The Splendid Table: Conversations & Recipes For Curious Cooks & Eaters
American Public Media
American Public Media
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
9h ago
This week, we’re celebrating the holidays by looking beyond, into global stories that shape the season. First, we talk with Hetty Lui McKinnon about her new book, Linger: Salads, Sweets and Stories to Savor , and what the holidays look like in Australia, where Christmas is hot and the seafood markets buzz at midnight. Hetty reflects on the vegetable forward meals that defined her Chinese Australian upbringing and leaves us with her recipe for Coronation Cauliflower and Chickpeas . Then, we turn to writer Yasmin Khan for a deeper look at Yalda Night, the Persian winter solstice celebration that reminds us of the return of the sun, after the longest night of the year. Her latest cookbook, Sabzi: Vibrant Vegetarian Recipes , explores vibrant vegetarian cooking rooted in Persian culture. Yasmin shares how Yalda brings people together through poetry, pomegranates, and seasonal comforts, and leaves us with her recipe for Eggplant Fesenjan . Broadcast dates for this episode: December 19, 2025 (originally aired) Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews! Generous listeners like you make The Splendid Table possible. Donate today to support the show .
Dec 12
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 Crumbs: Cookies and Sweets from Around the World . And he left us with a recipe for Guava-Filled Butter Cookies 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 Wild Chocolate: Across the Americas in Search of Cacao’s Soul. Broadcast dates for this episode: December 6, 2024 (originally aired) December 12, 2025 (rebroadcast) Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews! Your support is a special ingredient in helping to make The Splendid Table. Donate today .
Dec 5
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, Recipes from the American South , 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 Maque Choux , 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, Finding Edna Lewis , 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. Our annual cookbook giveaway is live! To enter for free, visit splendidtable.org/cookbook Broadcast dates for this episode: December 5, 2025 (originally aired) Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews! Donate to The Splendid Table today and we will show our appreciation with a special thank-you gift.
Dec 2
Today we have a bonus episode for you from Happier with Gretchen Rubin , featuring our very own Francis Lam. Gretchen Rubin is HAPPIER, and she wants you to be happier too. The #1 bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before gets more personal than ever as she brings her practical, manageable advice about happiness and good habits to this lively, thought-provoking podcast. Gretchen’s cohost and guinea pig is her younger sister, Elizabeth Craft, a TV writer and producer living in Los Angeles, who (lovingly) refers to Gretchen as her happiness bully. On this episode of More Happier : It’s easy to get swept up in a cycle of holidays that feels more like a relentless to-do list than a source of joy. In this Celebration Roundtable, we talk about how to embrace the holidays as opportunities for intentional connection and meaning.
Nov 28
This week, we welcome the cold with delicious soup! Food Stylist Mariana Velásquez Villegas, author of Colombiana: A Rediscovery of Recipes and Rituals from the Soul of Colombia talks us through Colombia's biodiversity and regional identity and the unique foods it inspires like Sancocho . This hearty stew brings people together in a communal dining experience. Be sure to listen to her playlist while preparing it! 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 Soup Joumou , 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 Everyone's Table . Then, chili sauce entrepreneur Jing Gao, author of The Book of Sichuan Chili Crisp , talks about Hot Pot , a zingy broth served in a large metal pot that gets tastier as you feast. Broadcast dates for this episode: January 26, 2024 (originally aired) January 17, 2025 (rebroadcast) November 28, 2025 (rebroadcast) Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews! Our annual cookbook giveaway is live! To enter for free, visit splendidtable.org/cookbook Celebrate kitchen companionship with a gift to The Splendid Table today.
Nov 27
Join us for Turkey Confidential, our must-listen-to annual Thanksgiving Day broadcast! This year’s guests are Samin Nosrat, author of bestseller Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat and Good Things ; Brooklyn-based recipe developer Yossy Arefi, author of Snacking Bakes and Snacking Cakes ; Vivian Howard, author, TV personality, and chef, known for This Will Make It Taste Good and Deep Run Roots ; Evan Kleiman, chef, cookbook author, and host of KCRW’s Good Food . And, of course, Francis! Broadcast dates for this episode: November 27, 2025 Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews! Generous listeners like you make The Splendid Table possible. Donate today to support the show .
Nov 21
We are a week away from Thanksgiving, and this week, Award-winning authors J. Kenji Lopez-Alt and Deb Perelman give us the best advice on making the perfect Thanksgiving spread. From gravy hot takes to best brining practices and the ideal way to cook a perfect turkey we have you covered. J. Kenji López-Alt and Deb Perelman are co-hosts of "The Recipe with Kenji and Deb" podcast. Deb left us her recipe for delicious dinner rolls, Sour Cream & Chive Fantails . Then, we move on to delicious Indian-inspired desserts with cookbook author Hetal Vasavada. Her flavor combinations will transform your typical bars, cookies, and pies into deliciously nutty and sometimes spicy desserts. Hetal is the author of Desi Bakes , and she left us her recipe for Pistachio & Cardamom Muddy Buddies . Broadcast dates for this episode: November 22, 2024 (originally aired) November 21, 2025 (rebroadcast) Subscribe to @TheSplendidTable on YouTube for full podcast episodes and full-length video interviews! Our annual cookbook giveaway is live! To enter for free, visit splendidtable.org/cookbook Donate to The Splendid Table today and we will show our appreciation with a special thank-you gift.
Nov 14
This week, we’re celebrating Thanksgiving and looking at the way this American holiday and its food tell our stories. First, we talk with Padma Lakshmi about her new cookbook, Padma’s All American , a celebration of the immigrant dishes and regional traditions that make up our country’s culinary landscape. Padma talks about what she’s learned from years of traveling for Taste the Nation and leaves us with a delicious Thanksgiving alternative for mashed potatoes: Podimas (Potatoes with Turmeric and Fried Lentils) . Then, we turn to baker extraordinaire Dorie Greenspan for a sweet addition to the holiday dessert table. Her new book, Dorie’s Anytime Cakes , is filled with unfussy, comforting cakes meant to live on your counter — the kind you slice into whenever the craving strikes. Dorie talks about why simple cakes feel right for the season and leaves us with her Cocoa-Swirled Pumpkin Bundt . Head to our YouTube channel and watch our interview with Padma Lakshmi . Subscribe so you don’t miss anything! Our annual cookbook giveaway is live! To enter for free, visit splendidtable.org/cookbook Broadcast dates for this episode: November 14, 2025 (originally aired) Celebrate kitchen companionship with a gift to The Splendid Table today.
