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 seventies, they're in bikinis at the beach, drinking beer,” she says. Now, after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women are legally required to wear hijabs and alcohol is banned. A few years ago, Zahra became interested in the long history of beer brewing in Iran — a tradition that included her own grandfather. She began brewing her own beer, experimenting with traditional Iranian ingredients like sumac, black lime, and barberries. Now she’s using her company, Back Home Beer, to change the narrative about Iranian people and culture. And one day, she hopes to bring her beer to Iran without fear. Nowruz Mobarak! The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Nora Ritchie, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

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 perspective, we spoke with comedian Margaret Cho, who's struggled with eating disorders much of her life. This week, we get an update on how Raina is doing one year later. This episode originally aired on January 9, 2017, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Shoshana Gold, with editing help from Dan Charles. The Sporkful production team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

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 person for the hyperlocal tasting menus dreamed up by chef/owner Rene Redzepi. But a couple months ago, Redzepi announced the restaurant will close next year because it had become unsustainable, “financially and emotionally.” The announcement came as many high end chefs have spoken out about how hard the business has become, and others have shined a light on the industry’s use of unpaid interns. So is it possible to run a high end restaurant that turns a profit and treats people fairly? And is there a point in trying – or should these places just disappear? Adam Platt, former restaurant critic for New York Magazine, and Vivian Howard, owner of the restaurant Chef & the Farmer in North Carolina, weigh in on the challenges for fine dining and the labor practices in high-end kitchens. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

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 seemingly perfect condition, under a glass dome. It turns out that Big Mac tells us a lot about Iceland’s economy and national identity. Our friends at the Atlas Obscura podcast explore the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places — and this week they’re bringing us two of their best food stories. You’ll hear about Iceland’s last Big Mac, and the world’s oldest edible ham, located in Smithfield, Virginia. (The fact that it’s 120 years old might not even be the weirdest thing about it.) Special thanks to the Atlas Obscura team. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

"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 rum cake fell off the top of a refrigerator, and Arlene and Alan were the only ones to grab a fork and eat it off the floor. More than sixty years later, they’re still married. Their secret? Good communication. Alan and Arlene advise Dan on how to communicate with his own family about food, why a dinner party is about so much more than the meal, and why short memories help build long relationships. This episode originally aired on July 2, 2018, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, Aviva DeKornfeld, and Rob McGinley Myers. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

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. It was a testament to how many people Jean-Robert had inspired in the thirty years he lived in the city. So how did this fancy French chef end up in Cincinnati — and why did he stay? We hear about Jean-Robert’s unlikely love affair with his adopted city, and we talk with food writer Keith Pandolfi about how the chef’s legacy has inspired Cincy’s food scene to reclaim its local pride. Then Dan and Keith come up with a new Super Bowl food craze just for Cincinnati. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. The first half of this episode originally aired on November 5, 2018, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Aviva DeKornfeld, with editing by Gianna Palmer and mixing by Dan Dzula. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

We’re entering the third wave of meat alternatives. First, there was the Gardenburger — a hockey puck-like object that made it less annoying to be a vegetarian at a barbecue. Next came the meat substitutes that really tried to replicate the look, feel, and experience of meat, like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat. Now lab-grown meat, once the stuff of science fiction, is on the horizon, edging towards feasibility. After billions of dollars spent, will any of these alternatives help to solve the climate, environmental, and ethical problems with meat? Dan and his pal Jacob Goldstein, host of the podcast What’s Your Problem?, meet in the Sporkful test kitchen (aka Dan’s home kitchen) to cook their way through the past, present, and future of meat alternatives. What’s Your Problem? is the show where entrepreneurs and engineers talk about the future they’re trying to build – and the problems they have to solve to get there. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell, with additional production help this week from Jacob Goldstein and Edith Rousselot. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

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 sequel is never as good as the original. Instead, he gets a better idea: find some old, obscure shapes that he loves, make a tweak or two, and team up with Sfoglini to produce them. But first he has to figure out which shapes, and how to get his hands on them. That requires a lot of taste testing and a trip to Italy. Plus, an accident threatens to derail Sfoglini’s production, and we get an update on cascatelli. Click here to shop all Sporkful pastas and products at Sfoglini. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell, with additional editing this week by Hali Bey Ramdene, Abigail Keel, and Nora Ritchie. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

This week, a federal regulator called gas stoves a “hidden hazard,” saying a ban on them was in the realm of possibility. President Biden and the Consumer Product Safety Commission quickly walked back that statement, but not before it ignited a firestorm among Republican politicians. So why the big kerfuffle over gas stoves? In 2021, we investigated the debate over gas vs. electric stoves, including the ad campaigns that have fueled it for over a century. While more people in the U.S. today have electric, gas stoves have won the battle for prestige — chefs prefer it. Now, as the gas stove is at the center of a much bigger fight about climate change and public health, gas companies are using the gas stove to try to ensure their future. Sporkful producer Andres O’Hara explains, then tries to convince Dan, a gas stove loyalist, to try a different way of cooking. Correction: Due to an error, we misstated when the federal regulator commented on gas stoves. It was this week, on January 9, 2023, not last week. We have edited the episode to reflect this correction. This episode originally aired on June 28, 2021. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

From the show about a thirst trap chef at a Chicago Italian beef joint, to a movie about a luxury restaurant planning to kill its customers, 2022 was the year of ambitious, experimental, and downright weird food TV and movies. This week, comedian and TV writer Ashley Ray (who hosts the podcast “TV I Say”) breaks down some of the most talked about food shows and movies of the past year, including The Bear, Julia, Atlanta, and The Menu. Then Chef John Benhase, who consulted on The Menu, reveals what it was like teaching Ralph Fiennes to cook on camera. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell, with additional production this week by Rachel Ward and editing by John DeLore and Abigail Keel. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

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 2023? All is revealed in our annual year-end spectacular. Plus we replay one of the Sporkful crew’s favorite episodes of the year, which we all loved for our guest’s combination of extreme hilarity and thoughtful storytelling... Jason Mantzoukas sees every meal as a threat. As an actor and comedian, he plays characters who are wild, intense, and wacky. But he grew up as a “boy made of glass,” because of his life threatening allergy to eggs. Dan and Jason talk about how that’s affected Jason’s comedy, and Dan comes up with a way for Jason to use his improv skills to take a break from the allergy. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Johanna Mayer, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell, with editing help this week from Fernanda Aguero. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

When Rick Martínez was growing up in Texas, he and his mom would drive across the Mexican border to go to mercados and buy dried chiles. One winter break, they spent two weeks recreating Rick’s grandma’s recipe for tamales, using a whole hog’s head. Even with this deep connection to food at a young age, it took Rick until he was 40 to quit his corporate job in favor of cooking professionally. Rick’s first cookbook, Mi Cocina, follows his 18-month road trip across Mexico in search of regional dishes and a connection to his roots. But, as Rick tells Dan, it’s not the book he set out to write. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Johanna Mayer, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Growing up in Sacramento, Illyanna Maisonet felt distant from her Puerto Rican roots. Eventually, through food, she found her connection to the Puerto Rican diaspora, and to the island’s rich culinary history and diversity, which she says are often overlooked by Puerto Ricans themselves. Illyanna talks with Dan about trying to coax recipes out of her grandmother, how her new cookbook Diasporican became a family affair, and being labeled “difficult to work with” by some in food media. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell, with editing help by Devon DiComo. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Beloved dessert person Claire Saffitz joins Dan for a holiday baking-themed extravaganza and tackles some of the most pressing baking questions of the moment… What’s the best way to roll out pie dough into a uniform shape? How can I recreate a relative’s secret cookie recipe? And what’s the difference between a muffin and a cupcake? Plus, Claire tells us how she and her chef husband divvy up kitchen responsibilities at home, and offers advice to a couple struggling with a food-related dispute. Taped live at Sirius XM Studios in New York City! The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. Special thanks to our colleagues at SiriusXM, including Danielle Graziano, Chris Howard, Erick Gonzales, Corey Kesluk, and Madeleine Flieger. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Firefighters face plenty of high-pressure situations — including cooking a lunch for their crewmates that’s hot, filling, and on time. The pressure is even greater for A.J. Fusco, a firefighter in Harrison, New York, who moonlights as a chef in New York City. His firehouse lunches sometimes include ingredients the other firefighters aren’t used to. And when he makes mistakes, his crewmates make sure he doesn’t forget. On today’s show, Dan makes a firehouse meal with A.J. Can they get lunch on the table before the crew mutinies? Or will an emergency call come in and ruin the whole meal? This episode originally aired on February 5, 2018, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, Peter Clowney, and John DeLore. The Sporkful production team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

A bottle of whiskey with no online footprint. A bar that’s long been closed. An address that doesn’t exist. Six years ago, Akhil and Nisha Dayal found a whiskey bottle at an estate sale whose backstory they couldn’t trace. Can The Sporkful uncover the origins of this mysterious whiskey? Correction: We defined "single malt" and "blend" incorrectly in an earlier version of this episode. The audio has now been updated to reflect the correct definition. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Johanna Mayer, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. This episode was mixed by Casey Holford. Original music by Jeff Morgenstern and lyrics by Dan Pashman. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

It’s not just her three graduate degrees that set Dr. Wendy Osefo apart on The Real Housewives of Potomac. It’s also that she loves to cook. She says her castmates see her as “the only person on this entire show who feeds her guests real food.” That deep care around food comes from her mother, who would bring gourmet meals to the cafeteria in Wendy’s elementary school and cook up Nigerian delicacies regularly. But, Wendy says, her mom also used food as a way to exert influence and control at home. Wendy talks with Dan about her new memoir, Tears of My Mother, and how she’s using food with her kids differently than her mom did with her. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell, with editing help this week from John DeLore and Devon DiComo. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Nigella Lawson is a domestic goddess of the highest order. She strikes the perfect balance between aspiration — a beautiful garden, perfect lighting — and accessibility — sheet pan dinners and a disdain for pretentiousness. Nigella reveals how her own cooking show persona comes from her discomfort in social situations, and shares the two condiments she always keeps in her purse. She also rebuffs the one piece of criticism that she believes no male chef would ever receive. This episode also features S’mores for More, a s’mores kit that benefits pediatric cancer research. This episode originally aired on May 28, 2018, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, Peter Clowney, and John DeLore. The Sporkful production team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

Today, we talk with two chefs who are putting their own stamp on Southern food, each refusing to be pigeonholed in the process. Vishwesh Bhatt was born and raised in Gujarat, India. He moved to Oxford, Mississippi, for graduate school and quickly embraced the region in his cooking, and his identity. Tanya Holland has family roots in Virginia and Louisiana, but she's not originally from there. Still, she took the Southern food traditions she grew up with to the West Coast to create what she calls California soul. Vishwesh’s first cookbook is I Am From Here, and Tanya’s new cookbook is California Soul. If you want a chance to win a copy of their cookbooks, subscribe to our newsletter here! The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

As civil war erupted in Yemen, Mokhtar Alkhanshali found himself imprisoned, with $5,000 stuffed in his underwear and his coffee samples confiscated. To get those samples to the biggest specialty coffee expo in North America, he’d have to survive more than one near-death experience. Would his coffee be worth the risk? This is the second half of our two-part episode about Mokhtar Alkhanshali. If you haven’t listened to Part 1 from last week, please start there. If you want to learn more about Mokhtar's story, check out The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers. You can buy Mokhtar’s coffee at Port of Mokha. And for more information on Mokhtar's non-profit, and the National Yemeni Coffee Auction, visit the The Mokhta Institute. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. Editing help this week from Devon DiComo. Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.