This week, we’re turning peak-season produce into bold, flavorful dishes. First, we talk with Rick Martínez, author of Salsa Daddy: Dip Your Way into Mexican Cooking, about transforming simple ingredients – think tomatoes, onions, garlic, and chilis – into salsas that sing. Rick explains why salsa is its own food group and leaves us with his family-inspired peach-and-pecan Salsa Tejana recipe. Then, we visit New York chef Sunny Lee of Sunn’s, a restaurant devoted to banchan, Korea’s iconic side dishes. Sunny teaches Francis how to elevate fresh vegetables into inventive, season-forward sides, including her recipe for Tahini Pickled Mushroom banchan.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• September 5, 2025 (originally aired)
• September 4, 2026 (rebroadcast)

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This week, former bartender turned culinary historian Bobby Hicks joins us to talk about his passion for retro cooking. He gives us a history lesson on how recipes evolved thanks to industrial advances, and explains the thinking behind his redos of post-World War II-era recipes, like his carrot croquettes. Bobby Hicks is the author of Retro Recipes: Vintage Dishes with a Modern Twist, and he left us with an amazing recipe for Tomato Aspic. Then, we turn to the science behind human taste with Italian scientists Davide Risso and Gabriella Morini. They talk about distinguishing taste from flavor, how humans use a combination of senses to taste, how preferences change over time, and how understanding the fascinating taste preferences of animals (mosquitoes!) helps us understand taste in humans. Davide Risso is a molecular biologist with a PhD from the University of Bologna, and Gabriella Morini is a professor of taste and food sciences at the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, Italy. They co-authored On Taste in Humans and Other Animals.

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Broadcast dates for this episode:

August 28, 2026 (originally aired)

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This week’s stop in our road trip series is Thailand: We’re revisiting an episode from a couple of years ago where we talked to Salvadoran chef Karla T. Vasquez and food journalist Austin Bush, author of The Food of Southern Thailand.

This week, we’re taking the stress out of back-to-school cooking with food that’s fast, fun, and full of flavor. First, we talk with Peter J. Kim, author of Instant Ramen Kitchen, about transforming those humble packets you associate with college kids into surprisingly elegant meals. Peter shares why instant ramen deserves a spot in your pantry and leaves us with his recipe for Aglio e Olio. Then, we catch up with chef David Nayfeld and his approach to quick, comforting meals. Known for his acclaimed restaurant Che Fico in San Francisco, David opens up about learning to cook for (and with) his daughter as a single dad. His new book, Dad, What’s for Dinner?, features kid-friendly recipes like the one he shared with us: Zucchini Parmigiana.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• August 22, 2025 (originally aired)
• August 21, 2026 (rebroadcast)

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This week, we’re all about the beauty of the South of France with Steve Hoffman, author of A Season for That. Here we go!

This week, we bring delicious island flavors and home hacks to your kitchen. First, Puerto Rican home cook Omi Hopper joins us to talk about her love letter to Puerto Rico and the journey that started it all. She teaches us her secrets, aka the key seasonings to delicious traditional Puerto Rican dishes like her Mofongo, mashed plantains with garlic and pork cracklings. Omi’s latest book is Cooking con Omi: A Love Letter to Puerto Rican Home Cooking. Then, we take a trip to another island with Top Chef finalist Sheldon Simeon to explore the global flavors of Hawaii. Sheldon shares his favorite home cooking hacks and the family recipes he learned from his dad. He leans on everyday pantry items to create family-style meals that are easy to whip up and delicious, like his over-the-top Loaded Mandoo recipe. Sheldon is the author of Cook Real Hawai’i, and his latest book is Ohana Style: Food from Hawai’i, for Your Family.

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Broadcast dates for this episode:

August 14, 2026 (originally aired)

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You’re listening to a collection we’re calling road tripping! This week, it’s a journey to monasteries, temples, and other sacred spaces around the world to find their amazing food with Jody Eddy, author of Elysian Kitchens.

This week we’re joined by some unusual thinkers on the art of the cookout. First, we get a lesson on barbecue etiquette (who knew) with our favorite duo, Nick Leighton and Leah Bonnema, Hosts of the podcast Were You Raised by Wolves? We get all kinds of tips, from the right way to ask for a family recipe to taking a house tour only if offered by your host. Then, Chefs Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich share their techniques and ideas for cooking over live fire. Their latest book is Chasing Smoke, Cooking Over Fire Around the Levant, and they left us with their recipe for Grilled Peaches with Almond Tahini and Charred Endive. Then, it’s pitmaster Pat Martin talking about the whole hog barbecue culture in West Tennessee and how that whole hog style and tradition of BBQ may be on the path to extinction. His latest book is Life of Fire: Mastering the Arts of Pit Cooked Barbecue, the Grill, and the Smokehouse. You can find his recipe for Grilled Green Beans with Memphis Dry Rub.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• July 29, 2022 (originally aired)
• July 28, 2023 (rebroadcast)
• August 7, 2026 (rebroadcast)

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You’re listening to The Splendid Table's special podcast series, Road Tripping. This week, we are off to Korea with Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard on how Korean cuisine has taken the world by storm.

This week, we turn up the ovens and test our baking skills with two incredible bakers. First, we talk to LA-based cookbook author and star baker, Nicole Rucker, on why summer is peak pie season, the fruit and flavor combinations that elevate her pies (imagine toasted fig leaves!) and making the best out of her leftover cookies for pie crusts. Nicole's latest book is Fat and Flour: The Art of the Simple Bake, and she left us with her Strawberry White Chocolate Cream Pie recipe. Then, Iowa's champion baker Eileen Gannon, talks to us about her surprising baking techniques for cakes, from making moister cakes, fillings vs frostings, and her buttercream preferences. Eileen is the winner of over 600 state and national baking awards and the founder of Sunday Night Foods Sauces.

Broadcast dates for this episode:

• August 8, 2025 (originally aired)
• July 31, 2026 (rebroadcast)

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This summer we’re bringing you a road trip series, exploring food destinations and cuisines with the writers and storytellers who know them best.

This week, we revisit a conversation from one of our Live shows in Orange County, CA, where we talked with the good people behind some of the best barbecue and purveyors of Vietnamese tacos in California, to find out why you really, really want to eat in Orange County. For this road-tripping series, we wanted to highlight our conversation with award-winning journalist Gustavo Arellano.