The Sporkful

What you don’t know about the celebrity chef… Guy Fieri is a legend on Food Network, known for his shows Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Guy's Grocery Games. But he was a successful restaurateur even before he got on TV. And his intense ambition was evident even earlier, when he ran a successful pretzel cart at age 10. Behind the spiky hair and flashy cars, Guy’s a person who feels like he’s always trying to keep up — and despite all his success, he’s always looking for more...

And a debate about potato salad… Welcome to our summer cookout spectacular! We talk with renowned burger historian George Motz about the history of the hamburger, and about the wide range of regional burgers across the country, many of which are unknown outside their areas. Then we get an incredible burger recipe from Chef Jehangir Mehta, inspired by Indian street food, that’s made with 25% mushrooms. Finally, our old friend J...

And a debate about potato salad… Welcome to our summer cookout spectacular! We talk with renowned burger historian George Motz about the history of the hamburger, and about the wide range of regional burgers across the country, many of which are unknown outside their areas. Then we get an incredible burger recipe from Chef Jehangir Mehta, inspired by Indian street food, that’s made with 25% mushrooms. Finally, our old friend J...

When the spotlight goes away… In the wake of allegations about systemic racism at Bon Appétit, people of color there were hopeful things would change...

How the (part veggie) sausage gets made...Cara Nicoletti comes from a long line of butchers, but her grandfather didn’t want her to follow in his footsteps. It’s physical work, it requires long hours, the pay isn’t great, and the path is even tougher for women. Cara went against her grandfather’s wishes anyway and became a butcher — but she hasn’t followed a traditional path. She spent ten years developing a type of sausage that none of her ancestors could have imagined...

How the (part veggie) sausage gets made...Cara Nicoletti comes from a long line of butchers, but her grandfather didn’t want her to follow in his footsteps. It’s physical work, it requires long hours, the pay isn’t great, and the path is even tougher for women. Cara went against her grandfather’s wishes anyway and became a butcher — but she hasn’t followed a traditional path. She spent ten years developing a type of sausage that none of her ancestors could have imagined...

Plus a rum expert’s summer cocktail tips...The word “plantation” has been used in food branding to conjure images of a romanticized, whitewashed American South. (Think “Plantation Mint Tea” or “Plantation Chicken.”) Food writer Osayi Endolyn, whose work inspired our 2019 episode on this topic, “When White People Say Plantation,” returns to discuss Plantation Rum’s name change, as well as similar recent changes by Bigelow Tea and Aunt Jemima...

On the weight of being Black in America... Kiese Laymon has spent his whole life in conflict over eating and not eating. Over the course of his life, his weight has spiked and dipped. In his book, Heavy: An American Memoir, Kiese weaves together all these experiences. In doing so, disordered eating, anti-blackness, fat-phobia, and addiction all bubble together. "As artists, we got to be able to talk about all of it at once because it always happens at once," he says...

And why natural flavors are shrouded in secrecy...“Natural flavors” show up on ingredient lists for all kinds of foods. But what does that mean exactly? We get a peek into the secretive science of flavoring when we talk with Marie Wright of ADM Nutrition, who’s created more than 1,000 flavors in her 30 years as a flavor chemist. She explains how natural flavors are made, why lemon flavor doesn’t contain lemon juice, and why flavoring plant-based burgers is so hard...

A beloved brand with a toxic workplace... The videos shot in the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen are among the most popular food videos on YouTube, beloved for their depiction of a workplace that feels cool, fun, and diverse, full of chummy editors who have become celebrities. But that all changed this week when a photo of Bon Appetit editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport in brownface was posted to Twitter...