The Sporkful
Episodes
Can A Restaurant Makeover Make Diners Spend More?
19 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One table in New York's Adda Indian Canteen is underperforming the others. And in a business with razor-thin margins, that's a real problem. In this s...
Can A Stanley Drinking Cup Really Withstand A Car Fire?
12 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Stanley cups are all the rage, but did you know they’ve been around for decades? So what happened to make them go viral? We chat about that and much...
Deep Dish With Sohla And Ham: Tacos Al Pastor
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tacos al pastor are an iconic Mexico City dish — but a relatively new addition to Mexican cuisine. And they only came to be with influences from hal...
Undercover Dining With NY Times Restaurant Critic Pete Wells
05 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells has been called the most feared food writer in America. He can make or break a restaurant with the power o...
Why Hibachi Gets Complicated
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 1964 Rocky Aoki, a Japanese immigrant, created hibachi restaurants in America when he opened his first Benihana. Rocky later said that he based his...
Deep Dish With Sohla And Ham: Tteokbokki
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today on Deep Dish, Sohla and Ham explore the history of Korea through the story of a rice cake. Tteokbokki (Korean rice cakes) are as popular in Kore...
Deep Dish With Sohla And Ham: Delta Tamales
22 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Introducing Deep Dish, a new podcast from The Sporkful hosted by Sohla and Ham El-Waylly! Sohla and Ham are chefs, recipe developers, YouTube stars —...
The Hidden Battle Over Grocery Store Shelves
15 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Over the past few years there has been an explosion in new products in grocery stores, from barbecue sauces to nut butters to seltzers. Big brands hav...
Reheat: A Soda Jerk And A Mormon Walk Into A Podcast
12 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ben Abbott wants to pair his meals with drinks, but as a Mormon, he doesn't drink alcohol. So Dan journeys to Galco’s Soda Pop Stop, an offbeat soda...
Ozempic Isn’t So Great For Fat People, Says Aubrey Gordon
08 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The most common New Year’s resolution Americans make is to lose weight. For many years, that was Aubrey Gordon’s resolution, too. But one conversa...
Reheat: Two Books For The Food Science Nerd In Your Life
29 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
From tortilla chips to tree bark, from fancy cheese to toe cheese, there’s a world of smells all around us that tells us a lot about food, drink, an...
New Year’s Food Resolutions 2024
18 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What foods do Sporkful listeners resolve to eat more of in the new year, and why? And what’s Dan’s New Year’s food resolution for 2024? All is r...
Reheat: Samin Nosrat Drinks Milk With Her Chocolate Soufflé
15 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Samin Nosrat, author of the best-selling cookbook Salt Fat Acid Heat, joins Dan to talk about feeling like an outsider, sexism and pretentiousness in ...
How Do Michelin Stars Actually Work?
11 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Since the Michelin Guide was created in 1926, it has awarded about 3,000 stars to select restaurants around the world. And while Michelin has a ton of...
Rise Of The Foodie Bro (The Year In Food 2023)
04 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We are back with another Salad Spinner, and this time it’s our year end edition! Remember when Starbucks debuted olive oil coffee? Or when Grimace, ...
Reheat: Comic Maria Bamford Risked Her Life For Ice Cream
01 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The native Minnesotan explains why a little internal bleeding can't keep her from a treat, and why the way she eats salad is like the way she deals wi...
What Westerners Misunderstand About Chinese Cuisine
27 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Fuchsia Dunlop has written some of the best known English-language books on Chinese cooking, spending years at a time immersing herself in different r...
The Grandma Chefs Of Staten Island
20 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When Jody Scaravella lost his grandma, his mom, and his sister within a few years, he opened a restaurant in their honor, as a way of dealing with his...
Reheat: The Last Sporkful Thanksgiving Special Ever
17 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Starting this week we're pulling one classic Sporkful from the deep freezer every other Friday and sharing it with you! We're calling these episodes "...
The Drinking Coach Has A Cocktail For You
13 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tiffanie Barriere is an award-winning bartender and cocktail educator who goes by the title “The Drinking Coach.” As the holidays approach, Tiffan...
How To Make A Battle-Ready Pizza
06 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How did the U.S. military create a pizza that soldiers could eat on the battlefield? Our friends at the podcast Proof from America’s Test Kitchen fo...
Sohla El-Waylly Went To Culinary School To “Prove Everyone Wrong”
30 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sohla El-Waylly — chef, recipe developer, YouTube star — just released her first cookbook, Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook. Sh...
Big News About Dan’s Cookbook!
25 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Major announcement! Dan’s first cookbook, Anything’s Pastable, is available for preorder wherever books are sold starting today! This collection o...
Rediscovering Nigeria By Becoming American
23 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Back in 2018, we talked with chef and recipe developer Yewande Komolafe about her experience as an undocumented immigrant. She grew up in Nigeria, but...
Can Bass Pro Shops Teach Grocery Stores Something?
16 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We are back with the Salad Spinner! This is our rapid fire roundtable discussion of the latest food news, from significant to silly, surprising to str...
Detroit Through A Chinese Restaurant Window
09 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Curtis Chin was practically raised at Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine, his family’s restaurant in Detroit. It was a restaurant that served everybody, fr...
School Lunch Triumphs And Tragedies With Kenji López-Alt
02 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
School is back in session. And for kids, lunch period is the closest you get to being on your own at school. So what do kids actually talk about at lu...
Natasha Leggero And Moshe Kasher Give Dan Marriage Advice
25 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Husband-and-wife comedians and podcast hosts Natasha Leggero and Moshe Kasher often perform standup together. In their Netflix special they offer coup...
What “Couscousgate” Tells Us About French Food
18 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Back in 2017, a far-right politician in France angered his supporters and caused a small scandal. The faux pas? Enjoying a plate of couscous. Couscous...
A Chili Crisp Cookbook And An Ode To Shabbat
11 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s show, we’re featuring two new cookbooks that we’re excited about, and the stories of the authors behind them. James Park’s new cook...
How To Create A New Apple
04 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Breeders at Washington State University spent 20 years developing a completely new variety of apple: Cosmic Crisp. What exactly does it take to create...
A Garlic Dispute 20 Years In The Making
28 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We asked for your food fights and hot takes, and you delivered! We hear about a 20-year dispute over a garlic aversion (with unsavory origins), get to...
A Forager's Life In Virginia
21 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Foraged ingredients have become all the rage in high end restaurants, part of the move toward hyperlocal, farm-to-table ingredients. Of course, we hum...
Searching For The Pickle King
14 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
While the villages to the east and west have charming Main Streets, the small town of Greenlawn, sandwiched in between, has pickles. Dan stops by the ...
Instant Pot’s Bankruptcy And Thai Cheese “Burgers”
07 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today we tackle news in the world of food that’s at turns substantive, silly, and surprising in a new series we’re calling Salad Spinner! Take a s...
Tommy Pico’s Food History Wasn’t Lost. It Was Stolen.
31 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A few years ago, Tommy Pico, a queer indigenous American poet, and lover of junk food, set out to learn how to cook. He wanted to get healthier, but a...
Why Barbie’s First Dreamhouse Didn’t Have A Kitchen
21 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When the first Barbie Dreamhouse came out in 1962, it didn’t have a kitchen. Fast forward to today and there are a dozen chef Barbies. What does tha...
Why Ice Is This Summer's Hottest Trend
17 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Once known for its glacial pace, ice news today is breaking. In the wake of Starbucks’ recent announcement that they’re changing their ice, we’r...
2 Chefs And A Lie: Name That Mustard Edition
10 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s time for our annual game show, 2 Chefs And A Lie! The game is simple. Dan talks with three “chefs.” Two are real, and one is an actor with ...
The Enslaved Chefs At Monticello Who Created American Cuisine
03 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week in honor of July 4th, we’re exploring an important part of American history – the contributions of enslaved Black chefs, whose work infl...
The Food-Obsessed Subculture Of The Appalachian Trail
26 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do you feed yourself on a hike that’s more than 2,200 miles long and takes six months to complete? Every summer, hundreds of people attempting t...
Zarna Garg Had To Tell Jokes For Her Supper
19 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The stand-up comedian Zarna Garg spent 16 years as a stay-at-home mom. Now she sells out shows across the country and has her own special on Prime Vid...
Inside The World Of Food Smuggling
12 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Remember that time you bought an apple in Canada or a piece of cheese in France and “forgot” to declare it when you crossed the border into the U....
After A Lifetime Of Eating, Gail Simmons Is Still Hungry
05 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Top Chef judge Gail Simmons never thought she’d have a career in food. Sure, her mom ran a cooking school in their home growing up. Yes, she worked ...
The Secret To Grace Church’s Lobster Rolls
29 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1980s, six women on an island off the coast of Massachusetts began selling lobster rolls as a church fundraiser. Today people travel by car, bo...
Comic Jamie Loftus’s Hot Dog Summer
22 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Comedian and podcaster Jamie Loftus set out on a cross-country road trip to try to figure out: Why do hot dogs have such a hold on American culture? A...
Is Protecting Abalone Also Destroying A Native Tradition?
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When the California government stepped in to try and prevent abalone from going extinct, it also criminalized the food traditions of indigenous people...
The Musical History Of Jelly
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week we're exploring the musical history of jelly, from the Harlem Renaissance to Beyoncé and beyond. Along the way, we hear the story of a famo...
Can ChatGPT Write An Episode Of The Sporkful?
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
ChatGPT can use artificial intelligence to generate high school essays, emails, cover letters, and a lot more. But can it write an episode of The Spor...
Meet The Banh Mi Innovators
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Cookbook author Andrea Nguyen helped change the tone of Vietnamese cookbooks when she published her first in 2006. “They had these long, long ingred...
Squishy Or Crunchy? Why Texture Matters
17 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Crunchy, creamy, squishy, slimy… the list goes on. Texture might not be the first thing you think of when describing your favorite foods, but it pla...
Bill Nye, The FOOD Science Guy!
10 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bill Nye is a goofball nerd to the core, and he’s built a career on making science fun and accessible for everyone. So can Bill give Dan some satisf...
Are You Eating Chipotle Bowls Wrong?
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do you eat ice cream on a first date? When should you start meal prepping when you’re in a new relationship? What’s the perfect tailgating foo...
For Ghetto Gastro, Food Is A Weapon
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hip hop records as placemats. A sneaker chandelier, reminiscent of shoes hanging on telephone lines. A bouillabaisse overflowing with seafood from the...
The Brewer Rewriting The Story of Beer In Iran
20 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Zahra Tabatabai’s parents grew up in an Iran that would be unrecognizable today. “The pictures I see of my family in Iran in the sixties and seven...
Raina’s Disordered Eating, One Year Later
13 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A year ago we spoke with a young woman we’re calling Raina, who felt she was on the verge of developing an eating disorder. For context and perspect...
Should Fine Dining Exist?
06 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Copenhagen restaurant Noma has consistently topped lists of best restaurants in the world. People fly in from all over the globe to pay $500 per p...
The Last Big Mac In Iceland
27 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When Alexandra Yingst plopped down at a bar in Reykjavik after a 10-hour drive through a blizzard, she saw something unexpected: a Big Mac, in seeming...
Alan And Arlene Alda Bonded Over A Fallen Rum Cake
13 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
"Flirting over food is really the best way to flirt," says actor Alan Alda, and he would know. He met his wife, Arlene, at a dinner party in college. ...
A French Chef And Cincinnati: A Love Story
06 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When the French chef Jean-Robert de Cavel died in December, hundreds of chefs wore their white coats to his memorial service in downtown Cincinnati. I...
Mission: ImPASTAble 9 | New Shapes From Old Places
23 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The number one question Dan has gotten since inventing cascatelli is: Are you going to invent another pasta shape? The answer is probably not — the...
Mission: ImPASTAble 8 | The Pursuit Of Viscoelasticity
15 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When cascatelli first went viral, Dan heard from dozens of listeners who wanted to try it, but couldn’t because they were gluten-free. Well, challen...
The Hardest Beer Test In The World
03 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mandy Naglich is an award-winning home brewer who also writes and teaches about beer. Now she wants to become a Master Cicerone — basically the beer...
Mission: ImPASTAble 7 (Update) | Turning The Ship
08 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We’re back with the latest on Cascatelli, the new pasta shape that Dan invented. Now that the chaos around Cascatelli’s launch has died down, Dan ...
Mission: ImPASTAble 6 (Update) | The Future of Cascatelli
26 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The first run of cascatelli sold out almost immediately. In the weeks that followed, the pasta basically went viral. In this update, you’ll hear how...
Mission: ImPASTAble 5 | A Shape Is Born
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After months of revisions, Dan thinks he’s got his shape. But he’s been working on this for so long, he’s not sure he knows what’s good anymor...
Mission: ImPASTAble 4 | Where The Ruffles Meet The Road
15 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The first test batch of Dan’s pasta rolls off the presses, but problems crop up almost immediately. In order to save his shape, Dan has to make some...
Mission: ImPASTAble 3 | What Would Juan Guzmán Do?
08 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dan dusts himself off and goes on the hunt for a pasta company to partner with. Plus, he edges closer to a design for his shape. But the real challeng...
Mission: ImPASTAble 2 | Slanting The Floors
01 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dan seeks inspiration for the design of his new pasta shape, a process that includes an epic pasta tasting and a chat with an architect who points him...
Mission: ImPASTAble 1 | Spaghetti Sucks
01 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Spaghetti doesn’t hold sauce. Angel hair goes from zero to mush. Wagon wheels are gimmicks. These are just a few of Dan’s many frustrations with c...
Mission: ImPASTAble Trailer
25 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For the last three years, Dan has been on a quest to invent a new pasta shape, actually get it made, and actually sell it. And things have not gone as...
Update: Inside The Turmoil At Bon Appétit
03 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When the spotlight goes away… In the wake of allegations about systemic racism at Bon Appétit, people of color there were hopeful things would chan...
A Reckoning At Bon Appetit
13 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A beloved brand with a toxic workplace... The videos shot in the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen are among the most popular food videos on YouTube, beloved f...
When White People Say Plantation
08 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The word "plantation" pops up a lot in the food world – Plantation Mint Tea, Plantation Chicken, Plantation Rum. But it's not a culinary term. It do...
Trailer: Welcome to The Sporkful
01 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This podcast isn’t for foodies, it’s for eaters. We have a ton of fun obsessing about food to learn more about culture, science, history, and most...