The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters
The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters

American Public Media

Overview
Episodes

Details

If you love to eat, cook and travel, The Splendid Table is your weekly go-to source. Our public radio program has been connecting people through the common language of food for over three decades. Hosted by award-winning food journalist Francis Lam, each week we bring you fresh voices and surprising conversations at the intersection of cooking, people and culture. We cover all things food – from recipes and restaurants to history and science, farmer’s markets and of course, the Thanksgiving feast. Our wide-ranging, freewheeling guest list includes both world-class and rookie chefs, bestselling authors, scientists, poets, musicians, and even an astronaut in orbit!
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The Weeknight Kitchen, to receive practical, delicious weeknight-ready recipes. Once a month, we also share a sweet treat or baking recipe. Sign up at Splendidtable.org/newsletter
Produced by American Public Media. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network

Recent Episodes

816: Crumbs with Ben Mims and Wild Chocolate with Rowan Jacobsen
DEC 12, 2025
816: Crumbs with Ben Mims and Wild Chocolate with Rowan Jacobsen
<p>It’s the holiday season, and we’re kicking it off this week with some sweet treats. First, food editor and recipe developer Ben Mims joins us with his latest project, covering over 300 cookie recipes from Asia to the Levant to Scandinavia to the Caribbean. The varieties are astonishing.  We get into cookie styles, the fascinating ingredients in regional cookies, and the hundreds of flavor combinations. Ben is the author of <em>Crumbs: Cookies and Sweets from Around the World</em>. And he left us with a recipe for <a href="https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2024/12/06/guavafilled-butter-cookies" class="default">Guava-Filled Butter Cookies</a> from Brazil. Then, we step into the world of wild chocolate with Rowan Jacobsen. We hear about the new breed of cacao farmers and the amazing flavor profiles found in wild chocolate and meet some of the farmers who are making it. Rowan is the author of <em>Wild Chocolate: Across the Americas in Search of Cacao’s Soul.</em></p><br/><p>Broadcast dates for this episode:</p><br/><ul><li>December 6, 2024 (originally aired)</li><li>December 12, 2025 (rebroadcast)</li></ul><br/><br/><hr><br/><p>Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews!</p><br/><hr><br/><p>Your support is a special ingredient in helping to make The Splendid Table. <a href="https://support.americanpublicmedia.org/ST-POD">Donate today</a>.</p>
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49 MIN
839: A Journey Through Southern Food with Michael W. Twitty and Deb Freeman
DEC 5, 2025
839: A Journey Through Southern Food with Michael W. Twitty and Deb Freeman
<p>This week, we’re taking a trip through the South and its food – how it tells the story of a region shaped by migration, memory, and culture. First, we talk with scholar and writer Michael W. Twitty about his new book, <em>Recipes from the American South</em>, a sweeping look at the many communities – Black, white, Indigenous, immigrant – whose traditions built Southern cooking as we know it. Michael reflects on the histories that define the region and leaves us with his recipe for <a href="https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2025/12/05/maque-choux" class="default">Maque Choux</a>, the Louisiana classic made of corn and peppers. Then, we turn to writer and filmmaker Deb Freeman for a deeper look at one of the South’s most influential voices: Edna Lewis. Her new PBS documentary, <em><a href="https://www.pbs.org/show/finding-edna-lewis/" class="default">Finding Edna Lewis</a></em>, traces how Miss Lewis’s rural Virginia roots shaped her cooking and her revolutionary impact on American food. Deb shares why Lewis remains essential today and what we can still learn from her.</p><br/><p></p><br/><p>Our annual cookbook giveaway is live!  To enter for free, visit <a href="http://splendidtable.org/cookbook">splendidtable.org/cookbook</a></p><br/><p></p><br/><p>Broadcast dates for this episode: </p><br/><ul><li>December 5, 2025 (originally aired)</li></ul><br/><br/><hr><br/><p>Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews!</p><br/><hr><br/><p><a href="https://support.americanpublicmedia.org/ST-POD">Donate to The Splendid Table today and we will show our appreciation with a special thank-you gift.</a></p>
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49 MIN
796: Soup Season with Mariana Velásquez, Gregory Gourdet, and Jing Gao
NOV 28, 2025
796: Soup Season with Mariana Velásquez, Gregory Gourdet, and Jing Gao
<p>This week, we welcome the cold with delicious soup! Food Stylist Mariana Velásquez Villegas, author of <em>Colombiana: A Rediscovery of Recipes and Rituals from the Soul of Colombia</em> talks us through Colombia's biodiversity and regional identity and the unique foods it inspires like <a href="https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2024/01/26/sancocho-beef-pork-vegetable-stew" class="default">Sancocho</a>. This hearty stew brings people together in a communal dining experience. Be sure to listen to <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0eSV5x7u77oTEjkR0MzFRT?si=nwTYAsLqQ-qagDeZaI6u6A&amp;pi=u-JSCVx0wFSM-O&amp;nd=1&amp;dlsi=8177b82482644d30" class="default">her playlist</a> while preparing it!<em> </em>Then, we talk about Haitian cuisine with award-winning chef Gregory Gourdet as he shares his childhood memories of growing up, commemorating Haitian Independence Day with <a href="https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2024/01/26/soup-joumou" class="default">Soup Joumou</a>, a hearty squash-based soup typically served on New Year's Day. Gregory Gourdet is the chef-owner of Kann in Portland, Oregon, and the author of <em>Everyone's Table</em>. Then, chili sauce entrepreneur Jing Gao, author of <em>The Book of Sichuan Chili Crisp</em>, talks about <a href="https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2024/01/26/hot-pot" class="default">Hot Pot</a>, a zingy broth served in a large metal pot that gets tastier as you feast.</p><br/><p>Broadcast dates for this episode:</p><br/><ul><li>January 26, 2024 (originally aired)</li><li>January 17, 2025 (rebroadcast)</li><li>November 28, 2025 (rebroadcast)</li></ul><br/><br/><hr><br/><p>Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews!</p><br/><hr><br/><p>Our annual cookbook giveaway is live!  To enter for free, visit <a href="http://splendidtable.org/cookbook">splendidtable.org/cookbook</a></p><br/><hr><br/><p>Celebrate kitchen companionship <a href="https://support.americanpublicmedia.org/ST-POD" class="default">with a gift to The Splendid Table today.</a></p>
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49 MIN