The Sporkful

About this podcast

We obsess about food to learn more about people. The Sporkful isn't for foodies, it's for eaters. Hosted by Dan Pashman of Cooking Channel's You're Eating It Wrong and the book Eat More Better. A Stitcher Production.

The Sporkful

Episodes

2021
Cooking With Brain Injury — And Finding Humor In It
How does a traumatic brain injury affect the way you cook and eat? Filmmaker Cheryl Green, who has a brain injury, satirizes her own experiences in the kitchen in a short video called “Cooking With Brain Injury.” This week Dan talks with Cheryl about what it means to live with an invisible disability, how it affects her cooking, and why asking for help can be a beautiful thing. Plus, Cheryl records herself making a meal. (You can find a version of Cheryl's video with audio description here.) // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
April 5, 2021
28 min
Mission: ImPASTAble | Quick Update
It's been a week and a half since Dan's new pasta shape went on sale. The response has been way beyond what we expected. Listen in for a quick update from Dan. And for those of you who haven't seen it yet: The shape is on sale right now! Get it at Sfoglini. Due to overwhelming demand, orders placed now will ship in 10-12 weeks. We really appreciate your patience and we promise the pasta will be worth the wait! Want to see photos and videos from Dan’s journey? Follow @thesporkful on Instagram! And do you have questions about Mission: ImPASTAble? Send a voice memo to hello@sporkful.com, include your first name and location, and we may answer your question on a future episode. Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
March 29, 2021
3 min
Mission: ImPASTAble 5 | A Shape Is Born
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 anymore. So he brings in an all-star panel of taste testers, including Sohla El-Waylly, Francis Lam, Dorie Greenspan, Christopher Kimball, Claire Saffitz, Jet Tila, and Bill Nye the Science Guy. Then J. Kenji López-Alt, Justin Warner, and Samin Nosrat help Dan pick a name for his shape before, finally, it’s production day! The shape is on sale right now! Get it at Sfoglini, and use promo code SPORKFUL for 15% off your whole order. Want to see photos and videos from Dan’s journey? Follow @thesporkful on Instagram! // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
March 18, 2021
40 min
Mission: ImPASTAble 4 | Where The Ruffles Meet The Road
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 big decisions that come with a high price tag. But just as things start coming together, a die redesign goes very wrong. Want to see photos and videos from Dan’s journey? Follow The Sporkful on Instagram! // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
March 15, 2021
40 min
Mission: ImPASTAble 3 | What Would Juan Guzmán Do?
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 challenge is convincing pasta industry insiders to take him seriously. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
March 8, 2021
37 min
Mission: ImPASTAble 2 | Slanting The Floors
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 to a very radical concept. But after a meeting with a pasta maker, Dan learns exactly how much these big ideas will cost him. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
March 1, 2021
38 min
Mission: ImPASTAble 1 | Spaghetti Sucks
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 classic pasta shapes. Three years ago he set out to do better when he embarked on a quest to invent a new pasta shape, actually get it made, and actually sell it. And things have not gone as planned. Starting today, we’re telling the story of Dan’s quest in a five-part series; part 2 is also up now. Will the world have a new pasta shape? Or will Dan’s dreams fall as flat as an overcooked rigatoni? // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
March 1, 2021
31 min
Mission: ImPASTAble Trailer
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 planned. Starting this Monday, March 1, we’re telling the story of this quest in a five-part series.// Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
February 25, 2021
3 min
Are All Vodkas The Same?
Putting our own homemade vodka to the test...Dan’s friend Alex Goldmark insists that cheap vodka makes his face turn red; Dan doesn’t believe him, because Dan thinks all vodka is the same. We team up with NPR’s Planet Money, where Alex happens to be the senior supervising producer, to settle this debate once and for all. Along the way we visit a vodka distillery, learn about the origins of Grey Goose, and make our own vodka. Then these two guys walk into a bar, and try to cause an allergic reaction. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
February 22, 2021
30 min
The Sporkful Dating Game!
It’s not for foodies, it’s for lovers… Could listening to The Sporkful be the fertile soil out of which true love grows? We put out the call for Sporkful listeners looking for love, and hundreds of you responded. This week, we listen in on two blind Zoom dates that resulted from our extremely unscientific matchmaking. Is The Sporkful enough of a spark to ignite a grease fire of passion for two eaters? Or will these dates turn as cold as take-out fries?// Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
February 15, 2021
36 min
Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon Eat Differently Now
Cauliflower rice biryani anyone?… When Kumail Nanjiani was cast as a Marvel superhero, he decided to transform his body. Gone was the guy who played a schlubby coder on Silicon Valley — Kumail got ripped. To many of his fans, and to anyone who heard him wax poetic about his favorite foods on The Sporkful four years ago, this change was shocking. But has Kumail himself changed? This week he returns, now with his wife, creative partner, and podcast co-host Emily V. Gordon. They discuss the surprising ways their relationship to food has evolved since Kumail got ripped — and since the pandemic hit. Plus, they break down their quarantine take-out game, defend their decision to eat cauliflower rice biryani, and unpack some of their body image issues.// Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
February 8, 2021
36 min
Celebrating Other People’s Holidays
Plus, a surprising new update… Do you drink a Guinness on St. Patrick's Day, even though you're not Irish? Do you eat chips and salsa on Cinco de Mayo, even though you're not Mexican? Here at Sporkful HQ, we sure do. When one culture's holiday becomes everyone's excuse to party, what's gained and what's lost? And how does it feel when it's your holiday? A few years back Dan found out, when he went to a Chinese New Year party with no Chinese people, then attended a “Gentile Passover” seder, where he was the only Jewish person. Plus he talked with comedian Jenny Yang, who went to a Lunar New Year celebration at Disneyland. We replay those conversations, then check back in with the hosts of “Gentile Passover” for a surprising update. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
February 1, 2021
41 min
Men Have Eating Disorders, Too. Why Don’t They Seek Help?
Three personal stories about an overlooked problem…Public discussions about eating disorders tend to focus on women, and in the past, so have our episodes on the subject. But millions of men also struggle with some form of disordered eating, though they’re far less likely to be diagnosed or to seek treatment. Today we hear stories from three men—in three different stages of life—who have complicated relationships with food. The common thread? All three of them want to share their experiences so that other men who are struggling don’t feel so alone. We also talk with Dr. Roberto Olivardia, an eating disorder expert, about why men don’t seek help and how diet culture affects them.// Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
January 25, 2021
49 min
Julián Castro On Nachos And Government
And why hunger in America became partisan… When Julián Castro sought the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, he made hunger one of his key campaign issues. The former HUD secretary and San Antonio mayor joins us to discuss food policy, the power and limitations of boycotts, and what he thinks will be different under President Biden. But first: Secretary Castro gets the true Sporkful treatment when he and Dan discuss his DIY iced tea sweetener, his favorite hot sauce, and the politics of sharing nachos.// Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
January 18, 2021
30 min
Free Ice Cream For Science!
The laws of gastrophysics at work… How do background music, the shape of a spoon, and your DNA affect your taste? These are just a few of the questions that psychologist Charles Spence looks at in his research in the emerging field of gastrophysics. This week, we talk with Charles about the hidden factors that influence our eating experience. Then, Dan and his daughter Becky put the gastrophysicist’s theories to the test at a neighborhood ice cream stand. The results of their homespun experiment may surprise you!// Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
January 11, 2021
29 min
This Food Stylist Is Bringing More Compassion To The Kitchen
And the importance of representation in food photography… Elle Simone Scott once said that a food stylist’s job is to tell the story of the food — and in her work on shows for Bravo, Food Network, and America’s Test Kitchen, she’s gone to great lengths to do just that. Combing through boxes of cereal for the best-looking cornflakes? Check. Throwing ice cubes across the room to capture the perfect splash? No problem. Elle joins us to share some food styling secrets — and gets real about her background in social work, why representation matters in food photography, and her ongoing battle with cancer. She also tells us about her new America’s Test Kitchen podcast, The Walk-In.// Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
January 4, 2021
30 min
2020
New Year’s Food Resolutions 2021
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 2021? All is revealed in this annual tradition. Plus we replay one of our favorite episodes of the year… Earlier this year (before Covid), Sotheby’s put a trove of Georgia O'Keeffe items up for sale. It included documents that were far less valuable than her paintings, but to us, much more exciting: O'Keeffe's box of grease-stained, handwritten recipes. Dan goes to see the recipes himself and talks with art experts to find out what the recipes say about the artist.// Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
December 21, 2020
49 min
The Fruitcake That Wouldn't Die
Our gift recommendations…Fruitcake has long been the butt of jokes, an inedible brick that people receive around Christmas, don’t eat, then regift the next year. But it’s also been a beloved baked good for generations. And one of the most famous is Jane Parker Fruit Cake. Jane Parker was the private label brand of supermarket chain A&P. But when A&P went bankrupt, this beloved fruitcake was nearly lost to history. We talk to the two brothers in New York City who rescued it. Also, we talk with Nikita Richardson, senior staff editor at New York Times Food, about her favorite gift ideas. Plus, Team Sporkful offers their own recommendations for the holidays! For links to all the products mentioned on the show, head over to sporkful.com. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
December 14, 2020
37 min
Two Books For The Food Science Nerd In Your Life
Do roses really smell like poo-poo-oo?... From tortilla chips to tree bark, from fancy cheese to toe cheese, there’s a world of smells all around us that tell us a lot about food, drink, and everything else. So says legendary food scientist Harold McGee in his new book, Nose Dive: A Field Guide to the World’s Smells. Harold joins us to explain the connection between wet dog smell and fermented cabbage, and why we should have more “smell empathy” for others. Then we chat with Nik Sharma, whose new cookbook, The Flavor Equation, lays out the six components of flavor: aroma, sight, taste, emotion, sound, and mouthfeel. Why does tomato juice taste better on an airplane? Nik explains. Plus, Dan and Nik bond over their potato chip selection strategy.// Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
December 7, 2020
35 min
LeVar Burton Even Reads Recipes Dramatically
Plus, dishing on Patrick Stewart’s weird lunches… You may think you know LeVar Burton. After starring in the seminal 1977 mini-series "Roots," he hosted "Reading Rainbow" and starred alongside Sir Patrick Stewart on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." These days he hosts the podcast "LeVar Burton Reads," where he reads his favorite short fiction. But did you know that, as a teenager, LeVar bought steaks and lobsters that “fell off the back of a truck” and brought them home to his mom? Or that he’s very particular about his PB&J sandwiches? In this episode, LeVar dishes on Sir Patrick Stewart’s weird lunches on the "Star Trek" set, and shares his favorite children's books about food. And as proof that he can make anything he reads sound amazing, LeVar favors us with dramatic readings of recipes. // Get 500+ more great Sporkful episodes from our catalog and lots of other Stitcher goodness when you sign up for Stitcher Premium: www.StitcherPremium.com/Sporkful (promo code: SPORKFUL). Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.
November 30, 2020
26 min

The Sporkful

About this podcast

Categories

About this podcast

Categories

The Sporkful

Episodes

Cooking With Brain Injury — And Finding Humor In It

Mission: ImPASTAble | Quick Update

Mission: ImPASTAble 5 | A Shape Is Born

Mission: ImPASTAble 4 | Where The Ruffles Meet The Road

Mission: ImPASTAble 3 | What Would Juan Guzmán Do?

Mission: ImPASTAble 2 | Slanting The Floors

Mission: ImPASTAble 1 | Spaghetti Sucks

Mission: ImPASTAble Trailer

Are All Vodkas The Same?

The Sporkful Dating Game!

Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon Eat Differently Now

Celebrating Other People’s Holidays

Men Have Eating Disorders, Too. Why Don’t They Seek Help?

Julián Castro On Nachos And Government

Free Ice Cream For Science!

This Food Stylist Is Bringing More Compassion To The Kitchen

New Year’s Food Resolutions 2021

The Fruitcake That Wouldn't Die

Two Books For The Food Science Nerd In Your Life

LeVar Burton Even Reads Recipes Dramatically