The Sporkful

Dan Pashman

3x James Beard Award winner. Named one of TIME's 100 Best Podcasts Of All Time. We obsess about food to learn more about people. It's not for foodies, it's for eaters. Hosted by Dan Pashman, inventor of the viral pasta shape cascatelli.

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312 episodes
Updated Friday

Episodes312

Newest first

Oct 23, 2023 · 37 min
Rediscovering Nigeria By Becoming American
Back in 2018, we talked with chef and recipe developer Yewande Komolafe about her experience as an undocumented immigrant. She grew up in Nigeria, but after immigrating legally to the U.S. a clerical error led to her losing her immigration status. For years she felt she had to hide parts of herself, for fear of being outed as undocumented.
Oct 16, 2023 · 36 min
Can Bass Pro Shops Teach Grocery Stores Something?
We are back with the Salad Spinner! This is our rapid fire roundtable discussion of the latest food news, from significant to silly, surprising to strange. And in the Spinner this week are Amanda Mull, a staff writer at The Atlantic, and Doug Mack, who writes the newsletter Snack Stack.
Oct 9, 2023 · 30 min
Detroit Through A Chinese Restaurant Window
Curtis Chin was practically raised at Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine, his family’s restaurant in Detroit. It was a restaurant that served everybody, from the mayor (who was a regular) to sex workers to business executives. Within the walls of the restaurant, the Chin family saw the rise of Detroit as a multicultural, industrial city, and its decline in the wake of white flight and the crack epidemic.
Oct 2, 2023 · 30 min
School Lunch Triumphs And Tragedies With Kenji López-Alt
School is back in session. And for kids, lunch period is the closest you get to being on your own at school. So what do kids actually talk about at lunch?
Sep 25, 2023 · 30 min
Natasha Leggero And Moshe Kasher Give Dan Marriage Advice
Husband-and-wife comedians and podcast hosts Natasha Leggero and Moshe Kasher often perform standup together. In their Netflix special they offer couples relationship advice, and the occasional roast.
Sep 18, 2023 · 35 min
What “Couscousgate” Tells Us About French Food
Back in 2017, a far-right politician in France angered his supporters and caused a small scandal. The faux pas? Enjoying a plate of couscous. Couscous is one of the most popular dishes in France, and it’s also a symbol of North African immigration.
Sep 11, 2023 · 38 min
A Chili Crisp Cookbook And An Ode To Shabbat
On today’s show, we’re featuring two new cookbooks that we’re excited about, and the stories of the authors behind them. James Park’s new cookbook Chili Crisp: 50+ Recipes To Satisfy Your Spicy, Crunchy, Garlicky Cravings is a testament to how he’s never really followed the rules — and why that’s his secret weapon. Then we talk with Adeena Sussman, whose new book is Shabbat: Recipes and Rituals From My Table To Yours.
Sep 4, 2023 · 32 min
How To Create A New Apple
Breeders at Washington State University spent 20 years developing a completely new variety of apple: Cosmic Crisp. What exactly does it take to create a new kind of apple? And how do they come up with a name for it?
Aug 28, 2023 · 39 min
A Garlic Dispute 20 Years In The Making
We asked for your food fights and hot takes, and you delivered! We hear about a 20-year dispute over a garlic aversion (with unsavory origins), get to the bottom of the best way to eat a pint of ice cream, and challenge Dan’s long-standing feud with spaghetti.
Aug 21, 2023 · 27 min
A Forager's Life In Virginia
Foraged ingredients have become all the rage in high end restaurants, part of the move toward hyperlocal, farm-to-table ingredients. Of course, we humans have been foraging pretty much forever. And though it’s less common in America today, Jay Marion’s family never really stopped.
Aug 14, 2023 · 27 min
Searching For The Pickle King
While the villages to the east and west have charming Main Streets, the small town of Greenlawn, sandwiched in between, has pickles. Dan stops by the annual Pickle Festival before diving into the story of Samuel Ballton, the formerly enslaved man who became Greenlawn’s Pickle King.
Aug 7, 2023 · 34 min
Instant Pot’s Bankruptcy And Thai Cheese “Burgers”
Today we tackle news in the world of food that’s at turns substantive, silly, and surprising in a new series we’re calling Salad Spinner! Take a spin with us as Dan chats with journalists Amanda Mull (The Atlantic) and Dennis Lee (The Takeout) about Instant Pot’s parent company declaring bankruptcy, Burger King’s rollout of a cheese sandwich monstrosity in Thailand, and what it means that the World Health Organization now deems aspartame “possibly carcinogenic.”
Jul 31, 2023 · 37 min
Tommy Pico’s Food History Wasn’t Lost. It Was Stolen.
A few years ago, Tommy Pico, a queer indigenous American poet, and lover of junk food, set out to learn how to cook. He wanted to get healthier, but also, he wanted a food culture to replace the one that was wiped out when the federal government forced his ancestors onto a reservation. Rather than turn to the past to connect with that culture, Tommy turned to friends to build a new one.
Jul 21, 2023 · 31 min
Why Barbie’s First Dreamhouse Didn’t Have A Kitchen
When the first Barbie Dreamhouse came out in 1962, it didn’t have a kitchen. Fast forward to today and there are a dozen chef Barbies. What does that say about Barbie, and about American food culture?
Jul 17, 2023 · 34 min
Why Ice Is This Summer's Hottest Trend
Once known for its glacial pace, ice news today is breaking. In the wake of Starbucks’ recent announcement that they’re changing their ice, we’re devoting an entire episode to the drink chiller in all its forms: pellet ice, giant ice cubes, bagged ice, and more.
Jul 10, 2023 · 31 min
2 Chefs And A Lie: Name That Mustard Edition
It’s time for our annual game show, 2 Chefs And A Lie! The game is simple. Dan talks with three “chefs.” Two are real, and one is an actor with a made-up resume.
Jul 3, 2023 · 31 min
The Enslaved Chefs At Monticello Who Created American Cuisine
This week in honor of July 4th, we’re exploring an important part of American history – the contributions of enslaved Black chefs, whose work influences American cuisine to this day. In 1784, Thomas Jefferson brought the enslaved chef James Hemings, brother of Sally Hemings, with him to France to train under the French culinary masters of the day.
Jun 26, 2023 · 39 min
The Food-Obsessed Subculture Of The Appalachian Trail
How do you feed yourself on a hike that’s more than 2,200 miles long and takes six months to complete? Every summer, hundreds of people attempting to hike the entire Appalachian Trail, from Georgia to Maine, are faced with that question. This week senior producer Emma Morgenstern heads to Pine Grove General Store, the trail’s halfway point, and enters a world where most typical rules of eating seem not to apply.
Jun 19, 2023 · 31 min
Zarna Garg Had To Tell Jokes For Her Supper
The stand-up comedian Zarna Garg spent 16 years as a stay-at-home mom. Now she sells out shows across the country and has her own special on Prime Video. In her stand-up and her social media videos, food is often a main character.
Jun 12, 2023 · 34 min
Inside The World Of Food Smuggling
Remember that time you bought an apple in Canada or a piece of cheese in France and “forgot” to declare it when you crossed the border into the U.S.? That makes you a food smuggler. It can feel pretty innocent, but sometimes, food smuggling can have big consequences.

The Sporkful

Rediscovering Nigeria By Becoming American

Can Bass Pro Shops Teach Grocery Stores Something?

Detroit Through A Chinese Restaurant Window

School Lunch Triumphs And Tragedies With Kenji López-Alt

Natasha Leggero And Moshe Kasher Give Dan Marriage Advice

What “Couscousgate” Tells Us About French Food

A Chili Crisp Cookbook And An Ode To Shabbat

How To Create A New Apple

A Garlic Dispute 20 Years In The Making

A Forager's Life In Virginia

Searching For The Pickle King

Instant Pot’s Bankruptcy And Thai Cheese “Burgers”

Tommy Pico’s Food History Wasn’t Lost. It Was Stolen.

Why Barbie’s First Dreamhouse Didn’t Have A Kitchen

Why Ice Is This Summer's Hottest Trend

2 Chefs And A Lie: Name That Mustard Edition

The Enslaved Chefs At Monticello Who Created American Cuisine

The Food-Obsessed Subculture Of The Appalachian Trail

Zarna Garg Had To Tell Jokes For Her Supper

Inside The World Of Food Smuggling