots of ideas and explanations. It teaches in a way that makes you want more. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

You can learn more about Meathead and his website, full of recipes and other information for perfecting your own techniques.

And read about Meathead on Wikipedia.

New to vegetarianism? Just flirting with it? This book is perfect for you. It is full of delicious food and great ideas. It isn’t about eating a certain way, flavor be damned. It is all about eating delicious and interesting food.

We talk to Laura Lee Flanagan about her new book, Hardcore Vegetarian: Welcome to the Vegedome! She is a lawyer and has a PhD in literature. She is so many things, and she brings all of her talents and her versatility to the food in her book.

The photography in this book is quite luscious. And the recipes are a far cry from the ordinary. You will enjoy cooking from this book.

We are all aware of fair trade coffee. But Non-Fiction Coffee Coffee Company has taken this idea beyond the basics of fair trade. The company wants to have real relationships with the growers and producers. You can learn their stories as you sip your coffee and be a part of appreciating the effort that goes into growing those beans each year.

We speak with Jeff Daniels. He is the Director of Sales and Business Development for Non-Fiction Coffee in Birmingham, Alabama. The beans are available in Birmingham and online.

Award-winning writer, John Birdsall, the author of cookbooks and the biography of James Beard, The Man Who Ate Too Much, has written a new book. What Is Queer Food? How We Served a Revolution. We talk about that very question, about the book and what Birdsall was trying to achieve, and much more. It certainly made me think about food as a way to communicate with the world in the 20th century. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Read more about the concept of queer food. And more about John Birdsall. John publishes a newsletter, Shifting the Food Narrative on Substack, and is on Instagram @john_birdsall.

Beth Le Manach, beloved blogger and YouTuber, publishes under the name Entertaining with Beth. Her new book, Entertaining 101: Recipes Every Host Should Know How to Make, is a delightful roadmap of entertaining without hiccoughs whether you are a beginner or a seasoned entertainer. Listen as we

chat about writing recipes, entertaining, the differences between the US and France, and lots of other things.

If you are already a fan of Beth’s this book is a must-have. If you are unfamiliar with her, you will enjoy the book for what it is, a great beginning entertainment book, and you will be introduced to the charming Beth LeManach.

Kelly Jacques and Samantha Weiss established Ayu Bakehouse in 2022 in New Orleans. They already have a reputation for king cake, competing with bakeries that have been baking king cakes the entire lives of their owners. And this is in a town that takes its king cake seriously.

They have built a business with sustainability of all types at its core. They care about the environment, their customers, their employees, and their own holistic health, while operating a sustainable business.

Listen, it’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Read about their king cake here.

King Cake at Ayu Bakhouse

Fava beans in the Ayu Bakehouse king cake

Ayu Bakehouse801 Frenchmen St., New Orleans, LA (504) 302-7985

In 2001 Paula Johnson, Director of the American Food History Project at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, and colleagues traveled to Cambridge, MA to visit Julia Child as she was planning to relocate to California. She oversaw the installation of the Julia Child kitchen at the Smithsonian. And what began as a temporary exhibit has survived a move within the museum and continues to be a popular exhibit.

The exhibit is so popular that it has its own Fact Sheet on the Smithsonian website.

Paula has written a book about the entire experience with wonderful anecdotes about the journey to where the exhibit/kitchen is today.

Listen to our conversation. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Sarah Ahn has presented us with a wonderful insight into her mother’s kitchen. It happens to be a Korean kitchen with exciting dishes and techniques that can be duplicated in your home kitchen. I learned all about new flavors and techniques. I am going back to recipes a second and third time with excitement. And I am exploring websites where I can find appropriate products. What a wonderful way to learn about a culture. And I am inspired to add new flavors to my own table.

You probably know Sarah from America’s Test Kitchen. She shares a lot with us in this book, so we need to honor that work. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Do you cook for yourself or your family every day? Do you love food and cooking blogs, and tips to make your food prep more efficient and more fun? We talk to the down-to-earth, Jessica Merchant, about her blog, her books, her methods and her practical approach to good cooking. She is a popcorn machine of ideas. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Ellen Kanner has written a terrific book full of wonderful, flavorful recipes that are all vegan. She writes for the person who is using some prepared or canned food. This makes the book perfect for those putting a toe in the vegan waters. And for those who have eaten a vegan diet for some time, it offers new recipes with available ingredients that can pull you out of the dinner doldrums.

Ellen Kanner

Vegan Pimento Cheese (from Miami Vegan, with permission)

8 ounces raw cashews soaked overnight*

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

2 pimentos—canned or jarred workfine—plus a little of their juice

a squeeze of fresh lemon juice (about a teaspoon)

sea salt and fresh ground pepper totaste

optional adds:◊splash of hot sauce or pinch cayenne

1/2 teaspoon white miso◊

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

•Drain and rinse cashews. Pour into a food processor and whiz or pulse until you’ve got a thick paste.

•Add remaining ingredients: nutritional yeast for cheesiness, apple cider vinegar for the littlest bit of acidic edge, paprika to deepen flavor, turmeric for a little bit of earthy funk and to nail that adorable pale orange shade, pimento—you cannot make pimento cheese without pimento

•Blitz it all together for 3–5 minutes or until it’s luscious, totally smooth with no graininess from the nuts, and you’ve achieved that particular pimento cheese shade

.•Squeeze in fresh lemon juice and taste. Add any optional ingredients—the miso, hot sauce, and/or garlic powder. Season with sea salt and fresh pepper, and taste again for balance

.•Serves 4 to 6

* Got nut allergies? Substitute 1/2 cup sunflower seeds and 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds for the cashews

Roger Lee answers your questions about no and low alcoholic drinks and bars. He talks about the restaurant industry and how it is changing. We talk about tipping and labor issues front of house and back of house. We even talk about protein bars, sustainability, and local produce.

Roger is a lawyer with Stubbs, Alderton, and Markiles, LLP in Los Angeles. CA.

You can find out more about what Roger is doing and what he thinks here:

and here:

Here are some insights from Revere Auctions’ Sean Blanchet about the Splendid Collection auction. The auction has selections of many objects and writings that belong to Lynne Rossetto Kasper, long-time host of the podcast, The Splendid Table. You can listen to the conversation about what is available, why it is happening, and what might interest you.

Lynne has had an extraordinary career, but fans of The Splendid Table will enjoy the personal items that are available, such as dish towels and napkins. There are lovely copper pots as well as lots of books, many of which are signed with a dedication to her. She has notebooks, and papers that are annotated with post-it notes. Even just the auction catalog is an extraordinary look into a respected food historian’s readings, cooking, and thoughts. Before The Splendid Table she was a writer and cooking school teacher.

Welcome to subscribers. I would love to hear from you. Do you listen to The Splendid Table? Will you be bidding on this auction?

Interested in restaurant criticism, the decline of alternative weeklies, and the rise of influencers? Is food a real part of the cultural landscape or is it just fun? What and who can we rely on for ideas, not just information like hours of operation and the name of a place? James Beard Foundation Award winner Besha Rodell has written a memoir about her food life, Hunger Like a Thirst. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Read her New York Times work. The Brisbane Times.

We talk to a founder of the Museum of the American Cocktail, Tim McNally, about the wine and spirits industry. A wine writer who spent much of his career judging wine, he is the perfect person to ask about the state of the industry today.

He is a writer, and his book about the Sazerac is wonderful.

Want to know more? Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Tip of the Tongue is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Tim McNally

Let’s not overlook the role of women and home entertaining in the story of the cocktail. Nicola Nice tells the story of how women brought the cocktail home, as a part of regular entertaining - how they entertained during Prohibition and into the cocktail party era. She explains it in fascinating detail in The Cocktail Parlor: How Women Brought the Cocktail Home.

Nicola writes about these themes regularly in her blog, The Hostess Diaries. She describes it as “a blog dedicated to the culture of cocktails and hospitality, as told through the lens of women’s history.” It is a perspective about drinking and drinking culture, especially as it is related to drinking cocktails, that shouldn’t be overlooked, if you are interested in the cocktail and its history.

Remember those sour mixes in your parents’ home bar? And bartenders used them too. Those mixes gave sours a bad name. We talk to Philip Greene, the author of the new book, Sours: A History of the World’s Most Storied Cocktail Style, about this and other things Sour. Phil is one of the founder’s of the Museum of the American Cocktail, and has written a number of books about the cocktail. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Philip Greene

You can read the story of the Lion of Baltimore cocktail on page 130 of Sours. Here is the recipe for the cocktail created by Phil Greene. Make the drink, and sip it while you read the story.

2 ounces Jamaican dark rum (such as Smith & Cross or Appleton)

1 ounce sweet vermouth (Dolin or Martini work well)

3/4 ounce fresh lime juice

1/4 ounce orgeat

2 or 3 dashes Dale DeGroff’s pimento bitters

Combine all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Carrie Helms Tippen sees the stories in cookbooks. Her interest in the cookbooks of the American south is very broad and very deep. Her latest book is Unpalatable: Stories of Pain and Pleasure in Southern Cookbooks. We talk about

finding the meaning in recipes and headnotes. This follows on the heels of her book, Inventing Authenticity: How Cookbook Writers Redefine Southern Identity, which is also about cookbooks.

Listen it’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Instagram: @carriehelmsphd

This is an encore presentation of this podcast. In yesterday’s ComplEAT Kitchen I wrote about my meal at Pasta Night, Renato’s restaurant in Brooklyn. I thought that listening to this podcast again, where he speaks about his new restaurant, would be fun.

If you eat breakfast in Brooklyn you have probably eaten at Ciao, Gloria. Italian baking and lots more. Renato Poliafito’s 5th book, Dolci! American Baking with an Italian Accent is out and it makes you want to bake and eat everything. We talk to Renato about baking, Italian food, and so much more. Listen, it’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Discussion about this episode

There are fusion restaurants everywhere. Sometimes they are contrived, and frankly the fusion doesn’t happen. Usually they work best when the people involved have a foot in the food culture of the place where the restaurant is and in the culture of the source of fusion. There are no rules. But you know when it is successful, just as you might recognize something that isn’t.

Koi Asian Fusion works. We speak with General Manager, Eric Li, about the work and thought that went into the restaurant - work regarding the look and feel of the place, the food and its connection to real people who know the food, and the work at restaurant principles, like fresh seafood and wonderful ingredients and methods. And yes, even the cocktails are thoughtfully crafted.

Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Next time you are in Shreveport, Louisiana, this is a must stop. When you are up to your eyeballs in Cajun, Creole, and north Louisiana food that people claim is authentic, and you want something else that is really delicious, pop into Koi Asian Fusion for a palate cleansing. It will make your taste buds zing.

Food and food culture does not observe political boundaries. Thus some important state foodways may be overshadowed by more well-known or more highly marketed foodways. In Louisiana, most people identify the food of south Louisiana when they think about the state’s foodways. Chef Hardette Harris wants to encourage us to remember the wonderful foodways of the northern part of the state, a place abundant with game and fresh water fish.

She has established an organization called Us Up North to keep these foodways front and center. We talk to Chef Hardette Harris. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Chef Hardette Harris

There is lots to say about food writing and how it has changed. Dianne Jacob is right on top of it all. She is the author of the multiple award-winning book, Will Write for Food, which is now 20 years old and in its 4th edition. She is a writer herself, a writing instructor, and a writing coach. She has a newsletter on Substack.

Dianne is unlocking her article with Emily Weinstein next week. You can read it here, Recipes Need a “Lightbulb Moment.”

Dianne Jacob

The first cover of Will Write for Food

Rachel Hope Cleves has written a book full of sex and transgression. The book is all about food, the development of restaurants, and how we left some of the prejudices about good food and sex behind us in the world of foodies. Today we think of healthy eating as our path to good sex.

You can also find Rachel on Blue Sky.

If this podcasts interests you, I recommend a conversation that Rachel and I mentioned on this podcast. A conversation with John Birdsall about his book The Man Who Ate Too Much.

Do remember Saveur magazine from the 1990’s? Well, it’s back. Kat Craddock, who grew up reading and admiring the magazine, who found her first dream job working there in the test kitchen, is now the Editor and CEO.

We talk to Kat about Saveur and its new incarnation. Listen, it’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Kat’s New Book written with Dr. Marie Pierre St. Onge

Caroline Chambers has made her much deserved reputation of Substack. Her new book, What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking is out there. She tells her story and muses on the future. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

You can read more about Caro on her website.

The interview is fun and personal. The cookbook has great ideas for food that is either very easy, when that is what you need, and also food that is a bit more elaborate for when you are in the mood.

Ilan Stavans and Margaret E. Boyle have written a book, Savor Judío, which explores the influences of Jews on the cuisine of Mexico. The book is full of sidebars that explain origins and happy mash-ups that can made of a delightful new dish reflecting both Jewish and Mexican cultures.

The book discusses holiday treats and surprises like Baba Ganoush con Chile.

Ilan Stavans is Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities and Latino Culture at Amherst College. Margaret E. Boyle is Director of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies at Bowdoin College.

Read more about Ilan Stavns.

Read more about Margaret E. Boyle

You might also be interested in this podcast: Tip of the Tongue Episode 183: The Sephardic Experience.

Try TIp of the Tongue Episode 169: Food & Memory

The Port of New Orleans has been importing green coffee from the Americas for centuries. Green coffee distribution has been an industry in the city for a long time. And roasting and selling roasted coffee, while a newer industry, has serious roots in the city too. And coffee shops abound. Local ones, not only national chains.

French Truck Coffee is one of those local ones that has grown from one shop to many shops, brewing coffee and selling beans, and now its own food to accompany the coffee. We talk to Geoffrey Meeker, founder of French Truck Coffee, to see what’s up with coffee. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

If you eat breakfast in Brooklyn you have probably eaten at Ciao, Gloria. Italian baking and lots more. Renato Poliafito’s 5th book, Dolci! American Baking with an Italian Accent is out and it makes you want to bake and eat everything. We talk to Renato about baking, Italian food, and so much more. Listen, it’s on Tip of the Tongue.

There are many influences on New Orleans cuisine. It is constantly changing and adapting to all of the delicious things being brought to the city. One of those influences that has been in New Orleans since the late 70s is Vietnamese. And there are mutiple generations of people who have Vietnamese jeritage in the city cooking and eating and sharing their food. Listen to Chef Nini Nguyen as we talk about Vietnamese food, changes made by local cuisines and traditions, and the difference that generations make.

Her book, Đặc Biệt, which means “to be special” definitely describes the book itself as well as its contents. Listen to our conversation about Đặc Biệt.

Are you ready for an opera about macaroni and cheese? Will we recognize ourselves in an opera about a cooking contest with contestants representing America and the different versions of macaroni and cheese that can be found all over the country? Listen to the conversation with conductor, Josh Slater, and General Manager of the New Orleans Opera, about the opera, The Cook-Off. It is performed at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum in New Orleans.

Joshua Anand Slater is an Indian-American conductor and composer, known equally for his work in new music and for “rich, full-throated” interpretations of established repertoire. Equally at home in the concert hall and the theater, his most recent opera credits in the 2024 season include the Toronto Premiere of the Pulitzer Prize winning Angel’s Bone and jumping in to lead the piano vocal workshop for Des Moines Metro Opera’s world premiere of American Apollo.

Librettist Lila Palmer is deeply committed to expanding the perspective of stories on operatic stages. Her advocacy for arts across the public sphere has led to ground-breaking collaborations with active-duty female military personnel (Dead Equal), healthcare professionals and patients (The Jewel Merchants), and several heritage spaces, including The Museum of London, The London Transport Museum, and Trebah Gardens. Her operatic work has recently been recognized with an Edinburgh Fringe Lustrum Award, and she was honored to be named an Aix-en-Provence Festival Women in Opera Professional Artist. In art song repertoire, This Be Her Verse, her song cycle with Kathleen Tagg for soprano Golda Schultz, earned critical acclaim for international premieres in Canada, Scotland, Switzerland, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Hailed by Opera News as “a new repertoire staple,” the work’s Alpha Classics album was named one of The Times 10 Best Classical Records of 2022.

The world of food is very broad, and it seems that Jessica Carbone has worked in every part of it. She has worked in restaurants, edited cookbooks, studied it at Harvard, consulted to the entertainment industry, worked in magazines, and worked at the Smithsonian.

She has survived it all with a broad and deep understanding of the field. And she has the ability to look at it all from the ground and from the sky. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Are you intrigued? There is more about Jessica.

If you want more, read about her work at Saveur Magazine.

Jessica and I talk about her work with Judith Jones. For more information listen to this podcast with Sara Franklin, she wrote The Editor, a biography of Judith Jones.

This is a reprise of my interview with Paul Freedman about his book Why Food Matters. We talked in 2021, shortly have the book came out. As we approach Thanksgiving, a holiday about gratitude that uses food and communal eating as its primary symbol - move over symbolic turkey - I thought that it would be interesting to hear Paul Freedman discuss this book about so many of the reasons that food represents everything about life.

Yale University Press, the publisher, has this to say about the book,

"Why does food matter? Historically, food has not always been considered a serious subject on par with, for instance, a performance art like opera or a humanities discipline like philosophy. Necessity, ubiquity, and repetition contribute to the apparent banality of food, but these attributes don’t capture food’s emotional and cultural range, from the quotidian to the exquisite. In this short, passionate book, Paul Freedman makes the case for food’s vital importance, stressing its crucial role in the evolution of human identity and human civilizations. Freedman presents a highly readable and illuminating account of food’s unique role in our lives. It is a way to express community and celebration, but it can also be divisive. This wide-ranging book is a must-read for food lovers and all those interested in how cultures and identities are formed and maintained."

There are lots of baking books out there. And even though I have considered myself baking averse, I am trying to bake my way out of this affliction. Reading and cooking out of Pan y Dulce by Bryan Ford has been excellent therapy. Listen as Bryan and I talk about New Orleans and its food culture - which I am happy to say we both love - as well as Bryan’s journey to baking and his current journey. And, of course, we talk about his new book, Pan y Dulce: The Latin American Baking Book. Listen. It’s on TIp of the Tongue.

Women in the South have been both frugal and extravagant in their baking, but it is usually delicious. Morgan Bolling has edited a terrific new book - When Southern Women Cook - with an introduction by the James Beard Foundation award-winning Toni Tipton Martin, published by America’s Test Kitchen. You will be intrigued, excited, and itching to get into the kitchen.

Besides 300 recipes, the book is stuffed with little essays about people and foods from the south, written be people who know. It is great read as well as easy to cook from.

All we have to do now is make sure that other regions have such a wonderful book to represent them.

The Poor Boy Festival in New Orleans celebrates all of the cultural quirks of New Orleans, including the culinary ones. I was asked to moderate a panel with Winston Ho and Miss Linda Greene, aka, The Yaka Mein Lady. Unfortunately Miss Linda was unable to attend, so Winston and I waltzed our way around yaka mein and a few other very New Orleans topics.

It seems that Winston has found yaka mein in African-American communities around the country. Yaka mein was available in Chinese restaurants, although now it usually is not. It took place outside, so the sound quality isn’t perfect, and Winston powered through and really didn’t need any prompts from me. It is still worth the listen, especially if you care about yaka mein.

Winston Ho

Bella McDow grew up in America and in El Salvador. She is living in New Orleans these days and exploring her roots through baking. She is resolving the various tugs from different cultures by baking. She is learning the business through a special program and popup. Her company is SemitaMamita. I have eaten her semitas, and they are delicious.

She is just starting on her adult path in life, and she is off to a very culinary and very tasty start. The pastries are El Salvador, but fillings are distinctly New Orleans. 2 cultures in a well-balanced blend. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Recreating her mother’s table inspired Melissa M. Martin to create the Mosquito Supper Club in New Orleans. Her first book, Mosquito Supper Club, reflected the recipes from her mother’s table. But Bayou: Feasting Through the Seasons of a Cajun Life, goes beyond those recipes. And the Mosquito Supper Club is expanding as other plans are unfolding. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Olia Hercules has made a profound journey to the comforts of food. This episode from 2022 seems so apt today, that I am offering it again. Even if you have heard it before, you will hear new things in a second listening. Hercules is a Ukrainian journalist who has also lived in Cyprus and Italy and now England. She describes the comfort of food as a reminder of home and as a way to establish home. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Marilee Bramhall and I discuss women vintners in France and Italy and her company, Iola Wines. We talk about the nuances of natural wines and simply the joy of wine at the table. Have you tasted natural wine? Do you only like big, bold wines or do you enjoy wine with food that is very specific to place? Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Be sure to look at her events and her wine club.

How to stay grounded in the world. How to remain connected to others. How to remain in the now when performing everyday tasks. We talk about this with Misty Bell Stiers and her new book, Light, Fire, and Abundance: Harness the Power of Food & Mindful Cooking to Nourish the Body & Soul.

Learn more about Misty, including other writing, by visiting her website.