Forklore

Anti-immigrant rhetoric inspired editor Leyla Moushabeck to create The Immigrant Cookbook: Recipes that Make America Great. She talks about compiling recipes from over 60 top chefs and cooks, and her goal of showing how U.S. food trends, businesses, and the economy are shaped by immigrants and their children. Then, step into the kitchen to make Jollof Rice with chef Tunde Wey, an immigrant from Nigeria who lives in New Orleans and has made headlines by using food to stimulate social conversations. Take note: This episode has expletives. Tunde Wey’s recipe for Jollof Rice is available at ForklorePodcast.com.

More travelogue than cookbook, chef Edward Lee’s latest book Buttermilk Graffiti takes him around the US, with his life’s story influencing the itinerary. He tells the stories of the cooks, chefs, and restaurateurs who food their customers day in and out without praise, celebrity attention, or wealth. The book is a discovery of self just as much as it is a discovery of other people and places. Chef Lee cooks his recipes for Lacy Cornbread with Rhubarb Jam, and the recipes are available at ForklorePodcast.com.

Every day starts with a glass of Champagne in Todd Richards’ world. Meet this Beard-nominated chef in his home kitchen for some bubbly while he makes his mom’s recipe for bone-in fried catfish and homemade hot sauce with ghost peppers. As soon as the fish drops into the fryer, you’ll get into a lively, deep convo about his debut cookbook, Soul. Hear his take on what soul food is, how it evolves, and how Todd uses food to challenge how black Americans are perceived. The recipes for Todd’s Mom’s Fried Catfish and hot sauce are available at ForklorePodcast.com.

Being in a military family is unlike any other experience you can have as an American—and that includes the food. A new cookbook, Homefront Cooking, uses stories and recipes to share what military life is like for service members and their loved ones. Authors Tracey Enerson Wood and Carol Van Drie make Calvados Bread Pudding while talking about food in military culture: Tasting soup with ingredients that are literally swimming, feeding service members when they come home from duty, and learning to make due with what you can find. Plus, host Shaun Chavis shares a 40-year-old recording from her mother, an Army wife. Proceeds from Homefront Cooking support veterans. The recipe for Calvados Bread Pudding is available at ForklorePodcast.com.    

Get ready to wrap your brain around a reality that defies media stereotypes of what it means to be Southern. In her new cookbook, Secrets of the Southern Table, chef Virginia Wills introduces you to Southerners with roots that stretch around the globe. Go into Virginia’s kitchen in Atlanta to cook shrimp and talk about how diverse people shape what it means to be Southern today through their businesses, farms, restaurants, and cultures—and the impact she hopes their recipes and stories will have. The recipe for Spicy Asian Cajun BBQ Shrimp with Grilled Baguette is available at ForklorePodcast.com.

Here’s an idea for a summer road trip: A craft distillery tour in the South! The Charlotte Observer’s food editor, Kathleen Purvis, has it all mapped for you. The six Liquor Trails she created for her new book, Distilling the South, introduce you to some of the tastiest libations you’ll ever roll across your tongue. Kathleen takes us to Haberdish, a restaurant and bar in Charlotte, NC, where we meet mixologist Colleen Hughes, sip Smoked Mint Juleps, and talk about spirits, entrepreneurship, and building local economies. Colleen’s recipe for a Smoked Mint Julep is available at ForklorePodcast.com.

Catch up with one of the most influential chefs ever: Jacques Pépin. His daughter Claudine and son-in-law Rollie Wesen join the conversation to talk about what the Pépin family is doing to help meet one of the biggest challenges facing the professional culinary world today: a growing shortage of skilled kitchen employees. Jacques also talks about the future of cooking and two cookbooks he has coming out this year: Poulets + Legumes, and Menus: A Book for Your Meals and Memories. Jacques’s recipe for Roast Stuffed Cornish Hens is available at ForklorePodcast.com.

Meet Chef Eddie Hernandez, a native of Mexico who landed in the U.S. while on tour with a rock band. Sneak into the kitchen of his restaurant Taqueria del Sol to learn about his cookbook, Turnip Greens and Tortillas, and how his recipes are an ode to both Mexican and American food, even as he departs from tried-and-true techniques in order to sprinkle in some innovation. All the while, Eddie cooks up a pot of turnip greens and teaches you his time-saving tricks. Get Eddie's Turnip Greens recipe at ForklorePodcast.com. 

Chef Alon Shaya of New Orleans came to the US from Israel as a child, and food quickly became his tools for making friends and finding comfort. On this episode, he cooks his version of Shakshouka with Zhoug (a fresh herb and pepper sauce), shares his secrets for making the perfect sauce with runny egg yolks-and he talks about how this dish got him in trouble as a teenager. Chef Shaya shares more about his debut cookbook, Shaya: An Odyssey of Food, My Journey Back to Israel. Get his recipes for Shakshouka and Zhoug on ForklorePodcast.com. 

Go into the kitchen with your favorite cookbook authors! On Forklore, cooks and chefs share the untold stories behind their cookbooks while making a recipe from their book. The result is equal parts hunger-inducing cooking show and thought-provoking talk show. Visit ForklorePodcast.com for recipes, cookbook giveaways, behind-the-scenes photos and more. Hosted by Shaun Chavis, cookbook editor, food writer, and founder of Saltshaker Marketing.