Special Sauce With Ed Levine

Raghavan Iyer has written 6 influential cookbooks on Indian food, including the all-time classic 660 Curries. On this episode of Special Sauce we’re going to hear about his own personal food journey, from the family table in Mumbai to a publishing lunch at Betty Crocker that changed his life.

This week on Special Sauce Kenji waxes (pun intended) poetic on the secrets to both seriously delicious french fries that taste just like McDonald's when they are fresh out of the fryer (that's when you have to eat 'em). He also gives some seriously helpful tips on roasting potatoes.

This week on Special Sauce hilarious cookbook author JJ Goode is back to go into detail about why he insists he's "America's best worst cook." JJ explains why and how he's ruined innumerable grilled cheese sandwiches at home. And yet JJ insists that his cooking cluelessness makes him a better collaborator on chef's cookbooks.

This week on Special Sauce, we're revisiting my conversation with Joanne Lee Molinaro, AKA The Korean Vegan. When we last spoke Joanne had already gone from corporate litigator to writing the James Beard Award-winning ‘The Korean Vegan Cookbook’. Now less than two years later Joanne has become a social media superstar. Joanne's Youtube channel has over a million subscribers and she has over 3 million followers on Tik Tok.

On this episode of Special Sauce we talk chef cookbook collaborations with the extraordinary James Beard Award-winning food writer JJ Goode. JJ has collaborated with everyone from Iron Chef Morimoto to Sam Kass, who cooked for the Obamas at the White House. JJ has accomplished it all in spite of physical limitations that might have held him back. JJ's essay in Gourmet magazine about trying to cook with only one arm was selected for The Norton Anthology of Nonfiction Writing.

When I interviewed Milk Bar co-founder Christina Tosi last summer we talked about her extraordinary journey from home baker to pastry chef to entrepreneur. Tosi had an inspirational story to tell, and we thought it was a story worth repeating. Of course the peripatetic businesswoman has hardly been resting on her laurels since then. Boxes of Milk Bar soft baked cookies are coming to a grocery store near you, as are pints of Milk Bar ice cream. Christina published All About Cookies: A Milk Bar Baking Book, in November of 2022. And just for good measure (pun intended) the second season of the baking competition show she hosts Bake Squad, is just out on Netflix.

On this episode of Special Sauce Kenji, The New Yorker's Helen Rosner, and I dig further into the first season of ‘The Bear’ and also muse about what we'd like to see in the second season of the show, which is coming to FX this summer. We're all rooting for Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) to find some peace so that Sydney (Ayo Edibiri) can do her thing without being driven crazy.

Kenji and The New Yorker's Helen Rosner reflect on the first season of the compelling TV show The Bear, now streaming on Hulu. J. Kenji Lopez Alt is of course the author of bestselling cookbooks like the Food Lab and the Wok and who cooks on-camera for his own YouTube series, Kenji's Cooking Show. He worked in restaurant kitchens in Boston for many years, and he did a silly thing and opened his own restaurant, Wursthall in San Mateo. The New Yorker's Helen Rosner has spent years writing about restaurants and food and chefs for Eater, Saveur, and Grub Street, among others.

This week I decided to revisit my interview with the extraordinary Grace Young, Why? Well, for starters Grace, cookbook author, cultural anthropologist, and wok therapist, is a wonder, a Chinese-American treasure. And when someone else might be resting on their laurels Young, who has won every award a cookbook author can win, has embarked on a new career and quest as a Chinese-American community activist and advocate. And as you will hear Grace, who was named the James Beard Foundation's Humanitarian of the Year in 2022, is still at it combating Asian-American hate with a new social media campain.

On this episode of Special Sauce we take a deep dive into scrambled eggs with eggspert egg maker J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. He tells us about his latest eggprerimentation with one of the world's favorite egg preparations.

On this episode of Special Sauce The New York Times’s Pete Wells and Brett Anderson, and The New Yorker's Hannah Goldfield all weigh in on what serious eaters are likely to see (and taste) when they walk into restaurants in 2023. They all tell us both what they're excited about and what they're worried about moving forward.

On this episode of Special Sauce I talk to The New York Times's Pete Wells and Brett Anderson, and the New Yorker's Hannah Goldfield about what and where they ate in 2022, and where they think restaurants and the food culture in general are headed.

In 2022 I got a chance to chew the fat with so many interesting people on Special Sauce. I couldn't possibly pick a favorite episode to leave you with, but I can certainly say with confidence that my conversation with NYT food writer Eric Kim is right up there. Eric is thoughtful, a fine recipe developer, and a lovely writer. His book Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home, is terrific. So as the new year approaches I thought we'd leave you with Eric's episode. It's definitely worth another listen or if you didn't have a chance to do so when we first posted it in July, you are in for a treat. And in case you're wondering what Eric is up to these days he texted me that he is hard at work on a new book, a collection of essays. And Eric's next column for the NYT Magazine is a New Year's column on rice cake soup.

On this episode of Special Sauce I talk holiday food with Kenji. In Kenji's case we get to hear about holiday traditions in his Colombia-born wife's family. And we also get to hear about his own family's holiday traditions growing up.

On part 2 of our extraordinary conversation with Harlem Seafood Soul's Tami Treadwell you will hear that Tami's success is bittersweet. Why? Because she's had to overcome so many heartbreaking obstacles to discover that being on the street, and feeding people, is where she truly belongs.

Food truck Harlem Seafood Soul's Tami Treadwell tells her truly remarkable story in this week's episode. I first heard part of her story on the N.Y. episode of Netflix's ‘Street Food’ series. It's a story that features so many setbacks that would have stopped many people, but not the indomitable and resilient Ms. Treadwell. What you'll hear is a story that will stay with you for a long time.

This week on Special Sauce it's Claire Saffitz part two. She gives us her take on holiday baking. Cookies will be discussed, of course. Purple Black and White cookies, anyone? Claire also digs deep into her new book ‘What's For Dessert’.

With the holiday season upon us I thought it would be great to talk to the great baker and YouTube star Claire Saffitz, whose new book is called What's For Dessert: Simple Recipes for Dessert People.

This time on Special Sauce we talk turkey and everything else Thanksgiving-related with Kenji just in time for the holiday this year. He adds a little bit of soy sauce to his gravy! And he gives us his unexpected takes on Stovetop Stuffing and instant mashed potatoes.

This time on Special Sauce, another helping of Thanksgiving cooking tips from our podcast archive. This was a special call-in episode with Kenji and Stella Parks, who intelligently and empathetically handled every question from serious eaters. We talk turkey of course, but also pies, stuffing and holiday cookies. Hope you enjoy!