This is a reprise of my interview with Paul Freedman about his book Why Food Matters. We talked in 2021, shortly have the book came out. As we approach Thanksgiving, a holiday about gratitude that uses food and communal eating as its primary symbol - move over symbolic turkey - I thought that it would be interesting to hear Paul Freedman discuss this book about so many of the reasons that food represents everything about life.

Yale University Press, the publisher, has this to say about the book,

"Why does food matter? Historically, food has not always been considered a serious subject on par with, for instance, a performance art like opera or a humanities discipline like philosophy. Necessity, ubiquity, and repetition contribute to the apparent banality of food, but these attributes don’t capture food’s emotional and cultural range, from the quotidian to the exquisite. In this short, passionate book, Paul Freedman makes the case for food’s vital importance, stressing its crucial role in the evolution of human identity and human civilizations. Freedman presents a highly readable and illuminating account of food’s unique role in our lives. It is a way to express community and celebration, but it can also be divisive. This wide-ranging book is a must-read for food lovers and all those interested in how cultures and identities are formed and maintained."

There are lots of baking books out there. And even though I have considered myself baking averse, I am trying to bake my way out of this affliction. Reading and cooking out of Pan y Dulce by Bryan Ford has been excellent therapy. Listen as Bryan and I talk about New Orleans and its food culture - which I am happy to say we both love - as well as Bryan’s journey to baking and his current journey. And, of course, we talk about his new book, Pan y Dulce: The Latin American Baking Book. Listen. It’s on TIp of the Tongue.

Women in the South have been both frugal and extravagant in their baking, but it is usually delicious. Morgan Bolling has edited a terrific new book - When Southern Women Cook - with an introduction by the James Beard Foundation award-winning Toni Tipton Martin, published by America’s Test Kitchen. You will be intrigued, excited, and itching to get into the kitchen.

Besides 300 recipes, the book is stuffed with little essays about people and foods from the south, written be people who know. It is great read as well as easy to cook from.

All we have to do now is make sure that other regions have such a wonderful book to represent them.

The Poor Boy Festival in New Orleans celebrates all of the cultural quirks of New Orleans, including the culinary ones. I was asked to moderate a panel with Winston Ho and Miss Linda Greene, aka, The Yaka Mein Lady. Unfortunately Miss Linda was unable to attend, so Winston and I waltzed our way around yaka mein and a few other very New Orleans topics.

It seems that Winston has found yaka mein in African-American communities around the country. Yaka mein was available in Chinese restaurants, although now it usually is not. It took place outside, so the sound quality isn’t perfect, and Winston powered through and really didn’t need any prompts from me. It is still worth the listen, especially if you care about yaka mein.

Winston Ho

Bella McDow grew up in America and in El Salvador. She is living in New Orleans these days and exploring her roots through baking. She is resolving the various tugs from different cultures by baking. She is learning the business through a special program and popup. Her company is SemitaMamita. I have eaten her semitas, and they are delicious.

She is just starting on her adult path in life, and she is off to a very culinary and very tasty start. The pastries are El Salvador, but fillings are distinctly New Orleans. 2 cultures in a well-balanced blend. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Recreating her mother’s table inspired Melissa M. Martin to create the Mosquito Supper Club in New Orleans. Her first book, Mosquito Supper Club, reflected the recipes from her mother’s table. But Bayou: Feasting Through the Seasons of a Cajun Life, goes beyond those recipes. And the Mosquito Supper Club is expanding as other plans are unfolding. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Olia Hercules has made a profound journey to the comforts of food. This episode from 2022 seems so apt today, that I am offering it again. Even if you have heard it before, you will hear new things in a second listening. Hercules is a Ukrainian journalist who has also lived in Cyprus and Italy and now England. She describes the comfort of food as a reminder of home and as a way to establish home. Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Marilee Bramhall and I discuss women vintners in France and Italy and her company, Iola Wines. We talk about the nuances of natural wines and simply the joy of wine at the table. Have you tasted natural wine? Do you only like big, bold wines or do you enjoy wine with food that is very specific to place? Listen. It’s on Tip of the Tongue.

Be sure to look at her events and her wine club.